Blooms Day November

Doing my duty to bring a dash of sunlight and color to all the garden blog readers in the winter months...

Bougainvillea to infinity ( or so it seems)


Oleander-though the form of the plants don't appeal to me I like the flowers. I wish the oleander plant came in a more elegant form, as its the easiest plant to propagate and grow here.


Buds and Blooms of Kalanchoe Gastonis Bonnieri, Donkey Ears


Coral hibiscus-blooms every day. Those in warm climes should grow this more as its so easy compared to the hybrids.


macros



old and beautifully gnarled bougainvillea


My favourite Kalanchoe blossfeldia-this one had huge architectural leaves year round and bursts of yellow flowers every from November for a few months. Self seeds to rejuvenate itself every year, too.


honey scented Acacia

Picture This: End of the Line

My entry for Gardening Gone Wild Picture This Photo Contest for November


It’s the end of the line for my Agave Sisalina, after throwing out a bloom stalk soaring to almost thirty feet. But see all the bulbils ready to start a new life.

Its also end of the line for the original Cephalocereus millspaughii column, broken in hurricane Omar last year, but with a new column growing atop the old. In some islands this cactus is known as the “Dildo Cactus” and I agree with the writer who said “it is hard to imagine how a spiny and threatening cactus conjured up the image that lends this cactus its common name”.

Fall colour from Aoth

My friend from Laos, Aoth, now starting a new life in England, sent some fall images she took that are too pretty not to share.





Rainy day in town

Moon over agave bloomstalk

and a stunning sunset

Ripe Plantain in tomato sauce

This recipe is inspired by the one in Cooking with Kurma , a book which a friend had lent me some time ago. I do have to get around to buying the book.

I did not get a chance to copy the recipe so I can’t compare my version to his, but I pretty much like mine. Plantain is of those delicious and easily available foods in the Caribbean and one can never have enough ways to prepare ripe plantains. I do find that the chefs from the Hare Krishna movement (including Yamuna Devi) are very inspiring when it comes to vegetarian food, especially Indian influenced vegetarian.

Ingredients- 6 large ripe plantains
Oil for deep frying

Peel plantains and slice into 1 inch rounds. Fry in batches in hot oil turning until all sides are light to medium brown, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Ingredients-Tomato sauce

2 tablespoon olive oil or butter
½ medium onion, chopped or minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
(I usually put onion, garlic and ginger together in the food chopper and finely chop)
1 tablespoon ginger minced)
Hot pepper to taste
1 tbs garam masala
½ tsp brown sugar
3/4 tsp kosher salt ( or less if using canned tomatoes)
1 ½ cups whole canned tomatoes, pureed or 5 whole vine ripened tomatoes, pureed
½ cup coconut milk

To finish:
chopped fresh thai basil, cilantro or mint leaves for garnish (optional)
coconut flakes for garnish (optional)

Method
Heat oil or butter in a deep pot, add onion, garlic, ginger and hot pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in garam masala, and sugar. Add salt if using and stir one minute.

Add tomatoes and cook about 5 minutes. Add coconut milk Cook on low 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add friend plantains rounds. Cook on low 2 minutes. Turn off heat and allow the plantains to absorb the sauce at least 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with herbs and coconut flakes. Serves 6.

Hint: I made double the sauce and froze half, for use later. The sauce can also be used to make a main dish using a drained can of chickpeas or fried paneer cubes instead of plantains.

Blooming Friday

Lots of blooms and butterflies in the Caribbean garden this week. Alas the butterflies wont stay still so here are some of the blooms

Always my favourite: bougainvillea


antigonon leptopus ( coral vine) trailing on yucca ( and top photo. This is such a pretty and easy vine I have no idea why almost no one uses it in the Caribbean. For years I could not get a plant-till one day I had a meeting and as I was leaving I saw these vines growing in an abandoned lot and got a friend to help pull out pieces for cuttings.


Vitex agnus-castus and Arabian Lilac (Vitex trifolia)



Aloe maculata with twisted bloomstalk


Euphorbia milli


I saw this lovely trailing vine at a hotel in St Kitts-brought home five seeds, got 2 plants out of those, and they have now started to bloom. When I asked the gardener at the hotel its name he told me "its a weed".



Delicate lavender bougainvillea. This one always reminds me of the friend who gave me the cutting, Art-he died from cancer last year after a fantastic 30 year battle.

Paneer in creamy or spicy tomato sauce

One of my favourite Indian dishes. Its takes a bit of time to make but if you love vegetarian Indian food you'll like this. I have two versions here of the sauce-one spicy, one creamy.

Wikipedia states “Paneer Hindi: panīr, from Persian پنير panir) is the most common South Asian and Persian cheese. It is an unaged, acid-set, non-melting farmer cheese made by curdling heated milk with lemon juice or other food acid.”

Make paneer using this recipe. I usually add 1 tablespoon white vinegar with the lemon juice to get the milk to curdle better. You can also omit the yogurt if you don't have any. Of course if you can also purchase fresh paneer if its available. Its sometimes availale in the farmers market in the US. DO NOT use frozen paneer. Paneer can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

After you have made and pressed the paneer, cut into in ¾ inch cubes. Fry paneer cubes in a little olive oil in a non stick pan, turning on all sides to brown (about 5 minutes in all), Drain and set aside.

Sauce:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small onion, finely chopped/minced
3 cloves garlic finely chopped/minced
1 inch piece ginger, finely chopped/minced
(an easy method is to put onion, garlic and ginger together in the food chopper and finely chop.)
Hot pepper to taste
1 tsp coriander (optional)
1 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Ground cumin (geera)
1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes with their juice, pureed, or 5 fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, pureed
1-2 tsp kosher salt (less if using canned tomatoes-in fact I use no salt at all then)
2 tsp garam masala

1/4 c cream or 2 tablespoons cream cheese (you can also use ¼ cup plain yoghurt but it won’t be as rich tasting)

4 tbs finely chopped fresh coriander or mint

Method

Heat oil and add onions, garlic and ginger, fry for about 5 minutes stirring constantly. Add hot pepper, ground turmeric and cumin, stir, then quickly add the pureed tomatoes. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring often.

For spicy sauce: add 1 cup hot water and bring sauce to boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook the sauce, covered, for 10 minutes. Add paneer cubes and cook 4 minutes. Fold in garam masala & chopped coriander or mint leaves.

For creamy sauce: add 1 cup hot water and bring sauce to boil. Add cream/cream cheese and stir till mixed in. Add paneer cubes and cook 4 minutes. Fold in garam masala & chopped coriander or mint leaves.
Serves 4-6