Sunday, April 26, 2009

yuca pudding

lets start with the introductions: I'm Dharini. I like to cook. You're a blog-reader. You like to read blogs. done. k lets get to the food.



CASSAVA PUDDING

Grate cassava (1 1/2 to 2 cups); sweet to taste. Beat 2 eggs separately and add to cassava. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, dash of cinnamon and dash of salt. Mix together. Mixture should be thin with some milk. Pour into greased pan. Dribble evaporated milk over top, brushing with spoon where cassava will brown. Bakes best in enamel pan. Bake at 350 degrees about 45 minutes until brown.



cassava is a root vegetable used in many tropical regions as the primary source of starch. it is the third largest starch source of human consumption. it can be made into flour or cooked like a potato. the flour is used in breads, pastries, etc., and is also used to make tapioca. *supposedly cassava flour makes the most delicious, melt-in-your-mouth cookies(another recipe i'd like to try one day)*. it is multi-functional, highly versatile, and very, very tasty. despite the large amounts of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin C, cassava is an under-appreciated vegetable in the western lay-man's world.on the other hand, it is renowned as a culinary wonder in the realm of cuisiniers.

so basically, cassava is pretty badass in the cooking world.

some time back, my sister and I, devoted Food Network viewers, spied a basket of yucca in sawdust at our local Hanarum (H-mart!), and decided "what the hey?". a days and a newborn baby later, the poor brown yucca was still sitting(improperly stored) at the bottom of the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator. finally getting some time to do SOMETHING other than feed and change the baby, my sister called down to my temporary basement hovel this morning for me to find something to do with the thing. so, despite consistant yelling from the parental units, i rooted out this quick and easy recipe for yuca pudding. there are very few ingredients, which is why i chose it, and it sounds pretty good.

so as we speak my cassava(aka yuca/yucca/manioc/cassaba/cassada/mandioca/aipim/macaxera/kassav/mandi'o/mogo/mihogo/kappa/maniok/singkong/ubi kayu/kamoteng kahoy/balangbhoy/mushu/củ sắn/ khoai mi/manioke/manioca... you get the point there's a lot of names for it.) pudding is sitting on the stove, cooling. it might be the only thing that isn't roasting away in this horrible heat. it looks kinda dry :-( but it smells great :-)! lets hope it tastes like it smells and not like it looks :p. wish me luck!



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