So to kick things off, my secret ingredient is.... JUNIPER BERRIES!

I've never cooked with them, but when I saw them at the little local market where my neighbor sells her honey, I knew that I wanted to experiment.

I'll report back once I've figured out what I want to do with them. less

They're used to flavor gin and some pastrami rubs, that was all I knew about them 'til I did some googling. Seeing as I don't have kidney problems, am not pregnant, nursing, under 12 years of age, or elderly (all the warnings I've found so far) I plan to forge ahead! less

OK, I hit the Asian supermarket today and actually chose two new ones for me. These aren't all that outlandish, but I have never actually cooked with them.

First, I picked up some dates. I plan on pitting them, then stuffing them with gorgonzola dolce and crushed hazelnuts, and wrapping them in bacon. I'll make this later in the week.

Second, I picked up a couple purple yams. I cook with yams and sweet potatoes all the time, but never purple yams. I plan on pureeing them, and putting them into a spring roll with rice steamed with coconut water, chunks of young coconut, mango slices, and some fried slivers of tortillas. I'll serve these along with my usual spring rolls that have panko-breaded baked fish, lime-cilantro rice, scallion, cabbage, and sweet chili sauce. less

No fair, you're making me hungry!

I've actually done to figs what you're planning with dates and it was amazing!

The spring rolls sound very impressive. Tell me when you're making that and I'll be there in a heartbeat!

Please, please, please post pictures so I can drool over those too. less

I'll be making the spring rolls tonight. Good luck getting a flight. You're always welcome, though.

I figure I'll try what I'm going with the dates with figs as well (well, probably without the bacon). We have a tree in the backyard and are always trying to figure out what to do with all of them.

And yes, I'll provide photos as well. They may or may not be artistic, depending on how much time I have. less

OK, so I made the spring rolls tonight. I'm not much into recipes, so I'll do my best to tell you what I did. I did pretty much as I said above, but had to make a few adjustments.

For the fish spring rolls, I cut some basa into fish stick-sized strips, and soaked them in some beaten eggs, before coating them in panko bread crumbs. Then I fried them until they were golden brown. I placed these onto a rehydrated spring roll sheet along with some rice I had steamed with lime and salt to get it sticky, cilantro, julienned scallions, and julienned, fried kale. I wasn't planning on using the kale, but my cabbage was flaccid and unusable [insert joke here]. Next time, I'll probably use both, as the salty, crunchy kale and the sweet, crunchy cabbage should work well together. Once everything was on there, I drizzled some sweet chili sauce on top and rolled it up. They ended up being great, and aside from adding cabbage next time, I wouldn't change a thing.

For the purple yam spring rolls, I boiled the yams until they were soft, then put them through the ricer. I also steamed some rice with coconut water and salt, which gave the rice a delicate coconut flavor and got it nice and sticky. To add a different texture, I julienned some tortillas and fried them up until they were crisp. Then I placed the yam, rice, some soft coconut from inside the young coconut shell, mango, and the tortilla sticks onto spring roll sheets and wrapped them up. The taste was good, but a bit disappointing. The delicate flavor of the rice was completely overwhelmed by the other flavors and the yam was very dry. I'm used to working with red yams, and they stay moist, but definitely not the purple ones. Next time, I'll add some coconut milk to the coconut water in the steaming rice to give it a stronger flavor, and do the same with the yams to get them moister. I might add a little sugar to the yams as well. I like the potential of the dish, and I'm anxious to try it again with the changes.

Since I only used a tiny bit of a tortilla, I decided to make some tortilla chips out of the remainder. I cut them into triangles and soaked them in key lime juice for two minutes before frying them to a golden , crispy brown. Then I added cumin, coriander, ginger, sea salt, and cane sugar to the top of them before serving them. Considering I just through that together on a whim, I was extremely pleased with how well they turned out. They were perfect.

So, to make Alys drool , here is the photo. I wanted to do artistic, but I ran out of time, so I slapped this together. The fish spring rolls are on the left, the yam rolls are on the right, and the tortillas are in the middle.

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We just need the photos to drool over, the level of artistry is up to you

One of my favorite things to do with figs is to put them on a pizza with some gorgonzola dolce, some mascarpone, and some candied or toasted pecans.

I guess you'll just have to tell me how well the spring rolls turned out, I'm still full from dinner less

OK, so I made the spring rolls tonight. I'm not much into recipes, so I'll do my best to tell you what I did. I did pretty much as I said above, but had to make a few adjustments.

For the fish spring rolls, I cut some basa into fish stick-sized strips, and soaked them in some beaten eggs, before coating them in panko bread crumbs. Then I fried them until they were golden brown. I placed these onto a rehydrated spring roll sheet along with some rice I had steamed with lime and salt to get it sticky, cilantro, julienned scallions, and julienned, fried kale. I wasn't planning on using the kale, but my cabbage was flaccid and unusable [insert joke here]. Next time, I'll probably use both, as the salty, crunchy kale and the sweet, crunchy cabbage should work well together. Once everything was on there, I drizzled some sweet chili sauce on top and rolled it up. They ended up being great, and aside from adding cabbage next time, I wouldn't change a thing.

For the purple yam spring rolls, I boiled the yams until they were soft, then put them through the ricer. I also steamed some rice with coconut water and salt, which gave the rice a delicate coconut flavor and got it nice and sticky. To add a different texture, I julienned some tortillas and fried them up until they were crisp. Then I placed the yam, rice, some soft coconut from inside the young coconut shell, mango, and the tortilla sticks onto spring roll sheets and wrapped them up. The taste was good, but a bit disappointing. The delicate flavor of the rice was completely overwhelmed by the other flavors and the yam was very dry. I'm used to working with red yams, and they stay moist, but definitely not the purple ones. Next time, I'll add some coconut milk to the coconut water in the steaming rice to give it a stronger flavor, and do the same with the yams to get them moister. I might add a little sugar to the yams as well. I like the potential of the dish, and I'm anxious to try it again with the changes.

Since I only used a tiny bit of a tortilla, I decided to make some tortilla chips out of the remainder. I cut them into triangles and soaked them in key lime juice for two minutes before frying them to a golden , crispy brown. Then I added cumin, coriander, ginger, sea salt, and cane sugar to the top of them before serving them. Considering I just through that together on a whim, I was extremely pleased with how well they turned out. They were perfect.

So, to make Alys drool , here is the photo. I wanted to do artistic, but I ran out of time, so I slapped this together. The fish spring rolls are on the left, the yam rolls are on the right, and the tortillas are in the middle.

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Those are beautiful spring rolls, Vaccinium.

The trouble I run into here is that I've already picked out about every Asian market item that the staff could jot down phonetic pronunciations, for, so I've worked with those purple yams before. And dates, maybe not in their natural Middle Eastern formats, but they've been the base of my favorite cookies since I was a little tyke. I haven't found juniper berries around here, either.

Maybe I'll take the tortilla idea from Vaccinium's posting and make something Mexican... actually! My supermarket stocks prickly pear, and I've been daydreaming about making something with it, but haven't acted on it yet. Now is the time!


Delicious, right? less

Those are beautiful spring rolls, Vaccinium.

The trouble I run into here is that I've already picked out about every Asian market item that the staff could jot down phonetic pronunciations, for, so I've worked with those purple yams before. And dates, maybe not in their natural Middle Eastern formats, but they've been the base of my favorite cookies since I was a little tyke. I haven't found juniper berries around here, either.

Maybe I'll take the tortilla idea from Vaccinium's posting and make something Mexican... actually! My supermarket stocks prickly pear, and I've been daydreaming about making something with it, but haven't acted on it yet. Now is the time!


Delicious, right? less

As I stated in the cooking questions forum, I have many spices that I don't use. They hang out in the cupboard taking up space and collecting dust. So the idea came to me to try a recipies that are native to my heritage-Sweden.

Also because I would like to make some native dishes for our family this Easter and need to practice. So my first choice is going to be Lussekatter (St. Lucia Saffron Buns): this involves using cardamom and powdered saffron.

The next thing is going to be Rose Hip Soup or Nyponsoppa: Kinda self-explanitory there.

And lastly I was thinking of Some kind of Herring or Salmon dish. I have yet to use either of those fish. less

I hadn't made up my mind whether to use the fruits or the pads yet, I reckoned I'd take whichever looks fresher tomorrow (or perhaps both).

When I cooked with purple yam, I made it into a halwa-like dessert under the tutelage of a Malaysian friend. It wasn't dry, but only because we intentionally made a paste of them.

Neat! I actually made Santa Lucia buns for my birthday (Santa Lucia's day, if you're checking the Catholic saints calendar, which I did for curiosity rather than devotion) many years ago. They came out too dry- so "keep things moist!" can be the theme of our Iron Chef. I'm excited to hear about the rose hip soup and the herring / salmon, too. My favorite salmon preparation is more Alaskan than Swedish, so I'll be curious to see what you come up with.

And our juniper berries? less