Cuisine: Guavas a versatile tropical treat

When we were in Egypt, we sailed up the Nile on one of the many ships available there — a grand adventure. In our cabin we found a basket of local fruits, and some were guavas so large I could not believe them. They were delicious, and were the first to disappear from the assortment.

This succulent fruit is a native of South America, but is now grown in Hawaii, California and our own state of Florida. A local market is carrying some Thai guava from Miami at the moment. The versatile guava is usually available during summer months and has many applications or is good simply eaten fresh when fully ripe.

Guavas range in color from yellow to red and even purple and in size from that of an egg to a medium apple. You will find them in cans all year at the market, or in jars of paste, jam, jelly, preserves and sauce. Guava nectar is also on ethnic shelves in the stores. While they are available fresh, you can use them in many recipes.

In Cuba and some other countries, it is popular to serve a thick guava paste in a block with cheese and crackers as a snack. You can purchase these blocks in packages at most Florida supermarkets. The paste also comes in jars and is used for frosting cakes and other baked items.

While guavas are delicious and versatile in recipes, they are also beneficial as a source of Vitamins A and C, but you can just enjoy them for themselves.

Guava cake

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs
1 cup guava pulp
½ cup guava nectar
3 cups cake flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Sift together all dry ingredients. In a second bowl, mix together guava pulp and nectar. In a third bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, then add eggs one at a time and beat well.

Now add dry ingredients alternately with guava mixture, beating well each time until well blended. Pour batter into a 9-inch by 13-inch greased and floured baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool pan on cake rack, then turn out onto platter. Alternately, you may leave the cake in the pan for informal serving or picnics.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, cover with smooth guava paste or use the following.

Citrus frosting: Combine softened cream cheese with sifted powdered sugar until spreading consistency, then add fresh grated orange or lemon zest. Sweeten with Splenda, Equal or whatever choice of sweetener you prefer.

Guava cheese flan

Flan is the number one dessert in many Latin American countries and this variation comes from the people who pack McCormick-Schilling spices.

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
5 large eggs
½ cup guava paste
4 ounces cream cheese
1 tablespoon pure vanilla

Place sugar and water in a 9-inch glass cake pan and stir until sugar is slightly dissolved. Place pan on stove over medium heat. Heat slowly to caramel stage without stirring, about 10 minutes — mixture will turn golden to golden-brown. Use an oven mitt to swirl pan until bottom and sides are coated as evenly as possible with the caramelized sugar. Place pan on wire rack to cool and harden caramel slightly.

Meanwhile, place all remaining ingredients in an electric blender and blend until smooth. Pour into cooled and hardened caramelized pan and cover with aluminum foil. Set the pan into a larger baking pan or the bottom of a broiler pan containing about an inch of very hot water. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove round pan from water bath and cool on wire rack. Carefully run a sharp knife around edges to loosen flan, then cover and chill for 3 hours — may be chilled overnight. To unmold, invert flan on large dessert plate or pie plate. Caramel will form the sauce on top. Garnish with slices of mango or kiwi if desired.

Mango-guava barbecue sauce

Here's a wonderful recipe from David Day, former executive chef at the Radisson Hotel. This recipe takes five to six hours and makes a gallon, so you may wish to cut it down or share it with friends. It also freezes well.

Combine in a large pot:

2 peeled and diced mangos
1/2 Scotch Bonnet pepper
2 red bell peppers
1 green bell pepper
2 cups molasses
1 cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons tamarind (see note)
1 can guava nectar, 10 or 12 ounces
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 cup brown sugar
3 bay leaves
Rice wine vinegar as needed to thin mixture
Salt and pepper to taste

Note: Available at India Bazaar in Fort Myers, or substitute lime juice.

Char, peel, seed and dice all peppers (wear gloves for the Scotch Bonnet). Combine all ingredients except wine, salt and pepper in large pot. Cook slowly for five to six hours, then put through blender or food mill. Thin, season and strain before bottling. Store in refrigerator. Use to brush both sides of swordfish steaks before grilling over hot coals or oven-broiling. This sauce is wonderful on pork and chicken as well as most fish.

I was preparing for a kitchen class a few weeks ago and came across the "mystery" box in one of the drawers. It holds an assortment of odd items which have appeared on the kitchen floor from time to time: an unmatched nut and bolt, a strange screw with a bulbous head and no slot for a screwdriver, a yellow plastic flat ring of some sort, several metal washers, a short spring about the size of a pencil in diameter, a piece of metal shaped like an S — the list goes on and on. From time to time, I dump these things when I have found no use at all for them.

The mystery is that I cannot figure out which kitchen appliances are lacking these important-looking pieces. How do they function without them? It would be like losing part of a finger and going on with life as if nothing had happened. Should we tell the manufacturers they're using too many parts in their assembly?