Vegetables are not all for making viands. These herbaceous plants which are chiefly served before the dessert can now be a delightful treat for those with a sweet tooth. Eggplant, sayote, tomatoes, “kalabasa” and other edible vegetables can be made into jelly, jam, candy and nata. With abundant vegetables in some areas, sweets processing techniques can be employed to come up with nutritious food items served after meals. Also, these simple food processes could help people earn extra income by utilizing locally-grown vegetables.
Eggplant Jam
How to make eggplant jam:
1. Boil the eggplant, peel, then mash
2. Add 1 1/2 cups refined sugar to 3/4 cups mashed eggplant. Put vanilla flavoring and one tbsp kalamansi juice for every cup of eggplant “puree.”
3. Add food color just to retain the color of the eggplant.
4. Cook for 30 minutes until right consistency of jam (when it can be scooped out) is attained
5. Hot packed in bottles. Cool and store.
Chayote-Pineapple Jam
Procedure:
1. Peel the sayote, store into thin strips
2. Peel rare ripe pineapple, remove eyes and chop finely Crush the fruit (Piña in cans can be used as substitute for fresh ones)
3. Mix one part of slice sayote to one part crushed pineapple.
4. Add 3/4 cups refined sugar for every cup of mixture, 1 1/2 tsp kalamansi juice for every 4 cups of sayote-piña mixture, and stir thoroughly.
5. Hot packed in bottles and seal immediately.
Kalabasa (Squash) Leche Flan
Materials:
For every cup of mashed kalabasa
1 cup condensed milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 heaping teaspoon brown sugar to be caramelized
Procedure:
1. Peel the kalabasa and boil for 20 minutes. Mash thoroughly using a fork.
2. Combine the mashed mixture, milk and vanilla.
3. Beat the egg and add to the mixture.
4. Caramelize the brown sugar and line the pan mold.
5. Pour the mixture into the lined pan mold and cover with aluminum foil or plastic.
6. Steam in hot water (double boiler) for 25 minutes or until done.
Sources: Philippine Farmers’ Journal June 1982, ITDI (DOST)
Image: cookedwithpride.com
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