Showing off really good Cardamom

[Ruth Lafler]

A friend just back from India gave me some super fresh, dazzlingly aromatic cardamom. Any suggestions on recipes -- maybe some more savory ones -- that will really showcase it?

[opinionatedchef]

also meant to mention that Food52.com had a cardamom contest a while ago w/ lots of exc. recipes.

http://food52.com/recipe/cardamom

[HillJ]

The chai, milkshake and the doughnuts were all super. I actually didn't care for the winning recipe.

[IndyGirl]

oh yeah, cardamom milkshake--I made one of those over the holidays, but not this one--i got confused and thought this was it at first. The one I made was coconut cardamom:
http://globalasianculture.com/2010/th...

It was truly outstanding. I added some cocoa nibs for texture and fun.

[opinionatedchef]

i'm not a fan of cardamom in savories but i'm addicted to it in sweets. Here's onne for you and i'll have some awesome cookies for you soon:

Blueberry Surprise Cake with Lemon and Cardamom

(riffing on Maida Heatter)

This riff came about because I wanted a heavier cake with more texture, and whole wheat, caramel, and significant cardamom and lemon flavors.

Adjust a rack 1/3 up from the bottom of the oven and preheat to 350. Pam the insides of a 9 x 3 or 10 x 3 springform pan, fit a parchment circle onto the bottom, pam it.

Sift 1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour and 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour; sift again. Remove 2 c. and add to it 2 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 tsp. salt.

In a mini processor, grind together 1 c. white sugar, zest of 2 lemons, 3 T. freshly ground cardamom til almost soupy. Transfer from machine to a bowl . Add 1 tsp vanilla,1/3 c. packed light brown sugar. Add 2 lg.eggs while beating , just until incorporated.

Beat 2 sticks of softened unsalted butter in a mixer w/ a paddle until soft and light. Add above sugar micture. Add 1 c. sour cream and beat til just incorporated.

On low speed add the dry ingredients and beat just until smooth.Add 2/3 c. roughly ground toasted pecans.

Turn half the mixture into the pan, smooth the top, spoon the blueberry filling on top of it, keeping it 1/2 to 1 inch away from the pan edges. Turn the other half of the cake batter onto this. Smooth top.

Bake about 40 min. for the 10" pan; more for the 9", til the top of the cake springs back when pressed lightly with a fingertip . Remove from oven and let the cake stand on a rack for 15 minutes.

the filling:

In a colander, rinse and dry 2 c. fresh blueberries. In a bowl, combine berries, 3 T. granulated sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon ,1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg and 1 tsp lemon juice. Stir. Let sit.

(* Before juicing the lemon, finely grate the peel of 2 lemons . Rasper/micro plane works best. )

While cake bakes, prepare the glaze

In a bowl, combine 1 c. powdered sugar 2 T. lemon juice and just enough hot water til glaze is just thin enough to pour.

Spread glaze over cake. Let it cool and set up. Run knife around inside pan edge, push base up from below, plate cake.

[Karl S]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/5882...

[Westy]

Toss a few (not many) pods in witht eh grounds when making coffee. YUM.

[HillJ]

Love a few pods floating in the hot milk while preparing rice pudding.
A number of Indian sweets call for cardamom.
Added to any milk shake for something super simple and freshing.
Added to simple shortbread cookie recipe.
Iced green tea and cardamom ice cubes.

[magiesmom]

cardamom is wonderful in tsimmes, basically roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, onions and dried fruit.
But the best ever cardamom recipe imo is cardamom coffee cake from Moosewood.

[Frizzle]

My parents love cardamom. For savoury use it normally appears in their minced (ground) beef. Fry onions, add garlic and fry till golden brown. Remove onions & garlic then brown mince. Add onion & garlic mix back in then add spices. Whole cardamom pods, a smidgen of ground cinnamon, some whole pounded cloves, some ground cumin and coriander. A bit of tomato pastes and water is added then half a teaspoon of sugar, salt and pepper. The mince is cooked until it's tender and quite dry and then it's used to stuff things. Flaky pastry triangles - potato cakes.

For a sweet use this milk & rice dessert is nice: http://indianfood.about.com/od/sweets...

Also, cardamom is a staple ingredient in Arabic coffee.

[pine time]

Their minced recipe is very similar to my Indian kheema, which I also use for a meat samosa filling.

[jaykayen]

Chai.

I once tried a cardamom cake recipe I found on the home cooking board, I don't remember it exactly, but I think it's this one: http://blogs.sweden.se/expat/tag/card...

[hotoynoodle]

savory custard -- it pairs beautifully with almonds and carrots.

[Ruth Lafler]

Recipe? The carrot recipes I've seen are sweet.

[hotoynoodle]

i don't have one, i kinda wing it.

cook carrots in well-salted water, with some added sugar in case carrots are blah, til tender. reserve a wee bit of cooking water.

meanwhile simmer cream with crushed cardamom in it, to infuse. do not scald or boil. let sit and cool. strain solids out.

whizz carrots in food pro. use a bit of the cooking water if needed to make them loose.

make a basic custard, with the cream and eggs. if not feeling lazy, i will whip the whites til stiff then fold into the yolks and cream. stir in some almond extract. adjust for salt and pepper. i usually add a touch of orange blossom water too. careful -- it's potent.

cook in a water bath, low and slow.

it looks pretty with toasted candied almonds on top. just a hint of sweet with the savory.

[Teague]

This is pretty homely, but cardamom makes porridge special - I think my childhood cardamom-spiked oatmeal is a bastardization of a norwegian rommegrot, or cream porridge, but I still love it for a special-feeling breakfast with cream and sugar and chopped apple. Also good in rice pudding.

[hotoynoodle]

http://food52.com/recipes/9307_cardamom_cake_with_cloudberry_cream

i guess the norwegians love them some cardamom. this cake has been on my to-do list a long time.

eta: damn google-fu! just found this:

http://markbittman.com/less-meat-mond...

sounds awesome. love pears and crisps.

[blue room]

Ruth, I made these

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Cardamom-Cream-Puffs-Semlor

I used too much cardamom, overwhelmed what should have been a delicate flavor, but I'd call it a very promising recipe.
Here's my picture--made these about a year ago.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41199487...

[Ruth Lafler]

That looks really delicious. But what is this "too much cardamom" you speak of/ <g>

[blue room]

You're probably aware already, but don't miss this thread:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/732378
I especially like the suggestion for cardamom (rather than ginger) ale.

[Ruth Lafler]

Yeah, I actually posted on that thread. I was hoping for some new inspiration. I guess since it's so fresh, I'm thinking of something that will use it whole, rather than ground.

[kersizm]

Cardamom ice cream

[IndyGirl]

Cardamom ice cream is beautiful!!

I also use cardamom in homemade granola instead of cinnamon. We love it.

[Ruth Lafler]

I have this theory that you can use cardamom in any recipe you would use cinnamon in. Not that they taste anything alike, but somehow they "work" the same way.

[IndyGirl]

I totally agree! I love it in homemade granola. It's just fantastic. (Mine is from penzey's.)

[ipsedixit]

On the savory side ...

- Add it to split pea soup or corn chowder

- Roast carrots tossed in cardamom

- Combine in pancake or waffle batter.

- Fried rice

- Sprinkled on warm spinach salad (tossed first with a balsamic walnut vinaigrette)