Big Bammy

Tonight for dinner I made Big Bammy from Vegetarian Planet, at Mike's request. It was fun cutting up the yuca, as you really have to whack it with a chef's knife, and Mike enjoyed doing that. I was also happy to try a new vegetable--root?--but overall, this was too much work for a mediocre dish. The "bammy" or pancake-like thing was not easy to invert and I had to actually repeat the inversion step a couple times because it kept breaking. The dish basically tastes like hash browns, which are good, but not worth as much effort as this. I did really like the lime-marinated tomatoes that top it, though. I also made Gunsmoke Slaw again, because I love it. As before, I just used broccoli slaw instead of the suggested salad. I used a little too much chipotle last time, but this time I think it was just right.
Thanksgiving was delightful, and on the way home I stopped at Burger King with Mike and had the most amazing drink experience. At Burger King, they give you suggested soda combinations. There is one called The Big Four, which is a fourth of Dr. Pepper, Diet Coke, Coke, and Sprite, respectively. It is amazing. Everyone should try it. Yum.

Big Bammy
South Americans, Central Americans, and West Indians eat yuca (pronounced "you-ka" and also called yucca, manioc, and cassava) in a thousand different ways, just as Irish do potatoes. Santos, a Salvadoran who cooks in the Delux kitchen, likes his yuca boiled, then dressed with olive oil and lime juice. In Cuba, boiled yuca is often eaten with mojo sauce, a blend of olive oil, lime juice, and fried garlic. In Jamaica, along the northern coast, yuca is grated and cooked like a potato pancake. These pancakes, called bammies, are usually served with fried fish, but I serve my version with lime-marinated tomatoes. The process for making a bammy may appear complicated at first, but it's really quite simple. I disagree.
Lime-Marinated Tomatoes:
1/4 cup lime juice (from about two limes)
2 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1/2 jalapeno pepper, cut into thin rings (include the seeds if you like more heat)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ripe medium tomatoes
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

Bammy:
1 1/2 pounds yuca
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1/2 teaspoon salt
Fresh-ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

1) Marinate the tomatoes: In a bowl, combine the lime juice, garlic, jalapeno, and olive oil. Core the tomatoes, and cut them in half vertically. Place the tomatoes cut side down, slice them into half-rounds about 1/2 inch thick, and put them into the bowl with the marinade. Toss the tomatoes well, and season them with salt and pepper. Let the tomatoes sit at least ten minutes.
2) Make the bammy: Whack the yuca hard with a chef's knife to cut it into 4-inch lengths. Stand each piece on the cutting board, and use the same knife to cut away the skin. Cut the peeled yuca into 1-inch cubes, and put half of them into the food processor. Run the machine until all the yuca has been pulverized. Transfer the yuca to the center of a clean kitchen towel. Lift all the sides of the towel, and squeeze the ball of yuca over the sink to extract as much liquid as possible. Put the drained yuca pulp (in Jamaica it is called the "yuca flour") into a bowl, and repeat the process with the remaining yuca.
3) Add to the yuca "flour" the beaten eggs, the chopped onions, and the salt and pepper, and mix well.
4) Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat in a well-seasoned or non-stick 10-to 12-inch skillet. Add the yuca mixture, and pat it down well so that it covers the entire skillet. Turn the heat down to medium, and cook the bammy for 5 to 7 minutes, checking periodically to make sure the bottom isn't burning. When the bammy is golden brown on the bottom, carefully invert it onto a plate, and add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Slide the bammy back into the skillet, brown side up, and cook it for 5 t0 7 minutes more.
5) Slide the bammy onto a cutting board, and cut it into quarters. Serve it with the tomatoes and their marinade spooned on top.
Variation: Be adventurous--instead of tomatoes, use fruit such as halved grapes or sliced nectarines. [I think that would be gross]
Serves four.