Over the weekend my family came home. I wanted to serve something a
little Caribbean in flavor, and/or a little Cajun.

I ended up adapting a recipe a bit, and it turned out really well.
The "secret" ingredient I added that made a real difference was
Anistars. Here's the recipe.

Myrl Jeffcoat


Tribal Stew

Ingredients

3 pounds of Pork (cut in 1" cubes)
5 tablespoons Jerk Mix
4 tablespoons canola oil
2 White Onions, finely chopped
2 cans (26 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, drained & quartered
3 Tbs. fresh chopped cilantro
2 medium zucchini (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
3 Anistars (important ingredient)
2 bay leaf
1 piece fresh ginger (3 inches), grated
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 hot chilies seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
4 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium canned chicken stock
1 cup brewed coffee
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup honey

Directions:
Combine jerk mix and canola oil in a large bowl. Add pork cubes and
toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Working in batches,
add pork and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned.

As batches become browned move them into a really large crock pot.

Add tomatoes, bay leaf, ginger, and garlic; bring to simmer. Stir in
chilies, salt, chili powder, cumin, coriander, chicken stock, coffee,
and Worcestershire sauce. Also add cilantro, anistars, zucchini,
carrots, and honey. Cover, reduce heat, and let the crock pot work for
for several hours.

Remove bay leaf, and the anistars, and serve.

Serves a Tribe

*Note from Myrl: The Anistars are a very important ingredient in this
recipe. Do not use too many. 3 - 4 of them is just fine. You can
find them in Indian grocery stores. Here in the Sacramento area, I
get them from The India Bazaar. They have them located in Folsom, and
Rancho Cordova.

For clarification, for those who do not know what Anistar Seeds are,
I've found a picture out on the net. In my recipe, I refered to them
as Anistars (plural). I had difficulty finding a reference to them in
Google with the "s" at the end. So am sending this note.

They look like little stars. . .Here's the picture.

http://www.saisukushinc.com/images/s...a/aniseed1.jpg

Myrl

Myrl wrote on Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:06:31 -0000:

MJ> They look like little stars. . .Here's the picture.

MJ>
http://www.saisukushinc.com/images/s...a/aniseed1.jpg

Unground anise are they not?

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

James Silverton wrote:
> Myrl wrote on Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:06:31 -0000:
>
>> They look like little stars. . .Here's the picture.
>
>>
> http://www.saisukushinc.com/images/s...a/aniseed1.jpg
>
> Unground anise are they not?
>
> James Silverton
> Potomac, Maryland

Yep, star anise. Very frequently used in Asian cooking. IIRC the ground
version is an ingredient in 5-spice powder.

Jill

On Oct 17, 7:09 am, "jmcquown" > wrote:
> James Silverton wrote:
> > Myrl wrote on Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:06:31 -0000:
>
> >> They look like little stars. . .Here's the picture.
>
> >http://www.saisukushinc.com/images/s...a/aniseed1.jpg
>
> > Unground anise are they not?
>
> > James Silverton
> > Potomac, Maryland
>
> Yep, star anise. Very frequently used in Asian cooking. IIRC the ground
> version is an ingredient in 5-spice powder.
>
> Jill


I also sometimes use Anistar when making batches of Chicken Curry when
doing Indian cooking. They always add a flavor that's interesting,
unexpected, and good.

To answer James question. I have always suspected that Anistar was
the pod of the anise seed. They look like miniture star fishes. When
you turn them on their backs, you can see the little seeds running
along their legs;-)

Myrl Jeffcoat

On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:06:31 -0000, Myrl Jeffcoat
> wrote:

>For clarification, for those who do not know what Anistar Seeds are,
>I've found a picture out on the net. In my recipe, I refered to them
>as Anistars (plural). I had difficulty finding a reference to them in
>Google with the "s" at the end. So am sending this note.
>
>They look like little stars. . .Here's the picture.
>
>http://www.saisukushinc.com/images/s...a/aniseed1.jpg
>
>Myrl

any asian grocery (or even many plain old grocery stores) should have
star anise. no need to hunt down an indian specialty store.

your pal,
blake

Myrl Jeffcoat wrote:
>
> On Oct 17, 7:09 am, "jmcquown" > wrote:
> > James Silverton wrote:
> > > Myrl wrote on Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:06:31 -0000:
> >
> > >> They look like little stars. . .Here's the picture.
> >
> > >http://www.saisukushinc.com/images/s...a/aniseed1.jpg
> >
> > > Unground anise are they not?
> >
> > > James Silverton
> > > Potomac, Maryland
> >
> > Yep, star anise. Very frequently used in Asian cooking. IIRC the ground
> > version is an ingredient in 5-spice powder.
> >
> > Jill
>
> I also sometimes use Anistar when making batches of Chicken Curry when
> doing Indian cooking. They always add a flavor that's interesting,
> unexpected, and good.
>
> To answer James question. I have always suspected that Anistar was
> the pod of the anise seed. They look like miniture star fishes. When
> you turn them on their backs, you can see the little seeds running
> along their legs;-)
>
> Myrl Jeffcoat

Star anise: Illicium verum
Anise: Pimpinella anisum

Not the same plant, not the same fruits/pods, not the same seeds.

On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:06:31 -0000, Myrl Jeffcoat
> wrote:

>For clarification, for those who do not know what Anistar Seeds are,
>I've found a picture out on the net. In my recipe, I refered to them
>as Anistars (plural). I had difficulty finding a reference to them in
>Google with the "s" at the end. So am sending this note.
>
>They look like little stars. . .Here's the picture.
>
>http://www.saisukushinc.com/images/s...a/aniseed1.jpg
>
>Myrl
try star anise, it looks the same to me.

On Oct 17, 6:57 pm, Pan Ohco > wrote:
> On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:06:31 -0000, Myrl Jeffcoat
>
> > wrote:
> >For clarification, for those who do not know what Anistar Seeds are,
> >I've found a picture out on the net. In my recipe, I refered to them
> >as Anistars (plural). I had difficulty finding a reference to them in
> >Google with the "s" at the end. So am sending this note.
>
> >They look like little stars. . .Here's the picture.
>
> >http://www.saisukushinc.com/images/s...a/aniseed1.jpg
>
> >Myrl
>
> try star anise, it looks the same to me.



Yes, star anise, and anistars are the same thing. It's just that on
the product from the Indian store, they are labeled Anistars.

Myrl Jeffcoat

Myrl wrote on Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:56:22 -0700:

MJ> On Oct 17, 6:57 pm, Pan Ohco > wrote:
??>> On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:06:31 -0000, Myrl Jeffcoat
??>>
??>> > wrote:
??>>> For clarification, for those who do not know what Anistar
??>>> Seeds are, I've found a picture out on the net. In my
??>>> recipe, I refered to them as Anistars (plural). I had
??>>> difficulty finding a reference to them in Google with the
??>>> "s" at the end. So am sending this note.
??>>
??>>> They look like little stars. . .Here's the picture.
??>>
??>>>
http://www.saisukushinc.com/images/s...a/aniseed1.jpg
??>>
??>>> Myrl
??>>
??>> try star anise, it looks the same to me.

MJ> Yes, star anise, and anistars are the same thing. It's
MJ> just that on the product from the Indian store, they are
MJ> labeled Anistars.

I wouldn't take labelling or spelling in Indian stores as
authoritative; it can even be called creative :-)


James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not