Saint Kitts

Isn't it great that there are so many islands in the Caribbean that claim their own nationality?  I certainly think so, and our house guests don't seem to mind it much either.  Saint Kitts is another of those wonderful cultural mash-ups that make up the many nations of the Caribbean.  I could give you a full history lesson of the place, but I'll just go ahead and recommend looking at the Wikipedia page or suggest you talk to that one relative you have whose cruise scheduled a stop there.  Nice beaches, lots of fruit, sunny skies, bars on the beach blah blah blah...  I'm really just jealous I haven't been to a tropical place in a good while. 

The important thing here is we've gotten lazy and haven't posted meals in a while so I'm going to be streamlining these next several posts to catch the blog up.  This post is dedicated to my good friend Hudson Kingston, one of our most faithful readers whose life has been shattered by the lack of posts on this site.  Enjoy, Hudson, your long dark winter is over. 

Pumpkin Fritters with Chili Cinnamon Mayonnaise 

Some people think we must spend a fortune on frying oil when they see the amount of fried things we serve at every meal.  Well that's just silly!  I've learned to do as the rest of the world does.  After every large batch of deep fried food, allow the oil to settle while you eat dinner and then funnel the cleared oil from your wok (or whatever you fry with) into a large mason jar.  Be sure to leave the burnt crispy stuff in the pan as you do this.  You can continue to do this until the oil looks dark and gross.  Here is one of the many things you can do with  the frying oil.

2 pumpkins deseeded, peeled, and grated
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt or more to taste
Oil for frying

For the Mayonnaise:
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tsp ground red pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup olive oil

1. First make the mayonnaise by combining everything but the olive oil in a food processor.  Grind it all down to a smooth consistency and slowly add the olive oil in a thin and steady stream until a thick mayonnaise is rendered.  Set aside covered in your refrigerator.
2. Combine the grated pumpkin with all the ingredients and form into small balls in your palms.  Heat the oil in a wok or fryer and fry at high heat until nicely browned on the outside.

Plantain Salad

Think of this dish as a more tropical potato salad without the potatoes. Perfect for bringing to a family picnic.  Unless your family hates plantains.  Then you might want to bring a standard potato salad and avoid ruining what was supposed to be a lovely day.

1 cucumber skinned and diced
3 stalks celery chopped
2 avocados chopped
1 red pepper seeded and sliced
1/2 red onion chopped and rinsed under cold water for 3 minutes then drained
1/3 cup lime juice
1 serrano chili
1 mango skinned and chopped
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 cup olive oil
3 green plantains peeled and chopped into half inch pieces
Oil for frying
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. In a wok or fryer, deep fry the plantain pieces in hot oil until they are crisp and lightly browned (about five minutes).  Set aside on paper towels and allow to cool.
2. Once cool combine everything in a huge bowl.  Adjust seasoning and dressing to your taste.  Serve at room temp.


Goat Stew


I did a lot of the shopping for this meal at Amy's least favorite grocery.  It's a little place in uptown called the Old World Market that specializes in West African and Caribbean foods.  I love the place because it has a great selection of foods that I've never heard of, and some of the best deals on meat in the city.  Amy hates it because it's constantly jammed with uptown locals that have no concept of personal space.  But goat meat is something we're both willing to get shoved about for; especially when its as cheap as this place sells it.

3 lbs goat meat (preferably leg) cut into 1 inch chunks.  You should have a butcher do this for you since the meat tends to be in bony chunks
3 tbsp flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 lb tomatoes chopped
1 tsp gravy browning solution (optional but can be included for authenticity
2 medium yellow onions chopped
1 habanero de-seeded, run under cold water for 1 minute, then chopped
1 liter water
1.5 lbs green papaya grated
2 cups flour
1 cup milk
2 tsp baking powder
Salt to taste

1. Toss goat meat with flour and a bit of salt.  Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat and brown the goat pieces.
2. Add the onions and gently cook another five minutes until they soften.  Then add the tomatoes, browning, habanero and water.  Raise to a boil and cook covered at a simmer for 2 hours.
3. Add the grated papaya continue cooking another 30 minutes.
4. While you wait make a thick batter of flour, milk, baking powder and salt.  After the time has elapsed, drop spoonfuls of batter into the boiling stew and cook the stew down until it has reached the proper thickness.

Conkies

I would call these things dessert Tamales.  They taste almost like a rice pudding, but with many more flavors involved.  They take a very long time to make, but are well worth the effort.  The texture might be a bit too odd for some to enjoy, but the good news is these keep in the fridge for at least a week.                  

                                          

                                  

2 cups corn meal

1/2 cup flour
2 cups grated pumpkin
1 stick butter softened
3 cups grated unsweetened coconut
1 tsp salt
3 cups brown sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup raisins
Banana Leaves thawed if frozen
Condensed milk and chocolate for garnish

1. Combine everything into a thick batter.
2. Steam banana leaves for 40 minutes and allow to cool.
3. Wrap 1/2 cup portions of the mixture into banana leaves.  Tie them as little packages and steam them for 1 hour.  Allow to cool in the refrigerator and serve covered in condensed milk and chocolate.  They can be eaten right off the unwrapped leaves.

Rum Punch

This is exactly what it sounds like.  The standard boozy sugary concoction that gets served at every resort and weird Chinatown cocktail bar.  The sweetness is a bit much for me, but they must be popular for some sort of reason.  It might have tasted better if it had been warm outside, but as you can see by the photo below, we pretty much killed the jug.

1 pint grenadine
1 cup lime juice
3 cups rum
2 cups pineapple juice
2 cups orange juice
Orange and Pineapple Chunks for garnish

In a huge punch bowl combine everything.  Serve with a ladle into cups of ice.  Or if you plan on drinking it quickly, fill the jug of booze with that ice. 

In Conclusion

This was one of our more simple meals that involved very little effort in the kitchen.  The food processor did a great deal of the work for many of the dishes.  Everyone seemed to agree that the pumpkin fritters were most excellent while mixed opinions were held on the goat stew.  Personally I love the strong flavors and smells that come from stewed goat, others don't find it as pleasant.  And everyone agreed the punch was way too sweet, but proceeded to drink too much of it anyway.  As usual a good time was had by all. 

Malaysia

Malaysia is one of the most fascinating places I've had the honor to travel through.  Just like Singapore, it is an amazing mix of Indian, Malay, and Chinese culture brought together by a long and complicated history.  Malaysia is also the site of my worst round of food related illness.  Although the food is incredibly delicious, I didn't take enough caution when sampling the street food and ended up needing a trip to a hospital.  Fortunately, I got better immediately after a quick emergency room visit and a bag of pills which altogether cost me eleven dollars.   It took me a good while to fall in love with Malaysian food again, but the food is too good to let a single case of food poisoning ruin it.  It's full of rich and strong spices as well as strange and savory sauces filled with shrimp paste, tamarind, and lots of chillies.  This can all be a bit overwhelming for many first-timers, but once you develop a taste for it, you realize how exciting a cuisine it can be!

Fried Dried Anchovies and Peanuts

Certainly not the most popular item of the meal, but I truly enjoy this odd appetizer.  For most of our guests the flavor of anchovies, peanuts, and tamarind sauce was just too strange to enjoy.  The bones of hundreds of tiny fish can be off-putting for some.  But for those of you who have adventurous tastes I recommend giving it a try.

1/2 cup dried baby anchovies

Oil for frying

4 peeled shallots

4 peeled cloves of garlic 

1/2 inch piece of ginger

1/2 tsp shrimp paste

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp tamarind paste

1 cup roasted peanuts

1. Heat oil in the wok and fry the fish over medium heat until they are crisp and brown.  Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.

2. In a blender grind the shallots, garlic, ginger, shrimp paste, sugar, and tamarind paste to a rough sauce.  

3. Drain most of the oil from the wok and stir fry the smelly sauce for about a minute over high heat.  Add the anchovies and peanuts and stir fry another minute.  

4. Remove them from the heat, set them in a bowl, serve at room temperature.

Chicken Gulai

This is essentially a rich and hearty curry dish that combines Indian and Southeast Asian flavors.  Amy thought it tasted like a very intense version of chicken stew, which is not too far from reality.  There are many different ways this dish can be prepared so feel free to improvise as much as you like with the recipe. 

10 candlenuts or macadamia nuts roasted and finely ground

1 large onion sliced

5 cloves garlic peeled

2 inch piece of ginger

4 red chillies tops removed

1 can coconut milk

2 stalks of lemongrass slit down the middle

2 kaffir lime leaves (I keep mine in my freezer)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp tamarind paste

1/2 cup water

3.5 lbs chicken cut into serving pieces

1. Clean off that blender one more time and grind the candlenuts, onion, ginger, and chillies with a half cup of coconut milk into a smooth paste.

2. Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a pot and fry the paste for a few minutes until it becomes fragrant. Add the lemon grass, lime leaves, turmeric, tamarind paste, water and the rest of the coconut milk.  Raise this to a simmer and boil it down for five minutes.

3. Add the chicken and mix everything together, cover the pot, and simmer over a low flame for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid and reduce the sauce to a thickened consistency and serve.  (Make sure you make a lot of rice with all this food.)

Vegetable Fritters with Peanut Dip

Ok, for some reason people who live in hot countries love to eat fried food.  I believe this is because fried food is delicious and can be made quickly.  So once again we've included fritters with this meal.  These take about ten minutes to put together so make the sauce well in advance.

For the batter

1/2 cup water

1 tsp salt

1 cup besan (chickpea flour)

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and set aside for a half hour.

For the Vegetables

1/2 lb chopped green beans

1/2 thinly sliced red onion

2 carrots julienned

Or any veggies you might have on hand

Also lots of oil for deep frying

Heat the oil in a wok set over a high flame.  Combine the vegetables with the batter.  Drop the batter into the oil by spoonfuls working in small batches.  Once the balls are fried, remove them from the oil with a strainer and serve with peanut sauce.

For the Peanut Sauce

1.5 cups roasted shelled and skinned peanuts

3 shallots

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground pepper

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp honey

1 or 2 serrano chillies

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup water

1. In a food processor grind the peanuts, shallots, spices, chillies, soy sauce and honey to a rough paste.  Or be a complete Luddite and  do it the old fashioned way in a huge mortar and pestle for 15 minutes.

2. In a 2 quart saucepan combine all the ingredients and boil down to thick sauce.  Salt to taste (although I think the soy sauce adds plenty of salt) and serve at room temperature with the fritters.

Water Spinach and Shrimp Paste

Amy took charge of making this dish and immediately regretted it when she was blending the shrimp paste sauce.  For the uninitiated, please remember to not directly breathe in the fumes when this stuff is freshly ground up.  It is not good, but when it's given enough time to cook it mellows out into a deliciously savory taste that goes perfectly with the greens.

1. In a blender, grind the shallots, chillies, garlic, shrimp, and shrimp paste to a smooth paste using a few tablespoons of water to loosen the mixture.

2. In a large saucepan or wok heat the oil over high heat and add the paste.  Fry this for two minutes until it smells less horrible.  Now add the spinach and sugar and fry another two minutes.  Add a few tbsp of water to the pan and fry another two minutes or until all the water has evaporated.  Serve immediately.

Catfish Curry 

This was one of the easiest dishes of the night.  Just a few ingredients and about thirty minutes is all this recipe involves.  Add as many chillies as you can handle, this simple curry is supposed to be extremely spicy.  If you feel fancy, other firm flesh fish steaks work well with this sauce.  I'm sure tuna or marlin would be incredible.  But catfish is cheap and feeds a crowd, also it's really good.

2 lbs catfish fillets cut into 1 inch cubes

2 cans coconut milk

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground fennel

1 large onion sliced

7 red chillies with tops removed

1.5 inch piece of galangal or ginger if you can't get it

1. In a blender combine the chillies, onion, spices, and galangal with a half cup coconut milk until you render a smooth paste.

2. In a pot bring the rest of the coconut milk to a boil and add the spice paste.  Simmer this uncovered for 15 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

3. Add the catfish and cook a further 10 minutes adding water if the sauce thickens too much.  Salt to taste and serve immediately.

Conclusion

Making a full Malaysian meal for a crowd involves an absurd amount of dishes.  I must have washed the blender about 3 or 4 times over the course of prepping all of this food.  I spent my hangover doing these dishes.  The picture below captures just one of three large batches I went through.  But it was all worth it.  Although Malaysian food was the cause of the the worst round of food sickness I've ever suffered, the food is so good I'd go back and do it all over again.  Up next is St. Kitt's! 

Thailand

Most people in this country are at least somewhat familiar with the notion of Thai food.  In the 1980's Thai restaurants began to pop up in nearly every urban area.  Here in Chicago pretty much every neighborhood has at least one Thai BYOB restaurant.  Our friend Nick, who recently moved to New Zealand, is the son of a Thai restaurant owner in Indianapolis.  His mom's Thai Cafe in Broadripple was one of the first places I ate a Thai meal.  I strongly recommend checking them out next time you find yourself debating what to eat in Indianapolis.  Given the popularity of the food, I knew this meal would have to be a pretty large one.  

Fortunately, I've been cooking (or attempting to cook) Thai food since my time in college.  It took a lot of failures to make my first decent pad thai.  Also I've been lucky enough to have had the chance to visit Bangkok for a few weeks about five years ago.  I made sure to eat as much food as I possibly could.  That trip is still one of my fondest food memories and I'm sure I'll make the trip again.  The variety of the cuisine is astounding and no single meal could ever begin to encompass the complete glory of Thai food.  For this meal we decided to go for simplicity on a grand scale.  Most of the dishes can be made well ahead of time and served family style.  This allowed us more time to schmooze. Most of the ingredients are easy to find at an Asian grocery, and some supermarkets are now selling the staple ingredients.  Just be sure to buy plenty of rice.   

Mussel Fritter

The first time I had this was actually quite recently at a little place in Chicago called Sticky Rice at Irving Park and Western.  Amy and I both decided it was one of the most delicious things we'd ever had and were happy to discover that it was very simple to make after perusing a few cookbooks.  It may sound wretched, but we actually bought a large bag of frozen shelled mussel meat from a Vietnamese market for this dish.  The bag was so cheap we had to find out if the mussels were actually edible.  Naturally, the best way to do this is to cook a lot of them, feed them to your friends, and see what happens next.  So we prepared a large batch of the following recipe and were happy to see that nobody got ill or spat their food out in disgust.  Quite the opposite happened and the entire platter was quickly consumed.

1.5 cups mussel meat

5 tbsp rice flour

1.5 tbsp corn starch

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup water

2 eggs 

1 cup chopped scallions

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Combine the rice flour, starch, salt, water and eggs to form a thick and smooth batter adding more water if necessary  Then fold in the remaining ingredients.

2. In a large skillet heat 1/2 cup oil or just enough to shallow fry over high heat.

3. Drop the batter into the skillet in ladle sized quantities one at a time and fry for until the bottom crust begins to brown and gently flip the fritter and fry the other side.

4. Repeat until all the batter is used storing the freshly made fritters in a warm oven until ready to serve.  Accompany with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce

1/3 cup fish sauce

3 tbsp sugar

1 clove garlic chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

1 red chili thinly sliced

1/3 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and serve with fritters.

Cabbage and Peanut Salad


Cabbage is one of my favorite vegetables to cook with.  It's cheap, flavorful, and is great raw and cooked.  The Thai understand cabbage is awesome as well.  Here it is prepared much like a cole slaw but with other savory elements of peanuts and fish sauce.  We overdid it a bit with the chillies and some people couldn't eat it, but generally this serves as a very spicy side dish with most Thai meals.

1/2 head or 1 lb green cabbage with outer leaves and core removed

2 carrots grated

1 red onion thinly sliced

1 bunch cilantro chopped

1/4 cup chopped mint

1 serrano chilli finely chopped

2 tbsp sugar or to taste

3 tbsp fish sauce or to taste

1/4 cup vinegar or to taste

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

1. Using a knife or mandolin, thinly slice the cabbage into even strips.  Place these into a large bowl.

2. Combine all the remaining ingredients and taste for sweetness and salt.

Laap or Seasoned Ground Beef

Our good friend Chris Allen prepared this dish for us when we visited him in beautiful Muncie, IN.  He came to know of the dish through his days in the Peace Corps where he served in a small Thai village.  He made it much better than I did.  I'm guessing the cut of meat I had was a bit too lean.  In the future I'll grind down a fattier cut of beef.   

1.5 tbsp rice

4 dried red chillies 

1 lb chuck steak ground

1/4 cup lime juice

3 stalks lemon grass minced

1 red onion finely chopped

1 green bell pepper finely chopped

1/4 cup mint leaves 

2 tbsp fish sauce

1. Cook the rice and chillies over medium heat in a dry pan until the rice has begun to brown.

2. Grind the rice and chillies in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.

3. Boil the ground beef for one minute or until it just changes color.

4. Combine everything together and serve at room temperature.

Sweet Pork

It really doesn't get any simpler than this.  This dish's sauce of fish sauce and sugar is the base sauce of many Thai dishes.  Here the sauce is presented in its simplest form without any additional chillies or herbs.  With the fresh pork loin the dish tastes almost like a good sweet ham.  It tastes great for up to two weeks in the fridge.  Make sure to eat it with lots of rice.

3 pounds pork loin cut into 1 inch cubes

1.5 cups palm sugar

1.5 cups fish sauce

4 cups water

Crispy shallot flakes for garnish.

1. Place everything but the shallot flakes into a deep heavy pot and bring to a simmer stirring frequently to incorporate the palm sugar.  Lower the heat and cook for 30 minutes covered.

2. Skim off any fat that has risen to the surface and continue cooking another 45 minutes to an hour until the meat is very tender and the sauce is thick and syrupy.  Serve with rice feel free to add chili sauce.

Green Curry With Chicken

Thai curries may sound like a challenge to cook, but the hardest part of them is not so much making the curry but gathering the giant list of ingredients needed for the curry paste.  This is next to impossible if you don't live near a Southeast Asian grocer.  I'm lucky enough to be near one and most large to medium sized cities will have one tucked away somewhere .  Once you do have the ingredients, this curry is a simple process of grinding a paste and boiling everything together in a thick sauce of coconut milk and fish sauce.  

For the paste:

1 inch of fresh galangal or 1 tsp dried powder

1 inch piece of fresh ginger

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground caraway

1 tsp ground pepper

4 cloves ground

1 whole nutmeg ground

2 stalks lemon grass minced

4 cloves garlic

3 shallots

5 kaffir lime leaves

2 serrano chillies

1 tsp shrimp paste

1 tsp salt

4 tbsp vegetable oil

Grind everything to a uniform paste in a blender adding a bit of water at a time.  Set this aside or freeze for up to 6 months.

For the Curry

4 lbs chicken thighs chopped into 1 inch pieces

2 cans coconut milk plus one cup water

Fish sauce to taste

Green curry paste recipe

1/2 cup thai basil

5 kaffir lime leaves

1. In a large saucepan, dutch oven or wok, cook the chicken with one can of coconut milk and 2 tbsp fish sauce until the meat is tender (10-15 minutes).

2. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Boil the coconut milk down to a thicker consistency.

3. Add the curry paste and cook for 3 minutes stirring frequently until the paste gives off a strong fragrance.

4. Once again add the chicken to the pan and cook 5-10 minutes until the sauce has thickened.  Then add the remaining can of coconut milk.  Simmer this another five minutes and serve garnished with basil and kaffir lime leaves.  Serve with rice.

In Conclusion

This meal was a real pleasure to cook.  The literature on Thai food is so vast and expansive that there is no need to desperately search for recipes from obscure sources.  I should probably mention my personal favorite Thai cookbooks here since there are so many out there that aren't that great.  Jennifer Brennan's Original Thai Cookbook is my favorite reference point for most family sized recipes.  It has been a standard since it came out in the 80's and can be found used on Amazon for dirt cheap.  Her recipe for pad thai is still the best one I've found in a Thai cookbook.  David Thompson's Thai Food is a great encyclopedic look at Thai cooking and recipes, though many of the ingredients are a bit obscure even with access to a decent Southeast Asian grocer.  But it is a damn good cookbook.

The meal was a great success for the most part.  Once again all the leaves were used in the dining room table and nobody appeared hungry when they left.  I was a bit saddened by the lack of any noodle dishes, but it's hard to fry noodles for a large crowd.  The next day I made some pad thai to satisfy my craving, just writing this post has me thinking of busting out the wok tomorrow.

Up next: Malaysia!
    

New Zealand

Tom and I collectively have had many friends who have visited and worked in New Zealand through the years. However, this meal celebrated the departure of two of our friends, Stacy and Nick, going off to this picturesque country to see what seeds they could sow. Luckily, they are both doing well there today and we were happy to send them off with a taste of what was to come.

New Zealand today is full of sheep and Lord of the Rings tourism. Of course there is much more to this prosperous land than hobbits, but seriously, it's hard not to think of Elijah Wood when looking at the landscape. Much like our Australian meal, we had to kind of make up vegetable dishes that we thought Kiwis might eat. It's not that they don't eat vegetables, but either they eat ingredients we cannot get in the U.S. or they do not have a concrete recipe for a dish without meat. We hope we did it justice.

iSnack 2.0 and New Zealand Cheddar with Rye Bread

Okay, you are probably wondering first of all about the name of iSnack 2.0. Well, my friend, Jodie (she's from Australia), gave me this gift the last time she visited the states and apparently, the iSnack 2.0 name caused quite a stir down under, mainly because it's silly. It is now called Cheesybite and it's like Vegemite except Americans are supposed to like it more. The thing that a lot of people can't get over about Vegemite and the like is that you are supposed to spread it super thin on bread, but we tend to lather it on too thickly. Like Australians, Kiwis also enjoy their yeasty spreads. Like most Americans, I am not totally sold, but I do think the iSnack tastes better than original Vegemite. We put this out with some lovely New Zealand cheddar and bread for an amuse bouche.



Broccoli and New Zealand Cheddar Salad

Alright, on with the sort of bullshit vegetable dish! It did turn out quite tasty and a nice, lighter side to go with all of the other heavy food. We also used the New Zealand cheddar again, because it is just so pleasant with everything. I would be proud to bring this along to any Midwestern picnic.

2lbs broccoli cut into bite sized florets

1 cup shredded new zealand cheddar or other white cheddar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup shaved almonds

1/4 cup golden raisins

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Blanche the broccoli for two minutes drain and allow to cool to room temperature.

2. In a large bowl mix everything together and serve.

Turnip and Rutabaga Gratin

Tom and I both love our root vegetables and rutabaga is one of those special winter treats that if you have not tried you should really get with it. Both rutabaga and turnips are super cheap, delicious and feed a lot of people, plus you can dress them up or down. It doesn't matter, they will still be enjoyable.

By the way, about 5 minutes after we took this picture, our lovely blue baking dish cracked off and there was gratin all over the place. Just one of those mishaps that seem to happen to us when a lot of people are over. Dinners aren't the same without some sort of crisis or broken cookware!

For the Bechamel:

2 cups milk

1 onion thinly sliced

1 tsp chopped sage

1 tsp chopped thyme

1 clove of garlic chopped

1/2 stick of butter

3 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Salt to taste

1. In a saucepan heat the milk until it reaches a boil and then set it aside.

2. In another small saucepan melt the butter over low heat and stir in the flour. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture browns.

3. Pour in the heated milk slowly in batches and use a whisk to stir it together.

4. Add the herbs and cook until thickened. Season with salt and nutmeg.

For the vegetables:

1.5 lbs rutabaga cut into thin strips

1.5 lbs turnips also cut into thin strips

1 onion finely chopped

1 cup bread crumbs

Butter

Salt and pepper to taste.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 and butter a 2 quart casserole dish.

2. Boil the rutabagas in a large pot for two minutes and drain.

3. Saute the onion in a tablespoon of butter for five minutes and combine with all of the vegetables in a large bowl.

4. Season these with salt and pepper and pour them into the casserole.

5. Pour bechamel over the vegetables and cover everything with the breadcrumbs.

6. Bake 45 minutes or until the top is browned.

Mint Jelly for Lamb

When I was a kid, we were at a jelly store in Tennessee somewhere and I saw an apple mint jelly. I begged my parents to get in and proceeded to eat it on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Little did I know that this type of jelly had a higher purpose--meat sauce. I still hold to the fact that it is fabulous with peanut butter, but I guess it goes well with lamb, too.

1 cup mint leaves chopped

1/4 cup malt vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp corn starch

In a small pan, heat the vinegar and sugar over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the mint leaves, salt, and corn starch. Continue heating until slightly thickened. Allow to cool in the fridge for several hours and serve with the lamb.

Lamb Roast

We couldn't very well make a New Zealand meal without making a lamb roast. Much to my chagrin and disappointment, the lamb was made and enjoyed by all, well, everyone but Stacy and I. I wish I could enjoy lamb and I think it tastes just fine. It's just that for some reason when it hits my throat it makes me gag inexplicably. Stacy had a better excuse, she tried the lamb because she knew more was in her future when she moved, but she was in fact a vegetarian. I was still secretly happy that her reaction was the same as mine.

Now, please don't listen to me and my opinions on lamb, like I said, I wish I could enjoy it. This is a lovely lamb recipe and goes wonderful with the mint jelly. This picture seriously doesn't do it justice, but I think you can look at the runoff meat juices and decide for yourself.

Pavlova

At first when I saw the recipe for this back when we did Australia, I thought to myself "there is absolutely no way I am making that!". It looked hard, it looked time consuming...it looked amazing when it was done! New Zealand and Australia fight over this dessert and who came up with it first. Supposedly, it was named after a Russian dancer after she toured in both countries. Pavlova is meringue-like and is covered with whipped cream and fruit. It is somehow light and rich at the same time and it was absolutely devoured. I'm pretty happy with the results and I'm glad I had a second opportunity to make this. I hadn't made meringue since a high school cooking class and was surprised it actually set. Whew!

1/2 cup egg whites, at room temperature (about 4 eggs)
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
strawberries, green parts trimmed off, sliced
kiwis, skinned and sliced
Whatever other fruit you enjoy

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Whip the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt in a clean, dry bowl until it gets frothy. Next, add the sugar, cornstarch, vinegar and vanilla until it gets stiff, smooth and glossy (Note-if you have a stand mixer, this is easy and requires just patience, if it's a hand mixer-it may take awhile).
Take a piece of parchment paper and draw a 9 inch circle and place it pencil side down on a sheet pan.
Spoon the mixture into the middle of the circle you drew and place in the center of the oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat of the oven to 300 degrees and bake for another 45 minutes or so until it is light brown in color. Don't worry if it cracks a bit, it is supposed to do that.
Turn the oven off, but keep the pavlova in. Open the oven door and let the pavlova cool with the over to room temp (about 30 minutes of so).

Whip the cream and brown sugar together and put it on top of the pavlova. Decorate and finish with any fruit of your choosing.

Conclusion

I think this was the perfect way to send off our friends to the land of the Kiwis. Although we miss them so, we are happy to know that they are doing quite well and are enjoying their lives there now. Again, sorry for the delay on the post updating. Our New Year's resolution should obviously be keeping up with our dinners a little more diligently on this blog.

Next up, Thailand!

Cuba

Cuba is a beautiful country filled with decadent food, and we Americans can never directly go there. Oh sure, we can legally go to Canada and then to Cuba, but still it's so spatially close but in reality, so far out of our reach. I don't really feel the need to go into Cuba's history too thoroughly, because everyone is aware of Fidel Castro and the embargo. All I will say is that they are doing amazing things with pork down there, and it's a shame that we cannot fully join in.

Cuba's cuisine is a mix of Spanish and Caribbean flavors. There is a lot of filling and savory food floating around and of course, some refreshing drinks filled with booze and fresh fruit juice. Like most Caribbean countries, they do not eat many vegetable dishes, but when they do it is usually fried, covered in olive oil or thrown in as an afterthought (ex. in a pilaf). I feel like what we came up with as a full dinner turned out to be sort of like a Cuban picnic.

Plantain Chips

This is a quick simple snack that fries up very quickly. The result is a sweet, crisp chip that is definitely more filling than your average potato chip.

Plantains

Canola or corn oil for frying

Salt

Peal the plantains and slice them into rounds as thinly as you can with either a knife or a mandolin (way easier with the mandolin). Heat enough oil over high heat for submerging large batches of the slices. When the oil is hot fry them in batches and set them aside on paper towels to dry. Salt to taste.

Moros y Cristianos

This dish literally translates to Muslims and Christians. Although the name of this dish has its origins in Spanish history, the dish itself is completely Cuban. The white rice and the black beans are supposed to represent the Christians and the Muslims, which yes, does seem a little racist, but it happens to be a delicious pilaf made with chicken stock.

1.5 cups dried blackbeans, or for the big spenders: 32oz canned black beans

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large red onion diced

2 large green bell peppers seeded and chopped

4 cloves garlic minced

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground pepper

3 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp tomato paste

3 cups long grain rice

6 cups chicken stock

Salt to taste

1. Soak the dried beans at least 8 hours and drain them. Place them in a deep pot and cover them with 6 cups of water. Raise this to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook them for 1 to 1.5 hours or until the beans are tender. Drain the beans again and set them aside. Or just be a lazy bourgeois cook and open a can.

2. Rinse the rice in a colander under running water for two minutes. In a large pot (perhaps the same one you used for the beans) heat the olive oil over medium heat then add the onions, garlic, and peppers.

3. Sauté these for about two minutes, then add the tomato paste, beans, vinegar, and spices. Stir these together for about five minutes or until a lovely sauce begins to form.

4. Add the rice and the stock. Taste the broth for salt. Raise the whole mess to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes over a low flame.

5. Taste the rice to be sure it's fully cooked. If not don't panic just add a bit more water and continue cooking until it is tender.

6. Serve it hot with lots of pork.

Pork Roast

We made this pork roast in order to make some Cuban sandwiches. The pork that we used was from a very happy pig raised in Indiana that we purchased from one of my college friend's family owned butcher. If you are ever around Fort Wayne, Indiana, you should definitely drive a few miles out to Columbia City and visit Krider's Meat Processing. I promise it is worth the trip and they only use local pigs that are killed on site and Grampa Bob will be happy to tell you anything you would want to know about the shop.

Pictured below is some of the things we put on our Cubanos including some of our homemade pickles. There is also a cilantro mayonnaise and some olive oil and garlic mixture. Of course you don't have to make your own pickles or mayonnaise to make a Cubano, but it's not as hard as you may think and it does taste a bit better.

5 lb pork shoulder in one piece

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp whole peppercorns

4 cloves garlic minced

2 tsp salt

1 tbsp dried oregano

1/3 cup orange juice

1/3 cup sherry

1/3 cup lime juice

4 tbsp olive oil

1. Toast the cumin and peppercorns on a skillet until they are fragrant. Pound them in a mortar and pestle with the garlic and salt until you have a gooey paste. In a bowl large enough to hold the pork, mix this paste with the rest of the ingredients (except the pork).

2. Cut hexagonal slits into the fatty side of the pork shoulder, place the pork into the bowl with the prepared marinade, and gently work the marinade into all the crevices with your hands.

3. Refrigerate the pork 24 hours flipping it once or twice during the process.

4. Preheat the oven to 325 f and roast the pork with all the marinade for about 3 hours in a large roasting pan making sure to baste the meat every 20 minutes or so. When an internal temp of 150 is attained the roast is ready to be removed.

5. Allow the roast 15 minutes of rest on a cutting board before carving into it.

Here is the Cuban all put together with the side dishes. I apologize for the poor form of using a paper plate for the plating picture.

Polvorones con Canela

These cookies were oddly the lightest part of the meal. The lack of flour in them make them very light and crisp. A little tasty treat that I think would go really well with some coffee or hot chocolate.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract or brandy
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup finely ground pecans or walnuts
1 tsp ground cinnamon (cassia)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Beat the butter in a bowl with an electric beater until creamy. Add the 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and vanilla, and continue beating until light and fluffy. Mix in the flour and salt very gradually, a tablespoon at a time, until thoroughly incorporated. Add the nuts with the last of the flour. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly. Using your hands, form the dough into 3/4" balls. Place on an ungreased baking pan about 1 inch apart.

Bake in a moderate oven about 15 minutes, or until the edges turn pale gold. Place the remaining cup of sugar in a shallow bowl or plate with the cinnamon.
Remove the cookies from the oven and, while still hot, carefully roll each in the powdered sugar mixture. Set aside until cooled completely and roll them again in the sugar, shaking off any excess.

Mojitos (made by the pitcher)

No Caribbean country meal would be complete without a little boozy refreshment on the side. I'd like to thank our friend Ben for bringing us rum and mixing up some lovely mojitos. I would also like to thank our landlords for growing mint in our backyard, it has really benefited us.

1 cup mint leaves

1 cup lime juice (freshly squeezed is important for this)

1.5 cups rum

2/3 cup simple syrup

3 cups club soda

Ice

Take one 64oz pitcher and place all the mint leaves in it. Crush the mint leaves together with a muddler or an empty beer bottle to release their oils. Pour on everything else and stir. Fill glasses with ice and serve. Obviously you can add more booze to this recipe if you're trying to have that kind of evening with your friends.

Conclusion

The Cuba meal was one of our bigger success stories, as far as Caribbean countries are concerned. Tom was very happy that he got to make a pork roast and everything turned out right. The issue we seem to always have with Caribbean countries are the lack of recipes or that the recipes we find do not always turn out because of unavailability of certain ingredients or missing steps. Cuba was our exception thus far and it was apparent that Cubans take great pride in preparing their meat.

Next is a very special New Zealand dinner. Until then, Salud!

Kuwait

I first heard about Kuwait when I was a wee lad during the first war with Iraq after Saddam's invasion and annexation of the country.  George H.W. Bush was president, I was learning my shapes and colors, and I vaguely remember seeing Desert Storm trading cards on sale at some point.  It was a strange time for me.  That was the first war I got the chance to watch on T.V.

That war (much like the current one) was primarily fought over oil.  Kuwait has a lot of it, their economy is based on it, and the whole world wants it.  This has been the case since oil was discovered there in the 1930's.  But if you look at the food of Kuwait, you can see that it's history has certainly not always been about oil.  Long before oil was discovered, Kuwait served as an important port of trade located along the Indian ocean.  The most important commodities of this trade were spices.  And the food is absolutely filled with strong flavors and scents from these spices.  

Kuwaiti food is a great mix of Persian, Indian, and Arabic influences.  I imagine Kuwait City constantly smells like pepper, rosewater, and hookah.  My apartment smelled like this meal for about a week.  It was great!

Stuffed Dates

There's a beautiful simplicity to this method of preparing dates.  A lot of people in my life apparently hate eating dates, but when served these stuffed ones they happily consume them.  I generally just buy a tub of dates and eat them plain over the course of two weeks.  Amy seems disgusted by this, but I'm glad to see she'll eat these.

1 lb large pitted dates.

1/2 lb blanched almonds

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1 tbsp rosewater

1. In a food processor combine the almonds, sugar, rosewater, and just enough water to make a thick and smooth paste.

2. Cut a slit into each date to expose the cavity where the pit once resided.  Fill this cavity with the almond paste.

3. Serve slightly chilled.

Fattoush

Pitas are great, but they go stale really fast.  But stale pitas can taste great, too.  With some random vegetables and a sauce they can become this salad.  We actually didn't have pita on hand, but that's ok because any good quality stale bread works great as well.  We used some day old white rye from our local Ukrainian bakery.  Just make sure to pour on a lot of dressing because the stale bread soaks it up quite efficiently.

For the salad

4 large romaine leaves chopped

3 stale toasted pitas cut into bite sized pieces

4 roma tomatoes chopped

1 red bell pepper sedded and thinly sliced

1/2 red onion thinly sliced

1 cucumber peeled and chopped

1 bunch of parsley finely chopped

1/4 cup mint chopped

1 cup crumbled feta

For the dressing

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tsp ground pepper

2 cloves garlic chopped

Salt to taste

1. First combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl and whisk them together.

2. Toast the bread in the oven for ten minutes at 400 degrees or until slightly browned.  Set aside to cool

3. Prep and chop all the ingredients for the salad and combine them in a large bowl.

4. When ready to serve pour on the dressing and taste for seasoning.

Chicken Machboos (Chicken and Rice)

Every country has some version of chicken and rice.  In Kuwait it happens to be considered the national dish.  This dish has a lot in common with the pilau and biryani dishes of Persia and India with it's use of large amounts of spices and chilis.  The yogurt sauce helps cool down any overly spicy bites of the dish.

1 chicken cut into serving portions

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups basmati rice

1 large red onion minced

2 whole green chiles

1 garlic clove minced

1 large tomato roughly chopped

1 large pinch of saffron soaked in a tbsp of water

2 tbsp rosewater

1 tsp cinnamon

1.5 tsp turmeric

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground pepper

2 tbsp lime juice

4 cups stock

Salt to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 375.  Grind the spices (except the saffron) and rub them into the chicken.  Set the chicken aside to marinate in the fridge at least two hours.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven and brown the chicken in two batches over medium heat for about five minutes per side.  Remove the chicken and set aside.

3. In the same pot saute the onion, garlic, and tomato for five minutes.  Add the rice and saute another minute stirring frequently for one minute.  Add the stock and bring to a boil.

4. Cut the heat, add the lime, saffron, rosewater and reserved chicken to the pot.  Cover the pot and place it into the oven to bake for 30 minutes.

5. Remove the top and continue cooking another 15 minutes until the chicken is browned and the rice is fully cooked.  You may have to add a bit more water if the rice is too dry.  When everything is cooked serve with the yogurt sauce.

Chickpea and Eggplant Stew

It may be time consuming to make, but very little effort is involved with this dish.  Chop some vegetables, combine everything, and wait 3 hours while it bakes.  It was so easy I nearly forgot I made it and pulled it out of the oven just before serving.  For many guests this was their favorite part of the meal.

2 cloves garlic minced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 red onion minced

1.5 cups dried chickpeas soaked overnight

2 green bell peppers seeded and chopped

1 eggplant cut into 1 inch cubes

1/2 tsp cayenne

3 cups water

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 325 f.  Heat the olive oil in a deep heavy three quart pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and onion and sauté for several minutes.

2. Now add the eggplant and brown the pieces on all side for about 8 minutes.

3. Add everything else but the parsley and bring to a boil.

4. Cut the heat and put the pan into the oven and cook for 2.5-3 hours or until the chickpeas are tender.  If you only have canned chickpeas throw them in for the last half hour.

5. Taste for salt, garnish with parsley, and serve.

In Conclusion

This was our first feast in the new apartment (sorry for the delay).  Judging by the photos of this post we have some work to do with the light in the dining room.  All the pictures look like bad food shots of the 60's.  It may finally be time to break down and buy a real camera.  But what a joy it was to actually have a meal in our home on a huge dining room table!  It was a great feeling to be able to sit down with all the food and people at the same table.  As usual we made way too much food and nobody left with an empty belly. Cuba is next!