tips for the cold stuff this summer...

DO as tunisians and take advantage of some of the season's yummiest harvest and make some delicious fig ice cream...




DON'T do as the turks and use orchid tubers in your recipe. you'll end up with a very elastic textured mixture. who wants to literally bite their ice cream?



please note fake smile and actual bite mark on ice cream- not a turkish delight.

le south

I know I’ve said before I wasn’t too fond of French cuisine (see here), but maybe it was just being in Paris and all the heavy sauces and “to-do” that can be made with French food. All I can say is the food in the south of France, particularly those made by the sweet and gracious family of a friend not only fed my body, but also my soul.

Our first meal we both had the traditional bouillabaisse which is a regional specialty. It’s a fish soup served with toasted bread that you slather with a spicy spread and top with grated cheese. You then float these little boats of deliciousness in your soup. This is the one we had the first night. Frenchie’s mom made us a much better one the next night…



We also had one of my faves by the harbor in Cassis for lunch, mulles frites…



And of course the veggies we had, most from our friend’s family farm were to die for fresh and delicious. Even the olive oil that dressed the salads and used in the dishes was from their own olive trees. And the cheese...don't even get me started on the cheese. We were in heaven!

Seems we are true Southerners no matter what country we are actually in.

addicted

I failed to mention harissa in the previous post because I didn’t have a photo of it yet…



Crisis averted.

Popular throughout Northern Africa, harissa is to Tunisians what chips and salsa is to us at a Mexican restuarant- the forever opening act to the main show. They serve it with warm bread and also use it to spice up recipes. I’m totally addicted to it and going to miss it terribly when we leave.

If anyone wants to make it for me at Christmas here’s a recipe…

• 11 ounces dried red chile peppers
• 3/4 cup chopped garlic
• 2 cups caraway seed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 2 teaspoons salt

Directions
1. Remove the stems and seeds from the chile peppers. Soak in cold water for 20 minutes, then drain. Place the peppers, garlic, caraway, coriander, and salt in a mortar; pound with a pestle until smooth. Place harissa in a jar, and cover the top with a little oil to maintain freshness. Store in the refrigerator.

Put a tablespoon or so on a plate with raised edges and pour a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil on top and serve with warm bread and olives. Spicy deliciousness!

tunisia

surprisingly, this country or at least the area of tunis that we're staying in has loads of ethnic food choices. we’ve had italian, chinese, some really good indian, japanese…you get the point.

but, we’ve also had some tunisian fare…



lamb and couscous is pretty much a staple.

so is coffee. very, very strong coffee…





and sweets, they love their sweets…




which are even better with fresh strawberry juice and sweet mint tea…



the best part is how much french influence there is here. not only in terms of language, but also their food...



we scored some fresh hot chocolate croissants in the medina last saturday. they were divine and cost less than 15 cents each. win. win.

honduras

moving north in central america didn't really seem to change the food choices...




although this bean dip kept warm by coals was pretty delicious.

especially, when the last thing you ate was a sausage and cheese english muffin thingy from burger king that your bus passed out as breakfast 10 hours earlier.

although at the time that thingy was pretty good considering you were still a little tipsy from going from the bar to the bus station at 4:15am.

central america...

I’m quite behind in updating our culinary adventures. I’m going to fault Costa Rica’s underwhelming cuisine and not my pension for procrastination.

Not that we’ve not had some great food here. To be sure, we have on a few occasions had some very nice meals. We’ve got a great Peruvian place down the street and just last night had a lovely dinner at an Argentinean steak place. Get the point?

Costa Rican fare is similar to that of the Caribbean, just substitute beef for pork and hold the heavy spices. I have no idea what their official national dish is, but if it isn’t gallo pinto, it should be. Gallo pinto is a mixture of rice and black beans. They just add enough fat content; I’m guessing butter or chicken fat, to make it delicious. I will give it to them on that. They also love the plantain and make the most of their coastline with a of lot fish and seafood dishes.

I suppose the best authentic Costa Rican thing I've had was some fresh cheese we bought at fruit stand on our way down from Poas. Big white balls in plastic bags hanging outside I was curious as to what it even was. I was a little scared, but the lady opened one up for me to try and it was salty string cheese deliciousness. Unpasteurized and unrefrigerated it may not have been my best food safety moment. But, it was divine on top of a hot fried plantain and better yet, we all survived.

I’m guessing the large number of expats is to thank for all the different food available here in Costa Rica, which as an American, I love. It's always difficult for me when a country really offers up only their cuisine. We love a bean culture and with all the choices Costa Rica has been really easy for us and in such, not very exciting.

Nicaragua proved to be fairly similar, just with more local joints and less choices. Our guide even told us that the Costa Ricans had actually stolen “rice and beans” from them. Got to love a little neighbor rivalry.

We did hit a little French restaurant in Granada, although it was much better for happy hour and dessert than dinner itself. The atmosphere around their interior outside garden was just wonderful. As was their profiteroles with ice cream and chocolate…




They also made a nice Macuá, Nicaragua’s national cocktail made of rum, guava and lemon juice…




We went to a couple of seafood places for lunch while there and I loved the grilled whole fish...




But, by far the most amazing dish was a skirt steak I had cooked by this guy…



It was the best steak I’ve ever had. Really. It hands down kicked any steak in Argentina’s arse and would make Kevin Rathbun go running home to cry to his mommy.

dc

we didn't dig too deep into d.c. culinary treasures...but we did happen upon this little gem...


with a dining atmosphere similar to that of the varsity (just add antiques and scratch the "what'll ya have") they serve up a pretty good little burger...

dining in...

since we've got an apartment and grocery stores where i can actually read the labels, i plan on doing a ton of cooking while home. granted i've got a pretty basic kitchen and a very limited amount of cooking paraphernalia so i can't get too fancy or complicated.

last night....



portabella chicken marsala*
balsamic green beans**
roasted butternut squash***

everything was really delicious and best of all the meal was ridiculously low in fat and was around 450 calories!

*you'll note i changed the shitake to portabella, the shitakes at the grocery looked pitiful and i love the meatiness of a portabella anyway. always subsitute for the better looking veggies!
** i left out the bacon and just added goya jamon flavor to my water and also a pack to my vinaigrette. i wanted to cut the fat out but keep the flavor.
***just drizzle with evoo and roast until tender

Woodfire Baby!

So it took a month to get the reservation at a decent time but it was so worth it. We had a truly amazing meal prepared by the winner of Top Chef, Kevin Gillespie. Okay, so he didn't technically win...but he had more quick fire and challenge wins than anyone in TC history and he won fan favorite. And he was never a jerk and stayed true to his Southern roots. So whatevs, he's totally the winner in our eyes.

We had a few people suggest getting the tasting menu* so we did...

amuse bouche made of black eyed peas on a pot likker and collard reduction...



braised baby carrots with goat cheese and fennel salad (i totally thought this one must have tasted like the carrot he did for the show)...



scallop (best i've ever had in my life) and shrimp over a radish carpaccio...



bonus course, oysters (the only "not spectacular" thing we had all night)...



yummy blackberry cocktail...



quail...



pork trio...mmmmm pork...



apple spice cake with caramelized marshmallows...



chocolate stuffed crepes with espresso beans...



Everything (save the oysters) was absolutely incredible. It was a beautiful meal shared with wonderful company.

If you watched the show and you'd like to actually taste the talent for yourself I highly suggest making your reservations now!!

If you go on the weekend there is also a good chance you'll get to meet the master himself! He was so genuine and very gracious...




*personally i would recommend getting an app, an entree and a dessert. if everyone gets something different then you can try lots of stuff. granted, getting the tasting menu will make you feel like tom and padma but it is super pricey and the portions are super tiny. of course i had starved myself all day in preparation so you make the call.

Although Copa Airlines had provided us with a “meal” that consisted of a hot pocket (seriously, ham and cheese) and two small cookies we chose to grab a quick meal in our hotel’s restaurant when we arrived in Panama Friday night. We didn’t venture into any Panamanian cuisine that night as the hot pocket did at least fill us up enough to not want the buffet. We did, however, dive right into some Panamanian beer. We tried Atlas, Panama and Balboa and I have to say they weren’t great. I’m not a huge lager fan anyway but even Julie didn’t care for them.

Saturday we were treated to probably the most authentic Panamanian meal possible…cooked over an open fire by a lovely Embera girl, Sara, we enjoyed what I will venture to say is the best fried fish I’ve ever had with some delicious fried plantains all served neatly in a banana leaf. The fish, a peacock bass, had been caught that morning by one of the men from the river and the plantains grown in their garden.




Back from the jungle we took the recommendation from our tour guide and dined at a local favorite; El Trapiche. Ceviche is wildly popular in Panama and we started with a mixed ceviche that had fish, octopus and shrimp. With such hot and humid temperatures you can easily see why the Panamanians love it so much-what could be better than fresh chilled seafood infused with that cooling citrus deliciousness?

Our restaurant offered two dishes with an assortment of Panamanian fare; one an appetizer and one a meal and we ordered one of both. The appetizer was of the fried variety and had some good, some okay and some bland offerings.



Julie ordered the platter and found herself with some repeats of from the appetizer. It started with a wonderful soup that reminded me of pot-licker. For those non-southerners, that’s the broth from making collard greens- if you’re ever in Atlanta you must go to Mary Mac’s Tea Room and get some! Her dish also came with some bbq style beef and pork which was really nice.



I ordered the Corvina (sea bass) with a shrimp sauce. It was pretty good but I think the sauce was a bit heavy for the light flavor of the fish.



All in all Panamanian cuisine was to our liking. Bordering two oceans makes it a seafood lover’s paradise and although they could work on their breweries they serve a mean sangria.