Old standby

Back in my pre-nomad days I started a tradition of picking up a new ethnic cookbook each January.  One year was Indian, another Japanese (total fail on this one- the list of kitchen utensils made me give up before even attempting one dish) and another Cuban.

I bought this tiny little “Cuban Homecooking” cookbook and another glossy, fancier one. You can imagine which one I loved.

One of our favorites from that little cookbook was Cuban style chicken and I used to make it quite frequently at home. 

It’s an easy dish, but you’ll need about an hour for the chicken.  Which will totally be worth it because it’s super tender.

You’ll need:

1-2lbs of chicken breast- cut into chunks (original recipe calls for chicken on the bone- either works)

1 large white onion -thickly sliced into rings

2 teaspoons of evoo

1 cup of orange juice (original recipe calls for sour orange juice- if you can find it then skip the lime)

2 tablespoons of lime juice

1 cup of white wine

2 tablespoons of oregano

Water

Heat up the oil and then caramelize the onions. Really, really brown these guys.  You want them super caramelized.

Then mix the juices, wine and oregano and pour into the onion pan.  This will deglaze the pan so scrape up all the yummy onion bits.

Throw in the chicken  and then add enough water to cover everything…

Bring this up to a boil and then lower the temp until it is simmering. You’re going to simmer it until all the liquid cooks out.  This takes a while- like 30-40 minutes, but you only need to stir occasionally.  Just let it bubble away and don’t cover it.  When the chicken is cooked you can salt and pepper to taste.

Once the liquid is gone let the the onions and chicken caramelize for a few more minutes.  I serve it over rice and usually with black beans, but it’s also tasty wrapped in a tortilla…

A little tangy, a little sweet and very tender and moist- it’s something yummy and different to do with chicken. 

Moyo

We went to Moyo back in 2009 and had a great meal and a great time so we decided to go back. They serve food from all over the continent and it has a great atmosphere with musicians, face painters, dancers- you’ve never heard happy birthday sung like this. We had 2 birthdays at neighboring tables and it was like a mini-concert.

The menu is a bit daunting because you don’t know what 80% of the things actually are, but sometimes it's better just to go for it.

The Wife went with a fillet of beef, but for the life of me I can’t remember anything about where this dish was from or what the sauce was…

I was far too focused on my own dish, but hers was really, really good. Served over sliced potatoes, the sauce was a little sweet and had a nice mild heat.

I had the Ethiopian ostrich steaks…

The meat was heavily seasoned with cinnamon, cardamom, clove and who knows what else. The spices were about a quarter of an inch thick around the rare fillet.

Ostrich is very lean so you need to eat it rare to medium rare. If you’ve never had it, it’s much more like a red meat than poultry. It was spectacular and the mashed pumpkin with peanut butter was the perfect companion. I WILL go back here to have this again before we leave.

Malva Pudding (aka- heaven on a plate)

 

We had this South African dessert at our dinner in the bush and all 10 of us wanted to lick our plates clean.  Seriously.

I decided to give it a go for one of our Wednesday night dinners and I have to say- I have not lost my baking skills.  I thought a couple of the guys were going to get into when they clamored forward for their second helpings. 

Actually, I don’t know if I’ve lost any of my baking skills because this was no test of them.  Super easy to prepare, sinful ingredients (be ready to gain a pound or two just smelling it) and absolutely one of the yummiest desserts I’ve ever made.    If you know me, you know that is saying a lot- I used to bake over 30 dozen cookies at Christmas and that was just the cookies.

I got the recipe from here.  It sucks having to convert from metric,  but just Google it.  Serve it piping hot with vanilla ice cream.  You can totally make ahead and reheat it.  Just make it  per the instructions (go ahead and pour the sauce over it the first time it comes out of the oven) and then pop it in the oven again when you’re ready for it.

Keep in mind- this is a SUPER sweet and SUPER decadent dessert.  Definitely not one to serve to the “I’d don’t really have a sweet tooth” kind of guest. 

Hong Kong Style

Proximity made Chops one of my usual lunch places when people wanted to impress me or get my business.  The last thing I ever wanted for lunch was a slab of beef making it was kind of a waste to dine at such a great Atlanta steakhouse.  I was on a crab cake kick when I finally found a dish I loved- Hong Kong style sea bass.  You can also get it at the Atlanta Fish Market since they’re owned by the same crazy guys.  I used to deal with them professionally and I mean they are CRAZY and not in a good way. 

I digress.

So, I’ve been to Hong Kong and I can’t tell you if this is even an actual style there, but it’s super yummy, pretty healthy and my version was on heavy rotation at our house back when we  lived at home. I added some mushrooms to make it a heartier meal this time since my fish was wee bit scrawny.

You’ll need:

- 1 package of baby portabellas (thickly sliced)

- 1 bunch spring onions (chopped leaving aside a handful for garnish)

- Inch or two of fresh ginger (dice most and then thinly sliced the rest for garnish- I’m a freak for fresh ginger so I add probably double this amount)

- 1 cup of  soy sauce

- 1/4 cup of orange juice

-2 fillets of your fave white (flakey but firm) fish i.e. halibut, sea bass, etc. I used hake since that was what was fresh here

-1 bag pre-cut spinach (hey, it’s easier)

- Rice (whatever your fave is- I used basmati because I had it and I like how light and fluffy it is for this light dish. Depending on what you use you may need to start it well before the rest of the dishes.  I’d say it takes about 25 minutes max to prep and cook veggies and fish.)

So cut your first 3 ingredients as stated…

So you throw all this…

into a pan on medium heat. Mix soy with orange juice and pour 2/3rds the mixture into the pot…

Cook the mushrooms down until tender but not mushy.

While those are going, heat a tablespoon of evoo in a pan and then brown your fish fillets.  When they’re on their last minute I spoon some of the mushroom sauce (not the actual shrooms) over them for flavor.

Last, but not least, pour in the remaining soy/orange juice mixture and spinach into a pot over high heat.  It will literally take seconds to wilt the spinach. Just stir constantly until it looks like this…

Serve it all over rice and top with fresh ginger slices and spring onion…

This is great summer fare- light, fresh and easy.

waste not, want not

Throwing away food makes me physically ill.  I’ve always hated the waste and loss of money, but after traveling to so many developing countries it truly makes me sick to throw away what so many would literally kill for.   I’m a huge advocate of leftovers and if the Wife can’t handle one more day of whatever it is I’ve made- I freeze it.

Thursday I realized I had some veggies that would probably spoil before I had a chance to use them the following week.  All I could think about was the cleaning lady, who likely lives in a township (think: house made of whatever scraps of metal or cardboard they can find and rocks holding their roof on),  coming in to take out our garbage and finding all that wasted food.  Disgusted at the mere thought I decided to make a soup…

I roughly chopped up everything from the fridge that was on its last leg- a couple carrots, some cabbage, and a good bunch of green beans.  I sautéed a diced onion in a little evoo, threw in the veggies and tossed them around a bit before adding chicken stock.  They don’t have chicken stock in a can here so no fat-free versions, only bouillon cubes, which I had left over from a dinner.

I have only bought fresh herbs and those were all gone, so I was a little worried about the flavor.  I threw in a clove of garlic and then after remembering I had some chopped green chilies, added in a good teaspoon for some heat. Simmer until veggies are tender.

I divided it up in containers to freeze for future lunches.  I could have added some pasta noodles and it would have been hearty enough for a dinner.

Easy.

Healthy.

Delicious.

Responsible. 

I’m sure my future children will appreciate your prayers.  I’m obviously going to be taking the “children starving in Africa” bit to a whole new level.

farm fresh

While at Spier Winery we dined at their restaurant 8. We had tried to go for lunch on Saturday but they had closed early. After the guy telling us that every vegetable, herb and meat came directly from their farm we were determined to eat there on Sunday and waited for about an hour to snag a table.

It was a delicious little Sunday dinner.

Fresh bread and olive oil (loved this plating!)…

A gift from the chef- sweet pumpkin soup…

Chicken pie with puff pastry (think chicken and dumpling with no dumplings)…

and I went with the roasted chicken and vegetables…

Of course we had already done a tasting at the winery and were able to choose two perfect pairings-chenin blanc for me and a gamay rose for the wife…

We used her head as a reference as to how big these pours were. Huge.

lots of grub, little calories

I live my life in a constant state of “vacation mode”.  Living in different places constantly means new food to try and even when you try to make be good and make healthy choices- you never really know what you’re getting.  “Oh, I’ll have the veggies instead of fries.”  Good job until those veggies come to the table glistening from all the glorious butter they were cooked in.

Needless to say, each time I check off another country on my map I end up moving down another hole on my belt loop.  Not good.

So, with having an apartment we can finally know what we’re putting in our bodies and ensure it won’t make any bigger than when we got here.

We had some yummy braised chicken and cabbage at the B&B in Nelspruit along with a feast of veggies…

Because I’m a creature of habit and can eat the same thing over and over and over and over and…well, you get the point, I decided to take inspiration from the meal.

I loved the chicken with the tangy cabbage, but no way was I deboning a whole bird and I needed to skip the skin to avoid fat/calories.  The veggies served were all delicious, but I wanted to keep it simple and avoid the heavy cream and butter.

I didn’t grow up eating cabbage because my grandmother didn’t like it.  She didn’t’ cook it which meant I never learned to make it or appreciate it for that matter.  I now love it!

I made this recipe up, but it turned out to be pretty good.  I highly recommend doing it in a slow-cooker though to keep the chicken nice and moist.

1/2 cup of chicken broth, 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar and salt/pepper to taste a large head of shredded cabbage. I sautéed for a few minutes over medium high heat so I could fit it in my baking dish.

I couldn’t find red at my store, but I think it would be much prettier. 

Brown 4 chicken breast and lay on top of cabbage.  Since I was covering this dish to keep the chicken moist from the cabbage steam I wanted to brown it although this is totally not necessary.  I just don’t like the look of  an all white chicken breast.  Again, if I’d had a crock pot handy I would have totally used it.   I cooked mine for about 45 minutes covered with foil at 375.

For sides I did fresh green beans…

Trim off ends and just throw in a pot of water and boil to your desired consistency.   I added a little chicken stock (I had some leftover from the cabbage) and some garlic for a little flavor.

I also found some sweet corn!!!

Guys, sweet corn is not common.  You leave the U.S. and you’re going to find plenty of corn, but rarely will it be sweet.  Latin America killed me with their huge ears of roasted corn they’d be selling everywhere.  I’d be so excited to get one and each time bite into a mouth of grainy, not sweet grossness.  WTH?!

This corn was so fresh and so sweet you have no need for butter or even salt for that matter.  Oh. so. good.

dinner in the bush

We had an awesome dinner in the bush on our safari weekend. The torch light was not conducive for pics, but I will say I am now a HUGE fan of ostrich and of malva pudding. I plan on making that pudding very soon so stay tuned for the recipe.

I also finally found a way to like pap, a thick porridge-esque maize substance, that is a staple down here. I’ve always found it ridiculously bland and too thick for my liking, but our chef told us to eat it with the spicy tomato, onion and bean mixture called chakalaka. Delicious.

Woman cooking pap over hot coals.

hold the beef

I’m so not a vegetarian.  I may have even been known to pressure one certain friend who is a vegetarian to go back to eating meat with promises of not being so cold all the time that she has to use blankets at the beach.  I’m all for being an omnivore.

However, I am one who cares about the earth.  You can read all about the shocking effects we could have on our earth if we all just stopped eating meat one day a week- here.  It is insane how much good could come of it. 

So I’m now committed to skipping meat at least 1 day or more a week. 

My first meatless dish was a baked butternut pasta. We had some pumpkin lasagna in Australia so I created something similar while keeping the calories and fat low.

Half a smallish butternut squash and place face down on a sprayed baking sheet.  Roast for about 45 minutes or until tender.  Then mash the heck out of it and salt to taste.

Homemade pasta sauce is so freaking easy- 1 onion diced, 2 cans of diced tomatoes or 4 large fresh tomatoes diced, fresh garlic, basil, oregano (I throw the herbs in whole instead of chopping), salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 cup red or white wine- caramelize the onions in a tiny bit of evoo, add the garlic for about a minute (burnt garlic = bitter awfulness), deglaze the pan with the wine. then just add the rest and simmer until thick.  I usually add a tiny pinch of sugar to mellow the acidity of the tomatoes- a little trick a chef taught me a million years ago.  This is my basis for tons of different sauces- add meat, chunky veggies or red chilies…the variations are endless. I doubled my recipe for this dish.

While that’s simmering, prepare some whole wheat pasta. I used penne so layering wasn’t really a good option so I threw the sauce, pasta, squash and the majority of one small container of low fat ricotta in a huge bowl and gently mixed.  Then throw that in a sprayed casserole dish and top with remaining ricotta and a handful or so of parm…

Bake at 375 until bubbly and golden brown…

This made like 12 servings which I fed to friends, us over two nights and froze the remaining. Thanks to my grandmother,  I only know how to cook for an army. 

thank you mr. penguin

This guy is like a macked-out version of a Snoopy snow cone machine (which I owned and LOVED)…

He lived at the ramen house, but I think it is actually Korean.  If you ever see him you should get one of his tasty cold delights. 

I got the green tea…

It is like cotton candy ice cream- so light and fluffy it melts upon contact with your mouth.  It’s also like 1/10 the fat and calories of ice cream.  I need to find one of these bad boys and bring him home!