Beginning

I am a gourmand, not a gourmet, a food lover, not a food snob.
I hope to share my love of food with you through narratives, restaurant recaps,
menu suggestions, and recipes. Bon appetit!
(And if you blog about food, are you "flogging"?)

Monday, June 27, 2016

Eating in Africa

Words cannot describe the amazing experience of our recent two-week photographic safari in Kenya and Tanzania.  In fact, even though my husband and I each took hundreds of photos, they don’t really do it justice either.

However, I’d like to give you a “taste” of our adventures by focusing on a few of the more memorable meals enjoyed by the animals and the humans.  (Warning:  This is a rather long post.  Get a snack.  Pace yourself.)

The Herbivores

In the grazer category, we admired the graceful bounding of herds of gazelles, elands, antelopes, topis and other deer-like animals.  The herds of Cape buffalo, with the profile of their horns resembling a 1960s “flip” hair-do, were captivating as well.   
Cape buffalo
Impressive in terms of sheer numbers were the thousands of zebras and wildebeests we saw.  Sometime in July, these animals will begin gathering for their “great migration” from the seasonally grazed-out plains of the Serengeti  in Tanzania north to the lush grass of the Maasai Mara in Kenya.  

Our guide estimated that approximately 3 million wildebeests and 1 million zebras will embark on this treacherous journey (along with other herbivores) and many will fall victim to lions, leopards, cheetahs, and especially crocodiles when the herds must cross the croc-infested Mara River.
Zebras on the move


A grazing wildebeest
Here are a few of our favorites in the browser category, those who dine mainly on the vegetation above the grass line, such as bushes, trees, fruits, etc.  Included in this “guest list” is my husband’s favorite animal, the wart hog.
A giraffe reaches for a tasty leaf with his tongue
An olive baboon
A warthog.  So ugly, he's cute.

The Carnivores

Although the dining habits of the meat eaters are  a little more "raw" (literally), observing these animals partaking of their natural prey was breathtaking. (Trigger warning:  There are blood and guts in the following pictures.)  
Cheetahs dining on a gazelle
(Yes, that's blood on his face.)
A cheetah munching on a wart hog
A lion enjoying every last bit of a zebra
A vulture on clean-up duty

The Omnivores: Humans

Most of our meals were served buffet-style in the dining rooms of our hotels, in the lodges of our tent camps, or, once, in an actual tent itself.  

(Lest “tent camps” causes you to have visions of us huddling in a pup tent, the tents we stayed in, while made of canvas, were very large house-like structures--some bigger than any hotel rooms we’ve stayed in--with mosquito-net draped four-poster beds and other furniture and wall-enclosed bathrooms with “real” plumbing.) 

Breakfasts always featured lots of tropical fruits and juices, made-to-order omelets, and an array of side dishes.  The British influence was apparent with the inclusion of grilled tomatoes and baked beans which are often standard fare in a traditional English breakfast.

Lunches and dinners included a wide-variety of salads, entrées and desserts.  The entrées often reflected the Indian-influence on African cuisine, and curries, paneer dishes, and Indian breads. were in the regular rotation. 

I’ll admit to being slightly disappointed that either African food wasn’t more prominently featured, or, if it was, it was rather bland.  

While the Nile perch was delicious, rather flavorless and fatty roasted lamb, chicken and beef were more common, so I mostly ate vegetable dishes.  The “pasta bars,” which featured either Asian or Italian ingredients, just didn’t appeal to me. 

Following, however, are three of our more memorable meals.

Champagne Breakfast on the Maasai Mara Plains

One of the options on our tour was a hot-air balloon ride over the Maasai Mara plains. Having never been in a hot-air balloon, I found the experience exhilarating despite the 5:00 a.m. wake-up call.  

When we landed in an open field, we were treated to a champagne breakfast which included a full bar, a substantial buffet with made-to-order omelets and crepes, and a beautiful table set with linen and china.

There was even an African "port-a-potty" set up at a distance which consisted of a square box with a hole cut out in the center enclosed in a small tent.  


Carnivore

At the end of the trip, we returned to Nairobi and had lunch at the legendary Carnivore restaurant.  This is an open-air landmark that specializes in grilled meats somewhat in the Brazillian churrasco style. 

In a seemingly endless progression, waiters served us from skewers of leg of lamb, beef tenderloin, pork and beef ribs,turkey, chicken livers, pork sausages, lamb sausages, and chicken wings.  

In the “exotic” category, we passed on the ox testicles but did try the ostrich meatballs and crocodile (which, yes, tasted like chicken).  The waiters only stopped bringing the meat when we laid down the small flag on our table in surrender. 


Amaica Café

Oddly enough, we had our most African meal in the Nairobi airport as we waited for our flight back home.  Amaica Café  is one of three Amaica restaurants in Nairobi which specialize in traditional African cuisine.

For an appetizer, we had tsiswa which are flying termites roasted in a dry pan with salt.  We had heard from our tour guide that these are a delicacy and very high in protein.  

They had the consistency and somewhat the taste of finely chopped or “shredded” walnuts.  Indeed tasty and protein-rich, they might have been have been a meal on their own.  The tsiswa were served with three sauces: a spicy red chili and tomato sauce, a green chili and garlic sauce, and a sweet tamarind sauce. 


For our main course, my husband and I shared obwoba which was sort of a creamy ragù of wild traditional mushrooms.  One of our side dishes was omushenye, sweet potatoes and cow peas boiled and mashed, which had the consistency of polenta and a slightly sweet taste. 

The other side was lisutasa, black night shade leaves, which had the taste and consistency of collard greens. The proprietor was so pleased with our obvious enthusiasm about our meal that she stopped by our table and even explained how termites are harvested.  

Even though it was eaten in that unrelenting glaring light that airports have, this meal really capped off an amazing trip. 

Monday, February 15, 2016

The "Perfect Food" for Valentine's Day


For as long as I’ve known him, my husband has preached the “gospel” of pineapple.   In his words, “Pineapple is the perfect food.”  He claims pineapple goes with everything.  I can’t count the number of dinner-table conversations that went something like this:

Me:  “But pineapple wouldn’t go good on tacos.” 
Him:  “Sure it would!   How about a pineapple, onion, jalapeno salsa?”

                                   Or:

Me:  “But pineapple wouldn’t go good on liver.”
Him:  “Oh yeah!   Sautéd in the pan with the onions.  Yum!”

So while this all-pineapple meal was in part intended as a gift of love to my husband on Valentine's Day, part of it was to say, "You want pineapple?  I'll give you pineapple!"

The "Perfect Food" Menu

Father's Day Cocktail
Cream Cheese, Pepper Jelly & Pineapple Heart
Cucumber, Tomato & Pineapple Salad with Asian Dressing
Panko-Crusted Pork Cutlets with Pineapple & Ginger Salsa
Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Pineapple
Pineapple Foster

Father's Day Cocktail

I'm sure someone thought of this before me, but I didn't consult a recipe when I made this for a Father's Day at our river camp.

Source:  original

Yield: one cocktail

Ingredients:

Ice
Coconut rum, such as "Malibu"
8 oz. pineapple juice
Club soda

Process:

Fill a tall glass half-way with ice cubes.  Pour in the coconut rum and pineapple juice.  Top off with club soda and stir.  Garnish with fresh pineapple.

Cream Cheese, Pepper Jelly & Pineapple Heart

Source:  original

Yield:  2-4 servings

Ingredients:

4 oz. cream cheese (approximately)
1-2 T. red pepper jelly (I used "Tabasco" brand)
2 T. minced pineapple (canned crushed, drained could be substituted)
1-2 T. minced chives
crackers for serving

Process:

Place a large piece of plastic wrap on a small plate. Place a large heart-shaped cookie cutter on the plastic wrap. Fill the cookie cutter with the cream cheese, smoothing the surface. (You can make the cream cheese heart as thin or thick as you want. Mine was about 1/2 inch.)  Chill cream cheese heart until solid. Unmold on serving plate. Spread the pepper jelly on the heart, then distribute the pineapple on top, leaving some of the pepper jelly visible. Garnish with chives. Bring to room temperature before serving as a cracker spread.

Cucumber, Tomato & Pineapple Salad
with Asian Dressing

I wanted to mix up this menu in terms of "ethnicity."  This salad has a wonderful Thai flavor.

Source:  Gourmet, June 2006

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 large garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (2-inch-long) fresh serrano or chilé, minced, including seeds*
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Asian fish sauce
1/2 seedless, or English cucumber, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 pineapple, peeled, quartered lengthwise, cored, then sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick (2 cups)*
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro*
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
2 medium tomatoes (1 lb. total), cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges*

Process:

Mince garlic, then mash to a paste with salt using side of a large heavy knife.  Whisk together lime juice and sugar in a large bowl until sugar is dissolved, then whisk in oil, garlic paste, chilé, and fish sauce (to taste). Add remaining ingredients, tossing to coat, and add salt to taste.

* Notes:  I used the jalapeño without the seeds as I didn't want to blow our heads off.  I used a little more pineapple and cut it more in 1/2-inch chunks.  I used 2 Roma tomatoes sliced in 1/2-inch slices, and then I sliced the slices in half.


Panko-Crusted Pork Cutlets with
Pineapple & Ginger Salsa

This recipe has a great Caribbean vibe to it.

Source:  Bon Appetit, June 2007

Yield:  4

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups ½-inch cubes peeled fresh pineapple
2 T.  sugar
2 tsp. minced peeled fresh ginger
¾  c. (or more) water*
½ red bell pepper, diced*
2 tsp. white wine vinegar
4 boneless pork loin chops, trimmed
2 large eggs
1 ¼ c. panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
salt & pepper*
1 ½ tsp. ground cumin
1/3  c. (about) all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons canola oil

Process:

Stir pineapple cubes, sugar, minced ginger, and 3/4 cup water in medium saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture comes to boil. Reduce heat to medium; cover and simmer until pineapple is soft, stirring often and adding more water by ¼ cupfuls if dry, about 30 minutes. Stir in white wine vinegar.  Season pineapple salsa to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, pound pork between sheets of waxed paper to ½-inch thickness; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Whisk eggs in medium bowl to blend. Mix panko and ground cumin in another medium bowl. Place flour on plate. Dredge pork in flour; dip into beaten eggs, then turn in panko mixture to coat, pressing to adhere.  Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add pork and cook until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Serve pork with pineapple salsa.

Notes:  I found that a lot of water remained in the pan after I had cooked the pineapple, so I drained it off.  I added the red pepper for a little more texture, color and taste. I used a commercial jerk seasoning that contains salt, pepper & spices to season the pork.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Pineapple

Source:  Everyday Food, Dec. 2011

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 shallot, minced*
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Coarse salt

Process:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss together sweet potatoes, pineapple, oil, and cayenne pepper.  Season with salt.  Roast until sweet potatoes and pineapple are tender and golden, 30 to 35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

*Note:  I added the shallot to counter the sweetness of the potatoes and pineapple.

Pineapple Foster

This is a riff on the classic New Orleans dessert Bananas Foster which was first created in 1951 at Brennan's Restaurant.

Source:  Bon Appetit

Yield:  2 servings

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 3/4-inch-thick slice fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, cut into chunks (I cut it smaller)
Vanilla ice cream

Process:

Melt butter and sugar in heavy medium nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly. Add rum and nutmeg and stir until very thick and syrupy, about 2 minutes. Add pineapple and stir just to heat through. Spoon pineapple and sauce over ice cream.

Note:  I doubled the sauce recipe because it sounded so good!