Week 24: South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is located, ironically, on the southern tip of the continent of Africa. Who knew?

This former purveyor of apartheid seems to be one of the most diverse countries in the world. English is the most commonly spoken language in official and commercial public life; however, it is only the fifth most-spoken home language. There are eleven official names for South Africa, one in each of the official national languages. And if that isn't enough diversity for you, South Africa has more than 20,000 different plants, or about 10% of all the known species of plants on Earth.

Bad stuff: While Swaziland has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS per capita, South Africa has this largest population of people living with the disease. South Africa was ranked second for murder and first for assaults and rapes per capita.

But to end on a high note: the first human to human heart transplant was performed here. Yay technology/medicine!

And to end on an even higher note, dinner was delicious. This pot pie was pretty light and flavorful, where this kind of dish can be -- and usually is -- heavy and bland. We stole from several recipes online and scaled down the portions for just two servings. I think this dish represents the colonial influences rather than indigenous, but that's sort of how South Africa rolls. It's all about diversity.


Hoender Pastei a.k.a. Boer Chicken Pie

One boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 teaspoon pickling spices
1/2 tsp salt
1 small onion, halved
1 cup carrots, halved
2 cups chicken broth

2 T butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup white wine
Salt, pepper
1 egg yolk, reserve egg white
2 T lemon juice

2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
2 slices ham, chopped

Pie crust dough rolled out and cut to cover the tops of two 4-inch ramekins.

Place the chicken, spices, salt, onions, and carrots in a saucepan with broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Strain the broth and reserve. Cut the chicken up into bite-sized pieces. Slice the carrots in half and reserve.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir well, forming a roux. Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly, then add the reserved broth and the wine. Stir until thickened slightly. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks and lemon juice together until frothy, then add to the sauce very slowly. Beat well, and continue cooking until sauce thickens more. Remove from the heat.

Preheat the oven to 400. Chop carrots into bite size pieces. In ramekins, place chicken on the bottom, top with egg slices, ham, and carrots. Cover with the sauce.

Lay pie crust over ramekins. Press along the edge firmly. Score to allow steam to escape. Brush dough with egg white.

Bake for 40 minutes. Crust should be golden brown.

Week 23: Italy

If you visit Italy, don't forget one of the classic blunders. The most famous of course, is never get involved in a land war in Asia. But only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!
We certainly kept that in mind ourselves the one and only time we visited Italy.

Italy is a country of 60 million people and 90% of those are catholic. Italy has a rich history. (If you didn't know this, where have you been? Seriously. Try watching some PBS. Just have it on in the back ground or something, I mean c'mon). Here, you will find the most perfect pair of marble buttcheeks in the world on Michelangelo's David, and countless other priceless (yet not all buttcheek related) pieces of art. Despite this, Italy has many problems as a modernizing nation. Its lengthy and difficult-to-protect coastline allows easy access for illegal immigrants and a flourishing drug trade. Corruption and organized crime are, at times, rampant. These factors have all had a hand in stifling the growth of Italy's economy. In the south especially, the country faces major modernization problems (the parts snuggled up to Germany are quite modern for some reason). Still, tourism is the number one industry and Italy has a lot to show off to the world (not just buttcheeks).

Some of the best meals we have had -- ever -- were in Italy. Anchovy spaghetti, seafood spaghetti, focaccia, and pesto lasagne in Vernazza. Caprese in Florence (sorry, we didn't go to Capri). Gelato gelato gelato. Wine! Everywhere you go, just order the house wine and it's better than anything you have ever had.

Just make sure no one switches glasses while your back is turned.

Even here at home, whether we are cooking ourselves, or dining out, Italian food is probably our favorite. It's comfort food, family food, and there is simply no better way to carb up. And did I mention the wine? We made sure to get ourselves a lovely bottle of Italian red to share for this meal.
Tuna Carpaccio

Beef carpaccio was invented in Harry's Bar in Venice in the 50s. We've never tried beef carpaccio, but when we were in Venice last summer we did order a lovely tuna carpaccio--extremely fresh, and dressed simply with olive oil and delicate slices of grapefruit. The carpaccio to end all carpaccioes...er...carpaccia?...carpacciums?...anyway, the tastiest one is at Ristorante Machiavelli (known as Monkey Valley to everyone that matters) here in Seattle. We attempted to create this masterpiece at home.

We started with a 3/4 pound top-quality sushi-grade ahi steak. Michael only got a little bit of overspray on his tshirt from the flying fish at Pike Place Fish while waiting in line.

I froze the tuna for about 45 minutes and then sliced it horizontally into three approx. 1/4 inch slices. I placed them between plastic wrap, and pounded them out one at a time using a heavy cocktail glass. I pounded from the center outward until it was approx. 1/8 of an inch thick. These went on plates and into the fridge until we were ready to serve them.

I made dressing using dijon mustard, lemon juice and some white balsamic vinegar. It wasn't exactly right, but close.

Using a ziplock baggie with the corner cut off, we drizzled the dressing over the tuna in a zig zagging pattern. On top of this goes: very finely chopped curly leaf parsley, grated parmigiano reggiano (from Italy! Protected under the Denominazione di origine controllata.), capers, and fresh ground pepper. Serve with lemon slices, for squeezing over it all, just before eating.

Heaven!

We rounded our our meal with the best caprese salad of my life, and Michael's homemade focaccia.

We took the recipe from an about.com article that features a little old Italian lady named Margherita making traditional focaccia. It turned out pretty darn tasty and you can see Michael dimpling it for that extra bit of foreign credibility. He made me call him Margherita while he was baking this.

Week 22: The United Kingdom

Jean loves all things British; so much that her college major was English--which happens to be the national language of Great Britain!

Things we love about the UK: First and foremost, Robert Pattinson. Ok, fine. "We" don't love him. Jean does.

But then there is gin, Freddy Mercury, scones, clotted cream, lemon curd, finger sandwiches, tea, teatime in general, trifle, shepherd's pie, London, IPA, Brown Ale, other ale, Bushmills whiskey (Northern Ireland is part of the UK. It totally counts), Mr. Darcy, Jane Austen, Harry Potter, Ben Sherman, Wagamama, Anglophiles, the tube, minding the gap, the gap, British accents, umbrellas, giant hats at weddings, Prince William, The Clash, Dame Julie Andrews, King Arthur, Merlin, Erasure, Alan Rickman, Colin Firth, Imperialism, Monty Python, Bowie, Muse, Def Leppard, english cucumbers, fish & chips, the BBC, tweed, John Oliver, pasties, Sunday Roast (see below), Yorkshire Puddings (see below) calling things puddings that are in no way puddings (see below), Wellies, J.R.R. Tolkien, Professor Steven Hawking, Big Ben and Parliament, the monarchy, use of the Pound instead of the Euro, the invention of tennis, Debrett's, the Pump Room, taking a turn about the room (it's so refreshing), take-away instead of take-out, butlers, Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Sean Connery, Sir David Attenborough , 007, Wham!, Rupert Giles, Spike and Drusilla, Carlisle Cullen, dandyism, kilts (Scotland is part of the UK), scotch, scotch tape, Ewan McGregor, monocles and top hats, and Shakespeare.

Did anyone mention Robert Pattinson and the fact that Jean is a dirty old woman?

Anyway... We decided to do a Sunday Roast for our UK experience. This is typically roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and some kind of vegetable (we did brussels sprouts) served on (you guessed it) Sunday.

Yorkshire Puddings

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• Equal quantity of milk
  
• Equal quantity of flour
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp Sunday Roast pan drippings

Instructions:

Visit Pike Place Market and purchase a Popover Pan at Sur la Table for this very specific occasion.

Whisk to combine milk and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the pinch of salt. Walk away for 10 minutes. Maybe enjoy a cocktail while you wait.

Sift the flour into the mixture and whisk together until creamy. No lumps, Mrs. Bennett, NO LUMPS!

Walk away for another 30 minutes or so. Maybe you need a refill on that cocktail.

Grease the popover pan with a small bit of pan drippings from the roast (or vegetable oil). Heat in the oven at about 450 until the fat is smoking.

Add 1 tbsps cold water to the batter and give it another good whisk. Fill the popover pan to one third of each section return quickly to the oven. Don't dawdle! Bake until golden brown, approx 20 minutes. Enjoy!











Idaho Potatoes - UK Style!

1. Par-boil the potatoes in gently boiling salted water for about 8 minutes. Stop cooking before they're cooked right through.

2. Leave to cool completely, then scratch roughly with a fork and season with a little fine salt.
3. Roast them along with the, um, roast. Baste or turn the potatoes as soon as they go into the pan so they have a light coating of oil from the start.

4. Roast for the last 45 minutes of the roast's cooking time, turning at least once. If they look like they could use a bit more browning leave them in after the roast has come out to rest, while you increase the heat for the Yorkshire pudding.

Roast Beef

We talked to the butcher and got a nice roast. The preparation was straightforward, just a simple rubbing of kosher salt and black pepper. Then into a 450F oven for 30 minutes, then drop the temperature to 325F until the thermometer reads 120F (rare and mooing). Give it at least 20 minutes to rest before slicing.

Put it all together and enjoy with a nice home brewed Brown Ale.

Week 21: France

We love France; the food, the wine, the coffee, the tauntings, the franch fries, the franch dressing and the franch bread. We have been there and experienced the deliciousness first-hand. And we aren't the only ones, France is the most visited country in the world (CIA world factbook). And why not, France is home to the some of the most popular cuisine in the world and the French do their best to protect it's integrity. The Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) makes sure that France's signature products like wines, Cognacs, cheeses, butters and many others are safe from infringing copycats. The baguette is regulated by law in France. The Treaty of Versailles which ended World War I between Germany and the Allied powers affirmed France's sole right to produce Champagne. This, mes amies, is a country with priorities.

Even with such a massive appreciation for food--or perhaps because of it--French people are not fat. French men have the lowest incidence of obesity in the EU, and French women are fatter only than the ladies of Denmark. 44% of Frenchies are atheist, and family and friends greet one another in France with cheek kisses. The number of kisses varies by region from one kiss to as many as five kisses. Skinny, godless and gay? This is why the Bush Administration promoted anti-French sentiment, not because France opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq!

France is a powerful player in the games of international intrigues. It is the fifth largest economy in the world, and the number three military spender in the world behind the U.S. and China, according to estimates by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

All this packed into an area a bit smaller than Texas... seems like we could do a little more with Texas but anyway...

We found the easiest way to choose a dish to cook was simply to throw an imaginary dart at the lists and lists of regional specialties. Actually, it was pretty much that we were in the mood for something seafoody.

Moules à la Normande


2 T unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
2 T fresh thyme
2 T fresh parsley, chopped
2 lbs mussels (we used Penn Cove), de-bearded
1 cup white wine
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup crème fraîche

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic, shallots, and mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes. Add herbs, mussels and wine. Cover and increase heat to high, shaking pot to distribute mussels evenly. Cook until mussels open (3-5 minutes), discarding any that haven’t opened. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm. Bring pan juices to the boil and cook until reduced by a third. Remove from heat, whisk in crème fraîche and season to taste. Pour over mussels. Serve with a crusty baguette.

* If you are planning a visit please feel free to contact us and we can recommend a good beret monogrammer.