Week 28: Colombia

This is a very special GOTD because one of the co-authors of this blog (me Michael), lived in Colombia for a time as a child. Ah to be a 7 years old and a drug mule... but that is a story for another time.

Colombia was one of the most advanced areas in South America, ironically, until the Europeans showed up and slaughtered all that progress. Since then the country has had its ups and downs, but mainly downs. The difficult jungle and forested areas are perfect for guerrilla and narco-terrorism operations. Even with US aid, corruption and violence was endemic throughout the 80s and 90s; assassinations, kidnappings and bombings against infrastructure were common.

President Alvaro Uribe was elected in 2002 on a platform of security and has weakened the narco-terrorists significantly. Weary and unable to seize control of the government, these paramilitary groups have been in decline and many have left the ranks. Currently, Colombia is facing another problem. Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, who is no friend to the US, is saber rattling over Colombia's plans to allow the US access to 7 military bases. Meanwhile, Uribe is accusing Chavez of supporting cross border rebel operations.

Sounds nasty. What doesn't sound nasty is our yummy Colombian dinner!

For our recipe we made a traditional Colombian dish called Ajiaco. We used a modern recipe as the traditional version is extremely hardy. We took the recipe from the Bitchen Camero blog (coolest name ever), who in turn borrowed it from Food and Wine magazine May 2009. The stew was a lovely combo of textures and flavors.



I have always wanted to visit the place I lived in Colombia, but it is in a unsafe region. The State Department discourages travel there in general and issues strident warnings about traveling to rural areas. Unfortunately, I lived in the remote town of Albania, Guajira where my father was part of the Cerrejon coal mine project. Those time were idyllic in my mind but the coal mine, a pit some 30 by 5 miles, has destroyed the local environment and displaced indigenous peoples (more information here).

I found this sentence on the wikipedia page for Albania:

"Albania was previously an exclusive enclosed camp site for the Cerrejon coal mine workers and their families." - Wikipedia: Albania, Guajira

One of those families was mine!

Week 11: Mexico

Hello Mexico and all our Mexican buddies south of the border! Mexico is the most populous Spanish speaking country in the world. Our neighbors introduced the world to chocolate (¡Hola Mexico! where have you been all my life?) and giant bumble bee costumes. Mexico City, the capitol, was once a mountain lake and the home of the Aztecs who later founded a popular family style Mexican restaurant chain. The city is sinking 6-8 inches per year and many inhabitants overcompensate with high heel boots and super tall sombreros.

This week we wanted to make Huevos con Dios but had trouble finding the ingredients. So instead we made fish tacos with homemade tortillas (one of which was in the shape of a storm trooper, no joke).

Homemade Tortillas

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4 Tb. margarine or shortening
• 1 1/4 cup warm water

We cut the cold margarine into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender. Then stirred in the water until a sticky dough was formed and then briefly kneaded. This was divided it in half and we further divided one half into 5 balls and the other have into 10 balls, making 10 small and 5 large tortillas. These were allowed to rest while the skillet was heated to medium high. We then rolled them into to very thin circles and cooked them on the skillet. They cook very quickly and need to be flipped. You should get a little browning on the raised spots.



Taco Filling

• tilapia fillets, broiled
• thinly sliced green cabbage
• pico de gallo (gracias, Whole Foods)
• homemade guacamole (gracias, Emilie)
• fresh chopped cilantro
• lime juice

Of course, we complemented all this with some delicious margaritas! Olé!

• 1 shot (a jigger) tequila
• 1/2 oz triple sec
• juice of half a lime

Shake all this up in a cocktail shaker with cracked ice. Then strain into a chilled with a salted rim (coarse kosher salt works well for this) and filled with ice.

Muy Bueno! Did we mention ¡Miguel! (Michael) is learning Spanish?

¡Que mi perro tiene dinero! Por favor, no me secuestran. Tengo diarrea.

Special Edition: King Cake for Mardi Gras

"If music be the food of love, play on."
-Duke Orsinio, Twelfth Night, Act 1, Scene 1

What about food that is the food of love? Eat on?

Last week for Mardi Gras (Tuesday says, "You calling me fat?") we baked a king cake. It is like a wreath, only edible, traditionally enjoyed between Twelfth Night and Lent. The tradition was brought to the southern US by French and Spanish colonists in the days of yore. It takes its name from the Biblical three kings, who journeyed to Bethlehem over twelve days, arriving with gifts for baby Jesus on Epiphany.

The recipe says to bake "until golden." At this stage our king cake was still slightly undercooked in the middle. Jean also made the frosting too thick, and it sort of weighed down the delicate cake. Next time we would thin the frosting to a very light glaze so that it more easily drizzles.

At any rate, it was very pretty with its traditional green, gold and purple sprinkles, and it tasted quite yummy.

We forgot to hide a mini baby Jesus inside, so that whoever finds him would win all sorts of privileges and obligations. It has become customary in the New Orleans culture, for example, that whoever finds the trinket hidden inside must provide the next king cake.

Week 5: Brazil

Brazil is named after a tree, can you guess which one? Wrong! It's the Brazil Tree. Brazil also is the leading exporter of which nut that is not a nut? The answer is: the Brazil Nut. Despite being only slightly smaller than the US, Brazil only has 26 states which is barely over half what the United States has. Quitters. Suck it Brazil! USA USA USA!

Feijoada, which is considered the national dish of Brazil, was brought to South America by the Portuguese. It is a stew of beans with beef and pork meats. W found many recipes for this and thought it might be fun to just wing it. And maybe use only the tastiest meats. The result was not at all soupy, because I’m not feeling particularly soupy today.

Jeanoada’s Feijoada

• 2 T olive oil
• 2 linguiça sausages, casings removed
• 2 pork spare ribs, chopped
  
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and pork and cook until browned, breaking up the sausage. Add the onions and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the bay leaves and black beans and cook until the meat is fully cooked. Add a little water to the pan if necessary. It made about 4 portions of deliciousness. Definitely a repeat. Next time I’ll remember to add bacon.

Week 3: United States

It was difficult to decide how to approach this week. Should we go with the great American diner breakfast? Should we research Native American foods? Ultimately we decided to go with something very regional, and native: salmon and blueberries. We simply baked some wild King salmon, and topped it with a balsamic/blueberry reduction with a little local (Harvard, Idaho) honey. It was a delicious combination and went very well with the roasted red potatoes we made, with some rosemary from the back yard. To drink we had a delicious Washington state wine, Chateau St. Michelle Chardonnay, and also some Cascade Brown Ale, brewed by Michael using cascade hops grown in our front yard. Could dinner BE more local? In January, when the garden is bare, probably not!
















A few fun facts about the USA:

• The USA has more Americans per capita than any other country in the world. Amazing!
• Fattest country on earth, followed by Mexico and the UK.
• The USA is the largest country on earth^*
• The USA boasts 146 Heliports, the most in the world.
• Worlds largest consumer of cocaine. That blows!

^*Except for Russia and Canada