Challenge Accepted!

Since the Churro Debacle of 2013 has been weighing heavily on our hearts and minds, it is time to face our nemesis.  For those of you who can’t remember… our first try at dessert was an epic disaster.   I know, I know, pretty hard to believe.  Us? Fail? But alas, it is true.  This time they turned out great!

The first, and most essential, step: the recipe.  This time we did a little research, and it goes a little something like this:

1 cup hot water

½ cup melted butter

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

3 eggs

 

Then take the mixture and put it into a piping bag with a star tip.  Pipe it into hot oil (using a pan with lower sides). Brown on all sides, sugar and cinnamon it, and eat!

 

Nailed it!

Our Guest from Germany!

Did we mention we were going to have guest bloggers???  Here's the very first! Please give her a warm welcome all the way from Germany!

Before I had ever set foot in Germany, my first thoughts of my new home were: the land of harsh language, brutal efficiency and beer, sausages and potatoes. Now that I’ve been living here for over three years, I can attest that those things are true, but much more!

Most of what North Americans envision as German is actually Bavarian; so while there are actually people running around in leather pants and milkmaid dresses, serving foods that go well with beer (ie. Bread, pretzels, sausages, potatoes, sauerkraut, roasted pork knuckle etc.), there are whole cultures within Germany that don’t. Many traditional German restaurants do serve a lot of pork and potatoes, but there are cream-sauced schnitzels in the southwest, cheesy noodle casseroles in the southeast, onion cake served with late-season wine in central wine regions and delicious fish dishes and kale on the northern coast, to name a few. Even the varieties of potato salad change; the more north one goes, the creamier the consistency!

There is also a large Turkish influence on the food culture here because of the large waves of Turkish immigrants that started arriving to help rebuild the nation after WWII. “Dönerladen” are found on most street corners in larger cities and at least in every neighbourhood in smaller villages. The famous “Döner”, also known as “Kebap”, is essentially shaved meat on a bun, but is a national dish in itself. It is arguably more favoured than even the German-discovered “Currywurst”, which is a sausage covered in curry ketchup and curry powder. Also, curry ketchup on fries? Yum!

Some of the things that have surprised me the most about the eating culture here include eating an entire pizza by one’s self (with a knife and fork, of course!) and massive ice cream platters that can be a foot tall! Especially being familiar with the very German idea of moderation (where lunch can be just half a bun with a slice of smoked meat on top), this seems like a jarring discrepancy. But with their almost obsessive fascination with nature, trekking through various woods seems to keep their weights down.

One thing I would advise anyone hoping to befriend a German is this: do not start a conversation about bread! Germans are fiercely proud of their more than 400 varieties of bread, a lot of which is affectionately called “black bread”. A whole lot more chewing than what the typical North American is used to, the Germans find the tough texture most appealing, and ridicule our ‘toast bread’ as mooshy and unhealthy. Ignore and move on.

Enjoy!

Germany

We were trying to figure out where to go next.  From all this talk of the Superbowl, I had football on the brain.  And football made me think of European football.  And soccer made me think of Mrs. Doubtfire.  And Mrs. Doubtfire made me think of England… So we’re going to Germany!  I actually went last summer.  I was invited by a friend of mine who’s living there.  To be honest, Germany wasn’t exactly calling my name, but I’ll try anything once.  After going, though, I loved it!  The people, the culture, the food, and the beer were great!

This week, no drink.  I know, I know, not our style, but it’s mid-week and we didn’t have it together.  I’d suggest some apfelwein or bier.  We do have a nice little menu, however.  Schnitzel and spaetzle and strudel, oh my!

 

Spaetzle is German dumplings.  Check out our awesome setup.  Unfortunately, the whole apparatus was in the pot of hot water moments later.  Never fear, you can always cut the dough off the edge of a plate.   

 

Next we made some wienerschnitzel. Take some thinly sliced veal and tenderize the heck out of it.

 

Dredge it in some seasoned flour, egg, and some seasoned bread crumbs.  The trick is not to press the crumbs into it.  Just let ‘em sit on there and do their thing.

 

Finally… Hallo Strudel!  We read that we should roll out the dough onto a floured towel.  This took us a while to understand… Why a towel? What kind of towel? Would it work on plastic wrap?  How about parchment paper?  Let us take the mystery out of it for you… Take a regular old kitchen towel, and put a bunch of flour on it.

 

 

Then roll your dough out onto the towel.

Now take your apple mixture and put it in the middle of the dough leaving some around the edge to wrap.

Bring the edges together.  Now… Here’s where the towel thing started to click.You flip the strudel onto a pan so the seams end up being face down. Ohhhhhh…

You can tell we didn’t like this at all, huh?

 

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New Orleans

Superbowl Sunday. A “holiday” great enough to make us take a trip within our own country and pay homage to New Orleans. A city situated in Louisiana, best known for its music and tasty bites…French Creole and Cajun, anyone? Yes, please!

 

First, the drink (are we noticing a pattern here?). For whatever reason, we were both feeling a little tense and needed a local beverage to take the edge off. What makes you forget your troubles better than a nice glass of milk punch (or two…or three)?

 

Hush Puppies were first on the list. We tried to make ours more traditional using almost entirely corn meal instead of flour. We’ve heard that making sauces for Hush Puppies is blasphemous in the south, but luckily for us, we’re a bunch of Yankees. We made an aioli with Cajun spices and gumbo filé .   

 

 

We also nommed on shrimp and grits. Shrimp, stock, veggies, and spices served over grits.

 

Finally, for dessert: Bananas Foster. Check out our flambé action…Just like a pro! The only thing we’d do differently is cut the banana lengthwise instead of rounds...And not pour booze over an open flame.
 

Admittedly we had several takes (to benefit our readers, not our taste buds of course!), so our banana sauce was extra rummy… But we ain’t complaining.

Cheers!!!

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Morocco

Well, I’m all on my onesies for this one, guys.  While Henwietta is physically in El Salvador for work, I am imaginarily crossing the Straits of Gibraltar and stopping directly south of Spain in Morocco.  I think she probably got the better deal this time, but I am hoping some Harira, Vegetable Couscous Tfaya, Cinnamon Oranges, and Mint Tea can help me feel less salty. 

To give you a little bit of an idea of where I’m at, Morocco is in northwest Africa and is on both the Atlantic and Mediterranean.    Culinary wise, it’s interesting because it has so many influences- Arab, Berber, European (French and Spanish), etc.  

The drink: Mint Tea.  This is green tea steeped with mint and a little bit of sugar.  Apparently making proper Moroccan mint tea is an art.  I’m sure that I am no tea making artist, but I have to say this tasted pretty good.  When I finally make it there in real life, I’m bringing back a tea set!

Today I chose to make Harira, a traditional soup, especially eaten during Ramadan.  Start by making the stock by browning chicken, adding shredded onion, celery, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, cilantro and parsley, as well as pureed tomato (skin and seed the tomatoes before pureeing) and a few cups of water.  Let it simmer and enjoy the delicious fragrance as it fills your kitchen.  Then, add 2 quarts of water, 4 tablespoons of both lentils and rice.  And again, you let it simmer away.  At this time, mix together 1 cup of flour and 2 cups of water.  Add the slurry to the soup after everything’s cooked, let it cook for 5 more minutes, and you’ve got yourself one tasty bite.  Harira took a while to make, but if you enjoy more of a nice and easy approach to cooking (who doesn’t), you could totally make the stock a day or two before to shorten the prep time the day of.

 

When I lived in Malaga (southern Spain) there was this restaurant called Mediterraneo II.  It has the most amazing couscous known to man.  I was determined to create this dish that easily rates in my top 10 best things ever eaten.  With that said, I looked up a few different traditional Moroccan couscous recipes and combined them to make the couscous of my dreams.  For the couscous itself, I brought water to a boil with some butter, cinnamon, and cumin.  After it comes to a boil, you remove it from the heat and add the couscous.  Couldn’t be any easier.  The vegetables were carrots and zucchini cooked in a little bit of olive oil, water, cinnamon, all spice, salt, and pepper.  Again, easy as pie.  The part that makes this dish totally awesome, in my humble opinion, is the Tfaya (a raisin and onion sauce), so listen closely:  Thinly slice an onion.  In a bowl, put ½ cup of raisins in some water and drain them after 10 or 15 minutes.  Put the onions, soaked raisins, 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of pepper, ½ teaspoon of ginger, some salt, ¼ teaspoon of saffron, and ½ a cup of water.  Cover it and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.  Mix it all together and what do you got?  Vegetable Couscous Tfaya. I may have to practice a little bit more to get it to Mediterraneo II status, but man, was this good.

Finally, dessert.  After failing epically during our first attempt at dessert (The Churro Debacle of 2013, for those of you who have forgotten), I thought keeping it short, simple, and foolproof was the way to go this time.  Hence: Cinnamon Oranges.  I know, I know, you’re thinking, “Cinnamon and Oranges…Who cares?!”  Well, dear Sir or Madame, you need to stop being such a snob and do the following: Cut off the skin of a couple of oranges, and then cut them into rounds.  Mix together a couple of tablespoons of fresh orange juice with a little cinnamon and sugar.  (They use orange blossom water traditionally in Morocco.  Left it out this time since I couldn’t get my hands on it.)  Coat those bad boys, put them on a plate, and sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top.  No disaster this time!

 

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Spain

When we think of bite-size foods, naturally we think of Spanish tapas.  As good a place to start as any!  What are tapas?  Basically, Spanish appetizers… Small dishes to share while you’re having a nice cold drink with your buddies.  Delicioso.  There are a variety of types, and different regions have their own.  We chose to make berenjenas con miel (eggplant with honey), tortilla de patata (potato omelet), and gambas a la plancha (pan fried shrimp).  For dessert: churros… but we’ll get to The Churro Debacle of 2013 later.

But first: The drinks!  Sangria, the stereotypical drink of Spain that I’m sure you’re all familiar with, was just what we needed to prepare ourselves for all this fancy cooking nobody thought we could pull off.  Some red wine, fruit, carbonation, and you’re good to go.  I guess brandy is a common ingredient in it too.  I don’t know, I’m more of a tinto de verano girl, myself.  We weren’t looking for super boozy, we did have to cook, after all.

Tapa #1: Berenjenas con Miel. This is a typical tapa in Andalucía.  In fact, the last time I was there, my friend and I, being unsatisfied with our breakfast of bread, tomato, and olive oil,  walked up and down the streets to find a place that served berenjenas con miel (and let’s be real, a bunch of other amazing tapas).  It’s that good.  Got to have it every time.

Tapa #2: Tortilla de Patata is also known as Tortilla Española (Spanish Omelet), that’s how popular it is.  First, dice up some potatoes, onion, and garlic.  Cook in olive oil until potatoes are cooked through.  Drain the excess oil.  Salt and pepper the potato mixture.  In another bowl, scramble a couple of eggs with a little milk.  Add the potato mixture to the bowl to coat.  Then put the egg mixture in the pan over medium heat.  Let it cook until it’s solid (about 5 minutes).  The next part is the trick: Take a plate, cover the pan, flip the omelet over onto the plate, and slide it back into the pan so the other side can finish cooking up. Ta da!

Tapa #3: Gambas a la Plancha.  Who doesn’t love shrimp? Everybody loves shrimp! And it’s so versatile…Shrimp gumbo, shrimp cocktail, fried shrimp, shrimp alfredo, shrimp and grits, shrimp chips… and gambas a la plancha, thank you, Bubba Gump, for your tasty bite.

And what’s a meal without dessert?  Churros… Kind of???  Now we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves after making 3 tapas that turned out deliciously, maybe a little overconfident… and then the churros con chocolate.  We’re not even going to go into how to make them, because clearly we aren’t too sure ourselves, but we can provide you a couple of tips on what NOT to do.  A. Don’t use oil that isn’t hot enough.  B. A Ziplock bag with a hole cut in it are strictly meant for professional use. C. Don’t use a tall pan that you have to stick your hand all the way down to pipe said dough out of said ziplock into said oil. And I can’t “said” that enough.  We may have to try to right our churro wrongs with a churro challenge in the future, so get excited.  To be continued…

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Here's What We're All About

Hi, we are Lucinda and Henwietta.  Welcome to Tasty and Somewhat Imaginary Travel Bites!  Between the two of us we’ve lived in Costa Rica, southern Spain, Fiji, New Zealand, and have been to a bunch of other places, and hope to go to many more!  We’re happiest when we’re traveling and eating…to the detriment of both our bank accounts and waistlines… So, we’ve decided to imaginarily eat our way around the world. When the mood strikes us, we’ll pack our bags and fly our kitchen to somewhere amazing.  We’ll learn about the culture and cuisine, put our own spin on our favorite dishes, and document our travels along the way. We’re not the most detail oriented of the bunch, and figure it’s safe to assume that if something piques your interest, you know how to Google.  We also aren’t going to get too much into the measurements. It’s not like every person within a country uses exactly a quarter teaspoon of salt in their recipe, right?  We’re just going to have fun with it and sometimes make things up as we go.  If we ever manage to do something right, we’ll share the secret.  We hope you enjoy our tasty bites of food and knowledge as much as we do! Bon voyage! 

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