Monday, October 17, 2011

England - Tea Time

Photobucket

England

We had afternoon tea.

A huge thank you to Sarah for all of the effort that went into the baking for the tea. She made breads, lemon bars, shortbread cookies, tea sandwiches of cucumber and mint, and scones. She even made a taste substitute for clotted cream for the scones which, being unpasteurized, is not easy to come by.

Photobucket

Photobucket

The lemon bars were my favorite, followed closely by the shortbread and jam cookies. The cucumber and mint sandwiches were interesting. I enjoyed them too.

Ireland - sort of.

Photobucket

Ireland!

I made corned beef and Irish soda bread.

Corned Beef:

First I purchased a whole brisket, about 8 lbs, and brined it for 8 days.

Photobucket

I simmered the brisket for 4 hours.

Photobucket

I added whiskey just before finishing.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Soda Bread:

Photobucket

I shaped it into a round cake and cut into quarters, then cooked in a dry cast iron skillet until done.

Photobucket

Finished:

Photobucket

This one was really a hit. There is already a request in for next St. Patrick's Day.

Epilogue -

Corned beef isn't Irish. Who knew???? Apparently, corned beef is an Irish-American dish that came from Jewish kosher beef. Irish immigrants settled near Jewish settlements in New York and Boston and became fond of the kosher beef sold in Jewish delis.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Fiji - Nope, not cooking long pig. Sorry.

Photobucket

Fiji

This was a difficult country to plan. Traditional Fijian foods, like cassava and long pig, are a bit hard to come by around here.

There is a large Indian population on Fiji, so I made Fiji style curry meatballs.

Photobucket

I used potatoes instead of cassava.

I mixed all of the ingredients except the flour and oil. After mixing the meat, I formed small meatballs and rolled in flour.

Photobucket

Then fried in oil.

Photobucket

These are bitesized and oh so easy to eat. Yummm.

Wales - Insert witty Monty Python reference here

Photobucket

Wales

I made Welsh oysters and Welsh lamb steaks.

Oysters:

Photobucket

I shucked the oysters, reserving the liquid. I placed the oysters on the half shell in a bed of rock salt and added a sauce made with butter, white wine vinegar, lemon juice and reserved liquid, then sprinkled fresh parsley on top. I baked in the oven for 3 minutes.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Lamb:

Photobucket

I browned the lamb in olive oil then finished in the oven. I made a red wine glaze with currant jelly to finish.

Photobucket

Both were fantastic!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Argentina - don't cry for me, the peppers aren't that hot.

Photobucket

Argentina

I grilled flanken cut short ribs with red chimichurri.

Photobucket

I rubbed the meat with coarse salt, grilled, and served with a chimichurri made from parsley, oregano, red wine vinegar, red wine, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, pepper, salt and garlic olive oil.

Photobucket

Photobucket

I'm not as big of a fan of the red chimichurri as I hoped to be. The green mint one from last year was definitely superior. That said, this was still fine eats. I mean, it is grilled cow, what's not to like??

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Italy. Nomnomnomnomnom

Photobucket

Italy!

I made Italian rolled flank steak and sweet and sour squash.

Flank steak:

Photobucket

First I butterflied the flank steak.

Photobucket

I also roasted the bell pepper in the broiler.

Photobucket

Then I laid out across the marinated flank steak the red peppers, basil leaves, pepper, prosciutto, fresh grated Parmesan and parsley.

Photobucket

I rolled it, tied it and baked for 40 minutes:

Photobucket

Finished:

Photobucket

Sweet and sour pumpkin:

Photobucket

I fried the squash in garlic infused olive oil until done:

Photobucket

I made a balsalmic vinegar reduction with sugar for a sweet and sour sauce, then drizzled the squash with it and topped with fresh chopped mint:

Photobucket

With a nice Chianti:

Photobucket

Delicious. My favorite so far, and half way there!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Tonga Tuna

Photobucket

Tonga

I made Oka Ita (Ceviche)

Photobucket

Diced the vegetables, juiced the limes, sliced the tuna into strips, let marinade for a bit in the refrigerator, and the result was


Photobucket

According to my searches, Tonga has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world. I went with a dish that looked flavorful and healthy. I only used half a jalapeno pepper and it has just the right amount of spice.

I did take a pass on Tonga Toast, available for many years at Disney Resorts. Although toast and banana deep fried in coconut oil sounds pretty good.