Maple Syrup

To make 1/4 gallon (1 quart) of maple syrup requires an astonishing 10.5 gallons of tree sap. Traditionally a metal bucket was MacGyvered to a tree to extract the goods. Now a days, a tube connects all the trees into one happy, meandering mess of sap that flows directly into the sugarhouse, where it is finally boiled down into syrup.

Dulse

Dulse is an edible seaweed eaten in the Atlantic Canada. First it is harvested from the ocean waters, then dried out in the sunl. There are about 250 other varieties of seaweed growing wild on Canada’s shores, but most of them aren’t typically eaten.

Dulse, photo courtesy of Tiny Ian

Filed under: Global Table | 6 Comments »

No, we’re still not giving Linda away.

However, if I could take Linda with me on shopping excursions, I’d probably spend a lot less time scrunching my face up into a question mark while food shopping.

You see, as I cook food and recipes from around the world for my cooking challenge (to eat one meal from each country of the world),  I’m learning just how many ingredients I’ve never heard of. Not that I thought I “knew it all” before this A-Z Global Table Adventure, but still. It’s humbling.

For anyone following along who is interested in Indian cooking, today’s giveaway is a real treat.

Linda Bladholm does it again with her book The Indian Grocery Store Demystified.

Using her first hand experience of India and Bangladesh, Linda fills 258 pages with 17 one subject chapters on Indian cuisine, such as rice, dairy products, flours, pickles and chutneys. This is your culinary “tour guide” to Indian grocery stores, so be sure to keep this book in your glovebox for impromptu browsing sessions at your local shop.

Know what Amchoor is? Me neither. But Linda tells us. Here’s just part of the passage:

… this is powdered green, unripe mango. [...] It is sold as light-brown, shriveled slices that looki like pieces of wood or as a dark tan, lumpy powder with a sweet, musky, raisin aroma. Both have a tart flavor and are used as a souring agent in dals, soups, vegetable dishes, chutneys, and pickles.

Awesome!

In addition, Linda concludes with a section of recipes and cooking methods/tools. If you’re serious about international cooking, this book will be a happy addition to your collection and well-worn in no time.

How to Enter to win:

Logon to our Facebook fan page and answer the question of the day. Contest ends at midnight (CMT) Sunday 9/5/10.  Winner will be announced on Monday. Must be a fan to enter. One response will be chosen at random as the sole winner.  The winner will be announced on Facebook and must contact me with shipping information to claim the prize.

Have fun and thank you for reading!

PS. Please also check out Linda’s new blog Food India Cook!

Filed under: Asia, Giveaway | 1 Comment »

On shopping day, I browsed the bulk bins, hoping against hope that I could find the real thing – Canadian Lake Wild Rice – here, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  As I scanned past basmati, jasmine and wild rice blends, my eye caught something shiny and jet black. I didn’t even have to read the label to know I was in business. The long grains gave themselves away.

They look like a pile of runway models in sleek black dresses.

Canadian wild rice is all together a different plant than American wild rice.  In fact, the long, spindly needles are more related to wild grass than rice. Canadians have dubbed their special grain Canadian Lake Wild rice, a beautiful and apt description of the rice’s growing environment, where the grains billow above the waters.

Recipe (Serves 2-3)

Making Canadian Wild Rice is easier than almost any rice I can think of. Just remember my tips about hot dog buns and popcorn. Confused? You won’t be. Keep reading!

Ingredients:

1 cup wild rice (rinsed and checked for debris)
3 cups water
salt
1-2 sprigs of thyme

Method:

1. Add water to a large pot… you know, the fairies’ grapes.

2. Add salt to taste.

3. Bring the water to a boil, then add rice.

4. Add aromatics, if you have some.

This thyme sprig smelled so earthy, I felt like I was already at Thanksgiving dinner.

Simmer, covered, until done – about 45 minutes to an hour.

Drain off any extra water and remove the now faded thyme sprig.  The thyme is spent, but she served us well, as we now have a gently aromatic batch of Canadian Lake Wild Rice. Let sit for 10-15 minutes before fluffing with a fork and devouring. Yum.

Properly Cooked Wild Rice

How to know your wild rice is properly cooked:

First, the grain will crack open, revealing a somewhat ominous looking dagger. This is still underdone.

The rice will continue to split, looking somewhat like a hot dog bun. This is considered properly cooked, al dente (slightly chewy) wild rice.

If you continue cooking the rice past the hot dog bun stage, it will soften enough to curl up into a rolly polly ball.

This is called the popcorn stage – softer yet and anything more than a few of these is generally considered overcooked.  Perfect for baby Ava who still doesn’t have any side teeth.

Other than a little cooking time, there’s nothing to making Canadian Wild Rice! Try some, you’ll love the nutty rice flavor.

Filed under: North America | 4 Comments »

We chose our dessert in .001 seconds this week. What could possibly be better than dough simmered in maple syrup? I like to think of it as deep-frying, but in sugar instead of oil. While this dessert is decidedly sweet, our maple glazed chicken carries a more subtle sweetness, rounded out by garlic and mustard. The rest of the meal showcases farm fresh produce/grains of Canada.

Maple Glazed Grilled Chicken
Chicken coated with a simple blend of maple syrup, Dijon mustard, and crushed garlic, then grilled.

Butter-baked Tomatoes
Fresh tomatoes baked with butter and fresh thyme until tender.

Canadian Wild Rice
Wild Rice seasoned with fresh thyme makes good use of this Canadian crop.

Grandpa’s Maple Dumplings (Grandpères)
Drops of soft dough boiled in hot maple syrup. Oh yeah.

Filed under: Global Table, North America | 4 Comments »

NOTE: A WINNER was selected by random.org! Yay! See who was selected.

No, we aren’t giving away Linda Bladholm herself. We’re doing the next best thing.

This week, during our Canadian Global Table Adventure, we’re giving away two of Linda’s books. Canada is indeed a melting pot of Asian, Indian and other cultures – so it is appropriate that we give away The Asian Grocery Store Demystified today and The Indian Grocery Store Demystified Friday.

And, if you’re following our Adventure, these books will certainly help you cook along with us and eat your way around the world!

Before I even opened this book, I fell in love.

Linda made this book the perfect size to tuck away in a purse (or man purse) for impromptu stops at Asian Grocery Stores. Genius!

And, yes, in case you’re wondering… in this case, you can tell a book by its cover – the insides are just as great.

A little about The Asian Grocery Store Demystified:

While the ingredients are readily available in more than 5,000 Asian markets dotting America’s landscape, many potential cooks give up in confusion because they can’t figure out what all the items cramming crowded shelves are or can’t understand how to use them. If you are one of these people, I have designed this book to meet your needs by anticipating questions and explaining what you will find, what it will look like, taste like, and be used for. I want to share with you what I learned living in many Asian countries.

L. Bladholm

Ever wonder what a Two-Horned Water-Caltrop was? Linda tells you all about this shiny black water root that looks like a twin-horned rhine beetle and tastes like a water chesnut. Phew! Who knew? She also tells you how to cook and store it. You’ll find the listing in the “Vegetables” chapter.

In 234 pages, Linda fits in a total of twenty “one topic” chapters such as Rice, Canned Goods, Sweets and Teas. This focused approach really helps the reader thumb through the book, quickly putting their finger on what they are looking for (or at!).  As a bonus, the epilogue includes some cooking techniques and recipes.

This is your own personal tour guide of a typical Asian grocery store. Pretty handy, even if you only go to the Asian market once in a blue moon.

How to Enter to win:

Logon to our Facebook fan page and answer the question of the day. Contest ends at midnight (CMT) 9/1/10. Must be a fan to enter. One response will be chosen at random as the sole winner.  The winner will be announced on Facebook and must contact me with shipping information to claim the prize.

Have fun and thank you for reading!

PS. Please also check out Linda’s new blog Food India Cook!

Filed under: Asia | 3 Comments »

Canada is so much more than igloos and icicles. We’re talking about the second largest country in the world, after all.

Canadian food reflects the tastes of a people living in a landscape as varied as it is massive. There are foggy fishing villages on the eastern shore, towering, razor sharp mountains to the west, and a breathtaking expanse of plains within the heart of this great country. Peppered with about two million lakes, there’s no end to the wildlife and fish available.

The country is experiencing a similar real food movement to the United States, celebrating local produce, farmers and manufacturers in an effort to support local economy. The effect on the food scene includes restaurants featuring many farmstand delights, such as local cheese, fruits and vegetables, like sweet blueberries, tart cranberries, and juicy summertime tomatoes.

Some prized locally grown products include wild rice and fiddlehead ferns. Canadian wild rice is black as night and at least three times as long as regular rice (a very distant cousin). As addictive as it is beautiful, the elegant grain carries nutty, wholesome flavor. Bright green, tightly coiled fiddlehead ferns also make their way into many Canadian dishes, from stir-fries to soups. Once only a springtime delicacy, this tender green has become so popular that Canadian markets keep their freezer sections well stocked year-round.

Pure, unadulterated maple syrup is another Canadian specialty, oozing its way into countless cookies, confections, cakes, and breakfast treats – not to mention as a marinade for savory grilled meats. The most unique recipe utilizing this amber gold is called Grandpa’s Maple Dumplings (Grandpères), which is made by simmering dough until tender in a bath of maple syrup. Absolutely incredible.

While fish are incredibly popular in Canada, farmers also raise cows, chickens, and pigs for standard meat and potato meals, like roasts with gravy or meat pies. More indigenous meats, like caribou, elk, buffalo, and seal blubber are also available regionally and are particularly prized by the Inuit, Canada’s original settlers.

With a thriving immigrant population, Canada eats a variety of French, Italian, German, Chinese and Indian dishes. There are even a great number of fast food chains and convenience stores. Poutine, French fries covered in a sloppy mess of gravy and cheese curds is often served as the quintessential Canadian meal (even at their McDonalds), however one must remember the variety of the landscape to realize how difficult it is to narrow down the cuisine of Canada to just one dish.

Filed under: Global Table, North America | 11 Comments »

I’ve said it before, but this time I mean it.

I’m never buying catfish again. Ever.

Not in a million, billion years.

Store-bought catfish has to be the fishiest, funkiest, stinkiest fish on this planet -- which should be a crime because I know catfish is perfectly capable of being sweet and tender.

You see, my father-in-law, Rick, catches catfish from deep within the lakes of Oklahoma. Before the water has a chance to drip down the fish’s fins, he fillets, salts, and bags them. Sometimes he freezes them.

He packs the catfish in salt to draw out the natural bitterness and to enhance the fish’s more delicate flavors. When he’s ready to get cooking, he rinses and dries the fillets before dunking them in a tasty combination of flour and Jiffy mix (which adds just the faintest sweetness to the crust).

When he serves up a platter of deep fried catfish coated in a crackling Jiffy cornbread crust, I get weak in the knees.

I eat more than my fair share. Like six fillets. And I lick my fingers after each bite.

I’m not kidding.

Fried Whole Fish [Recipe] with West African Peanut Sauce [Recipe]

Filed under: Africa, Global Table | 12 Comments »

Makes 8 mini Peanut Butter Croissants

Peanut butter rolled up into a steamy hot croissant – the ultimate snack, perfect with breakfast, lunch or dinner. While you are welcome to use homemade croissant dough, I had to take a short cut – it was one of those weeks. We’ll call this fast food for the home cook.

I guess you could say that my super-cook is giving way to super-mom. There was a time when I made my very own croissants from scratch. And I’ll surely do it again, once Ava gets a little bigger and I can borrow her muscles to roll out the dough. For now, thank goodness for all-natural convenience products, like Immaculate Crescent Rolls.

Ingredients:

1 package refrigerator crescent rolls (or make your own croissants with the amazing recipe in Tartine, as recommended by David Lebowitz)
8 tsp of peanut butter (1 tsp per roll)

Method:

Preheat the oven to the temperature indicated on your Crescent roll tube.

Gather your ingredients…

Roll out the dough into neat little triangles and spread with a thin layer of peanut butter. Leave a quarter to a half inch border.

My husband had lots of comments about what this looks like. I’ll leave it to your imagination. Boys are so fifth grade

Roll it up…

Getting there..

Almost!

Done!

Done! Place them on a cookie sheet and bake until golden (according to package instructions).

Just look at this. I’m telling you, it tastes like “good.”

Filed under: Africa, Global Table | 3 Comments »

Makes 3/4 cup

Mild heat with a nutty blast, this West African inspired peanut sauce is straightforward. This recipe lacks the bright flavor acquired from a splash of vinegar you might find in Asian peanut sauces. Vegetarian/vegan

Ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter (natural, not sweet)
1 Tbsp tomato paste
3/4 cup water
pinch of cayenne pepper
red palm oil

Method:

Heat oil over medium.

Add a pinch of cayenne pepper. You can always add more at the end, if you can handle the kick!

Toast the cayenne in the oil for thirty seconds, until fragrant. Then add in the peanut butter.

A little water will help you stir things around, and make a smooth sauce. Add in some tomato paste. I’m in love with the squeeze tubes of tomato paste, making it easy to use just a little.

Cook on low for a few minutes and season with salt, as needed.

Serve on the side in cute ramekins, with a big smile …

OR pour directly on your food – chicken, fish, rice, … whatever floats your boat!

Filed under: Africa, Global Table | 1 Comment »

Serves 4

Corn with plantains is a common pairing in West Africa. Add a little heat with your favorite hot pepper, or use regular bell peppers. Our version is vegetarian/vegan.

Ingredients:

1 tsp red palm oil
1 lb fresh or frozen corn
2 yellow plantains
1 chili pepper (I used a poblano from my garden that turned red), diced
1/2 cup water

Method:

Heat up a little oil in a medium pot.

Chop up a couple of plantains…

… and add them with the corn.

If you’re using hot peppers, add them now. I like how they give a little splash of color in a sea of cream and gold.

Add enough water to keep everything from sticking on the bottom. I like to think of water droplets as fairy grapes.

Simmer, covered until everything is cooked and the plantains are tender, about 30 minutes.

Makes a tasty side dish – great for a potluck or dinner party.

Filed under: Africa, Global Table | No Comments »