After letting you all decide our fate for this week’s Global Table in polls, I am happy to present the menu – your menu. Each item won lovingly – with no close seconds. These are nibbles for rainy days, sunny days, and everything in between. You’ll use your grill and your blender. You’ll open wide and you’ll dance on the roof. Well, maybe not on the last item… but you should. When was the last time you danced like a cat on a hot tin roof? Are you ready for Mexico? Rajas con Crema [Recipe] Just when you thought you’d run out of ideas for peppers, comes this Mexican favorite. Often eaten for breakfast, Rajas con Crema is a simple but incredible mixture of char-grilled poblano peppers, ooey gooey cheese, and Mexican crema. 5 Step Mole Poblano [Recipe] This is authentic mole – including the chocolate and 5 million other ingredients – but simplified into five easy-to-remember steps. Strawberry Almond Horchata [Recipe] Cool off with this creamy drink made with rice, almond, and regular milks, cinnamon, vanilla extract and …
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My first time to Mexico was all “rainbows and puppy dogs.” In fact, the only reason I got to go was because a co-worker broke up with his girlfriend and his two free tickets were simply passed down the line to me. A totally free vacation! In all my 27 years I had never won anything like this. The scene was set for perfection. There was just one catch: I found out on a Tuesday. The flight took off on a Thursday. There wasn’t much time to plan. Keith (a.k.a. Mr Picky) – who had been my boyfriend of a just a few months – would be my companion. He had never left the country. He didn’t even have a passport. Thankfully, this was in the days before passports were required to enter Mexico. He simply had to track down his birth certificate. This first trip to Mexico would be his initiation (at age 36) into the world “out there,” beyond the border. Let’s just say I’d be watching for signs of an open mind …
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THE SCENE: Photography Teaches I step up onto the soft seat cushion and bend my head under the low ceiling. Time to snap some pictures. I hold my breath, teetering over the banana tart, willing myself not to fall. That’s when Keith pops in the room (he’s home to help care for our sick, feverish daughter) and snaps a picture of me (see above). As I swivel my head to see what he’s doing I almost fall over, right onto the lattice work grid. But before I can turn my head, he’s gone. Finding myself in such a precarious situation gets me thinking about the lessons I’ve learned from photography. Over the last few years I’ve learned that taking interesting photos is a lot like living a good life. Every once in a while we must get new perspective – see the world through fresh eyes. We must let the “light” in. We have to care enough to try (again and again), even when things aren’t going the way we want them to. For example: I recently had a …
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Don’t let the startling geometry fool you. Today’s Banana Tart is for those who like mellow desserts. Big bites of health. An entire banana tree in the belly, topped off with delicate lattice goodness. I know. It’s craziness. You can thank the dreamy island of Mauritius, way out in the Indian Ocean, for teaching me this ingenious way to use up ripe bananas. The ingredient list is so simple and pure, I almost can’t believe it. Bananas, barely a smattering of brown sugar, a pinch of salt, and a vanilla bean. That’s it. Let’s just say I’d be proud to serve this tart to the tiniest tot. Now, if you’ll kindly excuse me, I’ll be in the corner, daydreaming about going back in time so I can bring this tart to Ava’s first birthday party. The dense mashed banana would have made a fantastic, healthy first birthday “cake” (you could probably even leave the sugar out without harming the taste – just use very ripe bananas). P.S. If you’d rather, you can always fly to Mauritius, …
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“When you visit a town and have not visited the market, you have not really visited the town” So goes the saying in Mauritius, according to local Renee. This old saying means that by immersing ourselves in the food culture of a place, we arrive at the heart and soul of the town. I totally agree and I would add that when we visit a country via stove top travel, we get glimpses of that soul, even from half a world away. Although we cannot fly to Mauritius today to visit the market, we are welcoming the Mauritian spirit into our homes by making these simple dishes. Chili Poppers (Gateaux Piments) [Recipe] Mauritius’ finger lickin,’ crispy, crunchy answer to falafel. Made with split peas, chili peppers, green onion, a bit of cilantro and a dash of turmeric. Ginger n’ Spice Tomato Sauce (Rougaille) [Recipe] A sauce from three continents: tomatoes cooked with ginger, garlic, white wine, cilantro, and chili peppers. A melting pot of flavor from Africa, Asia, and Europe. Best served with shrimp, sausage, fish, or …
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Just when you feel isolated, remote, and alone – like no one can possibly understand the way you are feeling, geography comes to the rescue. Way out in the Indian ocean lives Mauritius – an African country even more remote than Madagascar and totally teeny, tiny. If you study this “dot” amidst the crashing waves, you’ll find crags and cliffs, turquoise water and rusty rainbow soil. For all her solitude, she is so beautiful. So intricate. How can we feel alone when this exists? It’s like the earth herself is giggling… While I thought I would have trouble finding information on Mauritius, I could not have been more wrong. I learned on Food Safari that there is a healthy group of Australians who love and enjoy Mauritian food. In fact, there are entire restaurants there devoted to the food of Mauritius. So what is so magnetic about this food that it has crossed an entire ocean and firmly implanted itself into the hearts of complete strangers? An amalgamation of flavors. A delectable melting pot. Take …
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I was talking with someone the other day about what this Adventure is all about. She wanted to know if I really thought I could change the world by cooking a meal from every country. “It just doesn’t seem realistic” she said. I considered my answer, gazing at the puffy clouds dotted throughout the blue sky. I immediately thought of our latest Global Table meal – Mauritania, in northern Africa. The week was all about food cooked more than once: Stuffing simmered before roasting. Couscous steamed twice before spooning. Tea boiled four times before sipping. While each dish was easy enough, there was a lot of waiting around. Of listening to the ticking clock. Of watching the birds sing and swoop just outside our window. Of talking and dreaming and talking some more. Of taking the time to really see and hear each other. After all, what else is there to do while cooking and recooking all that food? “Maybe changing the world is as simple as slowing down enough to experience it,” I finally said, “to appreciate …
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Welcome to comfort food, Mauritania-style. Apparently this is exactly what my spirit needs. Remember yesterday, when I told you it had been raining for 24 hours? Well, the rain continued to fall all day and most of the night (and even this morning). This “popcorn in the sky,” as Ava calls it, is greening up the grass, feeding our trees, and preparing seeds to shoot up in time for spring. These are all good things. But, I’m feeling a little sleepy, a little bluesy, and, if you don’t mind, I simply need a few recipes to take the chill out of the air. Ironically, this menu is enjoyed in the hot sands of Mauritania. Let’s not question my logic. Let’s just make our tummies happy. Mechoui (Leg of Lamb stuffed with Dried Fruit) [Recipe] Roast lamb stuffed with rice, sweet figs, dates, and raisins. Rainy Day Cous Cous [Recipe] This vegan side dish is my take on authentic twice-steamed couscous. For all the complicated recipes out there, it is not as scary as it sounds. I even tossed a few …
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It’s been raining in Tulsa for the last 24 hours. I am surrounded by a constant drip drop, dreaming of dryness. How often I find myself pulled away from the beauty of what I have to what I wish I had. It is in this state of insatiable hunger that I begin the week’s work. It is in this mood that Mauritania enters my line of vision. Ah, Mauritania – how little I knew about you until this moment. This imposing hunk of land flanks northwest Africa and stretches from barmy ocean to windswept desert. Exactly what I need, it would seem. The best of both worlds – wet and dry. Perhaps, I think to myself, I could join her population of ever-wandering nomads, and live a life of contentment, constantly stimulated by new sights – new places. And then there’s the food. This place is serious. After all, camel is reputedly the most popular meat in the country, followed by lamb. Camel’s milk, naturally, is sipped to stay hydrated and nourished in the scorching desert. …
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THE SCENE Things are getting a bit hairy on this Adventure. I’ve tried not to mention it – to just carry on as if everything is ship-shape, flowing easily. Unfortunately, it’s not. Somehow, over the last month or two, I find myself buried in an avalanche of unfortunate circumstances. I already told you about when I burned my hand, which thereby postponed the making of the Maltese cookies. But there’s been more drama that I’ve shared here, if only because I thought it was all just a temporary drag in performance. Now that it’s added up I feel as though I have to share – the five times Ava was too tired to try the food. Or too cranky. Or too full. The handful of times when Keith had to work late and I found myself sitting down alone to a dinner for four. The times when I burned the food and had to make it all over again. It feels like a full moon all the time. Like the project is short circuiting. So …
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This is the time of year, as the seasons change, that I feel the “tradewinds” of life blowing me in new directions. I have more energy, but am also filled with more frenzy. Spring fever. This is what the Marshall Islands does for those familiar ingredients we all know and love – bananas, sweet potatoes, coconut milk, macadamia nuts. She shakes them up, makes new combinations (to me at least), and serves up a hearty platter of “good.” I find myself gravitating towards this type of food – simple, yet big on flavor. Decadent but uncomplicated. Now, if I could just bring the ocean to Tulsa, Oklahoma, I’d be all set. But I wonder if Ava would agree. What Ava’s thinking (above)? Any caption ideas? Sweet Potatoes & Fried Bananas [Recipe] Bolster up your next barbecue or roast with this sweet and savory concoction. This is simple as it sounds – cubed sweet potatoes tossed with crispy, fried bananas. Baked Papaya with Coconut Cream [Recipe] This is warm dessert goodness, baked until happy and served …
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When I first read about the Marshall Islands, my mind immediately went to Lost, the epic television series that most people started watching almost a decade ago. We started watching it last month on Netflix. Please excuse me for being a little out of date, but in all honesty, thinking about these hundreds of tiny, tropical islands floating in the vast Pacific Ocean, I can’t help but think how easy it would be to get Lost there – hidden away forever. Part of me desperately clings to the idea of a life filled with peace and solitude, where there is nothing to do but watch the tides come and go. I am comforted to know that, in some parts of the world – like the remote corners of the Marshall Islands, this is a reality. Upon further investigation, it turns out there’s also a healthy tourism trade – if only among those rare people who celebrate and enjoy peace, snorkeling, and a total lack of timepieces. Sure, there’s a capital city with thousands of people who have their own …
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