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.
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Thank you for all your responses on Facebook! We have a winner, chosen at random by random.org. Yay!! Here is the winning response: Astrid Lague – I have a friend who is from Southern India, and I’d love to see where he is from and eat some authentic naan made in the tandoor and any other tandoor specialties. Not sure that is what’s around in Southern India… but Indian food is one of my absolute favorites! Congratulations, Astrid! 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 …
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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 …
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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. Canadian Dijon & Maple Grilled Chicken [Recipe] Chicken coated with a simple blend of maple syrup, Dijon mustard, and crushed garlic, then grilled. Butter-roasted Tomatoes [Recipe] Fresh tomatoes roasted with butter and fresh thyme until tender. Canadian Wild Rice [Recipe] Wild Rice seasoned with fresh thyme makes good use of this Canadian crop. Grandpa’s Maple Dumplings (Grandpères) [Recipe] Drops of soft dough boiled in hot maple syrup. Oh yeah.
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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 …
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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 served in dishes like Butter-Roasted 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). …
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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. …
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Happy Saturday! This BBC video is all about eating bush meat in Cameroon – hunting and cooking it. Hunting for food is common around the world, even today – despite supermarkets and other conveniences. Enjoy!
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Cameroon’s name derives from the Portuguese word for shrimp. Speaking of shrimp… When Ava was a newborn we called her shrimp and the basket she napped in we called her “shrimp basket.” She is the sweetest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. I could just eat her up. Nom nom. We propped our little shrimp up by 5 gazillion blankets and one boppy (never unattended, mind you). Pretty cozy for a shrimp basket. Yawn. ZZZzzz. She did a lot of that those first weeks. That’s right. I’m one of those moms. I’ll talk/love/gush/ramble on about my baby Ava any chance I get. Thanks, Cameroon for giving me a reason to talk my daughter. 😀 Ok, back on topic. Different oils are available in Cameroon’s varied regions: generally red palm oil in the south and sesame in the north Country onions are used for seasoning along with garlic and hot peppers, usually habenero. The small country onion (the bulb is about the size of a large grape) adds a smoky garlic note to food.
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My husband about climbed the walls with excitement when he found out we were making Groudnut Croissants (well, there was a five second delay, until he realized that by “Groundnut Croissants” I meant croissants spread with ooey gooey peanut butter). Who wouldn’t? Peanut butter rolled up into a steaming croissant? Yes please! Our Cameroonian menu represents a crossroads of cultures and traditions. With elements of West African and French cuisine, the simple recipes below are easy to prepare and full of flavor. Particularly that peanut-buttery croissant! Fried Whole Fish [Recipe] Fish is an affordable and readily available source of protein in Cameroon. Regional fish include Tilapia, Catfish, Carp, and Snapper. West African Peanut Sauce [Recipe] Peanut butter and cayenne pepper join forces to create a simple sauce for any dish. Corn with Plantains [Recipe] Fresh or frozen corn stewed with sweet plantain. Peanut Butter Croissants (Groundnut Croissants) [Recipe] Croissant dough spread with peanut butter, rolled up and baked until golden. Mango Daiquiris [Recipe] Fresh mango, lime juice, sugar, and rum.
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Wild bush meat and French pastries. If you’re going to stereotype Cameroon, that’s just about the best way to do it. This unusual food combination stems from Cameroon’s origins, in 1961, when this African country formed from the union of two colonies, one British and one French. Like most coastal African countries, the people on the shore towns of Cameroon rely on fish, serving them up grilled, fried (recipe), steamed in banana leaves, or stewed with plantains, corn, yams, or beans on the side. One typical dish is corn cooked with plantains (recipe). Further inland, dinnertime gets a little more bizarre, as mice, snakes, and monkeys are hunted in the bush and stewed with a little water, tomato or peanut sauce. Most meals are served with fu-fu (soft, starchy mixtures pounded into a paste – often cassava), millet, or rice. Peanuts, called groundnuts in Africa, are particularly plentiful in this region. They make their way into sauces, stewed vegetables (like bitterleaf greens), breads and desserts. Spicy peanut sauces are poured over fried fish, chicken, and meat …
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We had a fantastic long weekend in Virginia. The temperature never even got close to 104F. We visited family, swam on the beach, helped Ava build her first sandcastle, and ate like royalty. When I say royalty, I mean it. My sister-in-law made breakfast, lunch, and dinner for up to twelve people every day. On real plates. That woman is a superhero. Her sidekick, my brother Chris, isn’t so bad either. And then. Reality check. We came back to Oklahoma with nothing but a few pickled limes to greet us. It was time to get cooking, or Cambodia would pass us by. Grilled Corn with Coconut Milk [Recipe] What I liked most about this dish: I am always looking for new ideas for corn. This concept is a win-win-win – tropical coconut flavor, simple preparation, and a real conversation piece at the family barbecue. If you chill the coconut milk in the fridge, it thickens up (like mud) and spreads onto the corn better. What I liked least about this dish: While the coconut milk stays …
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