Around the World in Seven Dishes

In this Age of Covid, we have had to get creative for our hobbies, activities and use of time.  This month, we decided to recreate -- in a culinary manner -- a trip around the world that we made in 2018.

Our son Matt and his family had moved to Myanmar and we wanted to fly to see them for the winter holidays.  Coincidentally, our niece Chelsea got married in New Zealand and we wanted to attend in November.  We explored the various options for air flights and tickets, and found that we would spend the least money if we bought around-the-world tickets permitting us to circumnavigate the globe -- provided that we continued to fly the same direction all the way around the world.

This seemed to work!  So we plotted our itinerary.  We flew from Houston, where we left our RV, to Auckland, New Zealand for Chelsea's wedding; then on to Perth, Australia for a two week tour of the Outback and the Nullabour; then to Bangkok, Thailand and on to Yangon, Myanmar for the holidays with our son, daughter-in-law and grandson; then back to Hong Kong; then to Paris, France for New Year's; and finally, back to Houston:

This month, our re-creation of that trip would be culinary!  We chose dishes representative of each stop along the way, and Kathy undertook the mammoth task of creating them each night in succession!

If you're interested in joining us on our round-the-world trip, fasten your seat belt and continue below.

NEW ZEALAND - Leg of Lamb Slow Cooker Stew

Ingredients: 

1 (3 pound) bone-in leg of lamb, or more to taste 
1⁄2 cup red wine 
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons raw honey
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme 
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1⁄2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

Directions:

Step 1 - Bring leg of lamb to room temperature, about 2 hours.

Step 2 - Pour wine into a slow cooker. Mix lemon juice, honey, mustard, garlic, vinegar, rosemary, thyme, sea salt, and pepper together in a bowl until a thick paste forms. Massage paste into the lamb using your hands; gently place into the slow cooker.

Step 3 - Cook on Low, without removing the cover, for 5 hours. A thermometer inserted near the bone should read 145 degrees F (65 degrees C). 

Let lamb rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

Here are all the ingredients, assembled for the making of the stew --

-- and here is the final result!

AUSTRALIA - Meat Pie

INGREDIENTS

500g minced beef

1 onion, chopped

1 cup water, divided

2 beef bouillon cubes

1/4 cup ketchup

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 pepper

1/2 teaspoon oregano

pinch nutmeg

3 tablespoons plain flour

2 puff pastry sheets

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat oven at 220 degrees Celsius.

Brown meat and onion.

Add 3/4 cup of the water, bouillon cubes, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, pepper, oregano, and nutmeg.

Boil and cover for 15 minutes.

Blend flour with the remaining 1/4 cup water until it becomes a smooth paste; add to the meat mix.

Let cool.

Grease a pie dish and line with puff pastry.

Add the cooled filling mixture; brush edges of pastry with milk or beaten egg; put the pastry top on; press edges down with a fork.

Trim edges and glaze top with milk or beaten egg.

Bake in a very hot oven, 220 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for 25 more minutes, or until golden brown.

Here is everything browned and combined in the pan --

-- and here was our scrumptious meat pie!

THAILAND - Thai Red Curry

INGREDIENTS

1-1/4 cups brown jasmine rice or long-grain brown rice, rinsed

1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil

1 small white onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

Pinch of salt, more to taste

1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger (about a 1-inch nub of ginger)

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin 2-inch long strips

1 yellow, orange or green bell pepper, sliced into thin 2-inch long strips

3 carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into 1⁄4-inch thick rounds (about 1 cup)

2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste

1 can (14 ounces) regular coconut milk

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cups packed thinly sliced kale (tough ribs removed first), preferably the Tuscan/lacinato/dinosaur variety

1 1/2 teaspoons coconut sugar or turbinado (raw) sugar or brown sugar

1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce

2 teaspoons rice vinegar or fresh lime juice

Garnishes/sides: handful of chopped fresh basil or cilantro, optional red pepper flakes, optional sriracha or chili garlic sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To cook the rice, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the rinsed rice and continue boiling for 30 minutes, reducing heat as necessary to prevent overflow. Remove from heat, drain the rice and return the rice to pot. Cover and let the rice rest for 10 minutes or longer, until you’re ready to serve. Just before serving, season the rice to taste with salt and fluff it with a fork.

2. To make the curry, warm a large skillet with deep sides over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the oil. Add the onion and a sprinkle of salt and cook, stirring often, until the onion has softened and is turning translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, while stirring continuously.

3. Add the bell peppers and carrots. Cook until the bell peppers are fork-tender, 3 to 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the curry paste and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes.

4. Add the coconut milk, water, kale and sugar, and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the peppers, carrots and kale have softened to your liking, about 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Remove the pot from the heat and season with tamari and rice vinegar. Add salt (I added 1/4 teaspoon for optimal flavor), to taste. If the curry needs a little more punch, add 1/2 teaspoon more tamari, or for more acidity, add 1/2 teaspoon more rice vinegar. Divide rice and curry into bowls and garnish with chopped cilantro and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, if you’d like. If you love spicy curries, serve with sriracha or chili garlic sauce on the side.

Here are the luscious ingredients assembled --

-- and this is what the dish looked like as we prepared to put it in our bowls!

MYANMAR - Mohinga

Ingredients

3 tablespoons peanut or canola oil, divided

1 teaspoon sugar

12 small shallots, thinly sliced lengthwise (about 2 1/2 cups)

6 garlic cloves, peeled and divided

4 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and divided

4 3/4 cups water, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste

4 (1/2­inch) slices peeled fresh ginger, divided

2 pounds farm­raised catfish fillets

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika

1 lime, cut into 6 wedges

Preparation

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil; swirl to coat.  Sprinkle sugar over oil; cook 1 minute or until sugar melts. Add thinly sliced shallots, stirring to coat. Cook 15 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Set caramelized shallots aside.

2. Crush 3 garlic cloves. Cut 2 lemongrass stalks in half lengthwise. Combine crushed garlic, halved lemongrass stalks, 4 cups water, 1 teaspoon turmeric, anchovy paste, and 2 ginger slices in a large Dutch oven. Add fish; bring to boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until fish flakes when tested with a fork. Remove fish from pan. Strain broth through a sieve into a large bowl, reserving 4 cups stock, discarding solids.

3. Coarsely chop white portion of remaining 2 lemongrass stalks; reserve green portion for another use. Place chopped lemongrass, remaining 3 garlic cloves, remaining 2 ginger slices, crushed red pepper, and 7 shallots in a food processor; process until a coarse paste forms.

4. Place garbanzo bean flour in skillet; cook over medium heat 2 minutes or until fragrant and slightly darker in color, stirring constantly with a whisk. Pour flour into a small bowl; set aside.

5. Add 1 tablespoon oil to Dutch oven; swirl to coat. Add shallot paste, and cook 2 minutes or until fragrant, stirring occasionally. Return fish to pan; cook 3 minutes, stirring gently to coat with paste. Remove fish mixture from pan; set aside.

6. Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, reserved fish stock, fish sauce, and paprika to pan; bring to a boil. Gradually add remaining 3/4 cup water to garbanzo bean flour, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture to boiling stock mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return to a boil.

Reduce heat, and simmer 12 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally.  Add remaining 3 halved shallots; simmer 10 minutes or until shallots are tender.  Add fish mixture; simmer just until hot.

7. Cook noodles in boiling water 2 minutes or until tender; drain. Spoon 1/2 cup noodles into each of 6 bowls. Ladle 1 1/3 cups soup into each bowl, ensuring each serving gets a shallot half. Top each serving with 2 tablespoons caramelized shallots, 1 tablespoon cilantro, and about 1 tablespoon green onions. Serve with lime wedges.

Look at all these ingredients!

We agreed that this was the tastiest dish of our world tour.  You should try it!

HONG KONG - Dan Dan Noodles

Well, Dan Dan Noodles might not be traditional Hong Kong fare, but it is Chinese and we thought it would be fun to make, so we used our artistic license to include it here.

Ingredients

3 servings fresh noodles, around 200g

chopped scallion

blanched vegetables

Chicken stock or pork stock

toasted peanuts, roughly crushed

Pork topping:

400 g minced pork, with some fat

2 tbsp. cooking oil

1 tsp. Sichuan peppercorn

1 star anise

1/2 tbsp. minced garlic

1/2 tbsp. Shaoxing cooking wine

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 cup ya-cai

1 tbsp. low sodium light soy sauce

Mixed Seasonings for each serving:

1 tsp. sesame paste

1 tbsp. light soy sauce

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 tbsp. chili oil

1 tsp. black vinegar

chopped scallion

1/4 tsp. Sichuan peppercorn powder

Instructions

Make the pork topping

1. Heat oil in wok and then fry star anise and Sichuan peppercorn with slowest fire until aromatic. Then remove the spices.

2. Add minced pork and fry for several minutes until slightly browned. Drizzle cooking wine around the edges. Then place sugar and light soy sauce in.

3. Add Ya cai in, continue frying for 3-5 minutes until dry and golden brown.

Cook noodles and serve

1. Mix all the seasonings in serving bowls. Combine well.

2. Cook noodles in boiling water according to the instructions on the package and blanch vegetables in the last minutes when the noodles are almost ready. Transfer the noodles to the serving bowl.

3. Top with pork topping, chopped scallion and toasted peanuts. Pour around 1/2 cup hot pork stock or chicken stock along with the edges. Mix well before eating.

A lot of ingredients here, too:

Be sure to eat the finished Dan Dan Noodles with chopsticks.  You might have to finish with a spoon to slurp up all that yummy sauce:

PARIS, FRANCE - Coq au Vin

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

6 slices bacon diced

8 ounces mushrooms

6 small white onions cut in half or quartered depending upon size

2-3 cloves garlic mashed

2 carrots peeled and rough cut

1/2 bottle of full-body red wine

2 tablespoons tomato paste

8 ounces Chicken Stock made with Better Than Bouillon® Premium Roasted Chicken Base

unsalted butter

1 sprig thyme

1 sprig rosemary

sea salt and black pepper to taste

4 large skin on, bone in chicken thighs

Instructions

1. Add chicken to a 1-gallon zipper-lock bag. Pour in one cup red wine and seal bag, pressing out air. Let stand while you prepare the remaining ingredients or overnight for the best results.

2. Preheat oven to 350°

3. In a large Dutch oven or rondeau, cook bacon over medium-high heat, stirring and reducing heat as necessary to prevent scorching, until browned and fat has rendered, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and, using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.

4. Remove chicken from zipper-lock bag, discard wine, and pat dry.

5. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Return Dutch oven with rendered bacon fat to medium-high heat. Add chicken thighs skin-side down, and cook until browned, about 7 minutes. Turn and brown the other side, about 5 minutes. Don't move the chicken around while cooking, allow it to sear in place. Use a spatula to get under the chicken when turning being careful not to rip the skin.

6. Remove Chicken from pan setting aside until needed.

7. Add mushrooms to pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Add onions, carrots, and garlic and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add bacon, the remainder of the wine, tomato paste, chicken stock, thyme and rosemary and bring to a simmer, stirring up any browned bits.

8. Add chicken back to pan, leaving skin side up and not submerged if possible. Transfer to oven and cook, uncovered, for 1 hour.

9. Remove pan from the oven and take the chicken out of the pan.

10. Add in two tablespoons of unsalted butter that has been rolled in flour, getting as much flour into the butter as possible. This is called a beurre manie and will thicken your sauce. Mix the beurre manie in well and allow to simmer over medium heat.

11. Return chicken to pot, spooning sauce on top. Garnish with remaining sprig of thyme or rosemary. Serve with potatoes, pasta, or rice.

Our cute little chicken thighs are ready to dance with the other ingredients below:

Here is everything dancing together:

The final dish danced on our tongues!

HOUSTON, TEXAS - Chicken & Zucchini Tex-Mex

Finally we landed back in the U-S-of-A and settled in to a familiar type of dish.

Ingredients

1 tbsp avocado or coconut oil

1 medium onion finely chopped

3 large garlic cloves minced

2 medium bell peppers chopped

1 lb boneless & skinless chicken breasts cut into 1" pieces

1 cup corn frozen or fresh

2 large zucchini diced

14 oz can low sodium black beans drained & rinsed

14 oz can low sodium diced tomatoes not drained

1 tsp store bought or homemade taco seasoning

1 tbsp cumin divided

1 tsp salt

Ground black pepper to taste

1 cup Tex Mex or Colby Jack cheese shredded

1/2 cup green onions chopped

1/2 cup cilantro chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat large deep skillet on low - medium heat and swirl oil to coat. Add onion, garlic and bell pepper; saute for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Move vegetables to the side of the skillet and add chicken. Sprinkle with 1 tsp cumin, salt and black pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add corn, beans, tomatoes, zucchini, taco seasoning and remaining cumin. Stir, cover and cook on low-medium for 10 minutes.

4. Sprinkle with cheese, cover and cook for a few minutes or until cheese has melted. Top with green onion and cilantro. Serve hot, on its own or with brown rice or quinoa.

Here, the chicken and zucchine were ready to dive into the Mex Mix --

-- making a final Tex Mex that we were ready to dive into:

So there you have it.  A culinary trip around the world, right in your own home!  We enjoyed making and eating it, and you will too.

 

Snowy Picnic at Tobyhanna Creek

 Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Hi Blog!

The polar vortex took another shot at us yesterday. With temperatures in the single digits, we decided to stay in and bake bread. Dave received an amazing assortment of olives from daughter Katier for his birthday. We used some of them to bake olive bread. More on that later.

A weekend of rain and an extreme drop in temperature has turned our fluffy snow into ice. We decided to skip skiing this week because of the ice, but we couldn't resist getting out and enjoying the bright blue sky and warming temps.

After packing our picnic lunch on fresh baked olive bread, we drove over to Tobyhanna Beach. By parking at the beach, we cut out a half mile of Lakeside Trail, which enabled us to hike further on the Yellow Range Trail.

The first part of our hike is like visiting with an old friend. It brings back memories of running this trail in the fall and walking the grandpuppies over Christmas.

A trip along the Lakeshore Trail would not be complete if we didn't stop at Ruthie's favorite watering hole.

As we crossed the bridge over Tobyhanna Creek, we noticed the beaver dam seemed to have survived the recent bad weather.

As we reached parking lot No. 5, we noticed the parking lot is still snowed in. However, that hasn't stopped the cross-country skiers and snowshoers from making their way out here. 

After about a half mile, we left the Lakeshore Trail and started north on the Yellow Range Trail toward Gouldsboro Lake State Park. In another half mile, we crossed Tobyhanna Creek. We decided this would be the perfect spot for our picnic. We checked the time and calculated the miles. If we continued hiking for another mile-and-a-half and turned around and came back, we would be back here in time for lunch!

We noticed an ice bridge over the creek. Neither of us was brave enough to try and cross it.

Very few folks venture this far in the snow. A cross-country skier had been through before the rain and ice. The faint indentation of their ski track could be seen in the snow. This made a great track for us to follow to minimize our postholing.  There may have been a snowshoer or two, but their tracks were also washed away.

After another half mile, we crossed a powerline easement and noticed a lineman making his way along the easement checking the line. He never caught up to us, but on our return trip, we saw his snowshoe trail heading off into the State Game Lands.

As the afternoon arrived, with its warm sun, the snow began to soften, and we found ourselves postholing in the deep snow.  Somehow, this allowed David to duck beneath the overhanging fallen tree:

As the distanced hiked according to our GPS approached 3 miles, we decided to stop for a snack and an equipment adjustment.

The 1.5 miles out and 1.5 miles back to Tobyhanna Creek were probably our toughest miles. The trail is seldom used and therefore not as packed down. In addition, the softer snow denied support for our boots and we postholed on every step.  We found ourselves sinking in snow. 

By the time we got back to the creek, we were ready for lunch!  We sat, eating our sandwiches and marvelling at the patterns the ice made along the creek:

Time to bust out the thermos with hot tea and tuck into those veggie sandwiches on fresh olive bread! We make ourselves comfortable and watched the sunlight glisten off the ice hanging over the creek and listen to the water burble and splash over the tiny waterfalls.

In the photo below, Dave demonstrates how to chill on the trail!

It would have been nice to stay longer, but we had miles to go.

Other than the lineman, we only saw one other hiker the whole day, and he was walking the campground road. We stopped at the bridge over the entrance to Tobyhanna Lake and saw a beaver swimming in the open channel. We tried to get a photo but, as the beaver swam closer, it submerged under the ice and we never saw it again. Timing in life is everything!

Not sure how many more snow adventures we will have. The weatherman is calling for unseasonably high temps the next two weeks. We may have seen our last snowfall. Stay tuned.

Another Snowshoe at Tobyhanna Lake

It seems that, the more it snows, the more we snowshoe around Tobyhanna Lake.   For us, who are used to vagabonding around and never doing the same thing twice in the same place, this is new behavior.  However, we find we love the beauty of Tobyhanna Lake in every season, and -- to our surprise and pleasure -- few enough people frequent the Loop Trail at the lake that we rarely meet anyone where we have to worry about Covid masks.  In addition, the Loop Trail is a little over 5 miles, which lets us choose our distance depending on our goals.

Today we decided to snowshoe four miles.  We didn't circumnavigate the entire lake, because, frankly, the snow was deep enough that we would not have enjoyed the last mile.  Still, the new snow, which was still falling as we snowshoed, made it deep enough that we got a great aerobic workout and felt well-used by the end of our trek.

Here is our obligatory trailhead photo.  Normally, the lake has a couple dozen ice fishermen on it, but today we spotted only two.  The deep -- and deepening -- snow, together with the fact that it is a weekday, probably kept them away.

This was our first outdoor adventure since David's 70th Birthday Weekend, when the family made the drive up to stay with us for a few days.  Over the weekend, our first snow activity was to help William knock the HUGE icicles from the eaves of our cottage:

Next in order of business had been a snowtubing extravaganza, where Katie and William --

-- and then Matt and William --

-- joined us flying down the snowtube hill at Camelback Mountain!

The third big snow adventure was, according to the list of activities William planned for the weekend, the building of a Snowwoman, complete with baseball cap, mop hair, icicle arms and fleece gloves.  Here, two of the artists are posing with their creation:

But, again, as so happens in our life, we digress.  (You might argue that our retirement has been one long chain of digressions.  By the way, can you digress into the truth?  Send us your answers to that conundrum.)

Today, on our snowshoe, the newfallen snow covered up nearly everyone's tracks, but for the parallel lines of two cross-country skiers who passed over the new snow sometime earlier today.  We never saw them, but we accompanied them down their track:

We stopped at all of Ruthie Puppy's and Maggie Puppy's favorite spots, including Ruthie's lakeside bench, which was nearly completely buried, and this little stream where the puppies frolicked on an autumn hike we did with them and Katie:

Our favorite wetland on Tobyhanna Creek, about a mile into the snowshoe, was more snow- and ice-bound than we've seen it so far:

Today, we bypassed the campground and continued around the Loop Trail, marked by its characteristic blue blazes, modeled, in turn, by Kathy --

-- and David:

After two miles, we stopped for lunch.  We just plopped down in the snow and rested our legs.  The hot tea was as delicious as our lunch food:

After lunch, it was a replay of our outbound trek, but in reverse.  We stopped at a snowed-in bench at the beach near our parking lot, where Kathy rested her weary legs:

We had considered spending this afternoon shoveling the 5 or 6 inches of new snow, but we decided that that will be a great exercise for tomorrow.  For now, we're content having a tasty beer, working on this blog entry, and catching up on news, both sad and glad.  We worry about people, including friends, who are snowbound in Texas.  We enjoy the excitement of the Mars Perseverance rover and imagine ourselves preparing to hike over that arid terrain that Perseverance will have to navigate to finish its exploration.

Stay thirsty for adventure, my friends.

EPILOGUE

We had warming weather, then subfreezing, then 6 more inches of snow.  William's snowwoman has become a Snow Zombie:

Breaking Trail at Kurmes Paradise Creek Preserve

 Friday, January 5, 2021

Hi Blog!

We woke up this morning to more snow! We've been pretty good about cleaning off the driveway before going out to play, but today we decided to just give up. The snow will still be there when we get back. The flurries were still flying when we reached the trailhead to the Kurmes Paradise Creek Preserve, near Mt. Pocono, Pennsylvania and Tobyhanna, where we are staying this winter. The parking lot had not been plowed since the weekend's three foot snow dump. Lucky for us, the plow truck did plow the shoulder of Devil's Hole Road just wide enough that we could park off the street. 

We were excited to see that the trail was unbroken. We would get to make first tracks!

We haven't seen this much snow since snowshoeing the mountains around Prescott, Arizona. Even with snowshoes on, we sank deep in the powder.

As we made our way down the trail toward the creek, the fir trees and rhododendron bent toward us inviting us to brush them as we passed.

However, not all the rhododendrons were as welcoming. This fellow shouted, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS." Dave ignored the warning and plowed right through. Below, you can see Kathy carefully ducking under the burdened branches.

There are two small springs that make their way down to the creek. We were not sure if we would even be able to see them with all the snow. However, the warm spring water was able to make an appearance.

Being able to see the spring made it easy to find the narrow log bridge.

Once we made it down to the creek, we stopped to drink our hot tea and eat our Reese's Peanut Butter Cups! We've hiked this trail 4 or 5 times since moving into the rental cottage. It never disappoints.

We always enjoy the views of Tank Creek as we hike along the bottom of the trail.

Just look at all the beautiful fluff!

Just as we were leaving the creek, the clouds began to thin and soft sunlight began to peek through the trees.

As we turned away from the creek and began heading uphill toward the parking lot, Dave noticed an unusual formation in the snow - a snowball! There was no evidence that anyone made the snowball. In fact, it looked totally nature-made. It appears that a clump of snow fell from the tree and then rolled down the drift at the base of the tree. Mother Nature must like playing in the snow as much as we do.

With just a quarter mile left to go, blue skies and bright sun traveled with us. This was both a blessing and a curse:  a blessing because the sunlight sparkled off the snow, making a beautiful outing even more beautiful; the curse part, or should I say cursing part, was when the sun melted the snow in the trees and large cold, wet, slushy drops began to fall down the necks of our coats!

As we crossed the parking lot, we looked back on our track. Two miles and more of breaking trail in three feet of snow was exhausting. But, the warm fuzzies of being outside in the fresh air, all by ourselves with only nature's beauty to keep us company made it all worth while. 

As we kicked off our snowshoes, we noticed the largest ice balls we've ever had stuck to the bottoms of our cleats. The snow was so deep, we didn't notice until we left the trail. 

Now that the blog is done, it's time to shovel the driveway -- yet again! After that, it's beer o'clock!

Stay thirsty, my friends.