Coconut Chapatis

While on safari in Tanzania, dinner at many of the lodges, bush homes and camps that we visited there was a somewhat traditional meal option. Very often we were served pumpkin soup to start with.   However, while we were camping in the Serengeti NP we had the opportunity to eat a traditional East African meal of curried plantains, curried chicken (which were probably really guinea-fowl), and some pork (probably wart hogs) in a sauce. Most of the dinner meals had rice or Ugali, which is a corn mush, for the starch. I wish I had taken more notes on all of the food but I was more into the animals. For breakfast each morning we were served a typical English breakfast buffet of bacon/sausage, grilled tomato, scrambled eggs and not so typical on an English breakfast buffet but typical in Africa, fruit galore. Because we spent most of the day in the bush we had box lunches with chicken, a hard-boiled egg, chips, and something for dissert like a candy bar/chocolate.

The one thing that was consistent with all of our meals no matter where we were was the Chapatis (Indian flat bread), which I could never get enough of. I’ve attempted other recipes but adding the coconut milk gave them a tenderness and a little bit of sweetness without giving them a strong coconut flavor. Chapatis are used to sop up sauces and to pick up bits of food in place of a fork.


4 c............. Flour
1 tsp.......... Salt
1 can......... Coconut Milk
as needed Ghee


1. Place flour and salt in a bowl and stir in coconut milk.
2. Divide dough into 9 equal balls and thinly roll out each one on a floured board.
3. Brush each with ghee and fry.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Cheese Fondue

Fondue is a Swiss dish and was very popular in the 60’s and 70’s and has resurfaced in the last several years.  So if you run across your mom’s old fondue pot, drag it out and use it.  You could also pick one up at Good Will or another second hand store for pretty cheep.  Of course they will probably be a nice bright orange or avocado green.  You can also find one at a kitchen store for a pretty reasonable price.  If you don’t have one and you don’t want to go hunting for one you can always use a heavy bowl made of pottery raised with a candle under it or a small crock-pot. 

The traditional way to eat fondue is with boiled potatoes and bread. I like to add some steamed veggies. Feel free to use chunks of cooked chicken too. You can use other cheeses but the Gouda and Râclette are more traditional. Another combination could be cheddar cheese and Monterey jack cheese and add some green chilies while omitting the wine. You would need to cut back on the roux if you left out the wine.

Cheese Sauce

2 c.................. Milk

1 c.................. Dry White Wine

½ lb................ Gouda Cheese

½ lb................ Râclette Cheese

½ tsp.............. Garlic Powder

½ tsp.............. Onion Powder

to taste........... Salt

as needed...... Roux 

Roux

1 c.................. Flour

1 c.................. Clarified Butter (also called Ghee)

1.    Shred cheese.

2.    Place the milk and wine in a saucepan and heat while stirring.

3.    When hot whisk in enough roux to thicken, about 3 heaping tbs.

4.    Whisk in the remaining ingredients and continue cooking until all of the cheese is melted while whisking.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Masala Chai (Spiced Tea)

Here in the US when we hear chai we think it is a spiced tea but in India chai is just sweetened tea with milk.  Masala Chai is the spiced tea we are somewhat familiar with.  I enjoy a cup almost every morning instead of coffee.  It is a good way to get the body started because of the warming spices used.  

It is hard to find a set recipe for Masala chai because it is all based on personal taste.  However, there are 4 constants in every cup of Masala Chai.  They are: Tea, Sweetener, Milk and Spices.  The tea is usually a dark, strong black tea but can be a gunpowder tea or a rooibos, or a yerba mate.  As for sweetener any will do but honey is most often used and always in heavy amounts.  Milk is usually whole milk for it’s richness but I will use low fat because I don’t need all of the fat.  Soy or rice milk will do as well.  As for the spices, the ones that I use in this recipe are most popular but you will find nutmeg, vanilla, licorice, cocoa and almond in some versions.  Oregon Chai has a strong vanilla flavor with the listed spices weaker in flavor.  Just remember, when making your Masala Chai it is really a personal taste so if you don’t like one or more of the spices either go lighter or leave it out.  And if you do like one of the spices go heavy on it. 

½ c................. Milk

½ c................. Water

1 tsp............... Black Tea

1 ea............... Crushed Cardamom Pod

2 ea............... Black Pepper Corns

½ inch............ Chopped Fresh Ginger

1 inch............. Broken Cinnamon Stick

¼ tsp.............. Star Anise

2 ea............... Cloves

to taste.......... Honey

1.    Place all spices and tea in a tea strainer.

2.    Heat the water and milk then let the spices steep for about 10 or 15 minutes depending on how strong you like it.

3.    Remove spices and add honey.

4.    Pour into a cup and enjoy.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Hawaiian Fruit Salad

My Brother-in-law, Rich, Kite Surfing on Kauai

It’s mango season right now so they are juicy, ripe and cheep.   Papaya will also work on this salad as a replacement of one of the other fruits or as an addition.  If you want to add a little meat try some grilled chicken.  I used a fresh coconut and toasted it myself because there is no sugar added but it was hard to get into. 

4 oz.............. Chopped Lettuce

½ c............... Diced Mango

½ c............... Diced Pineapple

½ c............... Sliced Banana

½ c............... Quartered Strawberries

2 ea.............. Lime Wedges

1 Tbs.............Chopped & Toasted Macadamia Nuts

1 Tbs........... Toasted Coconut

2 ozs............ Dressing

Dressing

1 c.................. Oil

½ c................. White Vinegar

2 Tbs............. Sugar

¼ tsp.............. Salt

1.    Mix dressing and refrigerate until needed.

2.    Place lettuce in a bowl.

3.    Arrange fruit over lettuce.

4.    Sprinkle with coconut and macadamia nuts.

5.    Ladle dressing over the top and serve with lime wedges.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Creamy Peanut Soup

I made this soup for my Mexican cooking class & it turned out yummy. One of my students was lactose intolerant so I replaced the heavy whipping cream with coconut milk which gave it more of a Thai taste but very, very yummy. I didn't have to thicken it because it was thick enough because of the peanuts so as long as you don't add a chicken stock with gluten it is gluten free. If you want it thinner you can add more chicken stock. If you want it lower in fat replace the cream with low fat milk. 

1 ea .......... Onion

1 lb............ Peanuts, skinless

2 to 3 ea... Chipotle Chilies

4 c............. Chicken stock

3 drp......... Tabasco

1 Tbs........ Onion Powder

1 Tbs........ Garlic Powder

1 tsp.......... Thyme

1 tsp.......... Oregano

3 ea........... Bay Leaves

1 c............. Heavy Whipping Cream

To taste.... Salt 

1.   Dice onion.

2.   Sautee onions, peanuts and chilies.

3.   Add stock with the remaining ingredients except bay leaves & cream.

4.   Puree and add bay leaves & cream. 

5.   Salt to taste. 

Thai Chicken & Lemongrass Soup

For those of you that have never had Thai food it tends to be on the very spicy hot side. I am a wimp though so I leave out most of the chilies. In this recipe I’ve used some very traditional ingredients but if you have trouble finding them they can be replaced with others. The lemon grass can be replaced with additional limejuice, the cilantro roots can be replaced with cilantro leaves, fish sauce can be replaced with chicken base. This will change the flavor slightly but will work.


1 ea........... Onion
½ lb........... Chicken Breast
2 Tbs........ Oil
2 c............. Water
1 stick....... Lemon Grass
4 ea........... Cilantro Roots
5 Tbs........ Fresh Limejuice
1 inch........ Fresh Ginger
1 can......... Coconut Milk
to taste...... Chili Paste
2 oz .......... Mushrooms
to taste...... Fish Sauce
to taste...... Crushed Red Peppers

1. Julienne the onions and chicken then sauté in oil until onions are caramelized.
2. Add the water and bring to a boil.
3. Smash the lemon grass and chop. Add to soup.
4. Peel and chop the ginger. Add to soup.
5. Add the coconut milk, chili paste, limejuice, salt and mushrooms.
6. Add the crushed red peppers and serve.
7. Garnish with fresh cilantro.


Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Cobb Salad

The Cobb salad was developed in the 1920’s at the Brown Derby in Hollywood, CA. Sense then there have been other ingredients added or subtracted. The blue cheese is sometimes replaced with cheddar but will never be right in my opinion. I do love blue cheese but if you don’t try going light on some Gorgonzola cheese. This is a milder type of blue-veined cheese. The flavors and textures are all perfectly balanced. If you just can’t do the blue cheese then try another strong cheese like feta.

It would seem that this wouldn't be the healthiest of salads because yes it is high in fat but the fat in this is the really good kind. The dressing made with olive oil and the olives and avocado are all polyunsaturated fats that help control cholesterol.

1 head...... Romaine Lettuce

1 ea........... Avocado

2 ea........... Tomato

¼ c............ Green Onions

½ c............ Sliced Black Olives

½ lb........... Bacon

2 ea........... Boneless Chicken Breasts

4 ea........... Hard Boiled Egg

½ c............ Bleu Cheese Crumbles

Dressing

4 Tbs........ Red Wine Vinegar

½ c............ Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tbs........ Dijon Mustard

1 ea........... Garlic Cloves

to taste...... Salt and Pepper

1. Mix dressing ingredients together and chill.

2. Grill Chicken then cool and dice.

3. Cut cleaned and chilled lettuce into 1” pieces and place in a bowl.

4. Chop bacon into ½” pieces and cook until crispy.

5. Dice avocado, tomato and egg into ½” pieces.

6. Chop green onions into ¼” pieces.

7. Place everything in a bowl with dressing and toss thoroughly.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!