Food Tourism

Being a foodie means that I love to find a good market but it's not just because I love to eat. Markets are a great opportunity to learn about the landscape and history of a place. This market in Raleigh was full of fresh produce as well as wonderful preserves, pickles and gourmet foods. It was an eye opener and I made some discoveries - apple butter for example, never heard of it and though we bought some, I haven't tried it yet. And the muscadine grape which is used for wine making in the region.

Eating the Country

One of the best things about travelling for me is discovering new food. People are often dismissive about food in the US, claiming it's all about the portions. I have always found my trips to America to be real culinary adventures. The supermarkets alone are an experience, even overwhelming after the simple markets of Zambia. I was amazed at the freezer sections in supermarkets here, easily 4 times the size of the ones in Zambian supermarkets.

To be honest, the awe is short-lived when you realise that a lot of the processed foods sold in the US are rather awful. The one exception I make is for Twinkies! I have a real passion for these terrifyingly bright yellow cakes with cream so sweet your teeth ache just looking at them. Bad for you they may be but I love them. I also love peppermint patties; they are one of the few candies I can stand.

Supermarkets aside, we are in North Carolina where there is a strong food culture of seafood and southern cooking and I am looking forward to sampling all the 'low country' has to offer.

To be continued...

Variation on a Theme: Lentil and Potato Bake

Anyone who follows my recipes will know I am a bit of a bake fanatic. So comforting and yummy and I usually incorporate my favourite béchamel sauce in it somewhere. This recipe got more elaborate the more I got involved, it's sort of a bastardised shepherd's pie. I didn't have any mince so went for brown lentils instead and dreaded the idea of mashing potatoes with a fork so decided on potato slices instead, then I decided to make it moussaka-like with my béchamel.

Like my other bakes I made more than enough for two otherwise it is a bit of hassle for less reward. Freeze the rest.

• 250 grams of dry lentils – brown or green
  


• 3 – 4 large potatoes
  


• 2 carrots
  


• 1 medium sized onion sliced
  


• 2 large tomatoes finely chopped
  


• 1 garlic clove
  


• 1 glasss of dry white wine
  


• Dried oregano
  


• Worcestershire sauce
  


• Salt and pepper
  


• Bechamel sauce
  

Cook you lentils until soft, about 45 minutes to 1 hour

Parboil large potatoes halved, for about 10-15 minutes and then drain and leave to cool.

Fry the onion and carrots then add garlic and the tomatoes

Add your cooked lentils and a glass of dry white wine, reduce the wine

Add a tablespoon of tomato puree and half a mug of vegetable stock

Add some dried oregano and salt and pepper and a dash of Worcestershire sauce, simmer until thick

Make your béchamel, go here for the recipe.

Spread the lentils onto a baking tin, add half the béchamel then the potato slices. Add the rest of the béchamel, some sprigs of time and some salt and pepper

Cover and bake at 200°c for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender all the way through, then remove the foil and crisp up under a hot grill

Serve with a green salad

*If you don't want to bother with béchamel you could use cream instead

* If you pan is wide and shallow there will be one layer each of lentils and potato, but if you have a deeper tin you might need a more lasagna-like layered effect. If this is the case you might need to bake it a bit longer

Best Brownies

THIS IS A YELLOW RECIPE

I have a good friend to thank for this recipe for brownies. A decent brownie is a very special thing and so often I find when I buy brownies they are either far too sweet of dry and spongy (basically like a chocolate cake). These brownies are dense, dark and chocolatey as any brownie should be. I use walnuts for these because I think the slightly bitter taste goes so well with the chocolate, but also because the brownies my mum used to make had walnuts in too.

8 tablespoons of butter

A 100 gram pack of chocolate – 70% cocoa solids

¼ cup of cocoa

1 cup of sugar

2 eggs

1 tspn vanilla (optional, I suggest substituting for espresso for extra depth)

Pinch of salt

½ cup flour

Handful of nuts

Pre-heat the oven to 160 °c

Melt the butter with the chocolate and cocoa

Add the sugar, leave to cool (if you're impatient, plunge saucepan into cold water)

Add the rest of the ingredients and beat well

Pour into a lined tin (I use a loaf tin)

Bake for about 40 minutes, until the batter is set and starts to smell cooked

Don't do the skewer test because you want the mixture to be a little undercooked

Stir-fried aubergine (eggplant) with tomato and chili

THIS IS A BLUE RECIPE

I went for lunch at a Chinese restaurant and had this more-ish dish so decided to try and make it at home. It goes very well with the my adobo recipe from a few days ago.
For 2

2 tablespoons of oil

1 large aubergine cut lengthwise into sticks of about 1 inch thickness

1 large tomato finely chopped

1 dessertspoon of sweet chili sauce

A dash of hot chili sauce

½ dessertspoon of rice vinegar

1 couple of dashes of light soy sauce

Heat the oil and add the aubergines, add some salt

When softish, add the tomato and soften

Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the heat down, cook until the aubergine is soft and transparent

Chicken or Pork Adobo

THIS IS A BLUE RECIPE

I love adobo and this one is so fragrant and lovely. You can use chicken or pork or a mixture of both. Choose chicken thighs not breasts which are dry and bland. For pork, pick pieces with some bone and a little bit of fat, this adds to the flavor and keeps the meat tender. I like to eat this with brown rice and my stir fried aubergines with tomato and chili, the recipe for which will be coming in a few days.

For 2

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 large stalk of lemongrass bashed but still whole

4 small chicken thighs or two pork chops

½ dessertspoon of fish sauce

2 tablespoons of rice vinegar

1 mug of chicken stock

Fry the garlic in oil until brown

Add the lemongrass and meat and brown off the mear

Add the other ingredients, cover and simmer for 20 minutes

Remove the lid and reduce the liquid for 10 minutes

Chocolate Almond and Fig Clusters

THIS IS A GREEN RECIPE

This is the perfect snack, the chocolate is the 70% cocoa kind, so less calories and the almonds and dried figs are sweet, crunchy and very good for you.

Melt your chocolate 100 gram chocolate bar in a bowl over hot water

When melted add enough almonds and chopped up figs so that they are covered in chocolate and there is no excess chocolate in the bowl (like when you make rice crispy cakes) – ½ cup of each or more

Use a teaspoon to spoon the clusters onto a greaseproof paper lined tray or plate

Put them in the fridge to set

When cold and hard store in a rigid container in the fridge, they can last for ages if they are not eaten up in a few days!

*you can use half dark and half milk chocolate if you find the chocolate too rich but this will increase the fat content*