Now that I’m back home in Belize, it’s time to start taking advantage of all the fresh fruits we have here. I’ve tried smoothies a number of times before, but I typically feel hungry a few hours later. So, I went on the hunt for something new.

In my regular perusing of Pinterest, I discovered the smoothie bowl. Based on the number of posts on Instagram and Pinterest, it seems I’m probably one of the last people on earth who hasn’t made one! What an ingenious idea, and it certainly helps my brain send the right signals that I’m eating a meal versus drinking breakfast.

It’s dragon fruit, or pitaya, season now, and I am slightly obsessed with the fruit. We have the red-fleshed version here in Belize, which is softer and has a slightly sweeter taste. I used to eat dragon fruit a lot in Taiwan, and I try to get it whenever I can find it in season. Dragon fruit has loads of health benefits and it’s pretty low in calories, making it a great smoothie base. I also recommend reading this article (https://www.outlookindia.com/outlook-spotlight/athletic-greens-ag1-review-is-it-worth-the-hype-or-superfood-don-t-buy-until-you-read-this-news-301982/) if you’re planning to try greens powder.

It’s also mango season right now in Belize, and the country is definitely king when it comes to fresh mangoes (I believe there are at least 10 different mango varieties grown here, not sure of the exact number).

Creating a smoothie bowl is super simple, and I just relied on ingredients I already had on hand. You could do any combination of these ingredients, or add your own. I wish I had kiwi available, but I hadn’t seen any in the market that week. A lot of people choose to add protein powder and/or greens to their smoothie, but I just stuck with fruits for this one.

It’s an easy breakfast to make and it’s highly unlikely you’ll wind up with a smoothie that tastes awful. However, if it does, just play around with the fruit ratios!

Dragon Fruit Smoothie Bowl Ingredients

• 2 Dragon Fruits
• 1 Mango
• 1 cup Pineapple
• Strawberries, tops removed
• 3 Bananas
• 1 Lime
• Almond Milk
• Ice Cubes
• Granola
• Blackberries (blueberries, or some other type of berry)
• Optional: raw honey, raw sugar, other fruits, protein powder, or greens

Directions for Dragon Fruit Smoothie Bowl

1. Slice open and scoop out dragon fruit and add in blender. Do the same with the mango, discarding the seed. Chop several freshly cut pineapple rings and add to the blender.
2. Add two peeled and chopped bananas, a few strawberries with the tops removed, juice of one lime, and some milk. I used about 1/2 cup of almond milk. I used almond milk as I’m somewhat lactose intolerant, and non-lactose milk is a challenge to find in Belize.
3. Add two or three ice cubes and blend.
4. Pour the smoothie contents into a bowl that will give you good surface space to top with more berries and granola.
5. Carefully layer sliced fruits like banana, strawberries, or Kiwi. Pick a berry like blueberries. Getting fresh blueberries here is impossible so I used blackberries.
6. Add some fresh granola. I used a local one made here in Belize. It has a little sugar, which is why I didn’t add any additional sugar to the smoothie mix.

Makes about two large smoothie bowls 

I was worried my smoothie wasn’t dense enough to withstand the heavy blackberries, so I threw it in the freezer for a couple minutes before adding the fruit slices. Despite the weight, the blackberries didn’t sink at all.

I plan to make some more smoothie bowls this week after I find out what fresh fruits are available on the island.

Have you made a smoothie bowl? What’s your favorite blend? 

PIN IT! 

Wrong! 

I attempted two recipes, and while my mini-donuts were quite good, I had an epic fail with my cookie butter cardamom cookies. What was supposed to be a batch of light and fluffy cookies, such as those thinking of you cookies, ended up as a single, very thin cookie-blob that might as well have been run over by a steam roller.

Thank you humidity!

I should’ve known better after having to freeze the dough to even roll the cookies in the first place. My mistake was not putting the dough balls back in the freezer to set up before putting the cookies in the oven to bake.

Despite their hideous appearance, the cookies were rather tasty and I’ll try them again so I can write up a recipe.

In the meantime, I did manage to pull off pretty tasty mini-donuts that were baked rather than fried. And the best part is, these were made utilizing local ingredients like Belizean brown sugar and cocoa.

If you have a Wilton Nonstick 12-Cavity Mini Donut Pan, try your hand at baking these Belizean brown sugar mini-donuts.

Print

Belizean Brown Sugar Mini-Donuts

Mini baked donuts made with all-local Belizean ingredients, including brown sugar and spicy cocoa.

Course Dessert

Cook Time 14 minutes minutes

Total Time 14 minutes minutes

Servings 24

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking power
• 3/4 cup Belizean brown sugar (if you aren't in Belize, use coarse, like raw, brown sugar)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp Belizean spicy cocoa (If you aren't in Belize, use high-quality cocoa powder)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 350F. Lightly grease mini-donut pan.
• Mix flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, spicy cocoa, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon in bowl
• In another bowl, beat egg. Add vanilla extract, milk, and 1/4 cup melted butter.
• Add flour mixture to bowl with wet ingredients. Mix thoroughly to ensure no lumps.
• Fill mixture into mini donut pan about halfway
• Bake for 14 minutes or until donuts are done
• Mix remaining sugar and cinnamon with 1/4 cup melted butter and pour over donuts. You can sprinkle more spicy cocoa as well.
  

Johnny Cakes are really just like hard sandwich rolls, but there is something so homey and addicting about them.  You might be familiar with them from other cultures around the Caribbean and Native American Indians.  Some people refer to them as Journey Cakes as they would stay fresh for weeks, making them the perfect travel food.

Also called Jonnycake, these are commonly eaten in places like Jamaica, the West Indies, Dominican Republic, and more — especially along the Atlantic seaboard.  You might know them in the Southern US as hoecakes.

Traditionally, Johnny Cakes were made with cornmeal, salt, hot water (or milk) and may or may not be sweetened.  However, in Belize, the Johnny Cakes you find are made with flour.

I recently became friends with Tanya, a very talented cook in Belize who recently started a food blog dedicated to Belizean cuisine.  Through the good fortune of a number of mutual friends and Facebook, I was immediately hooked in by her blog.  This week, she mentioned on Facebook that she was going to make Johnny Cakes and post a recipe.  She sent me the link and I gave it a whirl Sunday morning. Well, I have a long way to go in getting these right, but it will be fun trying in the meantime.

My problem has been baking in Taiwan with the humidity and the differing flours.  Most flours, even the general all-purpose ones, are high in gluten, which I’ve been told need extra kneading and special care when trying to use in traditional bread making.

Tanya’s recipe for Johnny Cakes on her Tizzle Sizzles blog is quite easy, although if you are hungry when you start making them, better nibble on something as these are not a quick 30 minutes in the kitchen.

I will refer you back to her blog for the actual recipe, but it is quite simple in that you only need:

• White all-purpose flour
• Crisco shortening
• Baking Powder
• Coconut Milk
• Salt
• Water

Personally, I think this is a good excuse to travel back down to Belize and sample more Johnny Cakes — for research sake!

Although mine did not rise as much as I had hoped, they were still quite tasty. Most people use them to make a breakfast sandwich with meat and cheese, and I learned a great tip from Tanya — Cheese Whiz is heaven! I added beans, eggs with onions, Cheese Whiz, and of course Marie Sharp’s hot sauce from Belize (a must try!).

I didn’t bake all the dough and let a few balls sit up overnight in the fridge. Surprisingly, these actually fluffed up a bit and were much better than yesterday’s batch (lowered the oven rack and used the convection setting today as well). Still have some work to do, but making progress!

And now, I am munching one of my fresh and fluffy Johnny Cakes today while writing this post — thanks Tanya!

What sets this apart from typical ceviche you find in other parts of the world?

Coconut milk!

The coconut milk provides such an unexpected layer of flavor and works surprisingly well against the acidity of the lime.  We ate Poisson Cru every chance we could during the French Polynesian Paul Gauguin cruise we took last year.  Fortunately, during our one day at sea, there was a Poisson Cru culinary demo!  Brett captured the demo on video so we would know how to recreate this at home.  Thankfully, the Paul Gauguin and Guillermo Muro, Chef de Cuisine, also provided a written copy of the recipe to everyone who attended.

Here in Taipei, it can be difficult to get large amounts of sushi grade fish (especially since March with Japan’s natural disaster situation still continuing).  City Super, a chain of grocery stores from Hong Kong, will sometimes receive a giant tuna that they carve fresh in the store, which draws in large crowds.  Typically, the fish sells out within hours.  We had the opportunity to watch them once last year — it was like a feeding frenzy (no pun intended) as people swarmed the counters to get the fish as it was being packaged.

Last weekend we lucked out and apparently stopped by the store on the right day.  Not much tuna was left that didn’t require a cosigner (there was a nice piece of toro (fatty tuna) that was left for about $120 US and a few pieces of yellowtail for around $30 US each).  Rather than destroy $200 in fish for something I’ve never made (not to mention toro is just too darn tasty to mix in anything), we went for a combination of ahi tuna and a local Taiwanese white fish — any mild white fish like halibut or hamachi would probably work.

Here is the recipe for Poisson Cru (slightly altered from Chef Muro’s).

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb yellow fin tuna (blue fin and other sushi grade white fish work well also)
• Salted Water
• 2 fresh limes
• 2 med Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1 /2 small cucumber, peeled, julienned
• 1 small onion, halved and sliced
• 1 small carrot, julienned
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (unsweetened)
• Sugar
• Green Onion (for garnish)

Directions

1. Cut the fish into thick strips.
2. Marinate the fish in salted water for about 15-20 minutes.
3. While the fish is marinating, squeeze limes (or lemons) into a clean bowl and add sugar — the idea is to achieve a balance between sweet and sour flavors.
4. Cut the carrot and cucumber into small strips (julienne) and chop tomatoes into coarse chunks.
5. Halve onion and cut into thin slices.  Add carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions to lime and sugar mixture.
6. Take fish out of salted water and add to mixture.
7. Mix in just enough coconut milk to thoroughly coat all ingredients in the bowl.
8. Garnish with chopped green onion if you desire.

Serve alone or with white rice.

Have you eaten Poisson Cru? Would love to hear any other variations you’ve tried!

Growing up 20 minutes from “Little Saigon” in Los Angeles, I distinctly remember my first taste of authentic Vietnamese Pho.  I was used to Campbell’s condensed soups — what were all these bean sprouts, basil leaves, and onions for?  Thankfully, having a Vietnamese cuisine expert by my side, I quickly learned all about the art of eating Pho…and I was quickly hooked.  And while the Pho in Los Angeles never disappointed, there is just something magical about eating it in Vietnam.

We were in Saigon a year ago and I think I had Pho two or three times a day because I just could not get enough (even room service at the Intercontinental Hotel!)  There are a few places in Taipei that serve decent Pho, but they are not always convenient to get to (and typically quite crowded) so I decided to take matters into my own hands.  Upon moving to Taiwan two years ago and picking up an Asian Cuisine Feature Writer position shortly thereafter, I decided I needed to learn more about cooking Asian specialties at home rather than just eating them out all the time.

One of the cookbook authors I’ve reviewed several times is Nancie McDermott, who has several books on “quick and easy” Asian cuisine types.  I started off making her Hanoi Beef Pho recipe and have since changed things up a bit and started making my own, a similar version to hers.  Quick and easy Pho is still a bit misleading as it does take 1 1/2 hours to prepare, but most of that is just the broth cooking time.

I’ve had a number of people ask me over the last few months for the recipe I am using to make Pho at home, so here it is.  While it may not be completely traditional in the Hanoi Pho sense, the broth is delicious and I alter some steps in an attempt to make it a bit more healthy than what we normally order out.

Ingredients

For Broth:

• 8 cups broth — I use a combination of beef, pork, and chicken bouillon cubes (If you use canned broth, get low sodium)
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 3 star anise
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 5 or 6 whole pepper corns
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted
• 1 large white onion, quartered lengthwise
• 1/2 cup peeled, coarsely chopped ginger
• 1 stalk lemongrass — separated and slightly bruised
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped coarsely
• 2 shallots, peeled and chopped coarsely

Other Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound rice noodles (or any type of noodles you prefer)
• 2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 – 1 1/2 pounds thinly sliced flank, rib-eye, or other lean cut of beef (or lean pork)  We get pre-sliced meat here in Taiwan that is good for soups, hot pots, etc.

Garnishes:

• Bean sprouts
• Thinly sliced white onion
• Chopped green onion
• Basil leaves (Asian basil is preferred)
• Cilantro
• Lime wedges
• Red chilies or jalapenos sliced thinly
• Hoisin Sauce
• Sriracha “Rooster” sauce

Directions:

For Broth:

Bring stock, cinnamon sticks, star anise, pepper corns, toasted cumin seeds, and cloves to a gentle boil in a large stockpot.  (Note: You can make your own stock from scratch using meat, but I have found this to be a less fatty option that doesn’t require skimming the broth).

Clean the lemongrass and hit the stalk with the flat handle side of a knife.  Cut off the top part and discard.  Separate the root pieces and add to the pot.  Cover and let simmer for one hour.

Once the broth has cooked an hour, remove from heat and strain into a large saucepan, while throwing everything else away.

Add sugar and fish sauce to the soup broth. Note: I do not add any salt to the broth because I use bouillon cubes and the fish sauce has enough of a salty taste.  We are trying to cut down on sodium, however, if you prefer, you can add salt to taste.

Noodles:

If you are using rice noodles, they need to be softened beforehand. Place them in warm water until they are soft and white.  If you are using other noodle types, prepare according to package directions and time so they are done before broth is finished cooking.

Meat:

Cooking your meat apart from the soup helps keep the broth more lean and healthy.  You can cook the meat any way you like, but I typically just place the strips in a frying pan and sear on each side.  When using pork, I cook thoroughly to avoid any potential food poisoning issues.

Serve:

Divide noodles between two large bowls or four small ones.  Add pork or meat slices on top.  Add broth to each bowl and serve.  I always add garnishments after as Brett and I have different tastes in regards to what garnishments we like.  He likes a five-alarm fire while I am like the Boy Scout rubbing two sticks together for the first time in hopes for a tiny puff of smoke.

Tips:  I usually double the recipe and get two full meals out of the broth.  Also, the bowls we use when serving two are huge — more like western size serving bowls.  We usually only finish half and let the rest sit overnight for breakfast.  It’s quite tasty in the morning as the flavor of the basil and other garnishes have a chance to really blend together.  Since we found it was common to eat Pho for breakfast in Saigon, why not keep that tradition going back here in Taiwan? 🙂

Although its origin is somewhat disputed (ok, passionately disputed) between Australia and New Zealand, most people credit New Zealand with the creation of this tasty treat.

Much like frosting on a cake, most Pavlovas are covered and decorated with whipped cream.  A signature element is the fresh tropical and vibrant colored fruits that adorn the sides and top of the Pavlova — strawberries, passionfruit, and kiwi being some of the most commonly used fruits.

Whether you give New Zealand the win on its origin or not, Pavlova is still an important part of the country’s cuisine.  When visiting New Zealand, this should be on your short list of foods to try — especially if you have a sweet tooth.  Pavlova reminds me of a mixture of a meringue drop cookie and a roasted marshmallow.  The crust has the hard exterior like the meringue drop, but the inside is soft and sticky, like the marshmallow topping on Thanksgiving Day yams or sweet potatoes.

New Zealand is passionate about the Pavlova and it usually makes an appearance during celebrations and special events — often in grand scale.  Since 1999, New Zealand has broken its own world record in crafting the “world’s biggest Pavlova.”    The most recent one was presented in Christchurch back in August, 2010.  Capable of feeding 10,000 people, the 50 square meter Pavlova was made with 10,000 egg whites and more than 600 kg of sugar!  The Pavlova was shaped like a rugby field to coincide with the Bledisloe Cup rugby match in Christchurch being held during the same weekend.

If you want to try your hand at making a Pavlova before visiting New Zealand, here are a couple recipes you can try at home.

• Mixed Berry Pavlova from Food Network’s Barefoot Contessa
• BBC Good Food Pavlova Recipe
• Pavlova from All Recipes

Have you tried a Pavlova in New Zealand?  Please share if you have any recommendations on who makes the best Pavlova in New Zealand!

This post is part of the #Blog4NZ event taking place March 21-23. Please help this worthy cause and support tourism to New Zealand by sharing this article across your social networks.

Ingredients

• Pitted Dates
• Bacon
• Brown Sugar
• Blue Cheese
• Toothpicks

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F
2. Slice into the dates to basically make a pocket to stuff (you don’t want to slice through the entire date)
3. Fill the hollowed date with blue cheese and close sides
4. Cut your bacon into pieces (I usually cut the bacon into thirds)
5. Wrap the cut pieces of the bacon around the dates and secure with toothpicks
6. Place on baking sheet
7. I like to sometimes sprinkle tops with a generous amount of brown sugar
8. After about 20 minutes take out and turn the dates over.  I usually sprinkle more brown sugar on the dates again.

You can change these up by using different cheese — I have used Brie, Camembert, and even goat cheese.  I have to admit that I am not a blue cheese fan at all, but when served inside the dates, I absolutely love it!  So, even if you are not a blue cheese fan, give them a try as you might be surprised as well!  If you have guests that may not eat bacon or have dairy issues, consider serving some “regular” dates alongside.  Brett’s family always served dates stuffed with walnuts that are rolled in regular sugar.  These are also pretty tasty and super easy to serve with the bacon-wrapped ones!

I did as much prep work as I could early in the day (sauces, chopping, etc.), but somehow the day just flew and guess what?  We were still eating well after 1am.  As usual, the best laid plans gone awry! Overall, it was a success – apart from a few cooking snafus and wrangling with the world’s most difficult dessert in my opinion.  I must point out how well-adjusted I have become to our small kitchen here in Taipei after coming from huge Western style kitchens, which you can get more info about them here, with easily sourced ingredients.  It has taken time to get used to cooking with only two burners, a small and quite temperamental oven, and having to run to five different types of grocery stores to get supplies, so I am rather impressed I managed to pull off a dinner this grand.

Here is a look at the courses and links to recipes where applicable.  I planned the entire meal around two special bottles of wine for the evening — 07 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay and our rather expensive 02 Heitz Cellars‘ Martha’s Vineyard legendary Cabernet Sauvignon.

First Course: Bagna Calda

Bagna Calda is one of my all-time favorite dishes from The Stinking Rose Restaurant in California.  Both Brett and I love garlic so I was thrilled to introduce him to a garlic themed restaurant when we first started dating.  Bagna Calda is one of their signature dishes, which is basically a garlic bath.  Cloves of garlic are baked in olive oil, butter, and anchovies.  Once the cloves are soft, you can spread these garlicky delights on bread, crackers, etc.  Since we were doing a big multi-course dinner, I opted to cook just a few cloves for each of us, otherwise I am sure we would’ve filled up on these right away.

I used some of my favorite Northern California Lucero Olive Oils (Basil and also a bit of the Lemon), some anchovy paste, high-end French butter, and baked everything in a small dish for about 35 minutes on 325 degrees F.  They key is to coat the cloves in oil so they stay moist in the oven.

Second Course:  Scallops on Potato Pancakes

This course was inspired by a Food & Wine recipe for Scallops with Potato Pancakes and Caviar Sauce.  Since Brett is Jewish and loves his Hanukkah latkes, this was a perfect opportunity to combine them into his fancy birthday dinner too!

Caviar is not that easy to track down here and for the price of $100 US, I didn’t think it was really worth spending that much for sauce.  I opted to make a vanilla butter sauce instead.  Since I was making only four scallops I just used a portion of a Tahitian vanilla bean we got in French Polynesia.  I made a simple sauce of chopped shallots, white wine, butter, and the vanilla pod scrapings.  The Food & Wine recipe says you can make the latkes ahead of time and keep them at room temperature for two hours, but I recommend making them fresh so they stay extra crisp.

Third Course: Ravioli Filled with Brie, Pumpkin, and Leeks Tossed in a Browned Butter Sauce

This is definitely the course where disaster began to strike.  The pasta dough I intended to use had an awful consistency, so I ended up making dough from scratch!   Unfortunately, our apartment is either overly humid or skin-cracking dry.  Brett had turned on the dehumidifier because of all the cooking I had been doing so the dough ended up cracking and drying out too soon.  I couldn’t get it rolled as thin as I needed so I knew my ravioli skins were going to be more dense than normal ones.

Although the ravioli were quite thick, at least the filling came out great.  I heated fresh pumpkin puree I had already made with some Brie and a small handful of finely chopped leeks.  I made a simple browned butter sauce and topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Fourth Course:  Leek and Red Wine Soup

This course was inspired by Food & Wine’s recipe for Silky Leek and Red Wine Soup.  The soup has a nice blend of leeks, a pinch of saffron, red wine, and of course heavy cream.  This is a great recipe, but for the dinner I varied it slightly to be less creamy and more of a true red wine soup.  When I was working on this dish, Brett’s face was priceless…I opened the saffron and I think he saw dollar signs floating above.  We can only get one kind of saffron here and it’s over $30 US for 1 gram or 0.03 ounces.  I only used a pinch I swear!

Fifth Course:  Mini Baked Mac and Cheese

These are fun and really simple to make.  Take cooked elbow macaroni and mix with your favorite blend of cheeses and drop into buttered muffin cups.  You can make them ahead of time and keep in the fridge until you are ready to bake.  I used a blend of Padano, Parmesan, Mozzarella, and Cheddar.  Top them with additional grated Parmesan and bake until they are golden brown on the top.

Sixth Course: Caesar Salad

To counter the two heavy pasta courses, I did a light salad with a traditional Caesar dressing (just used very little egg yolk).  Instead of shaved or grated Parmesan cheese, I used Parmesan crisps I had baked earlier in the day.  These provide a nice crispy texture in a salad (especially if you do not use croutons).

Seventh Course: Herb Crusted Lamb Chops with Caramelized Broccoli

Brett loves his lamb chops so I couldn’t imagine a big dinner without them, not to mention they pair perfectly with our beloved Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.  I marinated the lamb in red wine and herbs for most of the day and then crusted them with a mix of additional herbs.  About five minutes on the grill and they were perfect.  For a side dish, I prepared a little caramelized broccoli with sliced garlic.

Eighth Course: Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Soufflé with Vanilla Rum Caramel Sauce

This was a course of concern for me.  I had not made a true chocolate soufflé before, so probably not the best time to try one now!  I had really wanted to use Valrhona chocolate, but we could not find it at the store this time, so I opted to use an interesting Lindt Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt.  I also added 1/4 of the Tahitian vanilla pod to the chocolate mixture.  I used a recipe from Food Network for the soufflé itself.  I had a rough time getting my egg whites to stiffen and I think I must have had a tiny bit of egg yolk on the beaters.  As I continued to mix for what seemed like 30 minutes, Brett found a tip online that said to use cream of tartar.  It did work — the egg whites began to form peaks shortly thereafter!

Earlier in the day, I made a Tahitian vanilla bean and Cuban rum caramel sauce.  It was quite thick, super sweet, but oh so delicious!  Looking forward to finishing the leftover sauce with some vanilla bean ice cream!

Ninth Course: Passion Fruit Macarons with Dark Chocolate Passion Fruit Ganache

I’ve read numerous recipes and blogs about how difficult these are to make, but I wasn’t dissuaded.  I can see why you need to make them over and over again to get them right.  I could not find food coloring anywhere here in Taipei (go figure), but we did find food flavoring drops that had some color.  I bought the passion fruit and coffee flavors in hopes I could use one of these two.  Combing the fruit stand, I found fresh passion fruit and decided to try a passion fruit macaron with a passion fruit chocolate ganache.

While I aspire to make macarons as good as Pierre Herme, I figured it was a bit ambitious to start off trying that complex of a recipe.  Instead, I went with the queen of simple and straight forward – Martha Stewart! It appears she can really do anything.  Her basic macaron recipe was quite simple and easy to follow.

I started the macarons in the morning and the first few ended up sticking together (when they say leave at least 2 inches in between…they really mean it!)  Trying to get the almond mixture in the pastry bag was a challenge in itself.  If you have wedding rings on and happen to be a lefty like me, take them off!  That almond mixture is a $&@*@( to clean off rings, especially if you have any pave set diamonds!

Out of 20 something macaron halves, I did manage to get at least 6 sets that were reasonably the same size and shape.  A tip: let them cool completely otherwise they are very easy to break.  Set them aside and do something else for an hour or so — if you live in a humid climate like we do, it may take even longer for them to completely set.

For the ganache, I actually used a Pierre Herme recipe with fresh passion fruit puree.  Making your own passion fruit puree is not hard if you basically put the “guts” in a food processor and then strain.  Some people use sugar as well but since it was going into a ganache, I did not add any extra sugar.  And now we have extra puree for passion fruit margaritas!

One recommendation on piping the ganache — let it harden completely.  I put it in the fridge for nearly an hour; however, it started softening quickly due to the humidity and the heat of my hands on the pastry bag and began to spit.  It probably would’ve been easier had I let it set up longer.

Overall, the macarons came out better than I expected for my first time and they were delicious, so that is what’s important!  Next time I can work on the aesthetics.

Tenth Course: Aged Cheeses and Gourmet Honey

We love pairing gourmet cheeses with wine and have been known to make a meal out of meats and cheeses before.  Our favorite chef here in town often treats us to special aged cheeses, gourmet honey, and homemade raisins after one of his big degustation menus.  Finding certain gourmet cheeses here can be hit or miss sometimes — one thing I definitely miss from the States!  In the end, I served the aged Parmesan and Padano since we still had a little Cabernet Sauvignon left.  Not terribly exciting, but a clean way to finish off after those two rich desserts.

By the time we finished this course, I was exhausted.  When I woke up Saturday morning, I was actually sore!  Standing hunched over a counter on hard tile floors for 12+ hours made for a long day, but Brett was worth it…sore muscles and all!

As we were on the road almost the entire month of December last year, Brett did not really have the opportunity to celebrate Hanukkah so I decided to try and make it up to him this year.  Since I am not Jewish, my familiarity with traditional Jewish foods (and how to cook them) is pretty much nil.  When we were doing our Thanksgiving shopping, I made a list of a few recipes I wanted to try and make him for Hanukkah and latkes were at the top of the list.  These are basically potato pancakes that sound more like hash browns to me.  Turns out, latkes are one of his favorite childhood memories of Hanukkah so I was quite excited to surprise him with this.

I researched a lot of different latke recipes and personally, the traditional ones all seemed rather bland — shredded potatoes, onions, eggs, and flour.  I reached out to my favorite foodie sources like Food & Wine Magazine and Food Network for a little inspiration.  Wolfgang Puck had an interesting recipe on Food Network and I looked at Renée’s Latkes from Gail and Renée Simmons on Food & Wine Magazine.

In the spirit of being adventurous, I decided to take elements from each of the various recipes.  In the end, I used the following ingredients in my latkes:

• 2 potatoes (shredded)
• 1 medium sized yellow onion (grated)
• 1 egg (beaten)
• Flour
• Garlic powder
• Nutmeg
• Lemon juice
• Butter
• Kosher Salt

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I shredded the potatoes with a large grater and then minced the onion with a smaller size grater.  I mixed about 3/4 of the onion in with the potatoes.  I added one beaten egg, a little flour, nutmeg, garlic, salt, and juice from 1/2 of a lemon.  I probably added 1 tablespoon of melted butter to the mix as well.  I used sunflower oil instead of peanut oil and they seemed to fry fine — of course that was after my test one that was horribly undercooked!  Once I made them a little smaller and flatter, they cooked up fine with a nice brown crisp.

Sadly, Brett kept getting delayed at work and had no idea I was surprising him with dinner so I kept trying to delay and lower the temperatures so it would not get cold before he arrived home.  Once in the door, Brett recognized the smell of latkes immediately.  You’re kidding, right?  How does he immediately know the smell of potatoes and onions means latkes?!?  Well, so much for that surprise!

I served them as a side dish in our dinner and used sour cream to top.  Since Brett doesn’t like sour cream, he used the caramelized onions (cooked in red wine and blackberry jam) I made for the main dish.   Sour cream or not, they still tasted delicious and I’m rather proud of my first attempt at traditional Jewish cuisine!