Marshall Islands

 Welcome to the Marshall Islands!  This is another stunning place that I wouldn't mind visiting.  It seems like our travel fund needs a boost to go see all these amazing places!  The tallest point on the Marshall Islands is a whopping 32 feet above sea level, and they span about 770,000 square miles.  Most of the atolls and islands are coral that are on top of underwater volcanoes.  Sounds like a fun place, right?  According to Google, the population is about 82,000 people and the capital is Majuro.  Their national dish is...

 

 

Barramundi Cod! 

I'm not sure where to get Barramundi cod...however, everything I read says to use a white, flaky fish, so that's what we're going to use!  We've  been eating a lot of fish lately...  The Barramundi cod is traditionally made in a coconut sauce.  To go with the fish, we made roasted sweet potato salad with passion fruit mayonnaise, papaya salad, and Marshallese Baked Papaya with Coconut Cream.  It was a lot of different steps, but fairly easy to make.  Here's what we did:

COCONUT FISH

6 pieces white fish fillets (I used rockfish)
2 C coconut cream
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
2 jalapeños, thinly sliced in rounds
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tomatoes, sliced
6 tbsp avocado oil
6 tbsp gluten free flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Mix cornstarch to a paste with a little bit of the coconut cream.
2. Combine remaining coconut cream, onion, salt, jalapeño, lemon juice, and the corn starch mixture in a saucepan.
3. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, stirring continually.
4. Simmer for 3 minutes, then remove from the heat.
5. Heat oven to 300 F.
6. Cut fish into even sized pieces (about 2-3 inches or so long).
7. Mix flour, extra salt & pepper on a plate for dredging the fish.
8. Dredge the fish until the fish is evenly coated with the flour mix.
9. Heat avocado oil in a pan over medium heat.
10. Lightly brown fish on both sides in the hot oil, adding more oil as needed.
11. Place the fish in an ovenproof dish as it is browned.
12. Evenly cover the fish with the tomato slices.
13. Evenly pour the coconut sauce over the top.
14. Bake uncovered in the oven until the fish is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
15. Enjoy!

(Source: Coconut Fish) 

 

ROASTED SWEET POTATO SALAD

1/3 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into cubes
1 1/2 C raw whole macadamia nuts
2 avocados, cut in large dice
Avocado oil, for roasting
Salt

Dressing
3 tbsp passion fruit

6 tbsp mayonnaise
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon
1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. To make the dressing, mix passion fruit with mayonnaise, lemon juice, sugars & vanilla.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
3. Spread the cubed sweet potato over a baking tray and drizzle avocado oil and salt on the sweet potatoes, and mix until evenly covered.
4.  Roast for 10 minutes.
5. Turn the sweet potatoes over then roast for a further 10 mins.
6. Add macadamia nuts to the tray of sweet potatoes then roast for a further 10 mins.
7. Remove tray from the oven when nuts are evenly golden and let cool.
8. In a salad bowl, mix the lettuce, avocado, sweet potatoes and nuts.
9. Serve with the salad dressing, to taste.
10. Enjoy!

(Source: Roasted Sweet Potato Salad)

 

PAPAYA SALAD

1 papaya, cubed

1 pineapple, cubed

Thai basil leaves, to taste

1. Combine all the ingredients.
2. Enjoy!

(Source: Papaya Salad) 

 

MARSHALLESE BAKED PAPAYA WITH COCONUT CREAM

1 papaya, halved and seeded

1 can coconut cream

1/2 C sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place the papaya halves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Sprinkle the papaya halves equally with the sugar.
4. Bake for 1 hour.
5. After 1 hour, remove from the oven and baste the papaya with the melted sugar.
6. Increase the heat to 400 F. 
7. Add the coconut cream into the center of the papaya. 
8. Bake for another 5-7 minutes.
9. Serve warm and enjoy!

(Source: Marshallese Baked Papaya with Coconut Cream) 

 

The verdict?  It was good!  We really liked the additional sweetness of the tomato on the fish with the coconut.  I didn't see the value in dredging the fish with the flour and frying it - I would skip this step next time.  The sweet potato salad was very strange, and the dressing was very sweet, but it really worked.  The macadamia nuts gave it some extra texture, which was great. The pineapple was delicious and the papaya didn't really do anything for me, but it could be that I didn't choose the right papaya.  The Thai basil was an interesting addition, but I really liked it.  It was really good with a little bit of salt on it too! The baked papaya with coconut cream was exactly as it sounds.  There wasn't anything special about it, and was like eating warm papaya and coconut.  

 

        

 

      

 

 

ME

Taste of Coconut Fish (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 6

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Coconut Fish (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 5

 

ME

Taste of Roasted Sweet Potato Salad (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 6

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Roasted Sweet Potato Salad (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 5

 

ME

Taste of Papaya Salad (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 5

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Papaya Salad (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 6

 

ME

Taste of Baked Papaya with Coconut Cream (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 5

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 5

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Baked Papaya with Coconut Cream (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 5

 

Join us next time in Germany for Oktoberfest!

 

 

Maldives

 Welcome to the Maldives!  Yes, this is a bucket-list place - it looks simply stunning from all the pictures.  The Maldives consist of about 1,190 islands, but only about 200 have people.  It is known as the lowest country in the world, with the highest point being about 5 feet above sea level!  It also has five of the seven sea turtle species living there!  Sounds a bit warm, but it looks beautiful.  According to Google, the population is 388,858 people and the capital is Male'.  Their national dish is...

 

 

 

Mas Huni!

This is a fish dish wrapped in a flat bread.  I made the flatbread, because finding good gluten free flatbread is not fun.  I used the recipe from the book "Baked to Perfection" by Katarina Cermelj (if you don't have this book and need to cook gluten free, run and get this book!)  Sorry the measurements are in grams...  It looked pretty simple to make with simple ingredients.  To go with the mas huni, we made carmel folhi, which ended up being like a sweet flan crepe thing.  It was very interesting!  Ready for a simple meal?  Here's what we did:

MAS HUNI

1 C tuna 

1 C grated coconut
1 habanero, finely chopped
1/2 C red onion,
1/2 C lemon juice
Salt to taste

1. Mix all the ingredients together and let sit for 5-10 minutes while you make the flatbread.
2. Serve in flatbread.
3. Enjoy!

(Source: MAS HUNI) 

 

FLATBREAD

14 g psyllium husk

160 g whole milk

100 g tapioca starch

80 g brown rice flour

400 g millet flour, plus extra for flouring the surface

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

50 g full-fat plain yogurt

20 g avocado oil, plus extra for frying and brushing

1. In a small bowl, mix the psyllium husk and milk.  After about 2-3 minutes, a gel will form.
2. In a larger bowl, mix together the tapioca starch, brown rice flour, millet flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Add the psyllium husk gel, yogurt, and oil, and knead everything into a smooth dough.
4. Divide the dough into 5 equal pieces and shape them into balls.
5. Lightly dust a surface with millet flour and roll the balls into rough circles until they are a little thicker than a flour tortilla.
6. Heat a frying pan over high heat, and brush lightly with oil.
7. Cook flat breads one at a time, cooking about 1 minute per side.
8. Just before you flip the flatbread, brush the side with oil.
9. Once cooked, wrap the flat bread in a tea towel to trap steam.
10. Repeat and then enjoy!

(Source: Baked to Perfection) 

 

CARMEL FOLHI

2 eggs
5 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla 

1 tbsp butter

1. In a bowl and using a fork, mix all ingredients together.
2. Heat a pan and spread a little bit of butter in the pan.
3. Keep heat on medium and add a portion of the batter to the pan, spreading it out thin. 
4. Little bubbles and holes are going to appear and that’s your signal to roll it into a folhi using a spatula.
5. Repeat until you run out of batter. If you find the pan to be too dry, just spread a little bit more butter, and also don’t let the pan heat up too much as then your folhi might get a bit burnt.
6. Enjoy!

(Source: Carmel Folhi) 

 

The verdict?  We were pleasantly surprised!  I had my doubts about the fish combination, but together with the flatbread, it was delicious.  We did think it needed a sauce or some cilantro or something similar, but it was very good.  While making the flatbread, it was very smokey in the house, so I would recommend turning on the stove fan and opening windows before cooking!  The carmel folhi was ok.  I didn't care for the texture - it reminded me of a more firm but very thin flan.  The flavor was good, and it smelled great!  Overall, it was tasty!

 

      

 

ME

Taste of Mas Huni (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 2

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 7

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Mas Huni (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 1

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 6

 

ME

Taste of Carmel Folhi (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 5

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 5

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Carmel Folhi (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 5

 

We hope you join us in the South Pacific in the Marshal Islands next! 

Senegal

 Welcome to Senegal!  When I was living in Alaska, our church had a strong connection with Senegal, and I loved the stories coming from that country.  So to do the national dish made me so happy!  Senegal is the most western point in Africa, and surrounds Gambia on three sides.  According to Google, the population of Senegal is 18.5 million people and the capital is Dakar.  Their national dish is....

 

 

Thiéboudienne!

Senegal has a strong French influence, and I'm not sure I could pronounce this dish.  It is fish and veggies and rice.  It looked so pretty in the pictures, and we looked forward to making it.  Trouble was we couldn't find a whole white fish.  So, we used fillets.  If you want to make a true Thiéboudienne, find a whole white fish.  Here's what we did:

 THIEBOUDIENNE

1 1/2 lbs white, firm-fleshed fish
1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 C parsley and basil, chopped

1 C green onions, chopped

5 cloves garlic

1 habanero pepper
1/2 lb potatoes 

1/2 lb cassava

1 onion, chopped
1 lb vegetables (carrots, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, eggplant, etc.)
1/2 small head cabbage
1/2 lb okra

15 oz tomato sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp bouillon powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
4 oz smoked fish (I used salmon)
3 C chicken broth
1 1/2 C uncooked short-grain rice

1. Wash the fish carefully, drain, and pat dry with paper towels or a clean towel. 
2. Score or slit the fish 4-5 times on a slant across each side. 
3. Rub the fish with lemon, salt it, and set aside.
4. In a food processor or blender, puree chopped parsley and basil, green onions, garlic, and habanero pepper.
5. Douse fish in one portion of the parsley marinade, making sure that both sides are coated with the marinade, including the inside of the slashes. 
6. Let the fish sit covered in the refrigerator as you prepare the vegetables for the dish.
7. Wash and peel the potatoes and cassava and cut them into large chunks. 
8. Clean vegetables, cabbage, and okra, and cut them into large chunks.
9. Heat a Dutch oven or a wide heavy saucepan until hot; add 1 cup of oil, swirl and heat for a few seconds, then lower in the fish and fry until fish is brown, around 3 minutes. 
10. Turn the fish around and brown it for two minutes on the other side. 
11. Remove the fish and set aside.
12. Add the chopped onions to the oil, and cook for about 2 minutes. 
13. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and 2 tbsp of the fish marinade. 
14. Let it cook for about 8 minutes.
15. Add bouillon and pepper to taste. 
16. Let it simmer for about five minutes. 
17. Add in the smoked fish and cook for another 5 minutes.
18. Add 3 cups of water, then the cassava and potatoes. Let simmer for about 5 minutes, followed by adding the vegetables, cabbage, and okra. 
19. Simmer for about 3 minutes.
20. Add the fried fish and let it simmer with the vegetables for about 3 minutes. 
21. Carefully remove the fish and vegetables and set them aside, leaving the tomato sauce in the pot.
22. While the vegetables are cooking, wash your rice. 
23. Add two tablespoons of oil and the washed rice to a new pot.
24. Stir the rice for 1-2 minutes until fully coated in oil. 
25. Cover the pot with a kitchen towel and close with the lid to prevent the steam from escaping.
26. Let the rice steam for 5 minutes.
27. Add the steamed rice to the tomato sauce in the dutch oven, and 1-2 cups of water as needed. 
28. Adjust seasonings to taste, then cover and cook on very low heat on the stove top, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes or a little more, or until the rice is cooked, has absorbed the water, and is tender.
29. When the rice is ready, serve it warm with the reserved vegetables and fish.
30. Enjoy!

(Source: Thieboudienne)

 

The verdict?  It wasn't bad!  The marinade on the fish was really good - we may use it again!  The veggies and rice had a strong smoked fish flavor, which was a bit odd.  The veggies weren't cooked through, which made the cassava, potatoes and carrots strange to eat. However when eaten all together, the dish was good!  My Dad loved the leftovers - ate them right up! 

 

 

 

ME

Taste of Thiéboudienne (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 2

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 6

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Thiéboudienne (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 1

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 6

 

Join us in the Maldives next!  Hopefully you will join us!