Day 66! Grenada(St.George's)NA - Roast Pork with Shallot and Ginger Rub, Black Bean, Heart of Palm and Corn Salad and Mango Salsa - Up Next, Guatemala (SA)

Fruit ripening outside for tonight's meal

Coming off of a heavy German meal, cooking in Grenada was a welcome Caribbean treat. Shallots, ginger, lime, allspice, coriander and cilantro filled the kitchen with the wonderful aromatic smell of island spices. And the rub and sauce for the roasted pork was crazy tasty.

My world map - filling up!

Here's a little about this beautiful island country...

Along with six smaller islands, Grenada is located in the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeast Caribbean Sea. It's neighbors are Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and St. Vincent.

Nutmeg and mace

Known as the "Island of Spice," Grenada is one the world's largest exporters of nutmeg and mace.  Oil Down, a stew that consists of breadfruit, coconut milk, turmeric, dumplings, callaloo, salted fish and meat is the country's national dish - If I ever get lucky enough to visit the country, this is the dish I mos' def want to try.

Hearts of palm, cilantro, red onions and lime - done deal

Black beans, tomatoes, corn, cilantro and coriander make the salad

Chillin' - heh

The rub: allspice, ginger, shallots and bay leaves - heavenly

The rub - ready to go

Brown sugar, ginger, shallots, bay leaves and orange juice for the sauce

Cook down to make a sublimely-scented syrup

Mango salsa - I could live on this

Drizzle sauce onto the pork and avocados

One of my all time favorite dishes

Caribbean Roast Pork - www.caribbeanchoice.com

Roast Pork
3 shallots, chopped
2 bay leaves, crumbled
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. ground allspice
3/4 tsp. ground ginger (I used fresh)
2 3/4  - pork tenderloins (I used a 4lb cut)

Sauce
1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
1/4 cup minced shallots
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. minced peeled fresh ginger
2 bay leaves
3/8 tsp. ground allspice

Fresh spinach leaves
2 avocados, peeled, pitted, sliced crosswise
Minced fresh parsley (forgot that!)

Black Bean, Heart of Palm, and Corn Salad
1 16-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 10-ounce package frozen corn, thawed and drained (I tossed it in frozen)
1 7 1/2 ounce can hearts of palm, drained and cut into 1/4 inch-thick rounds
2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. ground coriander

Directions

For Roast Pork:
Preheat oven to 450F. Combine shallots, bay leaves, salt, allspice and ginger in small bowl. Add generous amount of pepper. Rub mixture into pork. Set on rack in roasting pan, and roast for about 25 minutes (don't over cook it!!). Cool slightly.

For Sauce:
Combine first 6 ingredients in heavy small saucepan. Season with pepper. Simmer until slightly syrupy, about 10 minutes.

For Salad:
Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Line platter with spinach. Mound black bean salad in center. Slice pork. Alternate pork and avocado slices around salad. Discard bay leaves from sauce and drizzle over pork and avocado. Sprinkle with parsley.

Mango Salsa - http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/mango_salsa/

1 mango, peeled and into small cubes
1/2 red onion, diced
1 jalapeño pepper (or less if you don't like your salsa too hot)
1 small cucumber, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup)
3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. If the taste is to hot or too acrid, you can add a little avocado to temper the flavors

Final Assessment: Aside from Mediterranean and Malaysian cooking, Caribbean cuisine is at the top of my list. This dish was very easy to prepare (it can actually be made a day ahead) and the flavors were super clean and delicious. A++

The Magical Evolution of a Foodie Blogger's Kitchen

 Enter My Kitchen - Where the Journey Unfolds...

Counter top still life

Flowers, fruit and vegetables from the Mudville Farmer's Market

Fruit ripening for
tonight's Grenadian meal

Okay, so if you're like me, you love being in your kitchen. And, if you've given yourself over to cooking, creating, photographing and writing about your adventure, your kitchen is also your studio.

Seven months into this world adventure, my kitchen has become much more than the warm place it always was. It's an extension of my passion; a place where I use my imagination and my tools to create tangible expressions of an idea that has morphed  into possibilities unanticipated and those yet to be revealed.  And, now that I've given myself over to following the flow of this concept, rather than trying to construct or manage it, it's just plain magical.

I know what you're thinking - here are the adjectives that may come to mind: loco, obsessive, fixated, possessed, driven...Yep, all true and  exponentially fun.

Tomatoes, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, lemons and avocados

My son is a glassblower - I love to fill his creations with beautiful things. Every time he brings me a new glass, bowl, orb or vase, I see possibilities.

Just one small section of my pantry - I need more jars!

I like to store as much as I can in glass jars where I can see exactly what and how much I have on hand and I'm forever on the look out for cool glass containers with good lids. Lately I've been thinking about switching all my spices to glass containers so I can see all their beautiful colors and textures.

My butcher block workspace - handmade by my Step Dad, Michael

Lastly, I'm always wondering about how I can make this experience better for my readers and  interesting from a global perspective - My kitchen is small, but the world is a big, colorful place and I want to do the countries I cook in justice...Let me know what you think!

A small, efficient space where I can reach everything in just a few steps

A small sample of the dishes I use when I plate and photograph  my meals - I need more space!

Ingredients for tonights meal from Grenada

Tim's glass and my grandmother's silver - I use everything I own , no matter how  antique