Day 191! Vanuatu- Citrus Baked Fish in Coconut Cream - Up Next, Vatican City

After a brief world-cooking hiatus (forced upon me by life's ever-so annoying demands, like work), I'm back and jumping right into the first of the "V" countries with the beautiful South Pacific Island, Vanuatu. After this, I'll only have 6 countries left to go which fills me with a combination of excitement over continued possibilities and more than a little sadness over the impending end of this wonderful journey. But until then, onward with this island stop and citrus baked fish.

Map Courtesy of Lonely Planet

Located in the South Pacific, Vanuatu is an island nation, "Y" shaped archipelago of 83 islands. The islands share their maritime borders with Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands. Mostly mountainous and volcanic, the climate is tropical and subtropical. The majority of the population are Vanuatu, with the remainder being Pacific Islanders and Asian. The primary source of income on the island is local aggriculture, fishing and forestry. First sited by European explorers, the island has probably existed for some 4,000 years, with pottery fragments dating back to 1300-1100 BC as evidence of human existence. With the discovery of sandalwood on the island, the islanders were exploited as laborers for many years. In 1906, French and British missionaries and settlers hoped to establish cotton plantations, but later switched to cocoa and coffee production. Finally, after years of dual governance by the French and British, the country established independence in 1980.

Vanuatu cuisine is typical of Pacific Island cooking, with fish, root vegetables, fruit and vegetables being the staples. Most islanders have back yard gardens, and food is plentiful. Papaya, pineapples, mangoes, plantains, sweet potatoes, taro, yams and coconut are all enjoyed. Kava, a non-alcoholic drink with mild sedative properties is the national drink and is mostly used at night due to its relaxing effects. I think I need some of that.

I used Branzino - aka Mediterranean Sea Bass

Layer orange and lemon slices on top

Pour some coconut milk around the little darling and season with salt and pepper

Wrap up in several layers of banana leaves so you have little packets - secure with kitchen twine

Serve with a salad, plantains or rice - the fish is so tender, the meat falls off the bones

Citrus Baked Fish in Coconut Cream (Recipe Adapted from Healthy Life)

2 medium whole fish  (I used Branzino, weighing about 2lbs. total)
½ tbsp. ground black pepper
1 lemon
1 orange
½ c. light coconut milk
Salt to taste
Banana leaves

Wash and clean fish and place on a softened banana leaf. Thinly slice the lemon and orange and alternate the slices on top of the fish. Sprinkle pepper and pour coconut cream around the fish. Wrap the fish well in about 3 layers of softened banana leaves and bake in a moderate oven for about 40 minutes or in an earth oven for about 1 hour.


© 2010-2012, What's Cooking in Your World? Sarah Commerford/All Rights Reserved

Homemade Cheez-Its

After seeing these on Dara’s blog, Gen Y Foodie, I was smitten.  We needed to make them.  But instead of being all responsible and healthy with the olive oil and flax seeds, I went with good old butter.  We love butter.  We love Julia Child’s "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" for that reason.  So back to the cheez-its – It is exciting for some reason to make a homemade version of packaged food item.  Especially in this case, the buttery, cheesy crackers emerging fresh from the oven makes for such a lovely snack.  Now Seth likes to destroy this delicate harmony of the home-baked cheddar cracker by actually dipping them in this ridiculous store bought cheese dip.  If you notice, it isn’t even packaged in a jar.  It is a tin can that you open like a can of cat food.  Super classy.  He swears by it.  He claims that because the cheez-its taste so strongly like cheese, it helps to dip them into something that doesn’t taste anything like cheese… like pre-packaged cheese dip… While this is the dip he grew up with, and sometimes you just can’t fight nostalgia, I think we’d both agree that these crackers taste great with almost any dip.

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
8 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling on top
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon powdered mustard
¼ teaspoon onion powder
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into tiny pieces
6 – 8 tablespoons ice water

Instructions
In a small bowl, mix together ½ teaspoon kosher salt, pepper, paprika, powdered mustard, and onion powder.  In a medium bowl, mix together flour, cheddar, and the seasoning mix.  Add the pieces of butter and using your fingers work the butter with the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumble.  Add 6 tablespoons ice water, adding more if needed for the dough to come together.  You might want to use your hands to work the dough into a large ball.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.  Heat oven to 350.  I like to roll the dough out on a Silpat or parchment paper cut to fit a baking sheet to get the right size thickness (about 1/8 inch), and then transfer the Silpat or parchment to a baking sheet. If you aren’t using these, the dough should be rolled out to roughly fit a baking sheet.  Use a pizza cutter or fluted pastry wheel (gives that nice deckled edge) to cut the dough into squares.  It helps to use a ruler to evenly space out the cuts.  Use a chopstick to make the classic hole in the center that store-bought cheez-its have.  Sprinkle more kosher salt on top then bake for about 20 minutes.  You want the crackers to be crisp, but not burnt; you may wish to remove the outer couple rows, then put the pan back in and finish the inner rows.  Once they are done, use the same pizza cutter or fluted pastry wheel (lined up with your previous cuts) to separate the crackers fully.