Ireland - Irish Oatmeal Glazed Maple-Pecan Scones

Officially, I haven't reached the letter "I" countries yet, but seeing as it's fall, I'm 1/2 Irish it seemed only fitting to post this recipe for some of the best scones I've ever made - and I have made many. A big shout-out to  Cook's Illustrated and Ezrapoundcake for this wonderful recipe which I have adapted just slightly.

This old wooden bowl and chopper has been in my family since I can remember. It works as well or better than any fancy chopping machine I've ever tried. And, it's beautiful to look at and comforting to hold. 

Toasted pecans and steal cut Irish Oatmeal - a lovely combination that smells and tastes like fall.

This recipe calls for combining the flour and butter in a food processor - however, if you don't have one, use 2 knives or a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse meal. No fancy equipment needed!

 The ying and the yang of flour, butter, steal cut oats and toasted pecans - a religion all its own

Handling as little as possible, pat out the dough to a 7-inch circle and cut into 8 wedges

Brush the scones with glaze, being careful not to soak them, then sprinkle with cinnamon for added color and flavor

 Right out of the oven - ahhhhh- cool completely before icing

Drizzle the icing over the scones. I used a pastry bag so I'd have more control over pipping the icing, but a spoon will do just as nicely if you don't want all the fuss.

Irish Oatmeal Glazed Maple-Pecan Scones

1 1/2 cups good quality rolled oats
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1-2 tsp. cinnamon

Glaze
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the over to 375F. Spread the oats and pecans evenly on a baking sheet and toast them until they are fragrant and lightly browned - about 7-9 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Increase the oven temperature to 450F. Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper. When the oats and pecans are cool, measure out 2 tablespoons (for dusting the work surface) and set aside.

2. Whisk the milk, cream, maple syrup and egg in a large measuring cup until incorporated; remove 1 tablespoon to a small bowl and reserve for glazing.

3. Place the flour, baking powder and salt in the workbowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until combined, about four 1-second pulses. Scatter the cold butter evenly over the dry ingredients and process until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, twelve to fourteen 1-second pulses.

4. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl; stir in the cooled oats and pecans.Using a rubber spatula, fold in the liquid ingredients until large clumps form. Using your hands, gently knead the mixture in the bowl until the dough forms a cohesive mass. Do not over-handle.

5. Dust work surface with half of the reserved oats, turn the dough out onto the work surface, and dust the top with the remaining oats. Gently pat the dough into a 7-inch circle about 1-inch thick.

6. Using a long sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 wedges and set on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Brush the surfaces wit the reserved milk and egg mixture, then sprinkle scones with cinnamon.

7. Bake until golden brown, 12-14 minutes; cool scones on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove scone to a wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

8. When the scones are cool, whisk 3 tablespoons maple syrup and 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar in a small bowl until combined; drizzle the glaze over the scones.

Final Assessment: To die for

Day 67 - Guatemala: Pollo Pepian- Spicy Chicken with tomatillo, pumkin and sesame sauce - Up Next, Guinea (AF)

Tomatillos

Pineapple for dessert!

Tonight's Guatemalan meal, is perhaps one of the most interesting I've made thus far. Not because it's complicated - it was easy. Not because it's fancy - it's quite simple fare. And, not because it's the most beautiful dish I've ever prepared. Interesting because the flavors are unusually complex. I felt instantly transported to the beautiful country of Guatemala while enjoying this wonderful dish...more later!


The Central American country of Guatemala's history dates back to at least 12,000 BC. Many people probably know of the Mayan ruins and culture that so captivate our imaginations. It's neighbors include Mexico, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Guatemala is also rich in natural resources and boasts a magnificent ecosystem.

Guatemala's cuisine is influenced by Mayan and Spanish cultures and relies heavily on corn, beans, rice and tortillas as staples. Chicken, cilantro, garlic and green onions are also used to season many dishes - how can you go wrong??


The secret to thickening the sauce for this dish is in the corn tortillas which are pureed right along with the vegetables. Not only do they bind the sauce, but they add a distinctive corn flavor that melds beautifully with the tangy citrus of the tomatillos and the heat of the jalapeños. 

Husk tomatillos and simmer till tender with jalapeños, chicken and water
The citrus herb flavor of the tomatillos is superb!

Pepitas - pumpkin seeds

Toasted sesame seeds

Puree everything except chicken - then add shredded chicken and heat

Serve seasoned with cilantro and corn tortillas

The Recipe

Pollo Pepian - Spicy Chicken with Tomatillo, pumpkin and Sesame Sauce

Adapted from a Whole Foods Recipe: www.wholefoodsmarket.com

• 1 pound tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 8 skineless chicken thighs
• 1 to 2 jalapeños, stemmed and halved lengthwise
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 roughly chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
• 6 green onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and roughly chopped
• 1/ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
• 2  8-inch corn tortillas, torn into pieces

Put 6 cups water, tomatillos, chicken, jalapeños and salt into large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until tomatillos and jalapeños are tender and chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Drain, reserving broth, and set aside chicken, tomatillos and jalapeños.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add cilantro, green onions, garlic and bell peppers and cook until softened and gold brown, about 10 minutes; transfer to a blender. Add pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, tortillas, 3 cups of the reserved broth, tomatillos and jalapeños (seeded first if you like) and carefully puree until smooth; work in batches, if needed. (Reserve broth for another use).

Transfer contents of blender to a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes more. Ladle into bowls, garnish with cilantro and serve.

Final Assessment: Delicious, interesting, simple and unique. Highly recommended!!

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

Day 65! Finally, Germany(Berlin)(EU)-Deutsch Frikadellen (meatballs), Spätzle und rotkole

I've got to admit that although I absolutely enjoy German food, it's a little on the heavy side for me. Tonight's meal was very good, but between the meatballs, gravy, spaetzle and red cabbage, I'm full in a weighted-down-kind-of-way. That said, it's also a humid 85F here tonight--downright tropical - so cranking out a wintry meal does seem a tad counterintuitive...

But, this project is not bound by weather conditions or personal taste - it's mission-driven - so, while these dishes may not have been my all-time favorites, I've certainly learned some things about the beautiful country of Germany and it's cuisine I didn't know before. Therefore, it's all good.


For starters, I was given a copy of an original recipe for Rotkole (red cabbage) from my wonderful friend, business partner and frankly, one of the most interesting and eclectic people I know, Karen. Her grandmother, Mathilda Ramrath,  was born in Germany in the early 1900's. Like so many immigrants, she came to this country in search of a better life.

When the stock market crashed in the 1930's, Mathilda returned to Germany with her son, and left him to be raised by relatives where he would be properly cared for. She came back to the U.S and worked alongside her husband in a gas station, returning briefly to Germany in the late 1940's, but eventually came back to the U.S. with her son to live a long life, surrounded by friends and family. I am honored and pleased to be in possession of her recipe - in her original handwriting - which, by the way, I liked far better than the meatballs and spaetzle!

Located in Central Europe and stretching from the Alps across the Northern plains to the North and Baltic Seas, Germany is known for many things. Among them,  famous musicians, the Holocaust, world renound German engineering, the German shepherd (my favorite) and many other societal contributions. Needless to say, Germany's history is both remarkable and complex.

Most people equate German food with meat and potatoes, and while this is true, the focus on sweet and sour in many dishes is uniquely German. Moreover, cuisine varies widely from one province to another, with influences from Italy, Turkey and increasingly, Asian cultures. As in the U.S. pizza and cheeseburgers are popular fastfood staples.

Bacon, lean ground beef, bread, onion, anchovies and an egg make the meatballs

Your hands are your best tools - combine as you would meatloaf

Shape into 2" meatballs and cook in broth for 20 minutes

Gravy made of butter, flour, capers, lemon juice, mustard and an egg yolk

Cook cabbage with vinegar, sugar, cloves and a chopped onion

Make the spaetzle: eggs, flour, milk, baking powder and salt

Mix dough - add a little milk if too thick at first

Force dough through colander with a rubber spatula - spaetzle drops into water and cooks 

German Meatballs, spaetzle and lemon-caper gravy

Rotkole - lovely to look at and very good to eat

These recipes are fairly long and detailed, so I am opting not to write them out...However both the spaetzle and the meatballs can be found at the following link: www.germanculture.com

Here's Mathilda's Rotkole Recipe

Red Cabbage - Rotkole

1/2 inch water in pan

Bring to a boil and add cabbage and one medium sized onion - chopped

1 tsp. salt

1/ cup vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1/ tsp ground cloves

2 Tbsp. bacon fat (I used butter)

flour to thicken

That's it - that's all the direction you'll get because that's the way Mathilda wrote it!

Final Assessment:  Very good hearty fare, better perhaps, cooked on a cool fall night! The Rotkole was rockin'