35. - Can-anna? da!

Pancakes and Bloody Marys were the order of the morning. All you need for a ‘Bitchin Canadian Pancake Brunch Yo”.** You also need maple syrup. And chocolate buttons. And bacon. And squirty ‘cream’. And mini marshmallows. And chocolate sauce. And ice cream. STRAWBERRYS! And it doesn’t hurt to have a creative flare and a bit of sunshine. Canada, you rock my world. 

Brunch and Bloody Mary’s. What could be better? Just brunch. I’m digging brunch, but I’m too hung over for this shit...

**You don’t need Bloody Marys. Tomato juice haunts me. 

Pancakes

Serves 4                                                                                                                 A bona fide 10/10

Dry Ingredients

225g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sugar

pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients

30g butter, melted and allowed to cool slightly

2 eggs

350ml milk

extra butter for frying

Mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Get a pan on medium heat, add a knob of butter and get your pancake on.  

A Bloody Bloody Mary

Don't make a jug...

A shot or two of vodka, topped up with tomato juice and ice. Add tabasco, pepper, salt and worcestershire sauce. Proceed with caution. It's the morning yo. 

The evening...

The morning after the morning before...

No. 34 - Do a twirl and Cameroon to yourself!

Q: “What do you do before you come 'round to yourself?"

A: "You do a twirl.”

         One of the Johns, Volvo Ocean Races, 2012.

Ndole (aren’t we all)

Ndole is a Cameroonian stew that consists of nuts, ndoleh (a bitterleaf native to Cameroon) and either fish, prawns or ground beef.

(O)n(the)dole shligo shtyle, is more like a schcutt of peanut butter (not the shaweet schtuff), shhpinach and prawns plus shtock, all shhlaaaped together. Savage.

For a real Shligo rant visit http://www.oddsocksrevival.com/

Serves 2                                                                                                                                    6/10

1 bag of baby spinach (240g), chopped

raw prawns, deveined and shelled, as many as you can afford on the ndole.

some stock made from simmering the prawn shells in water (optional)

3 tbsp of posh natural peanut butter (no added sugar or salt)

1 small red onion chopped

1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

1 clove of garlic, crushed

3 regular tomatoes, chopped

bit of oil, salt and pepper.

To serve: rice and plantain

Saute the onion, garlic and ginger until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for a few johns. 

Add the peanut butter and a few splashes of prawn stock or water to loosen it up a bit. Bring to a simmer again. Throw in the spinach (you might need to add it a bit at a time). 

In a seperate pan, fry the prawns until just cooked.  You can mix the cooked prawns into the ndole or serve them on top with some rice and fried plantain.

Dat troot, yo.

33. - Cambodia - Fish Amok and UFO's

amok  (əˈmʌk, əˈmɒk, əˈmʌk)

— n

1.                  a state of murderous frenzy

— adv

2.                  run amok  to run about with or as if with a frenzied desire to kill

                                                                                                                                      Collins Dictionary

While shopping for the ingredients for this, I was swiftly reminded that I stick out like a blonde in an Asian food store. Too often I don’t know how to find the food on the shelves, what it should look, taste or smells like. Sometimes I can’t even pronounce it.

During my recent re-encounter/reunion with the ethnic food store I was looking for ‘galangal’. Google tells me that it’s a member of the ginger family. I could see nothing that looked like a relative but took a guess and picked up two UFO’s  (Unidentified Food Objects). Below are both specimens, neither of which I actually believe is galangal, both of which I put into the curry paste. I’m just that bad ass.  

I had trouble getting the banana leaves too and found the last (gone off) ones in Dublin. I am not a talented Cambodian banana bowl maker. My banana bowls were bowls in spirit but not in function.

Fish Amok                                                                                                                             Rating: 7/10

Like being hit between the eyes with lemongrass, being kicked in the teeth with ginger and slapped in the face with a great big lime leaf. Curry paste so intensely flavoured it made my eyes water. Next time I’d lay off the lemongrass a bit. I can still taste it.

Serves 2

Curry Paste or Kroeung

­2 fresh chillies, seeds left in

8 cloves of garlic

1 red onion

1 tsp tumeric powder

4 sticks of lemongrass

Chunk of UFO specimen A

Chunk of UFO specimen B

Chunk of ginger

6 lime leaves

(1 tbsp shrimp paste, I couldn’t find this anywhere and left it out)

A few glugs of oil

The Rest (Amok)

2 fillets of hake, skin removed

can of coconut milk

tbsp sugar

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 eggs

Banana Bowl

2 banana leaves

cocktail sticks

fresh red chilli and lime leaves to garnish

Roughly chop and blend all the curry paste ingredients in a blender. Fry the curry paste in a little oil for about five minutes. Add the coconut oil, sugar, fish paste and simmer for a further ten minutes or so (it tastes better than it looks). Leave to chill.  

While this is chillin you can make the banana bowls. (Or not. You can screw the banana bowls and just use a normal bowls). Make them anyway you can. I cannot give advice on this beyond fold up the corners, thread with cocktail sticks and keep your fingers crossed. I made an external tinfoil bowl as backup. I advise you do the same.

Dice the fish into bite sized pieces. Once the coconut mixture is cool beat in the eggs and mix in the fish. Divide into the banana bowls (or normal bowls), and steam for 20-25 minutes until the amok has just set. Coat the fish skin in some seasoned flour and fry in some oil until crispy. Chop and scatter on the amok with some sliced fresh red chilli and lime leaves. Serve with steamed rice and eat with chopsticks (even if the Cambodians don’t.) 

32. - Burundi - Have You Seen This Country?

Missing. What a way to make a come back?

The poster should really read LOST rather than MISSING. I’ve lost the recipe, lost the photographs and lost (or maybe never possessed) the motivation and dedication to repeat a country. 

Give me a break. There are 26 letters, 230 countries. I’m only (nearly) on C. “What letter are you on?” is fast becoming my most dreaded question after “So what’s the plan now you’ve graduated?”.  To kill these two questions with one stone so to speak, and just so you know, my immediate plan is to get through ‘C’ and have an absolute laugh. Sounds like a plan to me.

It’s good to be back. Let's get bitchin in the kitchen. (Yo).