No. 21 - Belize - Here's Johnny Cakes!

This entry is dedicated to all the Johns out there, keeping it real.

Today I thought I’d go wild and cook a typical breakfast instead of dinner for once. This morning the lucky country was Belize. I think that johnny cake is a great name for a flatbread/pancake that thinks its a cake, not to mention, there’s a Sopranos episode entitled Johnny Cakes (poor Vito).  As you can see, there were plenty of (ludacris) reasons for me to want to make them.

Johnny Cakes

A johnny cake, also known as journey cake (because they’re easily transported), is a cornmeal flatbread that originated with the native inhabitants of Northern America. The recipe I decided to follow (kind of) is a johnny cake in its simplest form - for all those johnny cake purists out there. It consists of only four ingredients; cornmeal, salt, sugar and water. None of this modern egg and milk milkarky (sorry, couldn’t help myself). I was planning on eating mine hot with butter and jam, or maybe some honey and sliced banana. Here’s what happened...

Serves 0

My quantities of cornmeal, salt, sugar and water are insignificant, well maybe not, but they’re certainly of no use to you.

There’s no way around it, the johnny cakes just did not work. I put it down to the fact that the cornmeal wasn’t the right kind? No? Truth is, I really don’t know why they failed. Well, ok, the first time I had a notion to add hot water to the cornmeal, for some unknown reason. It went all stiff and gloopy, so I added a few splashes of water (recommended), cold this time to loosen it up. I tried frying them and this is what happened.

Eh ah.

My second attempt, I was more confident would work. I added cold water to the salt, sugar and cornmeal in the specified quantities but it was ridiculously runny, practically like water. So, I kept whisking in cornmeal, a little at a time until it reached the consistency of pancake batter. Alas, when frying them, they cracked? Cracked? God knows.

Now, I’ve no cornmeal left.

For breakfast? A cheese omelette.

No. 13 - Austria - Don’t be a Weiner!

The perfect solitary supper and an indulgent treat for one - perfect if you fancy spoiling yourself, kicking back and enjoying the luxury of a veal chop home alone. This was the dream, but when I asked for a veal chop in the butchers, I couldn’t believe my ears when he weighed it and said it came to €6.15! For a skinny wee veal chop! Needless to say, I looked from the butcher, to the veal chop and back to my designated €5 note and hesitated for probably an embarrassing length of time. The butcher sensing my skepticism agreed that it was a bit expensive so I didn’t feel to bad sending it back to be replaced with a lousy pork chop. Another time, he said, when you want to treat yourself. Problem is, when I want to treat myself I buy a steak.

I wanted to translate the name of the recipe from wiener schnitzel (veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried) to the equivalent pork coated in breadcrumbs and fried. I discovered that schnitzel refers to veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried and Wieners are those sausages, so the jury is still out on what this dish is actually called but I would make a guess and calling it a pork schnitzel seems about right, even if Weiner makes me laugh.

Pork Schnitzel

Obviously a weiner schnitzel is the preferred schnitzel, but the pork one’s not half bad either. It’s really just a glorified breaded pork chop and I had mine with slow roast garlic tomatoes, which recipe doesn’t feature here because it doesn’t technically belong in Austria. I had loads of tomatoes left over from the barbecue and fancied getting rid of them all at once. Its just some crushed garlic, basil and olive oil spooned onto some halved tomatoes and roasted in a low oven for a couple of hours – in case you were wondering. Instead, make yourself a green salad, spritz over some lemon juice and you’re more likely to find yourself in authentic Austria territory. Oh and using a veal escalope might help!

Serves 1

1 pork or veal chop

a plateful of fresh breadcrumbs

a plateful of plain flour

an egg, beaten

vegetable oil for frying

Salt and Pepper

Lay out three plates in front of you with flour in the first one, beaten egg in the second, and breadcrumbs in the third. Lay the chop on a chopping board, cover in cling film and bash to flatten with a rolling pin (or the cling film roll in my case). Try and get the chop as flat and skinny as possible. Season the chop with salt and pepper on both sides.

Then dip into the flour, shake off the excess. Then into the egg, shake off the excess. Then into the breadcrumbs, shake off the excess. Heat the oil in the pan and ensure that it will come half way up the chop when it’s in the pan. Fry the chop in the hot oil for a few minutes aside until just cooked. Serve with a green salad and a spritz of lemon juice if you want an Authentic Austrian Supper.