In the land of Rum and Fish

That national bird of Bermuda is the Bird of Paradise. While it isn’t exactly paradise here, it comes close. Bermuda is still a British Colony (although you wouldn’t know it on July 4th! There were so many fire works displays I thought that we were back in DC. I wonder if the inhabitants of this British Isle noted the irony of celebrating the American War of Independence…) Since its roots are British it isn’t exactly know for its stellar food. I was actually surprised about how little fresh fruit grows on this island. However, as long as you stick to the staples—fish and rum—you can’t go wrong.

Since it’s an island nation, it’s not hard to find a good fish. Some of my favorites so far are the red grouper—I’m not sure that it is in fact a grouper, since it is much smaller than any grouper I’ve seen and doesn’t have the characteristic dopey expression; muddled snapper—a white, flakey fish with sweet flesh. You also commonly see on menus this time of year gambas (big shrimp), Wahoo—being a UVa Grad this fish, which as legend has it is the only fish that can drink twice its weight, has special significance—and yellowtail snapper.

Another staple here is Bermuda Fish Chowder. It is a slightly spicy, tomato based soup with vegetables and of course lots of fish. I think each cook has their own special recipe, but the chowder I have had so far didn’t have any crustaceans, and usually is made with some rum. The chowder is traditionally served hot with “sherry pepper” (sherry vinegar infused with hot peppers) and for flavor, of course, rum. I like the fish chowder, but I’m not crazy about it. The fish gets a bit overdone in the chowder which imparts a grainy texture onto the soup.

For dessert, you can’t go wrong with a Rum Cake. We took a special trip to the rum cake factory which of course involved sampling all the different cakes. Rum cake is your standard light and fluffy and very, very good coffee cake. The only difference is that it is made with Bermudan rum! The modern rum cake comes in lots of different flavors including chocolate, banana, ginger, rum swizzle (more on that tomorrow), and my favorite, coffee.

Stay tuned…the next post is all about the best Bermudan drinks!

Life is Good

What can I say? I’m sitting outside, sipping a rum swizzle, listening to the melodious harmonies of tree frogs, blowing smoke rings, and watching the moonlight sparkle off the clear Bermudan waters. Maybe I’ve had one too many swizzles, but I am also watching a boat with four shadowy figures on board coast through the inlet with its lights off…Images of “The Beach” come to mind, but unfortunately Leonardo DiCaprio is nowhere to be found….

Medallions of Veal With Gran Marnier ReductionAnyway, a lot of my friends ask me how I come up with recipes. It is a process based off of my own experiments and shamelessly “borrowing” the work of others. I love to read cookbooks, but I hate to follow recipes. I use them for ideas, however I hardly ever follow a recipe word for word. I often cook what I crave (good thing for my regular dining companions, my husband and my brother, I’m not pregnant) or what I have readily available. For example, on Tuesday, I wanted to cook something high in protein, i.e. meat, but something I had in my freezer so I didn’t have to make a separate trip to the grocery store. I defrosted some lovely veal medallions. I was contemplating making a lemon caper sauce, but I ran out of regular olive oil to sear the meat, and I only had blood orange infused olive oil. Orange made me think of Gran Marnier. Because it has a high sugar content and of course lots of flavor, Gran Marnier reduces into a perfect syrupy consistency, and was a lovely pairing with the veal. I had some Swiss chard in the fridge. I quickly sautéed the greens with garlic and the remainder of the unflavored olive oil, added a couple of cans of stewed tomatoes, a can of kidney beans, and a teaspoon of sugar and cooked until almost all the liquid was gone.

Yes. Life is good.

Easy Summer Meals

Insightful remark of the night...summer is here.  Just because it is hot outside doesn't meant you have to stop cooking, but on these hot nights I crave lighter meals.  (Ignore my posts on venison stew and the five course meals we have been eating lately).  Light doesn't mean lacking in flavor, however.  On Saturday we went to a concert and brought a picnic supper of prosciutto, mozzarella, and sun dried tomato sandwiches.  Last night we didn't have much time to prepare dinner, so I defrosted some Smithfield Farm Lamb sausages, seared them in a hot skillet, and served them with a fresh baguette, sauteed peppers and onions, and stone ground mustard.  It was easy and delicious.  Tonight we had another favorite--lemon and herb grilled trout.

There is no place like home

As much as I like to cook I have to admit it is still nice to go home and be spoiled by mom. I'm visiting for the weekend and my mom is prepared with all of my favorite food and drink.  Tonight we are having elk burgers with what was supposed to be mango chutney but turned into whatever ripe stone-fruit we had in the house chutney. It was delicious.  I helped a little (for some reason since I started this blog my mom is under the impression that I am an expert). It was so much fun to cook together.

Elk Burgers with Stone Fruit ChutneyElk burgers are delicious.  Like bison, the meat cooks very quickly and should not be overcooked (if you like your burgers well done, I would recommend not eating elk or bison).  I prefer elk and bison burgers to beef.  I find beef greasy and not all that flavorful.  Bison is readily available in most supermarkets.  Elk is  a bit harder to find, but obviously still available.

Tomorrow I am taking the night off and we are going to the Culinary Institute of America.  I can't wait!

Sometimes it's ok to be a glutton

Just in time for bikini weather comes two almost back to back nights of pure gluttony--dinner at Makoto in Washington, and the Culinary Institute of America's American Bounty restaurant in Hyde Park, NY.  My husband's birthday was yesterday and we celebrated at Makoto, one of the best restaurants in DC.  Dining at this Japanese restaurant is a unique experience.  Their sushi is amazing, but I highly recommend getting the complete dinner, a series of small plates that includes sushi, but for me the highlights were the other dishes.  I'll go into more detail on the restaurant review page, but I can't resist describing the first dish.  We started our meal with conch and wild mushroom soup served in a conch shell over "fire."  This  soup is traditionally cooked over a fire in Japan so it was served next to a flaming piece of blue lava. ok, I have no idea if it is really traditional or not, but I have no reason not to believe them and the flame was a completely gratuitous and enchanting accompaniment to the meal.  It just got better from there... 

I really enjoyed the meal because it was challenging.  I think that so many "gourmet" restaurants are simply variations of the same theme.  Although we had some familiar flavors at Makoto--ginger, mushrooms, avocado--there were many unfamiliar tastes.  Also, the way the flavors were mixed together was completely foreign to me.  Luckily I already hired a master chef to teach me the art of Japanese flavors.  Stay tuned for that adventure!

I am visiting my mom for the weekend which means lots of good food besides our trip to the CIA, and of course being spoiled by mom.  I can't complain.

Update on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 7:58AM by Klutz in the Kitchen

I've just been informed by the aforementioned Master Chef that he is not a Master Chef.  In fact, he is an Iron Chef.  Coming soon, Iron Chef America Battle Kitchen Klutz.  Let the battle begin!