A strange thing came over me in the latter half of 2016 . For
the first time in quite a while my sense of wanderlust waned somewhat and I
found myself temporarily pleased to settle into life in New Jersey. I
contemplated a trip to Europe from late August to early October to hike the
Alpine Haute Route and then travel more in Switzerland and France but decided
to postpone it since my mother was about to start hospice care. There has to be more to life than cooking and
going to the gym, though, so in early October I decided to look through my
bucket list of life goals (those not related to travel) and cross at least one of
them off. I decided to join a martial arts gym and start taking up Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu, probably a crazy thing to do at age 49 but why not?

Being especially active through the autumn months with heavy
weightlifting and now Jiu Jitsu, I decided to diversify a bit in my cooking and
not be so concerned about calories. I
suppose I was also getting tired of eating massive quantities of chicken breast
and fish cooked in ways that add little fat . So for a while I based my cooking
more on certain ethnic themes liked Middle Eastern, Asian, Mexican and Cuban,
and various European cuisines. Must more interesting! I still aim for a fairly lean cuisine,
though, and find myself modifying traditional recipes to reduce their fat
content and calories.

Here I’ll just mention a few of the very different and more interesting
dishes I made over these few months. One of those was Mujammara, a Middle
Eastern spread of ground walnuts and roasted red peppers, a kind of alternative
to hummus with a lot more spice and flavor to it. I thought it was completely
delicious and something I’ll make again as an appetizer as an alternative to
hummus.

Also from the Middle Eastern part of the world was Salmon
with Chraimeh Sauce, a Tunisian Jewish specialty. It’s traditional to use fish steaks, so I
used salmon as the recipe recommended but apparently steaks of some white fish
would traditionally be used. The Chraimeh sauce is quite spicy and tomato based
with ingredients like garlic, fresh ginger, and spices ground into a paste in a
food processor before getting fried up to make the sauce, giving it a unique
flavor and texture . I thought it was a real winner as far as new recipes I try
go.

Moving onto Asia, I used one of Emeril Lagasse’s recipes for
Thai Shrimp in Lemongrass, Ginger, Coconut Broth. With a flavor combination
like that of sweet, sour, and spicy, you know it will have to be good. I
usually find my attempts at Asian food to not come out quite like the real
thing, probably due to my inclination to use European rather than Asian style
cooking techniques, but this fortunately came out about as good as anything I’ve
had in Thai restaurants.

Also from Thailand, I made Spicy Thai Green Mango Salad. I
quite liked this because of the use of an ingredient that’s quite unfamiliar to
me – unripe green mangoes. You shred them and combine them with peanuts, hot
peppers, cilantro, and a line-based dressing for a very Thai sweet, sour, and
spicy flavor. It also tasted quite authentic in my view, similar to what I’ve
eaten in restaurants .

I’ve known people who have taken cooking classes in Vietnam
and rave about the cuisine there. I guess for myself I tend to eat mostly Pho
when I go to Vietnamese restaurants and haven’t explored the variety of the
cuisine. It’s much milder and more subtle than Thai, though, and the dish I
tried of Lemongrass Chicken Stir Fry was like that. Flavored with fish sauce, lemongrass,
and brown sugar, it didn’t have the searing heat of Thai cuisine but made for a
nice change.

Something I’ve long wanted to make and finally got around to
is Cuban Black Bean Soup, the traditional dish of the island and very easy to
make. I went for the real thing and used dried black beans instead of canned
and smoked ham. While tasting very good, I have to admit I missed the higher
level of spice I was thinking it should have based on my greater familiarity
with Mexican food. Cuban food is much milder, despite one of the world’s
hottest chili peppers (Habanero) getting its name from the country’s capital
city .

Moving on to Europe, another classic I have long been
intending to make is Avgolemono, Greek Lemon Chicken Soup with Rice. This is
kind of a meal in itself since it’s thickened with egg yolk, and I went
especially heavy on adding pieces of poached chicken breast. The somewhat
creamy (although it contains no dairy) and lemony flavor were delicious.

Another one of those classic European soups is Jota, a true
comfort food from Slovenia and Trieste, Italy where Germanic, Slavic, and Latin
European cultures merge. I’ve made Jota before and also had it several times
when I was in the region last year. It typically contains beans, potatoes, and
several cuts of smoked pork (I used ham and ribs), but what really
distinguishes it is the inclusion of sauerkraut for a special flavor.

Another dish I’ve made before that is just so good I had to
make it again is Basque Seafood Stew, a combination of cod, shrimp, and clams
cooked in white wine sauce with peas . This has to be one of my favorite
non-spicy meals.

Since I cook food in fairly large quantities to have several
days worth of leftovers, I usually look for things that don’t involve too much
fussy prep work. Once in a while, though, I try out something a bit more labor
intensive. One of these I tried was Chicken Saltimbocca, an Italian dish of
thinly pounded chicken cutlets topped with prosciutto, spinach, and cheese all
rolled up and kept closed with toothpicks before being sautéed with a garlic
and wine sauce. These are definitely tasty and elegant looking to serve at a
dinner party, but in my opinion involve a little too much prep work to make as
regular food for myself.

After suffering through a hot summer that lasted unusually
long into September, as soon as it became comfortably cool I was willing to use
my oven to cook. Hmmm, why wait for Thanksgiving to have a turkey dinner. Turkey breast is turkey breast, so even if
you use a flavorful topping on it as it cooks like the lemon, herb, and mustard
glazed I tried, it pretty much comes out tasting about the same . It’s on the
side dishes that you can get experimental. I decided to pass on the mashed
potatoes and standard stuffing in favor of a Quinoa Dressing with Dried Cherries
and Almonds. Quinoa is said to be a “superfood” (whatever that is) and like
most things alleged to be especially healthy, it doesn’t taste all that good. I
don’t think I’m going to be making much with quinoa in the future.

So one of the things I discovered on my first physical in
several years in October is that, although my overall cholesterol level is good,
my HDL (good) cholesterol is on the low side. Supposedly one way of improving
that level is through eating things like salmon and nuts that have lots of
mono-unsaturated fats. I’m not certain I believe this, but besides adding
salmon to my diet I decided to find some recipes for vegetable dishes that
include nuts, both traditional and modern ones. On the traditional side there’s
Catalan Sweet and Sour Spinach with Pine Nuts, one of my favorite vegetable
dishes . On the more modern or experimental side I tied Green Beans with
Hazelnuts and Prosciutto; Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Hazelnuts, and Maple
Balsamic Sauce; and Broccoli with Brazil Nut Pesto. I suppose using ingredients
like bacon and prosciutto pretty much negates any of the health benefits from
the nuts.