New Thanksgiving Experience

I ended up making the whole Thanksgiving feast this year instead of the usual. From the mashed potatoes to the cranberry sauce. The stuffing to the sweet potato apple pie. A pumpkin pie upgrade---three different ways. Gravy. Salad. Corn. The works. Oh and yes, the turkey too. I roasted my very first turkey. A scary experience I must say but not as nervewrecking as I had previously thought. :)

How did it come out? Moist? Dry? Flavorful? Bland?

Was the dinner a success? A failure?

Details will soon follow...

Baltra, Los Gemelos, and the Wall of Tears

Here we are in the Galapagos Islands. To make your way onto these unbelievable islands, you must either take a flight to Baltra or San Cristobal or take a cruise. Me, I like to explore, and made the smart choice to stay on the islands and experience it completely by foot. I landed in Baltra.




Los Gemelos



The twins were formed from an explosion that happened thousands and thousands of years ago. Except if you ever visit the island of Santa Cruz, you will see that the twins don't look alike. The one above, is shaped like a crater, while the other one ended up not exploding to crater-like status. An amazing site to see.


What you don't really hear at all is that there is another crater (above) that was also cause by the same similar explosion. It is known on the island that there are triplet, not twin, craters. The triplet looks nothing like the other two, as you can see. It is much smaller and not as deep as the other one mentioned above. But nevertheless, they are triplets.

The Wall of Tears





*Located on Isla Isabela. This wall was made by prisoners who suffered here on the island and it was made to show and express to everyone what they went through after they were finally released.

Sounds of the Amazon Part II

Here I am on the Rio Manduro in the Ecuadorian part of the Amazon, night status on the canoes. Listen to the beautiful sounds of nature and the flow of the river.

Blue Cheese and Bacon Stuffed Burgers

Made these amazing burgers awhile back with a friend of mine in her kitchen. She made her pasta dish and I decided I was craving meat. Maybe a burger, perhaps? Walked around the supermarket to see what would spark my interest. It came down to bacon and blue cheese. Success! The makings of my burgers were actually only using four main ingredients: Ground Beef, Garlic Powder, Blue Cheese, and Bacon. I was afraid that Diana wouldn't try the burgers because she isn't a fan of blue cheese, but with persistence and the smell in the kitchen, she gave in. And you know what? She LOVED them. One of the best burgers she has ever tried and probably the best burgers I've ever made! She's been craving them lately and so am I. These are unbelievably amazing and you would be missing out if you don't stop and make these yourself.

Blue Cheese and Bacon Stuffed Burgers



Ingredients
1 lb Ground Beef
Garlic Powder
1/2 c. Blue Cheese
4 strips of bacon

Directions
1. Get the bacon in the skillet and cook thoroughly.



2. Remove bacon from skillet when done; allow to cool. Break bacon apart into small pieces. Combine with the blue cheese; set aside.

3. Prepare the ground beef by placing in a bowl and adding as much garlic powder as you'd like. Diana and I are HUGE fans of garlic so we added a huge heaping of it. :)

4. First wash and dry your hands, then get down and dirty with your meat. Mix it together. Work it a little.

5. Divide the beef into four equal rounds. Shape the patties and make a deep hole for the blue cheese and bacon mixture. Stuff all four burgers.



6. Shape the burger to cover the hole and get it ready for the preheated grill pan.

7. Cook the burgers about 3-5 minutes per side. Test one to make sure they are cooked through and enjoy! I served my burgers with just plain avocado and tomato. Didn't need ketchup, mustard, or anything else. That simple. I love the tangy blue cheese with the bacon and the beef combined. The blue cheese replaces my need for salt. A flawless burger, for sure. You can serve these burgers with the usual, like fries. This time I served them with banana fries that I quickly pan fried. Would have liked to deep fry them but Diana was out of oil! Nevertheless a better alternative than fries. And a better alternative to burger making than the standard burger these days. Give this a try sometime. AmaZING.

Langostinos With A Tarragon Lemon Butter Dip, Spicy Mayo, and Sautéed Carrots

Here's a fun seafood dish that I had fun playing with. And eating too.

Langostinos with a Tarragon Lemon Butter Dip, Spicy Mayo, and Sautéed Carrots




Ingredients
Bag of Langostino meat from Trader Joes
1/2 T. Onion Powder
2 Garlic cloves
Pinch of Salt
Vegetable Oil
3 T. Vietnamese Chili Garlic Sauce (or Sriracha)
1/4 c Mayonnaise
1/2 stick of butter
1 lemon, juiced
Few sprigs of Tarragon
3 carrots, sliced into sticks
Few sprigs of Rosemary
1-2 T. Red Pepper Flakes
Olive Oil

Langostino
1. Heat Vegetable Oil in a sauté pan. Crush garlic and add to pan.
2. Add Langostino, Onion Powder, and Salt.
3. Sauté thoroughly; Remove garlic from pan.
4. Remove langostinos from pan and set aside.

Spicy Mayo
1. Combine Mayonnaise and Chili Garlic Sauce (or Sriracha). Add more sauce to your hot liking.

Tarragon Lemon Butter Dip
1. Melt the butter in the microwave; about 30 seconds or so.
2. Pour the juice of one lemon into the butter.
3. Pinch the top of each Tarragon sprig, slide down the sprig with two fingers, and remove the leaves. Add to the butter dip and combine. Set aside.

Sautéed Carrots
1. Heat olive oil. Add a pinch of rosemary leaves and 1 tbsp of Red Pepper Flakes.
2. Add carrots and sauté just until cooked through and french fry style status. (I like them crispy and a little charred).
3. Towards the end, add the remainder Rosemary leaves and 1 tbsp Red Pepper Flakes. Remove from stove.

*To save time, I recommend starting with the carrots. They take about 10 mins. While they are cooking, you can work on the langostinos and the dips.
*Be careful not to overcook the langostinos. Thaw thoroughly before cooking.
*I only had the Vietnamese Chili Garlic Sauce in my refrigerator but I'm assuming that whatever hot sauce you prefer to use would be just as fine.
*I used the Tarragon and Rosemary from my backyard!
*Fresh herbs ARE DEFINITELY the way to go.
*I'm craving this now. Enjoy :)

Karma

So over the weekend, I hung out with one of my friends as we had planned to try something new or at least try out a new restaurant. We agreed on trying a new place called Zapp. Zapp is a Malaysian and Thai restaurant that I have been dying to try ever since one of my sisters gave me a mini menu of the restaurant. Sadly, when we arrived there, they had closed the restaurant for the day. My heart was set on it! But oh well, I'll try again later...moving on. We ended up driving down the street, parked, and looked at our other options. There were quite a few restaurant options to choose from. Italian. Korean. Vietnamese. Chinese. And Indian. First decided on Chinese, but wasn't really craving it so we agreed on Indian.

Karma. Voted best restaurant in 2009.

Decor was lovely, inviting, and relaxing. Restaurant was packed. The smells of curry were enticing me. We sat down and ordered up.

Jessica ended up getting Samosas



And a Mixed Vegetable Soup.



I ended up getting Garlic Naan



And Fantastic Lamb Coconut Curry.



We really enjoyed the Tamarind sauce and the Green Mint and Cilantro Chutney. Actually, we LOVED them. I took the sauces home. :) The Chutney was made up of mint, cilantro, bell pepper, garlic, onion, lime juice, and yogurt.

Consider mixing the sauces together when you try these out. Brilliant!

I was curious about what they had on their dessert menu and when I looked, my eyes stopped at....

Pista Kulfi!

One of my favorite Food Network Chefs, Aarti Sequeira, made this on one of her shows and I have wanted to make this ice cream or at least try it for awhile now. It's a creamy Indian-style ice cream with pistachios. And it looks soOo good! Sadly, when I tried to order it, they said something was wrong with the freezer and they didn't have the ice cream. My heart sank. Two losses yesterday---Zapp and Pista Kulfi. Bummer. Will have to definitely check it out sometime this week. Or I've been thinking about making it so I'll probably just end up making it instead. Cheaper and more of it! :)

When it comes down to it, I'll give Karma 3 1/2 hearts: ♥♥♥1/2. It would have been more but they didn't have any Pista Kulfi. I know, it isn't their fault, but it stinks when you're craving something and can't have it! That and the lamb in my Coconut Curry was just a little bit tough. And at first, the waiters were a little pushy but once we started talking Indian with them, they opened up and became really friendly.

The waiter was telling us about growing up in India and had been thinking about opening his own restaurant soon and having his mom help out in the kitchen. I told him to do it because I WANT TO GO TO INDIA SO BAD and this would be a lovely and great restaurant in the meantime, until I make my way onto the Eastern Hemisphere. I know flavors can't exactly match what you would get in India because produce and such tastes different around the world, but I would think this could come close!

I say bring on the unAmericanized restaurants! Those are WAY better for sure.

So there you have it. I loved the restaurant and would make my way back to it someday in the future. Although these days, I'm trying to stick to going to a restaurant just once in order to continue to try new foods and places.