Category Archives: Cooking

Fried Prickly Pear Cactus

So, I got heat stroke yesterday. And it was more frightening than the time I almost wrecked myself on sharp rocks while surfing.

A word to the wise: the elements generally win.

So, what was I doing to incur the wrath of the Arizona sun? I was spending an hour and a half cleaning up my front yard. Yup, that’s all it takes in the summer, apparently.

I was also gathering the ingredients to make fried prickly pear for lunch, which actually turned out pretty decently!

I have always tried to appreciate the food that grows in my own backyard, no matter how unexpected. In the Caribbean, I used to fish and gather food like moringa, tamarind, sea grapes, and coconuts (well, Ben climbed for the coconuts and got most of the fish…)

Sea Grapes in Anguilla

Here, the food is less obvious but still there. In my yard, I can eat three varieties of cactus fruit and two varieties of prickly pear.

I used this recipe. Here are the steps in photos:

Prickly Pear paddles have a lemony taste
You can also eat the fruit. They make good jams.
Leather gloves are a good idea for this step.
Watch out for tiny thorns at the base of the bigger spines
Boiling and then frying tastes better than grilling, IMO
Cheese and onions to stuff it!
Fry in olive oil and pretend it’s healthy
Voila!

I don’t recommend using this type of prickly pear if you have options. The kind without thorns is a lot better. I did stick myself pretty bad, and Ben stepped on one thorn that I dropped. You can buy thorn-free paddles from the store if you don’t grow them. Phoenix Wal-Marts often carry them, and Mexican food stores sell them in other areas.

This was a pretty good lunch. Not amazing, but edible. And sort of a bucket-list item and bragging point. And let’s be honest– who doesn’t want a photo like this on their Instagram? So #trendy.

That being said, it wasn’t worth the heatstroke. So be smart, and know the risks and signs. Stay hydrated when it’s hot, too.

Now you’re wondering what heatstroke signs are. Lucky you– I happen to know first-hand. Unlucky me.

The first thing that happened was that I started to have sore and tingly muscles. I thought I was sore from my workout, even though it felt different than that. Then I got really lethargic and too tired to move.

At this point I was starting to get nervous. My family was coming over in half an hour so I decided to wait it out.

By the time they arrived, I was freezing and shaking, even though it was hot. They took care of me and made me drink water, even though I didn’t want it. By the time Ben got off work and talked to them on the phone, I had a fever that quickly climbed to 104 degrees F. I started get confused, too. I don’t remember that part.

As soon as Ben got home, he started treating me for heatstroke. He aggressively rehydrated me and started cooling measures. My temperature began to drop quickly. Since Ben is a doctor, he was able to make that call and treat me at home. Otherwise, I would have had to go to the hospital and get evaluated. Heat stroke is deadly and you should never take chances. I was really stupid not to tell anyone what I was feeling when I knew something was wrong. The faster you get hydrated and bring the fever down, the better your chances for survival and the lower your chances for serious damage like hearing loss.

The moral to the story is this: drink water, stay out of the heat, and get help if you need it.

Christmas Cookies!

Ok, it’s officially Christmas. We made Christmas cookies! 


I’ll have you know that these were made 100% from scratch INCLUDING the cookie cutters. Actually, the cookie cutters were a total fail. I’m too cheap to buy actual cookie cutters, so I found directions on Instructables to make them from a soda can. This is a fantastic idea, except that I definitely did not do it right. I have no idea how the cookies ended up looking (sort of) like trees and stars.


Other than that, the cookies turned out pretty darn great. R had never made sugar cookies before, but he caught on quickly and even got creative. Check out his emoji cookie!


He wasn’t to keen on decorating them, so he made the frosting and I did the frosting art. We used some powdered drink mix to color and flavor the pink frosting, and it was pretty yummy. I tried to stick with the emoji theme as much as possible.


Despite our lack of red and green and messy edible glittery stuff, this was quite a success for the first cookies of the season. Next weekend, we’ll be attempting gingerbread. If we’re really brave, we’ll even try gingerbread houses! 

Well, that’s it from the Johnson house today. We also went to a Christmas street fair with R’s friends this weekend, which I’ll post about soon.  Merry Christmas!

Plantains, Love Languages, and Cross-Cultural Mentoring

Here’s something you never thought you’d hear an American say: I do not actually know that much. It’s no secret that we Americans in the international realm don’t have the greatest reputation for admitting when we need advice or help. Instead, we’re always like, hey, let me come fix your government, your way of life, and your opinions. Don’t worry world, America’s got this.

So how does American arrogance connect to plantains? Read on.

In college, I took several missions classes that taught me a lot about what it looks like to live overseas in a service capacity. A lot of Americans in my generation have sort of a Superman complex when it comes to expat life– we went on a mission trip with our youth group, built an orphanage, and were inspired to go save the world. There is certainly an element of wonderful altruism to this attitude, but it’s missing something: humility.

The most practical class I took in undergrad was called Missions: Aspects and Relationships. The best thing I learned from this class is that in a cross-cultural situation, you shouldn’t come in armed with all the answers. You come in as a learner, asking questions and building trust. You want to convince someone in a African bush that Western remedies can save their kids from malaria? Cool. Start with hanging with them and finding out their way of life, their challenges, and their own solutions. Once they know that you care about who they are culturally and personally, once they see that you respect them, then they are more than willing to listen to what you have to say. Because who wants to take instruction from a random outsider who disrespects you? Plus, you’ll probably end up learning some pretty cool things from people in the process. On a less exotic, more ordinary mentoring level, just finding out about a person and respecting their skills is imperative before you can start offering free advice.

Ok, we’re getting to the plantain part soon, I promise.

plantain slices

Living on the island of Saint Martin, I haven’t really been in the position of doing developmental work or helping with anything like that, other than general things like tutoring kids in reading. Still, I’ve found the “come as a learner” principle to be super helpful even in everyday expat sorts of situations. Like if I’m going to teach a kid from the Dominican Republic how to speak English, I’m going to ask him how to teach me Spanish at the same time. I’ve found the role-reversal to be a helpful confidence booster when it comes to language skills.

So here come the plantains.

R, a teen who we mentor, spends a lot of time at our house, so naturally I do everything I can to make him comfortable and at home. My mom is really good at making people comfortable, and the way she does it is by offering a place to relax while she makes iced tea, cooks a dinner everyone likes, and serves in whatever capacity she can think of. People really appreciate it. Naturally, this is what I try to do, too. I pour glasses of water, I make the dinner, I clean up, I offer dessert (if I remembered to go shopping and get it), I do R’s laundry, even if it’s only a t-shirt, just to offer whatever love and care I can.

Now, if you’ve read the The Five Love Languages book, you’ll be familiar with the idea that everyone is inclined to love in one or two ways of the following: words of affirmation, acts of service, physical touch, quality time, and gifts. To really communicate love, it’s good to show you care on the other person’s terms, and not just your own.

My love language is acts of service. That’s how I communicate love. The more weeks that went by, the more I realized that R’s love language is not acts of service. I could tell he felt a little funny about chilling while I banged around in the kitchen. I thought maybe I’d try offering to teach him to cook, but it turns out he already knows how to do that. This is when I remembered the principle of being a learner.

This is the part about the plantains.

Cooking

I found out that R knows how to cook plantains and fried chicken, and I do not. Rather than be the grown-up who knows everything and takes care of everybody, it was time for me to put on my learning hat and ask for help. And do you know what? It worked out well.

I stopped at the roadside fruit vendor on my way home the next day and picked up some plantains. A few hours later, we had a fabulous dinner that everyone had contributed to. Matt, Ben, and R brought home the fish they caught. I prepared the fish and veggies, and Ben created an African fish sauce. Ray taught me how to cook plantains and made rice. Tati helped clean up made us feel like we had some seriously mad cooking skills. Everybody was happy, and we had a lot of fun in the process.

I learned a few things from making dinner with R: First, I learned how to fry plantains, which is awesome because I only knew how to make plantain chips before, and they’re totally not the same thing. I also learned that in our case, an invitation to help out (quality time) and a “Good job, this tastes great!” (words of affirmation) can be more valuable than acts of service. Finally, I learned that mentoring is not just about giving of myself in the role of an authority figure. It’s also about being willing to step into the role of a learner and show that my mentee’s skills and knowledge are valuable. The process of building a mentoring relationship is a journey, and one that is full of wonderful surprises.

dinner

By the way, are you as clueless about plantains as I was? Stay tuned for a recipe post on how to make Caribbean-style plantains and Tanzanian-style fish! Subscribe or like the 3rd Culture Wife Facebook page so that you don’t miss it.

 

Zopf Bread Fish Sandwiches: The Return of Foodie Tuesday!

This is a bread recipe that you gotta try– zopf!  My sister found it on the internet over a decade ago, and our family still makes it to this day. I’ve taken it one step further, though: it is now the base of a delicious fish sandwich. My husband was impressed enough that he requested it again for lunch tomorrow. Yes, I do believe the Swiss would approve. Although I haven’t asked any yet. If you’re Swiss, leave a comment and let me know what you think. Actually, do that even if you’re not Swiss.

fish sandwich 2

Ingredients 

Zopf Bread:

  • One package dry yeast
  • 1 1/3 cups milk
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 T butter, melted
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 T water
  • Lettuce and tomato (optional)

Fish & Tartar Sauce

  • 6 frozen breaded fish patties or fried fish fillets
  • 1 C mayonnaise
  • 2 T relish
  • 1 T lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions: 

  • Follow the instructions for zopf here on Allrecipies.com. Instead of one big braid, though, make six little braids.
  • Bake or fry your fish.
  • Combine the mayo, relish, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
  • Once the bread has cooled, slice it like a hamburger bun. Place the fish inside and top with sauce, lettuce, and tomato.

Enjoy! This recipe serves 6.

Bread

I know I’ve said it before, but I really am going to follow through on Foodie Tuesdays from now until I get distracted again. If you’ve missed it and wonder why it’s been absent, scroll through my last few posts and see what a crazy summer of travel I had! I ate a lot of good food, but I didn’t do a whole lot of cooking. I’m back home and in the kitchen again, though, so be looking out for a lot of great recipes in the future! Check back every Tuesday and be sure to subscribe (up there in the right-hand sidebar) so you don’t miss them. See you next week!

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New England Lobster Rolls, Caribbean Style

Did you know it’s easy to make lobster rolls? If you have ever been to Maine, it’s 99% certain that you’ve tasted a lobster roll and loved it. I was in Maine several years ago, and I haven’t forgotten how delicious they are. So yesterday, when I accidentally thawed lobster instead of fish for dinner, I knew that I had to try my hand at making my own.

lobster tail

 

Ingredients: 

  1. Two lobster tails. We catch our lobster fresh at the beach near our home.
  2. Six oblong bread rolls. You can use hotdog buns in a pinch.
  3. 1 1/2 cups of mayonnaise. If you’re really hardcore, make your own using this recipe.
  4. 2 Tablespoons of ketchup
  5. 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
  6. Half an onion, minced
  7. Black pepper to taste
  8. Parsley for garnish

IMG_3203

What you do:

  1. Prepare the lobster. Boil the lobster tails. This takes about ten minutes. The meat should be white and opaque when it is done. Let it cool for a bit, then dig out all the meat and tear into small chunks.
  2. Make the sauce. I like to call the sauce that goes in this “Bear Flag Sauce.” It’s my attempt at creating the famous dipping sauce from Bear Flag Fish Co in California, and it’s a tangy twist on traditional lobster roll sauce.  Mix the mayo, the ketchup, and the lemon juice together. You can add a hint of mustard, if you like.
  3. Mix it up. Combine the lobster, sauce, onion, and pepper in a bowl.
  4. Put it together. Make a large slit in the top of the rolls, longways. Spoon a generous amount of the mixture into the rolls. Garnish with more pepper and parsley.

Yummy! This is a great meal for summer evenings.


It’s been a while since I posted a Foodie Tuesday, but I’m planning to be back at my weekly recipe posts  for good, so stick around and head back next week! Subscribe or like my page to find out each time I post a new recipe.

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Boiled Lobster and Fish Bake

IMG_2777

Last Saturday, I got a special treat: Steamed lobster dripping with melted butter, and a night off from cooking. That’s right– my man made me a fancy dinner just because my weekend was busy. He and his friend Matt made an amazing seafood meal of baked fish and steamed lobster. You can make it, too! Here’s how:

IMG_2785

 

You will need:

  • One small lobster per person
  • Enough patience to catch a some fish (or a few free minutes to grab some from the grocery store). For the record, I got the blue tang!

Hawkeye Marine Electronics FishTrax Fish Finders - Go Anywhere. Portable. Handheld. Mounted.

  • Melted butter
  • 2 lemons
  • Garlic, rosemary, and lemon spice
  • Rice

IMG_2774

Directions:

  • Bring a pot of water to boil.
  • Place lobsters inside and make sure the water covers all areas. Boil 10-15 minutes until the lobsters are bright red.
  • Preheat oven to 375*F.
  • Prepare fish by sprinkling them with the herbs (I wrote about another version of this, if you want to get more fancy: see my last Foodie Tuesday).
  • Bake fish on a greased sheet in preheated oven.
  • Prepare rice
  • Cut lemon wedges and melt half a stick of real butter for dipping
  • Serve and enjoy!

IMG_2794

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