Culinary Travel Trends: Our Favorite Recipes at AdventureWomen

At AdventureWomen, we’re delighted to indulge ourselves in our passion for great cuisine. As women, we also love to share culinary tips and tricks on a regular basis whether on the road or at home. We have so much to learn from each other about so many things so why not pass along our favorite recipes? Send yours in to us and we’ll publish them!

Here’s Nicole’s secret for making amazing…

Classic Italian Pesto from Venice

Ingredients:

• 1 large fresh bunch of basil, leaves only, washed and dried (Genovese Basil is ideal, but any basil will work!)
• 3 medium cloves of garlic
• Small handful of raw pine nuts
• 1/3 cup of Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese (grated)
• 1/3 cup of Pecorino Romano cheese (grated)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper (pinch of each)
• 2-3 ice cubes
• Emulsion blender

Directions:

1. In a small frying pan, add a teaspoon of olive oil and the pine nuts. Toast the pine nuts until just barely brown.
2. Put into an emulsion blender and add the remaining ingredients (except the olive oil).
3. Turn on the blender to break down the ice (adding ice helps keep the chlorophyll in the basil that beautiful green color). You can also put basil leaves in a bowl with plenty of ice for about 3-4 minutes, then add to blender without the ice.
4. Slowly add in olive oil until you reach your desired consistency. DO NOT HEAT. Add directly on to hot pasta and serve!

 

And Eliza’s favorite blend of Lamb Tagine…

Lamb Tagine

Over time, the original recipe has been embellished with the following changes:

“- Add 1/2 tsp of ground caraway and 1/2 tsp of allspice. This really adds that extra kick for those who are craving Restaurant quality North African cuisine.

– Don’t bother with the saffron in the marination. Saffron is more expensive than gold, and it only releases flavor in liquid (warm water or broth). Using it in the meat marinade just lends color but the flavor (and cost) is lost (the turmeric will give enough).

– I cooked the onions, garlic and ginger and let them sweat before adding the raw meat; completely skipped the browning process. (We don’t brown meat for stews in North Africa).

– I added homemade beef broth – it’s not recommended to use chicken stock if dealing with a lamb dish. This is a big NO-NO in North African cuisine. Disregard my comment if you used chicken!

– I used preserved lemons instead of the lemon zest indicated in the recipe. These are hard to find based on where you are located; but not hard to make at home if you have time. I used half a preserved lemon, sliced it thinly and added it with the carrots.

– Lastly, if you have “Harissa”, a Tunisian chili paste, I would recommend this mixed with regular tomato paste, over the sun-dried tomatoes. Please NOTE: Harissa is spicy so disregard if you are trying to tone it down.”

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 pounds lamb meat, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 pinch saffron
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 medium onions, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 5 carrots, peeled, cut into fourths, then sliced lengthwise into thin strips
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 lemon, zested1 (14.5 ounce) can homemade chicken broth or low-sodium canned broth
• 1 tablespoon sun-dried tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
• 1 tablespoon water (optional)

Directions:

Place diced lamb in a bowl, toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and set aside. In a large resealable bag, toss together the paprika, turmeric, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, salt, ginger, saffron, garlic powder, and coriander; mix well. Add the lamb to the bag, and toss around to coat well. Refrigerate at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add 1/3 of the lamb, and brown well. Remove to a plate, and repeat with remaining lamb. Add onions and carrots to the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the fresh garlic and ginger; continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes. Return the lamb to the pot and stir in the lemon zest, chicken broth, tomato paste, and honey. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender.

If the consistency of the tagine is too thin, you may thicken it with a mixture of cornstarch and water during the last 5 minutes. (Thanks to BenevolentEmpress for the recipe!)

And Judi’s Sushi At Home

And finally, Co-Owner, Judi, who was AdventureWomen’s Ambassador on our Japan “Shrines, Temples and Hiking” 2018 trip, has this to say about bringing some Japanese traditions back into her own kitchen in Watertown:

“The food we were served in Japan was magnificent.  Each meal had at least 10 courses that included vegetables, rice, proteins…along with a beer or sake.  Here is an example of a meal:   vegetable tempura, rice with shrimp tempura, seaweed, edamame, mushrooms and rice, salmon with mountain vegetables, grilled Lake fish, pickled radish and eggplant, miso, plum wine and last but not least, sushi.”

“During our trip we stopped in a small village and met up with 5 local women who taught us how to make sushi.  Upon my return to the U.S. I purchased a sushi kit and am now a pro…try it!  It healthy, tasty and fun!”