Cajun Pork Chops of Death

In another attempt to be a good wife and to fill my husband's stomach with some great tasting food, I searched out some new recipes on Allrecipes.com -- Cajun Spiced Pork Chops it was! 

It required few ingredients, all of which were dirt cheap: 4 center-cut pork chops, and teaspoons upon teaspoons of incredibly strong spices (paprika, cumin, black pepper, cayenne, dried sage, and garlic powder). The recipe instructed me to "coat evenly", so I did just that. Immediately preceding being thrown into a searing hot saute pan, the pork chops let off a cloud of spicy steam so lethal I instantly started coughing and had water pour from my eyes. However, I attributed this to allergies and just shrugged it off.

After I flipped them, I removed them from the pan to cool until they were to be plated with oiled and salted baked potatoes. It really was such a beautiful looking dish, I couldn't wait for my husband to get home to try them! The color was such a deep, beautiful red. Then The Andy called. He was letting me know he couldn't come to a camping trip we had planned for Halloween. I made the mistake of tasting dinner just as he did so. Now remember the spices I listed before? And that I had EVENLY coated the pork chops? Just as he broke the news to me, I placed the devilish meat on my tongue and cursed like a dirty, old sailor. He began to apologize profusely and I couldn't seem to calm the burning enough to explain the reason for my offensive exclamations and that it wasn't his fault. Those must have been the guiltiest 20 seconds of his life as I reached for the milk and gulped down ounce after ounce, attempting to quell the never-ending pain that had afflicted my poor, unsuspecting tongue. Finally the spasming has subsided enough for me to excuse myself for my previous choice of words, and we had a good laugh over it. Having survived such an ordeal though, I decided I needed to have someone else experience the death-defying act I had just been through. So, I got off the phone with The Andy and plated up my husband's dinner. Cruel? Maybe. But it certainly was entertaining! That dinner was the most painful, sniffly, and entertaining dinner I have ever had and hope to ever make in my entire life! Oh, did I mention I forgot to put milk on my grocery list? Oops! 

We decided against making this recipe again, or atleast coating evenly. 

Tomorrow's recipe: French Dip! Hopefully this next dish will go over better than the last.

Goodnight all! 

Bahama Mommas and Cracked Conch

We are now officially back in the States after a beautiful wedding, and an even more beautiful honeymoon in the Bahamas! True to my foodie nature, I documented most of the trip's cuisine and would like to post my favorite taste-bud experiences here. 

The resort we stayed at had a cafeteria, available for five separate meals a day. This dining schedule included a wonderful midnight bar for those who either spent too much time in the sun that they forgot to eat dinner, or those who indulged in the flowing drinks from sun-up to sun-down and need food to soak up the excess alcohol. I never found myself in either category, so I created my own "those who love desserts" category that fit quite nicely. It also had a poolside "burger joint" whose fries were nearly equivalent to the "chips" I so often indulge on when I find myself in Wales. These two locations were the normal places for normal people to eat. 

Should you feel abnormal one day and decide to strip from your bikini and don a nice dinner dress, they had a Garden of Eden you could dine at. The menu here was complete with Abel's Temptation (a gourmet crab cake, nicely paired with a creamy aoli) and other assorted dishes to follow with the mystifying biblical theme. Below you will see a few pictures labelled on top with my meek description of the dishes. Sorry for the low-quality, I kept getting looks from my table-neighbors about the flash... 

Crab Cake

                

 Scallops

Later, while perusing the island we followed the advice of a few locals to visit the "Fish Fry". The Fish Fry is a section of street right on the edge of the water where you could find a dozen or so seafood restaurants stocked daily with local marine life. One creature in particular being the most popular and desired by the Bahamians is the Conch. Pronounced "con-k". You know those large shells you can supposedly hear the ocean in?? Well, that my friends, is a Conch. When pried from its salmon colored shell it offers you a meat that is so incredibly fresh tasting that even someone who often turns their nose up at seafood, namely me, can't help but to follow up a bite with sounds of utter satisfaction. My friend from the bar at the resort, Marko, had correctly persuaded me to try the Cracked Conch. Following such indulgence, I proceeded to take several photographs of my dish from all sorts of angles. The two men sitting at the table next to us proceeded to stare, I guess I can see how odd that might look. But if they had ordered the Cracked Conch they would completely understand.

Cracked Conch, paired with a side of homemade potato salad and macaroni casserole:

A few random pieces of advice I have from my trip should any of you decide to venture out to the Bahamas:

- If you are going snorkeling, ladies, take care to apply plenty of sunscreen to your backside. Turns out your suit doesn't cover as much as you think it does. The inevitable sunburn makes sitting down for an approximate 5 hours on the plane the next day an interesting experience. 

- Left is right, right is suicide. They drive like people in Britain, don't find yourself on the wrong side of the road! 

- Drinking and driving is acceptable there, in fact... one very entertaining cab driver might start informing you that he drives better drunk. Watch out for that cabby... 

Until next time!