The International Food Market

There it was, the largest International Store in Indianapolis and I was visiting a gal friend in the city I'd lived in for 8 years before getting married.  We'd talked about doing an expedition here on one of the weekend "Girls Day Out" (as my gal friend T. said -- "They have Lebanese TV dinners!"), so it seemed like a possibly fun outing. The most exotic shopping I've done this month was buying some Rotel to ship to Hailey and Zaphod's Mom in Canada where they can't buy it. (seriously Canadians Google "King Ranch Chicken"  - you are so missing out).

Saraga International Market. It's in an old K Mart, to give you an idea of how BIG it was.  I don't have pictures as it's not in the best part of town, and I didn't want to be strolling through the parking lot with $4000 worth of camera dangling off of me. It's not an area I'd be afraid to go in the daytime but I didn't want to be obvious about an expensive toy.  The cars in the lot in the early morning were all new, late models, while the local foodies and some snappily dressed retirees from all over town, came in to get the best values while the rest of the world was still sleeping in or heading off to work.  There are also two other locations in the area, but this one was the original off of 38th and Lafayette.

But it was a pretty neat store, with food from ALL over the world, and very good prices.  There was every kind of frozen and fresh fish in the world, some of which were the stuff of my particular nightmares (seriously, people eat that?) and all kinds of exotic" meat produce. Duck, Goose, lamb, international hooves of mystery and eels for my hovercraft!

I went mostly just see what they had. And I was seriously happy to find that they had black rice, a wonderfully filling and nutty treat higher in antioxidants than blueberries for 1/3 of the price of online (plus, it's hard to find). I also got several sizes of rice noodles, big packages, $1.69 a piece.  (OK and the Maltesers and some Cadbury from the UK fell into the basket)

There was a lot of things I had never heard of, and I still am chuckling at the jar of Shito - which apparently is some sort of spicy sauce from Guana. (juvenile - yes, but I still laughed). And I don't want to know what Golden King "Grass Jelly Drink, Banana Flavor" tastes like (as I doubt it's banana.)  But there were a lot of things I just had to get!

Do you purchase in bulk? There was more bulk beans and rice, of all KINDS and countries of origin, than I've ever seen. Fresh and dried spices as well and seriously cheaper than Costco and such places.

European food was somewhat limited, outside of teas and candy, though I did get a nice collection of English style biscuits which I like with my tea and they had some packaged German bread and condiments. But If you want exotic fruits, they have them.  If you want the rarest variety of oriental noodles, they have a whole aisle of them (including some with some seriously creepy Japanese mascots).  Want to make authentic Vietnamese or Thai Food?  Everything you need is here. Have a hankering for Russian tea or some French coffee? There are ingredients to cook Middle Eastern, Indiana, Asian, Jamaican, Mexican, or South American or African, all under one roof and the cost for those items was 50-75% less than the "international" section at most supermarkets.

In Europe, I laugh at some "high-end gourmet" sections of their stores where the food from the US is displayed--Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Old El Paso taco seasoning, Newman's Own Salad Dressing and B & M Baked Beans. Finland thinks we live on Pop Tarts, Jello, and Reeses Puffs cereal, and in just about every language thinks thatFluff, apparently, is America's Favorite food. Fluff? Conversely, I can imagine someone from some exotic corner of the world, wandering the aisle here and saying "seriously, they think we eat nothing but cephalopod-flavored potato chips?"

The food is lined up mostly by country or area of origin so you might find rice in 6 different aisles, which can be confusing, but it was fun to look and they even had a little bakery up front where you could get some freshly made flan to go. That's almost as good as my Mom's recipe for Rosettes.  (Insert Homer Simpson voice here saying  Flannnnnnn....).

The only detractor is you have to sort of hunt for things, and the floor looked like it needed a good cleaning.  However the ladies restroom was spotlessly and recently clean, which is a good sign  It's probably hard to keep the rest of it up, with all the pallets and boxes constantly on the move as they buy in bulk. While we wandered we saw a lot of such activity, as the employees worked hard to keep everything well stocked.

In line at the check stand, was a very nice young couple from Nigeria, buying a huge bag of Nigerian Rice, a BUNCH of red peppers and tomatoes, shanks of meat of some sort, dried beans and some beautiful looking melon. As "foodies" tend to do  - we were chatting about what we were going to make with our purchases.  The wife was going to prepare a tomato stew with the peppers, and then combine and cook that with the rice and beans with a bit of thyme, curry, bay leaf and a bullion cube and serve it with the meat braised with spices and melon for dessert. I thought that sounded wonderful.

Foodies   - we know no cultural lines 

Home with the goodies, it was time to see what sounded good for lunch.

Drunken Noodles -

Yea Doggies - this was good.

Make your own - it's not hard and the rice noodles are light and delicate, not thick and starchy.

1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce (Red Boat is the best, avoid "Squid" brand fish sauce, which tastes as enticing as the name even if you could buy a case of it here for next to nothing).
1 1/2 teaspoons roasted red chili paste (or a dash of Sriracha)
3/4 teaspoon soy sauce sweetened with 1/4 teaspoon molasses
1/2 teaspoon honey
a pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into slivers
3/4 cup assorted veggies (mine had thinly sliced carrots, some green beans and a few water chestnuts,  nuked until softened so they didn't take too long in the pan)
1/2 large jalapeño, seeded (depending on how spicy you like it) and  finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 eggs whisked
1/3 pound thinly sliced meat or tofu.
1/2 of an onion thinly sliced
4 cups thick sliced rice noodles, soaked in warm water for about 10 minutes to soften.
1 cup fresh Thai basil, loosely chopped

In a bowl, mix stock, oyster sauce, fish sauce, chili paste, soy sauce, and honey, set aside.

In a wok or tall, high sided skillet, heat a couple tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat.  Add the red pepper, jalapeño, and garlic and stir fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes, then push it up along the edge where it's cooler. Add the egg mixture and scramble, breaking it up into small bits, pushing it up to the edge while it's still a little "wet".   In a pan, cook meat and onion until the onion is softened and meat is partially cooked (1-2 minutes) adding a dash of red pepper if you like it nice and spicy.  Add the noodles and veggies and stir-fry until it and the meat is cooked through (4-5 minutes) adding a couple tablespoons of water if the noodles are crisping up too much, Add the sauce and stir until incorporated, folding in the basil and stirring until wilted.  Served with salad with honey mustard salad dressing (OK, not oriental, but Finland thinks we like it) and an egg roll with some sweet and sour sauce from a jar.

Dairy, Soy, and Wheat Free Macaroni and Cheese

The original take on Vegan mac and cheese.

One of my favorite foods is Kraft Dinner, or as they call it south of Canada, "Kraft Macaroni and Cheese".  But I'm seriously cutting down on dairy as I just find, the older I get the less I can digest it and the Vegan mac and cheese box meals from the Health Food store have an ingredient list that sounds like a science experiment.

I've tried two different versions of vegan mac and cheese recipes and I think the one below is the best one.  The first batch was made roasted red pepper with lemon juice and baked in the oven but I preferred the stovetop version with the carrot and ACV - it had a sweeter taste without the red pepper and garlic and a creamier texture. You don't have to bake it in the oven, just heat up the "cheese sauce" and stir in some cooked macaroni - or if you are doing low carb or keto - serve it over some steamed broccoli or use it as a dipping sauce for raw veggies. If you are doing carbs but not gluten the Tinkyada Pasta Joy brown rice pasta is the best of all the brands I have tried, very consistent in texture and it doesn't get mushy if you overcook by a minute or two.  I buy it from Amazon.

Vegan Mac and Cheese (soy, gluten, and wheat-free)

1/2 cup raw cashews (I used NOW Foods brand)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
4 Tablespoons Braggs Nutritional Yeast
2 small carrots(about 80 grams) peeled and steamed until soft (do not use "baby carrots" - they are cut out of large, tougher carrots and to me they taste bitter)
1 teaspoon Braggs apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Earth Balance "buttery spread"
1 tsp lite salt
2 pinches black pepper or 1 toothpick swirl Young Living Pepper Vitality Oil
1/8 tsp  plus one pinch of ground nutmeg or one toothpick swirl Young Living  Nutmeg Vitality Oil

When you get up in the morning, cover the nuts with water in a bowl or food processor and soak until you are ready for lunch or dinner (minimum two hours) Drain completely and discard the water.

In food processor blend cashews and 1/2 cup water until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and blend until carrots and chopped onion are incorporated into the liquid and it's smooth. If it's thick and not pourable add another couple of Tablespoons of water. Heat in a saucepan until steaming while you cook enough pasta for 3 servings (I used about a cup and a half dry macaroni). Mix pasta into the sauce and serve immediately.

Einkorn Popovers

Though I've seriously been cutting carbs and sugar to lose those holiday pounds, Saturday is my "cheat" day where I have some healthy carbs for breakfast and some wine with my supper.

Lately, we've been doing Swedish waffles with the Young Living Einkorn Pancake and Waffle Mix.  Einkorn is an ancient grain that has never been genetically modified like all other types of flours.  It's also naturally lower in gluten (the gluten in einkorn lacks the high molecular weight proteins that many people can't digest), and even though regular flour does a number on my IBS, I can eat Einkorn with zero issues.

The waffle mix isn't a mix such as "Bisquick" as you have to add leavening.  Rather it's a flour blend and as I discovered this morning, it makes tasty things other than waffles. With a blend of low gluten Einkorn with gluten-free brown rice flour, Amaranth flour, Ta[pioca flour, Sorghum flour,, and Dhokla flour (Indian flour made with chickpeas) it makes a light and nicely textured baked good.

Today we did popovers.  Popovers are an American version of Yorkshire pudding but made without any animal fats and baked in an individual tin.  They turned out really well, crisp yet tender on the outside and light and custardy on the inside.  You can cut this in half easily to make just three popovers (they don't reheat well).  Just decrease the ingredients by 1/2 and use 2 medium or large eggs (and add five minutes to cooking with the extra egg).

Young Living Einkorn Popovers (Made with Y.L. Pancake and Waffle Mix).

They rise beautifully, are full of healthful whole grain and have a soft custard-like interior that’s so good with butter and/or honey. My husband ate 3 of them.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a bowl mix:

3 large eggs (at room temperature) or equivalent of veggie egg replacer such as EnerG (but add 1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil to the mix
1 and 1/4 cup milk (at room temperature) or nut milk

In another bowl mix:
1 and 1/4 cup Young Living Einkorn Pancake and Waffle Mix
1/2 teaspoon salt (I used reduced sodium).

Spray popover pan with non-stick spray. (I got mine from William Sonoma but you can find them on Amazon for as little as $15). Divide 2 Tablespoons of dairy butter or vegan butter (I like Earth Balance sticks) into the six popover tins and place pan in oven for 4-5 minutes to melt the butter.

Combine wet and dry ingredients until just combined (there will be some small lumps - do not overmix).

Pour batter into prepared tins of melted butter. Do not stir.

Bake 25-30 minutes (don’t open the door to check on them until at least 25 minutes).

Serve immediately. (If you aren’t serving immediately poke the top with a toothpick so they don’t collapse). These are great for a hearty breakfast or a nice side to soup or stew in the winter.

Note:  If you'd like to order the mix - Young LIving ships to 133 different countries as they have offices, and farms all over the globe. Click on the Young Living Link on my right sidebar to order retail.  If you want to sign up to be a member to get the discount drop me a line at cliodna58 at gmail dot com.  I don't sell the products (between work and authoring it's like having two full-time jobs) but love the discount for the many products my household uses and I get a lot of "freebies" when ordering for my family and extended family.  If you do become a member and decide to just go back and order retail there's no penalty, you just change your ordering preferences online.