Escargot Galore

On October 26, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes4 Comments

We love a good escargot and, apparently, so do the people of Frankfurt. Perhaps it is because we have come across several French Bistros, but they can be found in traditional German restaurants as well. More correctly, you will find snails on the menus, whether it is French or German. We have been here for almost four weeks now and already have had snails at least four times. There is nothing like dipping bread into the garlic butter that the snails are usually cooked in, decadently delicious.

Twice we had snails covered in cheese. One was covered with a mozzarella-like cheese and the cheese was gooey and sumptuous. The second was covered with a Gruyère type cheese, which also extremely good as well, but we are not sure that snails, oil, butter, and herbs really need to be enhanced by cheese. We suppose those that say cheese always make things better would probably disagree. Who knows, we will probably find deep-fried snails covered in cheese at some point, why stop with just cheese 😁.

It is certainly not the healthiest of choices, but it is hard not to have escargot when we find them on the menu. Some people are turned off by the thought of snails, but we are firm believers in trying new and different foods. We had our children try escargot when they were young without telling them what they were eating and they all really enjoyed it. We even tried a local delicacy, that might roll some eyes, over the weekend, but we will save that for another post.

Guacamole – A Taste of South of the Border

On May 4, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes7 Comments

One of things that we love about travelling to Mexico is that when you order guacamole, you get a lot of guacamole. Here in the United States, you would think that avocados were a precious commodity by the way they charge you for a couple of tablespoons of guacamole. There are a lot of good uses for avocados, but guacamole is probably our favorite. It can be used with chips as a dip or it can be used as a spread on a sandwich. We leave the seeds in the jalapenos, but if you don’t like it as spicy, the seeds can be removed. This recipe is for a small batch, but obviously it can be increased if you are serving it for a larger crowd.

Ingredients

2 Avocados – diced
1 Medium Tomato – finely diced
1 Jalapeno – finely diced (seeds removed if you don’t want it spicy)
1 Garlic Clove – minced
1 tbsp Red or Yellow Onion – finely diced
Juice of 1 Lime
Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

Cut the avocados in half, using your knife to carve around the large seed. Twist the avocado to separate the two halves, the seed will remain in one of the halves. Using a knife, carefully chop into the seed so that the knife is slightly embedded. Twist the knife to remove the seed and carefully remove the seed from the knife blade. Use a spoon to separate the flesh of the avocado from the skin by tracing the spoon along the inside of the skin and place the flesh into a medium bowl. You can dice the avocado prior to removing it from the skin or after it is in the bowl. Add the rest of ingredients and mix thoroughly. If you prefer a creamy guacamole, you can mash the avocado dices as you stir, or leave some of the dices whole if you prefer a chunkier guacamole. Serve with chips.

Old Bay Deviled Eggs

On March 23, 2016March 24, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes6 Comments

Deviled eggs are always a favorite appetizer when we have a party and no matter how many we seem to make, they are always gone before the night is over. Especially this time of year, using boiled eggs to make deviled eggs or egg salad is always a good idea and this recipe takes a slightly different twist on the classic. Old Bay Seasoning is something that is quite common on the east coast, but usually for seafood, so using it with deviled eggs added a unique and unusual flavor. The same recipe can easily be altered to make egg salad sandwiches, simply by chopping the eggs up and mixing in all of the other ingredients.

Ingredients

6 Large Eggs – hard boiled and cooled
2 tbsp Mayonnaise
1/2 Celery Stalk – finely chopped
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 tsp Spicy Brown Mustard
2 to 3 tbsp Milk
Ground Pepper to taste

Instructions

Peel the eggs and cut them lengthwise. Spoon out the yolks and place them in a bowl. Mash the yolks with the backside of a fork and add the mayonnaise, celery, Old Bay, and mustard. Continue to mash the yolks with the ingredients, slowly adding the milk, until it is smooth and creamy. Season the mixture with pepper. With a spoon, fill the yolk cavity in the egg white with about a tablespoon of the yolk mixture. Top with a celery leaf or sprinkle with a tiny bit of Old Bay prior to serving.