Birthday Dinner at Cocotte

There’s a fine line between appreciating food and over-indulging. For my “birthday happy hour” we wanted to make a summery appetizer while not ruining our dinner. The compromise was Ina Garten’s herb dip with crudité platter… and a basil mojito.

After researching a number of top rated Portland restaurants, my mom and I picked Cocotte Bar & Bistro. My sister and I split the summer fruit salad with goat cheese and pine nut granola.

We also split the “savoury clafoutis” which is essentially a soufflé made of brie, wild mushrooms, caramelized onions and leaks. Rich but light and fluffy… just great. 

And dessert. So unnecessary, but it was my birthday so my hands were kinda tied. The dark chocolate mousse with a pine nut shortbread crust, marshmallow cream and strawberry coulis.

And the almond brandy cake with caramel ice cream, apricot jam and caramel popcorn. Super creative and I loved the crunch of the popcorn. So about that fine line between appreciation and indulgence…

Skirt Steak Sandwiches with Horseradish Yogurt Sauce & Chopped Summer Vegetable Salad

When I was sitting in my hot (!) little African room for hours on end, waiting for my dinner of plain rice and a hard boiled egg, I would make lists of all of the things I was excited to do when I got home. Since I’ve been back, literally a dream of mine comes true every hour. From sitting on my back porch with this fresh blended mango margarita:

To my fruit and veggie-packed lunch with homemade dill potato salad:

And this sandwich. I was inappropriately excited when biting into the soft bread, juicy tomato, charcoal grilled steak and tangy horseradish sauce… I don’t think I’m over it.

We also went a little nuts at the farmer’s market and splurged on a ton of vegetables to throw into our chopped vegetable salad. You could substitute or leave out any vegetable in this, then add feta and toss in the mint, cayenne and lime dressing. Brilliant. The next dream-come-true is that there are enough leftovers for lunch!

Skirt Steak Sandwiches with Horseradish Yogurt Sauce

(makes 4 sandwiches)
1.5 lbs skirt steak
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1-2 teaspoon prepared horseradish, or to taste
ground black pepper

tomato, sliced
red onion, thinly sliced
avocado, sliced
Dijon or honey mustard
fresh ciabatta bread, sliced

Rub steak with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Grill until desired doneness. Let rest, then slice thinly. Spread bread with sauce and top with remaining ingredients.

Chopped Summer Vegetable Salad

carrots, julienned
china peas, diced
cucumber, diced
fennel bulb, shaved
bell pepper, diced
radishes, diced
sweet corn, sliced off cobb
celery, diced
green onions, chopped

2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
fresh ground pepper, to taste
1-2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint

Combine all chopped vegetables into large bowl. Mix lime, olive oil, salt, and cayenne, then toss with vegetables. Add in crumbled feta, mint and pumpkin seeds. Serve immediately or chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

China in Ghana

So, I went to Africa.

From the second I stepped off the plane, I knew I was far away from the world I was used to. Not to mention, traveling alone for your first international trip isn’t a walk in the park. The first night in Accra, a French speaking volunteer and I stayed in this little hotel room:

Though there was a bathroom, there was no running water. It was here I also learned that wheat bread hasn’t made its way into Africa yet. The next day, and every day after that, I had a piece of white bread for breakfast. The hotel topped our bread with a tomato omelet.

Driving through Accra, the capitol of Ghana, was shocking. The slums literally go for miles, and the traffic is out of this world.

But, once you get out of the city, the stereotypical African landscape starts. Every few miles you pass through a new village with stands selling mangos and used running shoes along the road, women carrying baskets on their heads and babies on their backs, and skeletons of buildings that were never completed.

I stayed in the Kpando District in the Volta Region, specifically in a village called Conda at the house of Mary and Peter Adjodoor. Mary cooked for us and ran her shop, Peter farmed and was always so concerned about how I was doing.

Oh, and we had a pet monkey named Charlie.

Unfortunately, Ghanaean food is not my cup of tea. A few of the popular foods there were palava sauce with boiled yams. Palava sauce is made of palm oil, gboma (African spinach), tomato paste, sardines and onions.

Another staple is Banku with tomato sauce, often served with an omelet on the side. Banku is made of fermented cornmeal mixed with cassava flour to form a spongy dough…with very little flavor or health benefits. The tomato sauce that it is served with is made up of tomato paste, palm oil, tinned fish and onions.

And fufu, which is often served with ground nut soup. Fufu is a gluey dough made of pounded cassava flour and plantain. Ground nut soup is ground nut paste mixed with palm oil (like everything else), cabbage and sometimes chicken.

The rest is either white bread, rice, fries, red rice, yam fries or boiled yams…and always served with either an egg or fried chicken. But on the bright side, I unintentionally lost a bit of weight on this African diet. (Getting really sick twice also might have helped)

I was able to travel a few times on the weekends, and went to the Wli Falls with a group of SFSU students who were also working with my NGO. Because I’m really brave (or masochistic) I went with a few of them on a 4 hour intense hike – when I say hike, I mean rock climb – to the upper falls. I was walking a little funny the next day but it was gorgeous and the best workout of my life. 

For a less strenuous day trip, a group of Dutch girls and I went to the city of Ho to spend a day laying at the pool at Chances Conference Center. Much more my speed.

Though I came back incredibly thankful to be an American, I’m glad I got to experience first hand how different so much of the world lives. Everything is harder, takes longer, and isn’t as sanitary, but it works for them.

Froyo Mango Granola Pie

The day before I left for Ghana, I invited a group of girls over for a going away dinner party. The theme was A Tapas Picnic, so everyone brought over an appetizer and we spread out on a blanket in the middle of our living room. I came up with this dessert in my head a while ago that’s basically the dessert version of my typical breakfast. Yogurt, fruit and granola. It turned out to be a great choice before Africa since it was the last cold dairy food that I had for about a month.

Froyo Mango Granola Pie

2 cups granola
1/2 cup pecans
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 pint frozen yogurt
1 large mango, diced

Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor, blend first four ingredients until well combined. Press mixture into a greased pie dish and bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely.

In a saucepan, heat mango over low heat until fruit starts to breakdown and becomes a chunky sauce. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Slightly thaw frozen yogurt and spread into pie crust. Top with cooled fruit and freeze for 1-2 hours or until frozen.