South Englishtown Saturday Night Dinner

Saturday, March 21, 2009

South Englishtown Saturday Night Dinner –

1st course – salad (served with gin and tonic*)
Fresh romaine lettuce (purchased at the Belmopan open air market)
Little grape-style tomatoes (grown in S. Englishtown by Joy)
2 Fresh tomatoes (from Belmopan)
Tomato and basil feta cheese (purchased at Brodie’s in Belize City)
Fresh basil (from Sue’s garden)
Salad dressing – olive oil and vinegar with 2 cloves crushed garlic, fresh ground pepper, salt

2nd course – linguine* with Englishtown Fra Diavilo (served with “Arrival Duty Free” Brissonette White wine @ $6.00/btl)
1 onion, diced (local)
6 cloves garlic, pressed (imported from China)
1 cho-cho, diced (local)
¼ local scotch bonnet pepper, finely diced (more if the pepper is mild)
Sautéed over hot flame for ~15 minutes in 2 T olive oil
Add ½ bell pepper, diced (local)
3 Roma style tomatoes, diced (Belmopan)
1 four oz squeeze tube tomato paste (Naturas brand)
salt and fresh ground pepper* to taste
¾ c water
Simmer for 30 min

3rd course – papaya and banana with sugar-free lemon pudding glaze

4th course – Dove milk chocolate with roasted hazelnut, served with Englishtown Café Dulce Mokatika
1 part sweetened condensed milk (cold)
2 parts decaf espresso (cold, brewed earlier in the day)
2 parts regular milk (cold)
3 parts Mokatika liquor (from Brodie’s)
2-3 Ice cubes (if you’ve got ‘em)

Notes:
1) Diet tonic water is not available in Belize, and often regular tonic water is not available either. Gin and tonic can be approximated by using club soda with a lemon concentrate in the place of tonic. Never, never substitute bad gin for good! Tanqueray Rangpur or Bombay Sapphire are the best gins to use; Beefeaters will do in a pinch. We are still working on how to get the right bitter taste to substitute for the quinine in tonic. Suggestions are welcome!
2) There is no substitute (that I am aware of) for freshly ground black pepper. We bring McCormick brand pepper grinders with us when we come. I have not seen them in stores here, but really haven’t looked for them yet in Belize.
3) For those who need to pay attention to the glycemic index of foods for health reasons, whole wheat pasta can be used for the main course and sugar-free lemon pudding for the 3rd course. Splenda can be added to evaporated milk instead of using sweetened condensed milk, etc.The Duty Free Arrival store at the Phillip Goldston International Airport is fantastic. Any non-Belizean entering the country can shop there upon arrival on an international flight. The best buys are for alcohol. We got a very decent French champagne for $7.00 US and a good Spanish red wine (Brissonette) for $6.00. The Brissonette white wine was not as good, but did fine if overpowered with Feta cheese. ;-) Also, the Napoleon Brandy at $6.00/btl was a great buy. Each person can purchase up to 4 bottles. The costs for alcohol once inside Belize are outrageously high, the choices are limited, and the local alcohols (aside from the Belikin beers, which are quite nicely drinkable) are only so-so.