Food in Malta

   In December, 2012, the family took a vacation to Malta and London. Malta is a small island just 60 miles south of Sicily. Why Malta--well it is very old and a lot of different invaders took the island so there is a mix. The language is a semantic language related to Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic. The first full day there we went into Valletta, the capital city and a UNESCO World Heritage site. We had a great coffee break in the middle of the citadel and a lunch in a cave--pretty cool---

    Lunch at the Cave was great--Pizza and bruschetta was great--wood fire oven and cheap,  good wine. The portions were large--all this for only 30 euros--about $40.00

Simple steak, rice, and haricot vert

   An easy meal--NY strip steak in the sous vide at 142 deg for two hours ,  basmati rice, with butter and chicken broth and blanched haricot verte sauteed in butter. Simple and delicious and very little prep time. Good meal for a long day.

Chicken strips and cole slaw

     Real chicken strips! How many if you all cannot stand the so-called chicken strips in a lot of restaurants These are the strips that are made from 'mechanically separated chicken'. In other words it is made from chicken scraps. I used organic chicken breast and slicked them longitudinal. I dipped them in egg wash, than flour and dipped again in egg wash and finally in panko crumbs mix. he mix had oregano, salt, pepper, paprika, and panko crumbs. I fried them in the fry daddy for about 5 minutes until internal temp was greater than 165 deg.

   The cole slaw was made using homemade mayonnaise  I used grape seed oil and an egg yolk. Using an immersion blender, I slowly added grape seed oil to the yolk until it fluffed up. I added lime juice, slat and pepper to it and let it sit for an hour. In the meantime, I cut the cabbage and salted it to remove the moisture. I cut julienne carrots and crushed pickles. I rinsed and dried the cabbage and added the mayonnaise and vegetables.  I also added salt, pepper, and vinegar until it tasted great.  Kim and Logan loved them--Logan dipped the strips in ketchup.