You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone

Since we here in Papua New Guinea (PNG) live so far off the beaten path, our Store relies heavily on shipments from Australia and the United States…unfortunately, sometimes we end up running out of certain supplies before a new shipping container comes in. Some things are not a big deal to find a substitute for—black beans, for instance. Canned black beans are a lovely convenience, but buying a plateful of black beans at the market and boiling them up isn’t that difficult—actually, I now think that canned black beans are slightly disgusting—I’ll take the fresh kind any day!

Other items, however, are not quite so simple to find a suitable replacement for. For example, just before Christmas, the Store was completely out of brown sugar—which, of course, is called for in many baking recipes. Well, like any good 21^st century missionary, I turned to Google and searched for brown sugar substitutes! And lo and behold—what do you know, you can use an equal amount of white sugar + 2 tbsp of molasses per cup as a substitute! Of course, eventually you have the problem of running out of your substitute…in which case you have to find a substitute for the substitute… J I ran out of molasses shortly after I discovered how to make brown sugar, and at that point, the Store didn’t have any more molasses, either! Thankfully, shortly after I ran out of molasses, the Store got a small shipment in from Australia, including some treacle—which, according to Google, is basically the same thing as molasses.

I’ve also learned that you can make from scratch many things that aren’t available here, like enchilada sauce, Western dressing, and cream of chicken soup mix.

So, for your enlightenment, I’ll leave you with a list of the substitutions that I’ve learned to use—just in case you want to try and cook like a PNG missionary!

-Brown sugar: same amount white sugar+2 tbsp molasses per cup

-Molasses: honey, dark corn syrup, maple syrup

-Powdered sugar: granulated sugar + cornstarch, blended very finely (I haven’t actually tried this one; I was told that you need a very powerful, very sharp blender or food processor)

-Sour cream: 1 cup cream + 1 tbsp white vinegar, plain yogurt

-Cream: ¼ cup melted butter + ¾ cup milk

 

Enchilada sauce ingredients: all things that I have on-hand in my kitchen!

Enchilada Sauce

Original recipe makes 2 1/2 cups

·         1/4 cup vegetable oil

·         2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

·         2 tablespoons chili powder

·         1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

·         1 cup water

·         1/4 teaspoon cumin

·         1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

·         1/2 teaspoon onion powder

·         2 tablespoons brown sugar

·         salt to taste

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir flour and chili powder into the oil; cook and stir until smooth. Gradually stir tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and brown sugar into the flour mixture, respectively. Reduce heat to low and cook until thickened, about 10 minutes.

 

Western salad dressing ingredients

Homemade Western Dressing

(Equals one 16 oz. bottle of dressing)

·         2/3 cup ketchup

·         1/3 cup olive oil

·         1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

·         1/3 cup sugar

·         1 T honey

·         1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

·         1 tsp. dried minced onions (or 1/4 tsp onion powder)

·         1/4 tsp. garlic powder

·         1/4 tsp. salt

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Store in fridge until ready to use.