Global Recipe Project

Panama

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Panamanian food is filled with Caribbean and Latin American influences and it's delicious. The National Dish is Sancocho; a chicken and root vegetable soup. Very hearty and yet filled with fresh subtle flavors. We also enjoyed empanadas and cocadas.

Sancocho
Chicken soup with yucca and a variety of other root vegetables seasoned with garlic and cilantro. You serve the soup on a bed of white rice.

Cocadas
Latin American version of a macaroon cookie. Instead of egg and egg whites it's cornstarch and condensed milk that binds the shredded coconut.

A's Rating: 6.5 "It's chicken soup, but it's not particularly outstanding."
Guest Rating: 7
M's Rating: 8. It's chicken and rice. How can a 5 year old not like it?
H's Rating: 8. I liked the subtly of the flavors. It's very simple ingredients and not many spices.

Samoa

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 16:58:00 +0000

Samoa is a little island in the Pacific Ocean about 3,200 kilometers north of New Zealand. Lonely Planet calls it the place where "emerald shores meet azure waters." Sounds pretty much like every other island in the Pacific.

We chose to make Masi Samoa which are coconut cookies. Please do not confuse these with the Girl Scout "Samoa" cookie. They are not the same thing. At all.

The best part of this recipe is the way your house smells while the cookies are baking. The 4 year old walked into the kitchen just as the cookies were finishing up in the oven and proclaimed, "Hmmmm ça sent très bon!!" (It smells very good!).

Apparently these cookies come in neatly piled stacks tied with ribbon on the streets of Samoa. Whenever we make our way there I will gladly pick them up and devour them as fast as possible. They're a cross between a shortbread cookie and a scone. Although delicious as they were, we found that slathering them with nutella was a great addition. They were also lovely the next morning coated in a touch of butter and strawberry jam.

The ingredient list is pretty simple and you've probably already got everything in your pantry. Butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, vanilla extract and coconut milk. I followed this recipe.

A's rating: 3

M's rating: 4-5

H's rating: 6

The cookies are delicious but very simple. I think the leftovers are going to serve as the base for strawberry shortcake.

Tanzania

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 19:20:00 +0000

My best friend has been perfecting donut recipes this summer so it seemed appropriate to make Tanzanian Mandazi. Mandazi are donuts traditionally eaten for breakfast and are spicier and less sweet than their American counterpart. We enjoyed them with coconut vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries.

Although I wouldn't necessarily repeat the recipe for my personal use, they were fun and I would welcome finding them on the streets of Tanzania when we make our way there one day.

I found the recipe slightly unusual in that coconut milk was added to the warm water and sugar prior to adding the yeast. I felt that this meant that the yeast did not fully develop before kneading, resulting in a very dense donut.

This is the recipe I followed.

A's rating: 3

H's rating: 5

Cuba!

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sat, 02 Apr 2016 22:33:00 +0000

What's better than pineapple rum mojitos and slow cooked red meat? Not much.

Ropa Vieja is the national dish of Cuba and we had it with friends. I must confess that I cheated and used the crockpot. Don't judge. It was easy and made the house smell delicious. Double win. The dish is the Cuban version of a beef stew with lots of fun things like green olives, capers and peppers. I've already made this dish twice, it's that good. Serve it on buttered noodles, or rice or polenta or some other starch and you're done.

I loosely followed a couple of different recipes this one and this one.

A's Rating: 7
M's Rating: 7
H's Rating: 8

We have made this recipe a total of 4 times. It is that good. And, if you're lazy like me and use the crockpot it's ridiculously easy for a midweek meal.

Jamaica

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 18:46:00 +0000

Another Caribbean country finished!

Jamaica was fun, bright, and delicious. Jerk chicken, rice and peas, rum punch and a pineapple cake. We broke with tradition and made the rice and peas even though it wasn't Sunday. Great recipes if not a tad heavy on the carbs.

As an aperitif we had some plantain chips and coconut soda.

Wonderful way to spend a Thursday evening.

Rice and Peas

Ingredients
1 can red kidney beans
1 can coconut milk
1 tbsp fresh thyme
4 green onions, chopped
2 cups of rice (rinsed well)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
water
salt
pepper

Preparation
Drain the kidney beans over a measuring cup that holds 4 cups. Add the coconut milk and then add enough water to make 4 cups of liquid.

In a large pot, add the liquid mixture, garlic, thyme, onions, kidney beans, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and taste the liquid for saltiness. Next add the rice and boil or 2 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 15 - 20 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve warm.

Jerk Seasoning
1/2 pimenta (allspice berries)
1/2 cup brown sugar
8 garlic cloves, minced
5 scotch bonnet peppers
2 tbsp thyme leaves
2 green onions, chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper
2 tbsp soy sauce

Ratings
A's Rating: 7
H's Rating: 8 (loved the chicken and the coconut rice)
M's Rating: 7 (wasn't as thrilled as I had hoped)
Guest Rating: 7

I will be repeating the rice recipe again. Loved the hint of coconut and the fresh herbs. Will also be repeating the jerk seasoning.

China

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 05:08:00 +0000

Interestingly enough, especially in the midst of Chinese New Year, we hit China on our journey around the world.

I decided to tackle Chinese dumplings (known as jiaozi) since they're a traditional New Year dish. Happy Year of the Monkey!

About a year ago, we were invited to dinner at our neighbors' house. They are a wonderful couple from Shanghai. They taught us the art of dumpling making. It was delightful if not time consuming. For our country night, I decided to brush out my notes from that dinner and the results were delicious.

I used pre-made dumpling wrappers so I guess that's cheating. Oh well.

Pork Dumplings

Ingredients
1 and a half packages of dumpling wrappers
1 cup ground pork
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
3 tbsp sesame oil
3 green onions chopped
1 1/2 cups of shredded napa cabbage
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves minced

Preparation

Mix all the ingredients for the filling.

Place 1.5 tsp of filling in each wrapper. Using a touch of water, seal the wrappers in a half moon shape.

Place a large pot of water on the stove. Once it boils, add half of the dumplings and then immediately add 1/2 cup of cold water. Once the water boils again add another 1/2 cup of water. Do this a second time adding cold water again when it boils. After the pot boils for the third time the dumplings are done.

If you like crispy dumplings, you can now fry some (or all) in a pan with cooking oil.

Serve immediately with your favorite dipping sauce.

H's Rating: Solid 7
Husband Rating: 7 (though with the addition of sriracha the rating goes up to 8)
M's Rating: At least an 8.5 (she had 3 crispy dumplings and 3 boiled dumplings)

Puerto Rico

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sat, 30 Jan 2016 00:33:00 +0000

How about a little Caribbean flair? We ran through Puerto Rico with street food and a hearty rice dish. The recipes required that I run around the neighborhood looking for seasonings and spice packets that were completely foreign to me. I tried the huge Mexican supermarket chain store, Cardenas. I had mixed success there. Turns out my unassuming Vons store had everything and more.

We headed over to our friends' house (who graciously provided the grill) and enjoyed:

Arroz Con Gradules
Pinchos
Bolitas de Queso

Also, did you know that Puerto Rico is home to the first pina colada? You're welcome.

The rice was very salty though no actual salt is in the recipe....
However, I loved the idea that you throw dried herbs, and sliced olives into the pot before the rice.
The pinchos are the Puerto Rican version of chicken kebabs. Delicious.
The bolitas de queso were heavenly. Fried cheese balls.

A's Rating: 7 out of 10
H's Rating: 7.5 out of 10
M's Rating: 8 (I think she devoured 4 balls)

Laos

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 05:39:00 +0000

I was thinking that Laos would be interesting but not terribly exciting. A weeknight country without any fanfare or party planning. Wow, was I wrong. Have you ever had larb? Aaaaaaaamazing.

Larb is a meat salad which you can make with nearly any meat or poultry. You eat it with sticky rice or in lettuce cups. It is deceptively simple which, at first glance, leads you to believe the flavors would be boring. Not true.

We will make this again. And again. It is the highest rated dish of this adventure so far. Seriously.

I read a lot about larb before making the dish. Basically, you have a lot of flexibility with the ingredients but there are some deal breakers--don't use soy sauce, salt, vinegar, dried herbs, or store bought lime juice; ever.

Turkey Larb

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
2 large shallots
1 tbsp rice powder (or rice flour)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup chopped mint leaves
fresh lime juice
fish sauce
cayenne pepper (or red pepper flakes)
lettuce leaves

Preparation

Brown the ground turkey in a skillet over medium heat. Drain some of the juice, but not all.

Add the shallots to the turkey and continue cooking for 5-10 minutes. Off the heat, add 1 tbsp of fish sauce and 1 tbsp of lime juice and dash of cayenne pepper. Check for seasonings. Continue adding fish sauce and lime juice in equal parts until desired taste.

Add the rice powder and mix well.

Add the chopped fresh herbs.

Serve in lettuce cups.

Antoine's Rating: 9 to 9.5 out of 10
Heidi's Rating: 9.5 (Super tasty)
M's Rating: ????

Jordan

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 06:24:00 +0000

In an effort to zip through a few more countries per year...I decided to opt out of trying Mansaf which is the national dish of Jordan. Although it sounds absolutely delicious, it sounds equally time consuming. Instead, I threw together the bright and summery salad, Fattoush.

Fattoush

Ingredients for Salad

2 pita breads, cut into 1 inch pieces (toasted in a pan with oil)
2 tomatoes, diced
1 cucumber, diced
1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped
1/2 bunch of mint leaves, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1/2 head of romaine lettuce, chopped
1 handful of arugula

Ingredients for Dressing

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp sumac
salt and pepper

Preparation
Mix all the ingredients for the dressing except the sumac.

Mix all the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Top with dressing and finish with sumac sprinkled on top.

Antoine's Rating: 8 out of 10
Heidi's Rating: 7 out of 10
M's Rating: ??? (she refused to eat any vegetables tonight, oh well.)

This will be repeated over and over and over again this summer. Super easy, super fun, and very healthy. Win all around. Also, amazing that toasted pita bread makes the best croutons!

Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 17:23:00 +0000

Oh Japan. You're so cute. I happily vowed to pour my heart and soul into shoyu ramen. It was a three-day affair. It ended well. Very well.

I invited some lovely friends and told them to bring empty stomachs and challenged them to bring a Japanese dessert. They obliged and we enjoyed a wonderful Saturday night filled with noodles, sarcasm, sweet treats and sake. Fun all around.

I started the dashi on Wednesday evening it was finished by Friday night. Perfect timing for a Saturday party.

Shoyu Ramen (loosely following this recipe)

Ingredients
The following will serve 10

Kombu Dashi And Tare

· 2-4 pieces dried kombu
· 1 cup soy sauce (shoyu)
· 4 tbsp. dry sake
· 2 Tbsp. mirin

Pork And Stock

3 lbs. boneless pork shoulder
1 1/2 lbs pork belly
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 lbs. chicken necks, backs, and/or wings
2 lbs. pork ribs
2 bunches scallions, chopped
1 1/2 cups of baby carrots
2 heads of garlic, halved horizontally
3 1” pieces ginger, peeled, sliced
1/2 cup bonito flakes
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Ramen And Garnishes

12 soft boiled and marinated eggs
ramen noodles
1 cup menma (fermented bamboo shoots)
2 bunches scallions, thinly sliced
6 toasted nori sheets, torn in half
Chili oil, toasted sesame oil, and shichimi togarashi (for serving)

Preparation:

Soak the kombu in 8 quarts of water and let sit at room temperature for 2 days.

Mix the soy sauce, mirin and sake and refrigerate for at least 2 days.

Sear the pork belly in a large pot with vegetable oil. Remove and set aside. Sear the pork shoulder in same pot. Remove and set aside. Return the pork belly to pot and add ribs, chicken, carrots, ginger, bonito flakes and cover with as much kombu water as will fit in the pot. Medium boil for 4 hours skimming the surface occasionally and adding more kombu water as the stock reduces. During the last 1.5 hours add the pork shoulder to the stock.

Strain out the stock reserving only the pork shoulder, pork belly and broth. Discard everything else.

Chill overnight.

Next day, skim off any fat on the top of the stock. Heat a pot of water and cook noodles. In a separate pot heat up stock to boiling and add the soy sauce mixture.

Assemble bowls by placing large amount of noodles, slices of pork belly and pork shoulder in bowls, and covering them with hot broth. (The broth will heat up the chilled pork).

Garnish with soft boiled eggs, nori sheet, scallions, menma, sesame oil, and a dash of shichimi togarashi.

Wonderful meal with wonderful friends and kids. After our soups, we brought out the tasty dessert treats which were surprising and delicious. Green Tea ice cream and a coffee jello! We even enjoyed some Japanese candies. An entire bag of lychee gummies were stolen by the three year olds and the theft was only discovered after said candies were all eaten and the wrappers were in a pile in front of the TV surrounded by 4 kids with very sticky faces.

Guest Rating: 9 (It was a great meal)
Antoine Rating: 9
Heidi Rating 9.5 (I love noodle soups!)
M's Rating: 9 (had a deconstructed meal of pork and noodles sans broth)

Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 05:33:00 +0000

Spain!

Land of tapas, late nights, sangria and naps. A kind of place I can appreciate on all those fronts. Tonight's exploration into the culinary Spanish world was a collaborative effort. If a friend tells you she's making paella and wants to come over, you let her. Since I wasn't tasked with the main dish I decided to tackle a side salad, two types of sangria and churros. Another friend made the appetizers and we were on our way to a Spanish feast.

I can't tell you much of the paella recipe except that it was fantastic. And a lot of work. And it was beautiful.

For the sangria, we had a Ruby Red and a White Peach. Both equally delicious.

Ruby Red
1 bottle of red wine
1 cup grapefruit juice
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of triple sec
juice of 2 limes
Sliced oranges and limes for garnish

White Peach
1 bottle of white wine
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup of triple sec
1 cup of orange sparkling water
1 peach pureed
sliced peaches for garnish

Spanish Salad
Chopped tomatoes
Chopped cucumbers
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
handful of mixed greens
1/2 cup of chopped olives
2 tbsp capers, drained

Vinaigrette
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/4 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
salt and pepper to taste

Churros
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
3 eggs, beaten
sugar
frying oil

I love a dough recipe that you cook from the beginning.

Combine water, salt and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour. Reduce heat to low and continually stir until the dough forms a ball. Remove the mixture from the heat and gradually mix in the eggs. Put mixture into a pastry pipping bag fitted with a large star tip.

Heat 2 inches of frying oil in a deep pan to 360 degrees. Squeeze dough mixture into the hot oil. Cook for 2 minutes per side. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels, then roll in sugar. Repeat and repeat and repeat.

T's rating: 7.5 pretty darn good
H's rating: 8.5. Loved it. Wine, rice, shrimp, and fried dough.
M's rating: 9. FRIED DOUGH rolled in SUGAR! 'nuff said.

Peru

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Tue, 26 May 2015 17:04:00 +0000

Oh Peru, how I love thee.

What a magical place that has been on my top travel destinations since forever. But, has to wait until M is old enough to hold her own on the Inka Trail.

I was quite ambitious and made the following:

Anticuchos de corazon (beef heart kebabs)
Pollo a la brasa (grilled chicken)
Ceviche
Chicha (fermented corn beer)

We invited some friends and had a house full of adults, children (six kids under 4) and pisco sours!

The chicha was a last minute addition when a wonderful friend, Grace, sent me this link and challenged me to have it ready in two days. Challenge accepted. Chicha is an ancient fermented drink of the Andrean region which tasted like sweet corn water. Fun though weak on the alcohol.

We also had a potato salad, boiled corn, boiled sweet potatoes, and an edamame salad.

The chicken was aaaaaamazing. Seriously. It will be my standard grilled chicken recipe forevermore. Out with the lemon and rosemary and in with the cumin and soy sauce! The marinade is super simple (garlic, soy sauce, lime juice, cumin, paprika, oregano and oil) but absolutely delicious. The key is to let the chicken marinade for at least 24 hours. We did 48 and it was fantastic.

Pollo Rating:
Tony's Rating: 9 out of 10.
Heidi's Rating: 9 out of 10.
M's rating: ---- (I have no clue because I didn't see her plate any only witnessed her eating corn)
Average Guest Rating: 9.5 out of 10.

Absolutely wonderful recipes.

Macedonia

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 20:47:00 +0000

Tucked behind Albania and just north of Greece is Macedonia. It's a little country that rarely makes the news. The food is similar to Greek and Bulgarian and it's delicious.

I was quite ambitious and made Tavce Gravce, Shopska Salata, and Baklava.

Tavce Gravce is a traditional dish and every family has their own variation. It's essentially baked bean colored with a large amount of paprika. I served it along side grilled polish sausage. Shopska Salata is the Macedonian version of feta, tomato and cucumber salad. Super simple but amazing if you use really excellent quality olive oil and red wine vinegar. My Bakalava was a cardamon/fig version and wonderful. I used less sugar for the sherbet (sugar syrup poured over the top at the end) and it was wonderful. Didn't even have the my-teeth-are-going-to-fall-out sensation that I usually have with the sweetness of traditional baklava.

We invited friends and laughed and ate and drank and enjoyed the meal.

Tavce Gravce
H's Rating: Solid 8 (probably because I knew how much work was involved)
T's Rating: 7-7.5
Toddler M's Rating: 6

Cameroon

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 06:45:00 +0000

I wanted so much to like this dish. But, I couldn't deny the little voice inside my head that said "Wow, this is going to be fishy" after I bought dried ground crawfish. Seriously, do you realize how many crawfish it would take to fill a cup of ground crawfish powder? I say at least 30--that's a lot of crawfish.

The national dish of Cameroon is Ndole which is apparently incredibly popular and supposedly delicious. It "flies off the plates" one article told me. Unfortunately, it was way too fishy for my American palate and even my very adventurous husband declared it was "hardly edible." My dinner guests were kinder and even finished their servings with grace and politeness. The toddler shriveled her nose and boycotted dinner. However, it was universally agreed that without the egregious ingredient (ground crawfish) the dish would have actually been quite tasty.

I loosely followed this recipe from africanbites.com.

Ndole

Ingredients

8 oz (1 cup) Groundnuts/Peanuts(Skinless and unsalted)
½ pound shrimp
½ pound Beef
4 garlic cloves
1 large Onion
¾ cup ground Crayfish
3 cups chicken stock
1 lb Spinach (chopped)
oil
Pepper
Salt

Instructions

In a large pan season meat with salt, boil with chicken stock until tender depending on the choice of meat.
Boil peanuts for about 10 minutes in a sauce pan. Let it cool and blend/pulse with onion and garlic in a food processor or blender into a fine consistency use water to facilitate the blending
Saute the peanut mixture for 10 minutes, adding oil if the mixture begins to burn or stick to the pan. Add to the mixture of beef.
Pour in the crayfish and let it simmer for 10 minutes stirring frequently to prevent burns. Season with salt pepper. You might have to add more chicken stock.
Add the spinach to the pot. Stir and simmer for several minutes more.
While the pot of ndole is simmering, heat oil in a fry pan or, preferably a cast iron. Add the shrimp, stirring constantly until they just turn pink.
Top spinach mixture with sauteed shrimp and serve hot with boiled sweet plantains.

Heidi's Rating: 1 out of 10. I couldn't finish my meal.
Husband's Rating: 2 out of 10.
Toddler M's rating: 2 out of 10. (She ate all her sauteed shrimp)
LeGrand's rating: 4 out of 10.
Dean's rating: 6 out of 10.

This recipe will NOT be repeated in my house.

Monaco

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 15:15:00 +0000

Monaco is a fun country. Fun to pretend to be a zillionaire and go to fancy stores and restaurants. It also has the swankiest casino in the world. The dish we prepared was Barbagiuan. These are delicious fried snacks similar to empanadas. I followed the recipe from Celtnet Recipes found here.

Ingredients: For the Pastry: 500g self-raising flour 125ml extra-virgin olive oil 1 tsp sea salt water, to bind For the Filling: 400g Swiss chard leaves 2 large onions, finely chopped 60ml olive oil 100g ham slices 6 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped 75g freshly-grated Parmesan cheese salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste 2 or 3 eggs, beaten

Read more at Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-barbagiuan
Copyright © celtnet

Ingredients

For the Pastry:
500 g of flour
125 ml olive oil
1 tsp sea salt

Filling:
400 g swiss chard (blanched and chopped)
2 large onions (chopped)
60 ml olive oil
100 g ham slices (chopped)
6 tbsp parsley (chopped)
75 g grated Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
2-3 eggs beaten

Directions

Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Form a well in the center, add 125 ml of oil and stir to combine. Now work in just enough water to bring the mixture together as a dough. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Heat the remaining oil in a pan, add the onions and saute for about 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Stir in the swiss chard then add the ham. Put the mixture into a bowl and add cheese and parsley. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste. Work in enough of the beaten eggs so that the filling mixture is creamy without being liquid.

Heat frying oil to 350 degrees in a deep fryer or deep pan. Turn the pastry out onto a floured work surface and roll out until thin (think ravioli). Alternatively you can use the wonderful pasta attachment for the Kitchen Aid. Cut the pastry out either into small rounds or rectangles. Put 1-2 tbsp of filling in the center and then fold and crimp. Brush with egg wash. Fry the barbagiuans for 8 minutes turning them over half way through so they are golden brown on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels and serve warm.

Heidi's Rating: 8 out of 10. Anything fried and filled with cheese is always a good idea.
Husband's Rating: 7 out of 10.
M's rating: 7 out of 10.

For the Pastry: 500g self-raising flour 125ml extra-virgin olive oil 1 tsp sea salt water, to bind For the Filling: 400g Swiss chard leaves 2 large onions, finely chopped 60ml olive oil 100g ham slices 6 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped 75g freshly-grated Parmesan cheese salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste 2 or 3 eggs, beaten

Read more at Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-barbagiuan
Copyright © celtnet

Saudi Arabia

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sat, 14 Sep 2013 19:43:00 +0000

Wow, it is hard to find the time for creative cooking with a toddler..whew!

Tonight's menu includes Chicken Kabsa. The national dish of Saudi Arabia. It's essentially chicken and rice, but the Middle Eastern version. Who doesn't love chicken and rice? Especially when it's made with cardamon, coriander and black limes. Yes, black limes.

The black limes were an intriguing yet elusive ingredient. I traveled all around town to specialty spice shops looking for these little beasts. I finally located a small Middle Eastern market about 40 minutes from my house and sent Tony on a mission. He came back with small bag of dried, black limes and a report that the market made very delicious shawarma sandwiches. Double win!

We invited a few friends over and the Saudi Arabian feast began.

Chicken Kabsa

1 cup of basmati rice
1 whole chicken cut into 8 parts
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 large tomato, diced
2 bay leaves
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 onion, diced3 garlic cloves, minced
6 green cardamom pods, whole
5 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
2 black limes
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cardamom, ground
1 (8 oz) can of tomato sauce
4 boiled eggs
Pine nuts and raisins

1. In a 4-quart stockpot on medium heat sauté onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of oil until the onions start to caramelize. Add bay leaves, cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon sticks, black limes, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, ginger and ground cardamom. Mix well and allow to sauté for 30 seconds.

2. Add tomato sauce, tomato and chicken bouillon, mix well. Continue cooking until sauce thickens, then reduce heat to low.

3. In a separate pan, quickly brown the chicken in 3 tablespoons oil on medium high heat.

4. Add chicken to tomato mixture and add enough water to just cover the chicken. Bring to a full boil then reduce to simmer. Cover the pot and simmer 35 minutes.

5. In a 2-quart saucepan, add rice and 2 cups of sauce from the chicken. Bring to a boil then immediately turn heat to low and cook covered for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, why the rice is cooking turn oven on broil. Add chicken to a roasting pan and broil for five minutes or until golden.

6. Serve rice on a large platter and arrange chicken on top. Garnish with eggs, pine nuts, and raisin. Pour sauce over the top and enjoy!

Dinner was well received by everyone.

Heidi's rating: 8 out of 10.
Tony's rating: 7 out of 10. "It was good. But, really, it was just chicken and rice."
Baby M's rating: 9 out of 10. Seriously. Chicken. Rice.

Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 21:51:00 +0000

Who doesn't like Italian food? Really.
Anyway, we jumped ahead to Italy because I wanted to try out my pasta maker attachment for the Kitchen Aid. What I failed to realize, (until the dough had already been made, rolled, and prepped) was that I do not own the pasta cutter attachment. This meant that I had long paper-thin sheets of dough that were cut by hand. Oh well. It was fun and more importantly, it was absolutely delicious.

I used a simple recipe for the pasta dough. 2 cups of flour, 3 eggs, dash of salt. Make a well in the mound of flour and mix with your hands. Kneed until your wrists hurt. Set aside for a half an hour then process through pasta roller attachment. Cook. Eat. Done.

It was slightly more complicated than that, but not by much. You can find the recipe I used here.

I also made some turkey meatballs (not Italian) and everything was phenomenal. Even the uncooked pasta was fabulous. Trust me I know. M (our resident toddler) kept sneaking up to the counter and taking away bits and pieces of the scrap pasta laying on the cutting board. When the thievery was discovered, she was sitting quietly on the floor doing a puzzle and covered from head to torso in white flour.

Heidi's rating 9.5 out of 10
Tony's rating 8 out of 10
M's rating 10 out of 10

Lithuania

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:54:00 +0000

Since it was a high of 107 today and I spent the better part of the afternoon in the pool, I wasn't super thrilled about having a ridiculously carb-heavy meal of cepelinai. Oh well.

Cepelinai are potato dumplings filled with ground pork, beef or veal. They are then drowned in a bacon, sour cream sauce. Hearty.

Although all the recipes I found called for "grated potatoes" this is a lie. If you grate potatoes then you will get fine angel-hair like strands of potatoes and they will not mix well and when boiled will fall apart. Instead, you need to pulverize the potatoes.

Ingredients:

Dumpling Mixture:

4 lbs Idaho potatoes, peeled and ~~finely grated~~ pulverized
1 lb Idaho potatoes, peeled, boiled and riced
1 teaspoon salt, more or less to taste

Meat Mixture:

1 pound ground pork or 1/3 pound pork, 1/3 pound beef, 1/3 pound veal
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 large beaten egg

Gravy:

1/2 pound bacon, diced
1 large chopped onion
1 cup sour cream
Black pepper to taste

Preparation:

In a saute pan, saute the chopped onion for the meat mixture in 1 tbsp of butter. In a large bowl, mix all the meat ingredients thoroughly. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Add a drop or two of lemon juice to the grated potatoes so they don't turn brown. Place them in a fine-mesh cheesecloth or cotton dish towel and twist over a large bowl to get rid of the excess water. Pour off the water, reserving the potato starch at the bottom of the bowl.
Unwrap the cheesecloth and place potatoes in bowl with the potato starch you reserved from the bottom of the bowl. Add the riced (yes, rice the potatoes. The potato ricer is amazing.) boiled potatoes and salt. Mix well.
Put a large stockpot of water on to boil. To form the Cepelinais, take about 1 cup of dumpling mixture and pat it flat in the palm of the hand. Place 1/4 cup or more of meat mixture in the center and, using slightly dampened hands, fold the potato mixture around the meat into a football shape, sealing well. Continue until both mixtures are gone.
Carefully lower dumplings into salted, boiling water to which 1 tablespoon of cornstarch has been added (to prevent dumplings from falling apart). Make sure water returns to the boil and continue boiling for 25 minutes. Remove dumplings, drain briefly on a clean dish towel and place on a heated platter.
While dumplings are boiling, make the gravy. Fry the bacon and onion until tender. Drain and combine with sour cream and black pepper. Thin with 1-2 tablespoons milk if necessary. Drench dumplings with gravy or pass it in a gravy boat at the table.

Since the dumplings came apart it was highly disappointing and I'm sure the overall effect was lost. They turned out more like meat dumplings with a starchy coating. (They were too pathetic to photograph).

Heidi's rating: 6 out of 10. [However, the bacon sauce was a 9 out of 10 :-)]
Tony's rating: 6.5 out of 10.
Baby M wasn't impressed.

Pakistan

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sat, 04 May 2013 05:02:00 +0000

Middle-Eastern food makes me happy. The play on savory/sweet makes my tongue tingle and belly smile. Tonight is Pakistan.

I know. We've been gone for a while. Okay. A very very long while. However, we had a kid and were learning how to live with another human being in the house. We think we have the hang of it now so we decided to re-start the recipe project. Tony relinquished the job of picking a country from the jar in favor of baby M. She picked Pakistan and I decided to make Chicken Chapli Kababs. It was delicious. The Middle-Eastern version of turkey burgers, but better. And, with chicken.

I loosely followed the recipe here. Baby M, Tony and I loved it.

Heidi's Rating: 7 out of 10. Delicious.
Tony's Rating: 7 out of 10. Yum.

San Marino

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:08:00 +0000

Tonight's country is San Marino which, if you are like me and have no idea what/where it's located, is an independent republic smack in the middle of Italy. Apparently it has enjoyed independence since 1291 though my American educated self has never heard of it before. It doesn't have an army and I'm not entirely sure you would know you crossed any borders if you traveled through on a road trip in Tuscany.

I was seriously tempted to make nidi di rondine (a rolled pasta/prosciutto dish smothered in bechamel) but, prosciutto isn't really included in my pregnancy diet so I opted instead for pasta e cece (pasta and chickpeas).

Botswana

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:28:00 +0000

Botswana is the African country sandwiched between Nambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The national dish is "Seswaa" which is essentially pounded meat. I served it with Sadza and wasn't terribly enthused with the result.

Seewaa

Ingredients:
1 lb chuck roast or similar meat
1 large onion diced
Pepper to season
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Rinse the beef and pat it dry. Place it in a large pot with the onion and pepper and cover with water.
Simmer for 2.5 hours.
Pound the meat till it shreds and softens.

Heidi's Rating: 4 out of 10. This is really just shredded meat with little flavor.
Tony's Rating: 3 out of 10.

Morocco

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 15:57:00 +0000

Of all the African countries, I have been looking forward to Morocco the most. The sweet/tangy/spicy flavor combination is totally tantalizing. I made lamb tangine and loved it so much I made this recipe twice. Once for the official blog and the second time for a Father's Day dinner for my french in-laws. Served with simple couscous and fresh fruit it is an amazing meal.

Heidi's Rating: 9 out of 10. Truly a fabulous dish.
Tony's Rating: 8 out of 10. "I think I need to reserve the 9 and 10 marks since this is only like the 20th country and who knows what the other 130 countries will taste like."

Kazakhstan

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:46:00 +0000

The traditional dishes I could find for Kazakhstan almost always call for horse meat. I didn't have any. I also didn't know where I could find any. So, instead I opted for another dish quite popular in Central Asia--the dumpling. Tonight was manty with mint sauce.

Although my recipe source was not completely authentic, I checked it back with multiple other manty (manti) sources and they were all similar. The recipe I followed was from Food.com. However, I cut the salt quantity in half and used fresh mint.

Of all the dishes I've made so far, this one by far brings the biggest smile to my face. Although time consuming, it was a completely satisfying experience. Making dough, preparing filling and then steaming the final product was all very creative and somewhat therapeutic.

I had some leftover dough in the freezer from Russian night and thus made some Kazakh Pierogis. They were amazing.

Additionally, that mint sauce is so simple and versatile. I foresee many opportunities to revisit that recipe.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Malaysia

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:45:00 +0000

Coconut Chicken Curry? Yes, please.

I've never been good at curries. Mine are always too dry or too mushy. I have not mastered the art of the curry sauce until tonight. This dish is simple and amazing. I followed the recipe from MalaysiaFood.net which can be found here. The recipe calls for Malaysian meat curry powder which I didn't have, could not find and could not order. Therefore, I made my own concoction using:

10 whole cloves

10 whole black

peppercorns

4 whole cardamom pods

1 cinnamon stick (about

2-inches/5 cm)

4 whole dried red chilies

4 tbsp coriander seeds

2 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp turmeric

Essentially, you toast all ingredient then grind them to a powder.

Rating: Easy 8.5 out of 10.
The flavors were lovely and the consistency of the sauce was delightful. The only drawback was the small bits of spices that didn't thoroughly grind in the mortar. Next time I will invest in a coffee grinder and dedicate it to spices.

Slovakia

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 04:25:00 +0000

I was so tempted to make the traditional Bryndzove Halusky but since we can't get the bryndza cheese here in the southern California desert --and I'm a huge cheese head and would find it sacrilegious to make a cheese dish improperly--I'm opting for a couple of simple dishes. Lentil Privarok and Uhorkovy Salat are on the menu tonight.