After having cooked Congolese food, I am confident about Burundi cuisine. Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world with 80% of the population living in poverty. This is partly due to the fact that it is land locked on all sides. From my research, a typical Burundian meal consists of sweet potatoes, corn, and peas. Meat is so expensive that most Burundian's have it a couple times a month. So, I'm guessing I will be cooking very few meat dishes for this next challenge. One of the main things they also eat is Ugali, which is cassava flour in water---another name for FuFu. Oh no! I'm not too excited about this. Red kidney beans seem to also be a very popular dish cooked in different ways.
As I'm reading more about the poverty rate and HIV/AIDS rates in the country, I can't help to feel so blessed to be where I am. In an hour, my mom is making me fried shrimp and steak, as we will be gorging on large amounts of meat dishes. Then I'm thinking, most of the Burundi population is having that in their lifetime. If that. It makes me think what makes me so special compared to them? I'm not. But I'm wondering if they even know if they are living in a worse situation than most people in the world or do they think it is just normal. Hmmm....it depresses me to read about all this. I'm going to sign off to ponder..... See you all soon in Burundi!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Syria: we see eye to eye!
When Greg picked Syria last week, I was excited and a bit relieved. Relieved…I say….because, Greg’s sister, Michelle is engaged to a Syrian guy, George. Ever since they have been together, she had been raving about Syrian food. George had told us that he loved Kibbeh and even posted on Facebook a tantalizing picture of fried Kibbeh on his site. Honestly, without hesitation I was already sold on making that dish. Next up, Michelle had been busily asking George’s parents about recipes for me. So, I definitely have to thank Michelle, George, Shoushan and Adam for these awesome recipes and I hope I served the country justice. (Remember, I am an Asian guy with no cooking experience and I am not good with directions either, so PLEASE cut me some slack). Secondly, on my search for Syrian cuisine, I found this one woman, who to me is the Rachel Ray of Syrian and Mediterranean cuisine….Dede Masha'Allah. She not only provided me with recipes, but she also taught me how to do it. You can find her on www.dedemed.com. I highly recommend this site as she seriously made it simple and gave you good tips on how to make these dishes. All the recipes were taken from Dede’s site and I used ideas from Shoushan to help me guide through Syrian cuisine.
Syria is a small country that borders the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. The country is mostly Sunni Muslim with 90% being ethnically Arabic. In 1975, archeologists excavated the city of Ebla in northern Syria, and it is thought to be one of the most ancient civilizations on earth. It is though that Ebla to be the oldest Semitic language. Crazy huh? Did you also know that the new president of Syria is actually an eye doctor? Cool huh? I kept thinking of Syria being all desert and dry, but the Euphrates river courses through the east, making it a bit lush in some areas. That is why there are such vibrant vegetables to start off my first dish: Tabbouleh.
Tabbouleh: a fresh salad that contains burgul (a type of wheat that expands with water). I decided to make a salad once I found out that Kibbeh was going to be all meat. My recipe came from Dede and you can find it directly from: http://www.dedemed.com/index.php/Vegetarian-Recipes/Tabouli.html.
Ingredients:
2 Tomatoes or 2 Cups Diced
1 Cup chopped green onion
4 Cup chopped parsley flat leaf
1 Cup yellow onion chopped
3 leaves fresh mint
1/4 Cup dry or 1/2 cup soaked burgle
1 tsp dry mint
1 tsp salt
1/2 Cup lemon juice
1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Directions:
Rinse and finely chop parsley and fresh mint leaves and place in a bowl. Add chopped tomato, green onion, yellow onion, and soaked burgle and combine with parsley. In a separate small bowl combine salt, dry mint, lemon juice, olive oil and cayenne pepper then add to parsley mixture and let sit for 5 minutes before serving to allow burgle to absorb some of the dressing.
One tip: go to the Chinese supermarket to get your produce. I was able to get large amounts of Parsley and veggies for such a cheap price. Remember to soak the Burgul in a lot of water for a couple minutes until it expands and gets soft. Then drain all the water out and you will be fine. In terms of the olive oil, I put all of it in the salad, but I found it quite overwhelming. I would just slow mix the salad and add oil to the desired amount next time. In the end, the salad was really easy to make and it was delicious. The lemon juice and mint made it so fresh and light even with the large amounts of olive oil. I will surely be making this all the time!
Kibbeh (2 ways): Two ways mean that I will fry some of it and another way I will bake it like a casserole. By frying it into balls, it will be my appetizer. In a casserole style, the Kibbeh will be my main dish. The baked dish is almost like meatloaf with middle eastern/ Mediterranean spices. Instead of using bread crumbs, I’m using Burgul. The fried Kibbeh is very much like a Samosa, but theouter casing is made out of Burgul and meat. It basically is a meat lovers dish. My recipe came from Dede and you can find it directly from: http://www.dedemed.com/index.php/Other-Recipes/Kibbeh-Recipe.html.
Ingredients:
2 lbs superfine ground beef or lamb sirloin
1 cup dry burgul No. 1
1 cup chopped onion
2 basil leaves
3 tbs Kibbeh seasoning
2 tsp salt
Stuffing:
1 lb ground beef or lamb
1 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced almonds or pine nuts
1 tsp 7 spices
1 tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil
Kibbeh Seasoning:
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corriander
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp dried sage
Directions
For the Kibbeh dough, rinse the burgul in water and pour off the water but leave some excess for the burgul to soak up, let it sit for about 2 hours. In a food processor combine the burgul, meat then remove. Next in the food processor blend the onion, and basil, place in the bowl with the burgul and meat. Add the kibbeh seasoning and salt and kneed the ingredients until well combined for about 3 minutes.
For the stuffing, in a pan on medium heat add 2 tablespoons of oil then add the meat and stir until mostly cooked, then add the onions, salt nuts and seasoning and cook until lightly browned and well combined.
Next you can shape the kibbeh into balls or footballs and stuff them with the stuffing and fry them in vegetable oil or make kibbeh in a baking pan and cook in the oven at 350-400 degrees for about 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve kibbeh with salad, yogurt or tzatziki yogurt and cucumber sauce. Check out Dede's video for better instructions on how to shape and present the kibbeh.
Making Kibbeh was a challenge. Again, I must thank Dede for making a video and showing the rest of the inexperienced world how to prepare this dish. The first suggestion is to start with preparing the stuffing and kibbeh seasoning. When soaking the burgul, I did it for about 1.5 hours and it turned out fine. Like what Dede said, have a bowl of water handy as it does get quite sticky to handle. I must say, when I was blending the meat, it was quite disgusting to the smell. I was worried. It was not until you added the seasoning did I start to gain more confidence. The fried balls was like making dumplings and it was actually fun to make. The casserole was quite simple too. Watch Dede do it! Remember to buy LEAN meat or it will be quite greasy when it bakes. I had to drain out a lot of oil as I bought the 80/20 ground beef. The Kibbeh was tons of work, but it was completely worth it. Out of all the cuisines I have made, this by far is the most labor intensive. But I can see why George loves it. It was a ball of meat stuffed with more meat and almonds. I now want to be Syrian because of this.
Hummus: I hope everybody knows what this is. I decided to prepare this dish as Greg really wanted to have it. Plus, I’ve never made homemade hummus before and it was real easy. My recipe came from Dede and you can find it directly from: http://www.dedemed.com/index.php/Vegetarian-Recipes/Hummus.html.
Ingredients:
1/4 Cup Yogurt
1 Can Garbanzo Beans "Chick Peas"
1/2 Cup Tahini (Sesame Seed Paste)
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
2-3 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 Tsp of Salt
1/4 Tsp citric acid "if you need more lemon taste"
2 Tbs water "if to thick"
3-4 Fresh Mint Leaves "for taste"
2 Tbs of Fresh Parsley "for garnish"
1 Tsp of Cayenne Pepper or Paprika "for garnish"
Mix first 9 ingredients and blend until smooth and to desired thickness. Garnish with parsley, cayenne pepper and olive oil.
Easiest dish ever to make and it was yummy! I would add more garlic next time and add less lemon juice as it was a bit sour to my taste.
Even with all the work to prepare this meal, it was definitely a success. It actually tasted even better the next day. I made a sandwich with the Kibbeh, Tabbouleh and yogurt in a pita bread and it was so yummy the next day for lunch. So, my goal now is to just visit Little Rock and get George's parents to cook for us the real thing.
My friend Alain joined us at this last dinner and he really enjoyed it. We had him choose the next cuisine and guess where we are going to now.......
We are going back to AFRICA!...
As the Syrians will say in their country:
أ.ن. وجبة شهية.
Syria is a small country that borders the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. The country is mostly Sunni Muslim with 90% being ethnically Arabic. In 1975, archeologists excavated the city of Ebla in northern Syria, and it is thought to be one of the most ancient civilizations on earth. It is though that Ebla to be the oldest Semitic language. Crazy huh? Did you also know that the new president of Syria is actually an eye doctor? Cool huh? I kept thinking of Syria being all desert and dry, but the Euphrates river courses through the east, making it a bit lush in some areas. That is why there are such vibrant vegetables to start off my first dish: Tabbouleh.
Tabbouleh: a fresh salad that contains burgul (a type of wheat that expands with water). I decided to make a salad once I found out that Kibbeh was going to be all meat. My recipe came from Dede and you can find it directly from: http://www.dedemed.com/index.php/Vegetarian-Recipes/Tabouli.html.
Ingredients:
2 Tomatoes or 2 Cups Diced
1 Cup chopped green onion
4 Cup chopped parsley flat leaf
1 Cup yellow onion chopped
3 leaves fresh mint
1/4 Cup dry or 1/2 cup soaked burgle
1 tsp dry mint
1 tsp salt
1/2 Cup lemon juice
1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Directions:
Rinse and finely chop parsley and fresh mint leaves and place in a bowl. Add chopped tomato, green onion, yellow onion, and soaked burgle and combine with parsley. In a separate small bowl combine salt, dry mint, lemon juice, olive oil and cayenne pepper then add to parsley mixture and let sit for 5 minutes before serving to allow burgle to absorb some of the dressing.
One tip: go to the Chinese supermarket to get your produce. I was able to get large amounts of Parsley and veggies for such a cheap price. Remember to soak the Burgul in a lot of water for a couple minutes until it expands and gets soft. Then drain all the water out and you will be fine. In terms of the olive oil, I put all of it in the salad, but I found it quite overwhelming. I would just slow mix the salad and add oil to the desired amount next time. In the end, the salad was really easy to make and it was delicious. The lemon juice and mint made it so fresh and light even with the large amounts of olive oil. I will surely be making this all the time!
Kibbeh (2 ways): Two ways mean that I will fry some of it and another way I will bake it like a casserole. By frying it into balls, it will be my appetizer. In a casserole style, the Kibbeh will be my main dish. The baked dish is almost like meatloaf with middle eastern/ Mediterranean spices. Instead of using bread crumbs, I’m using Burgul. The fried Kibbeh is very much like a Samosa, but theouter casing is made out of Burgul and meat. It basically is a meat lovers dish. My recipe came from Dede and you can find it directly from: http://www.dedemed.com/index.php/Other-Recipes/Kibbeh-Recipe.html.
Ingredients:
2 lbs superfine ground beef or lamb sirloin
1 cup dry burgul No. 1
1 cup chopped onion
2 basil leaves
3 tbs Kibbeh seasoning
2 tsp salt
Stuffing:
1 lb ground beef or lamb
1 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced almonds or pine nuts
1 tsp 7 spices
1 tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil
Kibbeh Seasoning:
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corriander
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp dried sage
Directions
For the Kibbeh dough, rinse the burgul in water and pour off the water but leave some excess for the burgul to soak up, let it sit for about 2 hours. In a food processor combine the burgul, meat then remove. Next in the food processor blend the onion, and basil, place in the bowl with the burgul and meat. Add the kibbeh seasoning and salt and kneed the ingredients until well combined for about 3 minutes.
For the stuffing, in a pan on medium heat add 2 tablespoons of oil then add the meat and stir until mostly cooked, then add the onions, salt nuts and seasoning and cook until lightly browned and well combined.
Next you can shape the kibbeh into balls or footballs and stuff them with the stuffing and fry them in vegetable oil or make kibbeh in a baking pan and cook in the oven at 350-400 degrees for about 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve kibbeh with salad, yogurt or tzatziki yogurt and cucumber sauce. Check out Dede's video for better instructions on how to shape and present the kibbeh.
Making Kibbeh was a challenge. Again, I must thank Dede for making a video and showing the rest of the inexperienced world how to prepare this dish. The first suggestion is to start with preparing the stuffing and kibbeh seasoning. When soaking the burgul, I did it for about 1.5 hours and it turned out fine. Like what Dede said, have a bowl of water handy as it does get quite sticky to handle. I must say, when I was blending the meat, it was quite disgusting to the smell. I was worried. It was not until you added the seasoning did I start to gain more confidence. The fried balls was like making dumplings and it was actually fun to make. The casserole was quite simple too. Watch Dede do it! Remember to buy LEAN meat or it will be quite greasy when it bakes. I had to drain out a lot of oil as I bought the 80/20 ground beef. The Kibbeh was tons of work, but it was completely worth it. Out of all the cuisines I have made, this by far is the most labor intensive. But I can see why George loves it. It was a ball of meat stuffed with more meat and almonds. I now want to be Syrian because of this.
Hummus: I hope everybody knows what this is. I decided to prepare this dish as Greg really wanted to have it. Plus, I’ve never made homemade hummus before and it was real easy. My recipe came from Dede and you can find it directly from: http://www.dedemed.com/index.php/Vegetarian-Recipes/Hummus.html.
Ingredients:
1/4 Cup Yogurt
1 Can Garbanzo Beans "Chick Peas"
1/2 Cup Tahini (Sesame Seed Paste)
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
2-3 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 Tsp of Salt
1/4 Tsp citric acid "if you need more lemon taste"
2 Tbs water "if to thick"
3-4 Fresh Mint Leaves "for taste"
2 Tbs of Fresh Parsley "for garnish"
1 Tsp of Cayenne Pepper or Paprika "for garnish"
Mix first 9 ingredients and blend until smooth and to desired thickness. Garnish with parsley, cayenne pepper and olive oil.
Easiest dish ever to make and it was yummy! I would add more garlic next time and add less lemon juice as it was a bit sour to my taste.
Even with all the work to prepare this meal, it was definitely a success. It actually tasted even better the next day. I made a sandwich with the Kibbeh, Tabbouleh and yogurt in a pita bread and it was so yummy the next day for lunch. So, my goal now is to just visit Little Rock and get George's parents to cook for us the real thing.
My friend Alain joined us at this last dinner and he really enjoyed it. We had him choose the next cuisine and guess where we are going to now.......
We are going back to AFRICA!...
As the Syrians will say in their country:
أ.ن. وجبة شهية.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Saint Lucia-- I'm going Bananas!
With a population of 166,312, Saint Lucia is smaller than SF Bay Area. The country is known for its beautiful beaches and hence their economy thrives on tourism. Just remember if you are driving in the country, they drive on the left side of the street--- they used to be part of Great Britain. St. Lucia is also known as a large exporter of bananas and so I was not surprised that a lot of their dishes contained bananas---and it was not in the dessert form either!
So the three dishes I decided to try were:
1. Callaloo Soup: This soup is known as their national dish. The combination of the tropical island's vegetation with the seafood sounded a bit interesting, but I was definitely curious to try it out. I based my recipe on http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/262/Callaloo22433.shtml, so thank you to whomever made this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 pound callaloo leaves (substitutes: spinach, Chinese Spinach, or Swiss Chard)
6 cups chicken stock
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 scallions, chopped, using green and white parts
1/4 teaspoon thyme
4 ounces lean salt pork cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 pound fresh, canned, or frozen crab meat
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 pound young okra,
OR
10 ounces package frozen okra, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Pickapeppa hot pepper sauce, Tabasco, or any other similar sauce, to taste
Directions:
Wash the greens and coarsely chop. Put the greens into a large heavy saucepan with the chicken stock, onion, garlic, scallions, thyme, and salt pork. Cover and cook at a gentle simmer until the pork is tender. Add the crab meat, coconut milk, and okras and cook until the okra is done, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce.
Firstly, salted pork was essentially the same as bacon. Once I found that out, I knew this soup was going to be a hit at my house. I sauteed the bacon with the onions and garlic first before adding the chicken stock to bring out the flavors, which was not stated in the directions. Man, did it smell so good! It only took me about 10 minutes to get it to a boil and then basically, I added the rest of the ingredients and let it sit. Instead of using hot pepper sauce, I used two finely chopped serrano chilis and it gave it just enough kick. I couldn't find fresh okra that day at the Chinese supermarket so I used frozen chopped ones which were great. Usually, if you go on weekends they said they would have the fresh ones. It took about 25 minutes to prepare and cook. So easy! Callaloo is absolutely one of my favorite soups I have ever had. With the aroma of the bacon and onions, the taste of tropical coconut and crab meat flavors, and the spicy kick in the end from the chilis; I will recommend everybody to try this dish. Next time I'm going to add shrimps and clams to it. This is a must have if you are ever at my house or in Saint Lucia!
2. Saint Lucia Banana Chicken: I found this recipe online on www.cooks.com
(http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1839,157174-249192,00.html). I decided to choose this just because I have never incorporated bananas into a main course before and so I really wanted to try it and see how it tasted. Greg isn't a huge sweet and savory kind of guy and so I was crossing my fingers on this!
Ingredients:
6 chicken cutlets
6 thin slices lean ham
1 ripe banana
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 egg
1/4 tsp. coconut flavoring
6 tbsp. grated coconut
Directions:
Flatten chicken cutlets and arrange a ham slice on top of each. Peel banana and cut into thirds crosswise and cut each third in half lengthwise, then place one piece on top of each ham slice. Roll each cutlet eggroll-style, enclosing banana and ham in the middle. Place rolled cutlets in a single layer, not touching, in freezer for 15 minutes. When ready to cook coat each chilled roll lightly with flour then with lightly beaten egg flavored with coconut flavoring. Roll in grated coconut. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray, arrange chicken rolls in a single layer and bake in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.
I actually used breast chicken, cut it very thin and flattened it with my knife to tenderize the meat. It is very important to freeze the chicken for 20 minutes after getting it all wrapped because it prevents it from falling apart, especially when you dip it in the egg and flour.
Coconut shavings were a difficult thing to find. Even Mi Rancho Supermarket in Menlo Park or the chinese supermarkets didn't have it. Greg had to find it for me in Whole Foods. Most stores will have sweetened coconut shavings, but you need to use the unsweetened ones. This dish was almost like a Chicken Cordon Bleu with bananas as the center and not the cheese. Remember that Saint Lucia was first found by the French then the English took over it later, so the dish probably originated from that. The banana in this dish was not overpowering, but it also didn't do too much to it. I think I prefer the cheese next time. It was still a really tasty dish and when you cut it in half, it looks so professionally made. The one thing I will add to this dish is to salt and pepper the chicken before wrapping it.
3. Saint Lucia Plantains: Honestly, I have never actually made plantains with peanut butter and onions, so I wasn't so sure about this dish. I did get my recipes from Sylvia Court at
http://www.pavilion.co.uk/dwakefield/curriculum/ks2/recipes.htm. She didn't really go to detailed into the directions, so I was kind of left in the dark with how to really prepare this.
INGREDIENTS:
* 2 large green plantains
* 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
* 1 egg
* salt
* 2 tablespoons peanut butter
* 1 onion and stick of celery (minced)
* 1/2 cup milk
METHOD / DIRECTIONS:
Cook plantains and crush whilst hot. Add other ingredients and blend well.
Place in dish and bake in moderate oven for 25 minutes.
At first, I didn't oil my pan and the bananas started to burn quickly. I suggest to oil the pan before anything. I used a cast iron skillet because it would make it easier to just put it into the oven to bake. I mixed the breadcrumbs, egg, salt, peanut butter, milk and onions together in a separate bowl first, which got kind of dry. The directions didn't tell me when to put it in, so after the bananas were done, i just poured it in. Remember to smoosh the bananas as it will get the flavors into it. It was a dry mess at first, so I added more milk (maybe a half cup) to the dish and was able to get a better mixture. After baking it for the 25 minutes, it turned out quite good. It wasn't an eye candy dish, but it tasted real good to me. I wonder how other countries make their plantains?
I was very impressed with Saint Lucia food. There was the African and French influence with the combination of tropical and seafood ingredients that made it so special. I know a lot of the other countries near this Island also makes the Callaloo soup, so I can't wait to make it again. After dinner, I had Greg pick the next country and it was:
I am totally looking forward to Syria. Greg's sister is marrying a Syrian guy and so I have already e-mailed her for recipes. Looking forward to talking about my next adventure.
As the Saint Lucian's would say:
ENJOY YOUR MEAL!
So the three dishes I decided to try were:
1. Callaloo Soup: This soup is known as their national dish. The combination of the tropical island's vegetation with the seafood sounded a bit interesting, but I was definitely curious to try it out. I based my recipe on http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/262/Callaloo22433.shtml, so thank you to whomever made this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 pound callaloo leaves (substitutes: spinach, Chinese Spinach, or Swiss Chard)
6 cups chicken stock
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 scallions, chopped, using green and white parts
1/4 teaspoon thyme
4 ounces lean salt pork cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 pound fresh, canned, or frozen crab meat
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 pound young okra,
OR
10 ounces package frozen okra, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Pickapeppa hot pepper sauce, Tabasco, or any other similar sauce, to taste
Directions:
Wash the greens and coarsely chop. Put the greens into a large heavy saucepan with the chicken stock, onion, garlic, scallions, thyme, and salt pork. Cover and cook at a gentle simmer until the pork is tender. Add the crab meat, coconut milk, and okras and cook until the okra is done, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce.
Firstly, salted pork was essentially the same as bacon. Once I found that out, I knew this soup was going to be a hit at my house. I sauteed the bacon with the onions and garlic first before adding the chicken stock to bring out the flavors, which was not stated in the directions. Man, did it smell so good! It only took me about 10 minutes to get it to a boil and then basically, I added the rest of the ingredients and let it sit. Instead of using hot pepper sauce, I used two finely chopped serrano chilis and it gave it just enough kick. I couldn't find fresh okra that day at the Chinese supermarket so I used frozen chopped ones which were great. Usually, if you go on weekends they said they would have the fresh ones. It took about 25 minutes to prepare and cook. So easy! Callaloo is absolutely one of my favorite soups I have ever had. With the aroma of the bacon and onions, the taste of tropical coconut and crab meat flavors, and the spicy kick in the end from the chilis; I will recommend everybody to try this dish. Next time I'm going to add shrimps and clams to it. This is a must have if you are ever at my house or in Saint Lucia!
2. Saint Lucia Banana Chicken: I found this recipe online on www.cooks.com
(http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1839,157174-249192,00.html). I decided to choose this just because I have never incorporated bananas into a main course before and so I really wanted to try it and see how it tasted. Greg isn't a huge sweet and savory kind of guy and so I was crossing my fingers on this!
Ingredients:
6 chicken cutlets
6 thin slices lean ham
1 ripe banana
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 egg
1/4 tsp. coconut flavoring
6 tbsp. grated coconut
Directions:
Flatten chicken cutlets and arrange a ham slice on top of each. Peel banana and cut into thirds crosswise and cut each third in half lengthwise, then place one piece on top of each ham slice. Roll each cutlet eggroll-style, enclosing banana and ham in the middle. Place rolled cutlets in a single layer, not touching, in freezer for 15 minutes. When ready to cook coat each chilled roll lightly with flour then with lightly beaten egg flavored with coconut flavoring. Roll in grated coconut. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray, arrange chicken rolls in a single layer and bake in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.
I actually used breast chicken, cut it very thin and flattened it with my knife to tenderize the meat. It is very important to freeze the chicken for 20 minutes after getting it all wrapped because it prevents it from falling apart, especially when you dip it in the egg and flour.
Coconut shavings were a difficult thing to find. Even Mi Rancho Supermarket in Menlo Park or the chinese supermarkets didn't have it. Greg had to find it for me in Whole Foods. Most stores will have sweetened coconut shavings, but you need to use the unsweetened ones. This dish was almost like a Chicken Cordon Bleu with bananas as the center and not the cheese. Remember that Saint Lucia was first found by the French then the English took over it later, so the dish probably originated from that. The banana in this dish was not overpowering, but it also didn't do too much to it. I think I prefer the cheese next time. It was still a really tasty dish and when you cut it in half, it looks so professionally made. The one thing I will add to this dish is to salt and pepper the chicken before wrapping it.
3. Saint Lucia Plantains: Honestly, I have never actually made plantains with peanut butter and onions, so I wasn't so sure about this dish. I did get my recipes from Sylvia Court at
http://www.pavilion.co.uk/dwakefield/curriculum/ks2/recipes.htm. She didn't really go to detailed into the directions, so I was kind of left in the dark with how to really prepare this.
INGREDIENTS:
* 2 large green plantains
* 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
* 1 egg
* salt
* 2 tablespoons peanut butter
* 1 onion and stick of celery (minced)
* 1/2 cup milk
METHOD / DIRECTIONS:
Cook plantains and crush whilst hot. Add other ingredients and blend well.
Place in dish and bake in moderate oven for 25 minutes.
At first, I didn't oil my pan and the bananas started to burn quickly. I suggest to oil the pan before anything. I used a cast iron skillet because it would make it easier to just put it into the oven to bake. I mixed the breadcrumbs, egg, salt, peanut butter, milk and onions together in a separate bowl first, which got kind of dry. The directions didn't tell me when to put it in, so after the bananas were done, i just poured it in. Remember to smoosh the bananas as it will get the flavors into it. It was a dry mess at first, so I added more milk (maybe a half cup) to the dish and was able to get a better mixture. After baking it for the 25 minutes, it turned out quite good. It wasn't an eye candy dish, but it tasted real good to me. I wonder how other countries make their plantains?
I was very impressed with Saint Lucia food. There was the African and French influence with the combination of tropical and seafood ingredients that made it so special. I know a lot of the other countries near this Island also makes the Callaloo soup, so I can't wait to make it again. After dinner, I had Greg pick the next country and it was:
I am totally looking forward to Syria. Greg's sister is marrying a Syrian guy and so I have already e-mailed her for recipes. Looking forward to talking about my next adventure.
As the Saint Lucian's would say:
ENJOY YOUR MEAL!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Saint Lucia- Introduction
The last week, I deviated from my international cooking to visit Nebraska, basically the epicenter of good ole' Americana Everywhere you turn, there were only Fords, Chryslers GMs. Everywhere you go, there were only "white" people. Everywhere I went, their radar eyes would zoom in on me. There were rows and rows of cornfields with stinky cow farms and tons of horses roaming around. People were extremely nice and charming. But of course, they had great food. Nebraska steaks were melt in your mouth, tender and juicy. Maple sticks, a must-have maple dipped donut, were to die for (I seriously ate one for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily). Their ribs were fall off the bone delicious. They also had fresh eggs that was so flavorful, especially scrambled with Nebraska rolls (a type of bologne ham)--Thanks Jennifer for that!
Now I'm back and ready to visit Saint Lucia. I'm excited for this little island. St. Lucia seems to have been a colony of France and Britain, with an ethnic make-up of about 82% African. They are a large exporter of bananas, so I can't wait to see what their dishes are like. Tourism seems to be what this island is known for. One little tidbit: They have won two Nobel prizes, making them the country with the most Nobel prizes per capita. Cool huh? I'm thinking because of it's Ethnic make up, I will see the African influence from last week maybe incorporated into the dishes here. I'll find out soon! See you all in a few days!
Now I'm back and ready to visit Saint Lucia. I'm excited for this little island. St. Lucia seems to have been a colony of France and Britain, with an ethnic make-up of about 82% African. They are a large exporter of bananas, so I can't wait to see what their dishes are like. Tourism seems to be what this island is known for. One little tidbit: They have won two Nobel prizes, making them the country with the most Nobel prizes per capita. Cool huh? I'm thinking because of it's Ethnic make up, I will see the African influence from last week maybe incorporated into the dishes here. I'll find out soon! See you all in a few days!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The First Supper
With the festive Congo music in the background last night and some good ole' Maker's, I started preparing my three Congolese dishes. It turned out to be more time consuming than difficult.
1. Mwamba (chicken stew): I got the recipe from (http://www.recipezaar.com/Mwamba-170705) whose screen name was Sackville. The recipe was a bit vague, but embodied all the other recipes I was looking at for Mwamba quite accurately.
Ingredients
1 chicken, cut up, or 1 kg beef or lamb, or 750 g fish fillets, fresh or thawed
Salt to taste
Oil
2 large onions, cut up
2 to 4 chili peppers, mashed, or diced
1/2 to 1 tbsp. dried crushed red pepper
6 or 7 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and mashed
Preparation
Season chicken, meat or fish with salt. In a heavy stewing pan, sauté chicken, meat or fish in the oil with onions until well browned. Add chili peppers, tomatoes and just enough water to cover. Simmer until tender and thoroughly cooked. Chicken mwamba is usually served with boiled rice. Fish, lamb or beef mwamba is usually accompanied by fried plantain.
I will suggest that you saute the chicken on a separate pan first to brown (especially if you are using drumsticks like me) because the onion browns way too fast and also you kind of get a great color on the chicken. I also used 1 1/2 Serrano chilies peppers which are really really spicy so beware. The cook time was about two hours. Remember to boil the chicken then simmer it. Don't boil it for two hours or you might end of having meatless bones. It was a simple dish, but the aroma in my kitchen that night gave it a comfy homey feeling like one of those "mom" dishes on a cold winter night. The dish's simple flavors from the tomatoes and onions infused into the succulent meat with the slight tinge of heat from the chilies was purely delicious. I will without doubt continue to make this dish.
2. FuFu: This recipe was found in the Celtnet recipes (http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-fufu).
Ingredients
400g fermented cassava flour (or cassava flour)
600ml water
Preparation:
Method: In a large stock pot add the cassava flour and mix the water with this to form a smooth paste. Heat gently, stirring continually (stir from the edges of the pot towards the centre) until the paste thickens and you can begin to form it into a ball. The consistency and colour changes from a white liquid to a yellow glutinous paste. Before the fufu is ready the entire mixture should be yellow. If you have a ball and some bits are still white, add a little more water and continue to cook until it's all done. The final consistency should be that of a well-kneaded bread dough.
Follow the prep for this above and it was very easy to make. Here I'll even calculate it in cups for you to make it even easier: 400 grams is about 1.75 cups and 600 ml is about 2.5 cups. Just remember not to put the pan on high heat or it probably would burn and stick to your pan. Fufu has this sticky doughy consistency that tasted just like flour and water. I did what they did in the Congo where they made a small ball out of it and then indent it with a finger to scoop food with it and it worked well. Like Andrew Zimmerman when he went to Africa and tasted this, it was definitely an aquired taste. Greg enjoyed it with the Mwamba, but honestly, I was only able to have it twice and I was done with it.
3. Saka Saka: Thanks to the guidance of A. Soleil Banguid in the Bay Area, I don't think I would have ever been able to make this dish. Please refer to (http://www.ivu.org/recipes/african/saka.html) for more information.
Ingredients:
3 packages of frozen cassava leave
1 package of frozen spinach (or fresh)
2 green sweet pepper(cleaned and finely chopped)
half habanero pepper ,chopped
1 small package of green onions
1 big red onion roughly chopped
1 big red onion cut in round 6 big cloves of garlic ,mashed
salt,black pepper to taste
1 and half of palm oil half cup of peanut butter
1 liter of water
Preparations:
Put all the ingredients together in the pan except: peanut butter, palm oil, onion cut in round. The water shoud cover the veggie. Let it boil till the cassava leaves are tender when you taste, if not soft add more water. The secret is to have them soft before the final step (oil and peanut butter). Once the veggies are soft, you should have at least 1 cup of water left, if not add so and set the pan aside. In a small container melt the peanut butter with some oil and pour over the veggies, mix them all together. Then add some saute onions and then pour onto the the veggies and return the pan to the fire. Mix everything together and let it simmer for 15 min and ajust the spices. Serve with cassava or foufou or rice, bread or boilled yuca.
Looking at the chopped cassava leaves, it resembled spinach at first, so when Soleil says "be patient" and it will take 2-4 hours to cook, I was worried this dish was going to be way over cooked and mooshy. To my surprise, cassava leaves are dense fiberous-like greens that definitely required a lot of time to cook down. It was about two hours before Stacey, our guest, was to arrive that I began cooking this dish. I really should've given myself way more time. Like two hours more. So, in order for me to cook this dish faster, I basically boiled it with the lid off for two hours and cooked it down. Remember if you are to do this to watch over this pot as the water boils down really quick and the dish can get very dry. Just add water if needed. Saka Saka by itself has a grassy kale-like flavor with the end consistency of collard greens. With the peanut butter, it really softened that grassy taste and it also gave it more of a creamy texture. (Or it would've just been like we were eating cooked grass or leaves from a tree) Greg loved it and had seconds, Stacey thought it was good, and I will give it another chance.
Here is what it looked like after we plated it:
The basic idea of Congolese comfort food was no different than what you and I eat-- a basic meat dish, a vegetable dish and a carbohydrate. They used the accessible ingredients around them combined with the importation of spices from being colonized to create these great simple dishes. I was thoroughly surprised today. I'm even going to continue making the Mwamba but maybe adding my own twist to it. Woohoo! I conquered my first official country and many more to go. As our guest, I had the lovely Stacey choose the fate of my next trip:
While Congo's official language is French, it is befitting to say:
1. Mwamba (chicken stew): I got the recipe from (http://www.recipezaar.com/Mwamba-170705) whose screen name was Sackville. The recipe was a bit vague, but embodied all the other recipes I was looking at for Mwamba quite accurately.
Ingredients
1 chicken, cut up, or 1 kg beef or lamb, or 750 g fish fillets, fresh or thawed
Salt to taste
Oil
2 large onions, cut up
2 to 4 chili peppers, mashed, or diced
1/2 to 1 tbsp. dried crushed red pepper
6 or 7 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and mashed
Preparation
Season chicken, meat or fish with salt. In a heavy stewing pan, sauté chicken, meat or fish in the oil with onions until well browned. Add chili peppers, tomatoes and just enough water to cover. Simmer until tender and thoroughly cooked. Chicken mwamba is usually served with boiled rice. Fish, lamb or beef mwamba is usually accompanied by fried plantain.
I will suggest that you saute the chicken on a separate pan first to brown (especially if you are using drumsticks like me) because the onion browns way too fast and also you kind of get a great color on the chicken. I also used 1 1/2 Serrano chilies peppers which are really really spicy so beware. The cook time was about two hours. Remember to boil the chicken then simmer it. Don't boil it for two hours or you might end of having meatless bones. It was a simple dish, but the aroma in my kitchen that night gave it a comfy homey feeling like one of those "mom" dishes on a cold winter night. The dish's simple flavors from the tomatoes and onions infused into the succulent meat with the slight tinge of heat from the chilies was purely delicious. I will without doubt continue to make this dish.
2. FuFu: This recipe was found in the Celtnet recipes (http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-fufu).
Ingredients
400g fermented cassava flour (or cassava flour)
600ml water
Preparation:
Method: In a large stock pot add the cassava flour and mix the water with this to form a smooth paste. Heat gently, stirring continually (stir from the edges of the pot towards the centre) until the paste thickens and you can begin to form it into a ball. The consistency and colour changes from a white liquid to a yellow glutinous paste. Before the fufu is ready the entire mixture should be yellow. If you have a ball and some bits are still white, add a little more water and continue to cook until it's all done. The final consistency should be that of a well-kneaded bread dough.
Follow the prep for this above and it was very easy to make. Here I'll even calculate it in cups for you to make it even easier: 400 grams is about 1.75 cups and 600 ml is about 2.5 cups. Just remember not to put the pan on high heat or it probably would burn and stick to your pan. Fufu has this sticky doughy consistency that tasted just like flour and water. I did what they did in the Congo where they made a small ball out of it and then indent it with a finger to scoop food with it and it worked well. Like Andrew Zimmerman when he went to Africa and tasted this, it was definitely an aquired taste. Greg enjoyed it with the Mwamba, but honestly, I was only able to have it twice and I was done with it.
3. Saka Saka: Thanks to the guidance of A. Soleil Banguid in the Bay Area, I don't think I would have ever been able to make this dish. Please refer to (http://www.ivu.org/recipes/african/saka.html) for more information.
Ingredients:
3 packages of frozen cassava leave
1 package of frozen spinach (or fresh)
2 green sweet pepper(cleaned and finely chopped)
half habanero pepper ,chopped
1 small package of green onions
1 big red onion roughly chopped
1 big red onion cut in round 6 big cloves of garlic ,mashed
salt,black pepper to taste
1 and half of palm oil half cup of peanut butter
1 liter of water
Preparations:
Put all the ingredients together in the pan except: peanut butter, palm oil, onion cut in round. The water shoud cover the veggie. Let it boil till the cassava leaves are tender when you taste, if not soft add more water. The secret is to have them soft before the final step (oil and peanut butter). Once the veggies are soft, you should have at least 1 cup of water left, if not add so and set the pan aside. In a small container melt the peanut butter with some oil and pour over the veggies, mix them all together. Then add some saute onions and then pour onto the the veggies and return the pan to the fire. Mix everything together and let it simmer for 15 min and ajust the spices. Serve with cassava or foufou or rice, bread or boilled yuca.
Looking at the chopped cassava leaves, it resembled spinach at first, so when Soleil says "be patient" and it will take 2-4 hours to cook, I was worried this dish was going to be way over cooked and mooshy. To my surprise, cassava leaves are dense fiberous-like greens that definitely required a lot of time to cook down. It was about two hours before Stacey, our guest, was to arrive that I began cooking this dish. I really should've given myself way more time. Like two hours more. So, in order for me to cook this dish faster, I basically boiled it with the lid off for two hours and cooked it down. Remember if you are to do this to watch over this pot as the water boils down really quick and the dish can get very dry. Just add water if needed. Saka Saka by itself has a grassy kale-like flavor with the end consistency of collard greens. With the peanut butter, it really softened that grassy taste and it also gave it more of a creamy texture. (Or it would've just been like we were eating cooked grass or leaves from a tree) Greg loved it and had seconds, Stacey thought it was good, and I will give it another chance.
Here is what it looked like after we plated it:
The basic idea of Congolese comfort food was no different than what you and I eat-- a basic meat dish, a vegetable dish and a carbohydrate. They used the accessible ingredients around them combined with the importation of spices from being colonized to create these great simple dishes. I was thoroughly surprised today. I'm even going to continue making the Mwamba but maybe adding my own twist to it. Woohoo! I conquered my first official country and many more to go. As our guest, I had the lovely Stacey choose the fate of my next trip:
While Congo's official language is French, it is befitting to say:
"Bon Appétit!"
and see you all next time as I travel across the Atlantic Ocean to my next destination.Saturday, October 3, 2009
The calm before the storm.
The last few nights, I've had this recurring nightmare of one of my dishes the Saka Saka. I keep imagining that I will overcook it and the dish would just be a pile of green moosh. I can not get it out of my head.
Rewind to two days ago: I finally decided what I wanted to cook!
1. Mwamba (muamba): this dish is a chicken stew with tomatoes. Sometimes, they use lamb or fish, but I'm going to stick with a chicken. The only difference with their stews is that it has a bit of some heat strewn in it. It sounds simple enough.
2. FuFu (FouFou): A cassava flour ball. This dish is more like rice to the Chinese, Pita to the Greeks, and Nan to the Indians. Its the basic carbohydrate that allows them to dip with their stews and dishes. My boyfriend's (Greg) sister, who has been to the region, says they are like rocks that sit in your stomach...sounds tasty?
3. Saka Saka: It is another name for Cassava leaves, but when cooked as the main ingredient in a dish, it is also has this name. This is the my dreaded dish. I found the recipe from this Iowan Congolese gentleman named A. Soleil Banguid. This dish almost sounds like Palak Panir without the cheese or a creamed spinach without the cream, while substituting the spinach for cassava leaves. The recipe calls for me to simmer it for 4 hrs, but on other sites, it says only for 2 hours. I look at the cassava I have and they look like spinach. When you cook spinach for 2 to 4 hours, doesn't it become moosh? To top it off, Greg's friends are coming over for dinner at 8pm, so I'm hoping I can get it done in time and hope it tastes good. I can't just play it by ear and eat it whenever.
Two days ago, I also went to the African Foods Market (one of three in the bay area) in Campbell to get my main ingredients. As I walked into the store, I was in a different world. I definitely stood out like a sore thumb. I looked so lost that a man actually came up to me and offered to help me. Does that ever happen to out of place shoppers in Chinese supermarkets? Here is the kicker. The guy was from the Congo, of all places. It's a sign! So, of course I told him about my journey and asked if my dishes were common to the region. Luckily it was. Also, of course I asked for some pointers, but he really didn't give me any pointers about cooking besides how to eat fufu. He did say that "fufu will make you stronger" after you eat it. Hope he doesn't mean it will make me mentally stonger as I suffer the consequences of digesting these rock-like mortars. We'll wait and see!
In a couple hours, the show will begin....
Rewind to two days ago: I finally decided what I wanted to cook!
1. Mwamba (muamba): this dish is a chicken stew with tomatoes. Sometimes, they use lamb or fish, but I'm going to stick with a chicken. The only difference with their stews is that it has a bit of some heat strewn in it. It sounds simple enough.
2. FuFu (FouFou): A cassava flour ball. This dish is more like rice to the Chinese, Pita to the Greeks, and Nan to the Indians. Its the basic carbohydrate that allows them to dip with their stews and dishes. My boyfriend's (Greg) sister, who has been to the region, says they are like rocks that sit in your stomach...sounds tasty?
3. Saka Saka: It is another name for Cassava leaves, but when cooked as the main ingredient in a dish, it is also has this name. This is the my dreaded dish. I found the recipe from this Iowan Congolese gentleman named A. Soleil Banguid. This dish almost sounds like Palak Panir without the cheese or a creamed spinach without the cream, while substituting the spinach for cassava leaves. The recipe calls for me to simmer it for 4 hrs, but on other sites, it says only for 2 hours. I look at the cassava I have and they look like spinach. When you cook spinach for 2 to 4 hours, doesn't it become moosh? To top it off, Greg's friends are coming over for dinner at 8pm, so I'm hoping I can get it done in time and hope it tastes good. I can't just play it by ear and eat it whenever.
Two days ago, I also went to the African Foods Market (one of three in the bay area) in Campbell to get my main ingredients. As I walked into the store, I was in a different world. I definitely stood out like a sore thumb. I looked so lost that a man actually came up to me and offered to help me. Does that ever happen to out of place shoppers in Chinese supermarkets? Here is the kicker. The guy was from the Congo, of all places. It's a sign! So, of course I told him about my journey and asked if my dishes were common to the region. Luckily it was. Also, of course I asked for some pointers, but he really didn't give me any pointers about cooking besides how to eat fufu. He did say that "fufu will make you stronger" after you eat it. Hope he doesn't mean it will make me mentally stonger as I suffer the consequences of digesting these rock-like mortars. We'll wait and see!
In a couple hours, the show will begin....
Thursday, October 1, 2009
"The horror! The horror!"
Following the footsteps of Charlie Marlow in the Heart of Darkness (based on Joseph Conrad's visit to the Congo), my psyche has been continually echoing "The Horror! The Horror!" throughout my daily activities. Watching the show "Man vs. Food", looking at my patient's eyes through my ophthalmoscope, eating a red velvet bundt cake; my mind like a broken record player keeps saying "Am I going to be able to pull this off?" "Am I crazy?". (First, I wish I can be Adam and venture in his greasy yumminess. Second, the Optic Nerve does look a little like an egg-- I hope they eat eggs in the Congo. Thirdly, why can't they make bundt cake the official food of the Congo?. ) Okay, I'm officially insane and need to stay on track.
This last week, I have been desperately researching the Congolese culture and history to get a better idea of what I am dealing with. With 66,020,000 people in this country (19th largest in the world), centered in Africa and the Second Congo War killing 5.4 million (deadliest since WWII), I realized I have no idea who they are. I'm glad I'm doing this project. (read up on the Congo at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo). In terms of the variety of foods they eat, it is typically local available fruits, grains and vegetables, milk and meat products, which is expected. One major staple they have is the cassava root (or Yucca), which I have never heard of before. To my surprise, I found out that cassava is also known as Tapioca, which comes in those famous forms of sugary balls added in a milky tea served in those ultra-bubbly type Boba cafes, found usually within a 1 mile radius to a Ranch 99 market. Knowing this, I am feeling much better now about all this. Their food isn't too foreign to me....sigh
Thanks to my better half in partaking on this journey, he has helped look up some Congolese recipes with me and will be my food-test lab rat for the next few years. Hope he doesn't leave me for McDonald's after, but I do promise to have lots of Pepto ready. After using Google's search engine to find recurring recipes of popular dishes, I think I have a good menu for this weekend. With the help of two great sites The Congo Cookbook site and RecipeZaar and an Iowan Congo lady (A. Soleil Banguid), I am ready to begin cooking.
This last week, I have been desperately researching the Congolese culture and history to get a better idea of what I am dealing with. With 66,020,000 people in this country (19th largest in the world), centered in Africa and the Second Congo War killing 5.4 million (deadliest since WWII), I realized I have no idea who they are. I'm glad I'm doing this project. (read up on the Congo at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo). In terms of the variety of foods they eat, it is typically local available fruits, grains and vegetables, milk and meat products, which is expected. One major staple they have is the cassava root (or Yucca), which I have never heard of before. To my surprise, I found out that cassava is also known as Tapioca, which comes in those famous forms of sugary balls added in a milky tea served in those ultra-bubbly type Boba cafes, found usually within a 1 mile radius to a Ranch 99 market. Knowing this, I am feeling much better now about all this. Their food isn't too foreign to me....sigh
Thanks to my better half in partaking on this journey, he has helped look up some Congolese recipes with me and will be my food-test lab rat for the next few years. Hope he doesn't leave me for McDonald's after, but I do promise to have lots of Pepto ready. After using Google's search engine to find recurring recipes of popular dishes, I think I have a good menu for this weekend. With the help of two great sites The Congo Cookbook site and RecipeZaar and an Iowan Congo lady (A. Soleil Banguid), I am ready to begin cooking.
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