Day 11- Austria!

I had the afternoon off today, so decided that this would be as a good a time as any to visit Austria. Austrian cuisine tends to be on the heavy side - lots of meat, dumplings and stews. Perhaps best known is the Wiener Schnitzel, often cooked in beer. Austrian cooking is most often associated with Vienna, birthplace of Sigmund Freud. And, while I could definitely include research on food and eroticism from a psychoanalytic perspective, I'll just stick to cooking for this blog. But I digress...The Austrian's are most famous for their pastry and cakes, notably Apfelstrudel, or apple strudel and the Sachertorte. For this reason, I decided to eschew the heavy sausage in beer thing and make a well know desert.

  Austria is a landlocked country situated in southern Central Europe. Slightly smaller than Maine, it occupies a territory of approximately 32,000 square miles, which includes much of the mountainous territory of the eastern Alps and the Danube region.

 I settled on the Sachertorte, or Austrian Chocolate Cake - This rich, chocolate cake, also known as Sacher's Cake was created by Franz Sacher when he baked it for an Austrian prince. Traditionally this is served with fresh whipped cream. It sounds hard to make, its actually quite easy:

 

Egg whites & Chocolate batter

Frost first layer of cake with chocolate, then glaze entire cake with apricot preserves

And here's the best part- the finished product!!

Our assessment is that the cake is very good but didn't wow us. I like a dark chocolate, super rich, but not sweet cake. This one was made with semi-sweet chocolate, and I prefer bittersweet. Still, the apricot preserves added a nice tartness to the chocolate flavor, and with whipped cream, it'd be even better. Lastly, although the recipe didn't call for straining the apricot preserves, I would have, since the chunks of apricots looked a little lumpy under the chocolate glaze.

Recipe

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate baking squares
• 1/2 cup flour

For the filling

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate baking squares
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup apricot preserves

For the icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (170°C/Gas mark 3) and grease and line with parchment, or waxed paper, two 8-inch round cake pans.
2. Separate the eggs. Put the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. Beat the yolks until smooth.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until creamy. Stir in the egg yolks gradually.
4. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in double boiler over low heat or slowly in microwave (10 seconds, stir, 10 seconds, stir & continue until melted) Stir chocolate into the creamed mixture.
5. Put the egg whites into a large bowl, or mixer fitted with a whip attachment, and whisk until they are firm and form soft peaks when you lift the whisk.
6. Mix the flour into the chocolate mixture. Then one spoonful at a time, fold the egg whites into the cake batter with a metal spoon.
7. Pour the mixture into the cake pans. Smooth the top with the back of your spoon and bake the cakes for 35 minutes.
8. When baked, run a knife around the edge of the cakes to loosen and turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
9. For Filling: Melt the chocolate in a bowl. Mix in powdered sugar and the butter. Use a knife to spread the chocolate paste onto one half of the cake. Then, put the other cake on top.
10. Melt the preserves in a pan over a low heat. Spread it over the top and sides of the cake with a blunt knife.
11. For Icing: Sift the cocoa powder and the powdered sugar into a bowl. Add water, a teaspoon at a time, until it reaches a spreading consistency then spread it all over the cake.

Day 10 - Australia!

Australia - Such an interesting country, with an equally a rich history. I set out to make what I hoped would be traditional Australian food. Most of my research led me to a country whose cuisine is rather similar to ours, and as up-scale as any food served in New York's best restaurants. Within the more rural areas, stews are very popular, but I wanted to try something different. My friend Barbara who lived in Sydney and Melbourne recalls the food being excellent (except for the burgers that were too lean for her liking),  and the country beautiful.

Australia was an English penal colony, so much of their food is heavily influenced by the British. Many of their dishes are made with lamb and mouton, which I wasn't really in the mood for. But it's also located in the Great Barrier Reef, so seafood is plentiful. I decided to make a traditional fish and chips meal, since my family loves fried food, but I rarely make it due to it's obvious health hazards.

My mother used to make homemade fries when we lived in France. She had this really cool fry pot and basket  (I think my sister Anna has it now) -  I remember it as being yellow and capable of producing kick ass French fries  - NOT Freedom Fries. I used the soak, fry for 3 minutes, cool and re-fry method. This yields beautiful, golden, crispy fries that only need salt - although catsup was liberally applied by the dudes in my house.

 Soak the Potatoes

&

Fry them twice

I settled on Haddock for the fish. A big shout out to the Bellingham Whole Food Fish Dept. guy who advised me on the best fish to use and skinned the fish while I waited.  I made a beer batter with Sam Adams Logger (kind of close to Foster's), that was fantastic - It coated the fish perfectly and didn't flake off in the hot oil.

But what would an Aussie meal be without Vegemite? Again, a big thank you and shout out the Bellingham Whole Foods staff who directed me to Marmite, a close cousin, and very popular in Australia. We broke into a moderately good rendition of the Men at Work song, that goes sumfin' like..." She just smiled and made me a Vegemite sandwich..." right there in the isle. I like pretty much everything, and I did not like like Marmite AT ALL. I guess it's an acquired taste, and like anything, if you grow up with it, it grows on you!

For desert, kiwi and mangoes - nothing else needed.

Even though I didn't like the Marmite, I loved cooking Australian food and learning more about this beautiful country.

Recipe for Batter:

• 2 cups self rising flour (or 2 cups flour and 2 1/4 tsp. baking powder)
• 1 1/2 cups beer
• Corn meal for dusting

Dust fish with corn meal

Sift flour and baking powder, whisk in beer till good batter consistency.
Coat fish and fry

Fries

• 4 Russet potatoes, scrubbed  and sliced into French fry length and with
• Soak for 15 min. in cold water
• Fry for 3 minutes at 330 degrees
• Remove and drain on paper towels for 5 mintues
• Return to fry at 360 degrees till golden brown
• Salt and serve immediately

Day 9 - Armenia!

Okay, so I have to admit to taking a few "short cuts" for Armenia. This was an extraordinarily busy week, and I had very little time to plan and prepare an authentic Armenian meal. So, I did the next best thing.... I went to my favorite Middle Eastern grocery store in Watertown, Arax 585 Mt. Auburn Street:

Growing up in Cambridge, one of my best memories was when my Mother would go up Mount Auburn Street into Watertown to the Eastern Lahmajoun Bakery. My sister Anna, brother Clay and I always looked forward to these trips. She'd come home with a big white box (tied with bakery string), filled with warm Lahmajouns - you could smell the garlic first - always a good sign. Lahmajoun comes in many types. Unlike traditional pizza, it is meat based and contains other spices and herbs. There is also a vegetarian style to Lahmajoun that uses a spicy tomato base. Lahmajoun is mostly found in Cilicia, in those areas close to Syria and Lebanon.

Now, before I get into what I bought, you know I need to tell you a little about Armenia, starting with the location, location, location:

Regional influences include the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and to a certain extent also influences from the Balkans.^[1] Armenian cuisine and traditions in turn have influenced the culinary traditions of nearby countries and cities such as Aleppo.^[2] The preparation of meat, fish, and vegetable dishes in an Armenian kitchen requires stuffing, frothing, and pureeing.^[3] Lamb, eggplant, yoghurt, and bread (lavash) are basic features of Armenian cuisine. Armenians use cracked wheat (burghul) in preference to the maize and rice popular among its Caucasian neighbors (Georgia and Azerbaijan).

So here's what we had: Spicy roasted vegetable Lamajouns and traditional ground beef (not hamburger) and garlic Lamajouns. We also had a blackeye pea salad, seasoned with lemon juice, lots of parsley, red, yellow and green peppers and olive oil. I tried another salad that I'd never had called Metch - bulghur wheat, tomato, scallion and scallion salad  (sort of like tabbouleh) that was very, very good. Lastly, we had Armenian String Cheese, spiced with Nigella seeds - really fun to pull apart to eat and much less salty than many of the other string cheeses I've had:

Lahmajouns













Lahmajouns, Metch and Black Eyed Pea Salad and String Cheese.





Although I regret that I didn't have time to make all these traditional dishes from scratch, I have to admit that I probably enjoyed the meal as much, if not more because every thing I ate was made in the store by the family who own and operate Arax - so I got to support a local business and totally chow on the real deal.

Next up - Australia!

Day 8 - Argentina!

Like so many of the countries I've cooked from these past two weeks, Argentina has a rich and diverse history which has been greatly shaped and impacted by European settlers who invaded the country, introduced disease and exploited the indigenous people.

Argentina's climate and rich, lowland regions combine to make it one of the world's greatest food-producing nations. More than 4 percent of the world's cattle are raised by Argentine cattle ranchers. Argentina is also South America's largest producer of honey, an ingredient that makes its way into many delicious Argentine desserts.

Beef is the national dish of Argentina. There are huge cattle ranches in Argentina, and the gaucho, or Argentine cowboy, is a well-known symbol of Argentine individualism. Many dishes contain meat, but prepared in different ways. A favorite main course is parrillada, a mixed grill of steak and other cuts of beef. Grilled steak is called churrasco , a beef roast cooked over an open fire is called asado , and beef that is dipped in eggs, crumbs, and then fried is called milanesa . Carbonada is a stew that contains meat, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and chunks of corn on the cob. 

I decided to make Empanadas for dinner. The filling was delicious, but the pastry was a little too dry. I followed the recipe to the letter, but was somewhat disappointed by doughyness of the dough. I think I'll make them again and use a different dough recipe, or I may try this one again and reduce the amount of flour by a 1/4 of a cup.

                                                                                                    

                                                               Frying in the pan

    Cooling on the cutting board

Here's the link to the recipes - http://www.popular-traditional-argentina-food.com/chicken_empanada.html

Day 7 - Antigua!!

This was by far the most beautiful meal I've prepared so far. Also the most expensive because the fish cost about $50. But it was SO worth it, and when one considers how much a similar meal would cost in a restaurant, it was WAY worth it.  I'm really partial to seafood and Caribbean/West Indian cooking, so I was very excited about this dinner.

So by now, everyone knows the history drill, which I feel compelled to give because you can't know the people and the country if you don't know where it is:

Antigua and Barbuda's rich history dates back to the Siboney followed by Arawaks, on to Christopher Columbus, through English and French settlers, the influence of sugar and the plantations, slavery and the years of colonialism. The island gained independence in 1981. Seems like every time Christopher Columbus' name shows up, bad things happen.

West Indian food has strong traditions. The best of it is delicious, with a good use of local fresh fish and the exceptional spices and fruits. In general local food includes stews accompanied by  starchy vegetables such as yams and of course, rice dishes.

For this meal, I made Red Snapper (warm water fish not known to the Eastern Coast) encrusted in coconut and thyme with a pineapple salsa; plantains with a mango sauce (bought at Whole Foods); sweet potatoes and sliced cucumbers. Dessert was sliced papaya and mangoes.

Red snapper fillet, papaya, mangoes, coconuts, sweet potatoes and pineapple

The meal was really easy to make, the flavors fresh and clean and the colors were beautiful

A big thank you to my love-girl, Sarah H. for her consultation on cooking the fish - I love you! The recipes follow:

Ingredients

For the pineapple salsa 

1 small pineapple, prepared, flesh diced 

1 small onion, finely diced 

1 small green pepper, finely diced 

1 tsp sweet paprika, or 1 tbsp diced pimento 

1 tsp white wine vinegar 

2 tbsp olive oil

For the fish 

4x 175g red snapper, or mahi mahi fillets 

2 limes, juice only, plus 1 tbsp extra 

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped 

4 tbsp finely grated fresh coconut, (available from Asian shops) 

4 sprigs thyme, or enough to give 2 tsp leaves 

2 tbsp vegetable oil 

1 tbsp butter

1. For the salsa, mix the pineapple with the onion, green pepper, paprika, sugar, white wine vinegar and olive oil. Leave on one side while you cook the fish.

2. Put the fish fillets in a shallow dish. Combine the juice from 2 limes with the garlic and pour over the fish. Leave on one side to marinate for 1-2 hours.

3. Mix the coconut with the thyme leaves and use to coat each fillet on both sides, pressing the coconut down well.

4. Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a deep frying pan set over a medium heat. Fry the fish for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden and crisp. About a minute before the fish is ready, add the butter and the remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice to the pan. Transfer the fish to warmed plates and pour over any buttery juices. Accompany with pineapple salsa.

 

Day 6 - Angola is in the HOUSE!

All I can say is ... indescribable!  Something about this particular food felt inherently exotic and "un-American" in a really, really good way.

Some background and history about this formidable country that has struggled through occupation, war and eventual independence: Angola is located  in southwestern Africa surrounded by Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and the Atlantic Ocean on the western side. A former colony of Portugal, Angola has had a turbulent history, culminating with the 27 years long civil war. Because Angola was a colony of Portugal for many years, Angolan cuisine has many Portuguese influences. The cuisine of Angola can be called a ‘rainbow cuisine’ because it has integrated influences from India, Malaya and Europe. If you like curry, peanuts, plantains and spicy hot food as I do, you'll love this region!

For this meal I made Arroz Integral com Manteiga de Amendoim e Bananas and Chicken in Red Palm Oil. * Note - I did not use palm oil as that sh*t is really bad for you, plus it would be really hard to find around this white bread town. I did use peanut oil, but fried the chicken in canola oil.

Arroz Integral com Manteiga de Amendoim e Bananas  

• 2cups brown rice 
• 2 cups tomato juice
• 2 medium onions
• 2 medium green peppers
• ½ cup peanut oil
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• ½ cup Peanut butter
• 2 medium bananas

1. Pour the brown rice, tomato juice, and 2 cups water in a 2-quart pot over high heat. When the mixture comes to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer until rice is done (45 to 50 minutes). Meanwhile, slice onions and green peppers and sauté in ¼ cup peanut oil until onions are soft. Add curry powder, salt, and pepper; mix well, heat for 1 minute. Add ¼ cup water, tomatoes, and Peanut butter. Simmer for 5 minutes.
2. In a large skillet heat the remaining ¼ cup peanut oil. Peel bananas and cut into ½-inch slices. Sauté bananas until lightly golden on both sides.
3. To serve, place the rice in a serving platter, pour the Onion sauce over the rice and top with the fried bananas. This dish goes well with grilled Chicken, Pork or Beef 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Chicken in Red Palm Oil
   • 1 Chicken, cut up for frying
   • ½ tsp. of ground coriander
   • 1 tsp sea salt
   • 1 tsp. dried orange peel
   • 1 tsp dried minced garlic
   • ¼ cup Red palm oil ****** substitute canola oil********
   
   
   1. In a large cast iron or frying skillet, melt the red palm oil. Heat the red palm oil over high heat until you notice the traditional "burn off" that is a result of not filtering the oil. You will notice a small amount of smoke followed by the oil darkening several shades. Turn the heat to medium.
   2. In a small bowl, mix the salt and spices. Dust the Chicken with the spice mixture. Place the Chicken in the skillet and cover with a lid. Cook each side of the Chicken until well browned and thoroughly cooked. Drain and serve with coconut jasmine rice and Red palm oil veggies.

  

For dessert, I served Champagne Mangoes - these are different from "regular" mangoes in that they are a little smaller (as is the seed) and 10x as sweet.  They needed no accompaniment.

Taking a little rest after a tasty meal and.... my trusty laptop, covered in Saran-wrap to protect it from splashing mango, peanut sauce and chopped onions :)

Music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN63QrktPrA&feature=related

Day 5 - Andorra

First, some background on this gorgeous little country, which I will admit I didn't even know existed until I embarked on this adventure. Aside from getting to cook and eat all kinds of interesting food, one of the best parts of this journey is learning about countries, their history and culture in a meaningful and permanent way.

Andorra is located in the middle of the Pyrenees between Spain and France. One of the most mountainous areas in Europe as well as one of the smallest countries covering just 468 km2, Andorran cuisine has both French and Spanish influences.

Tonight I made Wild Boar Stew served with an Andorran Rice and Mushroom dish and a Dandelion Greens and Pine Nut salad.

I marinated the boar for 24+ hours and cooked it pretty much the way beef stew is cooked. So far, the recipes I find on line have to be tweaked because details are often lost in translation. For example, you'll notice that the attached recipe for the stew doesn't specify the quantities to be added, so I just wing it  and hope for the best.  To make the stew richer, the recipe called for dark chocolate, so I used 65% bittersweet -

The rice dish called for varieties of mushrooms I was unable to find, so I used a combination of baby bella, shitake and oyster mushrooms - really, really good!

The dandelion greens salad was great - if you like bitter greens, which I do. I added pine nuts to the salad because I felt like it (and Andorrans use a fair amount of pine nuts in their cooking anyway).

AND - I served a baguette with GOAT MILK BUTTER: shout out to Meyenberg Goat Milk Products in California: http://meyenberg.com/ for some of the best butter I've ever had and that complimented the country meal beautifully.

My family rates this meal their favorite so far.

Lastly, or perhaps, firstly, a kiss, hug and eternal love to my Mom, Liz Gude,  the best and most intuitive cook I know who taught me everything I know about food, family and mothering - I love you!

Recipes Below:


Wild Boar Stew

Ingredients: Wild boar Onions Celery Carrots Cognac Bacon Vinegar Red wine Almonds Crackers Dark chocolate Garlic Oregano Thyme Cloves Bay leaves Nutmeg Pepper Oil Salt  Andorran Mushroom and Rice

Preparation: Cut the wild boar into small pieces and place them in a ceramic pot with the salt, pepper, garlic, chopped onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, cloves, oregano, thyme, nutmeg and cognac, as well as a splash of vinegar and a drop of oil and cover it all with red wine. Leave it to stand for a minimum of 12 hours. Let the wild boar drain well and fry it in oil in a large frying pan. At the same time, bring all the ingredients of the marinade to the boil in a pot until the carrots are cooked. Strain it all and put it in a casserole with the wild boar. At the same time, fry the pieces of bacon and the onions in the oil in which we cooked the wild boar. Add the wild boar and a bowl of water, then cover and leave it to simmer very gently When it is almost done, add garlic, almonds, chocolate and crackers, all finely-chopped and mixed together. Stir it well, add more salt if necessary and, after 30 more minutes, it is ready to be served. You can also add chestnuts or potatoes, depending on your personal tastes. If the pork is very well done you will need to add more onion to counteract the strong taste of the meat. Reheating this dish will only improve it.

Ingredients: 6 cups rice 14 cups water or stock 1kg assorted mushrooms (scotch bonnet, woodwax, milk-cap...) 50g butter 2 onions 2 bulbs garlic 2 bay leaves 1 glass white wine 1 sprig parsley olive oil Black pepper Salt

Preparation: In an aluminium casserole, sauté the finely-chopped onion, the chopped garlic and parsley, and the bay leaves. When the onion is transparent, add the mushrooms and leave it all to cook for a further five minutes. Next, add the white wine. Add the rice and stir it a bit. Next, pour on the boiling water or stock, adjust the seasoning and cook it for about two minutes on a high heat. Then put it in the oven on 180ºC for two more minutes. This rice is very suitable for serving with meats.

Dandelion Salad

Ingredients: Dandelions Bacon Salt Pepper Oil Vinegar

Preparation: Clean the dandelions thoroughly and put them to soak in water in a cool place. Next, drain them and mix them well with a lot of oil, a little splash of vinegar, salt and pepper. Then add the bacon - which you will have fried in very hot oil in advance - chopped up into little bits, while it is still slightly warm.