Cambodia... Yum...

I found it fitting that while one of my best friends is doing humanitarian work in Cambodia that we try a recipe or two from there! The meal was delectable! We had Cambodian Marinated Beef with Lime Sauce and Nhuem (Cambodian Cabbage Salad) and Jasmine rice. SO GOOD!

So I actually marinated everything the night before, so... yeah, the longer you can marinate, the better!

:)

Anyhoo, here are the recipes. They are SUPER easy!

Cambodian Marinated Beef with Lime Sauce
serves 2-4

1 T. sugar
2 T. lime juice
1 1/2 t. fresh ground pepper
1 t. water
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. canola oil
7 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 lb. sirloin

Combine sugar, 1 t. pepper, soy sauce,  and garlic. Stir well. Add beef. Mix to coat. Marinate for at least 1 hour.

Combine remaining pepper with lime juice and water. Place in small serving bowl.

Saute beef in oil, three to four minutes until medium rare. Serve over jasmine rice (or any kind of rice) with sauce.

Nhuem (Cambodian Cabbage Salad)
serves 4-6

1 small-medium cabbage
1 sm. package glass noodles (rice noodles), cooked
1/3 lb. (or 1 can) chicken, shredded
1 bunch green onions
1 c. peanuts, crushed

Sauce:

3/4 c. soy sauce
3/4 c. vinegar
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. water
4-5 cloves garlic, minced

Combine salad ingredients, chill. Blend sauce ingredients, pour over salad right before serving. Toss to blend.

Try these, even if you're not the best cook. They're super easy recipes and amazingly good!

Smashing British Fare...

Hallo...

We picked Great Britain out for this last week. And let's be honest, Britain isn't exactly known for its exotic fare... it's typically roast beef and other hearty, yet fairly bland, foods that smatter the plates of the Brits. So I went searching for some kind of recipe that would give a little twist on typical British food...

And I found this AMAZING braised pork recipe (adapted a little, of course, as most of my recipes are)! I paired that with green beans and roasted potatoes and classic Yorkshire puddings and we had an amazing, tasty British meal! This pork is particularly good for those of you who are not huge fans of pork because it gets dry. This pork was incredibly moist!

Braised Spicy Pork
serves 4

2 lb. pork shoulder roast
6 garlic cloves, peeled
2" fresh ginger, peeled
3 T. soy sauce
3 T. honey
1 t. freshly ground pepper
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
4 red chilies
2 cinnamon sticks
4 star anise
500 ml (or so) chicken stock
1 t. butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Put garlic, ginger, soy, honey, pepper, and olive oil into a blender or food processor (it will make a paste). Place pork into a large roasting pan/tray and smear the paste all over the pork.

Snap the chilies and throw them in the roasting tray with the cinnamon, star anise, and chicken stock. Cover (if desired) and roast about 30 minutes for every pound.

For the last 20 minutes of cooking, uncover and baste with juices. Increase temperature to 400 degrees F. Test that the internal temperature is 160F and remove from oven.

Allow pork to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Strain the juices from the pan into a small saucepan. Place over high heat and drop butter into sauce. If a thicker sauce is desired, thicken with cornstarch or flour. Serve over pork.


Yorkshire Pudding
serves 6

3 medium eggs (or 2 large)
Milk
Flour
Salt
Vegetable Oil

Heat oven to 425 F.

Pour the eggs into a liquid measuring cup. Note the amount of eggs. Pour into a large mixing bowl. Measure out the same amount of milk (as the eggs) and pour into the mix. Whisk and add a pinch of salt. Let stand for at least 10 minutes.

Measure the same amount of flour (as the eggs) and whisk into the mixture to create a lump-free batter resembling thick cream. Leave the batter to rest for AT LEAST 30 minutes (longer is better).

Take muffin tin and place about 1/2 t. of oil in the bottom of each cup. Give the batter another good whisk adding 2 T. of cold water. Fill a third of each in and return quickly o the oven.

Leave to cook until golden brown (15-20 minutes). Repeat if you have additional batter.

*we ate them the next morning cold with jam and honey and they were delicious! They don't reheat well due to their makeup, so don't reheat them :)*

Roasted Thyme Potatoes
serves  4 (I cooked these at the same time as the pork)

6 potatoes, cubed
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Rosemary
Thyme

Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix cubed potatoes with remaining ingredients. Place in baking dish and cook for about 1.5 hours. Increase temperature to 425 and cook for 10 minutes to get a nice browning.

It was all delicious! And the fresh green beans with butter and salt and pepper were so good!

Mauritania!

Not to be confused with the island Mauritia... Mauritania is a country in the west of Africa (doing this international food night has made me realize that I really have no idea about African geography!). At any rate. Originally we were going to make pepper steak with coconut... but we couldn't find any coconut, so we combined this recipe with a recipe for lamb couscous and came up with Pepper Steak Couscous!

Try this! It's really good. It's a cross between Asian and Middle Eastern food to create this Mauritanian awesomeness! On a side note, I used two habanero peppers. I've chopped them before and never had a problem, but apparently these were really potent, because about 30 minutes after I chopped them, my hands burned like whoa! Chemical burns are fun. The end. Moral of the story: use gloves even if they usually aren't that bad. Luckily it only lasted a couple of hours.

Pepper Steak Couscous
serves 4

1-2 lbs beef, cubed into bite-size
1 onion
2 green peppers
1-2 habaneros (or hot chili of your choice. If you use habaneros, use gloves!)
3 small potatoes, chopped
2-3 T. oil
1 t. salt
2 t. black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
8-10 drops of Tabasco
2 T. soy sauce
2 beef bullion cube
4 T. cornstarch

Add oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and Tabasco. Fry onions, peppers, and habanero. Add steak cubes. Brown. Add potatoes. Add soy sauce, beef bullion, and 1 c. (or so) of water. Cook until potatoes are soft. Mix cornstarch with water. Add to sauce. Bring to a boil. Cook until thickened.

Cook couscous according to package directions. Serve over couscous.

It's spicy!

Llama Fest!

Saturday was pretty fantastic! We ate Thai food... which is a favorite of mine... and then we went to Llama Fest, which, of course, is always an experience. Here are a couple pics from the fest!

So all of the other llamas were over in a corral across the way as part of the petting zoo... so we came to visit the outcast llama...

So the llama didn't want to take a picture with us... but Ian got one!

Yeah, if we got any closer he would run...

The end.

Slovakian... kinda Italian...

So we had Solvakian food on Wednesday. It was really good, but my technique needs a bit of improvement :) I made Bryndzove Halusky (potato dumplings with cheese). Yum!

Here's the recipe for ya! (We were going to make apple dessert pancakes, but this more than filled us up!)

Bryndzove Halusky
serves 4

4 potatoes, peeled
Flour (approx 8 T)
Salt
2 eggs

Bryndza (sheep's cheese)
OR
milk
1 pkg. cream cheese
1 pkg. feta cheese

Finely shred the potatoes.
Add egg and flour. Make a dough that's not too touch, but not too watery. Use a bit of water if it's too tough, or add more flour.
Add 1 t. salt
Boil water with 2 t. salt
Use 1/2 t. to drop a litte bit of dough into the boiling water (be sure the water is always boiling).
When halusky are done they will float on the top of the water. Pick them out with a strainer.
If you can't find bryndza (which more than likely you won't be able to), mix the cheeses and milk together over the stove and stir until boiling. Remove from heat.
Fry bacon to crispy, break into little pieces.
Add strained halusky to bacon grease and fry for a moment.
Serve with cheese sauce and bacon on top.

Good, cheap, and REALLY filling!

Spicy Belizean!

So I had success... we hit a 7/10 on Ian's food "hotness" scale. WOOT! That's what two habanero peppers will do for you :) The food was pretty durn good! The chicken had a citrus kick, but it was awesomely spicy. (BTW, it was my first time ever cooking a whole chicken... yeah, preparing it, not my favorite thing ever... for real). It all turned out quite excellently though!

Here's a picture to document my first attempt at cooking a whole chicken:

Looks good, no? It was spicy deliciousness!

Here's the meal in its entirety. We had the chicken, Belizean rice and beans, and oranges. Yum!

Try out the recipes! You won't be disappointed!

Belizean Spicy Chicken
serves 2-4

1 whole fryer chicken (could use chicken breasts or whatever you wanted to)
3/4 c. chili sauce
2/3 c. chicken stock
1 lemon (juice)
1 lime (juice)
1/3 c. brown sugar
3 T. soy sauce
1 garlic clove
2 habanero chilies, minced
2 T. ground mustard
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 chipotle chilies, minced
Zest of 2 oranges
salt and pepper

Place all ingredients except chicken, salt, and pepper into a pan and simmer for 20 minutes. Let cool.

If using a whole chicken, butterfly the chicken-not for the faint of heart. (If you don't know how, I included the instructions, since I had no idea really what to do the first time either...)

• Place the whole chicken breast side down with the drumsticks pointing toward you. The backbone is now on top. (You can feel it running down the center of the chicken)
• Hold the tail (or flap of skin) that is pointing toward you and cut along each side of the backbone with a pair of kitchen shears or a sharp knife. Remove the backbone. (You'll cut through the ribs, which is the crunching sound.)
• Turn the chicken 180 degrees so the drumsticks are pointing away from you.
• Using a small knife, cut through the piece of white cartilage (or gristle) covering the breastbone. It's located in the cavity of the chicken on the end facing you.
• Grasp each side of the chicken and bend the carcass backwards at the line of the cut you just made. Bend until you hear a crack, this exposes the breastbone.
• Run a finger along each side of the breastbone to separate the bone from the meat. Once separated, remove the entire breastbone.
• Push flat to butterfly the chicken, and remove any excess fat.

Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Generously apply sauce to both sides of the chicken (or chicken pieces if you decided not to fight with it). Continue to baste every 15 minutes or so of cooking.

Cook slowly at 275 degrees for 1.5 hours. Increase heat to 400 degrees for the last 15-20 minutes. Tent with tinfoil for ten minutes. Serve immediately.

(If using chicken pieces, cook accordingly. If using a whole chicken, use a meat thermometer to check the thigh temperature has reached 160-165.)


Belizean Rice and Beans
serves 4

1 can red kidney beans
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. salt
1 can coconut milk
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 t. thyme
1 1/2 c. rice
1/2 onion, minced

Brown garlic and onion in a small amount of oil or butter in a saucepan with a lid. Add beans. Use the can of coconut milk and add water to make it two cups. Add to saucepan. Add spices to taste. Mix in rice. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the rice is done and the liquid has been absorbed.

Enjoy!

New Caledonian ... weird? Yes.

This week's culinary adventure took us to the South Pacific nation of New Caledonia. And yes, the food was a bit weird.

We had coconut chicken and sweet potato and pineapple casserole. Weird. I know. I really actually liked both of them, but I thought the coconut chicken could have used a bit of spice for flavor.

At any rate, here they are in all of their glory (PS, the casserole sounds gross, but really, I liked it.) Try it. I dare you.

New Caledonian Coconut Chicken
serves 4

1/2 head cabbage, chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed
2 potatoes, peeled, cubed
2 c. coconut cream
2 chicken breasts, cubed
2 onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

Wash and chop veggies.
Pour 1 c. of coconut cream into the bottom of baking dish. Layer cabbage on the bottom and spread remaining ingredients on top. Cover with remaining coconut cream. (I added salt, pepper, cayenne, and a little thyme).
Cover and bake at 350 F for 1.5 hours.

New Caledonian Sweet Potato and Pineapple Casserole
serves 6

2 large sweet potatoes, cooked and sliced
2 c. cheese sauce
1 T. grated coconut
1 fresh pineapple, cored and sliced
2 T chopped green onions
2 T butter
Salt

Arrange in layers: pineapple, sweet potatoes, coconut, onion, cheese sauce. Repeat.
Bake in oven at 350 F for 30 minutes.

Cheese Sauce:
1 T. butter
1 T. (heaping) flour
1 1/2 c. milk
3 T cheese
salt and pepper

Melt butter. Mix in flour. Remove from heat.
Add half of milk.
Return to heat.
Slowly add remaining milk.
Add cheese and spice.
Stir until cheese melts.

Courtesy of Espana...

International food night... So because Ian has been so lucky at picking out random countries that we've never heard of, we decided to let me try my luck, and I pulled out Spain. HAHA! It was all pretty simple with just two dishes - gazpacho and paella.

First we had gazpacho. It's a cold vegetable soup that supposedly started in the Andalusian region of Spain. So... funny moment... I was trying to push the power off on the blender... and I pushed the "start" button. Gazpacho everywhere. Good times... It's pretty simple, just cut up the veggies, blend, chill. The garnish is optional, but I thought it really added a lot.

I didn't really follow a strict recipe, I just gathered a bunch and made it, so I'll tell you what I did, but you can change it to suit your tastes.


Gazpacho
Serves 4

8 Roma tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 green pepper, in large pieces
1 onion, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T. red wine vinegar
3 T. lemon juice (fresh is best)
1 t. dried basil
1/4 c. chopped Italian parsley
1 t. white sugar
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Crushed croutons
5 chives, chopped

In a blender or food processor combine most of tomato, half cucumber, green pepper, half onion, green onions, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, basil, parsley, sugar, salt, and pepper. Blend until well-combined, but slightly chunky. Add olive oil. Blend. Remove to pitcher and chill for at least an hour.


Garnish:
 Use remaining tomato, onion, and cucumber as garnish. Sprinkle sea salt on the tomatoes, drizzle olive oil on onion, and add vinegar to cucumbers. Arrange garnishes on top. Sprinkle croutons and chives on top.

Chicken Paella
serves 6

Olive oil
4 chicken breasts, cut into 2-3 pieces
2 1/2 c. long grain rice
32 oz. chicken stock
1 green pepper, chopped into small pieces
1 red pepper, julienned
1 yellow pepper, julienned
1 onion, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped (peeled if you would like)
1/2 bag of frozen peas
Saffron
1 clove garlic
Italian Parsley, chopped
salt
lemon wedges

Heat oil. Brown chicken. Remove. Set aside.

In same pan, add onion and tomato. Mash. Strain and throw it back into the pan.

Add more oil (3 T). Add green pepper and meat. Stir. Add salt, stock, and rice. Shake pan to be sure entire contents is covered.

Mash saffron, garlic, parsley, and salt together. Sprinkle over rice. Shake pan again.

When broth reduces to half, add the yellow and red peppers and the peas. Cook until broth is absorbed and rice is done (may have to add more water if necessary). Let rest for 5 minutes.

Spain! Try it!

Serve with lemon.

A Lad an' a Lassie

So, as has been my tradition for many a year, we went to the Scottish Festival at Thanksgiving point. I tend to volunteer for the various festivals that I want to attend, mainly because you get free entrance, usually a t-shirt, and other cool perks. We were assigned gate duty and basically I sat there for three hours and watched Ian be the gatekeeper. It rocked, hehe.

Yay for us during our downtime before it started pouring...

Ian's head. Haha.

At any rate, we saw a bunch of interesting people... like a girl with a fake tail, many people dressed up like medieval peeps (... I thought it was a Scottish Festival?), and more than enough kilts. I love Scotland :)

Anyway, after our shift we were starving, but didn't feel like shelling out $10/plate for a meal at the festival, so we ran into Lehi and grabbed some food. At which time it decided to start POURING. We went back to the festival, and the weather actually wasn't too bad once we got there, but a lot of the patrons and many of the vendors and booth owners had packed up.

We looked at cool swords, thought about getting a printout of the Oxborrow family history/crest/etc., but in the end didn't get anything. I wish the weather had been nicer. We were going to stay for the concert as well, but in the end it was just to dampish, so we went over to my aunt and uncles to visit.

We watched highlights of the USA v. England World Cup match (they recorded it for us) ... and got a major kick out of their little Yorkie Mysti. She was staring at the tv, following the little white soccer ball across the screen. It was hilarious.

Anyway, I thoroughly suggest attending the Scottish Fest if you have the time next summer! And volunteer ... it seriously saves you a bunch and the shifts aren't that bad :)

On Tuesday we decided to brave the crowd and drove to Pleasant Grove to their Strawberry Days concert in the park. It was a local band doing soft rock from mostly the 70s. It was fun... and watching people was even more fun. :)

Yay for summer!

Where in the World is Benin?!

So we originally pulled out Iran from the bag of countries this week, but we cheated and put it back. We figured since we just had Middle Eastern food, we'd give ourselves at least a week's respite. And out came Benin! Originally we thought it was a country in the Caribbean. Not so much. It's a tiny county in West Africa on the southern coast. Yeah. Who knew? Probably some of you, but not us.

The food was excellent. We made two dishes. Beninese Beef Stew (which was a curry... and so delicious!) and Couscous Azindessi.

This is the couscous azinedessi (couscous with peanut sauce!)

Here's the couscous with the Beninese Beef Stew over rice. Both delectable! Also really simple to make. (Though it does take a couple hours of simmering to make the beef tender.)

Here are the recipes! Enjoy!

Beninese Beef Stew
serves 4

1-1 1/2 lbs. beef stew meat
2 medium onions, chopped
3 T. Spicy Curry
2 t. salt
ground Cayenne Pepper (to taste)
ground Chipotle Pepper (to taste)
1 can coconut milk
1 c. water
1 sweet potato, cut into chunks, and deep fried
4 T. butter
1 T. flour
4 T. smooth peanut butter
5 garlic cloves, minced
several whole okra with tops removed (we couldn't find any, so we didn't use them)

Melt butter. Brown beef. Remove beef and use the remaining oil to fry onions and garlic until golden brown.

Add flour, curry, salt, peppers, and peanut butter. Heat for a minute, then slowly add coconut milk, then add the water. Heat for a minute. Simmer until thickened. Add beef and simmer until meat is tender (can take up to two hours)


About 20 minutes before serving add sweet potatoes and okra.

Serve over rice.

Couscous Azindessi
serves 4

1 package couscous
2 cans chicken stock
1 garlic clove, minced
1 slice gingerroot, minced
1/4 t. freshly ground pepper
1 large tomato, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 T. oil (peanut, preferably)
1 T. tomato paste
4 T. peanut butter
1/2 c. peanuts, crushed
green onions, sliced for garnish

Cook couscous according to package directions, substituting chicken broth for water. (We had 2 c. broth and a package of couscous, about 1 1/2 c. dry).

Brown garlic, ginger, and onion in oil in a separate pan.  Transfer to blender with 1 c. chicken stock and tomato. Puree. Return to pan. Add peanut butter and paste. Heat through.

Mix peanuts with couscous. Top with peanut sauce and garnish with green onion.

Bahrain

Okay. So either I'm not looking in the right place... or Arabian/Middle Eastern food is pretty similar. They all use pretty much the same spices, and a lot of rice and some tomatoes. But at any rate, it tasted pretty good, and we especially liked the sweet rice.

So... Bahrain is a little island country off the coast of Saudi Arabia. We looked it up. Haha.

We essentially had two things, and they pretty much looked the same. Though they were very different in taste. Machboos and Muhammar.

This is the Chicken Machboos. It's a savory dish with a lot of spices in it.

This is the sweet rice Muhammar. Yum!

Essentially we ate rice with a bit of chicken and veggies for this meal, but it was incredibly filling and we had a ton of leftovers. (They're also pretty much one-pot-wonders, which is a plus.)

Enjoy!


Chicken Machboos
serves 4

2 c. water
1 1/2 c. basmati rice
2 tomatoes, chopped
4 chicken breasts
2 onions, finely chopped
coriander (fresh chopped, or powdered)
hot pepper
cinnamon
paprika
tumeric
cloves
cayenne
cardamom powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 slice gingerroot, minced
2 T. butter
1/8 c. lemon juice
3 T. oil
3 t. salt

Heat the water. While heating, mix together paprika, tumeric, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cayenne. salt, and pepper. Rub onto chicken.

Heat oil and fry onions, garlic, and ginger until golden brown. Add your favorite hot pepper. Add chicken and brown. Sprinkle more cinnamon and the remaining mixed spices. Cook on medium for about 3 minutes, turning often.

Add tomatoes, turn ingredients, and cook for 3 more minutes. Sprinkle additional salt on top of everything and pour water on top while it is still hot.

Cover the pan and let it cook for about 1 hour on medium-low heat until the chicken is cooked. Add coriander about 5 minutes before you remove chicken from the stock pan. While the chicken is cooking, wash the rice in cold water and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Remove chicken from pot, place in pan, brush with oil, and sprinkle more cinnamon on top. Place in oven at 325 degrees and allow chicken to become golden brown.

Add rice to the stock pot. Stir and cook at low heat until the rice absorbs the stock and is almost done. Sprinkle the lemon juice on top, and place butter pieces. Cover and cook on low heat for 30 more minutes.


Heap rice in serving dish and top with chicken.


Sweet Rice Muhammar
serves 4

2 c. basmati rice
1/4 t. saffron
1/4 t. cloves
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
 2 T. water

Soak together saffron, cloves, and cinnamon in water.

Boil 6 c. of water and add rice. Boil to half cooked (about 8 minutes) and drain.

Stir sugar throughout. Add butter and stir. Pour spices on top and stir.

Cook on very low heat for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to serving platter. Top with more melted butter.

Enjoy!

Malagasy Dining Extraordinaire...

So for international food night on the 19th we pulled out Madagascar and both looked at each other like... wha? But it turned out amazingly well! (On a side note, we didn't do an international food night this last week because we had so many leftovers... but we will do a new one on Wednesday!)

So the menu was really awesome, and was as follows:

Lasopy (beef veggie puree soup), Varenga (roasted shredded beef), Vary Amin Anana (rice and greens), Lasary Voatabia (tomato and scallion salad), with Sakay (red pepper sauce), and Salady Voankazo for dessert (vanilla fruit).

Traditionally Malagasy meals are served on a mat on the floor. We didn't have a mat, but Ian insisted we eat on the floor ...

This was the best photo of us sitting on the floor we could get. We tried doing it actually sitting up... yeah, that didn't work.

So the first course was Lasopy:

Does it look gross? Kind of. But it was a really good, thick vegetable soup with a whole lot of vitamins and nutrition, and it was super easy to make!

Then the main course:

 

It was really quite good! Our favorite was the rice. (And we forgot to take a picture of the dessert...)

At any rate, try it out. It's all pretty simple to make and makes a great meal together, or you could piece and pair with some other favorites.

Lasopy

Vegetable Puree Soup

serves 4

Beef stock (for base)

1 qt. water

salt

pepper

3 carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces

1 turnip, peeled and cut into chunks

1 bunch scallions, cut into large pieces

2 c. fresh green beans

2 tomatoes, quartered

In a large pot, simmer for about an hour until veggies are tender.

Puree in blender or food processors.

Serve thick soup hot.

Varenga

Roasted Beef

serves 4
 

2 lbs. boneless chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 qt. water

2 T. salt

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 c. onion, slices

In a large pot, cover and bring to a boil.

Simmer gently for about 2 hours or until meat can be shredded easily with a fork.

Add water if necessary to keep meat at simmering point.

Shred the meat and transfer to a 9x12 in baking pan. Pour sauce on top.

Roast at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes until meat is nicely browned across the top.

Vary Amin Anana

Rice and Greens

serves 6

1/2 lb. boneless chuck, cut into small cubes

2 T. oil

1 tomato, cut into pieces

1 bunch scallions, cut into 1 in. pieces

3/4 lb. spinach, cut into small pieces

1 bunch watercress, cut into small pieces

1 c. rice

salt

pepper

Brown meat in oil.

Add all except rice

Saute, stirring occasionally until veggies soften and volume is lowered.

Add 2 c. water (or enough to cover veggies)

Add rice.

Cover tightly and simmer until rice is thoroughly cooked and water is gone.

(Serve with Sakay sauce)

Sakay

Hot Red Pepper Sauce

Combine

1/2 c. crushed red pepper

1 T. ground ginger

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Add 4 T. oil to make a mush.

Lasary Voatabia

Tomato and Scallion Salad

serves 4

1 bunch scallions, finely diced

2 c. tomatoes, finely diced

2 T. water

1 t. salt

Tabasco sauce to taste

Combine all, stir lightly, and chill.

Salady Voankazo

Vanilla Fruit

1 fresh pineapple cut into 1 in. dice

1 small cantaloupe, cut into 1 in. dice

1 mango, diced

1 c. strawberries, sliced

(you could add whatever fruit you wanted)

Mix fruit so it is well blended.

In saucepan combine:

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. water

1/4 t. salt

2 T. fresh lemon juice

Bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute.

Add 2 T. vanilla extract.

Pour over fruit, chill.

Can serve with additional vanilla extract on top.

Czech

So Ian picked for this week... and it was Czech. Yeah, never really had Czech food before. So... the menu ended up as follows:

Moravský Guláš (Morovian Goulash), Bramborák (potato pancakes), and Sopsky salad.

And the photo:

Yeah. It was really delicious. Surprisingly to me, the potato pancakes were my least favorite part of the meal! And I love potatoes. I really liked the goulash, but the winner was the salad... and it was by far the easiest dish (and really, one of the easiest salads ever!)

This is us before we ate. We're happy to be eating at last.

This is us post-eating. Eating makes us sleepy... We call it Czech Zen...

Here are the recipes! The Goulash is a one-pot wonder, the salad is amazing and can really be used with any meal!

Moravian Goulash ~ Moravský Guláš

(4 servings)

2 large onions chopped
1 lb. pork, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
2 T. oil
pinch salt
dash freshly ground pepper
1 c HOT water to cover
1 t vinegar
1 can tomato paste

1 T flour dissolved in 1/4 c [60 ml] COLD water
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped

2 T. fresh Italian parsley

Cayenne Pepper

Thyme

Heat oil in stew pot. Chop onions and add; stir constantly until golden. Do not let onions scorch. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper; toss well and place into pot. Mix thoroughly and cook uncovered until meat is no longer red.

Cover pot and simmer 15 minutes, add enough HOT water to cover meat and simmer another 30-45 minutes until meat is very tender (depends upon toughness of meat). Add vinegar and tomato paste. Add spices (can add others to taste) blend well, stir in flour/water mixture and bring to boil 3-5 minutes while stirring to thicken. Lastly add chopped tomatoes, parsley, and green pepper stirring in well, but don't cook any longer.

Potato Pancakes ~ Bramborák

(serves 4)

1 lb. potatoes (I used frozen hashbrowns)
1 eggs
pinch salt
grinding of pepper
1 T marjoram
4 cloves garlic, pressed
3 T parsley, freshly chopped
1 large onion, diced very fine
1 c flour
2-3 T oil (for frying)

Put potatoes in cold water to thaw. When ready, squeeze excess moisture out of potatoes and put in bowl. Add egg. Mix well. Add spices. Mix. Bleand in flour. The dough should be sticky.

Heat 1-2 T. of oil in a non-stick pan. Put a ladle full of batter in the center of the pan. Spread to form a pancake about 7 inches across. (Pat the dough down and out). Fry for about 5 minutes until browned, flip and repeat.

If the pancake breaks apart, add more flour before making the rest of the pancakes.

Sopsky (pronounced "shopsky")

Serves 4-6

2 tomatoes

1 English cucumber (I really like these better than normal cucumbers)

1 green pepper

1 yellow pepper

1 red pepper

1 sweet onion (yellow or white)

Feta cheese

Salt and Pepper

Chop all veggies and combine. Add salt and pepper. Mix. Shred or crumble feta on top. Serve chilled if possible. (Easy, right? But DELICIOUS!)

Mongolian

So the Mongols are mainly nomadic... and this food looked a bit weird, but it tasted really good and was really filling. Best part? One dish wonder.

This is Mongolian Zuivan. It's a noodle stew (not juicy though).

The noodles portion of the recipe didn't work out great, so I would use a different one next time or if you're in a crunch you could probably substitute something like egg noodles.


Zuivan
(serves 5-6)

2 lb. Stew Meat (beef, lamb, etc. we used beef)
Green cabbage, sliced
Radishes, sliced
Carrots, sliced
Onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Green onions, cut into rings
Salt
Pepper
Oil

Prepare homemade noodles (find a good recipe online)
Cut veggies into strips and the stew meat into chunks (if not already cut)
Saute half of the onion rings in oil
Add carrots, radishes (can also add other veggies as desired)
Add meat and saute
Add water as necessary
Season with garlic, salt, and pepper
Add cabbage, cover and cook so it reduces
Add water to 2/3 the height of veggies
Add onion rings
Add uncooked homemade noodles (you'll probably want to cook regular pasta)
Close the lid and cook for about 15 minutes (water should be boiling)
Reduce heat, air the noodles to allow them to become less sticky
Cook until everything is heated through and the noodles are done

A good everyday meal, looks a little iffy, but we all agreed it tasted really good and was incredibly filling.

Here's the noodle dough... and why it didn't work...

Jamaican Me Crazy!

So I'm a bit behind, so here are a couple of posts to catch up!

Jamaican night was fantabulous! (April 21). The night before we made this fantastic jerk chicken marinade... I had two habanero peppers and a couple jalepenos... Ian threw in another habanero... it was intense.

So, we had Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Cabbage Salad, Rice and Peas (beans), and Fried Plantains.

It was fantastic! Here a photo of us relaxing... Jamaican style haha.

Here are the recipes. The jerk chicken and plantains were the best!

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

1 big bunch of green onions
2 T soy sauce
2 T oil
1 T salt
Juice of 1 lime
1 T fresh thyme
1 T allspice
3 Habanero peppers (to taste for you)
2 Jalepeno peppers
1 thumb sized knuckle of ginger (don't bother peeling)
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 a small onion
2-3 T of brown sugar

Cooking Instructions:
Mix all ingredients in a mixer until pureed. Don't add extra water, it will be plenty juicy.


Dump over chicken and marinate over night.

We baked our chicken, but grilling or smoking it would do just as well. You can also baste it while cooking with sauce you set aside before marinating.


Jamaican Rice and Peas
(this makes a ton)

3 cups of rice
1 cup or can of fresh red peas (beans)
5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 uncut habanero or jalepeno pepper
3 Scallions
1 tin (or one cup) of coconut milk
1 t of salt
1 t of black pepper
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
7 c. water

Add garlic to boiling water (7 cups).
Add milk, rice, salt, pepper, and thyme.
Add beans.
Crust scallions and add. Also add pepper.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and place lid on pan.
Cook about 40 minutes or until rice is done.

Cabbage Salad
(also makes a lot)

1 Green cabbage
4 medium Carrot
6 Stalks Celery
1 Cucumber
½ Cup Sugar
½ Cup Vinegar
½ Cup Oil
1 Cup boiling water

Slice cabbage into thin strips
Slice carrot into thin slices
Slice celery in to thin strips crossway
Slice cucumber into thin strips
Place all ingredients in to a container
Pour the boiling water in the container
Cover the container for 20 minutes     
Drain the liquid
Serve at room temperature



Fried Plantains 
(these taste pretty much like fries)

Plantains
Oil for frying

Cut plantains into slices (you will have to cut the peel, they don't peel like bananas)
Place about 1/2 in of oil in pan and heat
Fry plantains well
Remove to paper towel covered cookie pan

We sprinkled half with brown sugar and half with salt. They were both really good.

Allow to cool.

This was a great meal! Try it!

Mexican Mania

So this week's international adventure was Mexican food, and since that's Ian's forte and realm he took the lead on this one. We went to this internet cafe (Cybergate) over by ShopKo and Olive Garden and had Mexican tortas. They were scrumptious! And we forgot to take pictures of them... sorry...

Later that evening, Ian made Mexican smoothies...

Don't they look scrumptious?! The cantaloupe really adds a great dimension, I suggest throwing a melon in there next time you make a smoothie!

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful (save for the fact that in the last two days Ian and I have been enjoying the bliss of either a virus or food poisoning together... huzzah...)

Last Saturday we went to our ward's closing social. It was a Brazilian BBQ and sports. It was a lot of fun...

Kimi and me enjoying the bliss that was the weather on Saturday.

Me, Ian, and Ian's tongue. A frequently seen element in our photos ;) hehe.

The rest of the week has been spent getting ready for finals, taking finals, relaxing from finals (not that I have finals... but...)

And there ya have it. A week in review.

Saudi Arabia

Arabian food! Woot!

So the Arabian food was a lot like the Moroccan food... no curry though, saffron instead, but the premise is very similar (tomato base, veggies, etc.)

I made Al Kabsa, Fattoush, and Falafel (I think I didn't put enough bread crumbs in the falafel because they didn't fry up right, so that recipe is going to be excluded until I figure out what works...)

Enjoy!

Al Kabsa
serves A TON

1/4 c. butter
Chicken breast pieces (how every many people you're planning on serving - 8-10)
1 lg. onion, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. tomato sauce
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 c. grated carrots
4 whole cloves
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch cumin
1 pinch coriander
1 pinch saffron
6 whole allspice berries
1/2 t. cinnamon
(Other spice suggestions are white pepper, dried limes, and green cardamoms, which we didn't have)
salt
pepper
4 c. hot water
1 chicken stock cube
2 1/4 c. basmati rice
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. slivered almonds, toasted

Melt butter in large pot. Add chicken pieces, onion, and garlic and saute until onion is tender.

Stir in tomato sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, carrots, and spices. Cook for a few minutes. Add water and stock cube.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover.
Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Add rice and stir carefully.
Re-cover and simmer for 45 minutes until rice is tender.
(Can remove chicken and brown it in the oven at low temperature instead of boiling it)
Serve rice on platter with chicken and garnished with almonds.


Fattoush (bread salad)


*This is a great fresh salad that is a bit tangy, but has a lot of different flavors to it

4 c. lettuce
1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 T. fresh cilantro, chopped
4 T fresh parsley, chopped
2 T. fresh mint, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
3 T. olive oil
1 T. lemon juice
2 c. well-toasted pita bread, broken into small pieces

Mix all except pita.
Add pita bread. Mix again.
Serve.

Enjoy!

Greekalicious

So this week was Greek. YUM. We had souvlaki kebabs, Greek salad, tzatziki dip, and then we added pitas to the mix when we ate leftovers on Wednesday!

Here's the Greek food in its glory. Ian was a terrific slicer, dicer, and skewer-er... haha.

And here are the recipes! Enjoy!

Souvlaki (Meat and Veggie Kebabs)
makes 15 or so kebabs of the above nature

1 lamb chop
1 lb. beef (of some kind)
(or whatever mixture of meat you'd prefer)

2 lemons
1/4 c. wine (red or white)
2 t. dried oregano
2 t. dried thyme
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small onion, chopped
Salt and pepper

2 red peppers
2 green peppers
2 onions
1 red onion
1 container grape or cherry tomatoes

Whisk together lemon juice (from 2 lemons) and wine. Add herbs, garlic, and chopped onion. Put some marinade aside for cooking later (if desired). Add meat, cubed, and mix together. Make sure meat is evenly coated and allow to sit for at least two hours (overnight is better).

Use either metal or wood skewers. (If using wood, make sure to soak at least 30 minutes before assembling kebabs). Chop peppers and onion into large pieces. Assemble kebabs.

Grill, BBQ, or bake in oven at 375 degrees F for about 20-30 minutes. Serve with tzatziki (also good as pita filler)


Tzatziki Dip
(this was great for Ian, because he doesn't like mayonnaise, and so this will be a great substitute)

32 oz. plain or greek yogurt
1/2 English cucumber, grated
5 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate. 


Greek Salad (Horiatiki)

3 T  extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon (juice)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tomatoes, cut into wedges
1/2 red onion, sliced into rings
1/2 English cucumber, sliced into half moons
1 green pepper, julienned
4 oz. (or so) feta cheese, crumbled or cut into cubes
1 small can kalamata olives (about 15-20)

Whisk olive oil and lemon juice together. Add garlic, salt, pepper, and oregano. Mix. Place salad ingredients in a large bowl. Pour dressing over just before serving. Garnish with fresh black pepper.

Legally Blonde and Illegally Praked

So we went and saw Legally Blonde in Salt Lake on Wednesday Night. Picture to prove it (kind of...)

The show was quite entertaining (as it was the last time I saw it). Ian told some of his engineering buddies about it and they called it bubble gum for the mind... good, but pretty pointless. It's true. But Legally Blonde is thoroughly entertaining!

Thursday we went to see Kimi's dance recital. They did a waltz and a Latin Medley... both of which were awesome... and both of which Kimi had solos in. She's an amazing dancer!

On Friday we went Cooleroo hunting with Seth and bunch of people from his ward. That was a lot of fun. Then we met up with Kimi, Nate, and Robyn after they went to Kimi's dance recital. We went and got frozen yogurt at YoZone. Good stuff.

On Saturday we went to HOLI - The Festival of Colors down at the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork. We went with Travis (my cuz) and his wife Jenessa. And the reason the title is "Illegally Praked" is because we saw this...

And we hope it's because someone sent their four-year old out to paint the sign...

Anyway, here is our "before" picture:

Aren't we beautiful? And here is the scene as we were walking up...

So after buying our bags of color, chilling for a bit, then making our way through the throng on the hill, we planted ourselves about midway up the hill. Ian gave me a blue Braveheart handprint on my face... I made him a red-head. (More like flaming orange, but...)

Good times all around. So after some pushing and shoving, preaching by the temples priest that no one heard, the countdown began... at 20. ? Seriously, who starts a countdown at 20?! Yeah, we got to about 13, then everyone just went nuts and started throwing the colors around. And after the sun darkened for a minute, you couldn't breathe for about two, this is what we looked like:

(Ian obviously had his sunglasses on during the whole thing... which was funny...)

So we walked the miles back to the car, dusted ourselves off, and came home.

Then Ian took me out for Mexican food, which was muy delicioso!

Sunday was a day of rest, which we desperately needed. We made Teriyaki burgers and sweet potato fries, and Seth brought over some delicious pork chops.

This week was crazy busy, but awesomely amazing!

Japanese Food Night!

When we drew this one out, I knew it was going to be pretty durn easy... So here's our absolutely necessary Asian picture....

Haha. We're funny. At any rate, Japanese night was a hit. We had Teriyaki chicken, Asian Slaw (not necessarily Japanese, but we needed some kind of vegetable...), Asparagus Tempura, and Miso Soup!

It was really great! So here are the recipes...


Teriyaki Chicken
serves 4

1 T. cornstarch
1 T. cold water
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. shoyu (soy sauce)
1/4 c. cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 t. ground ginger
Freshly ground black pepper
4 chicken breasts

Combine cornstarch and water in a saucepan. Mix together. Add all remaining ingredients except chicken. Simmer until sauce thickens and bubbles.  Set aside 1/8 c. of sauce.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place chicken in a lightly greased pan. Brush with sauce. Turn pieces and brush again. Bake for 30 minutes or until done and brush every 5-10 minutes with sauce.

Garnish with extra sauce, sesame seeds, and orange (if desired).


Asian Slaw

6 T. rice wine vinegar
6 T. vegetable oil
5 T. creamy peanut butter
3 T. soy sauce
3 T. brown sugar
2 T. ginger root
1 1/2 T. fresh garlic, minced
5 c. thinly sliced green cabbage
2 c. thinly sliced red cabbage
2 carrots julienned
6 green onions, chopped
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
(can also add napa cabbage and red bell peppers)

Whisk together rice vinegar, oil, peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, and garlic.

Combine remaining ingredients in separate bowl. Toss with sauce mixture just before serving. Garnish with sesame seeds.


Tempura Batter

1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 egg
2/3 c. ice water

Stir together dry ingredients and set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat egg slightly and mix with ice water.

Stir in the dry ingredients. Stir only until mixed. Will be slightly lumpy.

Dip whatever you would like (we used asparagus) into the batter and deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.



Miso Soup

4 c. water
4 T. Miso
Green onions
Tofu

Mix together water and miso until miso is dissolved. Add green onions and tofu (firm), simmer until warmed through and ready to eat.

Tomorrow is Greek Night. I'm pretty excited about it!