Week 2 - Andorra and Bahrain

Andorra isn't that much smaller than Bahrain, however the population size is enormous!

We liked our meals from both these countries and were surprised along the way...

Andorra: Escudella (stew)
Andorra: Cunillo (Rabbit stew)
Bahrain: Muhammar (sweet rice) dish

Bahrain - Machboos (chicken with rice)

Andorra: Escudella (stew)
source: http://travelbystove.palfreymedia.com/andorra-recipes-escudella.asp (accessed 23JAN2017)
This was lovely, although I didn't put in the pasta.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dry white beans (I used a 16 oz package of the small white ones)
• 1 ham bone
• 1 marrow, bone
• 3 chicken thighs (the recipe called for 1/4 of a chicken, but boneless-skinless is so much easier)
• 14 ounces raw pork sausage, rolled into balls
• 1 thick ham steak, cut into chunks
• 1/2 head green cabbage
• 1 large white potato, cut into large chunks
• 1/4 cup uncooked rice
• 1 cup pasta shells
• 1 cup canned garbanzo beans
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Roll the raw sausage into one- or two-bite sized balls.
2. Rinse the dry beans in cold water.
3. Meanwhile, cook the sausage balls over medium heat.
4. Dice the ham.
5. Put the beans, sausage, ham, chicken and bones into the pot with 8 cups of water.
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer, covered for two hours. The chicken should be very tender, almost falling apart.
7. Remove the bones and bring the remaining stock and meat back up to a boil (if there isn't a lot of liquid you can add more water).
8. Add the cabbage, potato, rice, pasta shells, garbanzo beans and salt and pepper.
9. Cook for another 30 minutes, or until the potatoes and rice are tender.

Andorra: Cunillo (Rabbit stew)

Source: http://www.food.com/recipe/andorran-cunillo-rabbit-in-tomato-sauce-499353 (accessed 23JAN 2017)

I must admit, ours looked much nicer the photo suggests!

1 rabbit jointed (about 1.5kg) or you can use chicken thighs

¹⁄₄ cup white vinegar, about

1 -2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves finely chopped

2 onions, sliced

500 g crushed tomatoes or 500 g chopped tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed

250 ml white wine

120 ml water

salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Wash the rabbit and rub with a little vinegar then joint and cut into about 15 serving pieces.
2. Add olive oil to the base of a large cast iron casserole dish and fry the rabbit in this until nicely browned. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Add the garlic, onion and tomatoes to the pan and fry gently for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the bay leaf, thyme and oregano. Now add the white wine and water and increase the heat so the mixture comes to a boil.
5. Reduce the volume by about half then add the rabbit and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
6. Reduce to a simmer, cover securely and cook gently for about 90 minutes, or until the rabbit is tender.

Bahraini Muhammar (sweet rice) dish

source: http://www.food.com/recipe/traditional-bahraini-muhammar-sweet-rice-dish-304145 (accessed 23JAN2017)

This is one of the most famous Bahraini dishes. It is a sweet rice dish which is typically served with fish. I just wanted to add: this recipe calls for 6 cloves, HOWEVER, I think it REALLY ONLY NEEDS 2 cloves! I did 3 cloves, for two of us and it was fine.

This was our surprise, I did it with Cod, as this fitted in with Andorran food too, as well as peas and oven cooked cherry tomatoes in olive oil and basil. Really nice.

Ingredients                                  

Servings 6                                                                                                                                                                                            

2 cups basmati rice, washed

¹⁄₄ teaspoon saffron

2 tablespoons rose water

3 cardamom pods, cracked

6 cloves (see Note above!)

1 cinnamon stick

¹⁄₄ cup ghee or ¹⁄₄ cup butter

¹⁄₂ cup sugar

1. Soak together saffron, cardamom, cloves, and rosewater; leave aside to steep.
2. Add rice to 6 cups of lightly salted boiling water: boil to half cooked - about 8 minutes; drain.
3. Stir sugar through the hot rice.
4. Heat the ghee or butter in the same pan the rice was boiled and add the sweetened rice. Sprinkle the rose water mix on top.
5. Cover the rim of pan with a cloth or paper towels and place lid on tightly.
6. Cook over very low heat about 20-25 minutes. Transfer to serving platter.
7. Top with melted butter.Directions

Bahrain - Machboos (chicken with rice)

Source: http://www.daringgourmet.com/chicken-machboos-bahraini-chicken-rice/ (accessed 23JAN2017)

"Chicken Machboos, or Machboos ala Dajaj (“spiced chicken and rice”), is the national dish of Bahrain, a small island country in the Persian Gulf neighbored by Saudi Arabia and Iran.  Machboos is similar to Biryani (from the Indian subcontinent) and Kabsa (from Saudi Arabia), all with varying cooking methods, ingredients, degree of spiciness, and assembly.   But all three are essentially meat and rice dishes."

Ingredients

• 2 large onions, diced
• 3 tablespoons ghee or unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon baharat (see recipe below)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• A combination of chicken thighs, legs and breasts (about 3 pounds)
• 1 hot green chile, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
• 5 large cloves or garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 large roma tomatoes, diced (or 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes, juices drained)
• 2-3 dried limes (loomi), several holes punched throughout each one
• 5 green cardamom pods
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon (about 2 inches long)
• 2½ teaspoons salt
• 2½ cups chicken stock
• 2 cups basmati rice (soaked for at least 15 minutes, then rinsed and drained)
• 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• Rosewater for sprinkling (optional, but recommended)
• For the Homemade Baharat:
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick (about 2 inches long)
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• ¼ teaspoon green cardamom seeds
• 1 tablespoon paprika powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• For the Baharat:
• Set the paprika and nutmeg powders aside. Place all remaining ingredients (whole seeds, cinnamon stick and cloves) in a small frying pan and dry roast over medium-high heat, tossing regularly to prevent scorching, for 3-4 minutes or until very fragrant. Transfer to a spice or coffee grinder and let cool. Add the paprika and nutmeg and grind all the ingredients to a fine powder. Store left over baharat in an airtight jar.

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and fry the chicken pieces on both sides until the skin is brown and crispy. Transfer the chicken to a plate and leave the remaining oil in the Dutch oven.
2. Add the ghee (or butter), reduce the heat to medium, and fry the onions until starting to brown, about 10-12 minutes.
3. Add the ginger, garlic, and green chile pepper and saute for another 2 minutes.
4. Add the baharat and turmeric and cook for another minute.
5. Return the chicken pieces to the Dutch oven along with the tomatoes, dried limes, cardamom pods, cinnamon, ground cloves and salt. Add the chicken stock and stir to combine. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for one hour.
6. Add the cilantro, parsley and drained rice and stir to combine. Return it to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for another 15-20 minutes until the rice is done and has absorbed the liquid.
7. Transfer the chicken and rice to a serving dish (either leave the chicken pieces tossed in with the rice, or place the chicken on top of the rice), and sprinkling with 1-2 tablespoons of rosewater (optional).
8. Serve with a green salad and yogurt raita.

Week 1 - Another adventure! Eurasia...

2016 didn't quite work with the different foods from different counties of Britain. Although we did follow it, for a fashion, throughout the year. But we found that each county has very similar foods, but called different things - such as Welsh Cakes, we had these several times under different names.

So, at the end of 2017 the family sat around and discussed 2017 challenge and came up with Eurasia! Each week we will cover an European country, as well as an Asian country and maybe have a meal which blends both. Something we are doing differently this year, is working through them in alphabetical order rather than 'pick randomly' out of a box.

Week 1 - Albania and Afghanistan

Menu for the week:
Albania - Leek Casserole (Tave me Presh)
Albania - Mixed Vegetables (Turli perimesh)
Afghanistan - Chelo nachodo (chicken & chick-pea stew with rice)
Afghanistan: Meatballs With Noodles Tossed In Yogurt

Our combined meal were the meatballs with the Mixed veg as well as a version of Afghanistan rice.


Albania - Leek Casserole (Tave me Presh)

I sourced several places for the recipe including: http://albaniantranslators.com/recipes.html (Accessed 19JAN2017). There are other variations which thicken the casserole and add more flavour, but we kept to this one. One website suggested eating it with bread, and this was really nice - specially if you let the juices be absorbed by the bread!

Servings: 4
Ingredients:

2 lbs leeks
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 lb ground meat
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
Mild red pepper
Salt
Pepper

Cooking Instructions:

Cut off the green leaves from leeks; wash and cut leeks slantwise into 1-inch thick slices. Sauté in a little oil and place in a baking pan. Sauté onion and ground meat in remaining oil. Add beef stock, tomato sauce, red pepper, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Pour meat mixture over the Sautéd leeks. Bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees F. Serve hot.

Mixed Vegetables (Turli perimesh)
We all loved this one, which we had with Afghanistan meatballs!


Servings: 4
Ingredients:

2 lbs various vegetables (peppers, eggplant, okra, zucchini, potatoes, etc)
1/2 cup oil, divided
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup peeled chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Salt
Pepper

Cooking Instructions:

After cutting off inedible tips of vegetables, wash and slice them into 1-inch squares. Sauté vegetables in half of the oil and remove them from the frying pan. Sauté onion and tomatoes in the remaining oil, and season with parsley, salt, and pepper. Put everything in a stock pot with a cup of water, cover tightly, and simmer until almost all moisture has cooked away. Serve hot, accompanied by steak, meatballs, or any other main dish.


Afghanistan: Chelo nachodo (chicken & chick-pea stew with rice)
source: http://www.asian-recipe.com/afghanistan/afghan-meat-dishes.html#che (accessed 19JAN2017)

I cooked rice my own way...
Here is a family-style dish to be served any time of year. It is a substantial soup stew, well seasoned in Afghan style & combined w/a crispy-bottomed rice provides contrasting texture to stew. The stew & rice are served separately.

Ingredients

Yield: 6 servings Ingredients:

• 5 c -water
• 4 Chicken legs and
• 4 Chicken thighs, loose skin -discarded
• 4 Chicken thighs, loose skin -discarded
• 1 c Dried chick-peas, soaked in -water overnight & drained
• 2 md (1 cup) onions, chopped
• 1 Rib celery w/leaves, sliced
• 1 lg Carrot, sliced diagonally
• 1 (1/2 lb) zucchini, sliced
• 1 ts Salt, or to taste
• 1/4 ts Pepper
• 1/4 ts Ground cumin seed
• 1/4 c Fresh coriander, chopped
• 1/4 c Fresh dill, chopped
• 4 c Water
• 1 ts Salt
• 2 c Raw rice, well rinsed
• 1/4 c Corn oil

Directions

1. To prepare stew: Bring water to a boil, add chicken pieces, & remove foam as it cooks. Add chick-peas, onions, celery, carrots, zucchini, salt, pepper, & cumin seed. Cover pan & cook over moderate heat for 45 mins. Add coriander, dill, & lemon juice & simmer over low heat for 15 mins more. This is sufficient to tenderized chicken & ingrate all seasonings.
2. To prepare rice: Bring 4 c water & salt to a boil in pan. Add rice & cook over moderate heat for 5 mins. Drain rice in colander & rinse w/cold water. Return rice to pan and pour oil over all. Cover pan & cook over low heat for 1/2 hr. No other water is added & rice cooks only moisture clings to it after rinsing. The rice will develop a crisp bottom layer.

Serve rice & stew separately. Each diner takes their own portion of rice & covers it w/as much stew as they wish. Serve warm.
VARIATION: 2 lb of boneless beef chuck cut into 6 equal pieces may be used in place of chicken, but cooking will take longer. Cook beef stew over moderate heat for 1 hour. Add coriander, dill, & lemon juice, reduce heat to low, & simmer, covered, 1/2 hour more, or until beef is tender. Recipe: “Sephardic Cooking” by Copeland Mark — 600 Recipes Created in Exotic Sephardic Kitchens from Morocco to India — Copyright 1992 Published by Donald I. Fine, Inc., New York, N.Y. D. Pileggi

Afghanistan: Meatballs With Noodles Tossed In Yogurt
source: http://www.asian-recipe.com/afghanistan/afghan-meat-dishes.html#che (accessed 19JAN2017)
I only did the meatballs from this recipe

4 servings
Serving Size : 6
MEATBALLS

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 spanish onion finely chopped
• 6 large ripe plum tomatoes core — peel, chop
• 4 sun-dried tomatoes finely chopped NOODLES
• 1 pound fresh fine egg noodles in Asian markets
• 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh mint chopped

Directions

For the meatballs:
In a bowl, combine the beef, cinnamon, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, salt, pepper, and half of the garlic. With clean hands, mix thoroughly, then shape the meat into 3/4-inch meatballs. Set them aside.
In a large, flameproof casserole, heat the oil, add the onion, and cook over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until it is very soft. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the meatballs. Cook, turning them often, until they lose their pink color.