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.