Week 46 - Sweden and Turkenistan

Never heard of Turkenistan before, and I am not afraid to say that. There are so many countries in the world, that it has been nice to discover new ones and the locations of different places. To quote Lonely Planet's website "....plenty of visitors still think of Turkmenistan as a sort of totalitarian theme park. But the least-visited of Central Asia’s countries is far more than this – it's an ancient land of great spirituality, tradition and natural beauty" (accessed Nov2017). The images I found of Yangykala Canyon where amazing and it seems that gas and electricity are free! Another historic place is Ancient Merv, one of the most important cities along the Silk Roads of Central Asia. Founded around the 6th century BCE, it flourished as an administrative, trading, military& religious centre – becoming perhaps the third largest city in the world in the 10th century CE. Although some sites also say that it was in 330 BC, that Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria, which later became Merv. Regardless, it is an historic site, worthy of being a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We had Turkmen Shepheds pie! A specialty of Turkmen shepherds, ichlekli (pronounced ishlekli) is a meat pie that was traditionally baked by burying it in hot sand and embers. Nowadays, ichlekli is baked in the oven but the traditional technique is still kept alive by local enthusiasts.

Içlekli – Turkmen Shepherd’s Pie

Serves 4
For the filling:
500 g beef or lamb
1 tomato, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
½ bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground black pepper
Pinch of ground red pepper
8 tablespoons water
For the dough:
50 g butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
300 ml lukewarm water
500 g flour

1. Begin by partially freezing the meat for easier slicing. Then cut the meat into thin slices. Stack the slices, cut them into thin strips, then cut the strips crosswise into tiny pieces. Mix all the filling ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. In another large bowl, mix all the dough ingredients together and work to a soft dough. Divide the dough in half and roll each half between your palms into a ball. Cover the dough balls with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
3. Take one ball of dough, sprinkle some flour on it and roll it out to a circle of about 30 cm in diameter. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1 cm border.
4. Roll out the remaining ball of dough to the same size as the first and place it over the filling. Fold the edge over itself and press down firmly to seal.
5. Cut a small hole in the center of the pie to allow steam to escape, and prick the rest of the surface with a fork. Brush the top of the pie with water. Bake at 250°C (482°F) on the middle rack until the top is light brown, about 25 minutes. Serve right away.
Source: http://turkmenkitchen.com/en/2012/09/07/turkmen-shepherds-pie/ (accessed Nov2017)

We also had some delicious biscuits from Sweden, to make a change. The recipe did make quite a few and I did some thin, which is the traditional way and some thicker, which is our preferred way. To be fair, we liked them thick or thin; A picture of both options!

Pepparkakor (Swedish Cookies)

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, softened
150g castor suger
1 egg
1 tbsp. treacle
1 tbsp. syrup
250g plain flour (although I seemed to need much more, maybe too much syrup!)
pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice

Method
1. With an electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, syrup and treacle. Sift together the flour, salt and spices. Add the flour mixture to the biscuit batter and bring it all together to form a dough.
2. Knead briefly until smooth, place in a plastic bag and chill for 1 hour.
3. Pre heat the oven to 180C 350F Gas4. Roll the dough out to a thickness of 3mm, and cut out shapes with pastry cutters.
4. transfer the biscuits to several non stick baking sheets and bake in the top third of the oven for 10mins, until the edges darken slightly. Leave on the tray a few minutes to cool and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. ( I did my thins ones for 7 mins and the thicker for 10)

Source: 'Step by Step Baking' Caroline Bretherton, DK Books, 2011.

Week 45 - Spain

Just the one country this week, as it is a week that ends with a '0' or '5'. Spain, we love Spanish food; in particular Tapas. But, I have recently been sorting out lots of recipes collected from various magazines and I came across a Spanish meatball recipe, so I opted to do this one. It was enough for 8, so on the first day my husband and I had it with pasta and he scored it a 9, the only reason it didn't make a 10 was I had some Olives left over that I chucked it - and they were not part of the recipes and they are not his favourite. However, they added to the dish, in my humble opinion.

The left overs were had with small roasted pots, and a courgette and pepper tapas dish which is simply roasted veg in tomato sauce; sauce I used from the meatballs. All very tasty.





I am not sure how authentic these are, but they tasted as good as some we have had in Spain!

Albóndigas

Ingredients:
Meatballs:
85g Serrano ham
2 gloves of peeled garlic
50g white breadcrumbs
3tbsp milk
500g lean mince beef
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
large handful of chopped parsley (optional)
1 egg
3 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. olive oil

Sauce:
2 tbsp. olive oil
5 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
2 gloves garlic, peeled and crushed
large pinch chilli
2 x 400g tin of tomatoes
2 bay leaves
100ml white wine (optional)

To serve, chopped parsley

1. Pu the ham and garlic in a food processor and finely chop. Add the rest of the meatball ingredients, apart from the flour and oil and mix well.
2. Shape into about 36 meatballs, season flour with black pepper then roll the balls onto it. Heat the oil in a pan and fry some for a few minutes to ensure they are golden; put onto a plate and repeat until all of the meatballs are cooked.
3,. Meanwhile make the sauce, soften the shallots for 10mins in the oil. Add the garlic and chilli and cook for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves and wine (if using) and cook for 10mins more.
4. Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for 15mins, until the sauce is thicker and the meatballs cooked.
Serve sprinkled with parsley, if you want.

Source: Co-op magazine

Week 44 - Slovenia and Thailand

Zlikrofi, again a good sound, and it was , what I know as, ravioli! (considering how close Slovenia is to Italy I should have realised!) but if you look at the recipe it does mention that you make 150 of these from the ingredients - that is going to take a long time. I made enough for 4; and they were bigger but that still took a little while. But it was a good excuse to listen to something on the radio as I rolled, filled and pinched together. I made a broth from lamb stock, carrots and mushrooms and cooked the ravioli in that for 10 mins, the pork in the ravioli was already fried off.

From Thailand my son picked out a pad thai recipe that we discovered from a previous challenge, so I will not replicate the recipe here - just search for Thailand and you will discover it too. It was lovely, as ever....

Zlikrofi

Dough
250 g flour
2 eggs
2 tbs oil
2 fl oz water
Mix this all together and leave in fridge for 30 mins.

Filling
pork 500g
Spices - chives marjoram

Fry off the prok 500g, which is mixed with chives and marajoram. Leave this to cool.

Broth
Lamb stock
carrots, sliced
mushrooms sliced

Assemble, in any way you fancy! I divided my dough in four. Rolled out two bits nice and thin, but teaspoons of mixture on and then brushed water around the them all and layered the other rolled out dough on top. I have a square cutter, so I used this to try and make them all the same size for cooking.

For cooking, I had lamb stock, carrots and mushrooms simmering for 15 mins, then added the ravioli until cooked. Served with the broth. It was very tasty indeed!

Week 43 Slovakia and Tajikistan

Halusky seemed a nice sounding name for a dish; and as you know I like nice sounding names for dishes! In essence it is gnocchi, now I have made gnocchi before, and last week I mentioned that we were finding this a little challenging, so I opted for bought stuff. To be fair it was fresh and not frozen. I fried up some bacon and piled it on with the cheese, just as most of the recipes appeared to suggest was all that was needed. Now, I don't eat cheese and I think I missed out, as gnocchi and fried bacon isn't something that the Italians would ever write about! The boys liked it with the cheese and bacon, country done....

On the other hand the lamb dish from Tajikistan was similar to that which we should have had from Syria, Plov - pilaf - I cooked the diced lamb for an hour in the oven, in lamb stock  with cumin, garlic, carrots and onions. Then I added the rice and barberries (currants soaked in lemon) and cooked for another hour. I served it all up on a central plate and we all dived in! It was a lovely Sunday meal, lots of chatter and a clean plate! It may not have the approval of the oshpaz, but it had our approval. Simple, but very nice...

I found this on The Guradian website, which sums up Plov nicely:
"Though served all over central Asia, plov is a national obsession in Uzbekistan and across the border in neighbouring Tajikistan, where people pride themselves on their skill in preparing the tasty dish. The most skilled chefs – called oshpaz – can serve plov for up to 1,000 people from a single kazan (cauldron) at weddings and festivals. For Uzbeks, arguably the masters of plov, the dish represents hospitality, community and identity.

Travellers have long noted the qualities – and quantities – of this rice dish. Arminius Vámbéry, in his 1863 book Travels in Central Asia, wrote of a plov prepared in Samarkand: “The princely pilow [plov] … consisted of a sack of rice, three sheep chopped to pieces, a large pan of sheep’s fat (enough to make five pounds of candles) and a small sack of carrots …”"

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/jul/30/plov-rice-meat-dish-uzbekistan-national-dish-central-asia (Accessed Nov 2017)

Week 42 - Serbia and Taiwan

Wow, this Apple Pie was anything but lazy, but it was not difficult to make and it was lovely. My dough was more of a sponge than a pastry dough, so I couldn't roll it - even though I followed the instructions. So something went wrong, however it was delicious. A friend had a piece and she agreed, but also said it reminded her of an apple cake her Polish friend made.

I had also found a pineapple cake from Taiwan, but haven't yet made it although I have included the recipe. One day I will get around to it. [Have been reminded by my husband that I will not be making this cake, as he cannot eat Pineapple! We shall see....] We are all getting a little tired of this challenge, so many different foods and as my husband says, when we come across a gem (such as this cake) we never have it again! I think they are worried that they will get lost in my never ending pile of recipes. I hope that these logs will allow me to find them and do them again.

Lenja pita sa jabukama (Lazy apple pie)

(enough for 4 people) - I made a tray and cut into 9 pieces!

Ingredients:

• 200 g margarine,
• 100 g lard,
• 400 g sugar,
• 4 eggs,
• 2 cups of milk,
• 600 g flour,
• 1 sachet of baking powder,
• vanilla sugar,
• 1 kg sour apples.

Preparation:

1. Stir together 200 g of margarine and 100 g of lard, add 10 tablespoons of sugar and 4 egg yolks and continue stirring well.
2. Add 2 cups of milk, 600 g of flour mixed with a baking powder and vanilla sugar. Knead the dough.
3. Put more than half of dough in greased baking pan, then well beat 4 egg whites with 6 tablespoons of sugar and pour over the dough in the pan. Add 1 kg of sour grated apples to all of that.
4. Spread the rest of the dough to form the crust that fit pan shape and place it over filling.
5. Place the pie into the medium heated oven and bake until the crust is golden brown.
6. Sprinkle powder sugar over warm pie.

Source: http://www.serbiancookbook.com/food-recipes/desserts/page/2/ (Accessed Nov2017)

Taiwanese Pineapple Tarts/Shortcakes Recipe

Ingredients:
2 stick butter (1 stick of butter = 113 grams)
1/2 Tbsps shortening
2 Tbsp Icing sugar
1 egg
1 tsp pineapple essence (optional)
3 cups All-purpose flour
2 Tbsps Milk Powder
2 Tbsp cornflour

Method:
Cream butter, shortening and icing sugar till light and fluffy for around 8 minutes.
Add in egg and essence if using.
Fold in all purpose flour, cornflour and milk powder. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Divide dough into 30 pcs and wrap with the pineapple filling.
Press it onto the square mould and bake it at 170 celcius for 15 – 20 minutes and turn it around to bake for another 15 minutes or till brown.
Source: http://rasamalaysia.com/taiwanese-pineapple-tarts-recipe/2/ (accessed Nov 2017)

Pineapple Paste

Ingredients:

• 250 gm of fresh pineapple. Diced roughly
• Sugar
• Lemon (juice)
• Corn flour (mix ½ Tbsp corn flour with ½ Tbsp water and mix to a homogeneous slurry)

Method:

1. Homogenise the pulp in a kitchen processor.
2. Strain off the juice and retain the pulp mass.
3. Transfer the pulp with sugar and an amount of lemon juice, appropriate to your preference, into a brass pot. (Amount of lemon depends on the variable sweetness of the fruit)
4. Simmer for 30 minutes to cook and thicken the paste by reduction.
5. Add the mixed corn flour slurry and mix this quickly,  but completely into the pineapple jam.  Turn off the heat immediately to prevent scorching of the corn flour. Any uncooked flavour of the corn flour will be cooked out in the baking process. The cornf lour stiffens the paste making it somewhat easier to roll and hold the shape of the ball during preparation. It can be made without the corn flour.
6. The resulting paste is now suitable for making the Pineapple Tarts.

Notes:
Additional flavourants are added by many Asian and Eurasian cooks to this jam including cinnamon, star anise and pandan leaf during the cooking.

Source: http://ediblyasian.info/recipes/pineapple-paste-for-pineapple-tarts (Accessed Nov 2017)

Week 41 - San Marino and Syria

What a combination! San Marino a tiny little state that over the centuries has held on to its independence, and Syria (at time of writing Oct 2017) a place that even Lonely Planet hasn't got an entry about and advises to avoid at all cost.

However, my sister-in-law lives in Lebanon and she has been to Syria several times, saying that the place and people are just as nice as anywhere else. She gave me a wonderful recipe book, and in side there I found a lamb dish.

Pasta Roses with Cheese & Ham

Serves 6-8
Nidi di Rondine -” Swallow’s Nests” is a popular pasta dish in San Marino. It is a quick way of making a filled pasta. It is pretty and looks difficult to make but isn’t ! The classic rosettes are filled with a little béchamel sauce sprinkled with Parmigiano-Reggiano and topped with sliced cooked ham and fontina cheese.
Ingredients:

• 1 Package lasagna pasta noodles
• 1 cup béchamel sauce, directions below
• 3/4 lb. prosciutto or ham, sliced thin
• 1 1/3 cup Fontina or Emmenthal cheese, thin slices
• 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
• Parmigiano Reggiano to sprinkle on top

Directions:
To make the Béchamel:

• 2 tablespoons (Wondra) flour,
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup milk
• salt
• 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

Whisk milk and flour in a saucepan together, add butter and place pan over moderate high heat.
Keep whisking until sauce thickens. Season with salt and the 2 tablespoons of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
To pre-cook the pasta:
Cook just 3 lasagna pieces at a time in salted boiling water. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen towels. Turn them over to dry on both sides.
Pre-heat the oven to 375° F.
To fill and assemble the Rosettes:
Coat the bottom of a large baking dish with 1 cup of the marinara sauce.
Spread a thin layer of béchamel on the pasta pieces, then sprinkle with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and place slices of prosciutto or ham and cheese on top.
Roll up each in piece into a cylinder. Place them close together cut side up in baking dish.  Continue the process until the dish is full – if you have space left use crumpled balls of foil to fill in the space and keep the rolls upright.
Use kitchen scissors to nick the rolls in a few places and pull out pasta “petals” turning them down a little so they stay open during baking. See picture above.
Dot the top of the pasta roses with the remaining marinara sauce and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top of the “roses” are crisp and golden.
Source: https://jovinacooksitalian.com/2012/10/31/the-cuisine-of-italy-san-marino/ (accessed Nov 2017)

Week 40 - Russia

Week 40, I am still behind as I should be on Week 44 - however I am slowly catching up. Russia this week and I used my mothers old cook book for inspiration. However, it did not turn out how it should have but it was really nice and scored highly. But, as my poor husband commented, it was probably one of those dishes we really liked but would never taste again.....

I have included a photo from my mums cookbook to show how it should have looked; however I forgot to take a picture of how it did look! But I love the comment attached to it....

Basically I did what the recipe said but I did not have as much butter to cook it in as they stated, nor did I have it as hot as they stated. So, I cooked it all on the outside until it held its shape. Then I cut it into bits, then continued cooking. I served on a Russian inspired rice, which was rice cooked in chicken broth with mushrooms, and peas and it was very nice indeed.

Here is the recipe...

For two, the original recipe said 1 chicken, and slice off the breasts - no wonder they thought it extravagant!

2 chicken breasts, 2oz butter, 2oz chopped mushrooms, egg and breadcrumbs, clarified butter for frying. salt and pepper.

Slice a thin fillet about 4 inches long and 2 inches wide from the breast (this was not easy!)
Run a sharp knife into the flesh of the breast and right round to make an envelope. Take the fillet and wrap it firmly around 1oz butter.
Put this inside the envelope with mushrooms and salt and pepper and close firmly.
Sprinkle the stuffed breast with flour, dip first in egg and then in breadcrumbs and fry in hot clarified butter for 5 mins.

It was nice and I would do a revised version again....

Week 39 Romania and Sri Lanka

We love sausages, and whenever I see a recipe linked with sausages I tend to steer towards it. These more so, as they had no skins which can be tricky if you do not have a nifty little machine that helps you out. The Romanian version did not let us down, they were easy to make as well as being very tasty. I did a sort of veg stew to go with them, based on ratatouille ingredients as well as a baked potato, delicious. We also liked the name of them, and I love a good sounding name of a dish!

Sri Lanka was a little different, we had a curry; which sounded like a good idea but exploring to find an 'authentic' recipe opened up the usual issue of there being so many slightly different versions of a theme. So, I decided - on this occasion - to join in and create my own version. The boys and I liked it, so country ticked off as done.  I used cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, coconut milk, dill and veg and served with plenty of rice. There are better recipes out there, but we liked this one.

The story has it a popular mid-19th-century Romanian Inn, famous for its sausages, was out of a customer favorite. To save time, the chef formed the unstuffed meat mixture into sausage-shaped cylinders and grilled them over charcoal. The customers delighted in "the wee ones without skin," and so these case less sausages became known as mititei or "the wee ones."

Mititei also can be made with lamb or pork or a combination, and formed into patties or meatballs and grilled, broiled, pan-fried or baked in the oven. Indoor grills work great, too.

Ingredients
1 pound ground chuck
1 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons water
3 to 9 finely chopped garlic cloves or to taste
2 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes or to taste
1 tablespoon hot Hungarian paprika or to taste
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

How to Make It

Place 1 pound ground chuck, 1 pound ground pork, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons water, 3 to 9 minced garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons thyme, 1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon hot Hungarian paprika, 2 teaspoons caraway seeds, 1 tablespoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper in a large bowl and mix thoroughly, wetting your hands frequently to keep the meat moist. Cover bowl and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.
Using slightly dampened hands, divide mixture into 18 equal portions and form into oval sausages about 3 inches long and 1 1/2 inches thick.
Grill, broil or pan-fry 7 minutes per side or bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Serve with tomato and green onion salad, sour cream sprinkled with paprika, baked potato or french fries, or rice.
"Mititei" make great appetizers and are wonderful cold the next day in a sandwich.
Source: https://www.thespruce.com/romanian-sausages-recipe-mititei-1137277