Ethiopia: Meal #32

The savory dishes in this meal were based off of recipes from www.food.com/recipes/ethiopian ("Ethiopian-style Lentils With Yams") and Dabo Kolo from www.africa.upenn.edu/Cookbook/Ethiopia.html



For the fruit salad I just tried to use fuits that they would/might eat in Ethiopia. (I'm not an expert. :) I used grapes, mandarin oranges, and grapefruit slices. It was tasty anyway. :)

Native American: Meal #31

This meal was based off of recipes from http://www.ocbtracker.com/ladypixel/natrec1.html and http://baking.food.com/recipe/choctaw-pumpkin-cake-68765 exluding the vanilla whipped cream for the cake. :)

"Pojoaque Cream Soup" and "Brown Bread"



"Choctaw Pumpkin Cake" (This cake was so simple to make.)

France the 2nd: Meal #30

This meal was the first one I did in February. I haven't done one since it; but I plan to! The recipes were based off of ones from "Cooking the French Way" by Lynne Marie Waldee.

Potato-and-Leek soup (I used green onion) and Croque Monsieur (One way to describe the latter would be French toast sanwiches with white sauce.)


Chocolate Mousse topped with homemade whipped cream and semi-sweet chocolate

Denmark the 2nd: Meal #29

This meal was also served in January. These are my "versions" of recipes from http://www.mindspring.com/~cborgnaes/ The one towards the top of the plate is a hash; but I threw everything in the crockpot. :) The lower one is "Grandmother's Sweet-Sour Cabbage - Mormors Hvidkål". It was buttery and yummy. :)

For dessert we had "Quick Coffee Cake with Fresh Fruit - Galop Kaffekage"; which I made with frozen blueberries and served with vanilla ice cream. The word "quick" was attractive to me. :)

Iceland: Meal #28

This meal was mainly based off recipes from http://www.simnet.is/gullis/jo/ I made it in January.

Peas, a dish with bacon-and-mushrooms-and-things called "Boneless Birds" (which by the way contains no bird), and homemade rhubarb jam to go with the Boneless Birds

We had vanilla ice cream for dessert and I believe at least a couple of us had the jam with it; but I had had enough of it with my meal that I just wanted plain ice cream. :) It went well with the main dish though.

Shaina's Birthday: Meal #27

My oldest sister Shaina had a birthday on the 14th. This meal was based off of what Shaina was in the mood for. :) I made/prepped most of the food.





We had burgers (I mixed beef and pork), yams turned into oven fries, applesauce to go with the fries, and at least a couple of us had ginger ale to drink.



For dessert I made a peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake (Those are broken up Reese's
peanut butter cups on top). Both the meal and the dessert we had later were quite filling. :)

Germany: Meal #26

This meas was based off of "Cooking the German Way" by Helga Parnell.

Buttered Asparagus, Spaetzle, and Pork Roast(I did mine in the crockpot.)

Denmark: Meal #25

These recipes came from more than one website, inspiration, improvisation, and imagination.



My little, vintage moon glass creamer



Danish Lima Beans, Crisp-Fried Onions, and Frikadeller (Danish meatballs)



Fruit compote with cream

Russia: Meal #24

This meal was based off of recipes from ruscuisine.com.

Pork chops with Cossack Cherry Relish



Stuffed Mushrooms



and Russian Fruit Salad

Ireland: Meal #23

This meal was derived from irelandseye.com, buzzle.com, a random inspiration from televion, and yours truly.

Mum brought home beautiful roses the other day.





The peas and pearl onions weren't an Irish recipe; but I wanted a lighter vegetable side to go with the meal. The other dish is Dublin Coddle. I used applewood smoked bacon, pork sausage etc.



Irish Rhubarb Pie



Here is the recipe for Dublin Coddle copied from irelandseye.com

Dublin Coddle

This is a very popular dish, especially in Dublin, and has been so for many years. It is nourishing, tasty, economical and warming - what more could you ask? Although it is best made with a good stock - water in which a ham has been boiled, or even a ham bone - a light stock cube will substitute.

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1lb/ 500g best sausages
8oz/ 250g streaky bacon
1/2pt/ 300ml/ 1 cup stock or water
6 medium potatoes
2 medium onions
salt and pepper
(serves four)

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Cut the bacon into 1in/ 3cm squares. Bring the stock to the boil in a medium saucepan which has a well-fitting lid, add the sausages and the bacon and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the sausages and bacon and save the liquid. Cut each sausage into four or five pieces. Peel the potatoes and cut into thick slices. Skin the onions and slice them. Assemble a layer of potatoes in the saucepan, followed by a layer of onions and then half the sausages and bacon. Repeat the process once more and then finish off with a layer of potatoes. Pour the reserved stock over and season lightly to taste. Cover and simmer gently for about an hour. Adjust the seasoning and serve piping hot.

Stuffed Apples

Sasha posted about our Thanksgiving meal on her blog http://iamthebee.blogspot.com/ on the 25th. We made the meal this year. I probably won't blog it even though I took pictures; so please feel free to check it out on her blog.

I made up some stuffed apples on Monday and will post a usable recipe here. :)

Preheat oven to 350 F.



In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup dried cranberries...



1/4 cup sugar (I used sucanot. Brown sugar would work well.)...



and 1/4 cup sliced almonds.



I used 4 nice, big Michigan apples.



Slice off a small amount of the base so that the apple will sit upright.



If you don't have an apple corer (I don't.) take a knife and make 4 slits around the core in the shape of a square. Repeat on the bottom; then push the core out from the base through the top. Make additional cuts, if necessary, to make the core come out. :)



Place the apples in a baking dish. Stuff with the filling; then put a pat of butter on top of each apple.



Bake for 20 minutes at 350 F. Check for doneness. If the apple feels slightly "squashy" to the touch take them out of the oven.




Serve them with ice cream (such as vanilla or a fall-type flavor), whipped cream (flavored with vanilla, cinnamon + sweeter would be good), or drizzled with cream as I did.

Impromtu Supper

Supper before last, I made up a dish and tried one that I'd seen that day on a cooking show.



1. The one on the left is my version (very similar) of a dish made on French Frood at Home.
I cooked some onion, radishes, and peas in butter and seasoned them with salt, (pepper?), and dill. It requires very little cooking, and is unique and tasty. I don't believe I'd ever seen radishes cooked before and was intrigued. Just that short amount of cooking takes off a good bit of that peppery flavor found in radishes. (I do like radishes raw as well.)

2. On the right is a pasta dish wherein I used extra wide whole grain noodles, ground beef, tomato, dried basil, garlic, eggs, milk, water, and salt and pepper.

I wouldn't mind making that vegetable side in the summer using fresh chives and dill. Yum. :)

Hungaria: Meal #22

Here is the rest of my Hungarian meal. I forgot to take pictures of the chicken dish after it was cut up; so you'll have to use your imagination. :)

biscuits to go a bit with my cold plate instead of the recomended rolls & butter.



A "modified" version of Paprika Chicken. :)

Preparation & radishes

I started prepping food for my ethnic meal and thought I would post some photos. I also made supper for my dad. This is not an exhaustive gallery of what I've done, but shows a good bit. :)

Apple and Pear sauce



Beautiful Radishes



Hungarian Cold Plate (In this case casserole dish.)



I layered farmers' cheese, smoked provolone, and hard salami. This dish also contains ham, turkey, cucumber, red and yellow bell pepper, and radishes.



As part of our supper I made a little hash. We'll call it "Hungarian Hash". :)



First, I cooked some ham, turkey, hard salami, and bell pepper in olive oil/salt&pepper; then I added a bit of leftovers consisting mainly of roasted potatoes. I did a bit of chopping and further cooking; and that was all.

Italy the 2nd: Meal #21

This meal was based off of Giada De Laurentiis' book Everyday Italian and from a recipe I recently saw her make on TV. :)

A great resource for her recipes is http://www.foodnetwork.com/

Extra wide whole grain noodles with pork sausage, peas, and mushrooms



Homemade Pita Chips with White Bean Dip



Raspberry Mousse

China: Meal #20

This meal was based about 75% off of Cooking the Chinese Way by Ling Yu.





A Chicken soup with water chestnuts



Fruit Float (This is made with homemade gelatin.)



Little wonton "pillows"





I didn't want to go to the fuss of making meat-stuffed wontons; so I invented a recipe.
This isn't exactly how I made these; but I will try to post a usable version here.
These would be good assembled a day ahead of time and baked off the next day as a side for a breakfast, brunch, or as an appetizer.

Wonton "Pillows"

>preheat oven to 375 F.

(I'm sure these could be fried in oil as well.)

>Ingredients

1 package wonton wrappers

16 oz. cream cheese (You might want to let it soften a bit.)

1/4-1/3 cup honey

1/4-1/3 cup zante currants or raisins

a small cup of water

>Assembly

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix together the cream cheese, honey, and dried fruit by hand or with an electric mixer.
Put a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of a wonton wrapper and, using a pastry brush or your fingers, brush water around the edges of the wrapper. Seal into a triangle with your fingers (a turnover shape). Then, brush the pointed edges with water and fold into an envelope shape.
Bake at 375 F. for 15 minutes. Makes a whole package of wonton skins, over 2 dozen, but i'm not sure how many. :)