Azerbaijan May 31, 2010

Until this week I’m not sure I had ever heard of Azerbaijan. I couldn’t have told you  that it was located on the Caspian Sea and I couldn’t have told you the capital is Baku. Now I can! I love learning about a new country. Especially one that sounds so interesting. The food, culture and nightlife of the capital entice me to one day visit.

YARPAQ DOLMAS

We love stuffed grape leaves and happen to have some in the fridge so we will make them again. This time we will use ground lamb; usually we make them vegetarian.  A great site to turn to for a collection of Azerbaijan meals is the AZ Cookbook by Farida.  It also includes recipes from other countries. You must have Saffron when making Azerbaijani rice dishes.

More information on Azerbaijan cuisine.

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Austria

Austria (Source: Zastivki)

I love the food in Austria! In 1998 my friends and I traveled to Innsbruck for a ski weekend. I fell down the icy mountain and next time I would return just for the food. The meals on the slopes were so delicious and memorable! Brats!! We loved it. Tonight we decided to try a more sophisticated dish than the bratwurst. We have also found a love for a new spice, Caraway. Who knew? Caraway and Beer. They go great together. Simply delicious served with potatoes. MEDALLIONS OF PORK WITH BEER AND CARAWAY SAUCE. We used store bought garlic oil and 2 teaspoons of caraway seeds but next time we could use a little more. Bon App!

Australia

Cool Aussie Food Sites

http://www.taste.com.au

http://www.ausfoodnews.com.au/

We asked our friend and superior chef Lisa from Australia to recommend a meal for us to try. She suggested to cook a modern Aussie meal and it is fabulous!!

We take fresh white fish and season it with olive oil, salt and blackening seasoning. Grill the fish 5 minutes each side until done. Serve this with a banana mango chutney, jasmine rice and cilantro oil drizzled around the plate.  This meal, down under, would be followed by PAVLOVA for dessert!  Delicious! Put the entire dish on your menu this week. We chose to make a Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova from Nigella but you can make a pavlova with or without chocolate and top it with any mixture of fruit or topping your heart desires. Nigella’s site is an excellent source for recipes. G’day mate!

Source: Flikr

Armenia May 27, 2010

Holy Meatballs! My favorite part about starting this blog is the websites I have run across while searching for new recipes to try. I have found so many that I have never seen, such as this one for Armenian cuisine.

http://www.thegutsygourmet.net/armenian.html

Excellent country to look for recipes, especially for lamb and beef. Meatballs!! We made a lentil soup. Yes, we love soups!

ARMENIAN LENTIL SOUP

Armenian Lentil Soup

Argentina May 22, 2010

We are almost through the A’s and I promise pictures will arrive enhancing our culinary adventure around the world. I’m headed back to the kitchen but check out Argentina, she is a tasty nation with good wine to boot!

Argentina is on my top five of next countries to visit. My girlfriend just spent a year there so I wrote to her for the scoop on Argentina’s most popular dishes. She said “EMPANADAS are huge, pizza (portenos are insistent that their pizza is far superior to the italian version) with faina (it’s a chickpea topping), locro is a type of meat stew, yerba mate is a very, very popular drink–kind of like tea, asado–and lots of it, particularly beef (their version of bbq), dulce de leche, alfajores (kind of cookie/cake with dulce de leche in the middle) and of course malbec wine.” We love steak and red wine and have it every couple of weeks but we want to make something new so we chose LOCRO. Locro is a stew popular throughout South America. It can be made with meat, corn, beans, potatoes and squash, you may find some recipes with cheese. Sometimes it is served with a hot pepper sauce on top. If you are grilling steaks this weekend serve them with a CHIMICHURRI and a Malbec, the Argentinian way!

Locro

Antigua and Barbuda May 18, 2010

From the shores of Antigua

We love Antigua and have enjoyed many meals ashore this island. From red snapper served whole (my husband loves the eyes) to Pepper Pot soup and Fish and Fungi, Antigua has many amazing authentic dishes. Fungi or Fungee is a popular dish throughout the Caribbean and is the national dish of Antigua and Barbuda along with Pepper Pot. It is a healthy side dish that goes great with fish, stew or meats. Give it a try!

FUNGI

1 package of frozen Okra

2c Yellow Cornmeal, fine

3c Water

1t Salt

2T Butter

Pepper to taste

Start with two pots. In one bring to boil the 3C water and in the other just enough water to par-boil the Okra. When your 3C is boiling slowly add the cornmeal. You must stir and stir and push the cornmeal around so it will not clump. It is not always easy. Drain water from okra and it it to the cornmeal mixture partially cooked. Next add the butter, salt and pepper. Let simmer together 5 more minutes. Like polenta you may let it dry then slice and fry it. Serves 6-8.

Antiguan Seasoned Rice

Angola

Last weekend we had friends over for dinner and they brought snapper that was locally caught here in the Virgin Islands. I decided to make a couple of sauces for the grilled fish. One was the tomato coriander sauce from Algeria and the other MOLHO CRU from Angola. Both were equally great with the fish. The Molho Cru looks like pesto but tastes entirely different and would also be great with grilled chicken or prawns.

MOLHO CRU

1/4c chopped parsley

3 green onions chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1t ground cumin

1/2t salt

A splash of water

4T white vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a mini processor and blend together, the consistency should be a bit runnier than a paste. Serves 4.