Bosnia

Bosnian Burek and Bosanski Lonac

I made these dishes on Tuesday, December 22. Both are national dishes of Bosnia. I made the burek, which is a meat-filled pastry, to bring as a dish to share at my friends Peter and Ryan's Christmas party. I made two pots of the Bosanski lonac (Bosnian stew): one for Andy and his roommate Mully, and one for my parents.

The burek was good. I cut the onions a bit too large, but that was my fault, not the fault of the recipe. Those who ate some enjoyed it. I would make it again. The lonac was also good, but a bit bland. There is not a lot of seasoning involved. I think it would be more interesting with some more pep.

Burek
Modified from the original:

Ingredients:
Dough
- 5. c. flour
- 1 1/2-2 T. butter, melted
- salt
- warm water

Filling-1 lb. ground veal
-1/2 lb. ground beef
-1-2 c. onion, chopped
-1 1/2-2 T. butter, melted
-2 egg yolks
-salt and pepper

Directions:
1) Mix flour, melted butter, salt and warm water to prepare the pastry. Knead.
2) Cut the pastry in four equal pieces.
3) Mix the meat, melted butter, chopped onions, egg yolks, salt and pepper together.
4) Roll the pastry out on the table until very thin and leave for few minutes to dry.
5) Cover the pastry thinly with melted butter. Put the filling at the edge of one side of the pastry and roll it up to create sausage roll like pastry.
6) Take the round dish and create the spiral with the pastry starting from the middle of the dish.
7) Bake 30 minutes on 375F. Before completely baked pour either double cream or butter melted in warm water over top.

Bosanski Lonac
Modified from the original recipe

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. beef, cubed
- 1 lb. lamb, cubed
- 1 cabbage, cut into bite sized wedges
- 2-3 carrots. peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
- 3-4 large tomatoes, cut up in wedges
- 3-4 large potatoes, peeled and cut up in wedges
- 2 onions, cut up in wedges
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 2 green bell peppers, cut up in wedges
- 1/2 T. olive oil
- 1/2 T. vinegar
- salt and pepper
- 1 c. water
- 1 c. white wine

Directions:
1) Cut up vegetables in large pieces.
2)Cut meat in large, bite sized pieces.
3) Layer meat and vegetables in a large soup pot. (one layer of vegetables, one layer of meat, and so on).
4) Add white wine and water.
5) Cook until meat and vegetables are cooked, about 2 1/2 hours on low to medium heat.

NOTE: Do not stir this stew. Just let the vegetables and meat simmer together and they take care of themselves.

Bolivia

Bolivian Salteñas

I made this dish on Sunday, December 20 for Andy, my older sister Betsey and my parents. I chose to make this dish because it is the national dish of Bolivia. I guess in Bolivia it is usually eaten as a late breakfast meal. We ate it for dinner. It was a hit! Every bite was a little different: sometimes salty, sometimes sweet. I would definitely make these again, although they take a bit of planning because the filling has to gel overnight.

I made this almost a month ago and am just now getting around to writing about it. If I recall, the process was quite simple, even though there are a lot of steps.

Here is the recipe I used, slightly adapted from the original.

Salteña filling
(to be made a day ahead of time and left to gel in the refrigerator overnight)

Ingredients:-3 T. butter
-2 c. white onion, chopped
-1 1/2 cups gelatin (I dissolved 1-2 packets in 1 1/2 c. boiling water)
-1/2 c. canned red chile sauce
-salt and sugar to taste
-cumin and oregano to taste (2 - 3 teaspoons of each)
-1 lb. ground beef
-1 c. cooked peas (I used canned)
-1 c. potato, peeled, cubed and cooked
-1/2 c. raisins
-2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
-5 black olives (watch out for the pits)

Directions:
1) Fry the onions until soft.
2) When onions are soft, add the cumin, oregano, salt and sugar. Stir and fry for a couple of minutes.
3) Then, add the meat and continue frying. When the meat is browing add the chile sauce and cook a little while longer then remove and let cool.
4) When cool, mix the gelatin, potatoes and peas into the mixture. Refrigerate until the next day.

Salteña Dough
Ingredients:-6 c. flour
-6 T. butter
-2 egg yolks
-1/2 c. milk
-1 T. sugar
-1 1/2 c. cool water
-1 tsp. salt

Directions:
1)Sift the flour into a bowl, add salt and sugar.
2) Melt the butter and add to the flour. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well and knead for 5 mins.


Making the Salteñas:
1) Roll out the dough into a sausage and cut into pieces large enough to roll into circles about 2 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick.
2) Add filling to each circle, then top with raisins, egg and olives as desired.
3) Brush the edges of the circle with egg or milk and fold over to seal the Salteñas shut. Make an edge by pressing your fingers along the seal.
4) Place onto a well greased baking tray and glaze the Salteñas with milk or egg.
5) Cook for 20 to 30 minutes in a oven pre heated to 572F- until golden.
6) Leave standing on a cooling tray for 10 mins before eating.

Bhutan

Bhutanese Ema Datshi, Beef and Mushroom Tshoem and Red Rice

I made this dish for Andy and myself on Tuesday, December 8. We both enjoyed this dish, particularly the tshoem and rice. The ema datshi was a little spicy for our tastes, but still good. If you like really spicy fare, I would certainly recommend it. The tshoem, despite its inclusion of jalapeños, was not spicy at all.

Ema datshi is the national dish of Bhutan. I read that because Bhutan is surrounded by the Himalayas, there are not a lot of exports from the country. The chilies and cheese that the recipe calls for are therefore not readily available in the United States. The recipe called for green chilies of medium hotness; I felt that the closest would be jalapeños. The recommended substitute for the Bhutanese cheese was Danish feta. They did not have this at Kowalski's so I just used some feta made in Wisconsin. Not very authentic, but the dish was still good. As I said earlier, it was super spicy, and I even seeded half of the jalapeños. The spice comes from the seeds, so if you're wanting less spice, you could seed all of the peppers. This dish should be served with Bhutanese red rice.

Bhutanese red rice is imported from Bhutan. I found it at Kowalski's. To prepare it, I simply followed the package instructions. The rice is kind of firm and tastes a bit nutty. Andy and I both enjoyed it.


Tshoem translates to curry. I guess that originally "curry" just meant a thick stew; it didn't have anything to do with the spice. This was a really good dish. But then again, what wouldn't be good after being simmered in an entire stick of butter for two hours? It was rich, and the onions caramelized. Kowalski's didn't have any oyster mushrooms, so I used shiitake. This dish is also supposed to be served over red rice.

Ema Datshi (original recipe)


Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb jalapeños, cut longitudinally (into 4 pieces each)
- 1 onions, chopped longitudinally
- 1 3/4 c. water
- 2 tsp. vegetable oil
- 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
- 1/2 lb. (Danish) feta cheese, cubed
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cilantro leaves

Directions:
1) Put chilies and onions in a pot with water. Add vegetable oil. Boil over medium heat for 10 minutes.
2) Add tomato and garlic. Boil for 2 minutes.
3) Add cheese and let it remain for 3 more minutes.
4) Add cilantro and turn off heat. Stir and cover. Let sit 2 minutes.
5) Serve with Bhutanese red rice.



Beef and Mushroom Tshoem (original recipe)


Ingredients:- large onion
- 1 lg. garlic clove, peeled
- fresh ginger, peeled and cut into a 3/4" cube
- 1 stick butter
- 1 lb. boneless beef chuck, cut into 1" cubes
- 1/2 c. water
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 medium jalapeños, seeded and julienned
- 1 1/3 c. fresh oyster mushrooms, stemmed
- Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1) Coarsely chop the onion in a food processor, about 4 pulses. Set aside.
2) Drop garlic and ginger through the feed tube with motor running. Chop finely, about 10 seconds.
3) Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add beef, onion, water and salt. Simmer over low heat until just tender, about 1 hour and 50 minutes.

4) Add garlic, ginger and remaining ingredients. Cook until mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes.

5) Serve with red rice.

Bermuda

Bermudian Fish Chowder

I'm back! Sorry for the hiatus; I was moving, and then it was Thanksgiving week. I couldn't take on this project in addition.

I made this dish on Tuesday, December 1st for Andy, my parents, my sister Betsey and her husband Cody, my sister Sarah and her boyfriend Kelley and myself. I chose this dish because it is the national dish of Bermuda. Other countries also have fish stew or fish chowder for their national dish; what sets Bermuda apart is the incorporation of Outerbridge's Original Sherry Pepper Sauce (I ordered it online from Bermuda) any Bermudian dark rum (I couldn't find and Bermudian rum at the liquor store that I went to, so I just used some from the West Indies). This dish was a hit. All enjoyed it, except Betsey, who accidentally added too much rum to the stew at the table.

This dish is pretty hearty. I served it with some ciabatta bread, which was a nice inclusion. The recipe suggests that those eating the stew add dashes of sherry pepper sauce and rum. This added a sweet, more robust flavor. This was a simple, tasty dish. I recommend it.

We also had some authentic beverages! After doing some research on Bermudian beverages, Cody and Betsey brought ginger beer, and we made cocktails with that and rum. These were exceptional. They also brought some Heineken. Apparently, there are some microbreweries in Bermuda, but most residents just drink Heineken.

I got the recipe from Outerbridge's website.

Here it is:

Bermudian Fish Chowder

Ingredients:-4 quarts water
-1 1/2 lb. white fish (I used a mixture of catfish and tilapia)
- salt
-thyme
-bay leaves
-peppercorns
-ground cloves
-2 T. butter
-2 T. olive oil
-3 large onions, chopped
-8 stalks celery, chopped
-1 garlic clove, minced
-2 green peppers, chopped
-1 can (28oz.) whole tomatoes, chopped
-10 oz. vegetable stock (the original recipe calls for beef consomme, but two of my guests don't eat meat)
-1 c. ketchup
-1/2 c. chopped parsley
-2 T. worcestershire sauce
-2 tsp. lemon juice
-6 carrots, peeled and diced
-2 lbs. potatoes, peeled and diced
-2 oz. dark rum (the original recipe recommends Gosling's Black Seal Rum)
-4 T. Outerbridge's Original Sherry Pepper Sauce
-freshly ground pepper, to taste



Directions:
1) In large pot (8 qt.), put water, fish, salt and spices. Bring to a boil and let simmer 30-45 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, in a large frying pan or wok, melt butter and oil. Briefly sauté onions, celery, garlic and peppers. Add tomatoes (with juice from can) and vegetable stock. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
3) Transfer onion mixture to fish stock and add remaining ingredients. Simmer partially covered for 2 hours. Adjust seasonings.
4) Serve piping hot and pass around Outerbridge's and rum so people can add a few dashes.