Canada

Canadian Poutine

O Canada! With this delectable meal, you have most certainly won a place in our hearts (or recipe box) forever. Andy and I have been excited for Canada's national dish for weeks. I mean, what's not to like? Cheese curds? GOOD. French fries? GOOD. Gravy? GOOD. All three elements homemade? AWESOME (albeit quite time consuming). I made this dish on Friday, July 23. I started the process of making the homemade cheese curds at 1:45pm, and because they have to cool and then hang dry, we didn't end up eating until 8:30. So, if I had to pick two adjectives to describe this dish, I would have to say delicious and involved. If I could choose five more (and I can, for this is my blog), I would say savory, salty, addictive, mouthwatering and scrumptious.

Of the three components of the dish, I was most wary of the homemade cheese curds. Who knew that you could simply mix together 2% milk and vinegar and you'd get curds and whey? I really think that my curds could have used even more drying, maybe even overnight, but we were so hungry, we couldn't wait anymore. I did buy some backup curds in case mine didn't work out. We ended up putting both the homemade and the store bought curds on the poutine.

The fries were simple to make, but do require attention. The recipe I used for this poutine had a slightly different technique of making the fries than did Belgium's pommes frites recipe. I like the Canadian recipe's technique better.

The gravy was, in my opinion, what made the dish. I made a chicken gravy, which I have read is the more traditional way, but some poutines use beef gravy as well. I'm not sure if the inclusion of garlic is traditional, but it sure tasted amazing. The gravy was kind of thin, but was too impatient to let it thicken more. It still tasted great.

If you're interested in trying this, it would be really easy to make a simpler version: put store bought french fries on a plate, top with store bought cheese curds and smother in store bought gravy. YUM.

Canadian Poutine
Cheese Curds

Ingredients:
-1 gallon 2% milk
-1/2 c. white vinegar
-1 tsp. salt

Cheese Curds Directions:
1) Heat milk to 190 degrees (turn off heat just before boiling if you don't have a thermometer)
2) Add vinegar and allow mixture to cool. (The curds should now separate from the whey.)

3) When cool, pour the mixture into a colander lined with a cheesecloth. Drain off the whey through the cheesecloth. Tie the cheesecloth into a ball, compressing the cheese in order to squeeze out the excess whey. Allow to hang for about 3 hours to drain and dry.

4) Cut open the cheesecloth and break the cheese into pieces. Pour the curds into a bowl, sprinkle with salt, and mix well.

Or, use these:

Fries
Fries Ingredients:
-4 medium potatoes, washed and sliced into lengths about 1/8" in diameter and 2-4" in length
-2 qts. vegetable oil
-salt

Fries Directions:
1) Cut potatoes and soak in cold water for 30 minutes.
2) Heat the oil in a Dutch oven to 350-375 degrees.
3) Remove fries from water and pat dry with paper towels.

4) Add half the fries to the hot oil and fry for 8-12 minutes until the float and become golden brown.
5) Remove to a paper towel-lined baking sheet, salt to taste, and place in a warm over while cooking the subsequent batch.
6) Add second half of fries to oil and repeat the process.

Gravy
Gravy Ingredients:
-4 T. flour
-1 stick butter
-1 liter chicken stock
-3 garlic cloves, minced

Gravy Directions:
1) In a saucepan, melt butter. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
2) In a small mixing bowl, combine flour with 1 c. stock. Whisk until smooth.
3) Slowly combine flour mixture with simmering butter and garlic. Whish to remove lumps. Cook 3-4 minutes to darken roux.

4) Add the remaining stock slowly while whisking until you have about 4 c. gravy.
5) Simmer for 10 minutes (or more, depending on how thick you like it), removing the "skin" with a spoon and whisking regularly.

POUTINE
Place the fries on a plate. Top with cheese curds. Ladle gravy over top. Let sit 2-3 minutes to let flavors meld. Relish.

Cameroon

Cameroonian Kondre

Still leery from the unappealing Burundi meal, I reluctantly made another African meal, this time a Cameroonian one, on Thursday, July 15 for Andy and my parents. In researching what to make, I was disappointed to find that wikipedia is in the process of taking down their list of national dishes because it does "not meet the relevant criteria for content of the encyclopedia." I will have to find another list. Anyway, there are two dishes that are named as national dishes: ndolé and kondre. As ndolé is meat and bitter greens in a peanut sauce, and I detested the similar Burundi meal, I opted to make kondre, which is a beef and plantain stew. The result was a thick, hearty, sweet, peppery and hot stew. We enjoyed it, especially after adding some salt.

The recipe I followed was not specific on how to deal with the plantains. Having never cooked with them before, I learned a couple of things by trial and error. First of all, to peel them, cut off both ends, and make two vertical slits through the peel on opposite sides of the plantain. Then, cut the plantain in half. This makes getting the reedy peel off much easier. Also, the recipe did not say to cut up the plantains, so, dutifully, I did not. However, I believe that the plantains were meant to break down completely as they simmered; this is what thickens the stew. Mine broke down somewhat, but there remained chunks. If I were to make this recipe again, I would slice the plantains before cooking.

Kondre


Ingredients:
-1 lb. beef
-1/2 lb. tomatoes
-3 T. chopped, fresh basil (I might use more than this)
-1/2 c. chopped celery
-wild peppercorns
-4 cloves garlic
-2 T. grated ginger
-1/3 c. parsley
-2 habañeros, or other spicy pepper, seeded
-2 onions
-1 T. palm oil (or peanut oil, seasoned with 1 tsp. paprika and a pinch of turmeric)
-5-6 lbs. plantains
-2" fresh ginger, sliced into thin sheets

Directions:
1) Puree tomatoes, parsley, basil, celery, peppers, garlic, ginger, one onion and peppercorns in a food processor.
2) Peel the plantains, slice and place in a large water basin.
3) Cut the meat in small cubes, then wash and drain.
4) Chop remaining onion and sauté in palm oil in a large pot. Season to taste.
5) Add all ingredients, cover with water, and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
6) Serve hot.

Cambodia

Cambodian Amok Trei (Coconut Fish Curry Parcels)

I made this dish for Andy, my mom and me on Thursday, July 8. Amok trei is the national dish of Cambodia. It was quite tasty; the sauce was really flavorful. It was fairly easy to prepare. The hardest part was making the parcels because the cabbage leaves kept tearing. I couldn't find banana leaves, and I suspect that they would have been better to work with.

Amok Trei

Ingredients:
-1 garlic clove, chopped
-1 red onion, chopped
-1/2 tsp. ground ginger (or galangal, if you can find it)
-2 T. chopped lemon grass
-1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
-1 tsp. paprika
-2 T. fish sauce
-1 T. sugar
-1/2 tsp. salt
-14 oz. coconut milk
-1 lb. catfish
-8 large dark green cabbage leaves (or banana leaves, if you can find them)

Directions:
1) Place garlic, onion, ginger, lemon grass, turmeric, paprika, fish sauce and sugar in a food processor and process until well blended.
2) Add the coconut milk and process again until mixed thoroughly.
3) Transfer to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring. Cook gently for 10 minutes until thickened.

4) If using cabbage, cover with boiling water and set aside to soften. If using banana leaves, cut into 8x8" squares.
5) Place fish in a bowl, season with salt and pour 2/3 of the hot coconut sauce over it and mix well. Set remaining sauce aside.
6) Place 1/8 of fish mixture in the center of each leaf. Fold edges over to form secure parcels.
7) Steam for one hour.
8) Five minutes before the end of cooking, reheat remaining sauce
9) To serve, make a small opening down the center of each parcel and spoon the remaining coconut sauce into the opening. Serve immediately with rice.

Burundi

Burundian Beef and Greens in Peanut Sauce and Mealie-Meal Porridge

Well, let's just start by saying that it is a good thing it was dollar hot dog night at Canterbury Park, where we went after dinner.

The last of the "B" countries' meal was not good. I made this dish on Thursday, July 1. I chose the mealie-meal porridge because it is the national dish of Burundi. I decided to make the beef and greens in peanut sauce because it sounded good. I was wrong.

Mealie-meal porridge is very similar to many other dishes I have made throughout this project. We once again had a cornmeal and water mixture. In previous dishes for previous countries, this has been called fungi, fungee and fufu. It is not bad tasted, just bland. No surprises here.

What was surprising was how ishy the beef and greens in peanut sauce was. It smelled awesome, and we were all excited to eat it. Then, it turned out to have a really icky texture; it coated your mouth in a most unappealing way. It was surprisingly bland, even with added cayenne. I would describe it as watery, which was not what I expected. We each had a few bites and the rest ended up in the trash.

Beef and Greens in Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:
-2 T. peanut oil, sprinkled with paprika for coloring (This is the substitute I used for palm oil.)
- 1 lb. beef stew meat
-1 bunch of greens, cleaned and trimmed (I used turnip greens)
-1 c. natural peanut butter
-cayenne pepper
-salt

Directions:
1) Bring greens to a boil.
2) In a separate stew pot, sauté the meat in peanut oil until brown.
3) Add greens and water to the meat. Simmer for one hour
4) Pour out most of the water. Add the peanut butter and spices. Stir.
5) Serve over mealie-meal porridge

Mealie-Meal Porridge

Ingredients:
-1 c. milk
-9 oz. cornmeal
-1 c. water

Directions:
1) Bring water to a boil in a saucepan.
2) Mix half of the cornmeal with milk. Mix vigorously until it forms a smooth paste.
3) Add the mixture to the boiling water and stir. Gradually add the remaining cornmeal and allow to cook 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.
4) Serve with meat or stew.