Week 8: Russia

Although geographically nearby to week 7's Japan, the menu for week 8's Russia was quite different than the previous week's. And although I have stated in the past (in the Japan blog, actually) that I'm just plain weird about Asian food, Russia is the big (erm, yes, very big) exception--maybe because it's heritage is so strongly European in spite of it's location on the map. Wikipedia clarifies it's positioning as being in "Eurasia," which makes a lot of sense. To me, there's a certain romanticism to Russia and Russian culture--although the country's had its rocky points in its history, its roots go back as far as the 3rd century A.D. The countries to which I can trace my heritage always intrigue me the most, but Russia is, once again, an exception to the rule. The culture and countryside look absolutely beautiful in all of the pictures I've seen (seeing St. Basil's Cathedral is totally on my bucket list) and the culture intrigues me. Ok, so now you know how enamored I am of Russia and why I was so happy to see it after having Japan the week before!

Deep red beet juice

While deciding on the week's menu, we quickly came to the conclusion that our meal had to include borscht; a classic Russian beet soup (which is served hot, not cold like we initially thought). Although all of us were a bit nervous about the beets (having never tried them before), we were all curious to try the authentic Russian staple soup. The other item on the menu was pelmini, a meat-filled dumpling that's a cousin to ravioli and potstickers. Up to this point, Russia's menu has probably had the most accessible shopping list--everything on the shopping list could be found at just about any grocery store. While the borscht recipe called for fresh beets, we used the canned variety which worked quite well; the pelmini called for ground pork, but I opted for a finely minced pork chop instead (thanks for the hard work on that, Courtney!). *Another note about Russian food: much of the cuisine was reminiscent of some of the Czech and German foods I grew up with (featuring beef, cabbage, sauerkraut, sour cream, mayonnaise), so choosing menu items that didn't reflect those recipes we were used to too closely.

Shaping the Pelmini

The cooking/prep methods for the meal were not too complicated, but were a bit labor-intensive. I was in charge of the borscht, which was made up of several different steps of chopping and cooking vegetables in various pots and pans and then combining ingredients in one big pot eventually to simmer together. Also, while the recipe called for 1 lb. of beef with which to make a stock beforehand and then continuing to prepare the soup, I took the shortcut of using canned/pre-made beef broth and browning bite-sized pieces of stew meat that I simmered with the vegetables until tender. Mom and Courtney were in charge of the pelmini and did a great job with its very labor-intensive steps. Mom made the simple dough (which had to rest for at least half an hour) and then she and Courtney began the arduous task of filling 34 pelmini which had to be cooked in 6 separate batches. The work was worth it, though!

Borscht with sour cream & pelmini

We served both the borscht and pelmini with sour cream (as suggested/traditional), as well as brown mustard for the dumplings. We all (except Rick) loved the borscht with the sour cream (I added a bit of vinegar to mine which off-set the intensity of the beet flavor)--it was really not much unlike a vegetable beef soup that we're all familiar with. The pelmini were VERY tasty without the sour cream or mustard, but the sour cream put them over the top! While they were a bit rich (and too doughy for mom's taste), each pelmin was a tasty treat alongside the healthy borscht made with a variety of vegetables and lean meat (well, it was healthy until I put an inordinate amount of sour cream in mine--shhh, don't tell!). Overall, Russia's been another one of those menus I'd be happy to re-use throughout the year and would highly recommend to everyone!

Courtney's already drawn the selection for week 8--and for this week, we're jumping to another hemisphere yet again. This week's choice is Argentina--just from our brief research so far, we've found that Argentinian cuisine is a unique mix of Old European and South American flavors and traditions that'll prove to be some of the most interesting thus far for sure. Do you have any favorite Argentinian recipes?

Once again, thank you for reading the blog and being patient with me while catching up. As always, if there's a country you want to join us for, drop me a line and we'll make it happen! I look forward to hearing your input and recipe suggestions!

Week 7: Japan

For week 7, mom asked me if I wanted to draw--with a bit of nervous excitement, I drew, and let the whole family know exactly how I felt: "oh no--not Japan!" Not that there's anything wrong with Japan--not in the least--but for me there's just that something about Asian food that's so mysterious and unknown (and that I automatically associate with strong fish/seafood flavors) that leaves me reeling. The rest of my family seemed cool with the idea of Japan, though.

This week's menu was all researched by Courtney, and decided by all of us that the week should feature either tofu or (as I have feared) seafood. I'll admit that the thought of tofu vs. seafood was not too comforting to me, but I was bound and determined to try whatever we chose with an open mind. The selections that made up our menu were all chosen from a website Courtney found that documented authentic Japanese recipes and cuisine (bento.com). Our dishes were Aromatic Baked Salmon, Ochazuke and edamame with cherries. About half of this menu employed everyday foods for our family, and the other half was more exotic--actually, it may be more like 1/3 everyday ingredients and 2/3 exotic. The salmon dish had several special ingredients, including the main ingredient (salmon--a rare protein choice for our family), sake, mirin and yuzu. While we couldn't find the yuzu (we simply substituted with other citrus), we were able to find salmon and sake and I made my own mirin. The ochazuke was a fairly simple recipe that could be "jazzed-up" with each person's particular favorite flavors--at it's heart, ochazuke is white rice with green tea served over it and then topped with any of a various array of toppings. The edamame with cherries, as you might assume, was a pretty straight-forward recipe--although we don't usually have edamame or cherries in the house, they were easy to find at our local Harris Teeter (and while I found rice vinegar, I opted against spending the $6 for a bottle I might only use once and instead used good 'ole fashioned white vinegar).

Soy Sauce and Soybeans (mistakenly attributed as edamame!)

While discussing my family's plans for Japan week, my friend Brandi mentioned that Japanese food focuses on purity of flavors and that foods are not overly cooked or seasoned--I found that to be true with the prep and cooking processes for this meal. The fish rested for a few hours in a soy sauce/sake/mirin marinade and then simply baked in the oven for a short time. The rice was very easy--as simple as putting rice in the rice cooker and brewing a pot of green tea (which we all know I have quite the "stash" [you tea nerds will get the joke]). The edamame dish was also simple--all that we had to do was blend some of the beans with oil, vinegar and cherries and then mix in with the rest of the beans after they're heated through (in this case, I used dried cherries which I re-hydrated in cranberry juice the night before). The process for preparing this meal, albeit composed of several steps, was not at all complicated and was quite easy to follow.

Salmon in its marinade

As far as the end result--well, let's just say I had the right feeling when I drew Japan out of the hat in the first place! I was not much of a fan of the meal as a whole, personally. The salmon had a strong fishy taste (which, if that's what you like, is great--it's not my thing, however), but the flavor of the marinade was quite nice. The ochazuke didn't translate very well for me, either--I love rice and I love tea so I truly thought it was going to be a home-run success, but I wasn't a big fan; although had we used more of the traditional toppings like rice crackers or dried fish flakes (we opted for saltines [BAD IDEA! LOL] and fresh ginger [which I think overpowered the dish, actually]), we may have had a different opinion. I'd really like to give the edamame with cherries another chance--I actually purchased the wrong kind of beans for the recipe ("soy beans" in a can rather than straight-up edamame [another BAD IDEA! ha!]) which had a flavor very different than that of edamame (mom said the soy beans had a flavor similar to black eyed peas, which I don't care for much either). Overall, I would say that we learned a lot from the Japan meal experience--while I'd more than likely not prepare the salmon again, I might try it again with a less "fishy" fish and take another stab at both the ochazuke and the edamame with cherries. As shocking as it is for me to say, though, I think my favorite parts of the meal were (not-so-surprisingly) the cherries and the sake! The sake is a bit strong, but I truly like the flavor of it!

Sake

Thank you for bearing with me with my late blogging--I've been a bit busy these last few weeks, but it's truly important to me to share these ATWin52 experiences with you all! Coming up tomorrow (since I'm in catch-up mode) will be the blog on week 8's country--Russia! Although there was no vodka involved, we still had a great Russian meal experience--check back soon to find out about it!

Week 6: Zimbabwe

To start, my apologies for posting the blog a bit late--it's been a whirlwind week!

As we sat down to dine on our African fare, The Lion King came on TV

For week 6, we chose Zimbabwe, a country located in southern Africa. We knew right away after doing our initial research that we simply had to include the Zimbabwean staple food, sadza but definitely steer clear of Mopane Worms (blech!). Sadza is a type of porridge made from white cornmeal that Zimbabweans eat with nearly everything--it's so popular that people refer to meals as "sadza" due to it's prominence. It is served with a stew or "relish" and is eaten in a unique way--by hand! We also learned quickly that in Zimbabwe, it's not just what you eat with your sadza, but also how you eat it--Zimbabwean custom dictates that those dining all sit on the ground in a circle with the pot of sadza placed in the center between everyone. After washing your hands in your personal bowl of washing water, you tear off a piece of the hot sadza, flatten it out, and scoop out your stew with it and eat. Another important point to note is that Zimbabweans only eat with their right hands (the last time mom tried to dine on sadza with her left hand, the dinner hosts simply took off her left hand--if you don't believe me, ask her!).

Spinach for the Dovi

Choosing the menu was theoretically simple--find a stew to serve with the sadza. After much research and some debate, we chose a recipe for dovi, a peanut butter-based stew (the debate was over whether dovi was original enough or not since mom had prepared a similar African dish in the past--peanuts and peanut butter are common ingredients in African cooking). Mom also decided to include a spinach side, which also included peanut butter. The ingredients for the entire meal were very easy to find--in fact, I think we bought everything from our local Harris Teeter, so it's a meal that's quite accessible to everyone; the recipes used familiar cooking methods, as well. Mom prepared the stew and the spinach with little to no trouble (I'd say the most time-consuming steps were prep work and allowing the stew to simmer for awhile) and I prepared the sadza. The steps for the sadza included mixing sadza with water and then simmering the mixture; after the brief simmer, add more cornmeal gradually and continue to stir until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pot (which will wear you out--it gets thick!)--it only took me about 10 minutes to make the sadza. We served it warm alongside the dovi with spinach.

Eating our sadza Zimbabwe style

The flavor of mom's dovi was very tasty--the combination of peanut butter, tomatoes and chicken, although a departure for most American palettes, blend very well together--even Rick liked it! Although Courtney wasn't a big fan of the spinach (and Rick didn't even try it), it was delicious as well--wilted spinach cooked in peanut butter was a unique-for-us approach that I'd suggest you try. The sadza, which was met with some trepidation from mom (and myself somewhat) for fear it would be a soggy cornmeal mush-type food, was a hit--we added some salt when we cooked it which may have helped it along for our tastes; not only was the sadza a success, I think we all found ourselves indulging on too much of it! Overall, our Zimbabwean meal was delicious--a meal you can (and should!) prepare for your family at home.

We were also very pleasantly surprised to find The Lion King on TV just as we sat down to eat--how awesome was that! Yay Africa!

The Circle of Life

For Week 7, it's Japan--I won't lie, I've been a bit apprehensive about this one! Blog coming soon (since the fish is marinating as we speak ;-D).

Week 5: Thailand

This week, we ventured to Asia for the first time during ATWin52 while trying the flavors of Thailand. We followed the normal protocol of drawing a country out of the hat (rather than just picking a country without drawing as we did with Scotland last week). Thailand is one of those countries whose food I was anxious to try--it's a cuisine I've had some familiarity with (mostly through satay and through the assumption that it couldn't be much different from Chinese), but also a cuisine that offered a wide array of brand new flavors. My research of their cuisine quickly showed me the unique qualities of Thai food/culture, such as the beautiful characters in their written language, as well as the language itself which, while obviously Asian, translated into unique English phrases. The unique style of food preparation and ingredients also stuck out to me--Thai cuisine (what I've observed of it) is made up of many soups and rice noodle dishes (such as pad thai) with fresh ingredients including a variety of fruits and vegetables, herbs and spices, peanuts and lots of fish sauce; their cuisine is quite fresh and refreshing in preparation and ingredients.

After sifting through many Thai recipes, we opted for an American spin on two authentic Thai recipes. The "spin" was the classic combo of "soup and salad"; not that the two aren't eaten together in Thailand, but we thought it would be a nice change of pace from other cooking methods we've been using so far (yes, for those of you keeping score, we have had a soup--and a stew--already, but still ;-D ). Many Thai recipes are stir-fry in nature and recommend a wok for preparation (which we don't have), so that factor also played into our choices. Of the multitudes of Thai soups and salads to choose from, we opted for Tom Ka Gai and Som Tam. Tom Ka Gai is a spicy chicken soup with coconut milk (yes, this is the second instance of using coconut milk, but we thought it was okay since it's such a different interpretation than pollo con leche de coco) and Som Tam is a salad made with bean sprouts and papaya.

Thai Chilies, Baby Corn (which we DID NOT use) and Rice Noodles

The recipes we chose for the Tom Ka Gai and Som Tam both called for a few ingredients that we didn't have, so we either substituted or simply left out such ingredients as fish sauce, shrimp paste and basil leaves. The som tam called for a green papaya, but we settled for a regular ripe one. That being said, we might not have had the exact flavor experience as those in Thailand do, but we at least got a better idea of what the Thai people like to eat ;-D

Tom Ka Gai

The tom ka gai starts off with sautéing the garlic, ginger, lemongrass (a stalk-shaped herb that has a strong lemon scent) chilies and spices--the fumes from that mixture while cooking were intense! After sautéing the herbs and spices, we added chicken and onions and let them cook through; the next step was adding the water, coconut milk and soy sauce (instead of fish sauce) and letting it simmer for half an hour (note: while the recipe calls for a lot of fish sauce/soy sauce, it's not at all overpowering--if you're concerned about sodium content, consider using a reduced-sodium soy sauce variety). Truly the most difficult step of preparing the soup was chopping up the herbs/vegetables--quite the simple soup! I also cooked some rice noodles to eat with the soup, which I prepared separately by the advice of another tom ka gai recipe. To serve, I put noodles in bowls and then ladled soup over them. The salad was also easy to prepare, with the most difficult/time-consuming steps being cutting up the fruit and vegetables and preparing the simple dressing (oil/soy sauce [fish sauce/shrimp paste]/lime juice). While the recipes required a lot of prep work, the difficultly level/cooking times were not much at all.

Som Tam

Although Rick did not partake in this meal, those of us who did (me, mom and Courtney) absolutely LOVED it! Mom and I actually craved more salt for the soup in spite of the large amount of soy sauce in the recipe, but the flavor of the soup was great--a bit spicy but creamy from the coconut milk. The bok choy gave a slight taste of cabbage, but not to an overpowering extent (considering Courtney enjoyed the soup and does NOT enjoy cabbage). The salad was quite refreshing and was excellent with a sprinkling of crushed peanuts on top. I can definitely foresee this meal being made again and I'll be glad to have it (and share it with you, if you'd like!).

We've drawn for Week 6 tonight--we're going to Africa--Zimbabwe to be exact! I think we've already got some ideas for what we're making, and it's going to be very fun (and perhaps the most authentic experience so far)--who wants in?