The Hungry Crabb

After cooking from lots of stew-loving countries I was excited to give Cuban cooking a try. I researched the most common and popular recipes, we noticed that Sofrito was in many dishes, so we wanted to try one that had it. While ropa vieja and flan are both foods I’ve had before, I’d never cooked either of them, so I figured, why not? See below for the recipes, my thoughts on the dishes, and pictures!

Ropa Vieja
Serves 6

Ratings:
Taste: 8 The meat turned out wonderfully tender and very flavorful. I would have liked it with a little more spice in it, however. Maybe I’ll throw in a jalapeno next time.

Intangibles: 5 While Ropa Vieja is traditionally from Cuba, it didn’t feel that unique. It kind of reminded me of Vaca Frita and other steak dishes I’ve had from countries in that region.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lbs flank steak, cut in strips - I’m not used to buying flank steak, it was pricey!
• 5 tablespoons oil
• 2 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic or 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 6 ounces sofrito sauce (recipe below)

Directions

1. Heat 3 tbsp. oil in skillet on medium, brown meat on all sides.

So. much. meat.

2. Remove from skillet, add remaining oil to skillet, stir in garlic, onion and green pepper and cook until translucent.

3. Stir in black pepper, browned meat, tomato sauce, water and sofrito (recipe below). Simmer until meat is tender and shreds easily, about 1 hour.

4. Serve on top of rice.

Sofrito
Serves 6

Ratings:
Taste: 4 The sofrito was a little bland. I couldn’t really distinguish it when eating the ropa vieja and I wasn’t motivated to eat it alone or on top of something else when we had TONS of leftovers.

Intangibles: 8 Since I saw sofrito in so many Cuban recipes, I read about it a little more and it really does seem to be a vital part of their cuisine. I’ll chalk my dislike of it to poor preparation, this time.

Cuban Flan (Flan Cubano)
Serves 8

Ratings:
Taste: 7 This recipe was a miracle, I really thought I’d be picking it out of my souffle dishes. Luckily, that didn’t happen and it turned out just beautifully! Great custard-like texture and it tasted great both warm and cold.

Intangibles: 7 It was great to try cooking something that you see on the menu at many Caribbean and Mexican restaurants. Maybe it would have felt more authentic with some deep-fried ice cream (jk!).

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 4 whole eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tspn vanilla
• 1 lemon peel
• 1 cinnamon stick

Directions
1. First to prepare the caramel, add the water and 3/4 cups of sugar into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar begins to melt. Make sure to stir while the sugar is melting.
2. Once the sugar begins to melt (the sugar begins to caramelize), remove the sugar from the heat and pour into a flan pan (I just used large ramekins). Make sure you cover the bottom of the pan as well as the sides.
3. Next, place the milk, lemon peel and cinnamon stick into a saucepan and bring the milk into a boil (over medium high heat). Make sure to stir the milk constantly while it begins to scald.
4. Remove from heat and let it cool (for about 15 mins or so).
5. Remove the lemon peel and cinnamon stick.
6. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and egg yolks with 3/4 cups of sugar and vanilla.
7. Pour the cooled milk into the bowl and then strain the bowl contents into the flan dish covered with the caramel coating.
8. Set the flan dish inside a large pan filled with about an inch of water.

Flan - going into the oven

9. Bake to 350 degrees for an hour or until you insert a knife in the center and it comes out dry. Remove from the oven and let cool. Remove from dish by inserting knife around the edges to loosen the flan, and then covering flan dish with a serving dish and turning it upside down until flan falls onto the serving dish.
10. Serve warm and enjoy!

I must have been hungry when picking what to cook for Venezuela - because it was pretty involved. I know someone from Venezuela, so the research for what to cook didn’t take as much time as usual and I knew it came from a trusted source. Venezuela has a national dish, Pabellon Criollo, which I made. Pabellon means flag and, as you can kind of tell from my picture, the dish kind of looks like a flag! The dish is typically served with arepas, which are kind of like a thick cornmeal pancake. Check out my pictures, comments and the recipes I used below.

Pabellon Criollo

Serves 6

Ratings:
Taste: 8 The meat came out tender and flavorful and the dish on the whole went well together and was delicious.

Intangibles: 9 Maybe it was because of the symbolism, but this meal felt pretty legit. I could see people in Venezuela eating it. It also may have helped that an actual Venezuelan person recommended the dish.

Arroz Blanco

35 min | 5 min prep
Serves 6

Ratings:
Taste: 9 This rice was so much better than normal rice - it had great flavor and, if I do say so myself, it was cooked perfectly.

Intangibles: 7 As far as authenticity goes, I think it’s hard for rice to stand out. It was different than the rice I normally make, so I’ll give it some credit.

Arepas

Makes 6 arepas

Ratings:
Taste: 5 These may have been better if a Venezuelan grandmother made them for me. I definitely don’t think I was a pro on the griddle, but it got the point across.

Intangibles: 8 These definitely transported me to Venezuela. I could very easily see someone throwing together the batter and making perfect arepas to accompany almost any meal.

Caraotas Negras

Serves 6

Ratings:
Taste: 6 This preparation was better than just canned black beans, but it wasn’t out of this world.

Intangibles: 5 I think the black beans were kind of an accessory to this dish. I’m sure there are many different types of preparations and this one didn’t seem that unique.

I was initially very excited when the random country generator spit out Egypt.  After only a few minutes of research, I realized that, because many Egyptians are very poor, there’s not much variety in their diets. Many meals are centered around bread and offer legumes and grains as the other main ingredients. While Egypt does share the same culinary style as some other Middle Eastern nations, I wanted to find dishes that were unique to Egypt alone. 

I’ve had to learn many new cooking techniques during this cooking adventure, so I’ll take the blame for the mediocre kushari but from the entire meal I learned that Egypt really isn’t big into using spices…which was a bummer.

Egyptian bread
45 min | 15 min prep

Serves 6

Ratings:

Taste: 3, there was nothing special about this bread. It was well cooked but bland, and not as fluffy as I like my bread.

Intangibles: 8, it’s called Egyptian bread…how much more authentic can you get? But really, this bread transported me to the desert life of a peasant in Egypt. Also, it was supposed to be chewy and hearty, so I knew I did it right.

Ful Medames (Egyptian-Style Breakfast Beans)
30 min | 10 min prep

Serves 2
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ratings:

Taste: 6, this dish was the best element of the entire meal. I’d eat the Ful Medames again, plus the egg and bread complemented it well.

Intangibles:9, Multiple sources said that Ful Medames is a very common breakfast meal I also received a recommendation to cook this dish, so knowing this while I cooked and ate it probably contributed to how authentic this dish felt.

Ingredients:

• 1 15-ounce can fava beans
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 large tomato, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Grilled flatbread
• 2 eggs

Directions:

1. Drain and rinse the beans, then pour into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for five minutes, breaking up roughly with a fork. Stir in the olive oil, onion, tomato, cumin, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and most of the parsley. Continue cooking for five minutes.

2. In the meantime, grill the flatbread or sear it with a little olive oil in a skillet. Fry the eggs in some olive oil in a separate skillet, leaving the yolks runny.

3. Serve the bean mixture warm with the fried eggs and flatbread.

Kushari (rice with lentils)
70 min | 35 min prep

Mediterranean: A Taste of the Sun by Jacqueline Clark and Joanna Farrow

Serves 6

Ratings:

Taste: 4, while I think I probably made a mistake by adding 1.5 c of uncooked lentils instead of 1.5 c of cooked lentils, this dish was mushy and bland. I’ll take the blame for 2 points worth of taste and give kushari a 4 for taste, all things considered.

Intangibles: 8, this dish seemed extremely authentic. It incorporated lentils and rice, two of the most common Egyptian ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 c large brown lentils (soaked overnight)
• 2 large onions
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 c long-grain rice
• salt, black pepper, flat leaf parsley (garnish)

Directions:
1. drain lentils, put in large pan. add water to cover by 2 inches. bring to a boil, cover, simmer for 40 min to 1.5 hrs, or until tender. drain thoroughly.
2. finely chop one onion, slice the other. heat 1 tbsp oil, saute chopped onion  until soft. add lentils and spices.
3. measure out rice, add it with same volume of water to the lentils. cover and simmer for 20 min, until rice and lentils are tender. heat remaining oil in frying pan, cook sliced onion until very dark brown. add as garnish with parsley.
4. serve, hot or cold.

My mom and sister were in town for Easter this year.  I told them about my global cooking adventures, they decided to forego a traditional Easter meal to spin the globe.  We had to keep my picky 12-year-old sister’s preferences in mind, so we didn’t do anything too crazy while still capturing some traditional Russian dishes. The three courses we made were pirozhkys, lazanki s tvorogom i smetanoi, and shashlik. The dish that tasted the most authentically Russian was the pirozhky but the dish I’d be most likely to cook again is the noodle and cheese casserole (I’m pretty sure noodles and cheese are my favorite things…besides wine).  See the recipes we chose below, along with my notes and thoughts on each.

Pirozhky
70 min | 35 min prep

This recipe looks long, but it’s divided up into some easy steps. It’s a fun to make pirozhkys with others, assembly line style. 

Ratings:
Taste - 7, I’m a sucker for beef, onion and bread. Maybe it was the tablespoons of butter, these were tasty.

Intangibles - 8, I could picture myself freezing my butt off in Russia and eating a pirozhky. 

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 c flour
• 1 c sour cream
• 1 tb butter
• 1 ea egg for greasing
• salt

FILLING

• 4 tb butter
• 2 ea chopped onions
• 300 g grind beef
• 3 ea chopped hard boiled eggs
• salt

Directions:
1. Combine the flour, salt, butter and sour cream in a deep bowl.
2. With your fingers, rub the flour and butter together.
3. Wrap the ball of dough in wax paper, and chill for about 1 hour.
4. On a lightly floured surface, shape the pastry into a rough rectangle 1 inch thick and roll it into a strip.
5. Turn the pastry around and again roll it out lengthwise.
6. Fold into thirds and roll out the packet as before. Repeat this entire process twice more, ending with the folded packet. Wrap it is wax paper and refrigerate for an additional hour.

Filling:
1. Over high heat, melt the butter.
2. Add onions and, stirring occasionally, cook over moderate heat for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are soft and transparent but not brown.
3. Stir in the beef and, mashing the meat with a fork to break up any lumps, cook briskly until no traces of pink remain.
4. Grind the meat-and-onion mixture.
5. Combine the meat in a large bowl with eggs, dill, salt and pepper, mix thoroughly and taste for seasoning.
6. Preheat the oven to 400°.
7. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick. With saucer cut out as many circles as you can. Gather the scraps into a ball and roll out again, cutting additional circles.
8. Drop 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each round and flatten the filling slightly.
9. Fold one long side of the dough up over the filling, almost covering it. Fold in the two ends of the dough about Ѕ inch, and lastly, fold over the remaining long side of the dough.
10. Place the Pirozhky side by side, with the seam sides down on a buttered baking sheet.
11. Bake for 30 minutes ,Take them out to grease the surface with beaten egg and put back for couple of minutes until they are golden brown.

Serve with clear chicken or beef soup, on the zakuska table or presented alone as a first course.

Lazanki s Tvorogom i Smetanoi: Noodle and Cheese Casserole
45 min | 15 min prep

Ratings:
Taste - 8, I’m a sucker for cheese and pasta.
Intangibles - 3, Wasn’t very memorable or unique. While it uses Russian cheese, it didn’t have a distinct flavor that made me think I was chillin’ in Moscow.

SERVES 6

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces fresh lasagna noodles
• 1 pound farmer cheese
• 1 cup dairy sour cream
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Directions:
1. Cut lasagna noodles into diamond shapes, about 1 inch wide.
2. Cook noodles in 3 quarts boiling water until tender, about 3 minutes; drain.
3. Mix cheese, sour cream, egg yolks, salt and pepper in large bowl; gently stir in cooked noodles.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Grease 2-quart shallow casserole with 2 tablespoons butter; sprinkle with bread crumbs.
6. Pour noodle mixture into casserole; dot with 1 tablespoon butter.
7. Bake uncovered until hot, 25 to 30 minutes.

Shashlik: Lamb Kebabs
1 day, 30 min | 10 min prep

Ratings:
Taste - 8 (not factoring in the Kasha - which I didn’t like), I don’t know if it was the pomegranate juice or the fact that it marinated overnight, but this meat was tender and flavorful.
Intangibles - 7, Paired with the Kasha, it was a very warm and hearty meal. I feel like Russians like warm and hearty.

SERVES 6

Ingredients:

• 3 lb Lamb, cut from leg
• 2 sm Onion, finely-minced
• 4 lg Garlic, cloves, fine-minced
• 2 lg Shallot, minced , 2 tb Parsley, freshly-chopped
• 2 1/2 c Pomegranate juice, unsweet
• 4 tb Corn oil
• 8 ds Cayenne pepper

Directions:
1. Trim away all fat from meat. Cut into 2″ chunks.
2. Place meat in a small bowl together with onion, garlic, shallot, parsley, cayenne pepper and pomegranate juice.
3. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. Remove meat from marinade and pat dry.
5. Skewer the meat, using four substantial skewers. Brush with oil.
6. Broil under very high heat, turning often until done. Some prefer it slightly pink (12 minutes). Well done will take about 20 minutes.
7. Remove from skewers and serve on a heated plate with Kasha.

VARIATIONS: Include 2 green peppers cut into 12 chunks, 4 tomatoes cut into quarters, and 4 small, white onions, peeled and cut in half. Skewer alternate chunks of vegetable and meat chunks. Proceed according to recipe.

I was really excited about Indonesia after cabbagey Finland. My friend, Marcus, has been to Indonesia and recommended Sate Ayam and Mie Goreng. As if one dish weren’t enough, I also decided to give Beef Rendang a try. It seemed pretty authentic, incorporating cardamom pods, kaffir lime leaves, and lemongrass - 3 ingredients I’ve not used very much.

Rendang Sapi with Jasmine Rice, Sate Ayam and Mie Goreng (L to R)

I’d eat Indonesian food again and I was happy with the recipes I chose. The Rendang Sapi had great flavor but I would have gotten a nicer cut of beef, because it was pretty chewy. I could have eaten the sauce like soup, with or without the beef, so I was still pleased with that. The Sate Ayam was AWESOME. The blended mixture of shallots, turmeric, coriander and tamarind sauce was tangy and added great flavor to the meat. Though I’m not sure when I’ll use that tamarind sauce again. I could have done without the Mie Goreng, but I think that’s my fault. I’m not sure what kind of egg noodles I should have used, but mine came out oily and not very flavorful. I don’t think I’ll make them again.
I’ve included my ratings, comments and suggestions to the recipes below.

Rendang Sapi: Beef Rendang
1 hour | 15 min prep I disagree. Prep was more like 25-30 minutes.

Ratings:
Taste - 7 (not counting the tough beef)
Intangibles - 6

SERVES 4 -6

Ingredients
* 17 2/3 ounces beef recipe didn’t specify, I’d suggest flank steak or ribeye
* 4 cups coconut milk (made from 1 coconut if using freshly granted coconut) I used milk from the can, if you use a real coconut, more power to you!
* 2 bay leaves (Indonesian usually use Salam leaves) I used bay leaves, because I already had them.
* 2 kaffir lime leaves
* 3 cardamom pods, bruised
* 1 stalk lemongrass
* 2 fresh turmeric, leaves (optional) I just used a pinch of turmeric
* 4 cm cinnamon sticks
* 4 red chilies, sliced (you can add more if you wish) I didn’t use 4, depending on the type of chile, use with caution!
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon sugar or brown sugar
* 8 shallots, peeled and sliced my grocery store has monster shallots, I only used 4
* 6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
* 3 cm ginger
* 3 cm galangal, peeled and sliced (laos) couldn’t find this, so I skipped it
* 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed
* 2 cm turmeric didn’t have fresh turmeric, just used the spice here, too.

Directions
1. Grind or blend shallot, garlic, ginger, galangal, peppercorn and turmeric into paste.
2. Cut the beef into small but thick slices square.
3. Put the beef, spice paste and all other ingredients into a wok and bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly to prevent the coconut milk from separating. Cook over low heat, stirring from time to time, until the meat is very tender and all the sauce has evaporated.
4. Continue cooking the beef, which will fry in the oil that has come out from the coconut milk, until brown.
5. Serve with warm Basmati or Jasmine plain rice.

Sate Ayam: Chicken Satay
40 min | 10 min prep

Ratings:
Taste - 8
Intangibles - 5

Ingredients
* 2 chicken breast
* 1 Tbs. vegetable oil
* Bamboo skewers soaking these is always a good idea
* 2 shallots
* 2 cloves garlic
* 1 tsp. coriander
* pinch turmeric
* 1 tsp. tamarind sauce (1 Tbs. tamarind dissolved in 1 tsp. water)
* salt
* 1 Tbs. palm sugar I just used sugar

Directions:
1. Cut the chicken into small cubes and set it aside in a bowl.
2. Using a mortar and pestle or food processor, blend the garlic, shallots, coriander, turmeric, tamarind sauce, salt and palm sugar to form a paste. my cuisinart mini-prep worked great for this
3. Pour the vegetable oil and the blended ingredients into the bowl filled with chicken breast cubes.
4. Mixed them well and set it aside for half an hour so that the chicken will absorb the paste.
5. Put 4-5 pieces of chicken cubes on each skewer.
6. Grill the chicken satay on both sides until well done.
7. Put chicken satay on a plate and pour the peanut sauce and fried shallots on top. I was pretty busy in the kitchen, so I skipped these garnishes.

Mie Goreng: Fried Noodles
40 min | 20 min prep

Ratings:
Taste - 4
Intangibles - 4

SERVES 4

Ingredients
* 8 ounces fine egg noodles
* 6 ounces pork chops, boneless finely diced since I already had the chicken, no meat or prawns for me
* 8 ounces raw prawns, shelled & deveined, if large cut in 2
* 4 tablespoons peanut oil
* 3/4 cup onion, finely chopped
* 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
* 1 fresh red chili pepper, chopped and seeded or 3/4 teaspoon dry chili flakes
* 2 stalks celery, finely sliced
* 1 1/2 cups green cabbage, finely shredded
* salt and pepper
* 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
* 1/2 cup fried onion flakes (optional) I forgot to add these, maybe they would have made the difference!
* 4 green onions, Sliced diagonally (optional)
* 8 slices cucumbers, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions
1. Boil the noodles as per instructions but do not over cook them,
2. Rinse noodles in cold water, drain well.
3. Heat oil in a large wok or frypan. add onion and fry until almost golden.
4. Add chili & garlic, fry 2 minutes more.
5. Add pork, stir and cook until the pork is cooked through.
6. Add prawns cook for 2 minutes or until they are tranlucent and pink.
7. Add celery, cabbage, cook for 2 minutes The vegetables must still be crisp.
8. Season with salt & pepper.
9. Add soy sauce.
10. Add noodles back to the pan, stir fry, turning the noodles into the mixture and cook until all is heated through.
11. Turn into a heated serving dish, garnish & serve hot.

So here we are, country number 1…cabbage capital of the world (or so it seemed).  Because of the cold climate, traditional Finnish cuisine doesn’t include many fresh fruits and vegetables.  Common ingredients include cabbage, game, rye bread, and berries. I chose a cabbage and meat casserole, rye bread and a berry porridge (vispipurro).  Lingonberries and cranberries are common in Finnish cooking but they’re out of season right now, so I used raspberries in the dessert.  I think this was a great start to my global cooking adventures -the food tasted authentic, I was pushed outside of my cooking comfort zone and everything came out OK.  See the recipes and my notes below.

Lihakaalilaatikko: Meat and Cabbage Casserole
1¼ hours | 15 min prep

SERVES 6 -8 (change servings and units)

Ratings:

Taste: 4, I wasn’t expecting too much from this, so I wasn’t disappointed. Pretty much just meat and cabbage.

Intangibles: 7, It felt pretty legit. It was hearty and filling, something I imagine people in Finland would actually eat.

Ingredients

• 1 small cabbage, shredded
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons dark corn syrup or molasses
• 2 teaspoons salt
• white pepper, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon ground marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large pot, simmer the cabbage in boiling water to cover until tender-crisp, about 5 to 7 minutes; drain.
3. Remove from heat and add the onion, butter, syrup, salt, white pepper, marjoram, allspice, and nutmeg and stir well to combine.

4. In another bowl, mix together the ground beef, bread crumbs, milk, and eggs.
5. Butter a 2-quart casserole dish.
6. Place a layer of the cabbage mixture into the dish, then a layer or meat mixture; repeat until mixtures are used up, ending with the cabbage.

7. Sprinkle with the Parmesan then bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.
8. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving, then serve alongside lingonberries, cranberry sauce, or currant jelly.

While I didn’t do this, the receipe said this is also good with 3/4 lb ground beef and 1/4 lb ground pork; you can also mix in about 1/2 cup of tomato-based pasta sauce into the cabbage mixture, if you’re wanting tomato.

Rieska: Finnish Quick Flat Rye Bread
30 min | 20 min prep

Servings: 1 loaf 

Ratings:

Taste: 7, as far as breads go, this was really quick and easy to make and it tasted great.

Intangibles: 7, the bread was also hearty. I can picture the Nordic hunters coming home and gobbling this up.

Ingredients

• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup rye flour
• 3 cups white flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients, as if you were mixing for a pie crust.
2. Dough will be soft.
3. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness.
4. Bake for 10 minutes at 475 degrees.

Vispipuuro - Wisked Berry Porridge
25 min | 5 min prep

Serves 10 (this made way too much for two people!)

Ratings:

Taste: 3, Considering a 1 means I had to spit it out, a 3 is really saying something. Maybe it was because I didn’t use lingonberries, but the semolina didn’t break up very well and there’s something about warm, sweet dessert soup just doesn’t make me happy.

Intangibles: 7, I found it hard to believe anyone would eat this as dessert.  It was warm, so I can imagine the Finnish eating it…but I feel sorry for them.

Ingredients

•  5 dl lingonberries or cranberries (we used 10 oz of raspberries)
• 2 litres of water
• 2 ½ dl sugar
• 2 ½ dl semolina

Directions
Bring the water and berries to the boil. Add the sugar and sprinkle the semolina in. Cook on a low heat, stirring from time to time, for about 20 minutes. Let it cool.

Whisk the cooled porridge into a light foam with an electric mixer. Serve with cold milk.