Day 4: Saudi Arabia

Today was the first of our random countries. We  honor Saudi Arabia with Roasted Chicken Al-Kabsa.



Serves: 2
Yield: 4 pieces 


Ingredients:
1 whole baby chicken, cut into 4 
3 tablespoons olive oil 
1/8 teaspoon turmeric 
1/2 teaspoon baharat  
1/2 teaspoon kabsa spice mix 
salt 
3 cilantro, springs 


Directions: 
1 Preheat oven to 350°F. 
2 De-skin the chicken. 
3 Season with spices and olive oil. 
4 Place in a roasting pan and into the oven for 40-50 minutes. 
5 Garnish with cilantro and serve 
6 Enjoy! 


Recipe Alterations: Yeah, we just used boneless chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken.


Our Opinion: We did put enough spices on for sure. There wasn't much taste, although the chicken itself was juicy and perfect. The pieces I did have with a lot of spice were interesting. The flavor almost comes through the smell of the spices rather than the taste of the spices... kind of like Jeni's Ice Cream in Columbus if you've been there. (If not, GO!) Aside from the dish, the spices were difficult to come by and were pretty pricey, so that's something to keep in mind when you're shopping. 

Day 3: Ireland

Today we celebrate Ireland with Pota Brata (Irish Flag Soup)

The dish gets its name because the ingredients are the colors of the flag of Ireland. It's very colorful :)

By Adam Fullenkamp

The blended soup

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 large white onions, diced
• 3 large carrots, diced
• 3 large stalks celery, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 1/2 quarts vegetable broth
• 3 tablespoons dried sage
• salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat; cook and stir the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in the hot oil until the onions are translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Pour the vegetable stock into the pan and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Season with the sage, salt, and black pepper. Reduce heat to low, place a cover on the pot, and cook until the flavors blend, about 1 hour.
3. Pour the soup into a blender pitcher to no more than half full. Hold the lid of the blender firmly in place. Carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into your serving vessel. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup in the cooking pot.

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Our Opinion: The dish is very easy to prepare. With minimal ingredients, it is a snap to whip up. It would make an excellent mid-winter meal, but we don't think it's great for summer. The taste was a little bland, especially in comparison to the Thai dish from yesterday. It's also a strange thickness - not quite soup and not quite stew. Not our favorite but certainly worth a try.

Day 2: Thailand

Cooking a dish from Thailand really made us step out of our comfort zone. Take a look at the ingredients list for this Chicken Pad Thai and you'll understand why.

Chicken Pad Thai

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 6 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 (16 ounce) package pad Thai rice noodles
• 1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Season chicken with salt and black pepper; set aside.
3. Whisk sugar, cayenne pepper, white wine vinegar, fish sauce, and peanut butter together in a bowl.
4. Coat the inside of a large skillet or wok with olive oil and place over high heat.
5. Cook and stir chicken in the hot oil just until the meat is white outside but still pink inside, about 3 minutes.
6. Remove chicken and set aside in a bowl.
7. Lower the heat under the skillet to medium-low. Cook and stir garlic in the skillet until it becomes translucent, 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Cook and stir eggs into garlic until loosely cooked, 2 to 3 minutes.
9. Pour peanut sauce into the garlic and eggs, and stir to combine. Bring sauce to a simmer.
10. Stir rice noodles into the boiling water. Cook until noodles are still slightly tough, about 5 minutes.
11. Drain the noodles.
12. Return chicken to the skillet with eggs and sauce. Simmer until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, stirring frequently, 5 to 8 more minutes.
13. Stir bean sprouts, rice noodles. and beef broth into the skillet. Bring to a simmer, and cook until noodles are tender and most of the broth has been absorbed, about 10 minutes.
14. Sprinkle with green onions to serve..

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Our Opinion: I was extremely skeptical about this dish. Eggs + Fish Sauce + Peanut Butter does not equal a very appeasing dish. However, it was delicious, and we would both definitely make it again. The meal was a perfect blend of sweet and spicy and almost like a complete three-course meal in one. If you can find all of the ingredients (check the international aisles!), I definitely recommend giving this a try.

Day 1: Great Britain!

Fireworks ignite over the Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 28, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

It's Friday, the first official day of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, and since London is the host city, we chose to explore the food of host country Great Britain first.

But before I get into the menu selections, I want to talk about grocery shopping. We plan our meals two weeks in advance, so when we really had to plan ahead when it came to these games. We actually managed to find everything we needed, however some of it came at a hefty price tag. I'll point those items out as we go.


So, we made a main dish and dessert for Great Britain. First up, the Shooter Sandwich.

Shooter Sandwich

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Prep Time: 25 Min.

Cook Time: 20 Min.

Total Time:  6 Hours, 45 Min.

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Ingredients

• color: #f3f3f3;">1 loaf hearty country bread, unsliced
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 1 (3 pound) boneless beef round steak, 2 inches thick
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic, minced, or to taste
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• garlic salt to taste

Directions

1. Cut a thick slice from the top of the loaf for a lid; use your fingers to pull the bread center out of the crust, leaving a thick shell. (Save the removed bread for another use.)
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large, heavy skillet over high heat until the oil is slightly smoking; lay the beef round steak into the hot skillet, and cook until the outside of the meat is browned and crusty and the inside is your desired degree of doneness, 5 to 8 minutes per side for medium-rare. Remove the steak, and set aside.
3. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the skillet, and cook and stir the onion, mushrooms, and garlic until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms have given up their juice, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.
4. Lay the cooked steak into the hollowed-out bread loaf, and pile the onions, mushrooms, and garlic over the steak. Replace the bread "lid," and wrap the whole loaf in aluminum foil. Place the loaf onto a baking sheet; place a heavy flat weight on top of the loaf, such as a board or a heavy skillet, and weight the top with several bricks or jars of water.
5. Place the loaf with its weights into the refrigerator, and chill and press the sandwich for at least 6 hours. To serve, bring to room temperature, and cut off slices of the loaf.

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Recipe alterations: We couldn't find country bread that wasn't sliced, so we chose an Italian bread that worked just as well. We did not use near the amount of steak that was called for which could have possibly been because of the more shallow Italian bread. The sandwich is hearty and will serve 4 - 6 adults.


Our opinion: It was easy to make, delicious, and filling. It would make a great lunch sandwich. However, we would prefer it hot. Definitely worth a try, though. 


We also made an English Trifle!

English Trifle

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Ingredients

• 2 (8 or 9 inch) white cake layers, baked and cooled
• 2 pints fresh strawberries
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 pint fresh blueberries
• 2 bananas
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup blanched slivered almonds
• 12 maraschino cherries

Directions

1. Slice strawberries and sprinkle them with sugar. Cut the bananas into slices and toss with orange juice. Combine pudding mix with milk and mix until smooth. Cut the cake into 1 inch cubes.
2. Use half of the cake cubes to line the bottom of a large glass bowl. Layer half of the strawberries followed by half of the blueberries, and then half of the bananas. Spread half of the pudding over the fruit. Repeat layers in the same order.
3. In a medium bowl, whip the cream to stiff peaks and spread over top of trifle. Garnish with maraschino cherries and slivered almonds.

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Recipe alterations: We cut all of the ingredients in half because I do not own a trifle dish. Instead, I put the trifle in individual serving glasses. We also omitted the almonds. I would say the full amount of ingredients would serve 14 people.


Our opinion: Simple to make, easy to put together. Fruit can get costly, though, so just be aware. 

Hello! Ciao! Tag!

In celebration of the 2012 Olympics, my husband and I have decided to create meals representing some of the 200+ countries competing. Every Sunday - Friday during the competition, we will make a dish recognizing one country.


This blog will provide a photo of the dish we made, the country it is for, our opinions of the meal, and a link to the recipe. 


Our goal is to expand our knowledge of other countries as well as learn new cooking skills. Hope you enjoy it! and Go Team USA!