Jerk Tofu and Baked Festival {Jamaica}

Jamaican me eat too much!

{As I type this, a group of probably tipsy young ladies are loudly singing “Tubthumping” in the apartment building’s hallway}.  {BTW, I pre-posted; they are not drunk at 8:30 AM.}

If I were a pescatarian, Jamaican cuisine would have been amazing.  As it stands, though, it was still a decent meal.  When you think Jamaican food, you must be thinking jerk, right?  Me too.  I marinated slices of tofu in soy sauce, oil, Jamaican seasoning, and lime juice (oh, ginger).  I sauteed an onion, some garlic, and a jalapeno in the pan before dumping the slices and marinade into the pan.  Got a little smoky in here again 🙂

I did attempt to healthify the festival.  I’m not sure if was a good idea or came close to replicating it authentically, but it was a good faith effort.  Instead of deep frying, I pan fried slightly and baked (guess I was going for the arepa method).  I also used whole wheat flour in them, along with the cornmeal required by typical recipes.  One thing that I found to be very interesting about the little breads was that sugar is used like it used to be before the Sugar Revolution–as a spice.  Sugar is added in to the dough mix along with salt and other seasonings.  It’s not the star of the dish, as in dessert.

As for sides, I was thrilled to learn that a standard baked sweet potato is common in Jamaica.  Since starting the Pearl Project, we’ve been trying so many new foods that we rarely get our old favorites, such as baked sweet potatoes and kale chips.

Cue the calypso!

Pabellón criollo y Arepas {Venezuela}

Jordan had his eye on a Venezuelan restaurant in NYC a few weeks ago, but wasn’t able to make it.  But his craving did not subside.  I thought I would take a stab at that craving.

As with many other countries, colonization has left Venezuela with various cultures and cuisines.  The cuisine varies greatly from region to region.  Italian influences are strong, and Venezuelans eat more pasta than everywhere other than Italy–this surprised me.  I thought Argentina would be number two.

I decided to proceed ahead with two dishes:

• Arepas (per the husband’s request) and
• Pabellón criollo–arguably Venezuela’s national dish.

The arepas were a bit time consuming, but I was happy to have put the time in to achieve the final result.  The cornmeal dough was made into patties:

I wanted our arepas to be a bit thick, so that I could squeeze some sharp cheddar between the layers.

I pan-fried the arepas, just enough so that a crunchy crust was formed on the outsides.  So, we live in a tiny apartment with no ventilation to speak of.  And without a hood for the stove.  Things got smoky with this pan-frying….

After the crust was formed, I tossed them into the oven to bake through.  My final product was quite similar to the pictures I’d seen.  I actually found some pre-made arepas in the frozen food section of the Hispanic Market I visited a couple weeks back.  Glad I didn’t succumb.  I think the cost of the cornmeal, salt, flour, etc. probably only totaled half the cost of the packaged version.

The sharp cheddar worked out just fine.  Too fine.  I loved it, even though it seemed a little greasy when melted.

See the pabellón criollo creeping in the background?  Pabellón criollo typically consists of rice and beans, fried plantains, maybe a fried egg, and maybe some fish or chicken.  Bet you can guess what’s in mine…

You might not be jealous, but you should be.  This was an awesome meal.  I was completely stuffed, but force-fed my second arepa down because it tasted so good.  And I could not leave any plantain slices.

Venezuelans, I do not buy that your president, Mr. Chavez, was at the Nativity.  But maybe the Virgin Mary was craving something like this meal during her pregnancy.

Feijoada and Manioc Fries {Brazil}

Oh, Brazil.  There’s a lot of beautiful there. Beaches and mountains.  And rainforest–which I’ll see someday, I swear it.

Between leaving the DC Metro Area and arriving in Knoxville, Jordan and I were lucky enough to spend almost 3 weeks in Brazil.  We stayed with Jordan’s friend from college, Chris, near Salvador (in the state of Bahia).  Chris teaches English in that area.  Chris and his girlfriend, Milena, were excellent hosts–helping us communicate with others, helping choose our activities, and showing us Brazil from a point of view that we would never have seen otherwise.

While there, we ate many, many delicious things.  Much of what we ate while there was completely new to us.   At the time we visited, I was not a vegetarian, so we had beef (copain even!), visited a traditional churrascaria, sampled seafood dishes that were heavy on the dende oil, and partook in some of the villa’s group barbeques.  Still, there were plenty of herbivore delights.  The family of one of Chris’ students (following?) owns a produce shop, and let us sample anything that peaked our interest.  Coconut water straight from the coconut was nearly a daily occurrence, acai (Rio bowls) made the cut frequently.  Manioc (yucca) flour abounded. The dende oil and manioc flour are evidence of the African influences on Brazilian cuisine.  (Bahia has been called “the Africa of the Americas”).

So, with all of this emphasis on the time I spent in Brazil, you’re probably thinking that this is the first place I had feijoada, right?  Actually, while staying an eco-resort in Misiones Province in Argentina, I was introduced to feijoada.

And more travel pictures from Don Enrique (the aforementioned eco-resort).  Don Enrique was the big splurge on our Honeymoon.  I very much recommend the place to anyone considering it.  The owners are so welcoming, the hiking guides are friendly and knowledgeable (and will put up with your my very broken Spanish), the setting is wonderful.  But the food…wow.  All local, raised in their gardens, etc.  I’d never eaten better.  Don Enrique is nestled right up by the Brazilian border, and the Brazilian influence is quite strong.

Okay, so that’s not feijoada, either.  Just one of the lovely meals we ate while there.

So what is feijoada?  You had to know I’d get around to it eventually, right?  Feijoada is a stew of beans and traditionally,  beef and pork.  It is a typical dish in both Portugal and Brazil and is considered by many as the Brazil’s national dish.  It’s served with rice and typically some sides.  While hiking in Brazil, it was often served with what seemed like an overwhelming number of sides.  The meal below was just for the three of us.  After a full day of the hardest hiking I’d done up to that point, we nearly cleared the table!

Since I’m no longer eating meat, I wasn’t sure how to approach this dish.  I couldn’t very well just make beans and rice, because that seemed to be taking too much out of the dish.  So I opted for Gimme Lean (just realized the rhyme with Jimmy Dean….:S) vegan sausage as my “meat” add in.  It truly did taste like sausage, which weirded me out a bit, but then I gave in.

I served our feijoada with manioc fries, which I believe I am getting better at making!  Remember, you’ll have to boil first.  The dish really hit the spot for me.

The beans really covered the faux-sausage, but you can see it in the top of the photo.

Peeking out a little more in that photo.

While I really, really love brigadeiro (similar to truffles), I decided I would go with fresh tropical fruit for dessert, as fresh mangoes, papayas, and pineapples now all take me back to Bahia.

And I wanted to share photos of my lovely, slightly overpriced Anthropologie cup (purchased during the NYC trip)!

I’d say the joy of eating the pineapple out of such a pretty cup was worth the 10 dollar price tag.

Until we meet again, readers….

Simple Potato Stew, Rye Soda Bread, and Chocolate Stout Cake: A Calm St. Paddy’s Day {Ireland}

Longest.Title.Ever.

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Once, I spent a St. Patrick’s Day in France. I saw the Mona Lisa.  I ate a my first ever crepe (Nutella was an excellent choice) and shared a Powerade with my significant other.  (Wow, I look a bit different now!)

No one in Paris cared or mentioned St. Patrick’s Day except our hostel-mates.  Two days later, we flew back to Manchester, UK.  The streets around the U of M and MMU campuses were still a wreck for the St. Paddy’s Day destruction.    I think I prefer the calm,-eat-some-good-food-and-wear-a-wee-bit-of-green methods.

That’s right.  Do some yoga, run a little, blog a little, and avoid the pub-crawlers at all costs.

Our meal last night consisted of a very, very easy stew, a standard soda bread and a bit of dessert.

Cassie’s Simple Potato Stew (Serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 3 medium potatoes, cubed (I don’t peel mine if they are organic–just scrub well)
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 5 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 T Earth Balance
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup stout (we did use Guinness–so if you have no gray areas with your vegetarianism, find a fish-bladder free stout)
• 4 cups vegetable broth (or water)

Instructions:

1. Melt Earth Balance (or use oil or butter if you prefer) in dutch oven or large sauce pan
2. Add onion and saute until translucent.
3. Add garlic and saute for 2 more minutes.
4. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery.  Give a stir.  Toss in parsley and bay leaves.
5. Add stout and vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This was really delicious for being so easy and not having oodles of seasonings.  You need to serve this with soda bread.  I love soda bread.  It’s so easy to make and adapt.  We had rye bread with caraway seeds.

You can make soda bread without a special soda bread dish, but I’ve got one.  So I use it every time.  (Thanks for that, Bev–you probably didn’t realize how much use I’d get out of it).

The cake we had for dessert was a recipe of my own.  And I made it hours before I noticed that 101 Cookbooks happened to post a Chocolate Stout Cake.  I swear it.  The recipes are somewhat similar, but I cut out the dairy and eggs, and used sugar for my sweetener.  Odd, I know, considering I still used Guinness (which again is not even considered vegetarian by many).  Oh, well. I still tried.  Pre-powdered shot below:

Almost Vegan Chocolate Stout Cake (Makes too many servings for a 2-person household)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance
• 1 cup stout beer (find a vegan one if you’d like)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups unrefined sugar
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 flax “egg”: 1 T ground flax mixed into 3 T water
• 3/4 cup cashew “sour cream”: soak 3/4 cup raw cashews in water until soft, blend with 1 T lemon juice until smooth.
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt Earth Balance into stout beer in medium sauce pan on stovetop.
3. Mix in sugar and cocoa powder
4. Add in flax egg, cashew cream, and apple sauce.  Remove mixture from heat.
5. Add the flour to a separate, large bowl.  Create a well for the liquid.
6. Add the liquid and stir until all flour is moistened.
7. Pour the cake batter into a well-oiled or silicone dish.  You can use a 9×9 pan, a bundt pan, or cupcakes–whatever you prefer.
8. Bake for 50 minutes, or until fork comes out clean.

I added a glaze made of almond milk, vanilla extract, chocolate syrup, and powdered sugar.  There was no recipe or measuring for me in this step, so you can make to your own liking!

Because this cake is eggless, it is more fudge-like than many cakes.  It’s dense and moist.  Which I prefer.

Yes, I did have a piece for breakfast this morning.  But hey, it’s whole wheat and has apple sauce.  It’s got to be healthier than a number of doughnuts and muffins on the market, right?

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Now that I’ve been thinking over my St. Patrick’s Days, I remembered another traveling one!  During grad school, I was able to take a spring break trip with Jordan and his sister, Emilee, to Peru.  Though mudslides kept us from Machu Picchu, we managed to have an excellent time.

Maybe there is something to be said for venturing out on St. Paddy’s….

 

From Ireland with Love: An Irish Breakfast

I’m super excited!  It’s the Pearl Project’s first guest post ever!  One of my most near (in spirit) and dear friends is currently living in Ireland, and I thought it’d be great to have her share some of her experiences here.  She’s a lovely person and a lovely writer.  She blogs over at Enos Village about her Irish adventures and wonderful fam.  Thanks, Jenny!

I had to share just a couple pics of her cute little (yet tall) family.  (I’m so hoping she doesn’t mind!)

(p.s. If anyone else is interested in a guest post for a specific country, feel free to contact me!)

Without further adieu–

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Top o’ the morning to ya!  And Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

My name is Jennifer Enos.  Six months ago my husband, Luke, and I, along with our daughter, Isabella, moved to Ireland for Luke to play professional basketball.  Living in Ireland has been a great learning experience.  The first experience was finding out no one actually uses the greeting, “Top o’ the morning to ya!”  At least not seriously.  I know, I was disappointed, too.

Nearly everything has changed in regards to our meals since moving to Ireland.  We don’t have a car, so we always walk to the grocery store.  Which isn’t a horrible thing, but it becomes old when it rains nearly every day.  Our refrigerator is about three feet tall, so this results in grocery shopping every third day on average.  (A lot of the refrigerators here are smaller in comparison to American refrigerators). The selection of groceries at our grocery store is pretty limited compared to my local Safeway.  Overall, the food selection is a lot healthier than in America in regards to processed/packaged/boxed foods.  Also, the portions are a lot smaller for the price.  Some examples:

• The only sugary cereals are frosted flakes and cocoa puffs.  If you want to buy a box of Lucky Charms or Reese’s Puffs, it will run you 9 euro (around 11 dollars).  Needless to say, we haven’t purchased either of these cereals.
• The largest container of salsa available is about 1 cup, and it costs 2.70 euro (3.50 USD).
• There is one kind of Pop Tart – Strawberry.
• Three chicken breast filets costs 5 euro (6.60 USD). Because filets are so expensive, I have started buying whole chickens. **Side note: Filet is pronounced “fill-it” in Ireland**
• A jar of 18 oz peanut butter is the largest available and costs 2.80 (3.70 USD)
• If you want to buy black beans, you have to go to a health food store, and the cheapest can I have found is 1.29 euro (1.70 USD)
• For those of you addicted to pop (called Fizzy Drink in Ireland) like my husband, a 2 liter pop is 2.19 euro (2.88 USD)  This is the cheapest route in feeding the addiction.
• The largest portion of milk is 3 liters (4 liters is just over a gallon) and costs 2.88 euro (3.79 USD)

I like to believe that somewhere in Galway there is a grocery store that carries more bulk items, but the store we shop at does not.  One benefit to the higher prices and smaller portions, it seems like the population is healthier here than in the states.  Part of this could also be due to the fact that gas is 1.62 euro a liter (which is about 6.40 USD a gallon).  A lot of people walk or ride bike to save on gas.

When Cassie asked me to write a guest blog about Ireland’s food, I was unsure about what I should cook.  Most traditional Irish meals are very simple and use few ingredients.  A few months ago a friend and I made a meal from an Irish cookbook – baked onions.  Yes.  An onion, covered with foil in a broiling pan, baked for an hour.  Simple. We made a curry sauce to go along with it.

I decided to do something a little more elaborate than a baked onion, so I whipped up a traditional Full Irish Breakfast.  Nothing too fancy, but it is something the Irish definitely take pride in.

A Full Irish Breakfast consists of:

• Bacon (which is more like ham than American bacon)
• Sausage links
• Black Pudding
• White Pudding (these puddings are not of the Jello variety.  Pudding here is like a sausage)
• Eggs
• Potato bread
• Soda Bread
• Tomatoes
• Mushrooms
• Baked Beans
• Orange Juice
• Tea or Coffee

The only part of the meal that required any preparation was the potato bread.

1. Peel, boil and mash four medium potatoes.
2. Add ¼ c flour, a dash of salt, and 1 tbsp melted butter.
3. Mix with the potato masher, and then knead the mixture, adding flour until a sticky dough forms.
4. The recipe calls to roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin, but I formed small pancake-like circles with my hands.
5. With the pan sprayed with Sunflower Oil, I let the breads cook for 5-8 minutes on each side.

What really makes this breakfast an Irish meal is the pudding.  Like I said earlier, black and white pudding is like a sausage patty.  The white pudding is made of pork meat and fat, suet, bread, oatmeal and seasonings.  Its counterpart, black pudding, is very similar, but is made with pig blood.  Yes, the blood of the pig is congealed and put in this pudding.  And the Irish love it.  These come precooked in the form of a large sausage, and before serving are cut into patties and fried.

Generally the tomato is cut into thick slices and grilled, and the mushrooms left whole to grill.  I decided to incorporate my tomatoes and mushrooms into my eggs, since I don’t like tomatoes on their own.

Had I been a bit more ambitious, I could have made the Soda Bread.  Instead I opted to purchase some from the local bakery.

I must apologize for the horrible lighting, but these are the best pictures I could capture of our Full Irish Breakfast.

You may have noticed there are no baked beans on the plate.  So, the story goes: Luke was gone, and I was attempting to cook up this meal with only two frying pans while entertaining Isabella.  In the midst of cooking everything up and singing made-up songs to Bella, I forgot to prepare and serve the baked beans.  It wasn’t until I started writing this post that I remembered the beans were still sitting on the shelf, unopened.  Ah, well.  Can’t win them all.

So, there you have it.  Start your St. Patrick’s Day off right and enjoy a Full Irish Breakfast!  If you want to be extra festive, you could add some green food coloring to the eggs and drink some green milk to wash everything down. 🙂

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! And as the Irish say, Good Luck!

(yes, that is a very common parting salutation)

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Thanks, Jenny!  I miss you!

Hey, readers, I’ll be back in a couple hours after mid-morning yoga with a post about our semi-Irish feast from last night.  We decided to celebrate a day early, in case we wanted to escape downtown Knoxville when the pub crawlers start to take over.  And yes, I am wearing a green shirt to yoga today 🙂

Irio {Kenya}

I got home from work late on Tuesday night.  (I almost didn’t make it home in time for New Girl, which I then forgot to watch…)  I was not strong in the Pearl Project spirit, so I was thankful that I had already planned to make a dish that was not too labor intensive.

Meet Irio.

Irio is basically a bean, corn, and potato mash with a splash of greens.  It is a common dish throughout East Africa.  There are oodles of varieties out there.  Mine included, onion, a can of yellow corn, a can of pinto beans, 3 large potatoes (boiled, then cubed), and 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped spinach.  There was some salt, pepper, and paprika involved too.  I know, I should have probably gone the extra step and made ugali (I even bought white corn meal!) with the irio.  But we had leftover rice.  And wasting food is no good.  I also added a dollop of plain yogurt to the top for a bit of extra tangyness.  Simple meal.  Not mind blowing.  But solid.

Lumpia, Seitan Adobo, and Cocoa San Rival {Jordan’s Filipino Farewell Feast}

On Tuesday, one of our good friends (the other Jordan) headed back to South Dakota after completing an internship in East Tennessee.

He’s completing his Master’s, and his thesis focuses on mangrove deforestation in the Philippines.  Jordan (husband) and I thought it would be fitting to make a Filipino meal for Jordan’s last night in Knoxville.

I started with lumpia, which are equivalent to egg rolls.  Typically, these would be filled with pork and/or some other meat, but I simply stuck to the veggies.  My mother always made homemade egg rolls, by the way.  I’m not sure what made her decide to do that each time we had chow mein, but my sisters and I were always pleased!  This week, I decided to pan fry them for just a bit before baking them in the oven (15 minutes at 425).  These turned out so well for being so fast.

For the main dish, I made a vegetarian adaptation of the famous chicken or pork adobo.  This is probably the nation’s best known dish.  Sometimes I know how the dishes I make for the blog are meant to taste.  Sometimes, I have no clue.  So if I don’t like something, it might be because I made it wrong, or it might be because I like it.  I had no real idea what my Seitan Adobo should taste like.

The dish uses soy sauce, a lot of vinegar, and a lot of garlic.  Garlic, I love.  Too much acid (i.e. vinegar) makes me nervous.  When I added 3/4 cup vinegar to the sauce, I was skeptical that I’d really like it.  But I kept sending positive vibes toward the pot.

I think it worked.

Jordan (not husband) said it actually tasted very similar to the pork adobo he had when visiting the Philippines.  He mentioned, though, that the sauce seemed much heavier there than in my version.  So not perfect, but I’ll take it!

And since it was a special occasion, dessert was in order.  I used to attempt to make a San Rival cake on each Chinese New Year before I realized it was a Filipino dish.  I originally found the recipe in an Asian cookbook, so i had just gone with it.

I’ve probably attempted the San Rival five times or so.  It’ll never look like it’s supposed to.  Honestly, I don’t think anyone has ever cared!  A San Rival cake is made of layers of cashew meringue and butter creme frosting.  Truly, my favorite dessert of all.  This week’s version was actually a Cocoa San Rival, since my frosting (which was quite thin) was made with cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and orange liqueur.  I wish I could share a piece with all of you.  Sooo good!

For being as big as it was, it didn’t last long around here.

Good luck to Jordan as he looks toward graduation and the next step in his career!  Here’s hoping your last Knoxville meal helped you look back upon your internship with fondness.

Curried Tofu and Roti {Trinidad and Tobago}

So if you’re a dedicated follower (then I love you, but that is beside the point), you might remember how I left you with a roti cliffhanger after the Surinamese meal.  I really thought I’d be making roti again the next night, but it ended up being almost a week before I attempted again.  Rest assured, you questions about attempt number two will be answered in this post.

Cue the calypso music!  You might pretend I listened to calypso music while preparing this dish…

Trinidad and Tobago is a country composed of islands–two large ones in particular.  (I’ll let you guess on the names of the two large islands).  The country is found just of the northern coast of South America. Much like Surinamese cuisine, the cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago is heavily influenced by the cuisine of many other cultures: Indian, Chinese, Amerindian, etc.  Chicken curry and roti is arguably the most well-known dish of the country.  I love it–I get to take a stab at Indian food (and the tofu I use in it) without actually having to cross India off of my country list.

I’ve made some Indian foods before (Saag Aloo, Veg. Biryani,  and Chana Masala), but never actually a curry.  I went with a very simple chicken curry recipe, subtracted the chicken, added some tofu.  I honestly cannot find the link to the exact recipe I used/adapted, but my base was crushed tomatoes and yogurt with coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper, ginger, onions, garlic, and of course curry powder.  Jordan rating: definitely in the top 5 dishes so far.

And would you look at that roti.  It actually rolled this time, was soft, and had a bit of flavor.  A vast, vast improvement from the last go round.  At lunch, Jordan compared his roti with roti that one of his Indian co-workers brings in.  He said it was looking quite similar.  Whew!  I admit, I feel some pressure is on when I cook Indian food and he takes the leftovers.  🙂

Valentine’s Fondue {Switzerland}

Happy post-Valentine’s Day post!

Wow.  I cannot believe how far behind on posting I am.  We’ll have to do two-a-days until I catch up.  If only I could force myself into that sort of workout regimen.  But I digress…

Nearly a month ago, St. Valentine came to visit.  He convinced Jordan to buy me these:

St. Valentine also convinced me that it was okay to eat way more cheese than is recommended.  But Fondue is romantic, right?

I stuck with a very basic cheese/tomato fondue:

• 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup Emmental cheese
• 1/2 cup Gruyere cheese
• 1/2 cup dry white wine

The cheeses are expensive, but the wine was very affordable.  We rarely spend over 12-14 dollars on a bottle; I’m not sure my palette is sophisticated enough for expensive wines.  There was a very interesting NPR story on wine tasting lately that backs me up.

‘Twas lovely.  We dipped pieces of roasted potatoes and broccoli and baguette into the mix.

Our fondue was supplemented with some Swiss chard that had been sauteed with onions and garlic (splash of apple cider vinegar, naturally).

I’m afraid there were no leftovers as far as the fondue was concerned.  Maybe a stray piece of baguette or something.  That mix was delicious and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an easy fondue mix.

We did also need dessert, since it was Valentine’s Day.  I’ve never had chocolate fondue anywhere other than at my parents’ place.  I’m certain ours was a bit too thick, but that does not affect the flavor whatsoever 🙂  I used dark chocolate, almond milk, and vanilla extract for our fondue.  You can see that we went for fruit and pretzels for dippers.  Between the fruit and the broccoli, I had myself convinced this meal was healthy.

Here’s hoping your romance and tasty cooking have lived on since February 14th!

Get ready for the two-a-days.

Ketchup Recipes (Okay, catch up recipes): Tanzania, Syria, Tajikistan

I still exist. And so does my kitchen, I swear it.  I know you couldn’t tell it from the blog, but it is true.  My excuses…first the good camera died, leaving me with lackluster photography that I wasn’t as thrilled to share with you.  (I’m still going to share it–please lie and tell me it’s not that out of focus, etc).  Then, I took a trip to New York City.  It was lovely, and at some point, I”ll blog about my restaurant eats there.  I wish I had the time and money to spend a month there.  Anyway, back to my excuses.  Then, well, I had to catch up on at work since I’d missed for NYC.

Still, I’ve been cooking.  To speed my catching up process, I’ve got a post with a quick recap of three country feasts and my recipe for Black Bean and Plantain Stew.

First–Syria.  I made some mini mezze plates for us, with easy tabbouleh, homemade hummus and toasted pita chips, and some olives to round out the plate.  The hummus was extra delicious this go round…I think a bit of extra tahini may have had something to do with it.

For the entree, I prepared Mujaddara.

Now, lentils are rice isn’t exactly anything crazy, but caramelized onions add the flavor that I needed to enjoy this otherwise simple dish.  I opted for brown lentils and seasoned with cumin and coriander.  Seems like I’ve been using so much coriander as of late…

I’ve also attempted a traditional Tajik meal.  I do not think I had quite the dramatic flare that I was hoping for.  Here was my inspiration photo:

(Source)

Here’s what our table actually looked like:

There are just a couple disparities.  Ah, well.  We had nuts and dried fruit and piti surrounding our plov.  Confused?  Tajik meals are communal, and center around the plov, which is fried rice.  Usually a plov contains mutton, but we stuck to onions, carrots, and yellow turnips.  Our orange soups are the piti.  [Vegetarian] piti is made with chickpeas, tomatoes, and potatoes and cooked while covered in the oven.  I could not actually find an existing recipe, so I worked on my own.  Does anyone have a good piti recipe to share?

Mine was okay.  Healthful, and with some flavor, but lacking a certain je ne sais quoi.

That’s okay, Tanzania’s meal had it (referring to the “je ne sais quoi”) and then some.  This dish was actually meant to be a beef and plantain stew.  I decided to simply use black beans instead of finding a more processed meat substitute for the meal.

Husband actually voted this into his top three dishes the night we had it!  Since then, I think the Philippines may have nudged it out from Bronze medal standing, but still, it was a winner.

Bean and Plantain Stew (Serves 6) Vegan

Ingredients:

• 1 T oil
• 2 cloves garlic (one if you’re not a garlic lover–why would you not be, though??)
• 2 onions
• 1 15 oz can cooked black beans (rinsed and drained)
• 2 vegetable bouillon cubes
• 4 cups water
• 1 chili pepper (I don’t bother seeding b/c the husband likes heat)
• 3 small potatoes, cubed
• 3 plantains, peeled and sliced
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tsp salt
• pepper to taste

Directions.

1. Heat oil in large pot (I used a Dutch oven).
2. Saute onions until translucent.
3. Add garlic and chili pepper. Season with salt and pepper.  Saute for 2-3 more minutes.
4. Add beans, tomatoes, potatoes, plantains, water, and bouillon cubes.
5. Simmer until vegetables are tender, approximately 30 minutes for me.
6. Add coconut milk add stir until heated.  Mash vegetables if desired.

Our stew was served with my first attempt at ugali, which is a dough-like porridge made with cornmeal.  It’s quite common in African cuisine, but usually it’s made with white cornmeal, which I didn’t have on hand that day.  The ugali wasn’t the most delicious thing I’ve eaten, but seemed to go well with the stew nevertheless.

Happy cooking, folks.  Scout’s honor that I’ll be more consistent with the posting in the next couple weeks!