Food from around The World
 

Does anyone have any recipies from their locality that they could share with us? That way we can go away and cook it, try it out and then report back. ;)

I'd offer up 'Roast Lamb and Mint Sauce' as a kiwi offering, but that's been covered in the 'Eating Sheep' thread.

Try the condensed-milk Lemon Meringue Pie recipe from The Latest Recipe Thread. It isn't uniquely area-specific -- little of that thread is, it's more generalist and rather reflects some of my travels about the globe -- but it is the sort of thing Americans would assemble. It has two secrets: make your own graham-cracker crumb crust up out of grahams, sugar, and butter; do not buy them premade, they aren't the same. The other secret is include the juice of one lime and a teaspoonful or two of its zest -- piquant.

More specifically regional-American would be the Key Lime Pie variant of this dish. It takes less lime juice to flavor the filling, so don't just switch 'em volume for volume. I also recommend crumb crust for this pie. Gingersnap crumb crusts are also a good variation. These don't need sugar, I don't think.

This locality's specialty is marinated triangle-tip of beef, but I'd have to research it. The general picture is once marinated -- citrus marinade, I think -- it then gets full-on barbeque treatment with plenty of sauce, slow cooked until it's about fork tender. It's invariably called tri-tip.

More widely distributed is the Burrito. There are a LOT of good burrito joints in California and a couple of national restaurant chains make a specialty of them -- Chipotle, and Taco Bell, with Pollo Loco a distant third. All are tasty in their various ways. Pollo Loco specializes in grilled marinated chicken, Baja California style, and offers it in a burrito. Taco Bell's burritos are, well, fast-food and rather engineered-tasting, and I usually get my burritos elsewhere. Chipotle is determined to keep their burrito offerings lively and high quality, and their ambiance is something between Baja and Aztec-ish.

The funny thing is that the burrito is hardly seen in Mexico; they regard it as something novel and exotic from up North. Not that they dislike it when they run into it.

So: what is it that makes a decent burrito? The outer wrapping is a large flour tortilla, sometimes quite large indeed -- in the east San Francisco Bay Area, burritos come the size of sucking pigs. Bring an appetite. Bring two. There's a filling of rice and beans, generally either black beans or pinto beans, a/k/a habichuelas. There's a choice of meats, usually chicken, beef, and shredded pork, each of which are usually seasoned. Hot salsa of varied strengths is in the mix. Around here you can get your chile salsa either in red, often hot, or green, usually milder. An optional squirt of sour cream and a generous sprinkle of shredded cheese, either cheddar and Monterey Jack or some white Mexican cheese along with cheddar builds the basic burrito.

The customer often adds some more salsa, like the fresh salsa cruda of onions, tomatoes and peppers all chopped together; cilantro either with the salsa cruda or separately; or perhaps green tomatillo salsa, which is most often milder than the red salsa offerings, which can be all the way up to haban~ero -- firey.

Two recipes from the Tex-Mex border. Never fail all-time favorites! The first one relies on frozen green chilis; don't know if you can get canned where you are, but you might have to find a subsitute.

WHITE CHILI

A lighter, whiter, chili . . .

1 cut up chicken (3 ½ to 4 lbs.)
1 quart chicken broth (or more)
1 T salad or olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c white wine
3 cans cannellini or great northern beans, rinsed and drained
¼ c lime juice
½ c frozen mild green chilies
¼ c minced fresh cilantro (or parsley)
1 t dried oregano
½ t ground cumin
¼ t ground cinnamon
Salt, pepper.
1 c shredded jack cheese
Condiments as desired: diced tomatoes, cheese, olives, fresh cilantro

1. Discard chicken skin and fat, rinse well. Put in large pot, add broth and enough cold water to cover, bring to boiling. Reduce heat to simmer, skim off any scum that ap-pears on surface of pot. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Saute onion and garlic in oil in separate pan until golden and sweet, about 15 minutes. (Add garlic toward end of cooking, so it doesn’t burn).
3. Remove chicken from pot to cool. Bring broth to boil until it reduces to 4 cups.
4. Add rest of ingredients except cheese. When chicken is cool enough, tear into chunks and add to broth mixture. Cook for ½ hour, taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
5. Stir in cheese, and serve with condiments.

Note: I like this as more of a soup since I think the broth is the best part, so I add more chicken broth than shown here. You can reduce the amount of broth shown here if you want a more traditional, dense chili. If you like more heat, you can add 1 small minced jalapeño. Adapted from Sunset.

This one's kind of a lot of work, but worth it. You can shorten it a lot by using store-bought roasted chicken and just mixing it with salsa and water or broth.

CHICKEN SOPA
"MEXICAN LASAGNE"

Ingredients

24 corn tortillas
Chicken; 1 large package boneless, skinless
chicken breasts (about 8 breast halves)
1 bay leaf
4 cloves garlic (1 clove + 3 cloves)
2 chopped onions
3 T olive oil
2 cups mild salsa
2 ½ + ½ cups chicken broth
2 t cumin
1 ½ t oregano
2 t salt
½ pound grated cheddar cheese*
½ pound grated monterrey jack cheese*
*Use low-fat cheese if desired
16 oz. sour cream (use low fat sour cream)



Cooking Equipment

Large shallow baking pan (14" x 8")
Large saucepan
Skillet
Tongs
Cheese grater

1. To prepare chicken: Rinse chicken parts and place in pan, cover with cold water with 1 bay leaf and 1 chopped clove of garlic. Turn heat to High and bring water to boil. Once water comes to a boil, turn heat down to low. Cover pot and simmer 25 min-utes. Remove chicken to a plate and cool. When chicken is cool enough, shred with hands. You should have about 8 cups of chicken meat. (Note: You can also use this method of cooking chicken to make chicken for sandwiches, chicken salad, etc.)

2. Chop onion and 3 cloves garlic. Place large saucepan over medium high heat. Put in olive oil and let heat for 1 minute. Put in onion, garlic, cumin, and oregano, and stir. Turn heat to medium low and cover. Cook for 10 minutes, checking and stirring 2-3 times. If vegetables start to stick, add a little more oil. If they start to burn, turn down heat.

3. Add 2 ½ cups chicken broth, 2 cups salsa, and salt to pot; stir. Turn heat to high; bring mixture to boil. Turn down heat to medium, cook uncovered 15 minutes. Sauce should be bubbling nicely but not too frantically.

4. While sauce is cooking, grate cheeses. Coat large (14" x 8") baking pan with Pam cooking spray, or take a paper towel and lightly coat pan with olive oil. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

5. When sauce is done, remove a scant 2 cups (this means almost 2 cups, but not quite) from pot and set aside. Add chicken pieces to pot and stir until thoroughly coated.

6. In a skillet, heat ½ cup of chicken broth to boiling; turn heat to low. To prepare tortillas: Using tongs, quickly dip each tortilla in hot broth before layering. If broth starts to run out, add a little hot water.

7. Layer casserole:

1. Place 8 softened tortillas overlapping in bottom of baking pan.
2. Spread half the chicken.
3. 8 more softened tortillas.
4. Half the chicken.
5. Half the cheese.
6. 8 more tortillas.
7. The 2 cups reserved sauce.
8. The remaining cheese.
9. Carefully spread the sour cream on top.

8. Bake 45 minutes in oven until edges are brown and sour cream is set. Yum!

I don't know the recipe but a mate of mine swears his mother's special casserole rocks. Chicken and vegetables in a sauce based on ... coca cola and vegemite.
Yes really. I think it should be called Mel Gibson Chicken, but I'd never call Mel Gibson chicken.

Buckeyes Candy!

Looks like the nut from the Ohio Buckeye tree.

I've never made them, but I've eaten a few!

My mother in law makes those. They are awesome. Like a Reeses peanut butter cup, but better.

Oh my god I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

On the other hand, I once made a pretty good pulled-pork marinade in which root beer featured prominently, so I suppose anything is possible. If you can get the recipe, I will officially volunteer to be a guinea pig and let you all know how it turns out.

Vegemite has to be handled properly: you can't smear it on as thick as you would jam. Its intense flavor has to be kept dilute. I like to butter the toast first, then the very thin spreading of Vegemite.

Vegemite does make a pretty fair buillon substitute, as salty as it is. Definitely put onions and carrots with it to round out the broth.

I've remembered that the key to the recipe is to get people to try it before you tell them what's in it.

Buggered that up :smack:

lemon merangue pie is pretty popular over here. My mother used to make her own pie crust and then fill in the pie with the lemon filling made from condensed milk and then merangue on top.

Luckily for me, she shared the recipe. :) It's remarkably simple and the making of it is all about how it tastes and getting the condensed milk to turn. None of that other hosh posh UG was talking about.

Well...I gotta post this cuz I am one :P


Manchester Tart
600ml (1 pint) Milk
110g (4oz) Shortcrust Pastry
3 tbsp Raspberry Jam
3 tbsp Custard Powder
2-3 tbsp Desiccated Coconut
2 tbsp Sugar

Pre-heat oven to 200°C; 400°F: Gas 6.
Roll out the dough and line a baking dish.
Blind bake (prick with fork and place a piece of greaseproof paper with some baking beans on pastry).
Bake for 15 minutes.
Allow to cool.
Spread the jam over the pastry base, sprinkle with coconut.
Boil the milk and whisk into the sugar and custard powder (follow manufacturers instructions).
Pour into the pastry case.
Sprinkle with coconut or a little sugar, to prevent a skin forming.
Allow to cool before serving.

Ooooh yummmy. I'm going to make that Dana. Maybe even tonight if I don't drink too much today. :) (the girls are coming over in the arvo for a shoe party. There'll be wine)

I love manc tart. Used to be one of the regular puddings in school meals (before they went all choice based and you just got given what you were given)

We don't have school meals here. Definitely no caffeteria's in schools. We do have tuckshops, but the majority of kids in Australian schools will always take their lunch.

So Australia doesn't have a free lunch program of any kind for poor kids? That surprises me, you guys are generally more socialist than we are. They're pretty standard over here. Free breakfast too, assuming your family qualifies.

We actually measure deprivation levels in a school's cohort by the percentage of children receiving free school meals.

nope, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Someone has to pay.

Actually, by the description that is EXACTLY the thing I was talking about, that other hoshposh or no. It's mainly the recipe straight off the condensed milk can, minus the egg yolks stirred into the filling because Mom never cared for that texture.

No free lunches, but you have to realise that with our government supplements....there is really no need.

You get money per child you have in your legal care, you get cheap medications if you are a low income earner and most of the supermarkets have a day where *pension card* holders (that can be low income pensioner or age pensioner) get a discount off their groceries (excluding alcohol and cigs).

Well, we have the first two (tax breaks for each child and/or straight up free money for each if you're poor enough, and medicaid) though I suspect coverage isn't as broad and the benefits themselves are not as high.

But the difficulty comes in when you consider the parts "legal care" and "income earner." You must be a legal resident who pays taxes for either of those to be determined... so we've had to find other ways to care for a lot of the poorer children. :)

We have child benefit, which is a universal (non means tested) benefit for all under 16s, paid to their parent or legal carer. WE also have free precriptions for families on income support and most entrance fees to events have a waged and non-waged price. There are still some families for whom buying school meals would be too much but for whom that school meal is important. They get free school dinners. Lot of schools are now starting to offer breakfasts as well, some of them free to all kids as a way of encouraging healthy eating habits.

The free school dinner was instituted at a time when many workingclass children simply didn't get a balanced, hot meal at any point in their day. It's survived as a form of assistance for the poorest families, hence it is used as one of the measurements to ensure that schools are catering to a wide demographic and not surreptitiously selecting out the poorer (and therefore more likely to be troubled) kids.

Back off the politics:

Anyone fancy a Toad in the Hole recipe? Sausages in batter pudding (same as Yorkshire Pudding)
Or Sausage Plait (sausagemeat in a pastry wrap, sorta Pimp My Sausage Roll)
Or Jam Roly Poly made with suet (broke our carving knife one memorable Winter's evening)
Or perhaps best of all Chicken Tikka Masala - medium spiced yoghurt based chicken dish voted British national dish (created by early Indian immigrants to suit the local tastes)

I'll take #1 and #4 please. Had #4 on Friday actually - cow orkers decided on Indian buffet lunch.

Toad in the Hole (serves 3-4:

Batter:
3oz (75g) plain flour
1 large egg
3 fluid ounces (75 ml) skimmed milk
salt & pepper to taste

Sausages:
6 good quality pork sauages (approx 14oz/ 400g)
1 tablespoon flavourless oil (if necessary)

Begin by making the batter:
* sieve the flour into a large bowl, holding the sieve up high to give the flour a good airing
* with the back of a spoon, make a well in the centre, break the egg into it, add salt and pepper to taste
* measure the milk and 2 fl oz (55 ml) water in a measuring jug, then, using an electric hand whisk on a slow speed, begin to whisk the egg into the flour
* as you whisk, the flour around the edges will slowly be incorporated
* add the liquid gradually, stopping to scrape the flour into the mixture
* whisk until the batter is smooth
* now the batter is ready for use and if well whisked can stand

* arrange the sausages in a roasting tin, and cook on the middle shelf at Gas Mark 7, 425 (220) for 10 minutes.
* now place the roasting tin containing the sausages over direct heat turned to medium and, if the sausages haven't released much fat, add the tablespoon of oil.
*when the tin is really hot and the oil is beginning to shimmer – it must be searing hot – quickly pour the batter in all around the sausages.
* immediately return the roasting tin to the oven, this time on the highest shelf, and cook the whole thing for 30 minutes.

* when the toad is ready, it should be puffed brown and crisp and the centre should look cooked and not too squidgy. Serve it immediately with gravy, and it's absolutely wonderful with mashed potato.

The recipe is basically my Mum's, with a check from Deliah (Smith) to make sure the translations were right. The tips are - LOTS of air in the batter, Smoking hot oil before it's added.

Am waiting for a response from my Indian ex colleague re one aspect of Tkka Masala.

God I could just eat Toad in the Hole with onion gravy mmmm

This is how my friend & ex colleague cooks Chicken Tikka Masala. She has Indian parents, grew up in Africa, educated in the US where her family live and she's now in the UK due to a love-match marriage. So her cooking is about as authentic as the history of this dish, And tastes as good as everything from her kitchen. PS she only cooks it for Brits, in the same way she only gets the cutlery out for Brits!

For 4:

4 chopped tomatoes
6 tablespoons double cream
2in piece ginger root, peeled and grated
4 chopped garlic cloves
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 bay leaves
2 finely chopped onions
2 finely chopped green chillies
1 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspon turmeric
¼ teaspoon salt
A pinch of garam masala
1 recipe quantity Tandoori chicken bites (she didn't give recipe, will ask again unless it's a known thing in the US)

Preparation

Place the tomatoes, cream, ginger, and garlic, in a blender and blend until a thick sauce forms, then set aside.

Heat the oil in large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add the bay leaves and onions and fry, stirring constantly for 6 to 8 minutes until the onions are golden brown.

Add the chillies, cumin, coriander, paprika, salt, and garam masala and stir 1 minute, or until you can smell the aroma of the spices. Watch carefully so the mixture does not burn.

Add the chicken pieces and fry, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Stir the tomato and cream mixture into the pan. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and simmer 3 minutes.

Bring a kettle of water to a boil while the chicken mixture is simmering. Add ½ cup boiling water to the chicken and simmer another minute, stirring, or until droplets of fat appear on the surface.

Wow. That's a lot of work, but I'm gonna do it. Thanks SG, I'll do both actually!

Toad in the hole isn't really - just lots of waiting around. And it's cheap, we used to have it once a week!

Chicken Tikka Masala, like all Indian food is labour intensive. White Brits order from the take-away, Asian Brits cluck their teeth and produce something 10x more tasty!

Oh btw I went to a couple of Indian cookery classes. I don't even remember the lady's name but think: Harry Potter in one of Snape's potions lessons. The frustrating thing was I quit because I was moving and I genuinely wanted to listen and learn authentically. Somehow she interpreted my look of intense concentration and deference as one of bored disgust - as I'm not a natural recipe follower anyway I confirmed her worst fears.

Sad - If I'd waited six months til I moved to Leiceser I'd have had any number of friends to come along to smooth the waters!

Orange and Ginger Ripple Cake

(I made this up to replace the Chocolate Ripple Cake since my ex hubbie is allergic to Chocolate).

Ingredients.

2 packets Ginger Nut Biscuits (cookies)
600mls Cream (for whipping)
Juice of 1 Orange
Zest for decoration
2 tablespoons Castor Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
Crystallized Ginger Pieces

Method.
Whip cream, sugar and vanilla essence until quite stiff. Stir through just over half the Orange Juice and a sprinkle of zest.

Join biscuits together by standing a biscuit on its side and sandwich with the next biscuit using a generous spread of cream. Continue until all the biscuits have been used and resemble a log.

Cover the log thickly and entirely with the remaining cream.

Splash the remaining juice over the top of the log and sprinkle over some chopped crystallized ginger.

Place in refrigerator for at least 6 hours to set.

To serve, cut cake at a slight angle to ensure alternate layers of chocolate biscuit and cream are in each slice.

hmm. Food from around the world is all very well and good, but I notice a lot of the recipe measurements, terms & ingredients don't exactly translate well from country to country.

SG: no way am I going to eat jam with suet [makes caca face]. And, your yogurt-based chicken recipe doesn't have any yogurt in it.
???

Although it may seem like, I'm not really picking on you in these food threads. I'm just interested and curious.

and, you know, a little bitchy, but can't help that. :)

I think you would use yoghurt instead of cream in the chicken tikka. I know I usually do. Same with tandoori chicken. Always yoghurt, never cream. I think it tastes better that way anyway. Makes it a bit tangy.

Conversions

As for the recipes, in the recipe thread, when I find something I like that doesnt translate well for me with ingredients, I just google the ingredient and can find what its called down here or a substitute

How do you serve/eat toad in the hole? Do you cut it into slices like a pizza or quiche and give everyone a slice? Or do you scoop out the sausages and scoop up some cooked batter/bread and put that on the side? It it crunchy or kind of soft like a quiche or casserole?

This was the image I found on the net. Is this what yours looks like? I've heard of it before and am intrigued. I'd like to try it.

Edit: Or is this second image a more typical one?

In my experiene, it usually looks more like the second pic than the first.

It's not something I like though. Then again, that could be because I don't like sausages.

I believe Toad does work better in a glass pan. I used to make something called a "dutch baby" which was essentially the batter without the sausage, sweetened up a bit. Eat it with jam and cream.

He does? Well I'll be....

I didn't realise many British home-made desserts had suet in them (or even what suet was) until I started doing Food & Nutrition at school. They are still made with suet if you go for a traditional style, but most recipes will now use different fat to appeal to vegetarians. In my opinion you only get a good hard crust on a jam roly-poly with suet though. Which is why it's served with plenty of custard!
You know I didn't even notice. When S gave me the recipe I never made it because as has been mentioned it is quite hard work :) I can only assume it's a variation on a theme.
Mum always made hers tidily (as in the first image) to make it easier to serve - which is also correct in terms of texture and finish, but a little too perfect if you know what I mean. We would all end up with an oblong of batter with sausage/s in it. Everyone needs to have an edge!

The batter rises and sets hard and crunchy on the sides. It sounds hollow if you tap it, as in fact it nearly is if you have enough air in it. The middle will remain lower, softer and more chewy. Badly made Yorkshire Puddings - effectively the batter without the sausages - will be quite flabby in the middle. Not good. The problem is usually not having the fat hot enough.

Now let's jack the silliness count a bit: once again, the Deep-Fried Mars Bar. Check out the included reference linking to Haggis Pakoras.

From circa 2006 comes mention of haggis pizza.

Which all sound rather good.

I went to an American style grill last night.
I wanted to get out because I was annoyed at HM and didn't want a row and because he had his chum coming round to practice songs with.

So I went down to the O2 and had a wander round. I thought they had a TGI Friday there - I really wanted a Cobb Salad, but having walked round the whole venue I saw no Fridays and no Cobb Salads on any other menu boards. So I went for ribs instead because the smell of meat was making my mouth water.

Spur Bar & Grill. Half rack of ribs, fries and onion rings. Very yum yum.

In glatt's left-hand Toad in the Hole picture, was that variation made in a Yorkshire pudding (or something similar)?

Yes, the batter in Toad is basically yorkshire pudding batter.