Globalization in Southern Mississippi

Tasty things I have cooked, oh how you are multitude!

In our continuation of ethnic food Thursdays, we have begun to do some odd stuff. Once Italian, Mexican, and Chinese are off the table, it takes a tad more creativity. Thus, more from the world tour of food in reverse chronological order!


CAJUN!

In honor of the upcoming Mardi Gras and in celebration of anti-V-day, there were spicy food to be had. Since I hadn't done a desert in awhile, I figured cake with cayenne? Who could go wrong! It's an interesting little concoction -- comes out very similar to gingerbread but with kick.

Gateau de Sirop

1/2 c veg. oil
1 1/2 c pure cane syrup
1 egg, beaten
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 c hot water
powerded sugar for topping

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9'' round cake pan. Combine oil, syrup, and egg. STir until well blended. Mix dry ingredients except baking soda. Combine baking soda and hot water. Add dry infredients to the syrup mixture alternately with the dissolved baking soda. Pour into pan; bake 45 minutes. Top with powdered sugar. Consume.

(Altered from a Louisiana Cooking magazine.)



INDONESIAN!

This was done with the help of Meagan and my Indonesian Cookbook (thank you, Norton). And then spilled in my car, which I just realized pre-road trip. Nothing says fun like dried curry on the backseat.

Javanese Chicken Curry

1 tbp ground coriander
1 red Holland chile (I used jalapeno because there were no red chiles to be found), chopped
6 shallots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs minced ginger
1 3 lb chicken, cut into serving portions
3 tbp peanut oil
2 cinnamon sticks
1 stalk lemongrass (or dried)
1 tbp lime zest
1 can coconut milk
salt to taste


In a food processor, combine coriander, chile, shallots, garlic, and ginger. Pulse until you have a smooth paste (add 1-2 tbp of water if necessary).

Heat the oil in a 3-4 quart saucepan over med-low heat. Add paste and saute, stirring frequently for 5-7 minutes. Add cinnamon lemongrass, and zest. Saute for 1 more minute. Add chicken and rase heat to medium. Saute in flavoring paste for about 10 minutes making sure to turn them so both sides brown. Add 1 cup coconut milk, 3/4 cup water, and salt. Stir and scrape up tastiness from the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 40-50 minutes. Add 1 cup coconut milk and heat. Serve over rice.

(Modified from Cradle of Flavor by James Oseland)
CUBAN!

Because I'm black bean soup crazy, I decided to try new recipe, which may trump Christine's in tastiess. She'll have to be the final judge of that one.


POLISH!

I wasn't there. Which is fine. Because from what I hear it was a total sausage-fest. (Heh.)


ETHIOPIAN!

This is a surprisingly easy and tasty ethnicity to do. Plus way fun if you have people over, provided they are chronic handwashers. Definitely not first date food. Or food to enjoy with mechanics.

The real trick is having the crazy excellent spice rack necessary to produce the berbere, which might be the best smelling spice mix I've ever accidentally inhaled (don't do that).

Injera (flat bread)

4 c Self-rising flour
1 c Whole wheat flour
1 tsp Baking powder
2 c Club soda

Combine flours and baking powder in a bowl. Add club soda plus about 4 cups water. Mix into a smooth, fairly thin batter. Heat a large, non-stick skillet. When a drop of water bounces on the pan's surface, dip enough batter from the bowl to cover the bottom of the skillet, and pour it in quickly, all at once. Swirl the pan so that the entire bottom is evenly coated, then set it back on the heat.

When the moisture has evaporated and small holes appear on the surface, remove the injera. It should be cooked only on one side, and not too browned. If your first one is a little pasty and undercooked, you may need to cook a little longer or to make the next one thinner. But, as with French crepes, be careful not to cook them too long, or you'll have a crisp bread that may be tasty but won't fold around bits of stew. Stack the injera one on top of the other as you cook, covering with a clean cloth to prevent their drying out.

Yetakelt W'et (spicy mixed vegetable stew)

1 c Onions; finely chopped
4 Garlic cloves; minced
1 tb Berbere*
1 tb Sweet Hungarian paprika
1/4 c butter
1 c zucchini; chopped
1 c Carrots; chopped
1 c Potatoes; cubed
1 c Tomatoes; chopped
1/4 c Tomato paste
2 c Vegetable stock
Salt and black pepper to tst
1/4 c Parsley; fresh, chopped

Saute the onions, garlic, berbere, and paprika in the Niter Kebbeh for 2 minutes. Add the zucchini, carrots, and potatoes and continue to saute for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, and the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes, or until all of the vegetables are tender.

Add salt and pepper to taste and mix in the parsley.

Serve with injera and yogurt or cottage cheese following the same serving and eating procedure as for Yemiser W'et.

Doro Wat (Chicken Stew)

1 3 lb chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 cups onion, chopped finely
3 tbs butter
4 tbs bebere

Soak
Brown onion chopped finely, without fat, until quite dark, stirring constantly. Add butter and bebere and stir. Add one cup water. Stir. Add chicken and cover. Simmer on low until the chicken is tender. Add more water if necessary to bring to a stew texture. Eat!


*Berbere

2 tsp Cumin seeds
4 Whole cloves
3/4 tsp Cardamom seeds
1/2 tsp Whole black peppercorns
1/4 tsp Whole allspice
1 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp Coriander seeds
8 To 10 small dried red chiles
1/2 tsp Grated fresh ginger root OR
(1 tsp dried)
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Salt
2 1/2 tb Sweet Hungarian paprika
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Ground cloves

In a small frying pan, on medium-low heat, toast the cumin, whole cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, allspice, fenugreek, and coriander for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.

Discard the stems from the chiles. In a spice grinder or with a morter and pestle, finely grind together the toasted spices and the chiles. Mix in the remaining ingredients.

Store Berebere refrigerated in a well-sealed jar or a tightly closed plastic bag.


BRITISH!

Everyone knows that the Brits make the best food. Not really in terms of taste, but in terms of funny names. Bangers and mash? Spotted dick? There was so much potential, until we realized these things were entirely inedible. So thanks to Allison's giant cod (hehe) there was Fish & Chips and I topped that off with some Yorkshire pudding with roasted veggies. Not bad. And now I've got extra lard just layin' around for late night snacking. Yum.