June 2011 - St Kitts and Nevis

Well, talk about a challenge! We loved the idea of St Kitts and Nevis but finding recipes on the internet proved quite difficult. After much searching, however, we did manage to find one or two sites with recipe for local cuisine and so for our dinner evening we made:

Mango Chutney, Crispy Bread and Island Style Fruit Punch

Rikkita Beef, Roast Pumpkin and Rice with Beans

Pineapple Cherry Cake

The majority of the recipes came courtesy of www.recipeisland.com under the St Kitts and Nevis tab. The food was all palateable and tasty but not very unusual. I think that we all would have preferred something a bit more exotic tasting from such an exotic location and I think in comparison to it's neighbouring islands (think Antigua, Barbados etc) it wasn't the most impressive of meals but there was nothing that I for one would avoid making. The chutney was sweet and spicy, the punch was fruity, the pumpkin was crispy and the beef was juicy. The pineapple cherry cake looked very pretty but tasted much like ordinary sponge.
I think that in the future we should avoid island food in the middle of winter which is why we are all so excited about our forthcoming meal which is just perfect for cold winter nights.

NEXT MONTH: IRELAND

March 2011 - Russia

It was with much trepidation that we viewed our Russian cuisine adventure. One of us had been to Russia before and not had good gastronomic experiences, whilst I had once shared a flat  with a Russian room-mate whose cooking skills left much to be desired. Nevertheless, we decided to put aside our preconceived notions and forge ahead to create a delicious Russian menu.
The traditional foods associated with Russia were foremost in our mind - namely, Borscht (beetroot soup) and beef stroganoff so we decided to start from there and find some other things to accompany the meal. The final menu for the evening was:

Borscht

Beef Stroganoff and Crumbed Cauliflower

Russian Tea Cakes and Vanilla Ice Cream

What we did discover when we started looking at the recipes available was that there are lots and lots of variations of both stroganoff and borscht. Some of the borscht recipes were just simply boiled beetroot and water, whereas the one that we made is full of other vegetables as well. Traditional or not it was great - the beetroot gave it flavour without being overpowering and it was nutritious and filling too. The recipe can be found at http://www.suite101.com/content/easy-farmers-market-borscht-recipe-a152180. The beef stroganoff also varied from site to site ranging from ones with wine and tomato paste to more basic ones with just beef, mushrooms and sour cream. We decided on one of these more basic ones and the recipe we chose came from the home page : http://beefstroganoff.net/. To accompany the stroganoff we chose egg noodles, although some sites recommended rice or mash potatoes. We also made a side dish of crumbed cauliflower which added a nice crunch to the meal. The recipe came from: http://www.russianfoods.com/recipes/item00042/default.asp. 

Finally to end off we had Russian tea cakes and vanilla ice cream. Russian tea cakes apparently appeared in Russia in the 18th Century for use in a tea-sharing ceremony. They are light and crumbly in texture rather like a shortcake but with a more nutty flavour. The recipe can be found at: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/russian-tea-cakes-i/Detail.aspx.

By the end of the evening we had all reassessed our position on Russian cuisine. The food is hearty and filling. The recipes are simple yet flavourful. All in all, some nice food that we would be happy to make again.

 NEXT MONTH: ST KITTS AND NEVIS

December 2010 - Fiji

So for the final post of 2010 we sent our taste buds to Fiji. We were unsure of what type of food to expect. Two of our party had been to Fiji before but besides the abundance of fresh fruit they were unsure of what constituted typical Fiji. We were surprised when reading through the menus at the amount of chilis and curries that are prevalent in their menus. The common foods of Fiji cuisine are rice, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, cassava, fish and coconut but it is not that easy to get taro, breadfruit and cassava in Australia so with that in mind, we had to adapt our menu somewhat. Our December menu was therefore:

Fruity "Mock"tails (to get us in the Fijian spirit)

Spicy Chicken Wings

Spicy Meatballs with yellow squash dhal

Fresh fruit pizza

Fruity salad

So the mocktails got us in the spirit of the evening and of course every one loves a paper umbrella! We started off our meal with some spicy chicken wings. They were accompanied by a plain salad and some hummus.  The wings recipe came from http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Poultry%20and%20Game/Fijian%20Chicken%20Wings%20HT%20MC%20Fijian%2040mins%20plus%20marinating.htm although it was adapted slightly with no sherry or mirrin added. I also marinated the wings overnight rather than just for two hours. They were very nice and I will definitely make them again.
The meatballs were inspired by http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/beef%20and%20veal/Fijian%20Meat%20Balls%20HT%20MC%20Fijian%20100mins.htm and were very tasty but the sauce is actually quite spicy so tread gently with the curry powder. You can't scare me off with heat though, and I thought they were great. The meatballs came with rice and a yellow squash dhal. The recipe came from http://www.fijibure.com/namatakula/food.htm and was probably my favourite of the evening. It's true that it didn't photograph well in the picture above but it was outstanding and had a really well balanced mix of flavours. (As an aside, if any South Africans are reading this, yellow squash is the international name for the patty pan.)

As with all meals that have never been made before there is always a chance that the food won't be a hit and may be closer to a miss. So far with this blog we have been quite lucky but unfortunately the fruity salad was a big time miss. The recipe came from the wiki site and unfortunately just was not successful. I think it is supposed to be similar to a Waldorf salad (so maybe more for appetiser than dessert) but it was just too sweet and soapy so I won't bother sharing the recipe. The fruit pizza on the other hand was very cute. Not overly complicated with a pita base, some apple sauce on top, fresh fruit and cinnamon sprinkles. I wouldn't rush to make it again but I wouldn't say "no" to it either. It is very filling and perhaps a useful way to get kids to eat fruit. The recipe came from http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Fijian-style_Fruit_Pizza .

Anyway it was a great evening and I am looking forward to 2011!

NEXT MONTH: RUSSIA

November 2010 - Chile

No we didn't disappear :) Somehow I lost the "hat" with all the country names in it and until it mysteriously turned up next to my bed the other night (I suspect gremlins) we had to put our dinners on hold. In the meantime we were trying to decide on our next country and then we saw the most uplifting story in the news. I think that the whole world was amazed by the fortitude and bravery of those miners stuck down that Chilean mine for over two months. The thought of it alone makes me shiver with claustrophobia. Anyway their rescue was our inspiration for our Chilean feast and luckily since we have now found the hat, we can carry on as before, hopefully without too much interruptions.
So our meal for the night was :

Porotos Granados (Lentil Soup)

Pastel de Choclo (Corn and Meat Pie)

Chilean Salad

Dessert Empanadas

Firstly, wow what a soup! It was filled with dried lima beans (soaked over night) and a can of navy beans. It was very thick and could quite happily have been the meal on its own but it tasted delicious. The recipe was a combination of these two online recipes: http://www.food.com/recipe/porotos-granados-97309 and
http://www.food.com/recipe/porotos-granados-bean-stew-134188. 

The corn and meat pie was interesting as it includes both chicken and mince meat in the ingredients as well as olives, raisins and corn. All of which sounded like quite a weird combination on paper but in reality was very palatable (and I don't even like olives). It tasted somewhere halfway between a cottage pie and a South African bobotie. The recipe came from http://recipeland.com/recipe/v/Pastel-De-Choclo-Chilean-Corn-and-Meat-Pie-9589. There were slightly less olives added and more chicken than what the recipe suggests as it was made in one dish rather than as separate pies. 

The accompaniment to the pie was a basic Chilean salad which would be ideal at a barbeque or any summer meal. It is very light and refreshing and the basic flavours all stay very true. http://www.food.com/recipe/chilean-salad-167760

For dessert we had apple empanadas with vanilla ice-cream. Empanadas are little pastries and these were delicious with a crunchy cinnamon sugar coating and delicate cream cheese flavour. The recipe came from http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/empanadas/Detail.aspx and the filling was canned apple blended with cinnamon, brown sugar and lemon juice. The pastries were rolled in a  mixture of white sugar and cinammon before baking.

All in all we really enjoyed our Chilean adventure and it has also been added to our list of possible holiday destinations. 

NEXT MONTH: FIJI  

March 2010 - Nepal

Okay So I admit, we got a little bit lax in our blog keeping, but hopefully we are back on track again. So, Nepal. Now I must admit that when we pulled Nepal out of our hat we were quite stumped as to the type of food that we would be eating. Would it be more Indian, Asian, Russian or have its very own flavour. Well after a quick perusal of the recipes on the internet we decided that perhaps the best way to capture the flavours of Nepal would be to leave it to the experts. That said we found an amazing Nepalese restaurant called, " Mustang" right here in Sydney. Mustang (pronounced Moo-stang) is an area of Nepal nestled in the Himalayas. We all decided to order the banquet which could provide a comprehensive coverage of the menu and let us have the complete Nepalese experience.

Our Menu for the evening was:

STARTER

• Momo (chicken dumplings)

• Haku Chhwela (grilled diced beef)

• Aloo Chops ( potato cake)
• Papads and Nepalese Achar

MAINS:
• Butter chicken
• Mustang Lamb
• Mixed Vegetable curry
• Everest Chicken
• Pumpkin Kwaa
• Steamed Rice

DESSERT:

• Himalayan Baraf ( homemade icecream flavoured with cardamom and pistachio nuts)

Well I think we all were quite impressed. It is a difficult type of food to describe. The curries were familiar but there was something sweeter and less spicy about them. Ialso felt that some of the spices that we are used to like coriander and cumin were more toned down and other flavours were more prominent. I loved the momos in particular which were the steamed dumplings which I suppose shows the Eastern influences on the cuisine. All in all it was enjoyable, the foods that we expected to be less spicy were the hotter ones (potato cakes) and the ones which we thought would be more spicy, like some of the curries were milder. As you can see from the vast array of foods, we really did have a banquet!

NEXT MONTH: CHILE