Algeria - day 3

How awesome is Algerian food? Pure and total f*cking awesomeness. This land,  so steeped in rich and mysterious tradition produces food with some of my favorite ingredients: cinnamon, cumin, cayenne, hot peppers. lemons, mint, cilantro,onions, garlic, parsley, a whole variety of vegetables,  couscous and of course, olive oil  -- all influenced by French cuisine; could it get any better?

First of all, I knew before I even started cooking that I would be instantly transported to this ancient country. My kids came sniffing around and volunteered to taste test and photograph the process...hence the new "artsy" pix.

I decided to make a meal, rather than just a dish to fully experience a typical dinner. I made a traditional Algerian tomato & cilantro salad and a chicken and vegetable couscous (leave out the chicken and you have a great vegetarian dish) . A number of my friends have asked me to post the recipes (thanks for the suggestion Lulu and Gail!), so they're included here. And my old (not literally) friend Jimmy encouraged me to journal about this experience - thank you! I think food and eating is best when it's a total sensory experience: smell, taste, texture and color. These dishes hit all of those elements and then some.

And another interesting thing is happening. My pantry. My house was built in 1840 and like most houses of this colonial era, it has one bathroom. I had the option to turn my pantry into a bathroom several years ago, but NO, I chose to keep it as a pantry. Since I've started this project, it's filling up with cool stuff. Also, the guys in the produce department of my local Market Basket are into this project now (since I've been back & forth about 20x in the past 4 days), and my local butcher is game (get it, pun? heh). This was my hope; that through this project, a network of people as whacked out and hungry as I would develop. Plus, how great is is it to go around the world without leaving my kitchen?

Finally, what is a country without music? So from here on in, I'm going to find music (that I like) that represents the country I'm cooking in...attached is a band for your listening pleasure- I think the Clash would approve ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DbFYsi9iSg 

Recipes:

Banadura Salata B'Kizbara (Tomato and Coriander Salad)

Ingredients

• ½ cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped


• 1 small hot chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped


• 5 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled


• 4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice


• ¼ cup virgin olive oil


• 1 teaspoon salt

Procedure

1. Slice the peeled tomatoes and place in a bowl.


2. Sprinkle the chopped coriander over the tomatoes.


3. Mix the chopped chili pepper with the lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of salt.


4. Beat the olive oil into the chili-lemon juice mixture.


5. Pour over the tomatoes and coriander.


6. Let rest 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings.

Algerian Chicken Couscous

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil


• 1 Medium Onion -- chopped


• 2 Cloves Garlic


• 1 Tablespoon Cumin


• 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon


• 1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne


• 1 Can Tomato -- diced


• 2 Medium Carrots -- chopped


• 2 Stalks Celery -- chopped


• 1 Cup Cauliflower -- chopped


• 1 Medium Red Bell Pepper -- chopped


• 1 Medium Turnip


• 1 Cup Chicken Broth


• 1 Pound Chicken Breast -- strips


• 1 Medium Zucchini -- dials


• 1 Cup Water


• 1 Cup Whole Wheat Couscous


• 3 Tablespoons Parsley

Directions Saute in oil, onion and garlic 5 mintues. stir in seasonings. Add tomatoes, carrots, clelry, cauliflower, pepper, turnip and broth. Boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add chicken and zucchini, 10 more milnutes. Cook couscosu as directed, fluff with fork, stir into mixture. Serves 4

Albania - Day 2

First of all, a huge thank you to Jimmy K for connecting me to his friend, Esat whose family immigrated to NYC when he was a young child. He shared some of his childhood food memories with me, and gave me the 411 on real Albanian cooking and commonly used ingredients - I hope he pursues his idea of writing a contemporary Albanian cookbook!

Tonight I made Lamb Stew with Okra and for desert, Walnut Cake with a Lemon Glaze. Both dishes were infused with wonderful ingredients: garlic, onions, celery, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, lemons, thyme, walnuts and yogurt.

My human guinea pigs (a.k.a. dudes) agreed that the stew was fantastic...I will admit to adding about a 1/2 cup of red wine and about 8 tiny new potatoes and parsley for color - I couldn't help myself. The cake was crazy-good. As it was baking, I made a lemon syrup from sugar, water, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, juice from 3 lemons and grated lemon peel. Once baked, I poured the syrup over the hot cake and returned it to oven or 10 minutes. The cake absorbed the syrup, and any that wasn't absorbed collected on the bottom of the pan and made a kind of sponge cake whose flavor reminded me somewhat of baklava. It was the perfect combination of sweet, savory and tart.

Albanian food is a mixture of the national cuisines of the surrounding countries. In time, it has accumulated concepts from both the Balkan and the Mediterranean nations. Together with the Greek and the Turkish cuisines, the cuisine of Albania is one of the most famous in the Mediterranean area. However, depending on a family's economic status, their diet can range from being almost exclusively vegetarian (by necessity) or rich in protein (for the most excluding pork), vegetables and rice. Olive oil is the primary fat source - amen.

Here are a few facts about the beautiful country of Albania:
Situated on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, with Montenegro and Serbia to the north, Macedonia to the east, and Greece to the south.
-Slightly larger than Maryland.
-Population: 3,619,778
-Capital: Tirana
-Currency: Lek

It was an honor and a privileged to cook and sample (albeit as a total amateur) this beautiful country's food.

NEXT STOP: ALGERIA

Amy Sherman? Who's she?

Photo credit:Julie Michelle
I recently had the chance to participate in a cool photography/portraiture project called I live here SF. As part of the project, I got to tell my "San Francisco story" which is pretty food-focused as you might imagine. I hope you will check it out! Thanks to the über talented photographer Julie Michelle for including me.

Thanks to BizyMoms and That's so Yummy for featuring me in interviews. Also check out the Fast Recipes Feature: Cooking with Amy.

The rest of this week I'll be at the International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference in Portland, Oregon, so I may not be posting again until I return. I'm sure I'll have lots to report when I do.

Hope you have a great week!

Amy

Breaded Chicken with Coconut Sauce

Add some tropical flair to your weeknight dinner with this Brazilian-inspired dish. The spice and crunch of the breading combined with a tang of citrus and softness of coconut milk give this meal a pleasant tastiness that screams summer.

Ingredients
Breaded Chicken:
1 lb chicken
2 pieces of bread, toasted
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup packed basil leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts
pinch salt
zest from 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
1 egg, beaten

Coconut Sauce:
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 scallions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 heaping tablespoon minced ginger
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
2 talespoons olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 can coconut milk
pinch white pepper
salt to taste
handful chopped basil leaves
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Instructions
Heat oven to 350. Blend all ingredients except the egg in food processor. Transfer to a shallow bowl. Place beaten egg in a shallow bowl as well. Cut chicken into strips, and dip in egg and then in the breading. Repeat until all the chicken is coated. Brown chicken on all sides over medium-high heat then place in oven to finish cooking.

Heat olive oil in saute pan over medium heat. Saute onion, scallion, and peppers for two minutes. Saute ginger and garlic until fragrant. Add white wine and chicken stock and reduce (about 7 minutes). Stir in coconut milk, white pepper, and salt. Add basil leaves and lime. In small bowl, mix cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water and stir. Add to the coconut sauce to thicken. Serve over rice and breaded chicken.

Afghanistani Meal - Day 1

Afghanistani Meal - Day 1

After surfing around numerous sites, I settled on Chelo Nachodo,(chicken & chick-pea stew with rice) a family-style dish. It's a substantial stew, well seasoned in Afghan style and combined w/a crispy-bottomed rice which provided a nice contrasting texture to stew. Ingredients included: Chicken, chick-peas, onions, celery w/leaves,carrot,zucchini, ,cumin seed, coriander, fresh dill, lemon juice .

It was pretty good, but not that interesting. I liked the chic peas and dill, and the crispy rice (first time I've ever made it that way) was very good.

The overall consensus was okay, but kind of bland.

What's Cooking in your World?

About a year ago, my son Tim asked me if I would cook a meal from a different country at least one night a week. It sounded like a cool idea, as I love to cook and am blessed with a family of adventurous eaters, but like so many other things I think about yet never do, I put the idea on the back burner, so to speak, and pretty much left it there to simmer.

Last night we watched Julia&Julia. When it was over, Timmy said, "Well, if SHE could get through an entire cookbook in 365 days, why couldn't you make a meal from a different country once a week, huh?" - Hmmm...the little sh*t threw down a challenge!

The Almanac lists 193 countries in the world. Turns out, this is a somewhat dynamic number though, as new countries are continually formed depending on political agendas - usually war. Given that reality, this project will try to reflect our ever changing global map, while doing justice to each country's regional cuisine. In the process, I hope to expand my world views and cultural insight, one meal at a time.

So here's my goal: Prepare 1, possibly 2 meals per week from a different country, until I've worked my way through all the World's countries in alphabetical order.

First stop: Afghanistan

p.s. I'd really like to communicate with people from around the world to collect authentic recipes!

Pillsbury Bake-Off & Baking from Scratch

The Pillsbury Bake-Off represents the American Dream--it doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from, create a great recipe and you could win a million dollars. It's a celebration of creativity and excellence, or at least it should be.

If you were to look at past winning entries from the early years of the Pillsbury Bake-Off, you'd find they were baked from scratch using homegrown ingredients. Now with an emphasis on ease of use, and a proliferation of processed food, the finalists and "winning" recipes almost always use a premade mix or refrigerated dough such as biscuit dough, French bread dough, pizza dough, or pie crust. In some cases, because those processed foods have been discontinued, you can't even duplicate the winning recipes from years past.

Does creativity come out of a can or a box? I suppose it's possible. But my experience tasting some of the dishes at the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off was disappointing. The savory dishes were too salty, the sweet dishes too sweet. Great taste was too often stifled by artificial tasting products and a lack of balance in flavors and textures. Even classic recipes like galettes and pizzas were hampered by the the processed products they included.

According to the rules, contestants must use one primary and one secondary ingredient. In the primary category nine products were refrigerated doughs, there was one brownie mix and last but not least, good old Pillsbury flour. Very few bakers made it to the finals, baking the old fashioned way, from scratch, with flour as their primary ingredients (I counted only five out of the 100 finalists). I'd like to salute three of them that did:

Denise Hopper

Deluxe Triple Chocolate Cookies
Denise told me she uses Pillsbury products, but that "nothing tastes as good as homemade." She bakes 16-18 types of cookies at Christmas for her friends and neighbors and has been making this cookie for 10 years. It was inspired by her son who ate peanut butter and nutella sandwiches for lunch and had hot cocoa before bed. It combines all his favorites--peanut butter, hot cocoa mix, hazelnut spread with cocoa (nutella) and chocolate chips. A bit of oatmeal adds texture. This was her first time entering the contest.

Cara Sapida

Chocolate Peanut Butter Layered Cupcakes
Cara said, in her family they only use real butter and cream, nothing lowfat. She was trying to make a chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter filling but failed. But the peanut butter reminded her of a family recipe for peanut butter fudge so she tweaked the recipe, layering the peanut butter filling and chocolate dough and studding it with peanut butter and chocolate chips. This was also her first time entering the contest. She told me she Google'd "Pittsburgh baking competition" and the Pillsbury Bake-Off came up so she entered it.

Michelle Gauer

Double Chocolate Orange Scones
Back in November, Michelle, a cooking contest enthusiast, started her blog, Best of the Best Recipes, where she shares her own recipes and tests out others. She was inspired by coffee shops where she is often dismayed in finding scones too dry. First she tried making a white chocolate strawberry scone and while it was good, her love of chocolate and orange led to a rich scone that made the cut. She used whipping cream and orange marmalade to create a rich and moist texture.

I'm sorry to say none of these contestants won the contest. I really liked Denise's cookies a lot. I would definitely make them. Cara's cupcakes were good, but perhaps too rich and decadent. Just a nibble was enough for me. Michelle's scones were really more like brownies than scones, but they were pretty tasty. I hope in the future the Pillsbury Bake-Off will encourage more contestants to bake from scratch. Maybe they could consider adding a "baking form scratch" category? After all, it's the Pillsbury heritage, and what their contest used to be all about.