Brunei: Getuk Lindri... maybe...

The Dish: Sweet potatoes
The Country: Capital: Bandar Seri Begawan

sweet potatoes make me think of naked mole rats

Ingredients:
4 sweet potatoes
1 tsp vanilla
Water
Shredded coconut

that looks pretty...

Procedure:
Boil enough water to cover potatoes
Peel potatoes
Place in water along with vanilla
Cook until mushy
Mash
Sprinkle with coconut

 

 

FINAL PRODUCT

this is what I was supposed to make, but I didn't have the equipment

Notes: Yeah... so, the whole point of this recipe was to make a cool little sweet potato roll thingy, but I didn't have the right molder equipment, so just made mashed sweet potatoes. Oops.
Rating:  3 (it was yummy, but I didn't exactly make the proper roll-y thing)

Brazil: Brigadeiros

The Dish: Fudge-y chocolate candy things
The Country: Oh, hi Amazon Rain Forest.

cooking condensed milk...

Ingredients:
1 can of condensed milk
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp butter
Chocolate sprinkles (also known as chocolate rice)

goopy goopy goop

Procedure:
Cook the cocoa powder, condensed milk, and butter in a small pan until it gets really really really thick.
Set in a glass pan and let cool. (Put it in the fridge if you're impatient like I am).
Put the sprinkles on a plate.
Scoop out little balls of the chocolate goop and cover them in sprinkles.  Place the sprinkled goop balls into little cupcake wrappers.

messy fudge stuff

Notes: I didn't let it cool long enough, so it was a little too liquid-y to mold into balls.  I ended up with some very strangely textured fudge stuff.
Rating: 3, maybe if I'd done it right it would have been higher....

Botswana: Mielieroomsop

The Dish: Corn soup
The Country: 71% of Botswana's land is used for public grazing, which has lead to extreme desertification (land drying up).

onions and stuff

Ingredients:
1 medium sized onion
1 tbsp butter
15 ml corn flour
400 ml warm milk
450 ml chicken broth
1 can of cream style sweet-corn
celery salt
pepper

hmmmm.. flavored salt?

Procedure
Chop the onion. Fry it with the butter until slightly brown.
Put the onion and the corn flour into a large pot.  Stir over medium heat for one minute.
Microwave milk for 30 seconds.  Add to pot.  Stir until well mixed.
Add all other ingredients.  (Celery salt and pepper to taste)
Stir over high heat until boiling.

It's a lot yummier and heartwarming than it looks...

Notes:
It was actually so much better than I thought it would be.  I was expecting it to be gross and mushy, but it really was a good soup for a fall afternoon. The only thing I didn't like was the massive amount of onions.  They added to the flavor, but the soup looked a little bit like a pot of worms.

Rating: 7

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Plum Dessert

The Dish: Plums and stuff?
The Country: According to Wikipedia, Bosnians are the heaviest coffee drinkers in the world.

plum murder

Ingredients:
4 plums
Sugar
Bread Crumbs
Whipping Cream

i know it's flipped... but yeah, I used bread crumbs in a can

Procedure:
Cut the plums into fourths, take out the pits
Bake for 5-7 minutes, or until the start to release juice
Take out of oven and sprinkle with bread crumbs, sugar, and whipping cream (i just sprinkled a little bit on).  Stir it around so the soft sides of the plums are coated in crumbs. 
Bake for 20 minutes

Notes:
You should definitely eat this with vanilla ice cream, otherwise you'll just be thinking, "Oh... plums covered in bread..."

Rating: 4

Bolivia: Applesauce Banana Bread

The Dish: Bread
The Country: This country is located in the center of South America.

on a side note, I went to the zoo today. aren't these guys cute?

Ingredients:
4 bananas
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups of flour

mashed bananas

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 350°
Mash the bananas with an electric mixture.  Slowly add the remaining ingredients, beating after each new addition.
Bake for 45 minutes
Cool

bread.

Notes: It was tasty, but very sticky. And I don't like sticky things.
Rating: 3

Bhutan: Ema Datshi

The Dish: Peppers and cheese
The Country: Bhutan is an Asian country about the size of the state of Maryland.

chopped peppers and onion

Ingredients:
12 small peppers
1 medium onion
A few spoonfuls of feta cheese
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp coriander'

boiling peppers

Procedure:
Cut the peppers in half, so that you have two long pieces.
Chop the onion into small slivers
Put in a pot of water, with just enough water that the peppers are covered
Add the garlic and vegetable oil, and then boil for ten minutes.
Add cheese and simmer for three minutes.
Add the coriander and let sit for two minutes.
Serve.

cheesy peppers

Notes: This might have been good with rice or even in a salad, but alone, it's really only peppers and cheese. It's not particularly exciting.
Rating: 2

Benin: Couscous Azindessi

The Dish: Couscous + Chicken
The Country: This small West African nation gained independence from France in 1960.

Anyone up for a tomato, onion, and chicken broth smoothie?

Ingredients:
Chicken
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 large tomato, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
2 1/3 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
a large spoonful of creamy peanut butter
1 tsp salt
1 cup of couscous
1/2 cup of roasted peanuts

mmmmm, tomato coated chicken.

Procedure:
Crush the bouillon cube, and mix with the pepper and garlic. Cover the chicken with this mixture.
Put the sliced tomato, diced onion, and a cup of chicken broth in the blender. Blend.
Use a large casserole pot, put in the vegetable oil. Heat it for about a minute on high. Then add the chicken.
Cook until brown (about 10 minutes)
Add the blended mixture of tomato, onion, and broth. Cook for 10 minutes on medium heat.
Heat the oven to 325°
Add the peanut butter and tomato paste, cook for 30 minutes on low heat.
Put the couscous in a baking pan, and coat it with the remaining chicken broth. Add a pinch of salt.
When the couscous is done add the peanuts. Serve with the chicken.

that's some seriously bright chicken.

Notes: YUM. I normally don't love tomatoes, but this was really yummy. Even my picky siblings liked it.... By the way, I saw Bridesmaids today- it was one of the funniest movies I've ever seen!! Go see it. Right now.
Rating: 4.4

Belize: Coconut Pie

The Dish: Coconut pie
The country: Belize has the lowest population density in Central America.

eggs+ evaporated milk+ condensed milk+ nutmeg

Ingredients:
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Half a can of condensed milk
1 can of evaporated milk
1 tsp nutmeg
Pie shell
1 tsp lemon juice
3 eggs

before it went in the oven it looked like baby food

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 450°
Whisk the eggs
Add the condensed milk, evaporated milk, lemon juice, and nutmeg. Stir well. Then add the coconut.
Put into the pie shell. Bake at 450°for twenty minutes.  Lower to 350° and bake until firm (about another 20 minutes.

FINAL PRODUCT- I had a bit of a burnt edge problem when some of the filling spilled over....

Notes: It was a little gooey for my taste- I tend to avoid anything slimy, so no yogurt for me. Ever. It's the only thing I'm picky about... but anyways... I think my family liked it, though I'd only advise making it if you like coconut.

Rating: 2.5 (it would have been higher if it wasn't gooey.)

Belgium: Stoemp Aux Carottes

The Dish: Mashed potatoes with carrots.
The Country: Belgium- I was in the Brussels airport about a month ago, but I've never actually been to Belgium.  I have cousins there though, HI GUYS!!!

I love carrots.

Ingredients:
About seven small potatoes
5 medium sized carrots
A pack of frozen bacon
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
A stick of butter
Skim milk

I love bacon.

Procedure
Cook the bacon however you would normally cook it.
Boil a large pot of water.
Peel the potatoes and the carrots.
Cut the potatoes in half and chop the carrots into small pieces
When the water is boiling, put the carrots and potatoes in it. Take them out when you can stick a knife all the way through the largest potato.
Mash them. Add a pinch of salt, a pinch of nutmeg, and a pinch of pepper.
Add half a stick of butter and half a cup of milk.
Mash some more.
Add the bacon.
EAT.

I know it looks like really messed up scrambled eggs, but I promise this is Stoemp Aux Carottes, and it was good.

Notes: Bacon is delicious, and I have a strange obsession with carrots (I eat them every day), so I loved this stuff. It might have been  better for breakfast because of the amount of bacon in it, but everyone in my family liked it.
Rating: 4

Italy

Sorry I haven't posted in a while- I'm on spring break and just got back from Italy!! The food was incredible!!!! Nothing beats really good pizza and gelato.
We went to a restaurant called Vitti that had the most amazing looking pastries I have ever seen, and  amazing coffee.  If you're ever in Rome, you should definitely go.

BIRTHDAY CAKE

Yesterday, I baked my mom a birthday cake, though her birthday isn't until tomorrow.  I'd been reading through the blogs and websites I check every day, and found a recipe for an amazing looking cake, so I decided to try it.  Why not?
It was a messy experience, and the frosting didn't quite work out, but it tasted and smelled delicious. I don't think I've ever made a dessert so delicious- so, of course we had to eat it at 3:00 in the afternoon instead of at night on my mom's actual birthday.

I don't have cake pans... so pie tins were my only option...

my great grandmother's mixer has a tendency to get completely filled with whatever I'm mixing

cake + frosting layer +cake = one giant oreo?

the shape was a little off, but this was AMAZING cake

Belarus: Apple Pie

The Dish: Apple Pie, just not pie shaped... See the original recipe here.
The Country: The capital is Minsk, and a popular drink in Belarus is Russian wheat vodka.

AAAAPPPLLLESSS

Ingredients:
4 apples (green or red, I used one green and three red)
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of all purpose flour
2 eggs
cinnamon

doesn't that look appetizing? ......

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 350°
Cut the apples into half inch thick slices.
Mix the flour, sugar, and eggs.
Grease a 9x12 (or somewhere around that size) pan, and lay the apples evenly across the bottom.  Sprinkle them with cinnamon.
Cover the apples in the flour/sugar/ egg mixture.
Bake for 50 minutes- 1 hour, depending on your oven.

THE FINAL PRODUCT... it looks kind of messy, but I'm still learning. :D

Notes: I think I should have used more cinnamon than I did- the flavor was relatively unpronounced.  I wouldn't call it bland, but it wasn't a WOW moment.
While it was baking, my dad, mom, and I watched a history channel video about Florence's Medici family in the 1400s. I wonder what kind of food they ate.... ?
Rating:  2

Bangladesh: Begun Bhaja

The Dish: Fried eggplant. See original recipe here.
The Country: The People's Republic of Bangladesh is right next to India, so the majority of their foods are similar.

chopped eggplant

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large eggplant
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

frying eggplant

Procedure:
Wash the eggplant, then cut it into thin slices.
Heat a frying pan and add the oil.  Place the eggplant slices in the oil.
Add turmeric powder and salt.
Fry for about seven minutes, or until the pieces are light brown.
Eat.

THE FINAL PRODUCT

Notes: It was slightly gooey, and the texture was like I was eating a slug, but the flavor was fine. I added a bit too much salt, so I would advise going light on the salt, and maybe heavier on the turmeric powder.
Sorry I haven't cooked in a while, I was in my school's production of Grease and the rehearsals were quite late.
Rating: 2.25

Barbados: Sweet Bread

The Dish: Bread with raisins and coconut.  See original recipe here.
The Country: With a population of about 300,000, this island nation is the home of Rihanna.

the ingredients

Ingredients:
1/2 a stick of butter
3.5 cups of flour
Shredded coconut
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Seedless raisins
1 cup of sugar (hello, clogged arteries)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup of milk

the dough

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Melt the butter.
Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together.  Add the egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
Separately, mix the sugar with however many raisins you would like.  Add in a handful of shredded coconut. 
Take about 2/3 of the sugar/coconut/ raisin mix and add it to the flour mix.  Leave the rest of it to the side somewhere where your dog wont try and eat it. (My dog is a crazy scavenger who likes to eat whatever he finds, so I have to leave my weird cooking concoctions at the back of the counter or he'll have a feast of coconut shreddings and raisins.)
Add this new mixture to a greased baking tin.  Bake for 45 minutes- 1 hour, depending on the efficiency of your oven.
Sprinkle with some of the remaining sugar/raisin/coconut mix.
Cool.
Eat.

THE FINAL PRODUCT

Notes: "Wicked," my brother's response, not to the bread, but to the fact that Barbados is where Rihanna is from.  I think he liked the bread too, but he's a big Rihanna fan, so you never know.
Rating: 3

Bahrain: Chicken Machboos

The Dish: Chicken and rice, with peppers, onions, and tomatoes.  See the original recipe here.
The Country: As you know, protests have erupted in countries throughout the Middle East, including Bahrain.  Protesters have flooded Pearl Square in Manama, and the army has withdrawn.

yummy... yellow food.

Ingredients:
As much chicken as you would like
3 onions
3 medium sized tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 435g bag of basmati rice
salt
cinammon
coriander
tumeric
cumin
butter
vegetable oil
lemon juice

transferring my chicken

Procedure
Heat 4.5 cups of water on the stove.
Chop the onions, sauteé them in a cup of vegetable oil. When they are slightly golden, add in chopped red pepper.  After two minutes, add in chopped chicken.  Add in 1 tsp cumin and 2 tsp tumeric.  Chop the tomatoes and add them in.  Add 2 tsp salt. Stir until the chicken is all the way cooked.
Add in 1/2 tsp coriander and the hot water. Cover the pan and let it sit for twenty minutes.
Take everything out of the pan, leaving behind all of the liquid.  Put it all on a baking sheet and put in the oven at 350° for twenty minutes.  While this is happening, put the rice in the leftover liquid.  Cook until it absorbs all of it. Add more water and keep cooking if the rice is still hard. Sprinkle a little bit of lemon juice over the rice.
Serve the rice and chicken together.

THE FINAL PRODUCT, with some bread.

Notes: The bright yellow color sort of scared me at first, but it ended up tasting pretty good. The chicken itself was somewhat bland, but the tomatoes were delicious.  I know I didn't have all of the ingredients that the original recipe called for, so it may have tasted better if I had all the right stuff.
Rating: 3

Candy Melts = absolute cooking failure

I thought it would be fun to attempt to make cake balls (balls of cake on a stick), but "fun" is the last word I would chose to describe what just happened; words like "disgusting," "nauseating," and "barf inducing," are much better choices.

the devil

So, I baked a cake, a simple, straight from the box, chocolate cake.  I went for a bike ride while it cooled.  When I came back, my grandpa and I began to mash it into balls.  We should have stopped right then, when it would hardly stick to the lollipop sticks.  If only we had known what we were getting ourselves into.... I had bought a pack of "melting candy" the day before, I was excited to use it because it was mentioned in one of my how-to-make-good-cupcakes books.  I should not have been excited.  When I pulled it out of the microwave, it had turned black, and was oozing.  It smelled as if someone had lit a pile of turds, on fire.  The Arizona sun must be getting to me after such an intense Chicago winter because I figured, if I dipped the cake ball things in it, it would all work out.  It began to smell so intensely, and ooze so disgustingly, that my grandpa and I gave up. We tried to clean the bowl, but when the oozing mixture hit water, it started to bubble again, in some scary chemical reaction.  This stuff is dangerous, it actually isn't safe to use.  Stay away from melting candy.

cake balls (aka, turds)

We threw all of it out, but the house still smells like burning poop. We're sitting on the porch right now because the smell inside is so intense.  I don't think I'll be able to eat chocolate for a while.
Oh, by the way, happy Valentine's Day.

Bahamas: Banana Pudding

The Dish: Hot bananas. It's absolutely delicious! See original recipe here.
The Country: The Bahamas are made up of  29 islands, and the country's national flower is the yellow elder.

mashing up the bananas

Ingredients:
Six bananas
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
3.5 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup milk

this looks like baby food

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 300°
Mash the butter and brown sugar together with a fork.
Mash up the bananas with a potato masher (or a fork, but that is much slower).
Add it all together, mix it with a fork.  Add in the flour and milk.  Mix again.  Make sure  it is still slightly lumpy.
Bake for twenty minutes.

THE FINAL PRODUCT

Notes: If you don't like bananas, you would absolutely hate this recipe, but luckily, everyone in my family likes bananas.  I'm at my grandparents house, so this was the first time anyone other than my siblings and parents has tried my food, and they liked it!
Rating: 4.9