Croatia: Walnut Cake

The Dish: Umm... I really messed with a recipe for walnut cake. What I made does not resemble cake. At all.

The Country: Croatia! I've been there!

Ingredients:
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
a whole handful of crushed walnuts

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350°
Combine all of the ingredients. Mix until smooth.
Bake in small pan for 25 minutes

Notes: This wasn't very good. Maybe I should have actually followed the real recipe... hmmm.
Rating: 1

Costa Rica: Pan de Maiz

The Dish: Corn bread

The Country: Costa Rica is considered the "greenest" country in the world.

it seemed a bit too liquid-y at first, but it turned out just fine

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter
1 can evaporated milk
3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup corn flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 tsp garlic

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350°
Mix all ingredients until fully combined
Bake for 30 minutes in a bread pan

FINAL PRODUCT

Notes: Corn bread-not super exciting. It's rainy and humid today and all I want is a good chocolate chip cookie, not corn bread.  I guess I know what I'm making later...
Rating: 2

Comoros: Chicken

The Dish: Coconut-y chicken
The Country: Comoros is a small island nation off the eastern coast of Africa

can of coconut milk

Ingredients:
1kg chicken breast- chopped
3 tablespoons butter
t teaspoon garlic cloves
2 tsp curry powder
3/4  can coconut milk
5 spring onions, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped

it looks like a lot of veggies, but I'd suggest adding even more to help overpower the coconut

Procedure:
Fry the chicken in the butter until it is golden brown
 Add all of the other ingredients and simmer on medium heat for about ten minutes
Turn to low heat for five
Serve warm

THE FINAL PRODUCT

Notes:
I've never experienced sweet chicken before, but I liked it.  The coconut taste was VERY strong, so I'd suggest dialing back the coconut milk if you aren't a coconut fan.
Rating: 2.25

Colombia: Key Lime Pie

The Dish: Creamy deliciousness.
The Country: Declared independence from Spain on July 20, 1810

Ingredients:
6 honey graham crackers
1/4 cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup water
2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
juice of 3 limes

THE PIE

Procedure:
Crust:
Preheat oven to 350°
Use food processor to puree the crackers and brown sugar
Add butter and mix well
Place into a pie pan
Bake for 10 minutes

a gooey slice of yummy-ness

Filling:
Pour water into pot, add gelatin.  Let sit or 8 minutes. Then, stir over very low heat until the gelatin dissolves.
Pour this, and the rest of the ingredients, into a blender. Blend until smooth. 
Pour this mixture into the pie crust.
Cool in the refrigerator for 5 hours.

Notes:
This is the best crust ever. I'm going to have to use it for every pie or cheesecake I make.  The texture of the pie is odd, but I really liked it.  It kind of looks like tofu, but it tastes like lime-y goodness.
Rating:  4.5

China: Almond Cookies

The Dish: Almond cookies
The Country: China is the world's most populous country (with over 1.3 billion people!!). It is the second largest in terms of land area.

goo balls

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1/4 pound whole, blanched almonds (one for each cookie)

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 325°
Sift dry ingredients (not including almonds)
Mix in wet ingredients
Space small balls of dough about 1/2 inch apart on a greased cookie sheet
Place almonds on top of cookies
Bake for 17 minutes

giant fluffy cookies

Notes: They weren't "WOW" cookies, but they were nice and fluffy.
Rating: 2

Chile: Que Que

The Dish: Coffee Cake
The Country: Area of Chile: 291,930.4 square miles

leftover batter = snack time

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350°
Mix sugar and butter
Add egg, flour, baking soda, baking powder, buttermilk, and vanilla extract
Mix
Pour into loaf pan
Bake for 30 minutes

a slice of the final product

Notes: It was a little bland.  I'd add a bit more sugar or eat it with ice cream.
Rating: 2

Chad: Mango Smoothie

The Dish: mango smoothie. I don't have a recipe, but I read that mangoes are a common fruit in Chad (and, as of today, I have braces, so I can only eat liquefied foods).
The Country: Official languages: French and Arabic

Ingredients:
Mango
Whole milk
4-5 Ice cubes

Procedure:
Peel the mango
Blend everything until smooth

Notes: Sorry about the lack of pictures.. I totally forgot to bring any sort of camera down to the kitchen with me. Oopsies. Anyways, it was a good smoothie, but it was a bit thick. Maybe I could have used less milk...
Rating: 4