Monday, October 24, 2011

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....

Sunday, October 23, 2011

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

Sunday, October 16, 2011

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

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

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

Sunday, June 12, 2011

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

Saturday, May 14, 2011

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

Sunday, May 8, 2011

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.)