International Cuisine, delicious.

The next course that we were assigned was International Cuisine. This was one of the courses that I had been looking forward to with increasing anticipation. I've always loved to travel and delighted in the culinary offerings from other countries. So learning about the preparation and cooking techniques from other countries seemed incredibly interesting to myself. We started with British Isles and Spain and Portugal; then France and Italy; then Germany and Scandinavia; then Russia and Eastern Europe; then the countries of Africa; then Middle Est, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Greece, Egypt and Israel; then China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia; then India and Australia; and ended with Latin America, Mexico, South America, Caribbean Islands. There were many different countries and cuisines all grouped into one day, which meant that we actually weren't able to spend quite enough time on each different type of cuisine. It was rather disappointing, but when you only have 12 months to complete the entire course allotment, you have to skimp on certain things. The way the class was designed was we would attempt to tackle one region per day for a 12 day segment. One student was assigned a region per day and had to speak about the country with power point, and turn in a report. Not a terribly daunting task, but as usual in my class, hardly anyone actually did their assignment. I was assigned the first day with the British Isles. I've been to England, Scotland and Ireland in the past and never really relished in their cuisines, so I was interested to see if we could make some deliciousness in the kitchen. However, we were also supposed to tackle Spain and Portugal that same day - and we ended up making more foods from there, than from the British Isles. Here are some pictures from our exploration into International Cuisine.

Paella from Spain: made with sausage, chorizo and typically shrimp, but not in my case.

Finished Paella: basically fried rice with saffron and different types of meat and veggies.

Watercress and Orange Salad from Ireland.

Squash from our garden (not part of the International cookbook)

Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Salad.

Eggplant Ravioli with fresh tomato sauce from Italy (homemade, delicious)

Fresh spaghetti and tomato sauce

Mushroom Risotto from Italy - quick tip about risotto, serve it immediately because it gets gross as it sits. If you have to wait to serve it - cook it 3/4 of the way through and then right before service, warm it up with a little bit more stock. Then add the cheese - it'll be creamy and delicious and not overdone.

Wienerschnitzle from Germany - breaded and flattened veal then sauteed and served with lemon.

Coq au Vin from France - chicken in a wine sauce reduction.

Spatzle from Germany - small pasta like dumplings that are dropped into boiling water through a sieve.

Zwiebelkuchen from Germany - a mushroom, ham and leek tart made with egg.

Delicious squash.

Pierogi from Poland - potato dumplings. Delicious.

Salat Iz Krasnoi Kapusty - cooked cabbage salad.

Borsch Ukrainsky - hot beet soup (kind of a like goulash)

Csirke Paprikas from Hungary - chicken in a cream paprika sauce.

Curry Vegetables from Africa over Israeli Couscous

Chicken Peanut Stew from Senegal - I hate peanuts so this was not tasty to me.

Curried Carrots from Kenya - delicious.

Moroccan Olives - spicy and tasty, a great appetizer.

Fingerling potatoes

Hot banana fritters with powdered sugar. The batter needed some work, but it turned out delicious.

Tortilla Soup with toppings: I like avocado, cilantro, chips, and Monterrey Jack Cheese.

Potatoes with Curry Cream Cheese sauce: did not taste good. Marinated onions were the topping, but the bitterness never came out and the entire dish just wasn't very tasty. It was a Caribbean dish.

Chile Rellenos: Deep fried chili peppers stuffed with sauteed chicken.

Fresh salsa and guac. The tomatoes were from the garden and absolutely delicious. I used the recipe from our cookbook for the guac, but in my traditional guac I put a dash of curry. Delicious.

Our Mexican/Caribbean Feast. Marinated Jerk Pork, Curried Potatoes, Chili Rellenos,

Maffe: a mixture of chicken, sweet potatoes, turnips, cabbage with chili peppers and okra. Spicy but tasty. Served over rice.

Sausage Rolls: From England, served over peppers and onions.

Battered Cauliflower: the batter wasn't very flavorful so we spiced it up with some curry, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Mango, avocado salad with toasted pecans.

Fresh Hummus: Greece. You have to add more seasoning and less tahini for this to work.

Tabouli: this recipe called for garbanzo beans which was interesting. I traditionally add much more parsley, but this recipe called for more couscous than I would have liked to use.

Hummus with pita chips.

Kibbeyet: From Syria and Lebanon, a stuffed lamb and Bulgar mixture.

Avgolamono: Greece, a egg, lemon and rice soup. Absolutely delicious.

Cheese Blintzes: Greece, crepes that are filled with a sweet lemony cream cheese filling. A great dessert.

Our Greek, Middle Eastern feast

Of all the different International Cuisines I really enjoyed making the cuisine of Greece and the Middle East. Here are two different recipes that are easy to make and are truly delicious.

Soupa Avgolemono (Greece)

Serving size: 13 6 oz portions

Ingredients:

Chicken Stock 6 cups

Olive Oil 2 Tbsp

Onion, finely dice 1

Rice 1/3 cup

Lemon Juice 2 oz

Eggs 4

pepper

Mint, finely chopped to garnish

1. Bring chicken stock to boil.

2. Saute onion in olive oil until soft. Add rice and saute.

3. Add rice, onions and pepper to stock, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes. 

4. Beat eggs with whisk, add lemon juice.

5. Whisking constantly, slowly add stock to eggs, tempering.

6. Slowly pour egg mixture into stock, whisking.

7. Cook over low heat until soup thickens. Do not boil.

8. Garnish with mint.

Cheese Blintzes: (Israel)

Servings: 15 large crepes

Ingredients:

Crepe:

Flour, 1 cup

Salt 1/4 tsp

Eggs 4

Milk 1 cup

Butter, melted 1/2 Tbs

Filling:

Cottage cheese 1 1/2 cup (you can exchange this for sour cream if necessary)

Cream Cheese 1 lb (you won't need this much)

Sugar 1/3 cup

Eggs, well beaten 2

Salt 1/4 tsp

Lemon Zest 2 tsp

Butter melted 2 Tbsp

Vanilla 1 tsp

1. Place all ingredients for crepes in food processor or bowl and stir or mix well. Chill for 10 minutes.

2 Butter skillet or crepe pan - pour batter and swirl pan to coat the bottom evenly. Cook on one side until lightly brown then flip. They will cook quickly.

3. Blend cream cheese and sugar together. 

4. Add remaining filling ingredients and mix well.

5. Place crepe on plate and spoon filling on center.

6. Fold edges on side to cover filling and roll crepe.

7. Place in baking dish and heat in oven.

8. Serve with sour cream or applesauce accompanied by mint garnish.