Global Table Adventure

Recipe: Toasted Coconut Paste for Curries (Kerisik) (w/ poll)

February 17, 2012 By Sasha Martin 2 Comments

If you want to feel totally epic, trying making kerisik, a toasted, ground coconut paste that looks a great deal like natural peanut butter. Kerisik is used in Malaysia to thicken and flavor curries, like Beef Rendang. There's something incredibly rewarding about making your own, whether you do it the traditional way (in a mortar and pestle) or the modern way (in a food processor). In just ten minutes your entire home fills with the warm smell of toasted coconut. For my kerisik, I used 14 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Asia, Fun Friday, Gluten Free Adaptable, Malaysia, Seasoning Blends & Pickles, Vegan, Vegetarian

Recipe: Coconut Sticky Rice in banana leaves (lemang)

February 16, 2012 By Sasha Martin 5 Comments

Today we're going to make a tower... a tower of glorious height. And this tall, sturdy tower is going to be made out of rice. Our inspiration? The Petronas towers of Malaysia. Aren't they stunning? I adore the fact that the skyscrapers are connected by a tiny walkway that seems to be a million, zillion miles up in the sky. But that's a story for another day. The fact is, I am simply thrilled to make rice towers from Malaysia. You see, I'm falling more and more in love with glutinous … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Asia, Finger Food, Gluten Free Adaptable, Malaysia, Miss Ava's Favorite Recipes, Mr. Picky's Favorite Recipes, Potluck Friendly, Rice, Sasha's Favorite Recipes, Technique Thursday, Vegan, Vegetarian

Recipe: Dipping sauce with Chippies (Tsabola) (w/ poll)

February 10, 2012 By Sasha Martin Leave a Comment

Today's fun recipe is a 5 minute African salsa. You'll need two accessories to make this snack completely Malawi, however: blue pastic bags and your most favorite potato wedges. Here's how it works: simply chop up onions, tomatoes, hot peri peri peppers (I used Thai bird chilies). Mix it all around with loads of salt. While I normally go light on the salt, you need to use a heavy hand when making Tsabola ... as Brittany (Be-ing Brittany), a Community Health Advisor in Malawi, tells … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Africa, Dips, Gluten Free Adaptable, Malawi, Potatoes, Recipes, Sasha's Favorite Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Recipe: Sunrise Biscuits (Mbatata)

February 9, 2012 By Sasha Martin 20 Comments

Valentine's Day is for lazy mornings. For PJ's all day. Breakfast in bed with your favorite cup of tea. Sunny smiles. And then there's real life. Husbands go to work. Your cat uses your favorite chair as a scratching post. And, over the course of 45 seconds, your child has the following conversation with you, in regards to said cat: "I want to sit there" "It's my turn to play with that toy" "He poked me with his paw" "Wahhhhhhhhh" The main difference between this and having … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Africa, Breads, Breakfast, Malawi, Mr. Picky's Favorite Recipes, Potluck Friendly, Sasha's Favorite Recipes, Valentine's Day, Vegetarian

Recipe: Vanilla Bean n’ Tropical Fruit (w/ poll)

February 3, 2012 By Sasha Martin 8 Comments

Vanilla beans might as well be jewels. The insides are full of teeny, tiny black caviar - the likes of which I can't help but want all over my ice cream and baked goods... I even like to dab vanilla extract on my wrists when baking. Suffice it to say, I'm a fan. Now, imagine yourself in a country like Madagascar, where there are enough vanilla beans to pave the streets. There, thanks to such quantity, the people use vanilla bean caviar much more whimsically than I can ($8 per bean, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Africa, Finger Food, Fruit, Fun Friday, Gluten Free Adaptable, Madagascar, Miss Ava's Favorite Recipes, Potluck Friendly, Recipes, Sasha's Favorite Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Recipe: Rice Pudding (Sutlijash)

January 29, 2012 By Sasha Martin 5 Comments

Looking back, I'm not sure how I resisted for so long. Honestly. We're more that halfway done eating the world and, yet, I haven't made regular ol', plain Jane, rice pudding (something altogether different than the exotic sticky rice coconut pudding I made for Laos). I find this fact is so surprising because, whenever I crack open my cookbooks to research the food of another country, I run into rice pudding. Rice pudding iseverywhere, on every continent, in all forms. Since globalization … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Europe, Macedonia, Recipes, Rice, Sweets, Vegetarian

Recipe: Cozy Roasted Pepper & Eggplant Salad

January 27, 2012 By Sasha Martin 5 Comments

While I've always loved a good ratatouille, there's something so ... soft about it. While that's fine for a cloudy sort of day, on bright, cheery days, I'm in the mood for definition. Clear edges. Decisiveness. Which brings us to today's roasted salad, from the Macedonian Global Table. She's all of those things while still being easy-breezy. The reason she's so defined? The eggplant and peppers are pre-cut and roasted, which gives good browning and clean edges. Once tossed with fresh … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Europe, Gluten Free Adaptable, Macedonia, Potluck Friendly, Recipes, Sasha's Favorite Recipes, Vegan, Vegetables/Pulses, Vegetarian

Recipe: A Dainty Apple Cake (Äppelkuch)

January 22, 2012 By Sasha Martin 9 Comments

In the southern reaches of Luxembourg, in an area called Gutland, live a happy collection of orchards where apples, plums, cherries and berries ripen in the sun. Now... I knew, without a doubt, that I absolutely, positively wanted to make a plum cake when we got to Luxembourg, however the seasons were against me. Since it is January and not a plum in sight, I somewhat grumpily resigned myself to making a traditional apple cake, a.k.a. Plan B. One bite in and I knew this was a fantastic … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Europe, Fruit, Luxembourg, Potluck Friendly, Recipes, Sasha's Favorite Recipes, Vegetarian