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Argentine Beef Stew in a Pumpkin | Carbonada en Zapallo

In 2011 a young Argentine man went viral in a 6-second video when he laughed about the cost of a burger at a soccer stadium. His exact words were: Con quince peso me hago alto guiso.pum For 15 pesos I could make quite the stew. To put this young man’s remarks in perspective, 15 Argentine pesos is just under $2 USD. It seems as though, relatively speaking, overpriced stadium food is a shared phenomenon – as common as rainy days and sunny dispositions. What is remarkable – and what made the young man’s comment go viral – is the assumption that good, homemade stew can be made for the cost of an overpriced burger. I looked into his logic: here in the USA an overpriced stadium burger in Silicon Valley goes for $12. Surely, I could make a soup for less than $12, even shopping at costly American grocery stores. Testing the theory… Curious (and inspired), I began looking into Argentine stews – sending me down a delicious rabbit hole of beef and root veggie based bowls. I finally emerged …

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Sweet Potato Simboro

It only takes five minutes of grating sweet potatoes to make me wax poetic on the brilliance of the food processor. Friends, I certainly don’t have biceps of steel. Most days, I don’t even see my biceps beneath the jiggle. Today’s recipe for Simboro gave them a work out. I first learned about Simboro from a reader named Benjamin who spent some time in Vanuatu. This comforting side dish is made with a grated starch, like cassava, sweet potato, or yam, wrapped in “island cabbage,” then simmered in coconut milk. As much as it pained my muscles… I treated the grating like a ritual – a rite of passage – a way to imagine myself in Vanuatu telling tourists “THIS way to the beach.” Thirty minutes later, only my pride had kept me from pulling out the food processor. Because, the fact of the matter is that the sweet potato could just as easily be run through the grater attachment on your food processor, then ground finer in the processor bowl to achieve similar results… leaving …

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Sweet Potatoes in Coconut Caramel Sauce

I love necklaces. The bright stones add a splash of color and fun to my generally plain-Jane outfits. Seeing as I don’t general have time to put on makeup, necklaces are the one and only way to brighten up my look. To make it look like I tried. Well, today, we’re getting a taste of how the islanders in Tonga dress up dinner. In short? Sweet potatoes meet coconut caramel sauce – a vivid display of orange, white, and golden brown. Sweet potatoes and coconut grow easily in the Pacific, making this dish ubiquitous in Tonga. In fact, from what I read, this coconut caramel sauce is on everything in Tonga, from dumplings to taro. Instant goodness. The caramel is just sugar and coconut milk (yay, for an accidentally vegan caramel sauce!). The coconut milk gives the caramel a depth of flavor butter can’t touch. It’s just so tropical. So dressed up. TIP: You can substitute boiled taro, or even boiled dumplings, for the sweet potato in this recipe. Ingredients: 2 lbs sweet potatoes (about 2-3) …

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Sweet Potato Frittata

Ava grabbed the small, purple step stool and placed it squarely in front of the kitchen counter. She’s gone through a growth spurt lately and yet my little girl still stands on her tippy toes to see into the mixing bowl. On days like today, when I see her eyes peep over the top of the bowl and grow wide with delight, I hope she never grows up. With quick jabs of her whisk, she pops the yolks and helps stir together the frittata mixture. In the background we hear the delicous sizzle of onion and sweet potatoes in oil.   Eggs are a West African staple, often making their way into toasted baguette sandwiches from our Nigerien Global Table and omelets, as with our Gabonese Global Table. Today, we’re taking inspiration from São Tomé and Príncipe and building a Sweet Potato Frittata complete with sweet bits of browned onion. This could just as well be a shredded sweet potato omelette, but I chose to call upon the islands’ Portuguese influence with today’s Frittata. And let it be heard: there’s …

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Ginger & Rocoto Ceviche

Last week I spoke with “Kelly,” a short, black-haired Peruvian restaurateur whose father had a thing for Western names (he also named one of her brother’s Kennedy – and, as she admitted with downcast eyes, another brother “Hitler”). If that wasn’t enough to blow my mind, she added in her thick, rolling accent that halibut ceviche is the “Dunkin’ Donuts” of Peru. I asked her twice to repeat herself. Each time her smile grew bigger and her words clearer. Ceviche is the Dunkin Donuts of Peru. Ceviche- Peru’s pride and joy – is light, fresh, and healthy, so I found the comparison strange. Unlike the doughnut, which takes a dip in a bubbling cauldron of oil, the seafood “cooks” in the acid of lime or lemon juice. Nothing could be cleaner. Each bite is bright, flavorful, and often spicy with the addition of the rocoto pepper (although any hot pepper can be used to taste) and a hit of fresh ginger. When I tried Kelly’s ceviche, I was happy to find an assortment of goodies accompanying it. There were the oversize corn kernels …

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Autumnal Veggies in Spiced Coconut Milk

“I would eat that” says Mr. Picky, after taking a nibble off of my wooden spoon. I take a bite off the same spoon and let my eyes flutter shut. My mouth is filled with the most comforting, savory goodness. These coconut veggies taste exactly like a delicious hug on a rainy day… or a steaming hot shower after a rough and tumble game of basketball… or that happy dream you have after finishing a really, really great book (or show) – the kind of dream that lets the world of the characters continue on in your imagination. Good stuff. There’s nothing so softly seductive as sweet potatoes, butternut squash, potato, and green beans, simmered in creamy coconut milk with a touch of ginger and garlic. This is the quintessential Papua New Guinean meal – one you’ll often see ladled over white, somewhat mushy rice. Why mushy? Well, according to Caroline Leigh who has been to Papua New Guinea, rice cooked in thin aluminum pots is always mushy. Since  almost all pots in Papua New Guinea …

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Grilled Sweet Potato & Bacon Salad | Kumara

When I read that New Zealander’s love “kumara,” I wondered what this dreamy word could mean. When I found out kumara are simply a variety of New Zealand “sweet potatoes,” I was thrilled. Sweet potatoes are on my “will-eat-any-time-of-day-for-any-reason-especially-for-my-last-meal” food list. Not many foods make that cut. Today’s salad takes inspiration from New Zealand’s love of barbecue. For color I combined two kinds of sweet potatoes on the grill before tossing them with bacon, green onion, and a quick, zingy honey mustard dressing. This is grilled sweet potatoes, dressed up for a party in your mouth. P.S. Since I couldn’t get my hands on actual kumara, I used an orange fleshed sweet potato and a white fleshed sweet potato. This makes for a really pretty salad. If you do the same, be sure to watch the cooking times. Some varieties tend to cook quicker than others. P.P.S. New Zealander’s love grilled lamb, especially with rosemary. I’d highly recommend serving these kumara with our Grilled Greek-stye Lamb from back in the day. The lamb is seasoned with rosemary, …

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Sweet Potatoes & Fried Bananas

The thing about eating our way around the world is that it makes me realize how very similar we all are. I don’t mean the little things. I mean at our core. We all want to be happy. We all want love. We all get tired and we all get silly. I’ve even come to learn that we eat mostly the same foods, just in different combinations. Take today’s recipe, for example… I’ve spent most of my life eating bananas in cereal and sweet potatoes with butter and chives. But today … today we’re going to the Marshall Islands via stove top travel. And there, the Marshallese add their bit of love to these ingredients. They take bananas, sweet potatoes, and butter – and make a potluck worthy bowl of magic I like to call “Sweet n’ Fried.” Since we’re coming up on barbecue season, let me just plant a little bug in your ear – the next time you have a tender, slow-roasted barbecue – pork or fish especially – make this dish. There’s …

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Sunrise Biscuits | Mbatata

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 two kids? I can put one of them outside to play. Unsupervised. Life as a mom might not be filled with roses on my bedspread and chocolates under my pillow, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. And, if I really am honest with myself, I can conjure up a few sunny smiles on Valentine’s Day… especially if I make these Sunrise Biscuits. This sweet potato biscuit from Malawi looks exactly like the cheery glow of a romantic sunrise. The vivid orange tuber, so popular and easy …

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Kyrgyz stuffed & rolled pasta | Oromo

Truth: anything coiled up is infinitely better than the same item not coiled. Think cinnamon rolls… princess Leia’s hair… really flexible kitty cats napping… and now, as never seen in my kitchen before Global Table Adventure, Oromo. This Kyrgyz dish of rolled and coiled pasta filled with various stuffings is pure genius. Unlike Italian stuffed pastas, no cheese is used as binder. Instead the filling is commonly meat and veggies (such as sweet potatoes or pumpkin). While it remains a decidedly simple recipe, some southern regions of Kyrgyzstan are said to add herbs to their fillings. Still, however you slice it, Oromo is also more comforting than cinnamon rolls, princess Leia and kitty cats combined. True story. Notes: before you get started on this little journey you’ll need a steamer, preferably metal but bamboo will do just fine. Recipe inspired by National Cuisines of Kyrgyzstan, where the recipe is said to be shaped like a swiss roll which is then bent back on itself into a circle. This recipe is my interpretation of these directions. Ingredients: …

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Sweet Potato Pone

Serves 6 Sweet Potato Pone is a slightly spiced, dense custard-like dessert, reminiscent of pumpkin pie. Adjust sugar according to your tastes. This version will give you cavities on the first bite. Ingredients: 1 lb finely grated sweet potato 1 12 ounce can evaporated milk (or coconut milk) 1 egg 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp ginger pinch salt Method: 1. Preheat oven to 350F. Meanwhile grate sweet potato and combine all ingredients in a large bowl. NOTE: You want to grate your sweet potatoes as finely as possible. I think mine were too large because the texture, instead of being smooth, was rather coarse (see finished photo at the bottom of recipe) Perhaps a food processor could help in this situation? 2. Ladle into 6 individual ramekins (be careful not to overfill them. I did and they spilled over… making a sticky, ugly mess – give yourself about 1/4 inch buffer at the top). Place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for one hour. Serve chilled. Optional …

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Bajan Sweet Potato Fish Cakes

Makes about 7 average fish cakes Two kinds of fish cakes are popular in Barbados: deep-fried balls and pan-fried patties. This recipe makes lovely golden pan-fried patties. The sweet potato in these Bajan Fish Cakes is subtle and provides a great variation for those who don’t like a lot of heat. Serve with hot sauce for those who enjoy it! Ingredients: 1/2 lb cooked sweet potato (about 1/2 an average sweet potato) 1/8 cup milk (only add as needed) 1/2 onion, grated (about 1/8 cup) You can also mince the onion if you want the texture, but you may need more milk to make up for minced onions not being as wet as grated. 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1 egg, beaten 2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley 12 ounces skinned, deboned, cooked mahi mahi (or other white fish) Tip: The skin is thick. Have them remove it at the fish market, you’ll save the cost of several ounces 1/2 cup flour for dredging vegetable oil for deep-frying Method: 1. Mash sweet potato, using only …

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