Serves 6 This is the strangest soup I’ve ever sipped, and I owe it all to Iceland. Actually, “sip” isn’t really the right word. It’s actually somewhere between chew and sip – this soup is thick and hearty. The sugar and raisins give it a sweet, desserty feel, but still it feels like comfort food. Add rhubarb “raisins” if desired. Ingredients: 4 slices light rye bread, chopped (5 cups) 3 slices whole/dark rye bread, chopped (3 cups) 1/2 cup lingdonberry or sour cherry jam 1/4 cup sugar, or more to taste 1/2 cup homemade rhubarb raisins water, as needed Method: Icelanders love rye bread. The love it in the morning. They love it in the night. The love it on the “road”… and they love it chopped up for soup. Let’s create a little Icelandic comfort. Add the cubed bread to a pot and cover with water. Then stir in the jam and bring to a simmer. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Add raisins and sugar, to taste. Continue simmering until the bread …
Read More
Serves 2-4 Friends, when rhubarb season calls, you must answer. This cold rhubarb soup from Iceland is like a big sip of sunshine. It tastes like lemonade. It tastes like rhubarb. It tastes like “good.” We only have a little more time in rhubarb land until next spring, so hop over to the grocery store and get some! Ingredients: 4 cups chopped rhubarb (cut into 1″ pieces) – about 1 bunch 2 cups water 3/4 cup sugar, more as needed 2 tsp lemon juice Method: Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb. It makes me happy. Almost as happy as these pictures make me… just look at his mane. It’s enough to make any pony jealous Once you chop up the rhubarb, there’s almost nothing left to do. Toss everything in a pot, let simmer for 15 minutes and puree. Chill for a few hours, until cold. Crumble on some zwieback biscuits, or you could serve it up with a dollop of something sweet, if you’d like. But I prefer to eat it with someone sweet. Sip slowly and let …
Read More
“Whose recipe is this? No, no, no. Much more paprika! Heap it on!” And so the Adventure to recreate a favorite childhood supper began. I say this is mom’s chicken paprika, but it didn’t start out that way. I had a basic recipe and then asked for her help to execute it. As we simmered along, however, mom tossed corrections my way – saving me from disaster and cluing me into how she would have made it, if she was the one wielding the wooden spoon. I promise you – although Chicken Paprika is not much to look at (especially if you add chunky chopped onions, like I did), it tastes amazingly creamy and – if you use good, half-sharp paprika – surprisingly spicy. Serve with buttered noodles for a completely addicting bite of Hungary. You can also roll shredded bits of the chicken inside Hungarian Crêpes (palacsinta) [recipe] and coat with the sauce – a great way to use up leftovers. Ingredients: One 4 lb chicken, cut into pieces (or 2 lbs assorted chicken pieces) 2 …
Read More
Serves 2-4 Relaxing has never been so easy. Dive into this cool bowl of deep violet cherry soup and feel the blissful calm of Hungary overtake you. It only takes 12 minutes to make, 10 of which you’ll be daydreaming in a lawn chair with your sunglasses on. That’s the kind of cooking I can get behind on a hot summer’s day. If you can get your hands on fresh tart cherries (a.k.a sour cherries), the soup will be even better. In fact, if you do, you’ll be able to float some whole cherries on top of the soup as a garnish. The season is just getting started – they haven’t made their way to Oklahoma yet – but keep an eye out – they’ll be here any day now. Note: The recipe is vegan if you leave out the sour cream garnish. Ingredients: 1 jar tart cherries in water (29 fl oz), plus the liquid from the jar. 1/3 cup sugar, or to taste 1/4 cup dry red wine 1 cinnamon stick Garnish: sour …
Read More
Makes 1 large bowl If you’ve never had jicama or chayote, you’re in for a real treat. Jicama is watery and crunchy, a lot like water chesnuts, but mildly sweet. Chayote is in the squash family, and you can taste it. When dressed with a splash of lime and orange juice, the salad brings together the tropical flavors of Central America. Ingredients: 1 jicama, peeled and sliced into matchsticks 1 chayote, sliced into matchsticks 2-3 large oranges, segmented 1/2 large red onion, sliced thinly 1-2 limes, juiced fresh cilantro, to taste olive oil salt & pepper Method: Welcome to a pantry of fresh flavor. Of deliciousness. Of happy salads just waiting to be made. Slice everything up, nice and thin. Segment the orange – meaning cut off the skin and use a sharp knife to cut wedges out from between the segments. Sprinkle with plenty of lime juice. Realize your salad bowl is much too small to do any ingredient tossing. Pile everything into the largest, reddest bowl you can find. Douse with a splash …
Read More
Serves 4 Hello. I realize it’s summer, but let’s shut our eyes for a moment and daydream about winter. In Guyana. Are you ready for Christmas? Shall we deck the halls? (do people really do that?). Ready or not, today’s recipe is going to take you to December 25th, Guyanese-style. Read this: The kids got their little presents, got their pictures taken on my lap, and everyone ate fried rice, chow mein, and chicken curry. You know, traditional Christmas food. From Mark Hejinian’s travel blog Guyanese Mark My first reaction? I want to spend Christmas in Guyana. Immediately. It doesn’t help that it’s a zillion degrees here, but a nice cool winter day would be welcome right about now. And that menu? Yes, yes, yes. So let’s dig into what this dish is all about. While Chow Mein might sound like a stretch for the South American dinner table, Guyanese love this dish with a passion. It’s not a straight up copycat operation, however – they add plenty of unique touches, to make Chow Mein …
Read More
Serves 6-8 Listen, friends. I thought Jollof sounded weird. Scary. Difficult. It’s not. This is rice with veggies. And spices. Sometimes meat, but not here. Not today. All over West Africa people enjoy Jollof. They make it with whatever they have on hand and more often that not it does not include meat. This recipe is flexible. It’s usually spicy. And it always has some version of tomato sauce/paste in it. The rest is a fun improvisational dance. So, go on – boogie, boogie through that bottom drawer and pull out whatever veggies inspire you. Ingredients: 2 cups frozen green peas vegetable oil 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, sliced 1 tsp ginger (fresh grated or ground) 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp cayenne 15 oz can tomato sauce or puree 1 small head of cabbage, chopped 2 cups white rice 1 quart water or stock salt and pepper, to taste Method: My boogie, boogie led me to peas, which is a fairly common addition to Jollof. So, first things first, set out the green …
Read More
Makes 16 When I ask for a cookie, I expect to get a sugary, crispy, heart-racing cookie. Something that makes me thirst for milk. But that’s not always what happens. Take raivas, for example. These cinnamon loaded Portuguese cookies are subdued. Doughy. Bready. Dry. But don’t be fooled. The texture isn’t a mistake. They are made specifically for dunking. Dipping. Sogging-up coffee, hot cocoa or tea. So why are we making Portuguese cookies this week, when we’re cooking West Africa? Simple. The people of Guinea-Bissau love Portuguese baked goods because they were a former Portuguese colony. Walk into any big city bakery and you’ll see what I mean. So, come along, let’s jump on the cinnamon train with the squiggliest, wiggliest, doughiest cookies I’ve ever seen Inspired by Lindy and her adaptation from Cozinha Tradicional Portuguesa. Ingredients: 8 Tbsp Butter 1/2 cup sugar 4 eggs 3-3 1/4 cups flour 1 Tbsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp salt Method: Put on a shirt with a wiggly design. Play a wiggly song. Vow to make wiggles, not war. Here’s how …
Read More
Fills about 2 mason jars – 1 for you & 1 for a friend Have you seen the papayas at the market lately? They’re gorgeous. Sweet. Giant. Exotic. Plus they’re fun to pronounce: pa-pa-ya. Gotta love anything that ends with an affirmative. Since papayas are beloved in Guinea and Guinea Bissau, I really wanted to make papaya jam for you today. Unfortunately, jam making all but requires a chemistry major. I’m too footloose for that, so I made chutney. The cool thing about chutney is that it’s made the same way as jam, with the same ingredients… minus the powdered pectin and careful measuring. In other words, minus the headache. And, honestly, it’s quite a bit more authentic for West Africa. To give the chutney a bit of body I used the natural pectin found in orange peel. The result? A sweet, tropical chutney laced with the slightest hint of bitter orange peel (don’t be scared – it really is just a hint – nothing like bitter orange marmalade). NOTE: You may want to adjust …
Read More
Makes 3 cups Is your blender lonely? Do you want to blast away from boredom? Try pepian, a thick mole-like sauce from Central America and beloved in Guatemala. With a quick whizz-whirr in the blender, this vegan sauce (a.k.a. recado) blends the smoky flavor of roasted, toasted seeds and other goodness with a half stick of cinnamon and dried chili peppers. If that sounds like a lot of different ingredients, don’t worry, pepian is so balanced that even the pickiest eaters in your house won’t realize what they’re eating. The smooth, complex flavor makes me happy – especially when I’m in a cooking rut. Serve over vegetables or stew with chicken. Our recipe is adapted from our friends over at Uncornered Market (where you can watch a great video of Pepian preparation in Guatemala). They used guaque and pasa chilis; we could not obtain these so we substituted the closest we could find. The result was a completely mild pepian. Enjoy! Ingredients: 2 ounces sesame seeds, toasted 2 ounces pumpkin seeds, toasted 5 large roma tomatoes, …
Read More
Serves 6 Stressed out? Time for a Caribbean Oil Down – and I don’t mean massage. This heavy duty dish is made by stewing cassava or bread fruit in coconut milk and curry. The result is a thick, indulgent stew worthy of any party. Our version is vegan, but pork bits are typical. With such rich ingredients, Oil Down seems more suited to a ski slope than a beach party, but, still, Grenadians eat this dish in their bathing suits. Brave, brave people. Oil Down is so rich that you may be able to stretch this one pot dish a lot further than six people. Especially if said people are teeny weeny or even tall, yet thin. The stew gains its richness thanks to the coconut milk which is a defining feature of this popular Caribbean meal. Serve with rice. Ingredients: 3-4 yucca/cassava, about 2 lbs 3 carrots 2 stalks celery 1 onion vegetable oil 1 Tbsp curry powder 1 whole hot pepper, optional 2 cans coconut milk (about 31/2 cups) 2 cups water salt …
Read More
