Culinary Adventures Around the World - Algeria

We are cooking our way around the world (you can read the details in the page under the header called "Culinary Adventures Around the World") and have finally arrived in Algeria.   It has taken at least a couple of years to make our way through Europe and it is quite exciting to finally be in North Africa.   The food in North Africa is primarily from Berber and Arab culinary traditions, although Algerian food has been influenced by French cuisine more than food in other surrounding areas.  Most of the dishes include meat (chicken, lamb, or beef) with dates, almonds, apricots, chick peas, and other fruits and vegetables mixed with cinnamon, ginger, cumin, coriander, and served with couscous.   


Many of the Algerian recipes were similar to the ones we had when we cooked Moroccan food (here), so I tried to find a recipe that involved different ingredients. The recipe I found online to make for our Algerian meal was Chicken with Chickpeas and Lemon (found here) and served with couscous.

Ingredients (with my alterations in brackets):

• 2 Cloves Garlic -- Chopped
• Salt And Pepper -- To Taste
• 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 1/2 Teaspoon Saffron (I couldn't find this so didn't use any)
• 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter (I used margarine and less than the amount specified)
• 1 Large Chicken -- Cut Into Pieces (I used 2 large chicken breasts)
• 1 Stick Cinnamon (I used 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
• 1 Bunch Parsley -- Chopped
• 1 Bunch Cilantro -- Chopped
• 3 Medium Green Onion -- Chopped
• 1 Can Chick Peas (I drained them and used some of the liquid as needed to help make a sauce)
• 1 Red Onion -- Chopped
• Lemon Juice from one lemon
• 1 1/4 cups couscous

Method:

I didn't follow the directions listed on the website as I was running out of time.  Instead I put the chicken in a frying pan with the butter and as it was cooking I added the other ingredients pretty much in the order listed (with the exception of the couscous).  By the time I was down to the bottom of the ingredient list the chicken was partially cooked, so I put the lid on the frying pan and cooked it on low for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.   As the chicken was cooking, I boiled the water to make the couscous and I chopped up some red peppers and cucumbers to put out on a plate with some dried apricots to serve with the chicken and couscous.

The meal was delicious, although William thought there were too many onions.  It is a meal that I will make again since it was easy to do and tasted good.

And now on to Libya!

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Culinary Adventures Around the World - Morocco

On the weekend I got myself organized to cook two recipes from the next country in our around the world cooking tour.  We are now in Morocco (you can read more about it here) so I made Moroccan Casablanca Couscous and Moroccan Chicken with Apricots.  I really think I should have been Moroccan because I loved both of these dishes.  They weren't too hard to make, and they were simply delish.  I'll be making them both again soon.  I have to confess that I forgot to take any photos before we ate so all I had to take pictures of was a little bit of leftovers.  Sigh - the trials of a dedicated blogger!  When I make it again I'll take some better photos and replace these ones.

Moroccan Casablanca Couscous (serves 6) - (adapted from moroccan-recipes.com)

and the couscous (only one delicious spoonful left)!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds tofu, cubed

1 onion, chopped

1 cup carrots, sliced

1 cup celery, sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1 can chickpeas

1 can tomato sauce (they didn't list the size so I just used a small one, about 420 mls)

1/2 cup raisins

1 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/8 teaspoon cayenne 

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups couscous

Method:

1) In large pan, brown tofu with onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, nuts. 

2) Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes.

3) Make couscous according to package directions.

Moroccan Chicken with Apricots (serves 6) - (adapted from grouprecipes.com)

Ingredients:

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/4 cups green onions, sliced

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup dried apricots, chopped

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons honey

Method:

1) Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and cook until brown.  Add salt and pepper.

2) Remove chicken from pan and keep warm while you make the sauce.

3) Add onions and garlic to the pan and saute.

4) Add flour, ginger, cinnamon, and cumin to the pan.

5) Whisk in the chicken broth.

6) Stir in apricots, lemon juice, and honey.

7) Boil sauce for about 5 minutes until it thickens, stirring occasionally.

8) Add the chicken to the sauce and serve.

Morocco was so yummy that I'm looking forward to more North African food as we head toward Algeria.

Linked to Working Mommy Wednesday at Work, Wife, Mom ... Life
Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

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Culinary Adventures Around the World - Spain

I got the idea a couple of years ago that we should cook our way around the world.  I thought it would be a fun way to get us out of our dinner time rut by trying new dishes.  You can read about the details here.   We started in Ireland and so far have cooked dishes from:

• Ireland (you can read about it here)
• Great Britian
• Norway
• Russia
• the Ukraine
• Poland
• Germany
• Switzerland
• Italy (you can read about it here)
• France (you can read about it here)

Since Spain is next, it seemed logical that I would cook paella, one of its most famous dishes.  I did a quick google search for a recipe so I could cook it this past weekend. 

Here's the Paella recipe I used (based on this one from the Food Network)

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, cut into large chunks
2 Italian sausages, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 onions, peeled and chopped
10 whole cloves of garlic, peeled (we all thought a few of them, at least, should have been chopped so that the flavour mingled more)
796 ml (28-oz) can of whole tomates
2 cups arborio rice
3 cups chicken stock (I used bouillion)
1 cup of red or white wine
3 bay leaves
2 sprig of fresh rosemary
1 red pepper, seeds removed and chopped
1 pound of shrimp, shelled and deveined (I used frozen)

Method:
1. heat oil in a frying pan and brown the chicken and sausages.  When they are cooked, remove them to a plate.
2.  add the onions to the pan (with more oil if needed) and saute until golden
3.  add the garlic and stir for a few minutes
4. add the tomatoes, breaking them up with a wooden spoon.
5.  add the rice, stock, wine, bay leaves, rosemary, red pepper, the reserved meat and the shrimp (although I added mine near the end since mine were already cooked).
6.  bring to a simmer and cook over medium low heat until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 30 minutes.  I served it with cooked peas.

We always rate the round-the-world dishes on a scale of 1-10 and I have to say that paella rated very highly.  Everyone rated the dish somewhere between 8 and 10.  The recipe I used said it would feed 4, but with 2 cups of rice it could easily have fed 8.  There was plenty left over which we had for another meal.

William is very excited that we are now leaving Europe and starting across North Africa. Months go by when I don't seem to have time or inclination to find a recipe on the internet, get the ingredients, and cook a new meal for the next country, but William has requested that I cook them a little more frequently so my goal is to try and cook a recipe from another country every 2-3 weeks.  That should mean I will be able to get to Bangladesh before I get to Bangladesh in real life.  Ha!

Morroco here we come!

Linked to Recipe Swap Party at Remodelaholic

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Culinary Adventures Around the World - Italy

Yep I just had to start out with a photo of my favourite part of the meal - the dessert.  I have always wanted to try panettone bread, as I see them every year in the store, but have never bought one before, so that is what we had for dessert and it was fantastic. What can I say, I'm a sweet-type person.  

Now that we are in Italy, on our round-the-world cooking adventure, I made the Italian meal in Martha Stewart Living magazine December 2009 issue, well some of it anyway.  The menu was as follows:

Antipasto: 
sundried tomatoes, olives, provolone, and prosciutto

Primo: 
Spaghetti with crab ( I didn't put the lobster in)

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/nonnas-crab-and-lobster-with-spaghetti

Secondo: 

Oven-braised Lentils

Cod cooked in a tomato sauce

Carmelized Brussel Sprouts
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/caramelized-brussels-sprouts

Dessert:

Panettone

Clementine Oranges

Sorry to make you all drool with that photo of the panettone - it really was as delish as it looks - lovely soft bread with chunks of chocolate throughout and chocolate on top.  It was a great ending to the meal and definitely something we will repeat.  We just might have to make that our New Years day tradition from now on - have Italian food with panettone for dessert.

Now on to FRANCE!!!!

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