William insisted on doing the Portugal page all on his own!
Caldo Verde (Portuguese Green Soup)
The kids liked it better blended but Carl and I enjoyed it as is.
14 ounces linguica sausage, cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
5 medium-large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 quarts chicken broth
1 large bunch kale, rinsed, stemmed and julienned
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Brown linguica in a large, heavy bottom stock pot until just browned on the edges (5-7 minutes). Remove linguica from the pot and keep warm.
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, onions and garlic and cook for 5-7 minutes until onions are translucent. Add potatoes and cook for 3-5 minutes more.
Add broth and bring to a rolling boil. Cook until potatoes are soft. Use an immersion blender to mash up most of the potatoes in to the broth, leaving some chunks.
Add kale and linguica and cook until the kale is soft and bring green.
Serve with Broa (Portuguese cornbread). Recipe here.
Our Broa was very flat but still good. I am not sure what we did wrong. It doubled nicely but then the second rise it spread out vs. up.
We read "The Jester's Last Trick" from "Through the Grapevine".
Polish Festival
Faworki and Pączki
What were the chances that the week we randomly selected Poland there would be a Polish festival just 15 miles away? We watched Polish dancers, listened to music and tasted some food. The kielbasa sandwich with sauerkraut was a hit. We also braved a couple of bites of dairy in some desserts.
Our Polish Sunday Monday Dinner
After the picture (Tofutti) sour cream was added to the soup. Very strange color!
The butcher at the Polish Festival was selling these packets of instant red borsch. .
The soup was not a hit. It was quite startlingly red and a strange sort of sweet. It definitely tasted of beets. We like fresh beets and roasted beets but beet soup wasn't really our thing.
Kotlet schabowy - Pork Cutlets
4 boneless center-cut pork chops or 1-pound pork tenderloin
If using chops, trim off fat and gristle. If using tenderloin, trim off fat, remove silver skin and cut into 4 equal pieces. Pound pork between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4-inch thickness. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
Dredge in flour, then egg, then bread or panko crumbs. Allow cutlets to dry for 10 minutes before frying.
Heat shortening or oil to a depth of 1 inch in a large skillet. Fry one at a time by placing cutlets top side down into the pan. Fry 5 to 7 minutes per side until golden. Place on a heatproof plate in a warm oven (about 200 degrees) covered with foil and repeat with remaining cutlets. Alternatively, use two skillets to speed the process.
Original recipe - http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/polishmaincourses/r/porkcutlets.htm
My notes: I used panko crumbs and canola oil. The cutlets cooked much faster than the recipe suggested. They were a hit with the family but not a method I would use to make again any time soon because of the frying.
Chłopski Posiłek (Peasants' Bacon and Cabbage)
Chlopski is the Polish word for peasant, and literally translated this dish is called 'Peasants' Meal'. It's a dish which is most popular in the provinces like Lubuskie, in the far west of Poland.
1
medium green cabbage, coarsely chopped
6
slices fatty bacon, diced (is fatty bacon different than regular bacon?)
1
medium onion, chopped (used red onion)
1
large leek, chopped (omitted)
1/4
cup water
2
cloves garlic, chopped
1
lb. Polish sausage cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2
teaspoons salt and pepper
Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp; remove bacon, reserving drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon, and set aside. Add all other ingredients except sausage to dripping; cover and cook 10 minutes over medium heat, turning cabbage once. Add sausage; cover and cook 5 minutes or until sausage is heated. Transfer to serving dish with a slotted spoon; sprinkle with bacon.
Makes 4 servings. Original recipe - http://www.krykiet.com/polish_food.htm
Notes: Maybe my "medium cabbage" was small? The ratio of cabbage to sausage really favored the sausage. I drained all but a tablespoon or two of the bacon fat and the dish still seemed plenty 'slick'. The kids loved the sausage and the bacon but didn't love the cabbage. Husband said it was edible. I liked it although I gave away most of my sausage pieces to the carnivores at the table.
Today we wrapped up our exploration of Paraguay with Bori Bori (Paraguayan Dumpling Soup). Paraguayan recipes seem to be heavy on the dairy which is a challenge with 3/4 of our family dairy free. Paraguay also has wonderful sounding cornbread-corn pudding type concoctions but once again they looked difficult to make dairy-free so we skipped them. The kids really enjoyed shaping the dumplings and throwing them in the soup.
Bori Bori - Paraguayan Dumpling Soup
I really need to put down my cell phone and break out a real camera.
Parmesan Dumplings
1/3 cup white or yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used 2 tablespoons of flax meal to add some fat and stickiness)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp minced scallions, white portion only
1 tbsp canola oil
Beef Soup
2 tbsp canola oil or bacon fat
1 lb boneless beef shank (I used a cheap beef steak that was on sale)
Salt as needed
Freshly ground black pepper as needed
8 cups Chicken Broth, plus as needed
1-1/2 cups minced onion (I used 1 medium red onion)
3/4 cup small-dice carrot
3/4 cup small-dice celery
2 tsp minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1 whole clove (I didn't have any whole cloves so I used a tiny sprinkle of ground cloves)
2 or 3 crushed saffron threads (optional) - I had them so I included them
3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (omitted)
Taking the job of beating eggs for the dumplings very seriously.
1. Make the dumplings: Combine the cornmeal, Parmesan, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, egg, scallions, and oil in a mixing bowl. Cover the batter and let it rest at least 45 minutes and up to 3 hours before shaping and cooking the dumplings (see step 6).
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Season the beef shank with salt and pepper and add it to the hot oil. Sear the beef on all sides, turning as necessary, until browned, 7 to 8 minutes.
3. Add the chicken broth and simmer over low heat until the beef is tender, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the beef to a plate and let cool. Strain the broth through a fine sieve and reserve.
4. Return the soup pot to medium-high heat. Add the remaining oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and sauté, stirring frequently, until the onion is tender and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes.
5. Add the strained broth to the soup pot along with additional chicken broth, if needed, to make 8 cups. Bring the broth to a simmer and add the bay leaf, clove, and saffron threads, if using. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and clove and discard.
6. Trim the cooled beef and cut it into medium dice. Return the beef to the soup. To form the dumplings, pinch off small pieces of dough (about 1 teaspoon) and roll them into balls. Add the dumplings to the soup and simmer until the dumplings are cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in the parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately in warmed soup bowls sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.
First taste. He liked the dumplings and then was done with it.
We watched a video of Paraguay - listening to the language and observing the images. We checked out a library book about Paraguay and practiced using the index to find facts to begin to fill out our country summary sheet.
We read through a variety of websites, looking for information about food and culture. We decided to try a Paraguayan version of the South American food empanadas and a dumpling soup called Bori Bori. The Bori Bori will hopefully make it to our table later this week. Here is our cheater version of Paraguayan empanadas.
Paraguayan Empanadas
note: Traditional Paraguayan beef empanadas usually include chopped hard boiled egg but for allergy reasons we limit our egg consumption. There were also many wonderful looking empanada dough recipes but dairy-free dough is really tricky so we made our empanadas with store bought pie crust (again for allergy reasons).
Ingredients: 1/2 pound ground beef 3 tablespoons minced red onion 1 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon paprika 2 tablespoons chopped parsley greens of one green onion
1 pkg store bought piece crust (enough for 2 crusts)
flour to dust work surface
Method:
preheat oven to 350
brown beef with red onion
drain excess fat
add cumin, paprika, parsley, green onion and salt & pepper to taste
let meat mix cool
flour work surface and use a cookie/biscuit cutter to cut circles approximately 3-4 inches in diameter, rolling excess dough together to get as many circles as possible
scoop about 1.5 tablespoons meat on to circle
fol in half, wet one edge and crimp with fork
lightly oil cookie sheet, place empanadas on cookie sheet and brush lightly with oil
bake until slightly golden brown, approximately 25 minutes
Kids - loved them
The Dad - thought they were ok but "bland"
Mom - I wasn't a huge fan of the pie dough - it was a little sweet which was disconcerting
Preparing to make our first project meal required some family discussion. We wanted to prepare food that was still nutritious and obviously we were hoping we would all enjoy it and be willing to eat the meal. We don't like to waste food and I am not a fan of cooking a new meal after, well, cooking a meal. I think we will also be going for trying new flavors and trying authentic-as-possible foods while not having to drive all over tarnation or spend a lot of money to find specialty ingredients.
So we researched and we discussed and we found several chicken dishes with similar ingredients but different names. So this is our version of Chicken a la Moambe (fried chicken with peanut butter sauce) and/or Groundnut Stew served with Ugali. We had bananas for dessert.
I used bone in, skin on chicken leg quarters but if I were to make this dish again I would use our much more preferred skinless, boneless chicken thighs. I was trying to be more authentic with the skin on, bone in chicken but we just aren't fans and it made the dish much greasier than necessary. I wasn't sure what the family reaction would be to the groundnut stew so I cooked the chicken and stew separately. We all liked the stew, next time I would cook them together. I will include my recipe for how I would do it next time since it would #1 make for less dirty pots/pans and likely be even more delicious.
Chicken with Groundnut Stew
It did taste better than it looked.
1.5 lbs of skinless, boneless chicken in bite size pieces
oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 6 oz can tomato paste
6 oz water
1/3 cup all natural creamy peanut butter
salt, pepper, cayenne
Brown chicken in a minimal amount of hot oil in a large pot.
Remove chicken from the pan.
Cook onions until translucent.
Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring often.
Add tomato paste, water, peanut butter and whisk until combined - add more water if too thick. Add chicken back to pot and cook for 20+ minutes at a simmer, stirring often. Season with salt, pepper and a good sprinkle of cayenne to taste.
5 year version - mix it all together! After you mix it decide you only like the chicken and sauce and require a new bowl.
Ugali is a cornmeal mush mixture. I only had yellow cornmeal so our ugali was much more yellow than the pictures we found online.
The traditional method of eating ugali (and the most common in the rural areas) is to roll a lump into a ball, and then dip it into a sauce or stew of vegetables and/or meat. Making a depression with the thumb allows the ugali to be used to scoop, and to wrap around pieces of meat to pick them up in the same way that flat bread is used in other cultures.
Our ugali was too hot (and our family too impatient) to roll it in to a ball and use it as a scoop. The ugali was not very popular with the kids but the parents thought it was fine. It was like under-seasoned and a little bit over-cooked polenta.
Ugali
4 to 6 servings
* Water -- 4 cups
* Salt -- 2 teaspoons
* White cornmeal, finely ground -- 2 cups
Method
1. Bring the water and salt to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the cornmeal slowly, letting it fall though the fingers of your hand. (uh, NO, that burns the skin right off your hands). My method - dump all the cornmeal in while trying not to steam your skin off and then whisk like crazy to remove the lumps.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue stirring regularly, smashing any lumps with a spoon, until the mush pulls away from the sides of the pot and becomes very thick, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool somewhat. (I found this took much less time to cook)
3. Place the ugali into a large serving bowl. Wet your hands with water, form into a ball and serve. (Or cheat and use a cookie scoop)
7 year old review: "Thank you for making that chicken. I liked the sauce. It was really good."
5 year old review: "Good. I liked the chicken. I don't really like the sauce." (funny, he ate two bowls full with extra sauce)
Dad review: "I won't be visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo any time soon to eat the meal again. It was ok." (funny, he too ate two servings)
Mom review: I would make it again with changes as noted before.
