Türkiye

Ah, Christmas. the most wonderful time of the year - at least, according to the song!  On occasion, Scrooge and I have been pretty close, and this year it appears he and I are friends again, since I did absolutely nothing to celebrate yet this year.  The kids and I are used to celebrating our Christmas whenever we can, since they spend every alternate year with their father, so honestly, it is sometimes hard to get into the spirit of the season.  I am sure it would be different if I was religious, but obviously I'm not!

It's not my turn to cook dinner this year, so while everyone else is cooking turkey, I decided to cook Turkey,  yes, solely due to the marvelous play on words! Once again, I enjoyed surfing around and learning something of Turkish cuisine, and consequently, Turkish history.  It brings to mind images of sultans and fabulous wealth, so I chose a dish called Sultan Sarma, tenderloin stuffed with mushrooms and pistachios, accompanied by a Golden Rice Pilaf.  Our MLCC does carry a Turkish beer, Tuborg, but unfortunately they did not have it in stock right now (apparently it is a special order item).  Well, there's a heads up for me for next time!  In any event, I had to substitute a Greek beer left over from the other weekend, sacrilegious though it might be!  Otherwise, the meal was thoroughly delightful!

                            
                                        Afiyet olsun!

Magyar Köztársaság

Sometimes it is really hard to choose what to make when I decide on a country, and sometimes the answer comes easily once I start looking into a country's traditional cuisine.  This weekend, I had decided to do Hungary, and I was really torn about what to choose.  The first thoughts that came to mind were goulash, or chicken paprikas.  After a bit of research, I discovered that Hungary's national dish is actually pörkölt, a stew, and not either of my first two ideas.  Well, that clearly had to be on my menu.  I also wanted to choose a salad to accompany the meal, so I made an uborka salata, a cucumber salad.  Once again, our local MLCC offered a selection of beverages from my chosen country, and I selected a dry red, Szekszárdi Vörös Kékfrankos.

Comments and observations - I found the stew to be a very simple dish, with a milder flavour than I had expected.  The cucumber salad was quite similar to a dish I have grown up with (and one that I love), consisting essentially of sliced cucumbers in vinegar.  The wine was pleasant enough, but I think I wasn't completely satisfied with it because I didn't have much time to choose (my own fault for going to the liquor store on a Saturday afternoon a week before christmas).  

One thing that I have noticed is that many of the national dishes are simple dishes, hearty meals with basic, commonplace ingredients.  Makes sense, really, when you think about it - for a dish to become synonymous with a country, it would generally be made by a majority of the population or as a regular staple. so the ingredients would need to be readily available and the recipe not too complex or time-consuming.  Also, in Europe certainly, there are many similarities between recipes and it is sometimes hard to find a recipe from the country of origin for a particular dish.  Again, not surprising, but simply an observation about what I am encountering on my cooking tour of the world.

                                Jó étvágyat kivánok

Ελλάδα

I was quite excited with the idea of "visiting" Greece, as I have a deep love of Greek mythology.  Our cats (and a dog and a hamster) have all been named after the Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses - in fact, as I type this, Aphrodite is curled up just a few feet away, and Hestia and Hermes are upstairs.  Come on, anyone with cats named Hermes and Hestia has to know something about Greek mythology!!  What I found, though, is that many of their dishes include lamb, which is something I just don't eat.  Eating lamb would violate what my daughter calls my "too cute to eat" philosophy.  The way I look at is this:  calves - too cute to eat, so no veal, cows - not, chickens - fair game,  deer - too cute to eat (see Bambi), moose - well, you get the drift.  Plus, the kids were with me for the weekend, so I wanted something that would hopefully appeal to them.

In the end, we had quite an elaborate meal.  We started off with an appetizer of tsatziki dip and crackers - mmm mmm mmm!  Next up was a lemon chicken soup, simple and absolutely delicious, and the ubiquitous Greek salad, called the Country Salad in Greece - makes sense to me!  For our main course, we had Pastitsio, accompanied by a Santorinian vegetable mix.  Dessert was an old-style Greek treat of honey and sesame seeds called Pasteli.  The meal was accompanied (for me) by Mythos, a rather appropriately named Hellenic lager.  I did pause briefly at the Ouzo, but I just couldn`t bring myself to buy it, knowing it would be a long time before it was consumed (if that ever were to happen)!

Final results - the tsatiki appetizers, soup and salad were all fabulous!  I will definitely be making the soup again.  I am amazed, however, as it seems that every recipe called for copious quantities of butter and eggs - especially eggs!!  The pastitsio is a dish with layers of pasta and ground beef (in place of that too cute to eat ground lamb), topped with a bechamel sauce.  It was tasty enough, I guess, but a bit of a let-down after the soup and salad.  The Santorinian vegetable mix recipe seemed innocuous enough, but was, well, let`s just say it wasn't worth saving the leftovers!  I honestly don't think I have ever used so many eggs in cooking one meal!  The dessert was tasty indeed, even if it didn't solidify properly because I didn`t have quite enough sesame seeds - still tasty, though!

The more I do this, the more I have to acknowledge that it really doesn't do a country's varied cuisines justice by making just one meal, cobbling together a variety of recipes from different regions.  I wish I could be more true to the actual regional traditions, but it would make it impossible for me to keep to my goal of a new country every week!

                                         Καλή σας όρεξη

Россия

Russia is a large, beautiful and varied country with a fascinating history, so I definitely had a lot of fun searching for traditional recipes.  Choosing one, though, was not so easy, there were so many different tempting foods available.  Ultimately, my choices came as a result of the stories behind the two particular dishes that made up my meal.  I had the Salat Olivier, so named after the chef who created it.  Chef Lucien Olivier was a chef at the Hermitage Restaurant, one of Moscow's most celebrated restaurants, and this dish became the signature dish for the restaurant.  There is a story about one of his sous-chef's attempt to steal the closely-guarded recipe, which is what caught my attention and led to a lovely, filling salad.  For my main course, I had already subconsciously chosen Beef Stroganoff, and that choice was reinforced by the story behind the dish.  Apparently the chef who created the disease worked for a Russian diplomat, Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov, and the dish was created to impress a guest at the dinner table.  I'm not sure why, but knowing a bit about the history of the particular dish made it that much tastier! 

I was able to find Baltika, a Russian beer, at the MLCC.  Beer is the second-most popular drink in Russia, next to vodka.  Of course, having a Russian meal did mean that vodka would be a mandatory component.  I did try a couple of shots of Stolichnaya Vodka, but I must admit, that was a BAD idea!  I remember now why I don't drink hard liquour anymore....So, while I will definitely do these dishes again, I definitely won't do the vodka.  

                                             приятного аппетита

España

Spain, another of the beautiful, romantic countries in Europe and of course, home of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Champions!  It wasn't too difficult to find that paella is one of the most well-known traditional Spanish dishes, and I can certainly see why!  There were a myriad of recipes available on the 'net, so I chose one with some traditional ingredients such as chorizo sausage.  It was a lot of fun preparing this dish, and amazingly simple.  Most of the work was in cutting up the meats and vegetables, and it was a real pleasure to cook everything in the one dish - paella pans are amazing!  Also, because the dish itself is so complete, there was no need to make any side dishes.  I must say, I loved this dish, so many flavours melded together into one of the best dishes I have ever tasted!  To accompany the meal (well, the meal prep, to be more specific), I made some Sangria.  Okay, I admit it, I am not exactly a Sangria fan - at least not of the specific recipe that I used (not that there is a lot of variation between Sangria recipes).  For the meal itself, I chose a Rioja, which is apparently a popular wine in Spain.  This particular Rioja was a product of Marques de Cacere, and was quite enjoyable, very smooth and flavourful.

For dessert, I made Churros (unfortunately they were a bit too chubby), and some rich, tasty hot chocolate.  It was a wonderful way to end the evening!  Actually, in Spain, it would be quite common to start the day with churros con chocolate - so very civilized, don't you think?!!
                                                
                              ¡Buen provecho

Česká republika

No tour of Europe would be complete without a visit to the Czech Republic....a country with a storied and painful history. I think this is a fitting country to visit this weekend, since we are in the midst of our first snowstorm. We went from dry grass to over 10 cm of snow in one day, and the wind is strong and chilling. The Czech Republic also has a cold climate, so there are some hearty warming foods to choose from. The only difficulty I had was in choosing between the many delicious-sounding dishes that I encountered in my recipe search.

Ultimately, I decided to start the meal off with some Houbova Polevka Myslivecka (Hunter's Mushroom Soup) - the kids hate mushroom soup, so this is just perfect! The main course is Svickova na Smetana (beef tenderloin in a cream sauce), accompanied by Knedlíky (Czech Dumplings), a totally heartwarming meal. Thankfully, my oven has been fixed!! The perfect accompaniment to this hearty meal is the delightful Czech pilsner I found at our local MLCC - I don't know much about Czech wines but I can say that the pilsner was, for me, more appropriate for this hearty meal.

To add to my culinary delight, I picked up a new set of pots today, and I am totally thrilled to be cooking with them.  For one thing, it is nice to have enough pots to make my meals without having to wash one mid-prep!  For another, it is a distinct pleasure to cook with a top quality pot, it actually does make a difference (or so it seems to me).  They are an absolute dream to cook with (there is another perfect example of how I really really need a life, lol)!

Okay, results time-the soup is fabulous, two bowls later I had to force myself to dig in to the rest of the meal.  I have never made a mushroom soup before, other than out of a can, so it was lots of fun and for me, the highlight of the meal!  My dumplings were quite the soggy mess, but actually quite tasty.  The Svickova was surprisingly  labour-intensive, but worth the effort.  I found the sauce a bit tart for my liking, but that is probably my own fault for not measuring things precisely.

Once again, there are loads of leftovers (at least when the kids are here, Jess helps make a dint in that)!  I now have 4 days' worth of Czech cuisine packed away in my freezer. to go with the 2 days worth of French cuisine already there.  I'm thinking I might need to clean out my freezer soon!


                                           Dobrou chuť

Le fiasco français!

Ah, France, home of my maternal grandfather's family!  I had been looking forward to this meal with great anticipation.  Jessica and I planned our menu earlier in the week, she was also looking forward to trying something different!  Our meal was to start with some Escargot and some Moules Marinières (mussels steamed in white wine), followed by Coq au Vin (Alsation style, in white wine) and Pomme de Terre Dauphinoise (scalloped potatoes).  For dessert, Crème Brulée...mmmm!

Unfortunately, my French meal will definitely NOT rank up there with the likes of Julia Child, or Julie Powell, for that matter!  We started first preparing the Crème Brulée, so that it could chill while we were preparing and eating the remaining dishes.  I turned the oven on to pre-heat, and we got started.  All went well with the food prep, and we also decided to make some meringue cookies (simply to avoid wasting the 6 egg whites that were left over from making the Brulée).  It seemed to be taking an unusually long time for the oven to preheat.....it just would not heat up past 200 F.  Well, considering everything but the mussels and chicken needed to cook in the oven, this did not bode well at all!  Turns out the lower element of the oven was not working, so we had to improvise (also known as Jessica making numerous trips over to use my sister's oven), which clearly impacted the timing and ultimate enjoyment of our meal.  Everything turned out well enough, and we were clearly able to triumph over a bit of adversity....but it certainly wasn't as satisfying an accomplishment as it could have been.  Sigh...

                      Bon appetit

Italia

So. first stop along this world tour of food is Italy - with my thanks to Elizabeth Gilbert and also Julia Roberts. Her sheer physical enjoyment of a plate of pasta is what inspired me to do this in the first place! Saturday afternoon after watching "Eat Pray Love", I grabbed my copy of Elisa Celli's "Italian Light Cooking" and started flipping through it, trying to find something simple enough to cook for just one person. The kids were at their dad's, so at least I was free to choose whatever appealed to me. A quick trip out to pick up some groceries and some wine (well, one of the recipes called for a dry white....), and then a few hours of sheer enjoyment, and a lovely meal as a reward!

I started with a Minestrone (okay, that one I cheated on, it was a Knorr package, but quite tasty, all the same). My appetizer was Gamberi con Aglio (shrimp with garlic sauce), light and absolutely delicious, followed by Spaghettini alla Chitarra Abruzzi (pasta with traditional Abruzzi tomato sauce). I found I totally enjoyed all the prep work, and I was almost transported by the lovely smell of the fresh parsley as I chopped it up. Then and there, I vowed to myself to always use fresh herbs when they are available, it adds soooo much aroma and flavour to the food. I added a loaf of Herb and Olive Bread that I picked up at the grocery store, which was the finishing touch to a delightful meal.  The meal (and the cooking process) were complemented by a Bolla Pinot Grigio, which added a lovely subtle flavour to the Gamberi con Aglio, and a Umani Ronchi Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, a light red which I lucked upon! I chose it because it was from the Abruzzo region, where the pasta recipe originated, and it turned out to be a lovely fit.

It was wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole evening, especially the end result! It wasn't about the cooking, nor about the eating, but the whole combination - planning the menu, shopping for the necessary supplies, preparing the meal, and finally, sitting down to enjoy the fruits of my labour!

                                                               

                  Buon appetito

My Escape From Boredom (otherwise known as My MidLife Crisis)

So, lately I have been horribly bored, and I just have not been able to figure out what to do with myself. Ever since I quite smoking last February, I have felt a bit lost, and totally miserable about things. I have gained weight, no matter how much I have tried to diet and watch what I eat. I actually weigh more now than I ever did before in my life, even when pregnant. It almost seems like I have not let myself enjoy anything since I quit smoking, that I have been serving some type of enforced penance since I have to live without my old buddy, nicotine. Not at all logical, but there you have it!

Last month, I invested in a marvelous home gym, an Inspire MC3. It was a bit pricey, but well worth it. Jordan will be able to use it towards the physical activity portion of his online Phys. Ed. class, and I have started using it just to make myself feel better! But it is nowhere near enough.... Now that my children are teenagers, I find that I have to entertain myself more and them less. It was so gradual that I didn't realize it was happening, they grew up! Now, it occurs to me that they need me far less than they used to, and I am left to my own devices, left to find things to keep me from going crazy or slipping into a deep pool of depressing self-pity, left to find out what it is that I actually enjoy!

So, now that I spent the last several weeks reading "Eat, Pray, Love" and "Julie & Julia", and then this past weekend watching both of the movies, I decided it was time to find something to excite me. I've been a believer in "The Secret", ever since I first read the book, so it is clear that I need something positive to focus on, something interesting to keep my mind stimulated.

So here's my plan - I am going to cook my way around the world! Actually, this means that I would like to cook in nearly every country in the world, but reality dictates that I simply cook from their traditional fare in my own kitchen! I mean, if I am going to be fat, I might as well enjoy what I am eating!