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Post by MorganBGone on Oct 26, 2016 21:22:46 GMT -5
Having just feasted on a delicious (microwave... don't judge) dinner of beef vindaloo, I'm feeling inspired. Do you have a favourite type of international cuisine? A particular entree or dessert... or even candy? Or, do you live outside the USA (or heck, even within) and have a delicious local treat everyone should know about? This is the place to discuss and drool. To kick things off... my favourite Indian dish to date is chicken (as long as it's white meat) or beef vindaloo -- I'm good either way. It's on the spicy side, variably, depending on who's preparing it, but extremely tasty, with a base of ginger, among other spices. High end restaurant... mom and pop operation... and yes, even microwave dinner... I've never met a vindaloo I didn't like. I've never made it myself but might consider doing so, having found this highly rated recipe from Aarti Sequeira at The Food Network: www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/goan-beef-curry-with-vinegar-beef-vindaloo-recipe2. What are your favourites?
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Rosie
Daryl's Jasper Stone
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Post by Rosie on Oct 27, 2016 12:29:32 GMT -5
Great topic MorganBGone I've never met a Vindaloo that I don't like either. Some other international foods that have become my favorites: East Indian Curry - preferably made with white meat of chicken with Basmati Rice Bubble and Squeak - British Boxty – Irish - a kind of potato pancake. Scones Bangers and Mash - British (sausage with mashed potatoes) Shepherd's Pie - British, Irish - Irish is called Cottage Pie Cornish Pasty - a savory hand pie filled with meat, potatoes, onion, turnip or rutabagas. I live in MI - the UP is noted for its Cornish Pasties - fortunately some great bakeries in my area feature these delightful hand pies.
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Post by nana on Oct 27, 2016 13:21:51 GMT -5
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Post by Ripley on Oct 27, 2016 14:19:44 GMT -5
Great topic MorganBGone ! While I love many types of Asian food, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese are my favorites. My area has many great Japanese & Thai restaurants but no great Chinese or Vietnamese places so I am stuck making my own. Bahn Mi sanwiches are terrific and a wonderful mix of the French-Vietnames cuisine, also street food, which I adore. Here's an easy recipe for those sandwiches, although I often skip the break and make deconstructed as a salad. allrecipes.com/recipe/187342/banh-mi/I also make pork meatballs for the bahn mi recipe and use in or on everything. I made ramen sock the other day because I needed the comfort of healthy homemade ramen after Sunday night. I also made Pho-a customizable, lifegiving Vietnamese soup too because right now I need soup with lots of aromatics, rice noodles, protein and vegetables. Easy great recipe and link within the spoiler tag. You can judge how good a Pho soup is by how much concentrated flavor is packed in the broth while still retaining a clean, uncloudy, clear broth. I like my Pho without Sriracha hot sauce or Hoisin sauce....I really enjoy the purity of the chicken broth without anything to hide its flavor and aroma. There are 2 very important steps to a clear but intense broth - 1) parboiling the chicken to get rid of the impurities 2) charring the ginger and onion for a naturally sweet, robust flavor. A note on fish sauce - I prefer the Three Crabs brand. Choose a fish sauce light in color...it should look like brewed tea. Anything darker than that (looking like Coca Cola) is inferior quality. Three Crabs fish sauce contains gluten, please check labels if you are making GF substitutions. Ingredients: 1 whole organic chicken (4-5lbs) 1 whole onion, unpeeled and cut in half 3-inch chunk of ginger, unpeeled (A) Broth spices 2 tbl whole coriander seeds 4 whole cloves 2 whole star anise 2 tbl sugar (or rock sugar) 2 tbl fish sauce small bunch of cilantro stems only, tied in bunch with twine (B) Accompaniments at table 1 lb dried rice noodles (about 1/4" wide) 2 cups bean sprouts, washed & tails pinched off cilantro tops - leaves and tender stems 1/2 cup shaved red onions 1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges Sriracha hot sauce Hoisin sauce sliced chili Directions: Place ginger and onion on a small baking sheet. The top of the onion should be about 4" from the oven's heating element. Set to broil on high for 15 minutes. Turn the onion and ginger occasionally, to get an even char. The skin should get dark and the onion/ginger should get soft. After cooling, rub to get the charred skin off the onion and use a butter knife to scrape the skin off the ginger. Slice ginger into thick slices. In a large stockpot, fill with water and boil. With a sharp cleaver, carve the chicken breast meat off and reserve. With the rest of chicken whacking hard through the bones to get sections about 3" big. The more bone that is exposed, the more marrow that gets in the broth (translation: rich, flavorful). You can even whack several places along the bone just to expose more marrow. When the water boils, add chicken sections (not breast) and boil on high for 5 minutes. You'll see lots of foam and "stuff' come up to the surface. Drain, rinse your chicken of the scum and wash your pot thoroughly. Refill with about 4 quarts of clean, cold water. Add chicken, chicken breast meat, onion, ginger and all of (A) in the pot and cover. Turn heat to high - let it come to boil, then immediately turn heat to low. Prop lid up so that steam can escape. After 15 minutes, remove the chicken breasts, shred with your fingers when cooled and set aside (you'll serve shredded chicken breast with the finished soup). With a large spoon, skim the surface of any impurities in the broth. Skimming every 20 minutes ensures a clear broth. Simmer a total of 1-1/2 hours. Taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce and or sugar. Strain the broth, discard solids. Prepare noodles as per directions on package. Ladle broth, add shredded chicken breast and soft noodles in each bowl. Have (B) ingredients set at table for each person to add to their bowl. steamykitchen.com/139-vietnamese-chicken-noodle-soup-pho-ga.html
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Post by MorganBGone on Oct 27, 2016 18:30:11 GMT -5
Rosie, my family is largely of Irish/English descent, so I can definitely appreciate some of your selections. My mom's scones, for which I don't, for some reason, have the recipe, are amazing. She makes great scouse (stew), too -- when she can refrain from adding HP sauce. Stewed rhubarb with custard is one of my favourite very simple desserts. Also from the UK, in the category of pre-packaged goods: I love pickled onions. Crosse and Blackwell had the best ones, but they don't make them anymore; however, Hayward's are a pretty good substitute. I also just discovered Fox's ginger cream biscuits, and, as a longtime gingersnap afficionado, I'm a huge fan. Ripley, I also love other Asian foods, in addition to Indian. Vietnamese is probably my favourite, and we're fortunate to have a bunch of smaller mom and pop places in my neck of the woods. I love summer rolls with peanut sauce and vermicelli rice noodle bowls, ideally with beef... Among other things. We also get a tonne of Filipino fare here, and I become an absolute glutton around pancit or spring rolls (lumpia).
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Post by Ripley on Oct 27, 2016 18:39:29 GMT -5
I love Filipino food too- an ex-boyfriend's mother taught me her pancit, adobo and lumpia recipes. All delicious. We do not have Filipino restaurants here, but I do have a wonderful Asian market- not Ranch 99 for all you lucky California folks but at least a small shop with quality products and an owner willing to order anything else I need. We do get a lot of great Asian produce here through farmrtands so I hit the Asian and Latino markets and stands as a regular part of my grocery run. I hit the "British aisle" for many products too- biscuits, I love the pickeled onions until those were discontinued by Crosse and Blackwell. i keep golden syrup, PG tips tea bags, and many other beloved products in the pantry.
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Post by darkandstormy on Mar 18, 2017 14:16:37 GMT -5
I've enjoyed Peanut Soup and Fufu from Ghana, also Meat Pies and Curried Goat from Tobago, Filipino Chicken Adobo and Lumpia, Callaloo from Barbados; conch fritters in St. Thomas. One of my favorite soft drinks is Jamaican Ting ~ which is tart and sweet, yum!
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Post by dandelioncherokee on Mar 18, 2017 16:48:47 GMT -5
RipleyI just took a peek! 🙂☺️Amazing topic! Hello around here! 🙋🏻 I seem to be exotic around here,cause I'm from Germany. Traditional German food my mother used to cook is simple and usually very savory. The prejudice is true,Germans cook a lot with cabbage and potatoes.The traditional kale and kraut stews are delicious and cheap btw. I love,love,love allsorts of bread we have here.Never seen that in other countries.I work in a bakery and we have more than 30 types of good,rich bread produced for the customers every day. I love me some pasta. Less is more. Pasta with all sorts of homemade pesto, pascal celery sugo or pasta puttanesca are my favourites.Most simple things are often the best imo. I love fresh ciabatta bread with butter and canned sardines in olive oil and a splash of lemon. Or with smashed avocado and garlic. Or with smashed chickpeas,salt and lime. Heaven! I love oriental food.I live near Amsterdam and we would go over whenever possible to go to the many indian and morrocan restaurants there.
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Post by Ripley on Mar 18, 2017 16:54:12 GMT -5
So glad you found this topic dandelioncherokee! We keep the OCmmunity boards content shielded from guests since members tend to post some personal info or comments here. I grew up with many German dishes so love the food. I just do not cook it often these days since much of my time is spent here. I tend to do more cook one dish and eat/freeze many meals. Lucky you to work in a bakery- I envy you that. I worked in a bakery many years ago when in graduate school and learned pastries, cakes, pies and bread there. I agree simple food, well prepared, is fantastic and doesn't need a lot of "food bling" to be delicious. Asian food is my favorite so I make a lot of that here- your pantry sounds similar to mine.
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Post by dandelioncherokee on Mar 18, 2017 17:12:31 GMT -5
RipleyWhat German dish do you remember to have liked the most? Sadly,my mother and grandmother died very early and I still don't seem to get some dishes to taste just like they did when they made them. I regret that I did not take notes how to do certain things very early. My mother made a pot-roasted savoy that was not from this earth. I tried many times,didn't get it to taste even remotedly like it used to.
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Post by Ripley on Mar 18, 2017 18:15:48 GMT -5
My grandmother used to make Grooner Hein- a stew with ham, pears and green beans and (no umlaut on my keyboard, sorry), Zweibelkuchen, a sort of onion pie. My favorite roast dish as called a Rippenbrauten and had dried fruit and apples with pork belly. I now mostly do pork belly Asian style to crisp the crust of skin after rendering most of the fat out in a slow low oven. My favorite potato dish is Kartoffelpuffer a sort of potato cake in which spices herbs and eggs are mixed in. We also ate a blood soup I do not know the name of, the usual sausages, pork knuckles, cabbage dishes, kugels that are more widely known. This grandmother helped me learn to cook, so whatever she fixed, and she believed in no food waste, I ate gladly no matter how odd it might seem to me.
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Post by darkandstormy on Mar 18, 2017 18:57:02 GMT -5
dandelioncherokee and Ripley my great grandfather was German. My mother spoke a lot of German but I only picked up a few words, living fully in the US. When she was alive we used to eat lots of potatoes and sausages and sauerkraut. No one could cook like my mother, and I miss those delicious meals!
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Rosie
Daryl's Jasper Stone
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Posts: 1,440
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Post by Rosie on Mar 18, 2017 19:03:40 GMT -5
"I love fresh ciabatta bread with butter and canned sardines in olive oil and a splash of lemon. Or with smashed avocado and garlic. Or with smashed chickpeas,salt and lime. Heaven!"
dandelioncherokee, Ciabatta is one of my favorites! I do smashed avocado as butter on my toast. I'm definitely trying the smashed chickpeas. Never thought of that combo and it sounds great. I love canned sardines. I mix them with hardboiled eggs and dill and eat open faced on any good hearty bread. I'm fortunate there are great bakeries in my area of Michigan.
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Post by dandelioncherokee on Mar 19, 2017 8:41:18 GMT -5
My grandmother used to make Grooner Hein- a stew with ham, pears and green beans and (no umlaut on my keyboard, sorry), Zweibelkuchen, a sort of onion pie. My favorite roast dish as called a Rippenbrauten and had dried fruit and apples with pork belly. I now mostly do pork belly Asian style to crisp the crust of skin after rendering most of the fat out in a slow low oven. My favorite potato dish is Kartoffelpuffer a sort of potato cake in which spices herbs and eggs are mixed in. We also ate a blood soup I do not know the name of, the usual sausages, pork knuckles, cabbage dishes, kugels that are more widely known. This grandmother helped me learn to cook, so whatever she fixed, and she believed in no food waste, I ate gladly no matter how odd it might seem to me. Ripley Most dishes you mentioned are traditional for the north of Germany,especially the delicious Rippenbraten. 'Zwiebelkuchen' you can get in many variations especially around the time of May,you would eat it with a nice glass of 'Federweisser'which is new wine,unfiltered and not fermented. I'm originally from the midwest,a coalmining area called the "Ruhrgebiet".This area was heavily damaged after the second world war and my grandmother (who was alone with two little boys)had to cook meals from basically nothing.This is when the 'Kartoffelpuffer'was 'invented'.My granny could do delicious things with only potatoes,quark and leftovers.Not to mention she would waste absolutely nothing that was edible.Kartoffelpuffer(we call it 'Reibekuchen') are still the most loved dish around here,kids and adults alike,although it is a lot of work and an oily mess to make them.We eat it with applesauce or sugar beet syrup. rosieif you are interested in the chickpeas,you should also try two turkish dishes,called hummus and falafel.We have a lot of turkish people living around here,so this became famous very quickly. For falafel you would mash the chickpeas and mix with onions,spices and eggs and coat with sesame,then you would fry little balls of this in olive oil. Hummus is a spread for stone oven bread made from mashed chickpeas,citron,garlic,cumin and paprika.You can add harissa chili if you want it to be extra spicy. If anyone is interested in the recipes,I am happy to help and write them down on here.
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Post by Ripley on Mar 19, 2017 16:15:35 GMT -5
I know we'd all enjoy any recipes you might wish to share. dandelioncherokee. I'm going to can some sauerkraut and more pickles soon for spring. Asparagus pickles too.
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Post by Ripley on Jun 21, 2017 11:37:58 GMT -5
Making a 5-spice tray bake easy supper with plenty of leftovers. throw chicken parts into a ziplock bag with an easy marinade for 24 hours, then roast with broccoli florets (yes Sexual Chocolate, you are getting me to re-try the darn things) & carrots at high heat for 30 minutes.
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Post by zinc on Jul 3, 2017 20:11:58 GMT -5
My culture's cuisine is heavily Ottoman influenced and partly Austrian and Hungarian influenced, but I tend to gravitate towards the Middle Eastern style foods. A lot of my food preferences are Turkish, Italian, Spanish, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese. It will take me forever to list, so I'll just go with the first dish that comes to mind and it's the seafood Paella from Spain.
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Post by merelei on Jul 4, 2017 8:03:40 GMT -5
I'd love to hear everyone's Cultural Comfort Food. Food choices in our family is quite everywhere, so I want to taste some home cooking from around the world myself
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Post by dandelioncherokee on Jul 4, 2017 9:45:31 GMT -5
My number one comfort food are German "Reibeplätzchen" I think you call it potato fritter. I feel a strong emotional connection to this dish,my mother and my grandmother used to make it a lot and it was always a real treat for everyone.We all loved it and it never failed to make the world look a little better. Recipe: 1,5 kilos good potatoes 2 medium sized onions 3 eggs 250 mililiters oil Salt Grate raw potatoes and the onions,too. Mix in eggs and salt. Heat up portions of oil in a pan and make little pancakes from the potato batter.Fry 3 minutes on each side. I love the pancakes solo,but traditionally you eat them with sugar beet syrup or applesauce. They are delicious with marinated salmon and radish,too. My mum used to make a huge amount of batter and sometimes fried about 100 pancakes. It was never wasted.You can also eat the pancakes cold on the next day or put it on a slice of buttered dark bread. So good.
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Post by Ripley on Jul 4, 2017 10:38:55 GMT -5
I love great potato pancakes & fritters dandelioncherokee! I would happily eat yours My grandmother and mother made these with a similar recipe, although we always squeeze the potato and onion shreds in a clean tea towel to drain off some of the moisture before forming and frying. I remember being proud the first time mother and grandmother let me help make the fritters/pancakes. I love that you included the recipe here! I think the foods we grow up with, which our families make and celebrate, are very special because they have that connection to our lives and loved ones. I still feel my grandmother's love when I cook the things she taught me or what she used to make.
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Post by dandelioncherokee on Jul 4, 2017 11:02:14 GMT -5
RipleyYeah if you squeeze the water out of the batter it does not splash as much when you fry it. Do you like the fritters solo like me or with applesauce etc?
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Post by Ripley on Jul 4, 2017 11:04:41 GMT -5
Ripley Yeah if you squeeze the water out of the batter it does not splash as much when you fry it. Do you like the fritters solo like me or with applesauce etc? We eat them several ways: plain, with applesauce and also with sour cream (or creme fraiche) and chives. We eat them all the time in the winter and for specific holidays like Christmas, Shrove Tuesday and also during the old Lenten period. Those are delicious any time of year.
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Post by nixnax on Jul 20, 2017 6:04:16 GMT -5
Nice to see some appreciation for British food ,always thought the rest of the world thought we're a bit bland which to be fair we are Here in Sheffield if you go to a chippy (fish and chip takeaway ) and ask for fishcake it's two big slices of potato with a slice of cod in the middle then battered and deep fried this in a buttie with loads of salt and vinegar is a million calories of pure bliss
Of course being a Yorkshire lass gotta love Yorkshire pudding no roast dinner is complete without it
And last but not least good old English breakfast or fry up as we like to call em bacon,sausage,fried eggs, black pudding,fried bread,tomatoes,baked beans and mushrooms all washed down with a mug of builders tea ( extra strong tea)
Then it's best to eat salad for the rest of the month or I'd be a heart attack waiting to happen lol
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Post by Ripley on Jul 24, 2017 4:59:05 GMT -5
I think British cuisine is vastly underrated nixnax! The food from the UK and Ireland too. The freshness of high-quality ingredients, grains, seafood, using what is on hand in new and creative ways, plus the influence of history (the Empire, new foods and spices being imported and used) is such an interesting factor. In another life, I would have become a food anthropologist and tracked these things. I love bubble and squeak for instance- humble ingredients from farm life used in new ways and delicious whatever the ingredients. Mussels, smoked fish, cheeses, lamb (not popular in the U.S. for some reason although I love it), game birds, fruits and vegetables. The popularity still of allotment gardens and people growing their own veg, which is not as popular here except in rural areas where farming has only been gone for 50 years or so.
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Post by zinc on Aug 9, 2017 9:19:00 GMT -5
I'd love to hear everyone's Cultural Comfort Food. Food choices in our family is quite everywhere, so I want to taste some home cooking from around the world myself Burek sa mesom. It's literally the first thing I eat when I go to my parents place.
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