Week 16: Germany

Germany, land of lederhosen and phalic castles. Actually, that's just a small part of Germany. Germany is in fact quite diverse: there are people who are infatuated with sausage and polka, and then there people who like sausage but prefer The Hasselhoff. Crazy, right?! When not looking angular and beautiful they are secretly wondering why they didn't invade your stupid country and fix everything you screwed up (the Swiss are the exception here, even Germans think they are uptight).

Thanks in no small part to former President Bush's super-appropriate backrub for German Chancellor Angela Merkel there has been peace between Germany and the USA for over 60 years.

Personally, we love Germany's cars (Jetta, baby), its beers, its Daniels, and its foods.

Some of you may know that we visited Germany briefly last year which makes us experts on German history and culture. The following picture illustrates our ability to blend in seamlessly with the locals in Munich.

Munich was great but we also took in some small town culture in Rothenburg ob der Tauber which loosely translated means "Horny Pig Thief River" in German. Our Geography of the Delicious experiment attempts to recreate a delicious meal we enjoyed here.


We made Bratwurst with veggies, several deserts and sampled some homebrewed Helles made by Michael last year.












Bratwurst with braised apples, cabbage and carrots
Makes 2 Servings.

2 bratwursts
1 onion, diced
1 green apple, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 cups sauerkraut
1 cup Riesling wine (or dark beer)
Salt and Pepper

Cook the brats in a pan until brown. Add the onions and cook until brown. Add the apples and carrots and cook briefly. Add carrot, sauerkraut, caraway and wine. Cook until wine reduces. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Spätzle - German Eggs Noodles

1 cup flour
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold water

Start water heating in a pot like you would for dry noodles, add a little salt. This will be for cooking the noodles. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, salt and water until combined. Slowly , sift in the flour and mix until a sticky dough forms. We had to add more flour until the dough came together into a sticky ball. Don't kneed too much, this could make it tough. That's what she said.

Divide the dough into manageable pieces and working one piece at a time roll out to about 1/4 inch. The dough will be sticky so use lots of flour to help. Cut the dough into thin, 1/4 inch strips a few inches long.

Drop these into the boiling water, try not to let the noodles stick to one another as you add them. They will cook in just a few minutes, floating to the top when they are done. Try them to check if they are done to your liking. Serve with butter, salt and parsley.


Windbeutel - cream puffs
5 oz water
2 oz butter,unsalted
pinch of salt
3 oz plain flour
2 eggs
whipped cream
berries (optional)

Boil the water and add the butter. When butter is melted remove from the heat. Add a pinch of salt and the flour. Stir until mixed. it should eventually form into a sticky ball. Add one egg and mix until combined. Repeat with another egg.

Preheat the oven to 425F and line a baking tray with parchment paper. The dough will more than double in size and you can make the puffs as small or large as you want. We made 8 puffs by spooning the dough onto the baking sheet. Traditionally, you would use a pastry bag which I think would result in a more consistent puff. We put a little pan of water in the oven to keep the oven humid. You can also flick some water onto the baking sheet. This should help with the crust of the puffs and help them reached their puffy potential. Crust puff! Puffy crust!

Put in the oven and don't open it as the puffs can fall. No one likes a fallen puff. Watch them carefully--depending on size they cook fast or slow. Ours took about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest momentarily then carefully cut in half.

When cooled, fill each puff with whipped cream and berries. These can also be filled with savory foods. Delicious!

We also made this beautiful Black Forest Cake suggested by Daniel. The cake was truly delicious but we had to substitute our own concoction for Kirchwasser since we didn't have any. We used some mariciano cherry syrup and vodka which turned out pretty tasty. We also added some to the cake. What what!


And finally, check out this hot German dish! Taste the handsomeness!

Week 15: Egypt

Egypt was home to one of humanity's great civilizations which lasted more than 3 millennia. During this time they invented many things that are critical to our modern existence including paper, colored inks, deodorant and guyliner. Although they didn't invent beer, the ancient Egyptians were the first drunks to write down how it was made.

Nowadays, Egypt is a growing country on the crossroads between West Asia and Africa. The country is 90% Muslim with Coptic and Christian minorities. Despite a growing economy, the state subsides basic necessities for many people.



Ful Medames is the national dish of Egypt. It is essentially fava beans cooked for a long time with olive oil, onion, parsley, lemon, and tomato. Many recipes include spices, like cumin. We tried cooking dried fava beans, but didn't cook them all day like you are supposed to for this recipe. It wasn't great. Granted, it was our very first attempt ever to cook fava beans, so maybe we did something wrong. The best part was the fried eggs on top (Ful Medames is a breakfast food, typically) and the fluffy and wonderful flat bread Michael made.

Aesh Baladi (Egyptian flatbread)

2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour

Proof the yeast in the warm water. In a separate bowl sift the flour and salt together well then when the yeast is nice and frothy add it to the dry ingredients. Mix and then knead for a few minutes. Raise for 3 hours and then punch down. Divide into 6 equal portions and form into balls. Let these rest for 15 minutes and then press into flat 5 inch circles. Place these on baking sheets and preheat the oven to 400F. Cook for 8 minutes. You can eat them or finish them by putting under a high broiler for 1 minute which browns them nicely.


In addition to the bread, another success was a little Egyptian snack we made:

Gebna Makleyah (oven fried cheese)

1 cup crumbled feta cheese (or traditional Egyptian cheese such as labna or gebna, which we could not find)
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg
black pepper, to taste
lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine cheese, flour, egg, and pepper in a bowl. Spoon small scoops onto a greased baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm with lemon wedges.

Week 14: Ethopia

Ethiopia is famous for its Olympic distance athletes, rock-hewn churches and as the origin of the Coffee bean. This sounds like a series of facts that we hilariously juxtaposed, but we got it straight out of The Wikipedia. It's inherently hilarious, I guess.

Ethiopia is considered an area of one of the oldest human settlements, if not the oldest, according to some scientific findings. Lucy, discovered in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar region, is considered the world’s oldest, most complete, and best preserved adult fossil. Crap! Lucy was just on exhibit last month at the Pacific Science Center, but Jean was too distracted by the Muse laser show last time we were there to focus on anything remotely sciencey. They even warned us that Time Was Running Out. Too bad we missed the educational opportunity, but a girl needs to prioritize.

This ancient country, old even before the time of Christ, is called the land of thirteen months of sunshine, (the Ethiopian calendar having twelve months of thirty days and an extra month of five days called Pagume). The climate is balmy and pleasant with rain falling rarely except in the summer months. Sounds delightful! When it is isn't, you know, plagued by famine and celebrity supergroups.

We decided to try our hand at making Ethiopia's national dish, Doro Wot (wot wot!). This is a spicy chicken dish made with a blended spice called berberé. We were fortunate to find the spice blend at Market Spice near Pike Street market. We served the chicken with the Ethiopian flat bread, Injera (like a crepe), and small fresh salad on the side. Traditionally, the meal would be served and eaten on Injera using it as a utensil (attempted with limited success).

Doro Wot
1 lemon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large yellow onions; roughly chopped
1 tablespoon garlic; chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger root peeled; finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons berberé spice mix
1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
salt
1 1/4 cup water
4 whole hard boiled eggs

Ahead of time cut the lemon in half and juice into a zip lock bag with the chicken and marinate for a few hours. Melt the butter in skillet and added the chopped onions. Take your time make sure the onions are well caramelized, in our case 25 minutes at medium high heat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook very briefly. Add the berberé and water followed by the chicken. Stir it all up. Cover and reduce to low heat, simmer around 40 minutes. Finally, uncover and raise to medium-high heat. Gently stir it intermittently until the sauce thickens into a gravy.

Note: The original recipe called for twice as much butter and 1 1/2 Tablespoons of berberé. Feel free to add more spice if you want it hotter. You can also add the spice as a condiment.

Injera
1 1/2 cups white flour
1/4 cup wheat flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups warm water

Mix the warm water and the yeast, set aside. Sift together the remaining ingredients. When the yeast is nice and foamy add the water/yeast mixture in small stages to the dry ingredients and stir together. This should be somewhat soupy. Set aside for 1-6 hours in a warm place, we only set aside for 2 hours and it turned out fine. Put it in a blender just before you are going to cook it and thin it with 1/4 to 1/2 cup water. You want a fairly thin batter that will spread evenly on the pan.

Now get a pan nice and hot over medium high heat. Pour just enough batter into the pan to coat it. These will cook very quickly and might not need to be flipped. It will turn out like a rough crepe.

Note: The traditional recipe uses a flour called teff (similar to millet) and the batter is fermented for several days instead of using ready made yeast but we prefer to do everything at the last minute.

Week 13: Vietnam

The area known as Vietnam was once ruled by the Chinese but in the tenth century gained independence. It was a flourishing dynasty with rich economic and political power in Southeast Asia, then the French showed up and colonized the whole thing for quick cash in the mid-19th century. Deep hatred of the French invaders divided the country and lead to cluster f*ck after cluster f*ck for a hundred years until all-out war gripped the region, dragging in the US for more than 20 years.

And once the war ended and the communists had won, the sore losers in the west made sure that Vietnam was politically and economically isolated, leading to a stagnant country that is only now starting to modernize. How did the people get through these tough times of war and French colonization?

Fortitude, strength, will of spirit and goddammit a damn delicious sammich.

Banh Mi Thit Heo Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork Sandwich)

First, make the picked carrots:

1 cup shredded carrot
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine ingredients; cover and let stand 15 minutes to 1 hour, or for the entire time you are searching Pike Street Market for Vietnamese baguettes.

Second, cook the pork:

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 lb of pork shoulder or butt, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large shallot, minced
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
salt & pepper

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic to pan and cook for a couple of minutes. Add pork and reminding ingredients. Cook until the pork is done, several minutes.

Finally, your sandwiches are ready to assemble!

Pork (see above)
Carrots (see above)
soy sauce
mayo
Duck pâté
cilantro, chopped
cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced

Slice off 6 inches of the baguette per sandwich, or however much you like. Slice off top 1/3 lengthwise and set aside. Remove enough of bottom interiors so that filling can fit easily. Eat the scooped out bread with some cheese. Spread some mayo on the top of the sandwich. Crumble/spread some pâté on the bottom section. Top with pork, cucumber, cilantro, and pickled carrots. Sprinkle each sandwich with soy sauce and add back the top slice of baguette.

Hallelujah for colonization. Those Frenchies really know how to assert their power. With food! Pâté? Mayo? Baguette? Merci, bitches! This sammich is ridiculously delicious. This is our favorite new recipe. Or maybe we are just glad we were forced to visit a French bakery, and while we were there how could we possible refuse a pain au chocolat? Merci again, bitches!

Week 12: The Philippines

Guess which country is an archipelago? Who knew there were so many archipelagos in the world? Not us! Archipelago might be my favorite vocabulary word from this experiment.

The Republic of the Philippines has a tropical marine climate and is usually hot, humid, and tropical. Psh. Show offs. I'd like to get in on that action.

The country is a former colony of Spain and the United States. Spain gave it its name and its religion. The name comes from Spain's King Philip II (16th Century). And the religion? About 90% of Filipinos identify themselves as Christians, with 81% belonging to the Roman Catholic Church. (Wait, isn't that Italian and not Spanish influence?)

At any rate, what, you ask, did The Philippines get from the US? The language. You're welcome, bitches! Filipino and English are the official languages.

The current president of The Philippines is Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a professor of economics and daughter of late former Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal. She is the second female president of the country. Not only is she a woman, but she's also Filipino! Double bonus!

Speaking of female Filipinos, our sister-in-law Jill is originally from The Philippines. For our delicious meal we cooked her recipe of Chicken Adobo. Jill says everyone has different styles and techniques in cooking chicken adobo. This is hers:


Ingredients:

1 Kilo chicken or pork, cut into serving pieces
4 t soy sauce
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t freshly ground pepper
1 c vinegar
salt to taste
1/2 c H2O

Procedure:

Wash/clean the chicken thoroughly. Take the skin off and the fat. In the pan (a large skillet or stove top casserole), place the chicken and the H2O. Let it boil. Add the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, pepper and salt and let it simmer 'til the chicken is tender. DO NOT STIR. Serve over rice.

Week 11: Mexico

Hello Mexico and all our Mexican buddies south of the border! Mexico is the most populous Spanish speaking country in the world. Our neighbors introduced the world to chocolate (¡Hola Mexico! where have you been all my life?) and giant bumble bee costumes. Mexico City, the capitol, was once a mountain lake and the home of the Aztecs who later founded a popular family style Mexican restaurant chain. The city is sinking 6-8 inches per year and many inhabitants overcompensate with high heel boots and super tall sombreros.

This week we wanted to make Huevos con Dios but had trouble finding the ingredients. So instead we made fish tacos with homemade tortillas (one of which was in the shape of a storm trooper, no joke).

Homemade Tortillas

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4 Tb. margarine or shortening
• 1 1/4 cup warm water

We cut the cold margarine into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender. Then stirred in the water until a sticky dough was formed and then briefly kneaded. This was divided it in half and we further divided one half into 5 balls and the other have into 10 balls, making 10 small and 5 large tortillas. These were allowed to rest while the skillet was heated to medium high. We then rolled them into to very thin circles and cooked them on the skillet. They cook very quickly and need to be flipped. You should get a little browning on the raised spots.



Taco Filling

• tilapia fillets, broiled
• thinly sliced green cabbage
• pico de gallo (gracias, Whole Foods)
• homemade guacamole (gracias, Emilie)
• fresh chopped cilantro
• lime juice

Of course, we complemented all this with some delicious margaritas! Olé!

• 1 shot (a jigger) tequila
• 1/2 oz triple sec
• juice of half a lime

Shake all this up in a cocktail shaker with cracked ice. Then strain into a chilled with a salted rim (coarse kosher salt works well for this) and filled with ice.

Muy Bueno! Did we mention ¡Miguel! (Michael) is learning Spanish?

¡Que mi perro tiene dinero! Por favor, no me secuestran. Tengo diarrea.

Special Edition: Irish Inspired St. Paddy's Day Meal

Jean's (Irish?) Lamb Stew

2 Tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup flour
1 lb fancy schmancy lamb stew meat, in 1 inch pieces, from pretentious grocery store
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
1 small carton fancy schmancy French onion soup
1 Tablespoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 russett potatoes, peeled and cubed
water
two shots of Jameson's Irish Whiskey

Drink Whiskey while preparing the stew. Heat oil in large soup pot over medium high heat. Dredge lamb pieces in flour and brown them in the oil, about 5 minutes or so. Remove from pan. Deglaze pan with some of the onion soup. Add onions and cook for about 3 minutes. Add thyme, salt, pepper. Add cabbage and cook for a few minutes. Add stew meat back to pot, add potatoes, and remaining onion soup. Add enough water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are done. If you can wait longer, do. Keep it simmering for 30 minutes to about an hour and you will have a thicker, more gravy-like stew. Delicious flavor! So warming and satisfying! Maybe that was the Jamesons!

Meanwhile, Michael was making soda bread! He used this recipe for White Soda Bread.