Around the World in 80 meals (meal number 12) Madagascar

King Julien & Move it

I was at Busch Gardens, and this show gave me the idea for the next meal.  So we are going to, as King Julien would say, "move it move it" all the way to Madagascar.  

Here is the link to the actual dish we will be cooking: http://www.food.com/recipe/madagascar-chicken-309431

Around the World in 80 meals - meal number 11 results - Tempura

Tempura

 For our 11th meal, we went to Japan for some tempura.  Tempura is the batter used to deep fry various meats and veggies.

Because I have only deep fried my food one other time, you could say that I am not an expert in this cooking method, and it showed.

I fried some fish, chicken, and some green beans, and nothing looked like it came from a Japanese restaurant.

I made four different variations of tempura.  The first was the recipe from the Food network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tempura-batter-recipe/index.html) without any changes.  Without any seasonings, it was very bland.  The batter was also very very very thin.  I did add more flour to thicken it up some.

I replaced the seltzer water with ginger ale for the second batch.  This made a small change in flavor, but not much.  The batter was a little sweeter.

For the third batch, I added some old Emeril's Creole Seasoning blend that I had in the frig.  This seasoning made the meal.  The chicken, beams, and fish all tasted good.  The fourth batch also used Emeril's Creole Seasoning blend, but I didn't use as much.  This too was good, but not as good as the third batch.

Around the World in 80 meals - meal number 10 results - Palov

Palov

 Well, this was a total bust!  It looked simple to make, and it was.  While it was easy to make, it simply did not have any flavor.  It was one of the most bland meals I have consumed in a very long time.

I attempted to give it some flavor, I mixed some of my left over Brazilian Black Bean Stew.  This helped, but it didn't helped that much.

I then tried to add some salsa to the dish to give it some flavor, and this was better than the Brazilian Black Bean Stew.  I then tried it with some ketchup (1 cup of ketchup and 2 cups of Palov), and this wasn't bad at all.

My next attempt to make this dish palpable, I added a couple of tablespoons of Emeril's Creole Seasoning that I had left over from the Chicken Cordon Bleu.  This actually made the meal taste good.

You could say that I will not be making this meal again.  You can see the recipe that I used here: http://momsdish.com/recipe/222/uzbek-palov

Around the World in 80 meals (meal number 10) Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan's Palov

I was on my way to work the other day, and I was listening to Morning Edition on WUSF.  They were doing an article on how Russia is now exporting immigrants (who they used to build the stadiums and infrastructure for the 2014 Winter Olympics) back to their home country against their will once they have completed their work project.

One of the countries that they mentioned during this article was Uzbekistan, and this got me wondering on what do people from Uzbekistan eat?

Therefore, I thought I would cook a Uzbekistan meal as way to honor the people who worked to build the items for the 2014 Olympics and who are now being kicked out the country that is hosting the Olympics.

After doing some research, I decided to cook Palov because it looks like a simple and tasty dish.

Bon Appetit

Around the World in 80 meals - meal number 9 results - Paella

Well, I thought I was caught up.  I was looking at Nicole's map that she posted on Facebook, and she had Spain colored in.  I was wondering when I cooked a dish from Spain.  I went through my photos, and I didn't see anything indicating that I cooked any other meals.

Thanks to Nicole, she was kind enough to remind me that I did not shop or cook this meal; she did when she was visiting me. :-)

Here is the recipe that she used, and I am happy that she reminded me of this meal so that I can add it to my "I am going to make this again list."

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-paella/

Around the World in 80 meals - meal number 8 results - Brazilian Black Bean Stew

Meet is cooking and smelling good!

Nicole is the one who picked this meal, and when I first saw it I said to myself, 'Oh my! This is going to be an adventure'  I was wondering how all of these flavors would work together.  There is the flavor that the chorizo sausage brings, and the mango, and ham, and the sweet potatoes, and the chile pepper.

Veggies waiting to be cooked

 Not only is there several different flavors I didn't know if they would go together, there were some that I simply not a fan of.  I am not a big mango person.  Sweet potatoes are okay (but I have been starting to enjoy them more over the past several years).  And cilantro is also okay (and again I have been starting to enjoy its flavor more over the past several years).

Everything is in the pot

I was wondering why the directions indicate that the chorizo sausage needs to be sliced and cooked with some oil.  Chorizo sausage that I cook (which is a Mexican sausage) doesn't need oil and it crumbles.  Apparently, there are two types of chorizo sausage - Mexican and Spanish.  So I am assuming that I used the wrong chorizo sausage.




The only other change I made to the recipe is that when I went to the store, I purchased two sweet potatoes instead of two pounds.  Never-the-less, I still ended up with seven servings (the recipe states that this makes six).  So this recipe did allow me to restock my freezer for lunches.

Will I make this again, yes I will.  And I will also bring this dish to a pot luck or two.

Lunch is served

Around the World in 80 meals - results from meal number 7

Ratatouille Niçoise

Veggies all prepped

I have always had a fondness to French food.  I don't know why, I just know that I do.  So when Disney/Pixar produced a movie about French food, I simply had to go.  After I saw the movie, I said that I am going to Ratatouille Niçoise one of these days.  I forgot all about cooking this meal while I was in seminary.  Now that I was trying new dishes, this meal went to the top of my list.

Cooking the veggies

There was only one issue, I have always wanted to make Chicken Cordon Bleu.  I had a hard time deciding on which of the two dishes to make.  So I made the decision the only way I could - I made both dishes.

I made Ratatouille on Friday and the Chicken Cordon Bleu on Saturday, and I made enough food to last me several days.  It wasn't until I had it for the fifth day that I was getting tired of the meal.

I was completely taken back on how delicious the Ratatouille was.  This is now my second favorite dish I have made since starting this project.  I will be bringing this dish to the pot lucks that I go to because it can be served cold.

Dinner time

I believe it was the fresh thyme and  basil that set this dish apart from the rest.  I will say that this dish needs something with it  It is missing something if it is served just by itself.




.

Chicken ready to be cook

The recipe we used for the Ratatouille is http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/the-essence-of-emeril/ratatouille-recipe/index.html, and I found it strange that Emeril Lagasse could create a recipe that was so easy to follow.  The Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/chicken-cordon-bleu-recipe/index.html) was also from  Emeril Lagasse, and this recipe was like the other Emeril recipes I have attempt to follow

Cooking the chicken

I will make this dish again, but not just for myself.  It is too much work for just one person.  Because I could not find Bethmale cheese, I used the same cheese that I used for the Mornay Sauce (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/classic-mornay-sauce-recipe/index.html).  I will also bake the chicken next time instead of pan frying.  I will also double up on the proscuitto and use a different cheese (like provolone).

Dinner 

Around the World in 80 meals - results from meal number 6

Shepherd's Pie   

I got real excited for meal number 6.  My nephew came up with a very cool ideal.  Instead of going someplace, he decided that we needed to go back into time to have a meal that Shakespeare would have consumed.  So we fired up the DeLorean, engaged the flux capacitor, set the time circuit to 1602, and got the Delorean up to 88 miles per hour.

Because of the time that has passed between the time I am writing this post and the time I cooked the meal, I do not remember a lot.  It was good, and I will make it again.  I am not sure if it was the meat that I used (had a gamey taste, and I thought that it was odd) or something else, but I think my dish would have tasted better using beef instead of lamb.

I did wish that I had more potatoes, so the next time I make this I will double the amount of potatoes.

The recipe came from the Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/shepherds-pie-recipe/index.html)

Around the World in 80 meals - results from meal number 5

Making the Pico de Gallo

 We went to Mexico for meal number five.  I decided to go to Mexico because I can eat Mexican food eight days a week.  Also, I basically had everything on hand.

We had Chicken quesadillas with Pico de Gallo. Nicole and I made this meal together when she came and visited me.  She said that this was combination between a quesadilla and fajita, and I would agree.

Cooking the veggies for the quesadillas 

As you can tell, we had more than enough Pico.  I had Pico on everything for more than a couple of days after Nicole went back to L.A.

We got the recipes for this meal from the Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/chicken-quesadillas-recipe/index.html).

Cooking the chicken

Finished product

Results from meal number 4 - Souvlaki

seasoning the lamb and veggies

It has been a long time since I posted my last meal.  While I have not been posting, I have been cooking and eating.

Over the next couple of days I will be posting my results from the meals that I have cooked thus far.

Meal number four was from Greece.  Nicole decided that we should try Souvlaki (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Souvlaki), and we did.

Getting ready for the grill

This was a simple meal to prepare and to cook.  I again used my stove top pan grill.  Once again, I ended up filling my apartment with smoke from the grill.

This would be a great meal to cook to have people over and cook on the grill.  It is one of those meals that looks like it takes a lot of time to cook and prepare, but it isn't.

Done and ready to for the table