BRUNEIAN CHICKEN

Brunei is a Southeast Asian sovereign state on the island of Borneo. It shares Borneo with Indonesia and Malaysia. Brunei is predominantly Muslim. This, and it neighboring countries gives Brunei an interesting cuisine. I have learned that they can do crazy things with a chicken and coconut milk.

I went with a Bruneian chicken recipe, based on a dish called "Beriani". I started with a pound of chicken thighs. I ground together a clove of garlic, a 2 inch piece of ginger, 2 Serrano peppers, seeds included, a tablespoon of poppy seeds, 10 cashew nuts and 10 almonds. In a skillet, I heated some ghee. You can find ghee at an Indian market. You can also use olive oil, or vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, fry up 5 cloves, a 2 inch piece of Cinnamon and a cup of sliced shallots. In goes the chicken, a little salt, and a teaspoon of curry powder. Stir this up, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes.

Here comes the fun part...I put a can of coconut milk in a pot, and added a little more than a cup of basmati rice. Add in a little salt. I can't describe how good rice is when it cooked in coconut milk. Heat until the rice absorbs the coconut milk. After a little bit, I added just a little bit of water. The coconut milk is a little thick, and needed to be thinned out a bit. Then, I put the rice in the skillet with the chicken, and simmered it for about fifteen minutes.

This is a very tasty meal. To make it VERY tasty, add larger amounts of the spices.

BRAZILIAN SHRIMP STEW

The dish I prepared to represent Brazil is shrimp stew. I upped the cayenne and coconut milk factors, creating a dish that, after a little cilantro was added, could have just as easily been found on a Thai menu.

I have finally come to the point where I view recipes as suggestions, as opposed to strict instructions. This view would not work with baking...which may be why baking has never appealed to me. This particular recipe was not my first attempt at making a Brazilian dish. The others were rather bland; so, I decided to take a Brazilian dish, and pop up the volume by adding three times the cayenne.

I thawed out a pound of raw shrimp and removed the tails. In a bowl, I mixed some black pepper, salt, garlic and lemon juice. I rolled the shrimp around in this, and let it set while I prepared the rest of the ingredients. In olive oil,I sauteed one medium onion chopped and a green bell pepper chopped, for about eight minutes. I then poured in the cayenne...about a teaspoon and a half...maybe a little bit more. A little chopped cilantro followed. Stir this up and cook for a minute or two. Then, I added a can of diced tomatoes, juice and all. I let this simmer for about ten minutes. I added a can of coconut milk and boiled; then, added the shrimp. This was alowed to boil for about five minutes. On the side, I was preparing some basmati rice. After the rice came to a boil, I added some cayenne, and a little coconut milk. I have found that it is a good idea to introduce a little of the spices you use in a dish to the rice. Put a little garlic in there too. Now, get a bowl, put in some rice, and spoon some of the shrimp stew on top of the rice. The result is pure wonderfulness!

This recipe belongs on my personal list of favorite dishes. It is both hot, and a little sweet. It could work equally well as a Spanish dish; or, as an Asian side, served with a broiled whole fish, spiced up.

BOTSWANA BEEF

As I travel through Africa, I feel like Livingstone, who has stumbled upon a secret known by few. The secret is this...African food rocks! Along with Korean and Indian, African food is met with anticipation in my house. The spices are out of this world. If you take the earthiness of Indian spices, and combine it with the heat of Korean food, you have a pretty good idea of what African food is like. Yes, there are examples of bland food; but, seriously...do you really expect me to go there?

To represent Botswana, I made a beef marinade, with eye of round steak; and, added a side of okra and tomatoes. Here is what I did...

To make the marinade, I sacrificed a dark beer. In a bowl, the beer was combined with olive oil, soy sauce, crushed garlic, grated ginger root, 2 sliced Serrano peppers, hot paprika, ground black pepper, and coriander seeds. After whisking together, I added four eye round steaks in a gallon size zip lock bag, and poured the marinade in. I put this in the fridge for six hours.

Six hours later, I heated a skillet on high, and poured the steak and marinade in. I boiled the steaks for a few minutes and removed. Then, I added a little corn starch to the marinade, and reduced it to a nice, thick sauce. This was spooned onto the steaks.

For the side dish, I trimmed and sliced a pound and a half of okra, then ran it under hot water for a few minutes. I used my cast iron skillet, heated to moderate high, and heated some vegetable oil in it. Once hot, I sauteed a medium onion, roughly chopped, for about three minutes.I then added two large, ripe tomatoes, diced, juice and all. In went a Serrano pepper, with some holes cut in with a fork, and the whole was boiled for 5 minutes. Now was time to add the okra, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Take out the chili, add salt and pepper, and enjoy.

I have made this meal a few times, and it has become one of my wife's favorites.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

I will be honest here...I was not greatly impressed by my options for making a dish representative of Bosnian cuisine. I am not sure why. Maybe it is because I prefer food that has a lot of spices; and, Bosnian food does not swing that way. It was also hard to find something that was distinctive, as Bosnian food borrows a lot from its neighbors. It is a country caught between the East and the West.

I decided to go with the Cevapcici...meatballs made with ground beef and lamb, served with pita bread. Pork is not often used, because of the Moslem influence; but I included ground pork with mine. I began by heating a tablespoon of butter in a skillet, and added half a chopped onion and a clove of chopped garlic. This was stir fried for about seven minutes, allowing the onions to soften. I mixed the meat mixture in a large bowl, and mixed in an egg and a tablespoon of hot Hungarian paprika. Once the onions and garlic were finished, these were added.

Make small meatballs with the above mixture. We are talking a couple of inches. I also flattened mine, making mini-burgers. I fried these in butter, and placed then on pita bread. As a side, I made a yogurt, cucumber mixture...mixing yogurt, diced cucumbers and salt. I mixed my meat into this, and it worked well with the pita bread. Bosnie is heavily influenced bu turkey, so other turkish side dishes would be appropriate. My wife really seemed to enjoy this meal. I found it to be okay. Looking back, I think I would have added a little cinnamon in with the meat. Perhaps some allspice and nutmeg would work, as well. Typically, this meal would be served with a salad. I also made some homemade stuffed grape leaves. The result was so-so. I am not sure how the restaurants keep the leaves from being tough. I will have to research that when I find the time. So...while this meal didn't exactly thrill me, it was still better than your typical meat and potatoes affair.

Breakfast Mex

Over the weekend, I made tacos for me, my wife, and two teenagers. I made a lot of fixings, sure that the two youngsters would devour them. I was wrong. It seems that one of those handheld computer whatyamathingies was more interesting than eating. I have always stated that this computer jazz is nothing but a fad...and time will bear me out...but now I realize that it is also a device of the fashion industry, insuring that our children remain size zeros so they can fit in those pencil thin clothes they try to hock off. Refusing to to give in, I ate six tacos, with extra sour cream. But I still had zip-loc bags full of leftovers. What to do?

I put a taco twist on a household favorite...breakfast mess...and came up with Breakfast Mex. It's very simple...very good...and will guarantee that you don't become a size zero fashion zombie.

Dice up a couple of potatoes, and deep fry them in oil. Remove, once they become as crispy as you like, and set aside.

Dice a large onion, and heat in a little oil until they begin to become translucent. Add the crispy potatoes, some diced tomatoes, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin. When this heats through, add some grated cheddar cheese, or some of that pre-mixed Mexican cheese stuff. Stir in, and add a few eggs. Now, mix it up. Give the eggs time to set; but, do not expect anything to get any crispier. There is too much juice from the tomatoes for that.

If you want to get fancy, place some of the mess on a warn tortilla wrap, and garnish with a whole jalapeno.

Enjoy!

Bhutan...Fire in the Himalayas

There is a saying in Bhutan...If you visited Bhutan, and did not eat Ema Datshi, you haven't been to Bhutan. The national dish of this Himalayan country, Ema Datshi is a dish so hot, it is almost impossible for a Westerner to eat without being toned down quite a bit. I was forced to use only half the chili peppers this dish customarily has. I only used a quarter pound of the little fire crackers.

I cut up a quarter pound of green chili peppers. Do not seed. This dish is supposed to be HOT! Next, I chopped a large sweet onion. These were put in a cup and a half of water, and boiled, with 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. Boil for about ten minutes. Then, 2 chopped tomatoes, and five crushed cloves of garlic are added, and boiled for a couple of more minutes. Then eight ounces of feta cheese is added.

This needs to be served with rice so that you don't literally burn your mouth out. If you want to make this more authentic, you would have to double upon the peppers. That's right...half a pound of the hot stuff is used for this dish. I also put a pound of beef cubes in mine. This is traditionally a vegetarian dish. The majority of the population of Bhutan is Buddhist; but some do eat yak meat. They also eat yak cheese. I have no idea where you will find authentic yak cheese, unless your neighbor happens to have a yak laying around somewhere. The Bhutanese eat rice with every meal; and, they put peppers in everything. I have noted that countries that have historically suffered from poverty...Bhutan...Korea...parts of LA...use a lot of spices in their food. I imagine that is because it makes you feel full faster. Also, in places like India, it helps you cool off. At any rate...it sure is delicious!

EMA DATSHI:

1/4 pound Green Chillies, seeds left in
1 chopped large Onion
2 tomatoes, chopped
8 oz Feta Cheese
5 cloves Garlic, chopped or pressed
2 tsp Vegetable Oil

Benin...Hot Stuff In West Africa!

I have received a new calling in life. That is the making of curry powders. I received that call after I mixed up a West African powder that raised my taste buds from the dead. A voice came from the Pits and demanded that I bring Hell upon the earth in the form of ground chili peppers. What can I do but obey?

The making of the perfect curry powder is a lifelong endeavor. The willingness to experiment boldly is the only rule. Here is how I made this particular batch. I put a tablespoon of cumin seeds, 3 tablespoons of coriander seeds and 2 tablespoons of black peppercorns in a dry skillet and heated until fragrant. This was put into a grinder, along with a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of whole cloves, half a teaspoon of ground cardamon, 6 dried chili peppers, including the seeds and 2 teaspoons of turmeric.

After being ground to a fine powder, the above mixture was used to spice my Beninese beef stew. Four tablespoons of butter was melted in a skillet, and used to brown two pounds of angus beef cubes. I removed the meat from the skillet, and used the butter to saute a large chopped onion and five minced garlic cloves, until the onions began to brown. I added a tablespoon of flour, three tablespoons of the West African curry powder, tow teaspoons of salt, a pretty good amount of cayenne powder and four tablespoons of smooth, unsweetened peanut butter. This was heated for a minute, when twelve ounces of coconut milk was slowly stirred in, and eight ounces of water. This was stirred until it began to thicken. The meat was then added, along with 3 whole chili peppers. Cover and simmer. I simmered mine about ninety minutes; but, you can go until two hours. Twenty minutes before the end of the simmer, add severalokra with the tops cut off and about eight chunks of deep fried sweet potatoes. Make sure that you serve this on rice.

WEST AFRICAN CURRY POWDER:

1 T Cumin seed
3 T Coriander seed
2 T Black Pepper
1 t Cinnamon
1 t Cloves, whole
1/2 t Cardamon powder
6 dried Chilies, with seeds
2 t Turmeric