What's cookin', good lookin'?

[seela]

if it makes you feel any better, i also feel like i'm cooking the same things over and over. mostly because i try to cook meals that are budget-friendly and that i can eat off of (lunch and dinner) for a few days; and i end up making things like spaghetti, chili, american goulash or baked chicken...anything that reheats easily. i plan to use the leftover cilantro, green onions, jalapeno and lime from the soup i made and add it to some rice that i'll cook later this week, but i'm not pairing it with chicken; i'm all chickened out. [i think i'll get some tilapia or cod fillets to go with it.]

I usually cook every day. I eat for lunch the leftovers from the previous dinner, but J really hates eating the same food many days in a row. Unless it's Indian. That stuff he can eat probably for the rest of his life.

I love this plan seela! I may have to adopt it!!
Another thing I thought is that gives me inspiration is buying a new kitchen implement of some sort. There's nothing like a new toy to get one motivated

This ABC cooking has lifted me from a cooking funk before, too. It was J's idea that I start doing it again. Here are the countries I've chosen, so if you have any suggestions what to cook for which country, lemme hear, it can be sweet or savory. A and B are already sorted out.

Argentina
Brazil
Chile
Dominican Republic
Ethiopia
Fiji (or Philippines is Fiji turns out impossible)
Georgia
Haiti
Israel
Jordania
Canada
Latvia
Mozambique
Nepal
Oman
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Slovenia
Denmark
Uzbekistan
Belarus
USA
Zimbabwe

I tried to pick countries that I either don't know anything about or that I rarely cook from. In some cases there weren't many options to choose from, and no country starts with a W or X. Yes, the letters don't match in English but they do in Finnish.

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

I usually cook every day. I eat for lunch the leftovers from the previous dinner, but J really hates eating the same food many days in a row. Unless it's Indian. That stuff he can eat probably for the rest of his life.



This ABC cooking has lifted me from a cooking funk before, too. It was J's idea that I start doing it again. Here are the countries I've chosen, so if you have any suggestions what to cook for which country, lemme hear, it can be sweet or savory. A and B are already sorted out.

Argentina
Brazil
Chile
Dominican Republic
Ethiopia
Fiji (or Philippines is Fiji turns out impossible)
Georgia
Haiti
Israel
Jordania
Canada
Latvia
Mozambique
Nepal
Oman
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Slovenia
Denmark
Uzbekistan
Belarus
USA
Zimbabwe

I tried to pick countries that I either don't know anything about or that I rarely cook from. In some cases there weren't many options to choose from, and no country starts with a W or X. Yes, the letters don't match in English but they do in Finnish.

I just took a screen shot of your list - I love it! I'll noodle it over
(Get it? Noodle? In the cooking thread? )

 

[Endless_Night]

Seela. You never fail to amaze. I wish I had your ambition. Or even half of it.

Thinking about the patterns that certain stirring implements would leave on tender skin.

Yikes!

 

[seela]

Seela. You never fail to amaze. I wish I had your ambition. Or even half of it.

Now you have a list of countries ready, pick a country and cook a dish with me!

 

[Endless_Night]

Now you have a list of countries ready, pick a country and cook a dish with me!

Challenge accepted!!!

This will be fun!

 

[seela]

Challenge accepted!!!

This will be fun!

Awesome!

I'm gonna cook a new country once or twice a week, sometimes maybe two countries on one meal, but definitely not more often than that. I don't want this to become another chore and it takes time to find suitable recipes as well.

 

[midwestyankee]

Thinking about the patterns that certain stirring implements would leave on tender skin.

Yikes!

Look around your kitchen. Look at the slotted spoons, the wooden spoon with a hole in the center, and the flat, wooden spatula. Then see if you can imagine what it would look like if someone had spanked you with a large whisk.

 

[MeekMe]

I usually cook every day. I eat for lunch the leftovers from the previous dinner, but J really hates eating the same food many days in a row. Unless it's Indian. That stuff he can eat probably for the rest of his life.



This ABC cooking has lifted me from a cooking funk before, too. It was J's idea that I start doing it again. Here are the countries I've chosen, so if you have any suggestions what to cook for which country, lemme hear, it can be sweet or savory. A and B are already sorted out.

Argentina
Brazil
Chile
Dominican Republic
Ethiopia
Fiji (or Philippines is Fiji turns out impossible)
Georgia
Haiti
Israel
Jordania
Canada
Latvia
Mozambique
Nepal
Oman
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Slovenia
Denmark
Uzbekistan
Belarus
USA
Zimbabwe

I tried to pick countries that I either don't know anything about or that I rarely cook from. In some cases there weren't many options to choose from, and no country starts with a W or X. Yes, the letters don't match in English but they do in Finnish.

^_^ What a great idea! I've gotten so complacent with my cooking. Funny, because I'm the one that hates eating the same things over and over. Mister could have a sandwich for every meal and not complain.

You did remind me that I have this cookbook with 450 recipes from around the world. I rarely use it because when I think about making something, I'm missing a spice or the ingredients just don't pop up in things we already have. I think of replacements, but it doesn't feel right. I'd buy everything if I was will to spend the money. Perhaps I should look for recipe alternatives online though... hm~

^_^

_____________

Totally waiting for my dough to rise so that I can make kare pan. I'm so excited because I've been wanting kare pan for awhile. The Chinese bakeries have a type of curry bun, but it's not the same. I'll tell you how it turns out.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Georgia....khachapuri is delicious. I serve it with a pheasant and grape dish out of lack of much other Georgian food knowledge.

And Georgia was exactly the one I was wondering about!

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[seela]

^_^ What a great idea! I've gotten so complacent with my cooking. Funny, because I'm the one that hates eating the same things over and over. Mister could have a sandwich for every meal and not complain.

You did remind me that I have this cookbook with 450 recipes from around the world. I rarely use it because when I think about making something, I'm missing a spice or the ingredients just don't pop up in things we already have. I think of replacements, but it doesn't feel right. I'd buy everything if I was will to spend the money. Perhaps I should look for recipe alternatives online though... hm~

^_^

_____________

Totally waiting for my dough to rise so that I can make kare pan. I'm so excited because I've been wanting kare pan for awhile. The Chinese bakeries have a type of curry bun, but it's not the same. I'll tell you how it turns out.

I'm going to try to find recipes that don't need very many weird ingredients that I wouldn't normally use, but I also am ok with the fact that I probably have to substitute a lot when it comes to the more exotic countries.

Now I'm thinking I should have picked Japan for J, because I'm sure you could have given me great ideas for cooking what to cook. I just googled kare pan and it doesn't look at all what I imagine when I think of Japanese food! Looks really good though.

 

[MeekMe]

I'm going to try to find recipes that don't need very many weird ingredients that I wouldn't normally use, but I also am ok with the fact that I probably have to substitute a lot when it comes to the more exotic countries.

Now I'm thinking I should have picked Japan for J, because I'm sure you could have given me great ideas for cooking what to cook. I just googled kare pan and it doesn't look at all what I imagine when I think of Japanese food! Looks really good though.

^_^ I would have, but what fun would that be?

You've inspired me to look through that cook book and find something interesting. I'm going to not cook Japanese food on purpose!

It is odd, but they make amazing breads and baked goods (lots of bakeries)! Curry buns are typically deep fried, but I'm doing a slightly healthier version and baking them.

I look forward to seeing what you make.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[MeekMe]

Could you make them in the steamed puffy dough that is used for Chinese char Sui buns? Or would you find that too 'fusion'? .

I suppose you could do that. I love pork buns and I love the steamed dough. But for this one, I want so badly to have a curry bun that is close to authentic. >.<

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Tonight it's going to be harrissa chicken and couscous.
Where do I get these brilliant ideas?

 

[midwestyankee]

Tonight it's going to be harrissa chicken and couscous.
Where do I get these brilliant ideas?

I dunno. The Dollar Menu at Mickey D's?

 

[ultramarineblue]

I want to bake bread if the weather gets dicey again. I would start it now but it's too late to start that type of project.

I love the idea of cooking different dishes from different countries. It sounds like a fun project. I wouldn't have any idea what recipes to search for with most of them though.

 

[SpicySweets]

Why have I not seen this thread until now?!

For tonight's dinner I made a cashew chicken stir fry, served over brown rice.

 

[Endless_Night]

Awesome!

I'm gonna cook a new country once or twice a week, sometimes maybe two countries on one meal, but definitely not more often than that. I don't want this to become another chore and it takes time to find suitable recipes as well.

You know, it strikes me that this would be easier if you post what you're going to cook and I just follow along.

Not that I'm lazy or anything.

 

[seela]

Tonight it's going to be harrissa chicken and couscous.
Where do I get these brilliant ideas?

How did it turn out?

You know, it strikes me that this would be easier if you post what you're going to cook and I just follow along.

Not that I'm lazy or anything.

But where's the fun in that?

Ok. I'm gonna cook steak with chimichurri for Argentina. I was googling for sides and I found a couple of mentions of carrot salad, which is perfect because I love carrot salad. Then I found a recipe for Chilean carrot salad, so I'm gonna make that.

For dessert I'm gonna make Brazilian quindim, which is baked custard with coconut shavings. I'm also gonna add lemon or lime to it, because I found some recipes in Portuguese that used limão, and hey, authentic.

So I'll get A, B and C done in one meal.

I'm scared of steak though. I've only cooked it twice before, but I know in theory how it goes. Not a fan of big slabs of meat, but once more unto the breach!

 

[seela]

I want to bake bread if the weather gets dicey again. I would start it now but it's too late to start that type of project.

I love the idea of cooking different dishes from different countries. It sounds like a fun project. I wouldn't have any idea what recipes to search for with most of them though.

I start simply by googling [country] food/cuisine/recipes and see what comes up. Then if something interesting and do-able pops up, I do another search for that dish and compare recipes.

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

The harrissa chicken was awesome! Very, very tasty and so easy to make. I'm a fan! Will definitely be doing this again...
I used about half the can of harrissa (it's a small can, rather like tomato paste size for those who haven't ever used it) and just rubbed it on the chicken and marinated it for about an hour. Then I pan fried it (I had boneless, skinless breast slices) and made a pan sauce to finish it with stock and butter. Couscous and zucchini with mushrooms as sides. So easy and tasty! Thanks seela!

 

[MeekMe]

CNC that does sound easy! (^｡^) If I ever have chicken breast meat I should give this a try. It sounds tasty too!

My kare pan came out so-so. The dough recipe was difficult to work with so I'll try something different next time. Baking it was ok, but I think the greasiness from frying is probably part of the charm. Most disappointing was my curry. I have a curry powder I'm not fond of using but I need to use it up (I refuse to just toss it). I think this was a fail overall, but I definitely learned from the experience. (⌒-⌒; )