Monthly Archives: July 2016

A Recipe From Each Continent of the World (2 of 7)

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Africa:  African Potato Stew & Ugali – native to Kenya

Stew Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 cups onions, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
  • 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
  • 2 cups cauliflower cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 medium sweet potato cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 4 cups collard greens, sliced thin
  • 1/4 cup dark raisins
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup shelled peas (for garnish)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (to taste)
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper (to taste)

Now What?

  • In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat – a add onions and garlic and cook them for 5 minutes (or until onions become transparent and soften).  Stirr occasionally
  • Add ginger, seeds, coriander and cloves – cook (stirring frequently) for 2 minutes
  • Next add the potatoes and gradually stir in the 4 cups of water.  Then turn the heat up to high
  • Once the mixture comes to a boil, stir in 1 teaspoon of salt and reduce the heat to low.  Simmer the stew (uncovered) for 5 minutes and stir occasionally
  • Stir in the cauliflower, sweet potato, collard greens & raisins and continue to cook for 10 minutes (or until the potatoes & sweet potatoes are tender)
  • Last, season the stew with the vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and add in more water if the stew is too dry – garnish with peas

Serve hot and Enjoy!

Ugali Ingredients:

  • 4 cups water
  • 3 or 4 cups maize meal (a bit more coarse that American corn meal, however, corn meal will work fine too)

Now What?

  • In large pot, bring your water to a boil
  • Add the maize meal, stirring to prevent lumps
  • Gradually add more maize meal to make a thick mixture (it will resemble grits until it cooks down a bit more)
  • Continue to stir until the maize meal is well cooked and mixture is about the consistency of Play Dough
  • Remove the ball of dough from the pot and place onto a serving plate – the ugali should hold its shape
  • Traditionally, diners pinch off pieces of the ball and use it to “sop up” soups, stews or sauces

A Recipe from Each Continent of the World (1 of 7)

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Asia:  Tom Ka Gai Soup – native to Thailand

Ingredients:

  • Good quality Chinese chicken stock – 1 cup
  • Coconut milk – 1 cup
  • Fresh or frozen lemongrass – 1/2 a  stalk
  • Galangal – fresh – 6 slices (If you don’t have any at home, you can order some online)
  • Kaffir Lime Leaves – 2 (hand-torn)
  • Thai bird’s eye chillies (or Serrano chillies) – 2-3 (big slices so you can avoid them easily)
  • (If you don’t have any of the above, Amazon ships a package of all the fresh ingredients you need for the soup.)
  • Fish sauce – 1 tbsp (The saltiness can vary a lot across brands, so start with less always.)
  • Lime juice – 2 tbsp
  • Sugar – 1/2 tsp
  • Coriander (cilantro for the Americans) leaves – 2 tbsp
  • Boneless chicken breast (or Tofu) – 2 breasts or 1 package
  • Straw mushrooms (or regular button mushrooms) – 4 (sliced)

Now What?

  • With lemongrass, recipes generally only call for the bottom 6 inches or so (the white part).  The rest is woody and can be trashed. Using the flat side of a cleaver or a heavy object, pound and bruise the lemongrass to releases the flavor before cutting into 2 inch segments. Easy with the cleaver or you can do way more than bruise the lemongrass – we don’t want any missing fingers!
  • Pour the stock into a pot and bring to a boil.   Then toss the galangal, lemongrass, sugar, and lime leaves in and simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Add the coconut milk, chillies and fish sauce and simmer for another 5 minutes.
  • Lastly, add the chicken (or tofu) and mushrooms and cook till the protein is just cooked. (Chicken will be done shortly after you first see it turning all white on the outside – tofu can be cooked until you get the desired texture – 20 minutes for more meaty tofu and shorter if you like it tender).
  • For the grand finale, turn off the heat and add your lime juice and garnish with coriander leaves (wait till the end to add the lime juice in order to maintain that citrusy goodness – the longer you cook it the more it will mellow). Test for saltiness and sourness. The galangal should give you some good earthy flavor, there will be some tasty salty/sweetness from the coconut milk, and a fair bit of lime and chili flavor.  (If you need to kick up the salt factor, throw in some extra fish sauce – lemon juice will kick up the sour factor.

Enjoy!  (Or as they say in Thailand, kin-khao-hai-a-roi-na   กินข้าวให้อร่อยนะ)