Around the World in Foodventures (Mexico: MOLE)

I took a friend to a concert back in June, on the way to which she took me out to dinner at her favorite Mexican restaurant.  I fancy myself a mole connoisseur (Being Italian, I judge Italian restaurants by their meatballs and gnocchi....and I judge Mexican restaurants by their mole 😉) --  and let me tell you, this place had the absolute best mole I'd ever eaten.  Anyways, I decided right then and there that I would be making mole for the Mexico leg of this series, and so, today, Hubby and I hunted around at a few local Latino markets to gather the necessary ingredients, and I made the thing:

Here it is served over Hubby-made chicken with a salad that includes some leftover ingredients such as plum tomato, tomatillo, and corn tortilla strips, garden-fresh veggies from our neighbor across the street, some pan-friend extra plantain on the side, and a sprinkle of Cotija cheese over the whole lot.  Now, I don't know how my mole exactly compares to the restaurant I mentioned above, because it's been a while since I was there and I don't have any here right now to compare -- but this is SO good.  😁  I've also always thought/been told/believed the "urban legend" as it were that mole is an extremely long and complicated process involving a myriad of ingredients.  While there are a bunch of ingredients, it's not the most I've ever used making something, and cooking it only took a couple of hours which is totally fine by me because, by golly, one could make a huge batch and freeze it in portions for later use.   It could even be made easier by prepping the peppers and roasting the other vegetables ahead of time.  Either way, I will be doing this again.

I basically used this recipe (https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Mexico-Chicken-Puebla-Mole/), but after researching a few others and comparing and contrasting, decided to include 1-2 Tablespoons of peanut butter at the very end.  Tasting the batch before and after the amendment, I feel the peanut butter was a good addition.

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as we'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

“If I’m an advocate of anything, it’s to move…Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food.” --Tony Bourdain

Around the World in Foodventures (Papua New Guinea: MUMU)

I let a friend (via a Facebook number-guessing game) pick which country I'd do this time.  I don't know how or why she chose it, but Papua New Guinea it is!  Mumu is a rural preparation that really has no exact set of ingredients, though components usually come from certain categories such as pork meat or a whole pig, root vegetables, leafy greens, and coconut milk.  It's often made as part of a celebration, and traditionally cooked either underground or by surrounding a pot with hot rocks in a fire pit, outdoors obviously.  I had big plans of following those customary methods to make this dish, but after mise en place-ing the ingredients, a small homeowner emergency combined with it being damn hot outside this weekend and, frankly, some laziness about hauling rocks around my yard pointed me back inside to my oven....and really, what's the difference between a pit filled with hot rocks and a conventional appliance other than the ability to actually control the temperature?  So, here's my Mumu, in which a banana leaf package I layered pork shoulder, chicken thighs, plantain, yuca, sweet potato, onion, garlic, pineapple, kale, green beans, coconut milk, and Makrut lime leaves:

I definitely overcooked it and/or cut things up too small (almost everything came out sort of falling apart and/or a bit mushy), but that doesn't affect the flavor.  It's simple, yet still delicious.  Here are the recipes I sourced:

• https://creativeworldofvarya.com/cooking-series-how-to-make-papua-new-guinean-mumu/
• http://whatscookinginyourworld.blogspot.com/2011/05/day-133-papua-new-guinea-mumu-in-drum.html
• https://www.internationalcuisine.com/mumu/
• https://www.tokpisin.info/mumu-papua-new-guinea/

And while the Makrut limes leaves weren't specifically part of any recipe I researched online, I added them because they were lying around in the fridge and seemed like they'd add a nice touch; they did indeed. 

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as we'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

“If I’m an advocate of anything, it’s to move…Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food.” --Tony Bourdain

How to Cook Rice

I know, I know -- this is a food blog, and I should be some sort of expert in a thing seemingly so basic, right? But, hey – we can’t all be perfect at everything 😉, and even professionals and connoisseurs can be learning new things all the time.

The truth is that as handy-dandy as I can be in and around kitchens, making rice that wasn’t sticky, mushy, and/or clumpy (when one doesn’t want it sticky, that is, because sometimes – read: sushi – we do) has sort of always eluded me. I really don’t know why.

Well, at the beginning of this month while revising a rice-based recipe that I’ll soon be using to feed over 150 people, it dawned on me to Google better ways to cook it, and lo and behold -- duh! -- of course there are multiple options! Here’s what I’ve quite successfully settled on after only a couple of tests . . . .

Simply cook your rice in WAY too much water -- as if you were making pasta. No more measuring; no more worrying about getting the perfect ratio of liquid to dry rice; no more altitude adjustments; no more endlessly rinsing rice over and over again wondering if you rinsed it *enough* before even starting to cook it; etc. Forget about all that.

For WHITE RICE:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil (you want at least twice as much water as the rice bag instructions say for your desired amount of rice).
2. Dump the dry rice in (plus some salt if desired).
3. Simmer it on medium-low for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Drain it (like pasta in a colander strainer) and rinse it with hot water (you don't want the rice to cool down).
5. Put it back in the pot, but not over any heat, covered, and let it sit for 10 more minutes.

For BROWN RICE:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil (you want at least twice as much water as the rice bag instructions say for your desired amount of rice).
2. Dump the dry rice in (plus some salt if desired).
3. Simmer it on medium-low for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Drain it (like pasta in a colander strainer).
5. Put it back in the pot, but not over any heat, covered, and let it sit for 10 more minutes.

You'll have perfectly fluffy, separate grains of cooked rice – every time.

The reason this all works is the simple fact that having more water than the exact amount listed on the bag, allows those pesky starches that come out of all rice to get washed away with the extra water down the sink. (We don't need to rinse the brown rice after the initial cooking the way we do the white rice, because with its husk still on not as much starch is able to seep out, but it certainly won’t hurt if you feel like rinsing your brown rice....just make sure to use hot water so it doesn't cool off.)  And the set cooking times -- as opposed to cooking until all water is absorbed -- prevent the rice from taking on more water than it actually needs or otherwise overcooking (whereas the old way would require that you cook it until all the water in the pot is gone, even if it was too much to begin with).

The end. ✌

Around the World in Foodventures (Venezuela: PABELLÓN CRIOLLO)

Hubby was getting a little worn out on the lamb dishes, so I told him to be the picker of the next country....and here we are in Venezuela.  When I first tasted this beef dish (while shredding it and before putting it back into the broth to cook a little more) it reminded me of corned beef despite there not being much salt in the recipe.  But after it simmered in the broth with the onion, pepper, garlic, and tomatoes -- it changed into something definitely not corned-beefy.  It has a lot of flavor for containing minimal ingredients and spices, and frankly, is just yummy.

I used this recipe: https://www.whats4eats.com/meats/pabellon-criollo-recipe, and as suggested served the meat with plain white rice, black beans flavored with a bit of cumin, and fried plantains that I admittedly forgot to put salt on. 😉

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as we'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

“If I’m an advocate of anything, it’s to move…Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food.” --Tony Bourdain

Around the World in Foodventures (Albania: TAVË KOSI)

I believe this is the 3rd lamb dish in the series, but this one is definitely richer than the prior two.  It's kind of like a cheesy omelette over braised lamb (somehow the yogurt became more cheesy than yogurt-y in the oven) with a little bit of rice.  It's suggested that it be served with a simple green salad, and we conveniently happened to have fresh picked lettuce courtesy of our neighbor who shares his bounty with the whole street every year.  So, here it is:

Recipe @ https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/albanian_baked_lamb_with_92485.

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as we'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

“If I’m an advocate of anything, it’s to move…Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food.” --Tony Bourdain

Around the World in Foodventures (Uzbekistan: PLOV with SALAT ACHICHUK)

For funsies, I decided to use Dart on Map to pick the next country. After several tries drowning in open ocean water 😃, it landed on Uzbekistan.

Being from the region of the world that it is, I'm not surprised that this traditional pilaf contains lamb.  It's similar in ingredients and cooking procedure to the first installment of my "Around the World in Foodventures" series (Afghanistan: KABULI PULAO), except it contains different spices.  As such, it's a little more mildly flavored, but still very pleasant -- and the tomato and onion salad that it's served with brings a nice tang to cut through this dish's somewhat sweetness.  It's nice if you put the salad right on top and/or mix it into the pilaf.

Here is the recipe I followed: https://www.whats4eats.com/grains/uzbek-plov-recipe.  I think mine came out a lot darker in color than the recipe because it didn't specify what kind of stock; I used a dark brown veggie stock, and I assume the recipe writer used something more like a lightly colored chicken stock.

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as we'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

Around the World in Foodventures (Tanzania: UGALI NA MAHARAGE YA NAZI)

Ugali is a corn flour (or sorghum or millet or cassava flour) porridge, much like polenta, that is used both as a meal filler and as a means of transporting food to your mouth. It's sort of Tanzania’s version of a tortilla, or naan, or injera. To eat it -- you pull off a small ball of the mush with your fingers, form an indentation with your thumb, and use it to scoop up accompanying stews and other dishes. Or you can form a larger ball, place it in your bowl, and spoon stew around it.

The Maharage that goes along with it here is a simple (but delicious!) stew of onions, carrots, tomatoes, beans, and coconut milk.

There are lots of recipes available, but I used this one: http://blog.ingredientmatcher.com/recipe-the-national-dish-of-tanzania-ugali-na-maharage-ya-nazi/

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as we'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

Around the World in Foodventures (Argentina: LOCRO)

Locro is a very meaty (because Argentina) stew with corn and lima beans....no kidding, it contains 6 different cuts or preparations of two land mammalian creatures! One of which had to be pre-boiled for 4 hours before starting the stew itself (that takes another 2-3 hours). In addition to all of this, the corn and beans also had to soak for a minimum of 8 hours. So it was a time consuming cook, and I'm glad I had Patriots Day off work yesterday to make it. In the spoon here is an accompanying spicy oil that gets stirred in as you eat.

I used pretty much this exact recipe (https://www.cocinerosargentinos.com/recetas/Guisos/1970-Locro-del-25.html), along with a little guidance from here (https://therealargentina.com/en/recipe-for-argentine-locro/), combined with this video to round out the hot oil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z_0bz_B10M).
 
This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as we'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

Around the World in Foodventures (India: PUNJABI DAL MAKHANI)

We already have a few Indian dishes in our repertoire, so I really wanted to do something totally new for this round -- and that’s how I landed on Dal Makhani. Mine didn’t turn out as red in color as the picture on the recipe I used (link below), but I did see others that appeared more brownish in the end. I think this all may be a factor of either using tomato paste or not and/or the ratio of black lentils to red kidney beans (I saw many different recipes calling for either tomato puree or paste, as well as differing amounts of the beans). While I was cooking, it started to seem like nothing more than the Indian version of refried beans, so I didn’t think it was going to be anything special. But now that it’s done -- boy is it delicious! I’m serving it here, as it would be traditionally, with garlic naan (that I picked up at a local Indian restaurant rather than get store bought or try to make my own this time around) and topped with fresh coriander, slivered ginger, and a swirl of cream. 

Full and complete credit for this recipe (copy/pasted in its entirety below) goes to Maunika Gowardhan --

Ingredients
(Serves 4)

280gms whole urad dal (black lentil)
60gms red kidney beans
1.5 litres water
3 tbsp vegetable oil
Pinch of asafoetida
1 green chilli slit lengthwise
1 tsp cumin seeds coarsely ground
10 cloves of garlic finely chopped
210gms white onion finely chopped
220gms tomatoes finely chopped
3 tbsp tomato puree
1” piece of ginger finely chopped
1 tsp mild chilli powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
2 tbsp butter

60mls single cream
1 tbsp chopped coriander for garnish
½ “ginger slivers for garnish

Method

1. Soak the black lentils and kidney beans overnight in a bowl in plenty of water.
2. In a large heavy bottom sauce pan add the black lentil and kidney beans along with the water and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer on a low heat for an hour. Stir a few times and scarp of the foam from the top. Continue cooking for further 1 hour and 15 minutes
3. Drain, reserving the cooking water and set aside to use for later. Mash the lentils with a potato masher this will take some arm work so keep mashing till you have a coarse consistency. You want some lentils whole but most of it mashed.
4. In a heavy bottom large non stick sauce pan heat the oil on a low heat. Add the asafoetida, chilli and cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for 5 seconds and add the garlic frying for a further 30 seconds.
5. Now turn the heat to medium and add the onions sautéing for 7-10 minutes until they begin to soften. Stir well making sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
6. Add the tomatoes and fry for a further 3 minutes mashing the softened tomatoes with the back of the spoon now add the puree and cook for a minute
7. Add the ginger and fry for a minute followed by the mild chilli powder. Season to taste and add the mashed dal. Stir well and make sure to mix all the spices with the dal
8. Add 650 mls cooking liquid and stir. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes on a low heat with the lid on. Make sure to stir a few times preventing it from sticking to the bottom of the pan
9. The dal should be thick and creamy so add a little more water only if you need to. Add the garam masala powder along with the butter. Stir well simmering for a minute
10. Just before you serve add a swirl of cream, fresh coriander and ginger. Serve with naan or pulao

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as we'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

Around the World in Foodventures (Thailand: YOUNG COCONUT ROTI)

This is a popular street food snack in Thailand, that we first got to try last year when our tour guide ordered it as a dessert surprise for us. I didn't get it *exactly* right, but it was pretty darn close. Presented in the young coconut shell just like we got in Thailand.

Basic method here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke0noTnHLLc

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as we'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

Around the World in Foodventures (Introduction, and Afghanistan: KABULI PULAO)

Hooooly poopsticks, it has been over three and a half years since I last used this thing!  I sure as heck never stopped cooking, experimenting, or foodventuring . . . but, you know how it is: life gets busy and in the way.

I just started a new project, though -- and while so far I have only been documenting it in a Facebook album, I decided why not post them here, too.  So, without further ado, here's what's up . . .

"Around the World in Foodventures"

I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as we'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I will chronicle the journey here.

First up, Afghanistan: KABULI PULAO
(or QABILI PALAU or QABULI PALAW - I've seen varying spellings)

Here is the recipe I used:  https://www.whats4eats.com/grains/kabuli-pulao-recipe