Wednesday, September 08, 2010
   
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Cooking

Traditional mamaliga

Ingredients

boiled water
yellow cornmeal
salt

Directions

Fill a pot about half full with cold water. Add about as much salt as you might use for the same quantity of soup. Place the burner on high and after the water begins to boil add the cornmeal. Using your hands as a scoop, fill them with cornmeal, move them over the pot, then allow the cornmeal to flow out of your hands into the center of the pot where it will take the form of an iceberg. Repeat this process until the top of the "iceberg" reaches to about the ¾ full point.

Turn the burner to "low" for 10 - 15 minutes, depending on the size of the pot. Drain the water and put the pot back on the burner and begin mixing. Mash out any lumps with the side of a wooden spoon. Constantly stir to prevent sticking. When the mixture becomes thick and hard to stir, remove it from the burner. Dip a wooden spoon in cold water and push the cornmeal from the edge to the center of the pot.
Return to low heat for 1-2 minutes, without stirring, to release steam and loosen mixture from the bottom of the pan. Overturn the pot on a wooden platter. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes then cut it in slices with dental floss.

Taken from: http://www.exploringromania.com/mamaliga.html

 

Russian blini

Traditional Russian blini are made with yeasted batter, which is left to rise and then diluted with cold or boiling water or milk. When diluted with boiling water, they are referred to as zavarniye blini. The blini are then baked in a traditional Russian oven. They may be smeared with butter, sour cream, jam, honey, or caviar.

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt. Sift the flour into the bowl, and stir in along with the milk. Mix until smooth and well blended. The batter should be thin.

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Lightly oil the pan or spray with cooking spray. Pour about 2 tablespoons of the batter, or as much as desired, into the pan. Tilt the pan to spread the batter out evenly. When the edges are crisp looking and the center appears dry, slide a spatula carefully under the blin. Flip, and cook for about 1 minute on the other side, or until lightly browned.

Remove blini to a plate. Put a little butter on top, and continue to stack the blini on top of each other. To serve, spread with desired filling, then fold in half, and in half again to form a triangle. Mmm Mmm! (taken from allrecipes.com)

 

   

Arroz con pollo

The typical Dominican lunch, called La Bandera Dominicana/the Dominican Flag, is beans/ habichuelas and rice/ arroz, meat/ carne, and a salad/ ensalada. The plate is filled with lots of rice then you put some of the habichuelas/ juicy beans on top of the rice, along with some of the sauce from the meat. Eat this with a large spoon and a knife used for pushing the food onto the spoon. When the beans are made just right and the rice has the perfect amount of salt, along with a little concón/ crispy fried rice from the bottom of the pan, this meal is wonderful. Most Dominicans eat this meal everyday of their lives. If they do not eat rice everyday they feel that they will not live.

1 chicken, cut up
3 cloves garlic (less if preferred)
1 sweet pepper
2 onions
1 tomato
1 & 1/2 cups of rice
3 cups of water
saffron or bijol

Fry chopped onions, sweet pepper, tomato, and garlic in a little bit of oil. Add water, saffron/bijol, and chicken and washed rice.  Cover and cook over a low flame until done, stirring once or twice during cooking.  Will take approximately 50 minutes -- make sure chicken and rice are done.

 

 

Fricassé de lambis

4 lambis nettoyés
5 cives
persil
thym
1 bouquet garni
4 gousses d'ail
2 piments
3 tomates
1 citron vert
huile te sel

Faire un court-bouillon avec les lambis le bouquet garni, 1 piment, et 1 gousse d'ail écrasée. Laisser cuire environ 40 mn à la cocotte-minute. Egoutter et réserver l'eau de cuisson. Couper les lambis en morceaux. Hacher finement cives et persil. Ecraser le reste des gousses d'ail. Couper les tomates en quartiers et les épépiner. Faire chauffer un peu d'huile dans une cocotte, ajouter les épices hachées, le thym et l'autre piment. Remuer jusqu'à obtenir une légère coloration. Ajouter les tomates, les écraser pour les faire fondre, et ajouter les morceaux de lambis. Verser un peu d'eau. Couvrir. Laisser mijoter à feu moyen. Quand il ne reste presque plus d'eau, couvrir les lambris de leur jus de cuisson. Corriger l'assaisonnement selon votre goût. Laisser cuire 20 à 30 mn. En fin de cuisson verser le jus de citron dans la cocotte.

 

   

Taboulé

Taboulé (salade riche en fibres, protéines végétales et en vitamines)
Qté. 4 pers. ***Accompagné presque tout les mets de la cuisine libanaise

250g de burghul (Blé cassé)
3 citrons
4 oignons
4 tomates
1 salade romaine
7 cuillerées à soupe d’huile d’olive
2 bouquets de persil
1 bouquet de menthe fraiche
Sel, poivre

Préparation ***Ajouter le citron et l’huile d’olive a votre gout

Faire tremper le burghul dans une bassine d’eau froide pendant 1 heure. Laver et sécher les feuilles de salade romaine. Tapir un plait de service avec les feuilles de salade. Laver, peler et épépiner les tomates et couper- les en petits cubes. Hacher les oignons, le persil et la menthe. Égoutter le burghul dans une passoire pour éliminer l’eau, mettre- le dans une terrine, arroser- le avec le jus des citrons, ajouter les cubes tomates, les oignons haché, le persil, la menthe, arroser l’huile d’olive, saler et poivrer. Verser délicatement la préparation dans le plat tapissé avec les feuilles romaines.