Global Recipe Project

Panamanian food is filled with Caribbean and Latin American influences and it's delicious. The National Dish is Sancocho; a chicken and root vegetable soup. Very hearty and yet filled with fresh subtle flavors. We also enjoyed empanadas and cocadas. Sancocho Chicken soup with yucca and a variety of other root vegetables seasoned with garlic and cilantro. You serve the soup on a bed of white rice. Cocadas Latin American version of a macaroon cookie. Instead of egg and egg whites it's cornstarch and condensed milk that binds the shredded coconut. A's Rating: 6.5 "It's chicken soup, but it's not particularly outstanding." Guest Rating: 7 M's Rating: 8. It's chicken and rice. How can a 5 year old not  like it? H's Rating: 8. I liked the subtly of the flavors. It's very simple ingredients and not many spices.

Samoa is a little island in the Pacific Ocean about 3,200 kilometers north of New Zealand. Lonely Planet calls it the place where "emerald shores meet azure waters." Sounds pretty much like every other island in the Pacific. We chose to make Masi Samoa which are coconut cookies. Please do not confuse these with the Girl Scout "Samoa" cookie. They are not  the same thing. At all.  The best part of this recipe is the way your house smells while the cookies are baking. The 4 year old walked into the kitchen just as the cookies were finishing up in the oven and proclaimed, " Hmmmm ça sent très bon !!" (It smells very good!).  Apparently these cookies come in neatly piled stacks tied with ribbon on the streets of Samoa. Whenever we make our way there I will gladly pick them up and devour them as fast as possible.  They're a cross between a shortbread cookie and a scone. Although delicious as they were, we found that slathering them with nutella ...

My best friend has been perfecting donut recipes this summer so it seemed appropriate to make Tanzanian Mandazi. Mandazi are donuts traditionally eaten for breakfast and are spicier and less sweet than their American counterpart. We enjoyed them with coconut vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries.  Although I wouldn't necessarily repeat the recipe for my personal use, they were fun and I would welcome finding them on the streets of Tanzania when we make our way there one day.  I found the recipe slightly unusual in that coconut milk was added to the warm water and sugar prior to adding the yeast. I felt that this meant that the yeast did not fully develop before kneading, resulting in a very dense donut.  This is the recipe I followed.  A's rating: 3  H's rating: 5

What's better than pineapple rum mojitos and slow cooked red meat? Not much. Ropa Vieja is the national dish of Cuba and we had it with friends. I must confess that I cheated and used the crockpot. Don't judge. It was easy and made the house smell delicious. Double win. The dish is the Cuban version of a beef stew with lots of fun things like green olives, capers and peppers. I've already made this dish twice, it's that good. Serve it on buttered noodles, or rice or polenta or some other starch and you're done. I loosely followed a couple of different recipes  this one  and  this one. A's Rating: 7 M's Rating: 7 H's Rating: 8 We have made this recipe a total of 4 times. It is that good. And, if you're lazy like me and use the crockpot it's ridiculously easy for a midweek meal.

Another Caribbean country finished! Jamaica was fun, bright, and delicious. Jerk chicken, rice and peas, rum punch and a pineapple cake. We broke with tradition and made the rice and peas even though it wasn't Sunday. Great recipes if not a tad heavy on the carbs. As an aperitif we had some plantain chips and coconut soda. Wonderful way to spend a Thursday evening. Rice and Peas Ingredients 1 can red kidney beans 1 can coconut milk 1 tbsp fresh thyme 4 green onions, chopped 2 cups of rice (rinsed well) 2 cloves of garlic, minced water salt pepper Preparation Drain the kidney beans over a measuring cup that holds 4 cups. Add the coconut milk and then add enough water to make 4 cups of liquid. In a large pot, add the liquid mixture, garlic, thyme, onions, kidney beans, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and taste the liquid for saltiness. Next add the rice and boil or 2 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 15 - 20 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve wa...

Interestingly enough, especially in the midst of Chinese New Year, we hit China on our journey around the world. I decided to tackle Chinese dumplings (known as jiaozi) since they're a traditional New Year dish. Happy Year of the Monkey! About a year ago, we were invited to dinner at our neighbors' house. They are a wonderful couple from Shanghai. They taught us the art of dumpling making. It was delightful if not time consuming. For our country night, I decided to brush out my notes from that dinner and the results were delicious. I used pre-made dumpling wrappers so I guess that's cheating. Oh well. Pork Dumplings Ingredients 1 and a half packages of dumpling wrappers 1 cup ground pork 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp rice wine 3 tbsp sesame oil 3 green onions chopped 1 1/2 cups of shredded napa cabbage 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger 2 garlic cloves minced Preparation Mix all the ingredients for the filling. Place 1.5 tsp of filling in each wrapper. Using a to...

How about a little Caribbean flair? We ran through Puerto Rico with street food and a hearty rice dish. The recipes required that I run around the neighborhood looking for seasonings and spice packets that were completely foreign to me. I tried the huge Mexican supermarket chain store, Cardenas. I had mixed success there. Turns out my unassuming Vons store had everything and more. We headed over to our friends' house (who graciously provided the grill) and enjoyed: Arroz Con Gradules Pinchos Bolitas de Queso Also, did you know that Puerto Rico is home to the first pina colada? You're welcome. The rice was very salty though no actual salt is in the recipe.... However, I loved the idea that you throw dried herbs, and sliced olives into the pot before the rice. The pinchos are the Puerto Rican version of chicken kebabs. Delicious. The bolitas de queso were heavenly. Fried cheese balls. A's Rating: 7 out of 10 H's Rating: 7.5 out of 10 M's Rating: 8 (...

I was thinking that Laos would be interesting but not terribly exciting. A weeknight country without any fanfare or party planning. Wow, was I wrong. Have you ever had larb? Aaaaaaaamazing. Larb is a meat salad which you can make with nearly any meat or poultry. You eat it with sticky rice or in lettuce cups. It is deceptively simple which, at first glance, leads you to believe the flavors would be boring. Not true. We will make this again. And again. It is the highest rated dish of this adventure so far. Seriously. I read a lot about larb before making the dish. Basically, you have a lot of flexibility with the ingredients but there are some deal breakers--don't use soy sauce, salt, vinegar, dried herbs, or store bought lime juice; ever. Turkey Larb Ingredients 1 lb ground turkey 2 large shallots 1 tbsp rice powder (or rice flour) 1/2 cup chopped cilantro  1/3 cup chopped mint leaves fresh lime juice fish sauce cayenne pepper (or red pepper flakes) lettuce lea...

In an effort to zip through a few more countries per year...I decided to opt out of trying Mansaf which is the national dish of Jordan. Although it sounds absolutely delicious, it sounds equally time consuming. Instead, I threw together the bright and summery salad, Fattoush. Fattoush Ingredients for Salad 2 pita breads, cut into 1 inch pieces (toasted in a pan with oil) 2 tomatoes, diced 1 cucumber, diced 1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped 1/2 bunch of mint leaves, chopped 2 green onions, chopped 1/2 bell pepper, diced 1/2 head of romaine lettuce, chopped 1 handful of arugula Ingredients for Dressing 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 3/4 cup olive oil 1 tsp sumac salt and pepper Preparation Mix all the ingredients for the dressing except the sumac. Mix all the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Top with dressing and finish with sumac sprinkled on top. Antoine's Rating: 8 out of 10 Heidi's Rating: 7 out of 10 M's Rating: ??? (she refused to eat any vegetable...

Oh Japan. You're so cute. I happily vowed to pour my heart and soul into shoyu ramen. It was a three-day affair. It ended well. Very well. I invited some lovely friends and told them to bring empty stomachs and challenged them to bring a Japanese dessert. They obliged and we enjoyed a wonderful Saturday night filled with noodles, sarcasm, sweet treats and sake. Fun all around. I started the dashi on Wednesday evening it was finished by Friday night. Perfect timing for a Saturday party. Shoyu Ramen (loosely following this recipe) Ingredients The following will serve 10 Kombu Dashi And Tare · 2-4 pieces dried kombu · 1 cup soy sauce (shoyu) · 4 tbsp. dry sake · 2 Tbsp. mirin Pork And Stock 3 lbs. boneless pork shoulder 1 1/2 lbs pork belly 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil 2 lbs. chicken necks, backs, and/or wings 2 lbs. pork ribs 2 bunches scallions, chopped 1 1/2 cups of baby carrots 2 heads of garlic, halved horizontally 3 1” pieces ginger...

Spain! Land of tapas, late nights, sangria and naps. A kind of place I can appreciate on all those fronts. Tonight's exploration into the culinary Spanish world was a collaborative effort. If a friend tells you she's making paella and wants to come over, you let her. Since I wasn't tasked with the main dish I decided to tackle a side salad, two types of sangria and churros. Another friend made the appetizers and we were on our way to a Spanish feast. I can't tell you much of the paella recipe except that it was fantastic. And a lot of work. And it was beautiful. For the sangria, we had a Ruby Red and a White Peach. Both equally delicious. Ruby Red 1 bottle of red wine 1 cup grapefruit juice 1/4 cup of sugar 1/4 cup of triple sec juice of 2 limes Sliced oranges and limes for garnish White Peach 1 bottle of white wine 1/2 cup of orange juice 1/2 cup of triple sec 1 cup of orange sparkling water 1 peach pureed sliced peaches for garnish Spanish Sala...

Oh Peru, how I love thee. What a magical place that has been on my top travel destinations since forever.  But, has to wait until M is old enough to hold her own on the Inka Trail. I was quite ambitious and made the following: Anticuchos de corazon (beef heart kebabs) Pollo a la brasa (grilled chicken) Ceviche Chicha  (fermented corn beer) We invited some friends and had a house full of adults, children (six kids under 4) and pisco sours! The chicha was a last minute addition when a wonderful friend, Grace, sent me this link  and challenged me to have it ready in two days. Challenge accepted. Chicha is an ancient fermented drink of the Andrean region which tasted like sweet corn water. Fun though weak on the alcohol. We also had a potato salad, boiled corn, boiled sweet potatoes, and an edamame salad. The chicken was aaaaaamazing. Seriously. It will be my standard grilled chicken recipe forevermore. Out with the lemon and rosemary and in with the c...

Tucked behind Albania and just north of Greece is Macedonia. It's a little country that rarely makes the news. The food is similar to Greek and Bulgarian and it's delicious. I was quite ambitious and made Tavce Gravce, Shopska Salata, and Baklava. Tavce Gravce is a tr aditional dish and every family has their own variation. It's essentially baked bean colored with a large amount of paprika. I served it along side grilled polish sausage. Shopska Salata is the Macedonian version of feta, tomato and cucumber salad. Super simple but amazing if you use really excellent quality olive oil and red wine vinegar. My Bakalava was a cardamon/fig version and wonderful. I used less sugar for the sherbet (sugar syrup poured over the top at the end) and it was wonderful. Didn't even have the my-teeth-are-going-to-fall-out sensation that I usually have with the sweetness of traditional baklava.  We invited friends and laughed and ate and drank and enjoyed the meal.  Tavce Gravc...

I wanted so much to like this dish. But, I couldn't deny the little voice inside my head that said "Wow, this is going to be fishy" after I bought dried ground crawfish. Seriously, do you realize how many crawfish it would take to fill a cup of ground crawfish powder? I say at least 30--that's a lot of crawfish. The national dish of Cameroon is Ndole which is apparently incredibly popular and supposedly delicious. It "flies off the plates" one article told me. Unfortunately, it was way too fishy for my American palate and even my very adventurous husband declared it was "hardly edible." My dinner guests were kinder and even finished their servings with grace and politeness. The toddler shriveled her nose and boycotted dinner. However, it was universally agreed that without the egregious ingredient (ground crawfish) the dish would have actually been quite tasty. I loosely followed this recipe from africanbites.com.  Ndole   Ingredients ...

Monaco is a fun country. Fun to pretend to be a zillionaire and go to fancy stores and restaurants. It also has the swankiest casino in the world. The dish we prepared was Barbagiuan . These are delicious fried snacks similar to empanadas. I followed the recipe from Celtnet Recipes found here . Ingredients: For the Pastry: 500g self-raising flour 125ml extra-virgin olive oil 1 tsp sea salt water, to bind For the Filling: 400g Swiss chard leaves 2 large onions, finely chopped 60ml olive oil 100g ham slices 6 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped 75g freshly-grated Parmesan cheese salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste 2 or 3 eggs, beaten Read more at Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-barbagiuan Copyright © celtnet Ingredients For the Pastry: 500 g of flour 125 ml olive oil 1 tsp sea salt Filling: 400 g swiss chard (blanched and chopped) 2 large onions (chopped) 60 ml olive oil 100 g ham slices (chopped) 6 t...

Wow, it is hard to find the time for creative cooking with a toddler..whew! Tonight's menu includes Chicken Kabsa. The national dish of Saudi Arabia. It's essentially chicken and rice, but the Middle Eastern version. Who doesn't love chicken and rice? Especially when it's made with cardamon, coriander and black limes. Yes, black limes. The black limes were an intriguing yet elusive ingredient. I traveled all around town to specialty spice shops looking for these little beasts. I finally located a small Middle Eastern market about 40 minutes from my house and sent Tony on a mission.   He came back with small bag of dried, black limes and a report that the market made very delicious shawarma sandwiches. Double win! We invited a few friends over and the Saudi Arabian feast began. Chicken Kabsa 1 cup of basmati rice 1 whole chicken cut into 8 parts 2 tablespoons sunflower oil 1 large tomato, diced 2 bay leaves 1 chicken bouillon cube 1 onion, diced3 garlic c...

Who doesn't like Italian food? Really. Anyway, we jumped ahead to Italy because I wanted to try out my pasta maker attachment for the Kitchen Aid. What I failed to realize, (until the dough had already been made, rolled, and prepped) was that I do not own the pasta cutter attachment. This meant that I had long paper-thin sheets of dough that were cut by hand. Oh well. It was fun and more importantly, it was absolutely delicious.  I used a simple recipe for the pasta dough. 2 cups of flour, 3 eggs, dash of salt. Make a well in the mound of flour and mix with your hands. Kneed until your wrists hurt. Set aside for a half an hour then process through pasta roller attachment. Cook. Eat. Done. It was slightly more complicated than that, but not by much. You can find the recipe I used here . I also made some turkey meatballs (not Italian) and everything was phenomenal. Even the uncooked pasta was fabulous. Trust me I know. M (our resident toddler) kept sneaking up to the counte...

Since it was a high of 107 today and I spent the better part of the afternoon in the pool, I wasn't super thrilled about having a ridiculously carb-heavy meal of cepelinai. Oh well. Cepelinai are potato dumplings filled with ground pork, beef or veal. They are then drowned in a bacon, sour cream sauce. Hearty. Although all the recipes I found called for "grated potatoes" this is a lie. If you grate potatoes then you will get fine angel-hair like strands of potatoes and they will not mix well and when boiled will fall apart. Instead, you need to pulverize the potatoes. Ingredients:        Dumpling Mixture: 4 lbs Idaho potatoes, peeled and finely grated pulverized 1 lb Idaho potatoes, peeled, boiled and riced 1 teaspoon salt, more or less to taste            Meat Mixture: 1 pound ground pork or 1/3 pound pork, 1/3 pound beef, 1/3 pound veal 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped 1 teas...

Middle-Eastern food makes me happy.  The play on savory/sweet makes my tongue tingle and belly smile. Tonight is Pakistan. I know. We've been gone for a while. Okay. A very very long while. However, we had a kid and were learning how to live with another human being in the house. We think we have the hang of it now so we decided to re-start the recipe project. Tony relinquished the job of picking a country from the jar in favor of baby M. She picked Pakistan and I decided to make Chicken Chapli Kababs. It was delicious. The Middle-Eastern version of turkey burgers, but better. And, with chicken. I loosely followed the recipe here. Baby M, Tony and I loved it. Heidi's Rating: 7 out of 10. Delicious. Tony's Rating: 7 out of 10. Yum.

Tonight's country is San Marino which, if you are like me and have no idea what/where it's located, is an independent republic smack in the middle of Italy.  Apparently it has enjoyed independence since 1291 though my American educated self has never heard of it before. It doesn't have an army and I'm not entirely sure you would know you crossed any borders if you traveled through on a road trip in Tuscany. I was seriously tempted to make nidi di rondine (a rolled pasta/prosciutto dish smothered in bechamel) but, prosciutto isn't really included in my pregnancy diet so I opted instead for pasta e cece (pasta and chickpeas).