Iraqi Chicken and Rice

When you shallow-fry the chicken that has been boiled in spicy broth, the chicken turns this awesome golden color.

Here's the beginning - just throwing onions and a whole bunch of spices in the pot.

One of the spice mixtures that goes in the chicken.

Cook the chicken with lots of spices, including dried Persian lime (the black ball in the center) and turmeric.

This is Omar, my ten-year-old translator. He was very proud of his mother's cooking.

You saute the rice with a spice-mixture called bar timon. It's made of cardamon, black pepper, cloves, and cinnamon.

When you boiled the chicken in water with spices, this really flavorful broth results. You use some of it to flavor the rice. 

For a garnish on top of the rice, you saute onions with rehydrated raisons, cinnamon and turmeric.

As Mona Galee, from Iraq taught Lindsay Sterling, in Westbrook, Maine, July 2011

Serves: 6-8

Cooking Time: 2 hours

Note: Mona served the chicken and rice as part of a full feast, including dolmas, fresh salad, watermelon cubes, tomato-chili flake soup and lemon-mint savory yogurt drink. I'll add links to those recipes once I post them. I have tended to make just the chicken and rice part often. I find myself using country-style bone-in pieces of chicken instead of a whole chicken to make serving easier.

Ingredients

For the chicken:

• 1 whole chicken, washed and split down the breast bone
• 3 cloves garlic, rough chopped
• 1/4 onion, medium dice
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp Madras curry powder
• generous sprinkle turmeric
• 1 dried Persian lime, also called  loomi* 
• 1 4-inch cinnamon stick
• 1 Tbsp lemon pepper
• 1-2 Tbsp Kosher salt
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 1-2 cups water

For the rice:

• 2-3 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup Short Vermicelli egg noodles (omit for gluten-free version)
• 2 cups basmati rice
• 1/2 tsp of the bar timon spice mixture**
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 cup reserved seasoned chicken broth
• 3 cups water

*loomis, also known as noomi basra and limoo amani, are small persian limes that have been soaked in salt water and then baked in the sun. They are hard, light in weight (like a whiffle ball) and range from tan to black in color. You use one whole in this recipe. It also comes ground into flakes. It imparts a tangy, lime flavor. Tasted alone, dried lime is similar to the sourness of a Sourpatch Kid candy but without the sugar coating. In Portland, ME, you can get these at Al Sindabad Market, 710 Forest Avenue. 

For the bar timon pice mixture:

• 2 1/4 tsp whole cloves
• 1 full handfuls green cardamom pods
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1/2 Tbsp black pepper

For the Raisin and onion topping:

• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 onion, medium dice
• 3 shakes cinnamon
• 1 shake turmeric
• 2 shakes salt

Equipment

• chef knife
• cutting board
• 2 soup pots with lids
• large frying pan
• strainer and pan for underneath it or a cooling rack nextled in a pan that can catch liquid
• small frying pan
• large platter or cookie sheet 
• large serving platter for rice and chicken
• tongs
• cereal bowl

Instructions

1. Get the chicken started. Split whole chicken down the breast bone to open up the cavity. Rinse splayed chicken with cold water. Put the whole bird in a large soup pot with lid on medium high (she used a special pot she called a gidduh, but my soup pot worked fine). Add to the pot, 1/4 cup oil, and onto the chicken: 1/4 chopped yellow onion, 1 tsp madras curry powder, generous sprinkle of turmeric, 1 toasted lime, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 Tbsp lemon pepper, 2 Tbsp Kosher salt, and 6 green cardamom pods. Let chicken cook with oil in spices with lid on for ten minutes, then add water until it’s 1 inch below the top of the chicken. Cook covered until chicken is cooked through (about 40 minutes).

2. Do some prep work while chicken is cooking, make the spice mixture for the rice, called bar timon. Blend in spice grinder: 1/4 cup cardamom pods, 2 1/4 tsp cloves, 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon, 1 Tbsp cumin, and 1/2 Tbsp black pepper. Cover rice with water and strain three times so the water stops turning cloudy. Let it drip dry in the strainer for 20 minutes. In a small dish, cover the golden raisins with water to plump.

3. Get the rice started. Once the chicken has cooked through in the broth, remove the chicken from the broth and put it on rack nestled in a shallow pan to drip dry. Put 2 Tbsp vegetable oil back in the bottom of the emptied pot on medium high. Once hot, add vermicelli noodles if using and toast until they turn reddish brown. Add the rice, 1/2 tsp of the bar timon spice mixture (store what’s left for when you make this again), 1/2 tsp turmeric, and 1 tsp salt, stir and let the rice soak in the oils for a couple minutes, stirring. Then add 1 cup of the reserved seasoned chicken broth and enough water (about 3 cups) so that the rice is covered by 1/2 inch of liquid. Cook on high. Once the water has disappeared from the rice (ten minutes), then put the lid on tightly (she put a plastic bag over the opening to seal in moisture but I don't like cooking with plastic so I left this off). Turn to low heat for another ten minutes.

4. Shallow-fry the chicken. When the rest of the meal is almost finished, shallow-fry the chicken which has drained and drip-dried. She used a wok with oil 1/4 inch deep on medium-high heat. I've used a large iron skillet with oil 1/4 inch deep. Wear long sleeves because any drips from the chicken will pop and splatter in the hot oil. Make sure the oil is hot but not smoking before you put the chicken in. When the chicken turns golden on one side, flip it so that both sides become nicely colored. The combination of soft, boiled chicken with fried exterior pieces is divine.

5. Final touches. Make the onion and raisin topping. Drain water out of raisins. In a the smallest sauté pan you have, saute 1/4 onion (medium dice) in a little oil. Once soft, add raisins, three shakes of cinnamon, one shake turmeric, and two shakes salt. When all this soft and hot and the turmeric has colored the oil yellow, turn the heat off. Make a plateau of rice on a serving platter. Put the whole fried chicken (or chicken pieces, if they’ve fallen apart) on the top in the center of rice. Sprinkle raisins and onions in a ring around the chicken.

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Cambodian Curry Stew

These all get ground up int the curry paste

Makara and her mom keep a kaffir lime plant in their living room so they can pick fresh leaves when they need them.

This is what a banana flower looks like.

You can slice it thinly with a knife...

Or a mandolin.

This is shaved green or unripe papaya on the left and the shaved banana flower on the right.

Makara, her mom, and her friends cooked a giant pot of stew for a huge party on a propane stove. I adapted the recipe for 10 people. 

Here's what the stew looks like without the toppings on it yet. It's such a gorgeous color from the blended rehydrated chili peppers. 

Here's how Makara likes her bowl of stew - topped with tons of fresh fixings. 

Some Law

As Makara Meng, her mother, An I, and two Cambodian friends, Saran Svay and Mom Hoeung, taught Lindsay Sterling in South Portland, Maine. Photo of ingredients by Tim Greenway. Other photos by Lindsay Sterling.

Serves: 10
Cooking time: 45 minutes - 2 hours

Notes:

Making a fresh curry paste from scratch makes this stew come alive with flavor. If you don't have time for that, you can substitute 8 oz canned or jarred Thai or Cambodian red curry paste instead of making your own and have dinner ready in about 45 minutes.

Blending fresh lemongrass into the curry paste puts quite a load on the average blender or food processor. If you do not have a powerful machine such as Vitamix or high-powered food processor, I recommend steeping segments of lemongrass in the stew rather than blending it into the curry paste. You can also find frozen, finely chopped lemongrass in Asian markets which is much easier on the blender.

Adjust the spice level of your stew to your guests' liking by adding more or fewer chili peppers. I would use a quarter of a birds-eye or Thai chili pepper (the red ones above) per serving for a mildly spicy stew, half of a chili pepper per serving for medium spice level, or a whole pepper per serving for extra hot. Guests can also up the spice level of their own bowls by adding sliced fresh chili as a topping.

If you are eating gluten-free, simply add cooked rice noodles to your bowls of stew instead of serving it with sliced baguette.

Ingredients

For homemade Cambodian curry paste:

• 10 4-6 inch long dried chili peppers (mildly spicy if at all; these are for the red color mostly)
• 4 stems fresh lemongrass or 6 oz. frozen chopped lemongrass
• 10 shallots
• 1 6-inch piece of galangal root (may substitute fresh ginger root)
• 2 heads garlic
• 5-10 fresh, red birds-eye or red Thai chili peppers or 1 habanero
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 Tbsp cumin seeds
• 3 green cardamon pods (may substitute 1 tsp cardamon powder)
• 20 fresh kaffir lime leaves (you may do without but try to find them at Asian market - they are fabulous)
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 1/4 cup sugar

For stew:

• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cans coconut milk
• 1 cup Cambodian red curry paste (recipe above) 
• 5 lb bone-in chicken pieces
• 1 tsp chicken bouillon (she used "Flavor Broth Mix" Dragonfly brand; I like Better than Bouillon)
• 2 sweet potatoes or yams
• 1/2 lb green beans
• 1 eggplant
• 1 yellow onion
• sugar to taste
• salte to taste
• 1-2 baguettes or cooked rice noodles (if gluten free use rice noodles)
• 4 kaffir lime leaves

Fresh toppings (all optional):

• fresh mung bean sprouts
• cucumber strips
• mint leaves
• cilantro leaves
• banana flower
• 1 lime
• green or hard, unripe papaya
• 1-2 birds-eye or Thai chilis

Instructions

1. Prep ingredients. Soak dried chili peppers in hot water to soften. If using whole fresh lemongrass, whack it all over with the flat side of a chef knife to release its flavorful oils. Slice into 4-6 inch segments (for steeping in your stew broth) or shave finely (for adding to the blender and turning into curry paste). If using frozen chopped lemongrass, thaw the package in bowl of hot water. Peel shallots. Peel galangal or ginger and cut into 1/2 inch chunks. Peel two heads garlic. Slice stems off chili peppers (use knife and fork so you don't touch the chilis or wash your hands after handling to avoid accidentally touching your eye or nose area with chili oil on your fingers.) Toast cumin, coriander, and cardamon for 30 seconds in a small, dry, saute pan to release the flavors. Cut 20 fresh kaffir lime leaves into thick strips, reserving 4 whole leaves for garnish later. 

2. Make the curry paste. Discard the dried chili stems and seeds and put the softened flesh in high-powered food processor or heavy duty blender such as a Vitamix. Add all the ingredients "for curry paste" into the blender.  Add enough water to get the ingredients moving. Blend until you have a thick red paste - don't worry about getting it super smooth. 

3. Start the stew. Put a teapot of water on high. Trim the fat and skin off the chicken. Wash your hands after touching raw chicken. In a large pot on medium heat, cook the curry paste and whole lemongrass segments, if using, in oil for two minutes. Add coconut milk, chicken bouillon, and bring to a boil. Add chicken and enough hot water from the tea pot to cover the chicken with liquid by 2 inches. Stir to combine. Cook on medium high until the chicken is opaque throughout (about 25 minutes). While that cooks, clean up your workstation - wash all cutting boards, utensils and hands that touched raw chicken.

For gluten-free version: put a pot of water on to boil. Add rice noodles. Boil for 1-3 minutes or recommended cooking time on package. Strain and rinse with cold water. 

4. Prepare final stew ingredients and toppings. Peel and cut sweet potatoes/yams, eggplant, and onion into bite size pieces. Wash and trim ends of green beans. Cover mung bean sprouts in fresh water, strain, and repeat two times. Peel and cut cucumber into thin strips. Wash mint and cilantro, and pick the leaves off the stems. Shave the banana flower across the flower bud with a mandolin or knife and soak the round slivers in water with lime juice, which helps keep the color. Peel papaya and use a wavy-edged peeler, mandolin, or box grater to make thin strips. Thinly slice 1-2 more birds-eye chilis crosswise so guests who like spicier food can add more heat to their own bowls. Slice remaining kaffir lime leaves into the thinnest slivers possible. Slice baguette(s) if using into thin slices.

5. Finish the stew. Once the chicken is cooked throughout, add the sweet potato/yam. After five minutes add the eggplant, onions and green beans. Turn off the heat after about 4 minutes - before the vegetables get too soft. (The vegetables will keep cooking in the hot stew long after you turn the heat off.) Taste the sauce. Could it use more salt or sugar? Adjust as you like. Sprinkle fine slivers of kaffir lime on top. When vegetables are just cooked, serve Cambodian curry stew in large bowls. Pile on fresh toppings and serve with sliced baguette. For a gluten free version, skip the baguette, add rice noodles to stew and top with fresh toppings.

Afghani Lamb

Kourmet

(Pronounced like "gourmet" with a "K")

As a woman from Haret, Afghanistan, taught Lindsay Sterling in Maine. 

Serves: 6-8
Cooking time: 30min-1 hr
Active time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 yellow onions sliced into crescent moons
• 3 pounds deboned lamb shoulder or leg, cut into 3" chunks
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp Doordooah spice mixture (equal parts black cardamon, turmeric, cloves, and cinnamon, blended in a spice grinder) 
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tomatoes
• 6 oz. tomato paste
• enough flexible flatbread, such as naan, chapati, or pita for everyone eating

Equipment

• Pressure cooker or soup pot
• cutting board
• knife
• coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices  
• can opener
• small empty jar with lid to hold extra spice mixture 
• measuring cups and spoons (or just eyeball it)
• serving dish for stew
• serving platter for bread
• serving spoon

Instructions

Blend all Doordooah spices in a spice blender (a.k.a. a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices). You'll make more than you need for this dish. Store the extra in spice jar and this recipe will be even easier next time. 

Cut onions into crescent moons and put in a large soup pot or pressure cooker. 

Cut the lamb you have into 3" chunks (if the butcher hasn't done this already for you). Rinse lamb with cold water and put in pot. Wash cutting board, hands, and knife and anything else that touched raw meat with soapy water. 

Add oil, turmeric, Doordooah spice, salt, and one half cup water. Cover and cook on medium high until onions have disintegrated into a thick stew and the lamb is tender. If you are using a regular soup pot, add more water as necessary so that your lamb ends up tender with a sauce of disintegrated onions among it. This will take about an hour for lamb leg, longer for shoulder meat.  In a pressure cooker, this should take about 20 minutes under pressure. 

Shave tomato into thin wedges and add tomato pieces to pot. Stir in tomato paste, cover and cook another 5 minutes more. She said you can also add cooked chickpeas and potato chunks here if you like, but we both liked the dish just meat and sauce.

In Afghanistan the dish is served without silverware and guests use pieces of flatbread to scoop up bites. Flatbreads like Tandor, Nan and Iraqi bread would be closest to what's served in Afghanistan. If you'd rather use silverware, serve in a bowl as you would a stew with bread on the side.

 

 

 

Bolivian Peanut Soup

Sopa de mani

As Rommy Holman, from Cochabamba, Bolivia, taught Lindsay Sterling in Cumberland, Maine.

Serves: 8
Cooking Time: 2-3 hours

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp salt
• 4 beef ribs or bone-in cut of beef
• 1 small red onion
• 2 small carrots
• 1/2 green pepper, medium dice
• 1/4 red bell pepper, medium dice
• 10 green beans, sliced diagonally across for long, thin ovals
• 1/2 pound skinless raw peanuts (they're not tan or brown, they're cream-colored and may be called blanched)
• 4 yukon potatoes
• 1/2 cup white rice
• 1 big clove garlic
• 1/2 tsp powdered cumin
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• handful fresh cilantro
• handful fresh parsley
• small bunch fresh celery leaves
• 1/4 cup peas

Accompaniments:

• 1 tomato
• 1 jalepeno
• small handful cilantro
• crusty bread (optional, omit if you eat gluten-free)

Instructions

1. Fill a soup pot 2/3 full of water, and add 1 Tbsp salt and the beef. Bring to boil and simmer for 1 hour or two until meat is tender. Keep a lid on while you simmer to keep broth from evaporating too much. As the soup simmers, skim any fat and foam that rise to the top of the soup with a big flat spoon and discard.

2. While the meat broth is brewing, cut your veggies. Cut carrots lengthwise into 1/4" thick planks and then crosswise into 1/4" strips. Dice the green and red pepper and onion. And cut the green beans on the diagonal to make thin long ovals. Put the veggies in the soup pot.

3. Make a raw peanut puree by blending the peanuts in a blender with about a cup of water until you have what looks like almost-melting vanilla ice cream. After the meat has cooked for at least an hour, add the peanut puree so the soup turns white with a creamy surface. Continue cooking for an hour. I wouldn't fudge that particular cooking time because Rommy said, "Raw peanuts need to be cooked an hour at least or it makes the tummy ache. That's what my mom says." An hour then! Stir occasionally so the peanut particles don't burn on the bottom.

4. While the peanut broth is cooking, mash the garlic, 1/4 tsp pepper, and 1/2 tsp cumin in a mortar and pestle, adding a little salt to aid in the grinding. Don't forget to smell this because it's very satisfying. Add the garlic-spice-mash to the soup.

5. Make a bowl of fresh feathery herbs by gathering a tight bouquet of parsley and cilantro (she'd also use quilquina if she were home) and cutting across them toward your thumb with a paring knife.

6. Peel the potatoes slice them into round slices, and then slicing across the the slices to make thin strips. Cover these with water (to keep from turning brown) until soup is almost done.

7. Make homemade hotsauce, called llajua, by pulsing in a blender: fresh jalapenoes, tomatoes, and fresh cilantro (at home she would use a native herb called quilquina). Her mother would make llajua on a traditional tool, a rectangular mortar and pestle called a batan. Avoid putting the blender on full blast - it makes the hotsauce foamy, which is not authentic. Serve llajua in dishes on the table for individuals to spoon into their soup as they like.

8. After the peanut-broth has simmered for an hour, add 1 cup of rice. After the rice has cooked for about ten minutes, use cooking twine to tie a bouquet of celery leaves and parsley leaves together, and then steep the bouquet in the soup. Sprinkle dried oregano over top.

9. Now taste the soup. Add salt so that it tastes the best it can be. I added about 1 teaspoon. Take the meat out of the pot. Pull the meat off the bones, discard the bones, and put the meat back in soup.

10. Strain the potatoes. Pat them dry with paper towels. Heat a half-inch of oil in a large frying pan on medium high. Line a plate with paper towel. Once oil is hot, fry the potatoes in batches until they're golden brown. Let them cool/dry on the paper towel. (If the oil is smoking, turn the heat down. If the potatoes aren't bubbling when you put them in, turn the heat up). Sprinkle salt on the fried potatoes. 

11. When the rice in the soup is cooked, add the peas. When the peas are cooked, serve the soup in shallow bowls. Garnish each bowl with a mound of fried potatoes in the center of each bowl and fresh herbs all over top. Serve with chunks of baguette and the llajua on the table.

Ghanaian Peanut Soup

Ebenezer's All-Powerful Peanut Soup

As Ebenezer Akakpo, from Ada, Ghana, taught Lindsay Sterling in Yarmouth, ME, April 2011. Photos by Stacey Cramp.

Serves: 8
Active time: 2.5 hours
Note: This soup stores wonderfully in the freezer. Great to have on hand. Natives eat this soup with fou fou. It would also be good with instant polenta or bread.

Ingredients

• 5 habanero peppers
• 31 peeled garlic cloves (about 2 1/2 heads!)
• 1 red onion, cut into big wedges
• handful fresh basil leaves
• 4 inches peeled ginger root, cut into chunks
• 9 beef bouillion cubes (he used Maggi brand, common in Africa)
• any smoked product (he used pork hocks, but said he'd also use fish)
• 2 lb chicken pieces, bone-in
• 3 tomatoes
• 1/4 c tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened peanut butter
• 1 yellow onion, cut into wedges
• 1 pack mushrooms, cut in half

Instructions

1. Throw peppers, garlic, onion, basil, and ginger into a blender and fill the blender a couple inches from the top with water. Blend. Strain liquid puree into a large soup pot. Put strained mash back into blender, refill with water, blend and strain into soup pot again. Do this one more time so you have a big soup pot 3/4 full with flavored, strained water. You can squeeze out the strained mash for every drip of flavor goodness with your hands. Don't bother washing the blender, you'll use it again for the soup later.

2. Add bouillon, smoked pork or fish, and chicken.

3. Mark an x in the bottom of the three tomatoes, cover with water in a small pot, and boil for a couple minutes until the skins loosen. Remove from water, peel off skins, blend in the blender, and add to soup pot along with tomato paste.

4. Now blend in the blender: peanut butter, yellow onion, and water to fill the blender half-way. Pour mixture into a small pot on medium. Cook stirring for about 20 minutes until a spoon swiped on the bottom leaves a trail in the bottom of the pot and if you look closely the oils begin to separate. Add the peanut mixture the soup, along with mushrooms.

5. When mushrooms (and chicken of course!) are cooked, soup's done!

Bolivian Beef, Rice, Potatoes and Salad

This is the final dish: Bolivian silpancho. 

Massage salt and pepper into ground beef with your hands. Then you divide the ground beef into balls the size of limes. On top of a pile of breadcrumbs sprinkled with ground pepper, pat the first meatball into a patty. 

You boil whole potatoes for five minutes so that they're half cooked, and then slice them like this (notice the insides are still raw). You're going to finish cooking them in a saute pan.

Coat each side with breadcrumbs and roll flat with a rolling pin on top of the breadcrumbs, flipping the meat over whenever it starts to stick. In Bolivia, she wouldn't use a rolling pin, but a stone to do this.

The final thickness should be like a crepe. 

Pan sear each on medium high, flipping them when you could see raw pink start to turn brown. It's done after about minute on the 2nd side when all the pink is gone.

Fry the potato rounds and fry 4 eggs. 

You top the dish with the salad of tomato, red onion, and green pepper. Bright, fresh, and crunchy, it breaks up the richness of the meat, eggs and potatoes. The dressing is equal parts vinegar and oil, plus generous salt.

This is quilquina, a very fragrant Bolivian herb that tastes fresh, zippy, and exciting. Rommy grew it from seed indoors in Maine. Cilantro could be substituted, but it's very different. In this dish it's used to top the fresh salad, and also ground into a hot sauce that's served on the side.

The fresh hot sauce is calleed llajua [ya-hohwa]. 

Silpancho

As Rommy Cornejo Holman, from Cochabamba, Bolivia, taught Lindsay Sterling in North Yarmouth, ME. Photos by David Holman.

Serves: 4
Cooking time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 1 c. white rice
• 3 yukon gold potatoes
• 3/4 c. breadcrumbs
• salt 
• pepper
• 3/4 lb. ground beef
• 1 small green pepper
• 1/2 small red onion
• 1 red pepper
• 2 tsp cider vinegar
• 3 tomatoes
• about 1/2 cup + 2 tsp canola or sunflower oil
• 1 jalapeño (in Bolivia she uses locoto peppers, similiar to habañero, w/o seeds)
• small bunch cilantro (in Bolivia, she would use an herb called quilquina)
• 4 eggs

Equipment

• small to medium pot w/ lid for cooking rice
• medium pot for boiling potatoes
• mixing bowl
• cutting board
• knife
• 2 cereal bowls
• 2 spoons
• rolling pin
• 2 dinner plates
• 2 large saute pans
• spatula 
• nonstick pan or egg poacher
• large platter or sheet pan 
• paper towels
• food mill, blender, or food processor (or a bottle of hotsauce)

Instructions

1. Cook white rice. Put rice in a small to medium pot. Cover rice with 3/4 inch water, bring to a boil, cover, turn to simmer, and cook on low for 20 minutes. 

2. Par-cook the potatoes. In a medium pot cover potatoes with water, bring to a boil, and cook for 5-10 minutes until the potatoes are cooked half way through. The potatoes are soft on the outside but still hard on the inside. 

3. Make the salad topping. Cut one red pepper, one green pepper, one red onion, and one tomato into 1/4-inch cubes and put into a bowl. Make the dressing by mixing 2teaspoons cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons canola or sunflower oil, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper in a small bowl with a fork. Gently mix the dressing into the salad.

4. Blend fresh hot sauce. Blend the chili peppers and 2 tomatoes (cut wedges) as briefly as possible to liquify for a fresh hot sauce (or skip this step and use your favorite bottled hot sauce). For hotter sauce, include the seeds of the peppers. For milder, just use the flesh of the peppers. Put the hot sauce in a small bowl with a spoon and put on the table as a condiment.

5. Roll the beef. In a mixing bowl, massage 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper into beef with hands. Separate ground beef into 4 balls. Put the breadcrumbs in a pile on cutting board. Flatten each ball and press both sides into ground beef. Roll with a rolling pin on top of breadcrumbs sprinkled with more fresh pepper. Flip over beef patty and roll again. Continue rolling and flipping until the beef is the thinness of a crepe. Make a stack of four of these on a dinner plate. Wash the cutting board, mixing bowl, your hands, and anything else the raw beef touched.

6. Fry the potatoes. Drain potatoes, cool enough to touch, then slice across the potatoes making 1/4-inch rounds. Heat two large saute pans or flat griddle on medium with 1 Tbsp oil on each. Cook potatoes in a single layer, three to five minutes on each side or as long as it takes to turn the potatoes golden brown. Once the potatoes are golden, cool them on paper towels.

7. Sear the beef. Turn the heat to medium high under the same pan(s) you used to cook the potatoes. Add 1 Tbsp oil to each pan. Once oil is hot, add one beef patty per pan. Flip the beef when the cooked brown color starts replaces about half of the raw pink. Stack cooked beef rolls on a fresh plate, and wash the plate that the raw beef was on. 

8. Fry four eggs, leaving yolks runny. 

9. Assemble the plates. Gather all the components (rice, potatoes, beef, eggs, and salad) near a stack of serving plates. On each plate, put a scoop of rice in the center. Decorate the rim with five potatoes spaced evenly. Put the beef on top of the rice (the potatoes should be poking out from underneath). Put egg on top of beef, and the the colorful salad on top of the egg. Garnish with quilquina or cilantro. Serve with fresh hot sauce on the table as a condiment.

Cambodian Lettuce Wraps

Banh Xeo  

As Sopheap Im from Battam Bong, Cambodia, taught Lindsay Sterling in South Portland, ME.

Cooking time: 1.5 hours
Serves: 6-8 people
Notes: This is finger food that guests assemble out of fixings at the table. Each person wraps fresh herbs, cucumber and pieces of stuffed dinner crepe inside a lettuce leaf, and then dips each bite in a sweet-sour-spicy sauce.

A handful of items for this dish are best found at an Asian market. The mung bean sprouts are freshest there. They should be creamy white, firm, and crisp. If you can't find good ones, just skip them. You'll also find frozen grated unsweetened coconut, fresh herbs (Thai basil, mint), coconut milk, and fish sauce.

Ingredients

Dipping sauce:

• 2 small shallots, finely sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 red Thai chili peppers 
• 6 Tbsp sugar
• juice of 2 large limes
• 1 cup water
• 4 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 cup roasted peanuts

Wrap fixings:

• 1 bunch fresh mint
• 1 bunch fresh basil (Thai basil preferred, available at Asian markets)
• 1-2 heads lettuce - iceberg, butter, or other head lettuce with hand-sized leaves
• 1-2 cucumbers

Stuffing for the crepes:

• 8 oz. fresh or frozen grated unsweetened coconut
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• ¾ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ¾ tsp sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 small red onion, sliced in half moon shapes
• ½ pound fresh mung bean sprouts

Crepe batter:

• 1 package Banh Xeo flour mix from the Asian market (for gluten-free version substitute the mix for 3 cups rice flour, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, and 1/4 tsp salt)
• 1 can coconut milk
• about 1 cup water
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Make the dipping sauce. Mix all the sauce ingredients together, except the peanuts. Pulse peanuts in food processor to make crumbles (or chop with knife or roll over them with rolling pin). Reserve and add to dipping sauce right before eating. 

3. Prepare fixings for the lettuce wraps. Wash mint and basil and pick the leaves off the stems. Washed and quarter iceberg lettuce or separate leaves from head lettuce. Use a zester to make ridges in the skin of the cucumbers. Slice diagonally. Wash mung bean sprouts. 

4. Prepare stuffing for the crepes. Spread grated coconut evenly on a sheet pan. and roast in the oven until slightly dry and golden. Chop chicken into small pieces. In large saute pan or wok, heat vegetable oil. Once hot, add salt, pepper, and sugar. When those begin to turn light brown, add chicken and garlic. When chicken is well cooked, mix in roasted coconut, and onion, and cook until onions are soft. Wash the cutting board, knife, and anything else that touched the raw chicken. Keep the cooked chicken mixture and bean sprouts in separate bowls near the stove.

5. Make the crepes. Mix the crepe batter ingredients except the oil. Coconut milk consistency varies greatly by brand so add just enough water to your batter so that your batter is loose enough to make crepes in the pan. Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet or flattop griddle on medium high and wipe vegetable oil over its surface. Once the pan is hot, ladle slightly less than ½ cup batter onto it and spread batter into a thin circle and cover with lid if you wish for faster cooking.

6. Stuff the crepes. When the rawness of the crepe batter disappears. put ½ cup chicken mixture in center of crepe, and ½ cup fresh bean sprouts on top of that. Let heat 1-2 minutes. When edges of crepe get dry and crispy, fold crepe in half over the filling, and place the whole thing on a sheet pan or large serving platter. Make 14 more stuffed crepes, putting pieces of tinfoil between each so they don’t stick and are easy to transport to plates.

7. Set the table. Put the dipping sauce, wrap fixin's, and stuffed crepes on on the table:

8. Wrap delicious things into lettuce leaf -- dip in sauce -- and eat! Each person at the table assembles his or her own lettuce wraps. You fill a lettuce leaf with a ripped off section of crepe and stuffing, a cucumber, and leaves of mint and basil. Then you roll them into the lettuce, dip the lettuce wrap in the sauce, and eat.

Nicaraguan Beans and Rice

Gallo Pinto

As Jenny Sanchez, from Leon, Nicaragua, taught Lindsay Sterling in Freeport, Maine. Photo by Lindsay Sterling.

Note: "Gallo" means "rooster" in Spanish; "pinto" means "spotted." The rice and beans cooked this way look mottled like a rooster's feathers.
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Makes: 4-6 servings

Ingredients 

• 1 can pinto beans, strained and rinsed
• 1 cup medium or long grain white rice (preferably not parboiled)
• 1/4 green pepper, medium dice
• 1/4 red pepper, medium dice
• ½ small yellow onion, medium dice
• 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp salt
• about 16 cilantro leaves
• 4 ripe bananas or plantains (yellow with black spots)
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 8 oz. salsa
• 1/2 small cabbage
• 2 tomatoes, large dice
• 1 1/3 limes
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, cut in ½ inch cubes (Jenny couldn’t find the Nicaraguan cheese in the States and found that cheddar tastes great here)

Instructions

1. In a small pot with a lid, bring 1 cup rice and 2 cups water to a boil. Turn heat to low, cover, and let cook for 20 minutes.

2. While the rice is cooking, in ¼ cup olive oil in large sauté pan, saute yellow onion, red and green peppers until soft. Mix in beans and let cook for 5 minutes on medium high so beans are sizzling in the oil and beginning to brown. Turn over sections of the beans gently with spatula to brown the other sides of the beans. Once beans are slightly browned, scoot the beans into a ring around the outer edge of the pan so the center of the pan is empty.

3. Pile the cooked rice into the center of the pan. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp salt onto the beans around the rice. Mix the beans and rice together so that the beans are evenly distributed in the rice. Add cilantro leaves, cover and turn off heat.

4. Peel bananas or plantains and slice each lengthwise, then across so that you have 2.5-inch long segments. In 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large sautee pan (preferably nonstick) on medium-low heat, saute bananas or plantains in a single layer until golden brown. (If not using non-stick pan you may use more oil). You may use two pans at once or fry the plantains batches. Because the fruit is so sweet, the natural sugars can burn easily, so keep an eye on your heat and if they’re getting too dark too fast, turn the heat down. Flip each piece so both sides become golden brown.

5. While the bananas are cooking, shave the cabbage on a large cutting board into lacy thin shavings with a paring knife. Cut limes in half and squeeze lime juice directly onto the cabbage. Sprinkle cabbage with ¼ tsp salt. Toss the cabbage so that the lime and salt are evenly distributed.  Sprinkle the diced tomato on top of the cabbage.

6. Get ready to assemble each person’s plate by putting all the components of the dish next to your stack of serving plates: the rice and beans, sour cream, salsa, fried plantains, and cabbage salad.

7. Now fill a cup-sized small bowl or measuring cup with rice and beans and press down as if packing sand into a mold for a sand castle. Flip over the cup of packed rice and beans onto the center of the first plate, releasing an unusually orderly mound of rice and beans. Now make an “X” out of two banana or plantain segments on one side of the beans and repeat with two more segments on the other side. Decorate the empty parts of the plate surrounding the beans and plantains with a generous dollop of sour cream, a couple spoonfuls of salsa, and the cabbage salad. Sprinkle cubes of cheese on top of the rice and beans. Continue assembling the rest of the plates. Enjoy this fine meal!

Thai Noodle Stir Fry

Pad Thai

As Panee Muncharoen, from Panomsarakham villiage (3 hours east of Bangkok) in Chacheongsao province, Thailand, taught Lindsay Sterling, in Brunswick, ME. My photo didn't come out. This one is from a street food stall in Thailand taken by Takeaway.

Notes: Pad Thai is stir-fried rice-noodles with various ingredients in a sauce that's equal parts sour, sweet, and salty. There are so many variations of this dish. You can feature tofu, shrimp, or chicken; use Thai basil instead of cilantro, add pea shoots -- or not. Please beware, the mung bean sprouts I see in supermarkets are not the same as the super-fresh, crunchy, bright ones you find in Asian markets. Either get the fresh ones from the Asian market or skip that ingredient. 

Serves: 8-10
Cooking Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 5 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced thinly
• 6 scallions, sliced into rounds (keep green and white parts separate)
• 1 cup sliced cabbage (pieces about 1/4 inch thick)
• 1 chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
• 6 raw eggs, scrambled with a fork in a bowl
• 1 lb. rice sticks (wide, translucent fettucini-sized noodles made out of rice)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup fish sauce (She used Oyster brand)
• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar (5% acidity recommended)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or more as you wish
• 1/2 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts, crushed to 1/8th inch by rolling over them with a rolling pin
• 1 bunch cilantro, leaves picked from stems
• large bag fresh mung bean sprouts, washed and drained twice
• 1 lime, cut into 8-10 wedges

Equipment

• 7 small prep bowls
• 5 cereal bowls for prep
• strainer
• lettuce spinner (handy but not necessary)
• medium bowl
• cutting board
• chef knife
• rolling pin
• cooking tongs or stirring utensil
• 12 inch iron skillet or wok or two smaller saute pans

Instructions

1. Gather and prepare all the ingredients in the list and put them each in individual bowls near your stove. You’ll need these items ready for the stir frying part (you're timing will be off if you're hunting for things). You can do all this prep the day before and store the bowls covered in the fridge for really easy cooking the next day.

2. Boil rice sticks just as you would spaghetti, only cook them for just one minute before straining and running cold water over them. You want the noodles to still have some stiffness at this stage. They will finish cooking in the liquids we add to the dish later.

3. Now do the stir fry. Heat ½ c. canola oil in large iron skillet on medium high. When the pan is hot, add garlic, yellow onion, and the whites of the scallion. After a minute, add the cabbage. After another minute, add the chicken and cook and stir until chicken is opaque all the way through the pieces. Then add the eggs and scramble them right in with everything in the pan. When the eggs are cooked (opaque light yellow), add the noodles and stir in one after the next: ½ c. fish sauce, ½ c. distilled white vinegar, and ½ c. sugar. Sprinkle entire top surface lightly with cayenne, scallion greens, peanuts and fresh mung bean sprouts and stir. When noodles are cooked, but not soggy or mushy, take off heat.

4. Top pad thai with a handful of fresh cilantro leaves. Serve with lime wedges, and condiment dishes of more crushed peanuts, extra cilantro, and cayenne for individuals to increase heat.