cuisine

Tunisian Maacouda Bil Batata (potato omelette)

Posted on May 12, 2013 by pauldelancey

Tunisian Entree

MAACOUDA BIL BATATA
(Potato Omelette)

INGREDIENTSMaacouda-

1 pound potatoes
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 eggs
1 teaspoon harissa (See harissa recipe)
5 tablespoons cilantro
1/2 teaspoon coriander
6 tablespoons parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt

SPECIAL UTENSIL

casserole dish
no-stick spray

Serves 4. Takes 1 hour.

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice potatoes into fourths. Gently put potato bits in pot of boiling water. Boil for about 20 or until potatoes are tender. Drain water from pot. Mash potatoes with a potato masher or fork.

While potatoes are cooking, dice onion and garlic. Put onion, garlic, and olive oil in frying pan. Sauté on medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until onions are tender. Remove from heat. While potato bits are still cooking, put eggs, harissa, cilantro, coriander, parsley and salt in mixing bowl. Mix ingredients with whisk or fork..

Spray casserole dish with no-stick spray. Add eggs/spice mix , mashed potatoes, sautéed onions and garlic to casserole dish. Mix with whisk or fork.. Put casserole dish in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. (If chefs couldn’t use the phrase “golden brown” there wouldn’t be any cookbooks.)

TIDBITS

1) Cilantro seeds are called coriander. I never knew that. I took Economics in college and in graduate and not once did they say anything about this important bit of knowledge.

2) The ancient Egyptians believed their loved ones ate cilantro after they died.

3) Proper spicing is always important, even in the afterworld.

4) Cilantro solve all sorts of digestive problems. Enough said.

5) Oh dear, I’ve written myself into a corner.

6) Bye.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Tunisian Harissa Recipe

Posted on May 11, 2013 by pauldelancey

Tunisian Appetizer

HARISSA

Harissa-

INGREDIENTS

12 dried chile de arbol peppers or milder red chile peppers
4 garlic cloves
3/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
3/4 teaspoon coriander
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil

PREPARATION

Remove stems and seeds from peppers. (Always, always wash hands after handling chile peppers.) Put peppers in bowl of hot water. (This softens and relaxes the peppers.) Remove peppers after 30 minutes. Mince peppers and garlic cloves. Combine all ingredients in bowl.

Store in refrigerator for up to one month. This is one tough condiment.

TIDBITS

1) Caraway seeds reduce flatulence.

2) Moving quickly on, the word Tunisia comes from Tunis, the country’s capital, not the fish, tuna.

3) It’s a fact, Germany was never called Hamburgeria after its import port city of Hamburg.

4) The burg Hamburg is not named after ham. Ham is an English word. Hamburg is still in Germany and is likely to remain that way.

5) Unless of course, the movement of the Earth’s plates increase to such a phenomenal pace that Hamburg ends up being next to Boston sometime by press time for this book.

6) I would like to point out that if the Earth’s plates do move that fast there will be immense worldwide devastation. Book signings will be difficult to schedule.

7) Surfers though would have a great time. Those fast moving continents would generate tons of primo waves. Cowabunga, dude.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Spinach Stew From Central Africa

Posted on May 10, 2013 by pauldelancey

Central African Entree

SPINACH STEW

INGREDIENTSSpinStw-

3 small tomatoes
1 1/2 pounds fresh spinach (not that horrible frozen type)
1 1/2 medium yellow onions
1 green bell pepper
2 chile peppers
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup water

Makes 4 bowls. Takes 45 minutes.

PREPARATION

Peel tomatoes. Chop or dice spinach. Dice tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, and chile peppers. (For goodness sakes, wash your hands thoroughly before touching your face. If not, well it’s a mistake you’ll only make once.) Put tomatoes and onions in frying pan. Add vegetable oil. Sauté at medium-high heat until onion becomes tender.

Transfer sautéed onions and tomatoes to soup pot. Add bell pepper, chile pepper, spinach, cayenne pepper, coriander, salt, peanut butter, and water. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Stir stew frequently enough to thoroughly blend in peanut butter and to prevent stew from burning.

Serve as is in bowl or atop a bed of rice.

TIDBITS

1) The Central African Republic is well named. The country is a republic and is in the center of Africa.

2) Greenland is not green, however. It’s rather icy. Which is great if you continually want a handy supply of ice for your Roy Rogers or Shirley Temples sodas, but not so good if you want to raise cattle, à la the television show, Rawhide.

3) It’s doubtful Roy Rogers or Shirley Temple visited Greenland. I’d like to visit but then again I’m not Shirley Temple or Roy Rogers.

4) The Vikings were the first Europeans to discover Greenland. Norse real estate agents named it that way to encourage new settlers to come there. The part about ocean view properties was indeed true, though.

5) And did you know that the vast percentage of the world’s landlocked countries, including the Central African Republic, do not have any McDonald’s?

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Moroccan Spiced Lentils Recipe

Posted on May 9, 2013 by pauldelancey

Moroccan Soup

SPICED LENTILS

INGREDIENTSSpiceLe-

1 1/3 cups red lentils
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 tablespoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

2 onions
1 tablespoon butter
2 small tomatoes

PREPARATION

Put lentils and broth in pot. Add cayenne, coriander, cumin, ginger, pepper, salt, and turmeric. Soak for 4 hours. Lentils should be split. (Hey, if you want some to leave slowly, you could say, “Make like a lentil and split.”)

While the lentils soak, go outside and pull weeds. When you come back, dice your onions and tomatoes. After your lentils have been sufficiently soaked (and how often does that phrase come up in normal conversation?) add onion and butter to pan. Sauté the onions on medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until the onions are tender. (Love me tender, love me true.)

Put onions and tomatoes in pot. Bring soup to boil. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 30-to-60 minutes or until lentils are tender. Serve to adoring family or guests who are about to go Morocco mad.

TIDBITS

1) You know, if I had a time machine this tidbit would have already been written.

2) Or maybe I’d use my time machine to always go back to the moment all my clothes were clean. I’d never have to do laundry again.

3) I think I’d go back to the moment when that Viking, Haarald, was about to invent lutefisk and give him a crunchy-shell taco. The culinary world would have been better off.

4) Oh, and the rest of the too. Eating lutefisk was the main reason the Norsemen assaulted England and continental Europe for centuries. I mean who wouldn’t feel like killing and pillaging after eating lutefisk?

5) Fortunately, the Vikings eventually came into contact with Moroccans in Spain. While bad for the inhabitants who had to suffer through countless battles to-ing and fro-ing across their backyards, it was a positive boon to the rest of Europe.

6) For once the fierce Norsemen discovered the spices of Morocco, they could preserve their food. They didn’t have to soak their fish in lye, a poison, to preserve it. They could even make Berbere shish kabobs. This made them very happy.

7) And the raids of the Scandanavian beserkers ended. Well okay not right away, but they did tail off.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Roti, Guyanese Flatbread Recipe

Posted on May 8, 2013 by pauldelancey

Guyanese Entree

ROTI
(flatbread)

INGREDIENTSRoti-

2 cups and more flour (don’t put it away)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cups water
up to 1 cup vegetable oil (don’t put it away)

SPECIALTY ITEM

electric skillet

PREPARATION

Combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, salt, and water in mixing bowl. The amount of water added should be enough to make a fairly firm dough, so a bit more or less water maybe needed.

Sprinkle plate or board with flour. Divide dough into six lumps. Put a lump on board. Dust rolling pin with flour. Roll out dough until it is a circle 8″ across . Put 1 teaspoon on dough. Smooth the oil so it covers the entire circle. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon flour uniformly over dough or roti. Fold in corners of roti. Shape roti into a ball. Keep board and rolling pin dusted with flour as you repeat this process for 5 move rotis.

Let rotis stand for 30 minutes while you straighten out the world or sip on a nice, cold Roy Rogers soda.

Set heat on electric skillet to 350 degrees. Put 2 tablespoons oil in skillet. Flatten a roti by hand and put it in skillet. Cook the flatbread, roti, for 3 minutes or until both sides are starting to turn light brown. Turn roti over frequently, at least once every 20-to-30 seconds. Repeat for the other 5 rotis. Add enough oil to the skillet to maintain 2 tablespoons for each roti.

Mango chutney, see recipe, goes great with roti.

TIDBITS

1) Flatbread is flat.

2) The Earth is not flat. It is round.

3) Round, Earth, round.

4) Round in the morning, round at night.

5) In 1492, Columbus sailed west. Flat Earthers took fright.

6) Ooh yes, scary, scary.

7) And now in a seamless transition to more complex sentences, most people in 1492 thought the Earth to be round.

8) The flat-earth myth became popular with the1828 publication, Washington Irving’s imaginative, A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus.

9) Hundreds of thousands of American school kids have written essays about Christopher Columbus that have been wrong. All because of Washington Irving.

10) Someone should go back in time and send Mr. Irving to the principal’s office.

11) It’s a good thing, though, the world is not flat. What if you were playing soccer and someone kicked the soccer ball over the edge of the Earth and the soccer ball was gone for ever and no one had another soccer ball?

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

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Tanzanian Mango Cream Recipe

Posted on May 5, 2013 by pauldelancey

Tanzanian Dessert

MANGO CREAM

INGREDIENTSMangoCr-

2 mangoes
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream

PREPARATION

Peel mangoes. Cut fleshy part of mango in blender. Puree mango in blender. Put sugar and heavy cream in mixing bowl. Whip cream with whisk or electric beater until sugar dissolves and cream thickens. Pour pureed mango into mixing bowl. Mix with whisk until all is uniformly blended.

TIDBITS

1) Mango is not a palindrome.

2) However, it is anagram for Ma Nog.

3) Ma Nog led the extended Nog family of Tanzania from 1869 to 1914 and in 1888 developed egg nog. It was fantastic! The whole world took notice! The whole world loved egg nog! They all wanted it! Everyone ended sentences with exclamation points!

3) The late 1800s was best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of spiced dessert drinks. It was the age of militaristic imperialism.

4) In 1885, Germany invaded Tanzanzia, then Tanganyika, to secure the supply of Ma Nog’s egg nog. France and Britain the other big colonial powers resented Germany rolly polly Ma Nog egg monopoly.

5) Relations festered for decades between Germany and the Franco-British egg-nog alliance. War War One erupted in 1914. Supposedly it was because the Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated but newly declassified documents prove decisively the Tanzania egg nog cause.

6) Millions died in World War One. This war spawned a sequel, World War Two. Millions died in that war as well.

7) But in 1961 Tanzania became independent. It’s peace loving government with the kind acquiesence of Ma Nog’s grandchildren posted her delicious egg nog recipe in all the prestigious culinary journals.

8) We haven’t had a global war since. Yay for Tanzania and egg nog.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

Categories: cuisine, history, humor, international | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Guyanese Garlic Pork Recipe

Posted on May 4, 2013 by pauldelancey

Guyanese Entree

GARLIC PORK

INGREDIENTSGarlicP-

2 pounds pork loin
2 garlic bulbs
1/2 onion
5 cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon Scotch bonnet sauce
1/2 tablespoon lime juice
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
2 cups water

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups rice

SPECIALTY ITEM

large jar with lid

PREPARATION

Cut pork into 1/2″ cubes. Mince garlic and onion. Put pork cubes, garlic, onion, cloves, salt, thyme, Scotch bonnet sauce, lime juice, vinegar, and water into large jar. Put lid on jar and marinate for 2-to-7 DAYS. This is no spur-of-the-moment recipe you can whip up to impress a future fiancee.

2-to-4 days later, add oil everything in jar to large skillet, pan, or Dutch oven and sauté on medium-high heat for about 7 minutes or until pork begins to brown. While pork mixture simmers, cook rice according to instructions on package.

TIDBITS

1) Garlic is a major ingredient in this recipe.

2) In 1986, French and Soviet spacemen quarreled over garlic. The French would not go into space without garlic. The Soviets complained about garlic’s bad smell and refused to allow it onto the space station. Did the world come close to war? I don’t know.

3) Garlic has been thought by many over the centuries to ward off vampires.

4) Perhaps the French though the Soviets were sending their vampires into space.

5) For decades, the Soviets sent their political undesirables into the gulags of Siberia.

6) Vampires are about as undesirable as people get and since space stations are farther from Moscow than Siberia, I understand the Soviets wanting to send their vampires into outer space.

7) And I totally understand the French government not wanting its astronauts to come back as vampires to infect the entire country because they were bitten by cosmonaut vampires.

8) I always have garlic in my home to ward off Russian vampire spacemen. Better safe than sorry, I always say.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

Categories: cuisine, history, humor, international | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chutney Hamburgers Recipe

Posted on May 3, 2013 by pauldelancey

Guyanese Entree

CHUTNEY HAMBURGERS

INGREDIENTSChutnHB-

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2/3 cup mango chutney (or use Mango Chutney recipe)
6 hamburger buns
1/4 cup deli-sliced pepper rings

SPECIALTY ITEM

electric skillet (or plain skillet)

PREPARATION

Put ground beef and chutney in mixing bowl. Smoosh thoroughly by hand. Form six patties about 1″ thick. Set skillet to 350 degrees. Fry on each side for about 3 minutes or until cooked to your desired level of doneness. (This is your excuse to sneak a bite.)

Put patty on bun. Add 1/6 of the pepper rings to patty. Put other bun on top. You’re now a chutney-hamburger king. Oh, and don’t forget to make the other 5 chutney burgers.

TIDIBITS

1) According to the “Michigan Farmers Care” website, a fun fact about beef is, “Cattle farmers conserve the land by implementing natural resource management practices that include soil tests, brush and weed control programs, grazing management plans, minimum or no-till systems, and range quality and grass utilization monitoring.”

2) Doesn’t conjure up images of the tv show Rawhide does it?

3) I was hoping something more along the lines of “Cows can in fact be taught to tango. However, due to their limited memories they have to be retaught every night.

4) “This, of course, proved to be quite expensive. This is why only the best-funded outfits put on Cow Tango Shows.” Wild Bill’s Dancing Cows was the most popular one.

5) “Cow Tango shows reigned for only one year, 1889, when the craze suddenly collapsed.

6) “Thrown out of work, tango cows headed for neighboring farms. But they didn’t stay welcome very long. Farmers wearied of the cows’ poor work habits and late-night carousing whenever they fermented their own milk.

7) “Now no one remembers tango cows and they won’t be coming back thanks to OSHA regulation B17B-1127-x/c”

8) There, isn’t that more fun?

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

Categories: cuisine, humor, international | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Guyanese Mango Chutney Recipe

Posted on May 1, 2013 by pauldelancey

Guyanese Appetizer

MANGO CHUTNEY

INGREDIENTSMangoCh-

4 green mangoes
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 cloves garlic
2 Scotch bonnet peppers or 4 serrano peppers
1 medium onion
1 teaspoon ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

PREPARATION

Peel, seed, and cut off fleshy part of mangoes. Seed peppers. Mince garlic, onion, and peppers.

(For goodness sake, wash your hands thoroughly after handing hot peppers especially the blazing hot Scotch bonnets. And NEVER touch your face or any sensitive parts of your body while handling these peppers. You’ll be ready to confess to anything until the pain goes away.)

Put everything in a blender and blend at the “liquefy” setting until the mixture is completely smooth. Put in refrigerator overnight.

Next day, boil the chutney mixture until it thickens. Chutney goes with almost anything Caribbean. It’s also popular in England.

TIDBITS

1) Guyana is made up of ten administrative regions; Region 1, Region 2, Region 3, Region 4, Region 5, Region 6, Region 7, Region 8, Region 9, and Region 10.

2) Whoa!

3) Julius Caesar started his famous work, De Bello Gallico, with “All Gaul is divided into three parts.”

4) His close friend Brutus later assassinated him. Latin students today hate Julius Caesar because they are forced to read about his Gallic adventures.

5) Perhaps that’s what the authors of all those terribly dry websites had in mind when describing the “fun” facts of Guyana. After all, no one wants to be assassinated by friends and hated by students for centuries.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

Categories: cuisine, food, history, humor, international, recipes, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chicken Mango With White Wine Recipe

Posted on April 29, 2013 by pauldelancey

Bahamian Entree

CHICKEN MANGO WITH WHITE WINE

INGREDIENTSChicMan-

3 chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves
2 mangoes
2 1/2 cups white wine
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce

PREPARATION

Cut chicken breasts into fourths. Mince garlic cloves. Peel mangoes and cut off the fleshy part into strips. Pour wine into large pot. Put chicken into pot. Cook on high heat for 7 minutes. Pour 1 cup of liquid from the pot into a cup and save. Remove the rest. (This is probably not the best recipe for your Dom Perignon.)

Add butter and garlic to pan with chicken. Fry for about 7 minutes or until chicken starts to turn golden brown. Add saved wine, mango strips, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, orange juice, and soy sauce. Simmer at low heat with lid on for 10 minutes. Serve to appreciative guests.

TIDBITS

1) Mangos are the most popular fruit in the World

2) Really?

3) The paisley pattern used on ties is based on the mango.

4) Why not ties based on tacos or brownies?

5) Or even tie pattern with a strong marinara theme. That way if you’re having a job interview at a fancy Italian restaurant and you spill marinara sauce on your tie they’ll never notice.

6) Buddha meditated under the cool shade of a mango tree. Sipping a Roy Rogers works for me.

7) I like to think Buddha would have enjoyed a nice, cooling Roy Rogers drink.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

Categories: cuisine, international | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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