We haven't had a week like this in a while, but sometimes I get this brainy crazy idea that we should have a week where every meal is indicative of a different culture. I decided to do this the week of Cinco de Mayo, and totally forgot to include Mexican food. How lame is that?! Please forgive me: I’m super oblivious sometimes.
30-Minute Chicken Paprikash - This was my first brush with Hungarian. Before this I had never tasted Hungarian, and I had certainly never attempted to cook it. It was a really tasty chicken stew, but would probably be better on a day that is cooler than Houston in May.
Skillet Baked Ziti and Bread Sticks- I never leave Italy out of an around the world week. NEVER! Looks aside, the taste was great. I used whole-wheat penne and Kraft Italian Cheese Blend instead of the parmesan. Considering the taste, time to prepare, and having all of the ingredients on hand on a normal basis, I will probably make this again.
30-Minute Pork Vindaloo- This was also another first for me. A couple weeks ago Phil asked me what I wanted for dinner and I said that I wanted an adventure and something different (normally I request Italian. Are you seeing a trend here?). So he surprised me with reservations at an Indian restaurant downtown and it was beyond fantastic. Because of my new found affection for Indian food, I had to include Indian last week.
The biggest issue I had with this recipe was finding the spices. First I went to Kroger for the garam masala and couldn’t find it. Then while I was flipping through the cookbook I found a recipe for garam masala. Since I still needed 2 of the ingredients to make my own (coriander and cardamom), Phil & I walked to Central Market to pick them up. When we finally found them in the spice section our jaws hit the floor at the sight of the price tag. It was going to cost us $16 just to make the spice I originally wanted. What?! We decided that it wasn’t worth it and we would just pretend it was there. Since we were already at the market, we walked over to the coffee section (we’re BIG fans) to get our weekly coffee. Since the coffee section is adjacent to the make-your-own spices section, we decided to check if the garam masala was there. *It was there AND for $5.99/lb!* I probably got more than I will ever use for only 42 cents!!!! So the problem was solved and we didn’t have to pretend! It was certainly a hunt but well worth it. I was expecting the spice to be really hot, but instead it had a sweet flavor. I served the vindaloo over whole-grain rice with naan crackers. I was pleasantly surprised with how well this dish turned out. I especially liked the flavor that the cilantro added to the dish.
I just LOVE around the world week at our house. Do you have special recipes that are famous from where you are from or where you are living? Please share them, because I would love to incorporate your favorite recipes into our next around the world week.
