Isle of Man…

Tuesday, May 7 -

I cooked a whole rabbit. It was a little bit strange because I had to get past the “fluffy bunny” image in my head. But in the end, it turned out pretty darn yummy.

I thawed the rabbit, rinsed it off, got rid of the innards that they left inside, and put it in a glass baking dish. Then I chopped up a big carrot and a turnip and put them around the rabbit. I then put four slices of bacon across the rabbit, crisscrossing them so that they sat on the meaty parts. Then I put the dish into a 375* oven for 30 minutes, then I flipped the rabbit and repositioned the bacon and cooked it for another 45 minutes.

In a pan on a stove I sauteed some onions in a little bit of olive oil. Once they were soft, but before they browned, I sprinkled sage on them and stirred it in. Then I turned the heat off and set it aside. In another pan I boiled water and butter, throwing in a packet of boxed stuffing, then adding the onion and sage once it was done.

To serve I carved the meat off the rabbit and divided it between four plates. Next to that was the carrot and turnip slices. Then the stuffing. Dinner was served!

The meat was juicy and tender like the dark meat of a slow-roasted turkey. The carrots and turnips were crisp but cooked. The stuffing was perfect, especially with the onion and sage. And the bacon added that extra perfect flavor, as bacon usually does.

Then ChinUp and MyBuddy served up dessert that they had made, which was a chester pudding. It tasted like a tart lemon meringue with almonds on top. Good flavor and a great way to end a meal.

I’m off on vacation next week, so I will be back with more delicious meals after that. Cheers!

Isle of Man
(recipe borrowed from the cooks at: www.iofm.net)

Roast Rabbit with Sage and Onion Stuffing

• 1 Rabbit – skinned and prepared
• Sage and Onion Stuffing
• Bacon Fat
• Potatoes, Carrots and Turnips.

Clean the skinned rabbit in salted water. Stuff the belly with sage and onion stuffing, Draw the sides together and stitch up. Spoon bacon fat over the rabbit and bake in a moderate oven for about two hours. Serve with potatoes, carrots and turnips.

The Stuffing

• 4 oz. Dry Bread
• 2 Large Onions
• 1 Tablespoon Mashed Potato
• 2 Teaspoons Dried Sage
• a Knob of Margarine
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 Teaspoon Pepper.

Pour warm water over the dry bread and leave to soak. Meanwhile boil the onions until tender and chop them finely. Drain the water off the bread, pressing out as much moisture as possible. Crumble the bread into the chopped onions. Add the mashed potato, margarine and chopped sage, and season well with salt and pepper.

Ireland…

Saturday, May 4 -

Whiskey – lots and lots and lots of whiskey. Accompanied by lots of wonderful food. Did I mention whiskey? Ok, great. Let’s see if I can remember everyone who was there: Hot Momma, Mr. Hero (chicken and dumplings, whiskey and chasers), BabyBear, BigMan (juice for drinks), RubsWithLove (vodka), Sir VJ (corned beef hash), ChinUp (potato leek soup), MyBuddy (soda bread), BirthdayShots (whiskey), FootballTamer (whiskey souffle dessert), BestestFianceEver (Guinness), and yours truly (Dublin coddle).

I cooked the bacon until crisp but not burnt and then broke it up into pieces, which I set aside. I browned the sausages on two sides, but didn’t cook them all the way through, and then set them aside. I cut up four potatoes, two onions, and two carrots, and some garlic, threw them into a big pot, dumped bacon grease on top, and cooked while I was cooking the meats in batches. I then took two glass baking dishes and put the sausages in first, dumped the veggies on top, sprinkled the bacon on the veggies, and then poured one bottle of hard cider over the two dishes. I covered it in foil and baked in a 375* oven for about 40 minutes. (I didn’t have a pot big enough to fit all of that on the stove, so I figured the oven would work just as well.

The Dublin coddle was good, but a little plain. The cider soaked into the potatoes to make an interesting flavor. I’m not sure I would commit to that many calories again, but it wasn’t bad. The chicken and dumplings was more of a soup than a casserole, but the flavor was great and I would totally eat it again. The corned beef hash was so good I had to put my plate away so that I would stop eating it. The potato leek soup was perfect, creamy, and a pleasure to eat. I am stealing that recipe for making in the near future! The soda bread was pretty good, I’m not usually a fan of soda bread, but this one wasn’t too bad. The whiskey souffle dessert was SO GOOD. Holy goodness. I can’t even tell you how wonderful it was, you just need to go make it and experience it yourself!

All in all, it was a huge success, we had great food outside in a wonderful warm spring evening, with LOTS of booze. We even got the fire pit going and spent relaxing time just hanging out. I couldn’t have asked for a better evening. Thank you to everyone who came to share Ireland with me!

Ireland
(recipe borrowed from the cooks at: www.ireland-information.com)

Dublin Coddle

• 1 pound bacon slices
• 2 pounds pork sausages
• Some bacon fat or oil
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 large potatoes, thickly sliced
• 2 carrots, thickly sliced
• 1 large bunch of fresh herbs, tied with string
• black pepper
• hard cider (apple wine) or apple cider
• fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

Lightly fry the bacon until crisp. Place in a large cooking pot. Brown the sausages in some bacon grease or vegetable oil. Remove and add to pot. Soften sliced onions and whole garlic cloves in fat, then add to pot with potatoes and carrots. Bury the bunch of herbs in the middle of the mixture. Sprinkle with pepper. Cover with cider. Cook 1 1/2 hours over moderate heat, do not boil. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serves 6.

Iraq…

Friday, April 26 -

This dinner was almost perfectly made for four people. We had WingWoman, LightsOn, BestestFianceEver, and yours truly.

I started by chopping the prunes and apricots up, putting them in a bowl, covering them with water, and leaving them on the counter for about three hours. Then I took chicken thighs, removed the skin, and fried them in hot oil until they were browned on both sides. Then I put the drained prunes and apricots in a glass baking dish and pushed them to the sides. I added the chicken thighs in the middle. Then I fried the onion and garlic in the leftover oil and chicken bits, adding the spices, broth, honey, and cornstarch/lemon juice mixture after the onions were soft and brown. Stirring well to mix in the cornstarch and to scrape off the last chicken bits, I let the liquid boil for a few minutes. After I was sure it was all hot and mixed together I poured the liquid and onions over the top of the chicken, apricots, and prunes. Covered with foil and into a 350* oven for 30 minutes. Sprinkled with sliced almonds and served for dinner.

LightsOn made the filling for a dish that is lamb, onion, and spices cooked until done and then shoved into hand-rolled pockets of rice-dough stuff. Then we fried the rice pockets. It was extremely sticky/messy/hilarious. But the recipe we used didn’t have much flavor to it, so it turned into a way to soak up the sauce from the tagine.

Iraq
(recipe borrowed from the cooks at: www.epicurious.com)

Chicken and Prune Tagine

• 4 oz Prunes
• 4 oz Dried apricots
• 1/2 cup Toasted split almonds
• 3 tbl Extra virgin olive oil
• 8 Portions chicken
• 1 tsp Salt
• 20 Grinds black pepper
• 1 lrg Onion
• 2 Cloves garlic
• 1 tsp Ground turmeric
• 3 Cardamom pods
• 1 tsp Ground ginger
• 2 tsp Ground cinnamon
• 2 1/2 cup Chicken stock or half stock, half white wine
• 1 tbl Honey
• 2 tsp Cornstarch
• 2 tsp Lemon juice or water

Cooking Instructions:  Several hours in advance or overnight, soak the dried fruit in water to cover. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Fry the almonds in the hot oil over moderate heat until golden brown, then drain on paper towels and reserve. Remove the skin and any visible fat from the chicken portions, thoroughly dry them, then season with the salt and pepper. Fry the chicken in the hot oil until rich brown on all sides, then lift out and drain on paper towels to remove any surplus fat. Lay the pieces side by side in a lidded casserole and surround with the drained fruit. In the same oil gently sauté the finely chopped onion and garlic until they turn a rich golden brown (keep the pan lid on for 5 minutes to soften them in the steam, and then remove it to finish the browning). Add the spices and stock and honey. Stir well to release any crispy bits adhering to the base of the pan, then bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch mixed with the lemon juice (or water, if wine has been used). Pour over the chicken. Cover and bake for 1 hour, or until tender when pierced with a sharp knife. Do not overcook as the chicken will soften during the reheating. Garnish the dish with the fried almonds.

Iran…

Friday, April 19 -

It was raining like crazy on Friday, and this dinner was just BestestFianceEver and me, so really, we didn’t have to make a big production out of it. Instead of grilling the meat we just put it in the marinade with chopped tomatoes and onions, let it sit for a few hours, then baked it for a short amount of time on a high heat (leaving the middle of the meat a little bit pink). Served with rice and the spinach yogurt sauce, it was a simple, easy to make dinner. The spinach dip I cheated on measuring anything and just used a big handful of spinach, with a quarter of an onion, a couple of spoonfuls of yogurt, a few chopped garlic cloves, and some salt and pepper. Once mixed I put it in the fridge to sit until the meat was ready. Dinner was served! Thanks to BestestFianceEver with the help on the marinade and dishes (as always).

The lamb was tender, but didn’t have much flavor. I would have liked more punch out of the sauce. The spinach yogurt mix went well with the rice and lamb in one big forkful. I thought that all-in-all it went well, it just needed a little bit more kick. (But really, I usually always think that!)

Iran
(recipe borrowed from the cooks at: www.iranchamber.com)

Kabab Barg (lamb kebabs)

• 800 grams boneless lamb
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 large grated onions
• 1 clove of garlic (crushed)
• 4 medium tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon sumac (optional)

Directions:

Prepare marinade: combine olive oil, lime juice, onions, garlic, saffron, salt and black pepper. Cut lamb into 1 cm thick and 4-5 cm long pieces. Do not remove all the fat as you will need it to melt. Marinate overnight (preferably 24 hours) in refrigerator. Container should be covered.

Thread lamb on long, thin metal skewers. Thread whole tomatoes separately on another skewer. Brush with marinade. Barbeque for about 5 minutes on each side, turning frequently. Serve hot with plain rice (Polow or Chelow) or on middle-eastern bread. If served with rice, some sumac may be sprinkled on.

Borani Esfenaaj (spinach yogurt dip)

• 1 kg fresh spinach
• 250 grams yogurt
• 2 onions (thinly sliced)
• 4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
• 2 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:  Wash spinach and cut into small pieces. Fry onions and garlic in oil until slightly golden. Add spinach and fry together over medium heat until cooked. Let it cool down completely in the refrigerator. Add salt and pepper to yogurt to taste and beat the yogurt until. Add spinach to yogurt and mix well. The mix should be thick and homogeneous. Now this tasteful side-dish is ready to serve.

Indonesia…

Wednesday, April 11 -

Did I mention that I am not very good at measuring spices and sauces and stuff? This dinner was a prime example of that, in the best way possible. I took the recipes below and made them me-ified. I will try to recreate for you what we did. Thank you to WingWoman and LightsOn for hosting and grilling this amazing dinner!

Chicken – I cut two breasts into thin strips so that they cook evenly and quickly (no one likes raw chicken). The marinade was coconut milk (about a tablespoon), water (about 1/8 of a cup), red curry paste (about two tablespoons), and brown sugar (about 1-1/2 tablespoons).

Shrimp – WingWoman thawed them and put them in the marinade. Fortunately they were already shelled and cleaned. The marinade was tamari, honey, sriracha, garlic, and sweet WingWoman love.

Lamb – I used cubed stewing lamb meat. The marinade was Ketjap Mani (Indonesian sweet soy sauce, about half a cup), garlic (two chopped cloves), ginger (grated root, length of about an inch), brown sugar (about a tablespoon), and lemon juice (half a lemon).

Veggies – I used bell pepper, onion, zucchini, and mushrooms. The marinade was tamari (I just poured and stirred the veggies until it looked right), hot chili paste (about three tablespoons), lemon grass (one fresh stalk, chopped), and garlic (three chopped cloves).

Rice – WingWoman put rice, water, coconut milk, red curry paste, and peas in the rice cooker.

Dessert – Fresh mango!

As you can see, it wasn’t very well measured. But goodness, was it good! LightsOn did all of the barbequing and they turned out fabulously. We ate like blog-kings! I think I need this dinner on the menu once a month. Mmmhmm!

Indonesia
(recipe borrowed from the cooks at: www.indochef.com)

Indonesian Sate’s

• 500 gr. of Beef, Pork or Chicken

Marinade:

• 1 Onion
• 1 Garlic clove
• 30 ml Dark Soya sauce
• 1 teaspoon Coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Grass
• 1 teaspoon Hot Chilli paste
• 1 glass red wine (optional)
• 30 ml water

Preparation:  Dice the meat in to 2 cm square cubes and put onto bamboo skewers (about 4 per stick). Combine all the marinade ingredients into a food processor and make into a smooth paste. Poor this over the prepared sate’s and leave to marinade for at least 2 hours. Cook the sate’s on the barbecue or under the grill for 5 -10 min. until done and serve with hot Peanut Sauce.

Babi Kecap

• 500 gr Tender Pork
• 1 large Onion
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 3 cm fresh Ginger
• 30 gr dark sugar
• ½ cup Ketjap Manis
• 2 cups Water
• Lemon juice
• 1 stock cube
• Pepper & Salt

Preparation:  Finely dice Onion, Garlic and Ginger. Cut Pork into strips. Add Sugar, Pepper and Salt. Fry in small saucepan until Onion is soft and the pork is dark. Add the Ketjap Manis (sweet Indonesian soya sauce) and water, Lemon juice and stock cube and leave to simmer on a low flame for about 30 min.

India… {Potluck!}

Saturday, April 6 -

There was SO MUCH FOOD. Oh my gosh. We had lamb korma, two types of chicken tikka, matar paneer, raita, gluten-free naan, gluten-free onion fritters, mango lassi, rice, gulab jamun, chutney, samosas, and a potato dish that I missed the name of. There was a ton of people and we all ate so well there was much groaning and belly patting. I can’t even tell you how much fun it was to have so many cooks participate. Thank you, again, to everyone that cooked, ate, drank, and participated in the India potluck. Thank you to RubsWithLove and SirVJ for hosting this dinner!

Let me admit that this dinner was hard for me because I was having an allergy attack so bad that I couldn’t smell or taste anything. Ugh. I don’t recommend it. Four allergy pills and an air purifier later, I finally enjoyed the dinner.

I made the matar paneer recipe as it was written (however, I did not really measure the spices very well at all) but when I was all done it just didn’t look like the matar paneer that I was used to at restaurants. So I added coconut milk to it. But that watered down the flavor so much that it didn’t taste like anything other than coconut milk and a spicy-heat punch to the tongue. Not so good. So I kept adding the spices that the recipe called for trying to fix it. That worked… a little bit. I ended up dumping in curry powder and it fixed it just fine. I know I probably shouldn’t have messed with it, but it did not look like the photo – not one bit! In the end it turned out ok. Not my favorite, but ok.

The raita was easy to make and pretty much vanished because of how many spicy dishes we had. I am super glad that I made a double batch. Everything else was so good that I wanted to eat seconds (I didn’t, but I wanted to!). I definitely recommend Indian food as a great potluck idea for parties! Just make sure to have mints on hand after everyone is done eating.

India
(recipes borrowed from the cooks at:  www.sailusfood.com and www.epicurious.com)

Matar Paneer Recipe

• 1/4 kg paneer – cube and saute in a tsp of ghee till lightly browned
• small cup fresh green peas
• 1 large onion, finely chop
• ginger-green chilli paste (1″ ginger piece+3 green chillis)
• 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 3/4 tsp red chilli pwd
• pinch of turmeric pwd
• 1 1/4 tsps coriander pwd
• 1/2 tsp kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
• pinch of garam masala pwd
• 1 tsp Kitchen King masala pwd
• 1 tsp malai, top of milk
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil

1 Heat oil in a cooking vessel, add the onions and sauté, approx 4-5 mts. Add ginger-green chilli paste, coriander pwd, turmeric pwd, red chilli pwd and combine. Add few tbsps water and saute for a mt.
2 Add tomatoes and cook for 4-5 mts. Turn off heat and cool. Make a coarse paste.
3 Return this paste to the vessel, add a cup of water and bring to a boil. Reduce flame, add the green peas and cook for 6 mts. Add the paneer and malai and simmer for 7-8 mts. Add salt. Simmer for a few more mts.
4 Stir in malai, garam masala pwd, Kitchen King masala and kasuri methi and combine, cook for a mt. Turn off flame.
5 Let it sit for a while before serving. The gravy thickens, so at the time of serving, add a little milk and combine. Serve hot with rotis or naan.

Traditional Indian Raita

•     1/2 cup plain yogurt
•     1/2 cup chopped seeded English hothouse cucumber
•     2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
•     2 teaspoons chopped green onions
•     1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
•     1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Preparation: Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. Season to taste with salt. Chill raita, covered, until ready to serve.

Iceland…

Monday, March 25 -

Another dinner with a ton of people, how exciting! We had: LostBoy, RubsWithLove, Sir VJ (salad), ChinUp, MyBuddy (caramelized potatoes), OurCuz (wine), BestestFianceEver, and yours truly (fried halibut and bread).

We bought 2.3 pounds of halibut, fresh from Central Market. I cut the slab of fish into pieces approximately 2″ square. I figured it would be easier for people to portion control that way. I mixed the flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl and rolled the pieces of fish in the flour mixture. I melted a stick of butter in a large pan (medium high) and I fried the pieces of fish in the hot butter. It took me two batches, the last batch smaller than the first batch, so I added chopped onion to the second batch. After I pulled the last of the fish pieces out and set them on a plate with a paper towel; I covered them with foil until the onions were browned and beautiful from frying in the butter.

Dinner was served – fish fried in butter, onions fried in butter, caramelized potatoes, and a salad with strawberries, gorgonzola, almonds, and balsamic dressing. (We couldn’t find a real salad recipe from Iceland, but it does say to serve it with one in the recipe, so I told them to wing it with whatever sounded good.)

The salad was crisp and bright with sweet strawberries. The fish was light and flaky, with only a little bit of the butter flavor lingering. The potatoes kind of tasted like doughnuts and kind of like potatoes. Not bad, but not my favorite. The food was on plates and then disappeared into bellies so fast that I almost missed everyone actually eating it. I think from the silence while the food was being devoured that it was a pretty darn good dinner.

All of the dinner ideas for the I, J, and K countries are up over here. Don’t be shy, come have dinner with us!

Iceland
(recipes borrowed from the cooks at: www.isholf.is)

Lúðubuff – Fried Halibut Steaks

• 1 1/2 kg. halibut (or turbot, sole or other flat fish)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 150 gr. oil, butter or margarine
• 4 tbsp. flour
• 1/3 tsp. ground pepper
• 100 gr. onion

Take one small, whole halibut. Cut off the head, tail and fins. Scrape off the slime and loose scales under cold, running water. Cut the fish into slices, about as thick as your thumb is wide. Mix together flour, salt and pepper. Coat the slices with flour mixture and fry in the hot fat until done (3-4 minutes on each side). Remove from the pan and arrange the steaks on a serving dish. Slice the onions and brown in the fat, remove and put on top of the fish. Pour some water on the frying pan, roll it around and pour over the fish. Serve with cooked potatoes, green salad and lemon wedges.
-Try grilling the fish steaks: cut into large cubes and thread onto skewers with onion pieces, fresh mushrooms and pieces of red bell pepper (capsicum).

Brúnaðar kartöflur – Caramelized potatoes

• 1 kg. cooked potatoes (preferably red)
• 50 g. butter/margarine
• 50 g. sugar

Potatoes should preferably be cold, but it is not necessary. They should be small and even sized. If they are too big, cut into smaller pieces, flush with water and pat dry. Put the sugar on a medium hot frying pan. When it starts to brown, add the butter and stir to mix. Lower temperature and add potatoes. Roll the potatoes around to coat evenly. The caramel covering should be soft. Serve hot, for example with the Sunday roast. Caramelized potatoes are also good with all kinds of pork, especially smoked.