We keep calling this dish: "That Russian Ice Cream", which I'm sure is totally wrong and inappropriate. Nevertheless, that's how it's been ingrained into our minds, which is just fine because it was absolutely delicious.
Basically, the dish (which is a frozen/chilled pudding of sorts) is named after one Count Nesselrode who was a well-known Russian diplomat back in the 1800's. There seem to be a number of dishes named in his honor, so it seems fair to suggest that this guy liked his food. For a brief history of the man, check out his wiki entry, wish strangely lists no record of his small effect on the culinary world.
FINALLY the cream started resembling whipped cream. Man, it was delicious! :-)
Anyway, thanks to the fresh whipped cream required for this dessert, we worked off our calories before we ate them. While some of you may have been put off by having to whip your cream by hand, we thought of our waistlines and decided that the extra work was indeed a perk.
Roasted chesnuts...that we crushed. Apparently "chesnut puree" is not sold anywhere, and we couldn't make it any other way!
A creamy yogurt mixed with whipped cream, flavored with chestnuts and dabbled with dried, brandy-soaked fruits, was a definite foodie WIN!
Looks gross, tastes gooooood.
Verdict: An unusual dessert choice, but definitely a rewarding one. Probably the best thing we ate in Russia!
For like five minutes, Micah and I have been trying to think of a funny name of this blog post.
"Borscht Schmorscht"? Not funny. REALLY lame actually.
"Borscht - Just how the Russian's like it!" Since we have never been to Russia, met Russian people, or really eaten that much Russian food, it seems a little presumptuous to assume anything about "how Russian's like it"!
So for now, the title of this blog post is a reference to Seinfeld's famous Soup Nazi. Feel free to chuckle to yourself in appreciation for our quarter-hour brainstorming session. :-)
Anyway, making this deep-red dish was fun and it was actually pretty tasty! Admittedly, I have a personal aversion to beets (don't the canned versions just taste like complete shit?) but I have to say, they really rose to the occasion for this one.
Beet deliciousness in a bowl.
Warm and filling (despite being meat-less), I can understand why this might be eaten after a long, cold day. With a nice dollop of sour cream, this becomes a "cream of XYZ" variety - very delicious indeed.
However, I don't know if we will make this again. Don't get me wrong, it was very delicious - I would venture to say that it was probably the best meal we ate while exploring this country. That being said, I should probably reveal that Micah and I are not "soup people". Although we stupidly keep picking soup recipes to make, we seem to have a hard time appreciating them. This is probably because soups, at least to us, have always been an appetizer...a prequel of what's to come. Eating soup as the main course, always leaves us waiting for more.
Nevertheless, we will keep making soup and hope that we will find one so delicious that it will be truly meal-worthy!
So it's been about 1 1/2 weeks since we last posted. Meanwhile, we've been to New Zealand, and haven't even written about it! I guess that's what happens when the university semester really gets into full swing. Micah's just finished his first month of grad school, and I'm in the middle of writing up several of my research projects for (hopeful!) publication - so these meals have become a welcome respite from our work.
When we started this blog/food adventure a few weeks ago, we weren't even sure that we would make it through the first weekend. I mean, the blogosphere wont fall to pieces without us, and the motivation behind this blog is purely ours. Fortunately, we've found that we really enjoy the experience and we are surprising ourselves with every meal.
An exciting moment in my life: homemade whipped cream. Take that, overpriced supermarket variety!
Just a few days ago we made our first home-made whipped cream. Did you know that whipped cream is literally just that? Just cream whipped a bunch? We don't have a mixer, so it took a while of combined upper-arm strength to get our runny heavy cream to start having "peaks" and showing "definition" (the recipe's description: not mine!). Either way, we couldn't believe that we had actually been paying for a bad version of our fresh cream...for years!
A real man knows how to make whipped cream. In a pink-orange bowl too!
Anyway, tonight we've declared a sorely needed night off, and I'm going to catch up on the blogging while Micah makes fish pie.
Tomorrow it's back to the "real world" where Micah reads hundreds of pages from the "Fort Myers Comprehensive Plan" and I look up whether alkalinity may have played a roll in my CO2 fertilization experiment. I am so excited, I can hardly take it.
I think we must have cooked the kasha wrong. We must have made some dumb mistake. It was so inedible that it ended up in our garbage disposal.
Buckwheat grains heating in a pot.
I was pretty optimistic - I'd never eaten buckwheat or beef liver in my life. I imagined something along the lines of a delicious, meaty stew or porridge. Man, was I wrong!
Clockwise: buckwheat, eggs, and beef liver.
I did manage to take four bites, and then I opted out and went for a regular old bowl of Captain Crunch cereal.
Our "meal"
Either way, we have left over buckwheat and we are determined to cook some kasha that we actually like. Tomorrow, round two commences.
With an army (well, a small regiment) of helpers...we ventured out into the foodie world of mushrooms and yeast pancakes.
Modeling our blinis recipe!
Kim and Matt waiting for the stroganoff to be ready!
Ashley learning how to cut onions!
Before I talk about the food though, I'd like to go on a (small) tangent about Russian food. While I was cutting onions last night, I had an epiphany of sorts. Here it is: traditional food actually varies regionally, for specific reasons.
For example, all of the Russian food (so far) has been warm, meaty, and filling. Perfect for a country with such cold weather, harsh environments,and such a long farming history. How about the fact that the food seems relatively spice-less? Could this be because historically, much or the country was relatively poor and couldn't afford to buy exotic spices? I mean, look at a map of Russia. Some places are so far off the grid, it would have taken an extraordinary amount of resources to get anything out there, let alone spices.
Anyway, I do realize that my "epiphany" is elementary, but I guess that's the problem with living in a society where we are fortunate enough to literally eat any kind of food that we want. We can eat Italian, Chinese, Indian, and Thai and never have to think about why the food tastes the way it does, or what religious, social, or nutritious factors have shaped its evolution. I've never thought about why the Chinese eat a lot of rice or why Indian food is often vegetarian.
Anyway, all of this happened while I was chopping the onion for last night's stroganoff, and I stewed on my thoughts for a little while (pun definitely intended).
Thestroganoff and the blinis both turned out well - we believe we cooked fairly accurate representations of the meals, but it's always hard to be certain.
The stroganoff tasted delicious, the mushroom sauce was very flavorful, although it came with a side of rubber (AKA overcooked pork, our fault entirely!). Some of the guests added salt (we didn't, out of fear of being "nontraditional") and reported that it heightened the mushroomy-taste.
Almost done!
The blinis were also very good, except for the fact that we substituted oat flour for buckwheat flour (which I'm sure took away a lot of the appeal). They definitely tasted their best when paired with sour cream and a liberal amount of smoked salmon (as suggested in the recipe).
The giraffe wanted some blinis too!
Overall the night was a success and the food was tasty, in its own way. We're still waiting for a Russian meal to fall head-over-heels in love with, but so far the cuisine has been tasty!
We're finally "in" Russia! I've been looking forward to this for a few days now, which is why we decided to start a little early this week (and also because we're college kids...and our weekends are usually five days long!).
Pelmeni, a type of Russian dumpling, is prepared by following a few basic steps:
Unfortunately, the dough outsmarted us and although I'm sure we were supposed to knead our way to dumpling heaven, we were left with a проклятый mess (Hint: that is the Russian equivalent for a word that starts with "f" and ends with "ucking").
Our first attempt at "dough". Modeled by Micah!
We're no cooks - we don't know how to "fix" kitchen mistakes. So we did the most logical thing: We added flour. A LOT of flour.
The flour worked so-so, and our goo was transformed into something that could be a very distantly related member of the dough family.
Meat mix + dough = dumplings?
With our pseudo-dough in hand, we moved on to dumpling making. One of us was good at making dumplings and it sure as heck wasn't me! Mostly because of my inability to wrap dough around a lump of meat, Micah was gracious enough to document his step-by-step guide on how to become a dumpling master.
My dumpling. Micah's dumpling. Enough said!
The "guardian of the kitchen" keeping tabs on our cooking progress.
Once the raw dumplings were created, they were simply plopped into a nice boiling pot of water for twenty minutes and then, voila, lunch was served!
Our finished product, complete with ketchup and sour cream!
The verdict: As far as meatball-like foods, I like the Vietnamese pork balls better. This tastes a lot like German frikadellen (or like cooked hamburger meat), and generally speaking, I wish it had been more flavored of spiced. Micah really liked the pelmeni, and would definitely make them again.
Generally speaking, pelmeni are easy to make and filling. The recipe could have fed us twice over.
Next up: Stroganoff and the Nesselrode Bombe (YAY!).
In a few days we are "traveling" to Russia, and although I'm sure it's just a huge stereotype, drinking vodka (or tea, for those of you with responsibilities) is what we'll be doing!
Now seriously - what do I know about Russia? I know that it's cold. I think I've heard that the meals are pretty meat heavy. I've seen Moscow through the eyes of Jason Bourne in the Bourne movies. Yep, that's pretty much about it.
OK, I need to be educated.
According to several websites (here, here, and here!), Obed (AKA lunch) is the main meal of the day. Lunch is usually three courses: a salad, soup, and main course. Because of this, we have decided to cook three lunches, one dinner, one breakfast (instead of three dinners, one lunch, and one breakfast) so that we eat in a more Russian manner. Breakfast (Zavtrak) seems to be small and hot (probably similar to American breakfast portion sizes), and dinner (Uzhin) sounds like its a smaller version of the lunch.
Inspired, if you will, by last weekend's success we've decided to take Russia by storm. Russian cuisine, that is.
For breakfast we will be making Kasha, which is a popular, porridge-like meal. Apparently its preparation is very flexible, so I'll be having it sweet! As the first course for our lunches, we'll be cooking Olivye Salad which looks absolutely delicious (I LOVE potato salads!). For our main lunch courses, we will be making Borscht, Blinis, and Pelmini (the recipes for Borscht and Blinis are in a one of my cookbooks, but I'll post those as well!). We haven't decided on a dinner yet, but we DO know that we will be attempting to make Nesselrode Bombe for dessert (also in my cookbook), which seems to be a pie/solid custard made of cream and candied fruits.
All I have to say is: Thank God we invested in an apartment with a dishwasher.
Sorry it took us a while to post this – we’re still trying to get into the groove of things!
Our second endeavor into the Vietnamese cuisine was also a success but a little less than our first. It was my turn to cook, so I made Chicken Pho. I slaved over this dish while Kim was hanging out with her friend, typical (just kidding, baby!) :-)
The roasted onion gave a strong flavor to the broth which is reminiscent of old fashioned chicken noodle soup. What really gives this dish its distinctness is the hint of ginger that sort of breaths out of the soup as you eat it.
It’s fantastic, really.
For this recipe, I had to make everything from scratch (which involved THREE hours of cooking!). The recipe starts with the base bowl of rice noodles, scallions and pieces of chicken over which you then pour the broth.
From here you add to it your choice of goodies: Limes, Mung bean sprouts, Basil, Sweet red chili sauce, Housin sauce (Not my thing, personally. It tastes like bbq sauce that’s gone bad), Etc… (It’s all in the recipe just read it)
I added a few leaves of fresh basil, some sprouts, and some red chili sauce as you can see here. I have never eaten fresh basil before, I really liked it.
If you get some noodles on your fork, stab a basil leaf and some chicken...throw some chili sauce on it and you’re looking at Chick Pho, Fo Sho.
The cooking itself was a pain, the recipe says it will take three and a half hours but I think I broke four. The hardest part was peeling all that meat off the bones. I tried to do it too quickly so I didn’t let it cool; I was tossing the chicken in the air whenever my hands couldn’t take the heat.
Overall, I’m not sure if I will cook this dish again, it was super tasty and I’m glad I experienced it, but it just took too long. There are plenty of dishes one can prepare in less time that are equally as satisfying.
Next week comrades, join us for our onward rush to Russia.
Over the course of 80 meals, we plan to eat our way around the world. Along the way we'll be keeping track of the meals that we deem "passport-worthy". So if you're craving a change in your eating routine or you wanna impress your knew fling, these are the recipes to try!
Vietnam:
Pork Meatballs, part of the Bun Cha recipe: Delicious, flavor-filled taste bud roller coaster rides!
New Zealand
Both the Rabbit Pie and the Fish Cakes were AMAZING!!! Recipes, here and here!
Zimbabwe
The Sweet Potato cookies are quite possibly the best things our mouths have ever come across. Got a sweet tooth? Try this - you will not regret it, although your waistline might!
Bun Cha. Bun Cha. Bun Cha. Sounds almost meditative. Maybe that's why our first meal went so uneventfully. No burnt food, no cuts, and no food poisoning. I even managed to eat the whole meal with chop sticks, without poking out any eyeballs! I'm not sure if we're having a bout of beginner's luck or if this is the calm before the storm, or if I'm just over analyzing. Whatever the reason for our success, Micah and I are breathing a sigh of relief that our super-awesome plan might actually work!
The ingredients. Those Jalapenos look scary!
Bun Cha, our second Vietnamese meal and our first big "assignment", consisted of pork (in our case, homemade pork meatballs) and greens served over a bed of vermicelli (rice noodles), flavored to taste with dipping sauce, hoisin sauce, and chili and garlic sauce. Well, at least that's how we ate it!
In return for a free meal, we got two friends to help us out (we're college students...we'll do just about anything for free food), and accompanied by traditional Vietnamese music, we got started.
Micah, Frank, and Jenn workin' for dinner in the kitchen.
First things first - saltwater soaked greens. I don't think that I've ever soaked anything (other than my sunburned body) in saltwater. Interestingly enough, it tasted good! I've read that Romans invented the "salad" by using salt as a dressing, and I can see why. Alone, it tasted refreshing. Mixed in with the noodles and meat, it tasted good, but it was definitely not my favorite part of the meal.
While the greens were soaking, Jenn (one of our willing chefs and food tasters!) prepped the dipping sauce, which was an interesting blend of fruit and spice. The taste was more subtle than I thought it would be, and it was easily overpowered by other parts of our dinner. Nevertheless, it created a great base flavor for our meal, and added a nice layer of sauce to the noodles.
Pork meatballs cookin' up, the orange stuff is the dipping sauce!
The last, and certainly not least, item cooked were the pork meatballs. Mixed and marinated with lemon grass, garlic, shallots, and chili, these were nothing short of heavenly.
HEAVENLY.
My mouth is watering just thinking about them. If you do nothing else but cook these meatballs, consider your life a success. They were that good. They were good enough that two facebook status updates were dedicated to them (oh, technology).
Ta-Da!!!! Dinner is served! :-)
In celebration of our life changing pork meatballs, we have decided to add a "best of the best" list to our blog. "Passport-worthy" foods will be listed by country and will be updated every time we cook something that makes our taste buds do a happy dance. Overall, our first day went surprisingly well and the end result was rather delicious. Both of us have a new found respect for Vietnamese food, and are SO excited to try out our other recipes.
Tonight's food: Chicken Pho (this post has the link to the recipe!) Tomorrow for lunch: Bang Xeo (Vietnamese crepes!) Next Week: We're movin' on to Russia!
Tomorrow is a big day! It's the first day of our journey. I'm a little scared. We are currently "stationed" in Vietnam, and I just researched what that means for our food prospects this weekend.
Apparently Vietnamese food involves a lot of rice and noodles. Dinner is usually a soup, and according to the information bible (AKA Wikipedia), fresh veggies and dipping sauce are a must. Many of the dinner plates are served family-style, with the only individual plate being a bowl of rice. According to this source, chopsticks and spoons are the utensils of choice and when in the presence of elders, custom requires younger generations to request permission to dig in. According to GuideVietnam.com a traditional meal consists of: "steamed rice; a soup dish to eat with rice, a meat or fish dish and a vegetarian dish (either stir fried or boiled)."
Sounds great! To be honest though, breakfast will be a little daunting. Our choices range from Pho (a meat based rice noodle soup) to mi quang (pork rice noodles), to banh mi (cold cut meat loaf). Somehow the prospect of starting my day with a nice cold lump of meat loaf doesn't sound too appealing. At least I'm allowed to drink juice with my breakfast! I guess it's all part of the experience we are looking for. So we shall do as the locals do.
Tomorrow's recipes are as follows:
Bun Cha (for dinner), and I'll be preparing Sunday's breakfast (Chicken Pho) tomorrow evening as well.
Wish us luck because we'll sure be needing those good luck vibes!
Kim here, writing about who we actually are and what we are doing taking up space in the blogosphere. First things first. "We" are a couple, and we are called Micah and Kim. A few quick facts:
We are in luuurve and living together while I finish up my undergraduate and Micah works on his Master's degree.
I'm German by birth, a triple citizen, and have traveled to 16 countries. More to come, shortly (I'm doing a 17 month RTW trip working as a biology field assistant and volunteering, you can read about it at my travel blog) :-)
Micah's got two Europe trips under his belt. Ten countries and counting.
We like biking, our dog (Kody!), comic books, reading, eating, cooking, cleaning (HA! yeah right!), geology, science, and generally just cool stuff.
The whole family tailgating before a football game!
Secondly: what are we doing here? Long story short: we have decided to commence on a culinary tour of the world. From our kitchen. In 80 meals.
Hence the name of the blog: Around the world in 80 meals. Catchy, eh? (Micah gets credit for coming up with it!)
This picture just about says it all.
Anyway, you may be wondering why we are doing this. There are numerous reasons:
1) We are bored. We are bored of eating the same old meals over and over again. We are bored of having the same hobbies. It's time to shake it up a little. 2) We have mediocre cooking skills so it will be fun (or poisonous) experience. 3) We have realized how little we know about world cultures and food traditions. For example: What in the world do people in Afghanistan eat? I don't know. Micah doesn't know. But, I guess that's the point of this project. 4) I'm leaving on a seventeen month around-the-world trip in January, and this is how Micah and I will be able to do a mini, cheap "trip" together before I leave.
The only rules for our adventure are to eat and be merry. OK, that's a lie - we have a few more, and you can read about them here.
Let's see how far we get!
Meeting the ice statue at the Ice Bar in Orlando, FL.
We were hungry. Not in the mood for the usual (and there is certainly a lot of "usual" around here), we did a half-hearted google search in hopes for a brighter dinner. French? Too expensive. Spanish? No. We eat that enough already. Chinese? In my dreams.Vietnamese. Sounded interesting. Until we realized that we had no idea what Vietnamese people actually eat. Rice? What a stereotype.
After sitting down for our first Vietnamese meal; we began bumping around the idea of trying to cook meals from a bunch of countries we haven’t had the chance to experience. Brain storming over rice noodles and soup, we listed off cuisines we should try and how we should blog about it. Doubtful that our idea would ever really get passed the planning stage, we cracked open our fortune cookies, only to read the following words of wisdom:
It was a sign from the mass-producing fortune cookie gods that we must indeed go through with our plan.
Kim is leaving in January on the trip of a lifetime through Africa, India, the Middle East, Thailand, and China. Seventeen months! I’m going to miss her dearly. (You can read about her preparation of her travels on her personal blog here. I’m not allowed to read it (yet). But that shouldn’t stop you!)
Anyway, we’re counting down the days and before she leaves on her own trip, we will be taking our own kind of journey together.We will cook and eat the food of the world unknown to us.
In order to consume our way around the world, we have set up a few ground rules:
1.Each week we choose one country. We’re not allowed to have any preconceived ideas or notions about the area’s culinary offerings. We are jumping’ in headfirst, with no warning. (Sorry Italy and France!)
2.Every week from Thursday to Sunday, our dinners and at least one breakfast, lunch, or dessert will be home-cooked, traditional recipes from our country of choice.
3.We must research the eating habits of each country and abide by those rules.
4.We must keep a written record here on this blog.
5.Ahead of time, we will post the recipes we will be using and the eating habits of the country so you can join us in the experience.
(We want others to become our fellow culinary journeymen. Please join us on our trip. When you eat, tell us about your experience!)
Tomorrow is Day one. The first of eighty meals which will hopefully widen our experiences, fill our stomachs, and not bankrupt us in the process.
