Food you want to know and already kind of eat - Armenia

As many may know by now growing up in the Midwest of the USA meant a lot of meat and potatoes and jello salad.  When I learned about Russian food, I think I was blown away by the use of mayonnaise, but it also resonated with me.  Every sandwich had mayo on the bread, mayo for the salad sandwiches (egg, chicken, etc.), mayo in the cake instead of oil, and of course in the vegetable dip.  I have to admit I think I even had a jello salad once that had mayo in it.  :P

So as I have made this trip around Europe and Asia, I was totally blown away by Armenian Food.  This sounded a lot like my kind of food.  I have included a link below that has all sorts of fantastic information you can use to cook an Armenian inspired meal tonight.  So as in all my blogs, it comes down to what are the basics?  Here are some tips, but I hope it only peaks your interest and makes you want to discover more.

• The manipulation of food includes stuffing, adding air (frothing) and making purees.  There are also a lot of soups and stew like dishes due to cooking in sauces.
• It is not very spicy! Yeah for me, something that those of us who are not chili junkies can enjoy
• Heavy use of Fresh food, always a good thing.  In fact they do not fry meat and really put an emphasis on natural tastes.
• They also use fruit and nuts in many of their dished.  And you thought we were all original in the USA adding fruit and nuts to our salads.  :)
• There are connections in their cuisine to Greek, Turkish and Middle Eastern cuisine.  Of course that makes sense, being located where it is.
• Okay, one correction, Armenia actually influenced the food around it in countries and not the other way around.  They even were the ones to start the whole thing about cooking in a clay furnace (Tonir)
• There is not much fat used in cooking.  Mostly butter and a little Sesame oil
• Many of the meats are cooked using multiple methods for a melt in your mouth texture (in the end it is all about slow cooking)
• Cooking includes the use of Green grocery as in the country they have over 300 wild grasses and flowers that they use.  Yep, another cooking fad that comes from long ago, cooking with flowers.  :)

So, if this sounds like it is for you, get out the crock pot or slow cooker, stuff some meat and vegetables, make a salad with fruits and nuts and call it an Armenian night at the table.  See, you do already kind of eat it.  :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_cuisine

Fish sauce for everyday use by everyone - Really :)

There are a lot of different sauces used around the world that we don't really use much in the USA and if they have lots of fermentation or vinegar that I don't use.  This is my attempt to not only bring them you your attention, as so many countries across the globe use them, but also it is part of my journey to expanding my palette and cooking flavors. 

I grew up without thinking much about flavor.  It was sweet or sour or salty.  Spicy existed of course, just not really in my world.  Believe me when I say that I know this makes me an oddball.  For example, my dad put black pepper on most things.  As a young person there is no way you could have got me to cook or use it because of being spicy :).  Also, years later I was at a conference in Arizona and tried some salad dressing that was creamy but it's type was unknown.  After putting it on my salad I warned the next person that it was pretty spicy.  She took my advice and then laughed at how I found  ranch dressing spicy.  (talk about embarrassed)

So I get it, when I talk about new flavors you may have never tried or heard of and some fear that may exist in thinking about trying them.  It's worth it though, because you never know what you are missing until you try.  You may decide, nope this is not for me, or you may find your new go to flavor.  So here is the basic breakdown on fish sauce.

It is used all over in Asia but heavily in  Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.  It is made from fish fermented in sea salt.  It is used in cooking different meats, soups and for dipping sauces.  Many people say that it helps food to have that unique unami flavor.  Also, it is a relative of Worcester sauce.  It can be made form one type of fish or a mix, squid, or even shellfish.  Another variant is if it is made from fresh or dried fish.  Once it is done, it can have a savory, sweet, salty and even a sour flavor depending on what has been added to it.

When cooking with fish sauce remember that while the salt content is high, it will be dispersed throughout the dish.  Do be aware that different brands though have varying levels of sodium and therefore a salty taste.  Also, to get rid of the fishy smell, just use fresh lime juice.  Some great uses for fish sauce or ways to use it are as follows:

• Add just 3 or 4 drops to anything that tastes good but a little flat - spaghetti sauce, sauteed veg, eggs, any savory dish etc.
• Any kind of soup that needs some "oomph" or depth of flavor.
• You can use fish sauce in place of anchovies in Italian dishes. It adds depth of flavor to marina sauce. You can make a decent Caesar salad dressing with it amazingly.
• It's often the secret ingredient to a really successful French bouillabaisse
• Splash a teaspoon of it in a vinaigrette salad or a tablespoon in in a stew and it does enhance the flavor quite a bit.
• Try it on Mexican food.

For more detailed info, you can follow the link below

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_sauce

Soy and Fish; a saucy combination (and where we go from here)

I have been told and I absolutely believe it, that I have a hard time focusing on one thing.  I am also dyslexic with phrases, saying things like "check my cash" instead of "cash my check."  Put these 2 things together with a blog and On My!  :)  There is so much to share and talk about I feel like I just don't have enough time to pull it all together.  My life feels like that a lot of the time as well. Let's just call me eclectic So, with this in mind, today and tomorrow is about the differences in Soy and Fish sauces.  Then we will jump to different countries, taking turns between Asia, Russia and North and Eastern Europe.  Remember the idea is not to make you expert chefs with step-by-step recipes, but rather give you all of the beginning steps needed to become a wonderful Unchef with your own style.  So hang on, here we go again!  :)

Most people know that soy sauce is used in Asian cuisine and that it is salty.  Beyond that there is so much more.  Soy sauce is made from soy beans and wheat, although some styles have less or no wheat at all.  Soy sauce comes in different colors and from different countries.  Here is a quick breakdown:

Japan (Shoyu) - Soy Sauce from Japan is usually thinner, lighter and sweeter than soy sauce from China.

• Dark Soy sauce - Dark Japanese soy sauces have a deeper color. A good all-purpose choice, they are best used in marinades and basting sauces, but are perfectly acceptable for dipping or stir-fries as well.  They also tend to be less salty.
• Light Soy sauce - These are lighter and thinner than their darker, richer counterparts, but have a more assertive, salty flavor and a slight sweetness from the addition of mirin, a sweet rice wine.  People will use them instead of the dark soy sauce so as not to effect the color of the food, but you need to use less because it is more intense.
• Tamari - is a soy sauce that is somewhat more like Chinese soy sauce.  It has a stronger flavor and is ideally used as a dipping sauce.
• Saishikomi, or "twice-brewed" soy sauce, has a stronger flavor than tamari.  
• Shiro - This is called a white soy sauce, It has a lighter color and flavor. It's typically used as a dipping sauce for sashimi (sliced, usually raw, seafood) made with mild, white-fleshed fish where a darker sauce would overpower and discolor the delicate slices.

China -

• Light (Fresh, pure bean, thin)  - These soy sauces are meant to enhance flavors when cooking. It's by far the most common cooking sauce in Chinese cuisine. If a Chinese recipe calls for "soy sauce" and nothing else, you can assume it means light soy sauce. Double-fermented light sauces, which have a mellower, more complex flavor are also available and used primarily for dipping.
• Dark and Double Dark - These are thicker in texture than light and darker (of course), but like the Japanese counter-parts, they are less salty.  They also often have added sugar or molasses, giving them a sweet-salty flavor and viscous texture. They are used solely for cooking, often added at the last stages to season and add color to sauces.

Many other Asian countries have there own variety of soy sauces, but you cannot always find them easily here in the US, even at Asian Markets.  One that is easier to find is Indonesian (Kecap manis). It's a sweet soy sauce native to Indonesia made with fermented soy beans and flavored with palm sugar, star anise, galangal and other aromatics.  Another that many like is from Hawaii and called appropriately "Aloha."  It is a slightly sweeter and thicker soy sauce.

When to use it here in your cooking?  Well, try mixing it withWorcester sauce (if you buy Maggi, it tastes a little like that) for a new flavor for you meat dishes, or add it to rice and/or noodles for that Asian flavor that is worth getting to know without taking a huge risk.  Not crazy about soy sauce, take a couple of chances with it by trying different brands and go totally of the grid if you want.  If you are a creamy sort of person, add it to some sour cream, or add it to your cream of tomato soup.  It is time that soy sauce came of the back of the table at the Chinese buffet and into your home in a new way.

Taking it step by step - Asia and Russia (country by country) South Korea

Growing up in Iowa, I was convinced that we were a accent neutral state.  Other places had he accent, we had the accent they used for national television.  Okay, maybe we used funky words like davenport for sofa or couch and pop for soda, but I felt confident that we were the place to be from for public speaking.  Then I moved and I was informed that I had an accent. On top of that people kept confusing Iowa with Idaho and Ohio.  Really? I mean come on, Iowa is different than any other place on earth and a pretty cool place to live.  I still claim Iowa as my home even though I haven't lived there since I was 17. 

I have discovered that the same thing happens with other countries let alone states or regions across the world. You say Asian food and people think Chinese.  You talk about Russia and it is vodka.  Europe is a little better but what do you really know about the difference between German and Lithuanian food? 

Since I started this blog I have realized that there a lot of basics to learn from every country.  Today it is South Korea's turn.  Korea was one country up to about 50 years ago, so the difference are really more regional than country based (Like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles).  One difference though is that North Korea meals usually include cold noodles.

So what are some of the cool food basics you can pick up from South Korea? 

• It has been influenced by other countries just like ours, from other countries like China, Japan and Portugal. 
•  Korean food is unique in its flavours, they use their very own red pepper paste called gochujang, and also use soy bean pastes, fish sauces, fruit, soy sauce and sesame oil.
• Banchan are side dishes served in small bowls and every meal can include anywhere from 2 to 12 sides that range from vegetables to meat to seafood.
• Food is served all at the same time and not in courses.
• Rice is the backbone of almost every Korean meal. On rare occasions, noodles will replace the rice, but the vast majority of the time, every person eats a bowl of rice with their meal.
• Typically, each person will also have their own bowl of soup or stew.
• The main dish or dishes, which can be meat, seafood, or tofu will all be served family-style in the middle of the table. Sometimes a large stew will replace the main dish and will be served family-style at the table.
• Everything, including meat and poultry, is cut into bite-sized pieces so there is no need for a knife.
• Many Korean meat dishes are braised or marinated for a long time for a tender flesh.
• The main dish will be hot while the side dished will be cool or room temperature.

So tonight it is family style with several simple sides and one crock-pot dish in the middle.  Do not going to worry about being fancy and there will be rice and some easy soup made from broth and left over chicken and veggies.  On the table there will be soy sauce and sesame oil in the dishes and hot sauce that can be added as wanted.  The one new side for the night will be something with tofu.

 Maybe not a huge leap into South Korean food, but dip your toe into the water, you may be swimming before you know it.

For simple Korean recipes visit: http://www.easykoreanfood.com/

Keeping it Clean - Woods in your Kitchen

Purging when you are going to move whether it be a home or an office is interesting to say the least.  When one is in the middle of it, you ask yourself several times, "Why did I keep this?"  It would seem to make so much more sense to clean as you go.  Somehow my children have not learned the lesson of cleaning as you go either.  At times I wonder if they even understand what clean looks like.  In any case, working in the kitchen is very much the same.  Admittedly I am on of those who love to cook and hate to wash dished.  Keeping the kitchen clean though is not the same as dinnerware.  Cleaning as you go means having your tools always ready for use and at hand.  It also means less cursing while cooking because you have what you need, when you need it.  :)

One of the biggest problems is keeping wooden objects not so much clean as keeping them free of odor and bacteria.  While you should not soak your wooden spoons etc. often, once every so often (say 6  to 9 months) it is good to soak them in hot water and bleach for about an hour.  20 parts water to one part bleach.  After that, resoak in hot water with a mild detergent to take away the bleach smell.  If the wood feels fuzzy, it is okay to smooth by using a small grit sandpaper or steel wool.  Of course wash as you usually wood after to clean off any left over bits and pieces.  To extend the life of the wood, you can also at the end of the process by oiling it using Mineral Oil on a paper towel or celan cloth and then letting it dry.  Oiling can be done up to once per month without causing the wood or yourself any damage

Additioanl tips:

• Some people will tell you that you can clean wooden objet with lemon.  This leaves a nice smell but it does not help in disinfecting. 
• If your wood seems humid you can dry them using the microwave in small amounts of time (30 to 60 second bursts)  At least towel dry wood to keep lasting as long as possible
• Split wood needs to be thrown out
• Do not use vegetable oil or food based oils to clean as they will go rancid.
• Stains on wood are often caused by leaving wet wood in contact with iron.  this includes tinned cans, baking pans and cast iron skillets.

It may seem like a lot of work for something that is not to expensive to replace by buying it new, but believe it or not, as you use your wooden objects in the kitchen and they and you become seasoned; you will develop favorites and go to kitchen objects.  The great thing is that in this case a little love goes a long, long way.  :)

Vegan Basics for Non-Vegans

All of us at one time or another will try something just to see what it would be like.  It might not become a lifelong change, but it often does impact us in some manner.  One of those for me was my attempt at vegetarianism for 3 months while I was in college.  While in no way did I continue following a vegetarian diet after then, it did do a lot to open my eyes to new tastes, ways of eating and nutrition.  New tastes revolved around new cuisines that I had never tried before that were more vegetarian based such as Arabic, Indian, Japanese, Thai and Israeli. 

Today these cuisines are common place, but growing up in Iowa our diet was all about meat and potatoes.  Exotic cuisines for us was Italian and Chinese.  :)  That brings me to the area of ways of eating.  It really was a big change to think that a meal did not have to a meat or a starch.  Even my non-meat based meals up until then still had meat such as Chili and Pasta dishes. 

The other ah-ha was learning how much of the nutrition I thought I could only get from meat was possible to attain through other sources.  With this in mind, I thought it may be helpful to share with you some of the basics of vegetarianism if only to expand your possibilities when cooking or in case you have a friend coming over who is a vegetarian or glucose intolerant or lactose intolerant.

Some easy recipes to work with that are within any kitchen are:  Pasta, Pizza, Tacos or Tortilla Wraps, Beans, Soups and Salads.

Begin to explore new ways of preparing vegetables

• Grilling
• Buy and cook the baby versions
• Bake in the oven with oil and spices as the oil helps to bind the spices and bring out new flavors
• Explore new dips to use with your vegetables
• Try them with different types of cheese, creams and sauces
• Steam Vegetables for 30 to 60 seconds and then drop in cold water or stir fry.  This helps keep away that strong and sometimes bitter flavor that can come with cooking vegetables.
• Make foil packets to throw on the grill
• Try them with new spices and see what you like
• Explore cuisines that have lots of vegetarian bases for eating and enjoy!

From Russia with Love - basic Russian Food

Being a child of the 70's and a teenager of the 80's (before you try to guess my age I am 46), I was raised on a love of Doctor Who, Romper Room, American Bandstand, Soul Train and James Bond.  In James Bond there is a lot of attention paid to the locations, the cars and gadgets and of course the women.  What doesn't get the love it should is the food.  Everyone knows what is James Bond's favorite drink is, but what about the food.  With all of the traveling he does, you know that he has to have had some amazing meals.  Since we have been looking at cooking at foods from around the world, I thought that it might be nice to talk about one that doesn't seem to get much attention, but is rich in history and surprisingly, flavors.  I only say this because the food staples for Russia are pretty basic.  So take a look with me at some of the basics of Russian cuisine and maybe you will find that you have been more Russian than you thought.  :)

Russia is mainly a northern country with long-lasting cold winter. Since the food should give Russians lots of energy and warmth to survive during the winter time, the essential components provide more carbohydrates and fat rather than proteins. Fresh fruits and vegetables are rarely used in food. So, the top five components of a Russian meal are potatoes, bread, eggs, meat (especially beef) and butter. Other popular foods include cabbage, milk, sour cream, curds, mushrooms, lard, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, berries, honey, sugar, salt, garlic, and onions.

 

Russians pickle and salt almost everything.  Soups are very big and caviar is placed on toast usually with butter.  Also, most of their recipes call of things to be cut and mixed and then fried as cakes, stuffed into something like in a dumpling or a cabbage leaf, or made into a sausage.  I am not a big vinegar fan, but I have found that you can substitute fresh for pickled in almost any recipe and it still tastes yummy. 

 

Many dishes that are considered Russian, came from other places.  For example, Golubsty (stuffed cabbage leaves) came from Greece, only the cabbage leaves replaced grape leaves and beef replaced lamb.  A national salad (they have about 2) calls for the use of tomatoes, cucumber and onion.  This is used a lot as a salad in Chile where my husband is from.  And so it goes on.  So often as you discover a culture and it's food you are surprised by how many similarities we have; and yet so many different flavor combinations.  So if yo are wondering what to cook tonight, grab a few staples and let them know that it is exotic, it's from Russia with love.  :)