Global Eats: A Year in Review

Photo credit: “World Map – Abstract Acrylic.” Photo by Nicolas Raymond. Painting by Lara Mukahirn. Some rights reserved. Retrieved here.

About a year ago, I challenged myself to spend 2017 exploring more cultures through food. It's been a fun and scrumptious year! I've enjoyed the challenge of seeking out new recipes, techniques, ingredients, and flavor combinations from all over the world. Also, aiming for one country each month was just about perfect--it was doable and consistent.

And because bloggers are supposed to do end-of-year round-ups, here's a rundown of the foods I've gotten to experience this year, as well as some new ingredients and equipment that have found new homes in my kitchen.

Looking ahead to 2018, I plan to keep experimenting with different international cuisines! Near the top of my list: Bangladesh and Poland.

January: Peru

Menu and write-up are here
Peruvian Beef Kebabs (Anticuchos with Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce)
Potatoes with Huancaina Sauce (Papa a la Huancaina)
Sarsa Salad
Crema Volteada

February: Tunisia

Menu and write-up are here
Chicken Kebabs with Currant and Olive Relish
Slata Mechouia (Grilled Salad)
Orange Almond Cake

March: Hungary (and kinda Romania)

Hungarian Tomato-Pepper Stew (Lesco) - and we served it over polenta, because apparently polenta is a common breakfast element in Romania.

April: Vietnam

Vietnamese Shrimp Noodle Bowl (Bun Tom Xao) - fresh, crunchy, and bursting with flavor.

May: Finland and Dutch West Indies

Finnish Pulla Bread with Apricots and Pistachios - one of the most beautiful things I've ever made. I was so proud of these glisteningly bronzed braids!
Dutch West Indian Chicken Kebabs (Boka Dushi) with Dutch West Indian Peanut Sauce - with most dishes, I have a pretty good idea of how they're going to taste. This one, however, combined so many ingredients that I wouldn't have thought to combine, that I truly didn't know what to expect from the finished dish. Happily, it turned out to be one of my favorite dishes this year. We served it with a side of sauteed plantains.

June

My job is crazy-busy every June, so I didn't officially try any new countries. But the Tunisian menu got an encore performance, and I vaguely remember trying a new Thai dish.

July: Madagascar and Ethiopia

Malagasy Chicken with Ginger (Akoho Sy Sakamalao) - another favorite this year, largely because it surprised me with how good the finished dish was despite the fairly simple ingredients and preparation technique.
Ethiopian Cucumber-Mango Salad

August

For the life of me, I can't remember what country (if any) I cooked in August. But I did try preserved lemons for the first time, and those are used a lot in north African and Mediterranean dishes.

September: Myanmar

Burmese Ginger Salad (Gin Thoke) - this salad had so much going on. It was strong on the ginger and lemon, crunchy from the cabbage, and filling thanks to the chickpeas and lentils.
Also some Pineappleade which is kinda generically Southeast Asian.
Also an encore of the Malagasy chicken.

October: Somalia

Somali Beef Stew with Spiced Rice (Bariis Maraq) - making this meal included mixing up a classic Somali spice blend, called xawaash, which was a key player in both the stew and the spiced rice. If you make this, do yourself a favor and don't skip the bananas. They seemed to me like an odd topping, but my favorite bites were ones that included banana. As a fun side note, this dish was part of a global food spread that my house church did in celebration of World Food Day.

November: Germany

Obatzter (Camembert cheese spread)
Bavarian Soft Pretzels

December: Spain

Rustic Spanish Bread (Pan Rustico) - simple and good. In light of the holidays, birthday, and being knocked out with a cold for a few days, something simple was all I could manage this month.

New Ingredients and Equipment

• Aji amarillo - yellow pepper paste from Peru
• Almond meal - sure, it's widely used here in the States, but Tunisia inspired me to use it for the first time
• Hungarian wax peppers - mild spice level, and they were readily available at Walmart
• Kitchen scale - this inexpensive but reliable scale is suuuuuper helpful with recipes with measurements written in grams and ounces rather than cups and teaspoons ... which happens often when using recipes that didn't originate in the U.S.
• Orange blossom water - basically the elixer of the gods
• Pistachios - though I never cared for them before, I used (and enjoyed!) them quite a bit this year
• Pomegranate molasses - made my own; used in this Pomegranate Molasses Chicken
• Preserved lemons - when my current jar runs out, I want to try making my own
• Spice grinder - this year my eyes (and taste buds) were opened to the wonderful world of grinding one's own spices right before tossing them into a dish. Grinding whole cloves, peppercorns, and cumin seeds will give you much more punch than measuring out pre-ground spices. I use my Magic Bullet which I've had for awhile, and I've heard that a coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle work quite well.
• Sumac - ground spice used a lot in Middle Eastern foods; bought at Cordell's; I'd eaten it before but hadn't cooked with it
• Xawaash - Somalian spice blend featuring cinnamon, coriander, cumin, black pepper, cardamom, cloves, and turmeric; recipe is included in the Somali stew recipe above.

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa

Remember when it was a goal of mine to make something with fresh tomatillos? Wait, you mean you don't remember my food goals as well as I do? Well, it finally happened!

This tomatillo salsa tastes bright and fresh, and the recipe is quick, simple, and summery. It has just a few ingredients to whir up in the food processor, and my friends absolutely loved it. In fact, that's why there is so little salsa in these pictures--I made it, took it to a shower, we ate most of it, and then I photographed it the next day.

It seemed odd to me that the recipe didn't call for any lime or lemon, but I'm glad I trusted the recipe. The fresh tomatillos add plenty of brightness to the salsa--so much so, that my friends almost didn't believe that there was no lime juice in it. Also, the amount of jalapeno was perfect for me. It added flavor, but the salsa was still very mild. If you want more heat, use more jalapeno and/or keep the seeds in.

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa
From Rick Bayless, as seen on Annie's Eats
Yield: 1-1/2 cups salsa

Ingredients
8 oz. fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and quartered
1 large garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and roughly chopped
1/2 to 2/3 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Tortilla chips, for serving

Directions
In a food processor, pulse all ingredients into a coarse puree without over processing. Taste and add more salt if needed. Serve with chips.

Don't have a food processor? Simply mince the tomatillos, garlic, jalapeno, and cilantro by hand, then combine everything in a serving bowl.

The salsa keeps very well in the fridge. I made mine a day ahead of time and just kept it in a mason jar in the fridge until time to serve it.

Spiced Veggie Tacos with Avocado Tomatillo Salsa

Ever since childhood, I've been afraid of salsa verde. You see, any time we went to Taco Bell when I was a kid, my mom always requested green sauce on her burritos. Now, I never tasted her burritos or her green sauce, but since she likes spicy foods, the obvious assumption was that green sauce is spicier than red. (To this day, I don't actually know if that's true for Taco Bell sauces.)

Also, my favorite burrito place here in town has a habanero sauce which is green, so I feel like that supports my previous conclusion that green sauce = super spicy.

Come to find out, green salsa doesn't have to be spicy! When making this Kale, Black Bean, and Avocado Burrito Bowl with Avocado Salsa Verde recipe, I found some tomatillo salsa which was the only green salsa in the salsa aisle that didn't have jalapenos or other unidentified chilies that could potentially be spicy. I took a chance and am so glad I did, because this salsa is tangy and flavorful but not at all hot--and it's killer when you add in some avocado, cilantro, and lime!

Side note: the Kale, Black Bean, and Avocado Burrito Bowl recipe was amazing. I've made it twice now (rare for me) with quinoa instead of brown rice, but just haven't managed to photograph it either time. Leftovers are also good warmed in a skillet with a couple fried eggs on the side.

Complete with kitty cat ears in the background

So when I decided to make veggie tacos adapted from Naturally Ella, it was an easy choice to add some avocado salsa verde to the mix!

For these tacos I tried out some raw tortillas that I found at Walmart next to the Mexican cheeses. While they don't hold a candle to fresh HEB tortillas (what does?), they definitely tasted better than your basic tortillas from the bread and coffee aisle--and it's kinda fun to cook them at home on the skillet, watching them puff up into pillows!


Spiced Veggie Tacos with Avocado Tomatillo Salsa
Adapted from Naturally Ella and Cookie & Kate
Yield: 3-4 servings

For the Veggies
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1/2 small to medium onion
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. chipotle powder (or 1/4 tsp. chipotle and 1/4 tsp. ancho)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. cumin powder
1 Tbsp. brown sugar

For the Salsa

1 avocado, cut into chunks

1/2 cup prepared tomatillo salsa

1/2 chopped cilantro leaves

Juice of 1 lime

For the Tacos

Tortillas (flour or corn)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed, and seasoned with spices above

Additional toppings such as cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, rice, etc. (optional)

Directions

Drain and rinse the black beans, and put into a microwave-safe bowl. Prep any cheese or veggies that will be taco toppings, and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Wash zucchini and squash, and cut into strips about 2 inches long by 1/2 inch thick. Slice onion. In a medium bowl, toss vegetables with the olive oil and all the spices. As you measure each spice into the vegetables, also sprinkle some into the black beans. Spread vegetable mixture onto prepared pan, and bake 15-20 minutes, until vegetables are soft and browned, stirring halfway through.

While the veggies roast, prepare the salsa. In a mini food processor, combine avocado, tomatillo salsa, cilantro, and lime juice. Process until well combined but still a little chunky. If needed, add water or more lime juice to make it runnier. (Alternatively, put ingredients into a 1-pint mason jar and use an immersion blender.)

Warm tortillas using the stove or microwave. Warm black beans in the microwave. When all components are done, assemble tacos and serve.

Notes

• These tacos were crazy good! I didn't do any of the "additional toppings" I listed above--partly because I didn't have most of them on hand, and partly because I didn't think the tacos needed them. The spiced veggies are definitely the star of this dish, with the black beans grounding the meal and the salsa adding the perfect finishing touch of tanginess and creaminess. 
• Even with substituting ground ancho chili powder for half of the chipotle, these veggies were definitely kickin'. So if you're a spice wuss like me, you might use even less chipotle. If you're not a spice wuss, add a jalapeno to the salsa, or roast a jalapeno or two with the other veggies.
• You could easily add meat to the tacos, and I think sweet potato would be a nice addition to the vegetable mixture.