Chaos and Cuisine!!

Follow the adventures of Sean and Katrina as they save the world, battle evildoers, and explore world cuisine!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Kaiserschmarrn

This light and sweet dessert is common in both Germany and Austria.

Kaiserschmarrn
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
2 tbsp rum
3 tbsp raisins
1/2 cup flour
1 cup milk
4 egg yolks
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 tbsp butter, softened
4 egg whites
tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp sliced almonds
powdered sugar

Preparation:
Combine raisins and rum and set aside.

Mix flour, milk, egg yolks, vanilla, lemon zest, and butter. Mix until well blended.

In a separate bowl, add the egg whites, sugar, and salt. Be sure no yolk is in the whites, and that you use a ceramic bowl. Whip until the eggs whites form stiff peaks.

Fold the egg-white mixture into the flour mixture, and then mix in the rum-raisin mixture.

Put 1 tbsp butter in a frying pan, and cook the mixture as pancakes about 1/8" in thickness. Once finished, break the pancakes into 1" sized chunks. Melt a fresh tablespoon of butter in the frying pan, and return the pieces to the pan. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar over the pieces, and fry until caramelized. Add the almond pieces and cook until they're lightly roasted.

Transfer kaiserschmarrn to a plate and dust with powdered sugar.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Blutwurst

There are many ghastly gastronomical horrors I have seen. Chinese death eggs and pig's feet are just a couple of the bizarre culinary horse of the apocalypse.

But I expected those to be horrific. Blutwurst actually sounded... intriguing.

But intriguing it wasn't. Blood tastes, somewhat predictably, of iron. But somehow the real thing tastes far worse than iron-enriched multivitamins.

But worse yet, it somehow feels... wrong. The feel of it in your mouth isn't that of food, it's something else. As if you've put something in your mouth altogether unlike fresh blood from a cut, and rather something spawned deep inside hades, come to the surface to poison you.

Either way, even the adventurous among you might not want to go down this path.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Liverwurst

Liverwurst is common in North America, yet to many Americans inspires revulsion. This is tragic, of course, since liverwurst is absolutely delicious.

Liverwurst is typically made from pig's liver, pig's meat, fat, and spices. It's spreadable, and delicious served with onions and mustard.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Bierschinken

Bierschinken, tongue sausage, is a variety of German bologna made primary from bits of pork and tongue.

Bierschinkin is surprisingly likable, especially spread on schwarzbrot with Bavarian sweet mustard.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Chapter 15 : Germany

We've explored the wild cuisines of Kashmir, Indonesia, Peru, and Acadia, but we've avoided Central Europe. The peoples of Central Europe are, after all, a busy people, with too little time for cooking so they subsist, like Americans, on prepared foods. And in this modern age, when we can explore foods from all over the world in the safety of the midwest, it's easy to forget that there's a wealth of food from every country.

Luckily, Indianapolis does have an authentic German butcher, which allowed me to grab some harder to find items, but one can find most of these ingredients- spicy mustard, brick bread, and knockwurst, across America. Even items like curry ketchup can be found if you look around a little.

Schwartzbrot (black bread)
Sometimes called "brick bread" for its shape and density, schwartzbrot isn't especially hard to find, due to its long shelf life, and the large number of Germans living in America.

Schwartzbrot is typically rye or pumpernickel, cooked in a special oven and with a technique that leaves it crust-less, dense, and evenly rectangular.

It is filling and, once you adjust to it, rather pleasant. You can find it with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or any number of other ingredients. It's best for open-faced sandwiches, being too mealy and stiff for the closed-sandwiches that are more common in America, and matches well with the many German mustards out there.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Jackfruit

Where: Bangledesh

Jackfruit is a native fruit of southeast Asia, with a mottled green skin and yellow-white interior. The aroma is reminiscent of rotting onions, and the flavor seems somewhat like banana, or longan.

Jackfruit is very nutritious, and can be found sometimes ripe or unripe at local Asian markets (unripe it can be used a as a meat substitute), or frozen (as pictured to the right, after it has been thawed).

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Satsuma

Where: Japan

The satsuma is a seedless Japanese citrus fruit. The flavor is virtually identical to a tangerine. It's very easy to peel, though finding them fresh in the Midwest isn't all that common.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Eel Chupin

This unique recipe turned out unexpectedly well.


Eel Chupin
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp pasley, finely chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 bell pepper, cut into strips
salt and pepper to taste
pepper, oregano, and cumin
6 eel pieces
2 tbsp flour
2 egg yolks
6 ounces yogurt
2 lbs mussels

Preparation:
Steam mussels for 5 minutes. Make sure not to over-steam them.

Cooking:
Heat oil in a large pan and sautee onions until translucent. Then add the parsley, tomatoes, and bell pepper, and oregano. Place the eel pieces on top, and sautee for 20 minutes.

Remove the eel and set aside. Sift flour into cold water, stirring well, and then mix in some of the eel broth to bring it up to temperature. Once warm, mix into the vegetable mixture, and simmer slowly until slightly thickened.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Pastel do Choclo

This casserole is wonderful and tasting.

Pastel de Choclo
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 1/2 hours
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
2-3 tbsp oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb ground beef
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup beef stock
1 tbsp flour
1 lb frozen corn
1/4 cup cornmeal
1-2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter
2-3 tbsp sugar

Cooking:
Preheat oven to 375.

Heat oil in saucepan, add onions and cook until translucent. Add garlic and sautee for 2 minutes. Add ground beef, paparika, cumin oregano, salt and pepper and sautee 6-8 minutes, breaking up the beef as you go.

Pour stock over mixture and sprinkle flour and simmer for another 6-8 minutes.Remove fromh eat and set aside.

Put cornmeal, corn, and cornstarch in a food processor or blender and puree. Add milk only a little at a time, stopping when it reaches a batter-like consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Melt the butter and add the corn puree and cook, stirring constantly, about 5-8 minutes.

In a casserole dish, spread the beef mixture. Spread corn puree mixture over the beef mixture. Sprinkle sugar over mixture.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Chapter 14 : Chile

Stretching across the Pacific coast of South America, Chile is a narrow country of mountains and coasts. The ingredients aren't too unfamiliar if you've cooked Peruvian cuisine: quinoa, corn, and potatoes are common.

For our first attempt we made Chilean asado. Asado is apropriate across Latin America, Chilean asado is topped with pebre: a mix of cilantro, onions and parsley.

Asado with Pebre
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: variable

Ingredients:
Any mix of the following meats:
Ribs, flank steak, chorizo, or offal

Pebre:
2 cups cilantro
2 cups parsley
1 chopped onion
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp crushed red pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tsp olive oil

Preparation:
Mix all pebre ingredients, excepy olive oil, in a bowl and refridgerate for one hour, then stir in olive oil right before serving.

Cooking:
Barbeque, or broil, meats until cooked. Then top with pebre and serve.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Kimchee Jigae

This fiery Korean soup is absolutely wonderful. It is very important not to add the butter until the very end. This technique ensures it will not seperate but emulsify properly into the soup, adding flavor and richness to it.

Kimchi Jigae
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
1/3 lb pork belly, sliced thinly
1 small onion, sliced
1 1/2 cup kim chee
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp dried ginger
1 tbsp cooking sake
2 tsp korean chilli paste
2 tsp miso or deonjang
2 tsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp dried chilli flakes
8 oz tofu, sliced into cubes
2 scallions, sliced
1 tbsp butter

Cooking:
Heat a small pot, and add pork belly and onions, and sautee until the prok belly begins to express fat. Add the kim chee and garlic, and continue to sautee until fragrant.

Next add the water, ginger, cooking wine, chilli paste, miso or deon jang, chilli flakes and soy sauce.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the pork belly and kim chee are tender.

Add the scallions and remove from heat. Right before it's served, add the butter. Don't do this too soon, or the milk solids and oil will seperate and the butter will make the soup oily.

Serve and enjoy!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Doenjang Jigae

Deon jang is the Korean equivalent of miso. In truth, it seems no different than any other form of miso. However, unlike traditional Japanese miso, which relies on dashi and wakame for its flavorings, deonjang jigae relies on vegetables.

Deonjang Jigae
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:
1 potato, cubed
1 summer squash, cubed
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 green chilli pepper, minced
7 dried anchovies, minced
1 scallion, sliced
4 ounces tofu, cubed
6 tbsp soy bean paste (deon jang, although miso will do)

Cooking:
Add potato, squash, onion, garlic, chilli pepper, and anchovies to a small pot and bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, or until potato is soft. Add the deon jang, carefully mixing some of the stock into the deon jang to bring it up to temperature beforehand, and mix it into the soup. Add scallion and tofu. Cook for two minutes, and then remove from heat and serve.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Bulgogi

This beef marinade is easy to make and delicious.

Bulgogi
Prep Time: 3 hours
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 lb top sirloin, thinly sliced
1 carrot, julienned
1 scallion, sliced
1 yellow onion, sliced

Preparation:
In a plastic bag, mix all ingredients in a sealed plastic bag, shake, and let marinade for 3 hours.

Cooking:
Drain marinade, and grill onions, carrots, and beef for twenty minutes, or until done.

Serve with sweet rice and kim chee.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Chapter 13 : Korea

I opened Katrina's trunk after filling it full of Korean food to only one thought: what died in there? And then I realized we had bought kim chee.

To call Korean tastes unique would not do them justice. I'm not saying I don't enjoy Korean food: far from it. But Korean food, much like its people, has had no hesitation about setting itself apart from other cuisines.

Kim Chee

Korea's most famous dish is kim chee, a fermented accompaniment to every meal. Kim Chee, in its most popular modern form, is made from napa cabbage, onions, garlic, and chilli pepper flakes.

But, as pictured above, you could also have baby bok choy instead of napa. Or even whole baby radishes.

The truth is there's probably as many versions of kim chee as there are Korean households, with seasonal variants.

It's an acquired taste. Tasting best ice cold served with hot rice, kim chee's aroma is pungent, even offensive. But once it's close to you it softens, and even tastes good as you eat it.