Category: Europe

Learning about Azerbaijan

3/4/2016

For the past three weeks the lad and I have been learning about Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a country in Europe that is dwarfed by Russia, Turkey and Iran. It predominately a Muslim country were peoples of other religions are free to worship. They do a lot of oil, natural gas etc. The Capital City is Baku. They are divided into two areas...a larger land mass and then the area of Naxcivan.

The Music from Azerbaijan has a different sound than we are used to. We weren't quite sure what to make of it. We found the instruments intriguing. In fact my lad had us look them up as the spiked fiddle made him wonder if it could also be used as a weapon...and was disappointed that it was only a rest spot.

Azerbaijan food uses a lot of sherbet (a fruit based sweet drink), meat from mountain type animals (sheep goats etc) and fresh vegetable (like tomatoes).

One of the things that caught my lads attention about this land was their acceptance of other religions. In a day when we hear only of how Muslims are against people of other faiths, to find a Muslim based country that is tolerant was a "that's nice of them mom" moment for my son and I.

A short history of Azerbaijan, especially in relationship with the USA.

I found this funny After viewing the USA film I wondered if Canada had anything similar, and found this video about Sittlng Volleyball. My lad made me smile though... he saw the players coming on to the court and was horrified!

"MOM!! why did they do that? Why do they cut off their leg so they can play a game? Who would do that!!!!" I needed to explain to him that they didn't do that so they could play volleyball but that it was a way for people who got hurt to be able to have fun playing a physically active sport. His response then was "Oh, that was nice of them. It's good to play games mom. But I was wondering why anyone would let someone cut off their leg to play a game. I am glad it's not like that."

Tonight we had some friends come join us for our meal. A mom with her five children..   Her children were quite used to helping to cook so were quite eager to lend a hand.   We were so busy and talking so much I completely forgot to take pictures.

Items we made together:
Pan Kabab.   Ground lamb into a meatball. We were supposed to put them on skewers, but we just turned them into patties and cooked them up.   I made them without the sauce because it was getting on time to eat.ched almonds.

Milk Sherbet.   Sweetened milk.

Azerbaijani Plov. A pilaf.   Using basmati rice and blanched almonds.

Items I made ahead of time with my lad as the dough needed to set, or the food needed to steep or rest.

Mint Sherbet.   My son actually made this by himself.

Caraway Sherbet.   This was really good.   :)

Shekerbura.   These were a bit tricky to make, it took me some time to figure out how thin was just right and what size was ideal.   I made the rounds, the lad did the sealing.   Not as pretty as the professional ones, but turned out well.

Sticky Donut Fingers.     These were good. My son cooked them... his first time deep frying anything. I made the sauce but I didn't let it cook quite long enough.   Still tasted good. :)   The children really liked these.

I'll leave you with this last video.   Pretty horses.

Cooking our Way through Europe: Finland

11/14/2015

Tonight we had a great meal. We are currently cooking our way through Europe using the Drawing around the world: Europe as a base for our studies. As we like to have folks join us for these meals, we decided to call Gramma and see if she would like to come. She said yes, and so we cooked, ate and talked. It was good.

We made a variety of recipes.
Strawberry Snow. This is SO good. Seriously. MAKE THIS.
Ingredients

500 g strawberries, hulled
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1⁄2 cup caster sugar
1⁄2 cup whipping cream
1⁄4-1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla (or to taste)
6 -8 strawberries, sliced, for garnish

Directions

Puree strawberries in a food processor or blender.
Combine strawberry puree, egg whites and sugar in a bowl and beat until stiff and glossy.
Add vanilla to cream, and whip mixture until peaks form.
Gently fold cream mixture into strawberry mixture.
Spoon into a serving bowl and garnish with strawberry slices and mint (if desired).
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
This can be made a day ahead. Good luck keeping everyone else in the house out of it.

Finnish Carrot Rolls
These are excellent when they are served cold. And good when fresh out of the oven.
Ingredients

2 cups milk
4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
4 carrots, grated

2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened

Directions:

Heat milk in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave until warmed, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup flour and yeast to warm milk. Let stand until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam, about 5 minutes.
Stir carrots, honey, and salt into yeast mixture. Mix flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, into carrot mixture, mixing thoroughly after each addition until a smooth dough forms. Mix butter into dough until thoroughly integrated using your hands. Cover bowl with a damp, clean towel.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Place bowl with dough on top of oven while it preheats until dough has doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Form dough into rolls and arrange on a baking sheet; loosely cover dough with a clean towel or plastic wrap and let rise, 20 to 30 minutes.
Bake in the preheated oven until rolls are lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes.

Karjalan Pies. I have to admit, the boys were really uncertain about this recipe. BUT they ended up liking it. :)

Ingredients:

2 cups water
1 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups milk
salt to taste
1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon salt
1 cup rye flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, or as needed
3 tbsps, butter, melted

Directions

Combine rice and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Stir in milk, cover, and cook until milk is absorbed by the rice, about 20 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). In a medium bowl, stir together the salt and rye flour. Stir in water. Mix in all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon at a time until dough is just past the sticky stage. Divide the dough into 16 equal portions.
On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough out into a thin circle 6 inches in diameter. The dough should be as thin as possible. Place about 3 tablespoons of the rice mixture in the center of each circle. Spread the mixture out to within 1 inch of the edges. Fold the edges of the dough upward, and crimp the edges so as to allow the pastries to hold their shape. Pinch the sides at each end to form a little boat. Place pastries about 3 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet, and brush the tops with butter.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the dough is firm, and the rice porridge is slightly browned on the top. Serve warm.

Finnish Cranberry Whip. This was good, but I found it was best served with something else. I put it on the Carrot Roll as well as Karjalan. It was particularly good on the karjalan. :)

Ingredients

2 cups fresh cranberries
1 1⁄2 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 dash salt
1⁄3 cup farina

Directions

Heat cranberries in 1 1/2 cups water to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered until berries pop, about 8 minutes.
Press cranberries through sieve to remove skins. return juice to saucepan. Add sugar, 1 cup water and the salt; heat to boiling.
Add farina gradually, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.
Pour into small mixer bowl. Beat on high speed until pudding becomes fluffy and light pink, 3 to 5 minutes.

Beetroot Burgers. I have to admit that I was very much the skeptical one here. I am not a fan of capers or beets... particularly pickled beets, but hubby was like .. "hun, make them I am positive they will be good". And you know what? Even though the patties were hard to make.. WOW.. these are GOOD burgers. :)

Ingredients

400 g minced meat
1 tsp salt
Black pepper
2 medium-sized potatoes, boiled
1 egg
100 ml milk or beef stock
1-2 medium-sized pickled beetroots
1 onion
2 tbsp capers
Oil or butter for frying

Directions
Season the meat with salt and pepper.
Peel and grate the potatoes. As I prepared the meat I boiled the potatoes that I had grated before boiling.
Add the grated potatoes, egg and milk into the meat.
Chop the beetroot and onion. Add them with the capers into the meat batter. Mix carefully.
Make small chubby burgers and fry quickly in butter in a hot pan, about 2-3 minutes on both sides. Be prepared for the meat mixture to be a bit sloppy, but they cook up nicely. And the ones that fall apart... well...the cook gets to enjoy. :)
Serve the burgers with plain yoghurt or crème fraîche sauce and pickled cucumbers. We did not serve them this way. We enjoyed them as they were.

Finnish Stick Cookies. I am facing a rebellion. I told my son that I'll be bringing the rest of the cookies over to the church in the morning. :) Well... I can say he wasn't happy about that idea at all. :)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs, beaten (I used less)
1/2 c white sugar (I needed more)
1 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds (I used less)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Stir in 1 egg and almond extract. Combine the salt and flour; stir into the sugar mixture with your hands until a smooth dough forms. Roll dough into log shaped pieces about 1/2 inch thick and 2 to 3 inches long. Dip each piece in the beaten eggs, then in remaining 1/2 cup sugar and then roll them in almonds. Place them 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

We had such a good time, and the food was all so good. We've added some favourites to our meal plans :) WOOT WOOT. Even our son's cat thought he should have some... He tried hard to sweet talk the lad when he got up, but to no avail...