Samoa pulled pork and doughnuts

Samoa

I made Pua'a (Kalua Pig) and Panikeke (Banana fritter)

Pua'a:



Pork butt, liquid smoke, salt crust and 5 hours in a roaster.





This was so simple and delicious. Some recipes called for making bao filled with pua'a, which looked interesting also but I didn't make it. Maybe with the leftovers.

Panikeke







Mmmmmm, doughnuts.

USA! USA! USA!!!

USA USA USA USA USA

We made Thanksgiving Dinner. Apologies in advance, several photos did not turn out.

Stuffed Turkey

Rice and Cranberry Stuffing with Pine nuts








Cranberry sauce







Rolls:





Pumpkin Pie






We also made mashed potatoes and made turkey gravy from the drippings. One of our guests brought a delicious pumpkin and basmati rice salad.

Dinner:

Romania-

Romanian food doesn't look all that appetizing for the most part. Sour soups, fried potatoes, and a local saying that the best vegetable is pork. Undeterred, I went for fried eggplant and a pound cake for dessert. And yes, I had pork for the main course, although rubbed with spices and grilled - not particularly Romanian.

Vinete si Dovlecei Pane - Fried Eggplant



Washed and sliced the eggplant, soaked the slices in lemon juice, dipped in egg, then flour, then fried in sunflower oil.





The recipe called for garlic sauce - I just used a bit of garlic infused olive oil.



Romanian Marble Cake-



Very easy marble poundcake. And delicious. Even my help thought it was great! Mixed all of the ingredients in a bowl save the cocoa, put 80% of the mix between the two loaf pans, mixed the cocoa into the remaining batter, then topped the loaves:



Crappy cell phone pic, sorry:



The eggplant was delicious. And greasy. The sunflower oil was a nice touch - I'd order this off of a menu in a restaurant. The poundcake is good too. The lemon zest gives it a fairly strong lemon flavor. I made 2 loaves, so one is in the freezer awaiting a rainy day.

Georgian cuisine is popular throughout the former Soviet Union and is rich and varied, with Georgia having the mis/fortune of being conquered repeatedly over the millennia, with each conquering army bringing new spices and foods.

We made Tarti Champorzeh Shamtsuari and Tabaka.

Tarti Champorzeh Shamtsuari (broiled fish skewers)



The recipe called for sturgeon or swordfish. I can't get sturgeon because our local green sturgeon are a protected species and there wasn't any in the market. I also couldn't get swordfish because the entire loin was infested with nematodes and was returned to the wholesaler. Not to be deterred, I used perhaps the most underutilized and best part of any fish that you never thought of - cod cheeks.

I made a basting sauce with sour cream and fresh squeezed lemon, and coated the fish then placed on the skewers.



Broiled for 4 minutes per side and garnished:



This was a great appetizer and was a hit with the whole family.

Next we made Tabaka (Georgian Fried Chicken)



First I deboned the chicken from the back, leaving the shape intact and leaving only the wing and drumstick bones:



I trimmed and rendered the visible fat from the chicken and clarified a stick of butter, combined the rendered fat and clarified butter, and put the bird in skin side down and coated the exposed meat on top with sour cream.



Then I put another skillet on top of the bird and placed a cinder block on top to weigh down the bird.



Turned twice, added sour cream each time, and came out with a beautiful bird:



Georgian fried chicken gets two very very greasy thumbs up!

O Canada



A friendly hello to my northern neighbors!

Searching for uniquely Canadian recipes proved to be difficult, but this dish was in the top page of Google search and it looked delicious:

Parmesan Crusted Broiled Scallops



I toasted some homemade bread and crushed the toast into coarse breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, chopped the parsley, added paprika and black pepper, brushed the scallops with butter then placed everything in a bag and shook until coated.



Broil for 12 minutes on the bottom rack:



Served with lemon wedges:



These were amazing. They were a big hit with the girls. Emma even tried one raw off of the counter when I had stepped out of the kitchen for a minute. She liked it raw but said that cooked was better. :)

Namibia

Chicken Potjie:



First I browned the chicken:



Next I added thyme, bay leaves, allspice, and 3 tablespoons of commercially prepared mango chutney. Then I layered on the sliced carrots and potatoes, then topped with whole button mushrooms.



I added a half cup of chicken broth, covered and simmered for an hour and a half.



Finished product:



This was wonderful. I'm now used to the African recipes making large amounts of food, and so expected leftovers. It has just the right amount of spice - I was stingy with them per the recipe - and the chutney gave it a very nice sweet/tart balance. It was very good as left overs for lunch as well.