Tonight: Ivory Coast



We made kedjenou, a chicken dish with vegetables baked in the oven in a pot with no liquid added.



The recipe is simple. A whole cut up chicken, eggplant, tomatoes, onions, hot chiles, garlic, ginger, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper all thrown into an oven safe pot with a layer of tin foil and a tight fitting lid, cooked at 325 for 2+ hours. The vegetables and chicken fat provide a surprising amount of liquid in the finished product.







Finished product:



Results:

My favorite sub-Saharan dish so far. It had lots of flavor and the chicken was done perfectly. Sarah didn't care for it. To be fair, she doesn't like tomatoes, cooked carrots, or eggplant.

Tonight: Serbia



We made ćevapčići with yogurt sauce.



ćevapčići:

I was able to purchase ground beef and lamb, but had to grind the pork.



I mixed the meats with an egg white, garlic, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, and baking soda. We formed it into sausages, brushed with oil, and broiled turning regularly and brushing with oil.







Yogurt sauce:

I mixed plain yogurt, shredded and drained cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, salt, white pepper, and cayenne pepper.



Finished product served with Greek flat bread and onion:



Results:

This is a bit spicy and really good. It reminds me of döner kebap, popular street fare in Austria and almost mandatory after a night at the bars. It was easy to make and I can certainly see myself making this again. The yogurt is basically a tzadziki sauce and is a wonderful accompaniment to the meat.

Tonight: Australia

Condolences to Australia going out today - I was pulling for you guys as I watched that ZOMG nailbiter of USA - Algeria.



We made Australian meat pie and drank Australian wine. Not at the same time though, because that just didn't seem to go well. I would have had beer to complete my bogan meal but the only Australian beer I can get is Fosters, and I had to pass. We are drinking the wine now.



We browned the meat, then drained and reserved the fat.





Next, we added vegetable stock cubes, beef stock, water, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and simmered for 20 minutes. Then we thickened the mixture with cornstarch and added Worcestershire sauce.



We made a dough for the pie base with flour, salt, ground beef drippings, water and butter.





We put the base in small pie tins, filled with cooled meat filling, and covered with puff pastry.







I brushed with egg yolk, cut a slit in the top, and baked.



Finished product:



Wine:





Results:

I had no Vegemite and I could not find an acceptable substitute (because it apparently does not exist), so apologies to the purists. We make pot pies on occasion, so we had the basics down for this recipe. This was just good Aussie comfort food. Served with ketchup. Because pretty much all comfort food should be served with ketchup.

Australian wine is world class. Australians are also way ahead of the game in the switch to screw caps. I've never had an Australian wine with a bad cork...

The cab is a bit young but certainly drinkable. The Sémillon is wonderful.

Last night: Slovakia



We made Bryndzové halušky, a traditional potato dumpling dish



I peeled and shredded the potatoes, added salt, egg and flour, then processed the mixture into a dough.





Then, I boiled the dumplings.



I had to improvise since Slovakian fresh sheep cheese is not available here. I mixed mizythra and Mascarpone cheese in an attempt to give the sheep cheese flavor and a fresh soft cheese consistency.



I put the cheese over the dumplings, then added fried pancetta (as a substitute for salt pork because for whatever reason I couldn't find any today) and diced chives.



Finished product:





Results:

For having never made dumplings before, I was pleasantly surprised. The cheese really made this dish.

Tonight: Ghana



Ghana is our second west African country. We made Jollof Rice.



I browned the chicken in a large pot then simmered it in hot water in a different pot. Then, in the pot I used to browned the chicken, I sauteed the onions, bell pepper and garlic. Next, I added the rice, then tomato paste, then the tomatoes, all at 2-3 minute intervals while constantly stirring over heat.





I added the chicken and water back into the rice pot and added carrots, cabbage and green beans, covered and cooked for 20 minutes, then let stand for ten before serving.



Final product:



Results: It looks like jambalaya, but it is not really spiced at all. If this dish was the origins of jambalaya (there is some argument according to Mrs. crash's research - the other origin being Spanish paella), the Cajuns and Creoles have improved it dramatically. This dish appears intended to feed a lot of people relatively inexpensively, and at that it comes through in spades.

Tonight: Uruguay



Churrasco with Chimichurri and Rice Uruguayan

Churrasco with Chimichurri:



I made the chimichurri my using a mini food processor to chop mint, cilantro, parsley and garlic, then added vinegar, crushed hot peppers, salt, black pepper and olive oil. I chopped it until it was a thick paste.



Then I pounded out some beef tenderloin with a deadhead hammer to about 1/2" thick.





I marinated the meat then cooked it over the campfire with hickory and oak.





Rice Uruguayan



We first browned ground beef, then added to it chopped carrots, onions, parsley, salt, pepper, water and rice. After 20 minutes we added diced potatoes.







Finished product:



Results-

The churasco could and should have been much better. It was quite good, but I wasn't able to find a whole tenderloin and the selection that I had was pretty slim shopping close to closing time. Ah, well. Using the fillet cut instead of a lengthwise cut meant that when I pounded out the meat that it didn't hold together as well. I also didn't get to cook it as close to the fire as I would have liked, so no cool grill marks. The chimichurri was fantastic. The combination of garlic, mint, crushed red pepper, vinegar and oil was really, really good.

The rice dish was a bit bland. More salt, more pepper, some hot peppers, or some other spice would have been a nice addition. Or maybe it didn't stand a chance on the same plate as the chimichurri.

All in all this was a good dinner but didn't live up to its full potential.