Afghanistan - Meal 1/197

AFGHANISTAN...when telling people I was cooking an entire meal for 7-8 friends from this country, I got the look of confusion from pretty much everyone. After I told them my spiel, they understood, no more confusion and cheered me on! Followed by..."So what did you make?!"

I made this dish on Dec 12, 2016 to kick off my cooking adventure.

Make sure to click on the original author's recipe to make it yourself and see any changes, edits or ideas at the bottom of my post. Happy reading and hopefully, happy cooking!

Did you know? Afghanistan is a landlocked country and located in Asia.

One of my favorite parts of this adventure is visiting stores I've never been to.

Much more fun than any chain store! I bought one spice that was cheaper in bulk, rice and found the best hummus I've ever tasted.

I had six friends over that coached my Winter Indoor Rugby Program in November and December. They did such a great job coaching throughout this session, I wanted to do something nice and cook them an awesome dinner.  I only told the ladies what I was making so it was a surprise for the guys.

Traditionally Afghani people sit on brightly covered cushions, atop beautiful rugs on the floor when they eat. They also use their hands and bread (nan, noni, naan) to scoop and eat their meals but we opted for a table, chairs and forks.

I found all my recipes on Pinterest and chose recipes that stood out and excited me. Below you'll read about this delicious meal for 7-8 people. I had leftovers too, score!

Here's what I made:

Appetizer: Bolani or Fried Afghan Flatbread filled with potato, cilantro, scallion and spices with a yogurt sauce flavored with garlic, dill and coriander. 

These little pan fried perogi/quesadilla-ish bundles of yumminess turned out so much better than I could have imagined. All I heard were “Oooohs” and “Mmmms” from the dining room as my friends scarfed these down. It was at least 8:45pm so they were pretty hungry anyhow. The dill dip really added something special to all of the flavors and I’ll definitely make these again in a mini size for a party.

I definitely need more beautiful plates for food photos. I really didn't want to do any more dishes. It's my least favorite thing about cooking!

Main Entrée: Lawang or Turmeric Braised Chicken in Yogurt, Basmati Rice and Homemade Naan.

I chose the Lawang because it looked beautiful in the photos and turmeric is all the rage right now for a healthy stomach and beautiful skin. The dark orange creamy color of the turmeric and greek yogurt mixed together and the onion and garlic braised chicken drew me to this recipe almost instantly. I had fun making this and it was the easiest to make out of everything….besides the rice! I made a double batch to feed eight people.

I rarely make rice and am always terrified that I will mess it up. I found an easy recipe called “Perfect Basmati Rice” so I guess it had to be perfect! It turned out very nice and soft. The recipe was very detailed and I learned about the starch that attaches to rice. By soaking the rice in water, it comes off and you'll have much better textured rice! I've also dont this with fresh quinoa. I opted out of the butter and spices because I knew the Lawang had enough flavor.

The Naan….oh the Naan. Traditionally, Afghanis make Noni bread but this recipe was very similar and a little bit easier. As I pointed to the fluffy pre flattened loaf under the damp clothe, I told my friends, “and that’s Naan bread” and Chris asked, “It’s not bread?” I said it’s “Naan bread” and we all had a good giggle. I don’t think they expected me to make all of the dough from scratch….but there I was, with my black bedazzled apron and roller covered in flour… 

Cutting onions in my bedazzled black apron and crying my eyes out.

So beautiful and delicious. Naan shaped like a pizza slice tastes the same as a circular piece of naan.

Dessert: Sheer Payra or Afghani Milk Fudge. #FAIL 

I felt defeated when this dish didn’t turn out. I’ve never made a dessert like it! I read the directions carefully. I made sure the house was vacuumed, Titan was put out and my phone was out of reaching distance and I solely focused on this dish. However, as I read the author’s advice on making the simple syrup, I believe that’s where I messed up. I didn’t allow the simple syrup to thicken enough, which didn’t allow the bars to solidify. The ladies liked it, saying the flavors were complex and they ate it up, even though it was mushy…however, the guys shoved it away quickly and really disliked the floral rose water taste….I’m not sure I liked the floral taste either. It could be because I’ve been using rose water and rose oil for my face to help with dryness. Sidenote – it’s amazing!

The nutty delicious ingredients. I was so hopeful!

Want to pair this meal with beverages? Traditionally Islamic law forbids alcoholic beverages and their national drink is tea but if want an adult bevvy that pairs well, I did some research and flavors in this recipe go well with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon for wine and Ryes or Sahti’s for beer. My friends brought over Cabernet Sauvignon and it tasted divine.

Want to try to make this for family or friends? You may even have all of the ingredients in your kitchen already. If you're missing some, everything can be found at your local grocery store. The flavors are amazing and you won't be mad you tried it!

Want to make it all by hand? This entire 3 course meal took me about 4 hours (with dessert as the first thing I made) so plan ahead! 

Tips to make this entire meal or the individual recipes easier:

1)      Only make the Bolani – two of these, maybe three (I could totally eat three depending on the size) would fill you up.

2)      Make Lawang and Naan, with or without rice. I like bread to soak up sauce better than rice any day. To make it even easier, purchase Minute Rice.

3)      Bolani – purchase pre-made dough if you don’t want to make it from scratch.

4)      Lawang – Try to find bone in, skinless chicken thighs and legs or drumsticks. I could only find bone in, with skin, so I removed the skin by easily ripping it away from the meat the night before, bagged it and sealed it tightly so it was ready the next day. I made a double batch and purchased a 12 qt stew pan. A regular large stew pan would be fine for a single batch.

5)      Naan – Buy Naan in the store but I highly recommend making it from scratch. I left my pieces in pizza slice form because I didn’t want to roll out any more dough after I rolled all the individual Bolani dough. My arms hurt!

6)      Sheer Payra – I probably wouldn’t try this again but make sure the simple syrup is thicker so the fudge sets. 

If you decide to try this meal, please make sure you comment on the author’s original recipe and also let me know what you thought!

Happy cooking everyone!

Cooking Around the World - 197 Countries To Be Exact!

So let me preface what the majority of my blog is going to be about. I'm going to be cooking A LOT; more than I ever have and much more diverse than ever before. My goal is to cook a meal from all 197 countries, straight through, from A to Z. Mind you, this has been done many times, by many people, all over the world. This ventures takes over 3.5 years if you make a new meal, once a week.

However, I'm going to be realistic here...I work full time, I have a part time job, I'm a coach, I play intramural sports, I also do a lot of volunteer work and I have a few trips and weddings planned for 2017 and probably '18, '19 and '20! Cooking a "big" meal once a week stresses me out just a bit! I figure, I'll make my own rules!

We all have busy lives and I'm going to be mindful that I am a very busy person as well. Ultimately when I plan a meal for more than myself and I'm feeding my boyfriend, friends or family, it will happen at least two times per month. I know I can keep to that rule as entertaining and cooking for people makes me truly happy.

 I want to show people that there is great food to be eaten all over the world. I'm going to cook food that I find over the trusty internet, I'll read the reviews, make sure it excites me and after slaving over that hot stove, I'll write about my experience and share it here, hopefully enticing friends and family to venture outside of their cooking comfort zone!

It all came to fruition when I was in Medina, Ohio at the beginning of November visiting my friend Yvonne. We had just gotten back from watching USA Men's rugby play New Zealand Maori and the New Zealand All Blacks play Ireland in Chicago. I have flown in every year since 2014 to watch international rugby matches and meet up with my college rugby friends and parents. This year, as I left the USA vs Maori game, they had a New Zealand meat pie truck outside of the stadium. I'm so thankful I didn't eat the awful, greasy stadium food. I was so happy, I gave my minced meat pie no time to cool and devoured it, while simultaneously burning my mouth and I didn't even care. I got my meat pie!

ISU Rugby girls at the USA vs New Zealand Maori rugby game at Toyota Park.

Chrisa with a delicious meat pie.

ISU Rugby girls tailgating at Soldier field before the Ireland vs New Zealand All Blacks rugby game.

After the Chicago rugby games, I drove back with bff Yvonne, her husband Pete and their newborn, Penelope Ann. They just moved to Ohio from San Diego for Pete's new job. While I was in Ohio I offered to make dinner one night and thought meat pies were the way to go. I had been on Pinterest late into the night after Yvonne and Penelope went to sleep. Pete had to go out of town for work (Napa...awful, right?) and I could tell in his voice as Yvonne and him Facetimed that he was sad he didn't get any meat pies. But have no fear, we had some leftovers for him. I've never made this recipe before. It took a while and they were delicious and even tastier the next day once the all the flavors settled into the puff pastry!

Aussie Meat Pie (Recipes below) with a side of Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

Yvonne and I like taking pictures of each other enjoying food!

The next day was the election. Well, we all know what happened. It got ugly.

I thought to myself after the election, there are so many amazing countries, ethnicities and religions in this world that I know nothing about. There's so much violence and hate happening and it's because we don't truly understand each other. I grew up in a diverse city with many ethnicities but I rarely took the opportunity to learn anything outside of the Mexican heritage. I currently live in Denver, a Mecca for ethnic foods and stores.  I want to know more about the world, its people and different cultures. From my favorite worldly cooking website: Global Table Adventure, Sasha, the author says: "We create peace when we learn about each other, when we understand one another." 

This is why I'm cooking.

I just finished my first country on the list, Afghanistan. I can't wait to finish writing!

That's it. That's how this idea came along. In the last week, a few people I know have said, "Wow, what a great idea. I'm going to try that too!" I'm stoked that people I know want to try something new. If you're on this same adventure, please post a comment or experience and let me know about your journey!

Aussie Meat Pie Recipes that I combined to make my own delicious recipe! We purchased a muffin tin that has 6 spots so you get a girthier meat pie!

Party Pies (Aussie Mini Beef Pies) - I used these cooking directions. Shorter cooking time too!

Steak, Cheese and Mushroom Meat Pies - I used these ingredients. Lots more veggies and spices.

Who Am I and Why Am I Starting a Blog?

About Me: My name is Jenna and I’m the creator of this blog. I’m originally from Rock Island, Illinois. It’s one of five cities in the Quad Cities in Illinois and Iowa. Yep, there’s five not four cities….Rock Island, Moline and East Moline, Illinois and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa. The Quad Cities claim to fame is being the home of John Deere in Moline, Illinois. Located right where I-80 crosses the Mississippi River, that’s where I’m from….three hours west of Chicago. Go Cubs! I graduated from Illinois State University with a major in Public Relations (some would say that my major was rugby) and a minor in Spanish. Don't ask me to speak it...you know the saying, "If you don't use it, you lose it." It's so very, very true.

I’ve lived in Colorado for 9 years, 10 months in Boulder and the remainder in Denver. I have an 8.5 year old doggy named Titan and a 1.5 year relationship with my boyfriend, Mike. Mike’s pup is named Lexi, she’s also 8.5 and Mike and I live in two of the coolest areas in Denver, downtown/LoHi and Wash Park, respectively. I live with my two friends, Kim and Jaime. 

I’ve recently retired from playing rugby after 14 years but continue to work in my beloved sport daily as the Director of the youth programs for the Glendale Raptors Rugby Academy in Glendale, CO.

Why A Blog? I need a creative outlet, where I can talk about my favorite things, not just by using Instagram or Facebook. I have many passions: Cooking Recipes Around The World, Fitness, Skin and Hair Care, Athletics, Philanthropy, Karaoke and Throwing Parties....just to name a few. I used to love to write as well. Some of my 2017 goals, although incredibly broad, are to lead my most meaningful life and set positive intentions each day. I'd enjoy meeting people along the way by sharing my experiences through writing this blog as well!

Thank you for stopping by!