Tag: sauce

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(97) Austria – Jägerschnitzel

Hallstatt, Austria. Source: Finduslost.com

Getting closer to 100, how amazing the journey has been! Austria marks 97, another scenic destination in all seasons. It borders Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. This country is very mountainous containing the Northern Calcareous Alps, Southern Calcareous Alps, and the Central Alps which roughly makes up over 60% of the country. The world’s largest ice cave can be found in Werfen and spans 26 miles. As it seems pretty obvious Austria is known for its winter sports and outdoor adventures. A lesser known fact is that the beloved energy drink Red Bull was created in Austria. Now for the real good stuff..

Austrian, also known as Viennese cuisine, is a fusion of the past Austro-Hungarian Empire. Several cooking methods are used including stewing, frying, boiling, braising, and roasting. Meat is usually at the heart of the meal and common accompanying ingredients include mushrooms (especially local wild ones), Paprika is no stranger in an Austrian’s kitchen. Like many other countries the specific cuisine differs on providence.

For Austria we decided to go with a classic recipe- jägerschnitzel (which translates to hunter’s cutlets from German). Not only is it a fun word to say, but it is an adored dish in Austria and surrounding countries. It was originally made from venison or other wild game and topped with a creamy mushroom sauce. The meat is pounded until it becomes a thin cutlet and fried. The mushroom sauce contains white wine, heavy cream, and butter- name a dreamier combination? Now that you are salivating you better check out the recipe.

Ian cooked this dish which he found to be straight forward which is just how he likes it. The preparation of the sauce was crucial as this is what really brought the meal together. The mushrooms do not take long to cook, but it is important they have the opportunity to absorb all the essence from the paired ingredients.

This dish was excellent. The sauce was perfectly creamy with a buttery flavor. The mushrooms really absorbed that sweetness from the sauce which tasted divine on the pork. The pork was well seasoned and cooked perfectly. This well rounded dish deserved an 8.75/10 rating.

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(90) Mongolia ?- Mongolian Chicken

Source: Nature Mongolia (Youtube)

After our journey west we are going northeast to Mongolia. This eastern Asian country is bordered by China and Russia and is one of the largest landlocked country in the world. It is also the least populated country with over 25% of its inhabitants living the nomadic lifestyle. Mongolia is sometimes referred to as “the land of blue skies” because of how often the skies are clear. The Gobi desert makes up the southern border of the country and has an impressive dinosaur fossil reserve. Wild horses run abundant here with a ratio of 13: 1 to humans. Endangered snow leopards and two hump Bactrian camels are also native here.

In Mongolia there are some truly unique traditions around their food. “Airbag” or fermented horse milk is one of the most popular drinks with spiritual importance. Another popular food despite below freezing temperatures is ice cream! It is believed to be first created in Mongolia but it wasn’t the sweet treat we love today but rather meats stored in intestines and the jolting from riding on a horse made an ice cream like substance.. I’ll pass!

Mongolian cuisine primarily consists of meats, fats, and dairy products due to the climate and resources of the country. Due to its location China and Russia have influenced their cuisine. Today I make a better known dish- Mongolian chicken! This simple but incredibly savory meal can be found in Chinese and Asian fast-food restaurants and was actually invented in Taiwan. I did not realize the lack of Mongolian authenticity until after the fact so there will be a Mongolia round two..🙃 Does that mean I need to round up some intestines and a wild horse? Nonetheless lets continue, here is the recipe.

Well at least it was easy to prepare and took few ingredients. I decided to add some golden zucchini (glorified zucchini) to the dish to add color and balance. The cornstarch was definitely a game changer and allowed the sauce to coat evenly.

This was a meal we needed! Simple, quick, and delicious- check, check and check! The chicken was insanely delicious, the sauce was very similar to teriyaki, and this could have earned the perfect 10 if it had more elements to the dish. I can see myself making this in the future using this recipe as the base to a bad ass stir fry! 9.5/10, so close darling! We will have Mongolia take two in the future to find the real deal.

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Italy Day 3 – Chicken Cacciatore

Welcome to day 3 in Italy! We are making the saucy chicken cacciatore today, a breaded chicken that bathes in a savory tomato-wine sauce. Cacciatore translates to hunter which were the first people to enjoy this dish. Because hunters first made this dish it was actually made with game instead of chicken. The dish was created sometime between the 14th and 16th century.

The dish is so popular it has its own holiday on the 15th of October! Although we know this dish to be adorned with tomato it was originally made without. Tomatoes were not introduced to Italy until later on!

I really appreciated that this meal took less than an hour to prepare (since the majority take longer). The sauce smelt ahhhmazing and picked up the flavors of the stewing veggies. The recipes I used can be found here.

I even made a caperse salad (although the chipmunk ate most of my basil!!)

In the end we were left with a beautiful Italian dinner. The chicken was coated with a nice thick and rich tomato sauce, but I could not tell it was breaded. The vegetables apart of the meal paired well and gave us stew vibes. The salad was nice and fresh and paired well with the hearty chicken. We really loved this dish and rated it 8.25/10!

To close out our week we will have a classic that is commonly seen American restaurants.

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Italy Day 2 – Pasta with Bolognese Sauce

Hey everyone we’re back- who doesn’t love some meat sauce? This Italian classic is a labor of love, however totally worth all the work! There is something magical about making your own pasta sauce.

The sauce originates from Bologna, no surprise, and involves hours of slow cooking to get the desired texture and flavor. The first recordings of this recipe being prepared comes from the late 18th century and was first featured in a cookbook by Pellegrino Artusi in 1891. This first mentioning of the sauce did not include tomatoes until Alberto Avisi in Imola (near Bologna) when he made a tomato meat sauce which he served over macaroni. Often times you would want fresh tagliatelle to serve the sauce on, but I was unable to get any locally so I got the thickest pasta I could find instead!

This sauce contains minced beef and pork (sometimes veal), celery, carrots, onion, wine, cream, tomato paste, puree, and whole tomatoes. The recipe I used can be found here (obviously it is a good one since the author is Italian!) There are as always several variations of the sauce, all having a similar core of ingredients.

I had attempted to cheat the cooking time, but once again it was not successful. The Instant Pot quickly gave me a burn warning and I had to go back to the original plan with several pots in use (you can see my struggle of a tiny stove and pots with splattering sauce).

As you can probably tell just by staring at this photo it was damn good! The sauce was hearty, rich, and filling but was not too sweet like many commercial sauces are. I felt the addition of herbs and garlic would have really blown the sauce out of the water. The bread and thicker noodles definitely worked well. We thought this meal was worthy of 8.25/10.

Next we dive into another saucy meal, stay tuned 😛

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(77) Liberia – Liberian Chicken Gravy

Hey guys I’m back! Summer time brings a lot of outdoor adventures and less time at the computer and stove to bring you more content. Hope you are also enjoying your summer!

Pygmy hippopotamus, Source: Dinoanimals.com

Before we get to it, lets first learn a little bit about Liberia! Liberia is a West African country that borders the Atlantic Ocean, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, and Guinea. English is mostly spoken here, however there are 20 indigenous languages still spoken today. It is the oldest African republic and was the first to gain its independence in 1847; its name literally translating to “land of the free.” This beautiful country is home to incredible surfing, over 700 bird species, the endangered pygmy hippopotamus, and Sapo National Park (which contains a portion of West Africa’s primary rainforest).

Today we make a classic Liberian dish, chicken gravy. This meal consists of not only chicken but shrimp and fish steaks as well. I decided to omit the fried fish and use additional shrimp instead. At the heart of traditional African stews lies tomatoes, garlic, and herbs along with other complementary ingredients to increase the savory and heartiness. Liberian cuisine alike other West African countries include plantains, cassava, rice, yams, and other local fruits and vegetables. Local seafood and fish is the primary meat source of Liberians diet however poultry and other red meat can be eaten on occasion. You can find this recipe here.

Preparation and cooking was simple. This is another good option for a week night meal that can simmer while you cram in a 30 minute work out or finish up a blog post (maybe that’s just me..). I look back now and would have added more tomato paste to thicken up the sauce.

So we had never experienced chicken and shrimp together before and thought it was pretty good! The sauce as I said earlier should have been thicker, however the herbs and ginger really pulled through. It had unique elements, but was an easy meal with common ingredients. We thought it was tasty and rated it 6.5/10.

Next up we head to Zimbabwe for another tender chicken meal!