Yes, the title is corny but I couldn’t think of anything better to introduce this Jamaican dish.

Jamaica is an island in the Great Antilles located in the Caribbean Sea about 145 km south of Cuba. It is 234 kilometres (145 mi) in length approx. kilometres (50 mi) in width, amounting to 11,100 km sq. It’s indigenous Taino inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning the “Land of Wood and Water”, or the “Land of Springs”. The capital is Kingston.

Interesting Facts:
- It was formerly a Spanish possession known as Santiago and it later became the British Crown colony of Jamaica. It remains part of the Commonwealth with Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State.
- Christopher Columbus claimed Jamaica for Spain after landing there in 1494.

Recipe: Shrimp in Coconut Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
1 lb large shrimp, peeled & deveined and pre-cooked
4 med. red-skin potatoes, diced
½ cup chopped onions
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup diced tomatoes
1 cup coconut milk/cream
2 teaspoon paprika
2 stalks scallion, chopped in small pieces
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
2 dried red chilis, chopped finely

Warm oil on medium heat.
Add potatoes and saute over low heat until just barely tender, stirring constantly. Then add onions, and scallion and let that saute until onions are transparent.
Add garlic, paprika and curry powder.
Cook over low heat for approx. 3 mins, stirring constantly.
Add the coconut cream or milk, thyme, chilis and tomatoes, and cook for 3 mins on medium heat – stir often, to prevent coconut milk from drying out.
Finally, add the shrimp and cook for another 5 mins (until shrimp is tenderly cooked).
Serve on its own or over rice.

NOTES:
The recipe calls specifically for red potatoes but I had yellow ones available and instead of buying the red-skinned potatoes, why not use what I have available? So I did, and it turned out well. I also used the canned Thai Kitchen brand cocout milk, I found that its the best coconut milk I’ve used. Although the recipe wants for 1 cup (250ml) I did use the whole can, just because I do love coconut milk dut it didn’t really make the recipe runny, I just found it more coconut-y.
You can buy dried chilies or you can dry your own. A friend of mine gave me some red chilies from the garden and I just left them out, they dried beautifully. I did scoop out most of the seeds before cutting just to make the spicyness less intense.

Verdict:
Ok, yes, it seems like all I do make a lot of coconut and shrimp recipes. It’s great that so many countries have their own variations. I don’t really think you can go wrong with both of those ingredients in one dish. I loved this over rice. It was lovely. I do hope you try it sometime. It was quick and easy.

Hungary, officially the Republic of Hungary is located in Central Europe. Bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. It’s capital is Budapest. The official language is Hungarian and one of the four official languages of the European Union that is not of Indo-European origin.

Interesting Facts:
- Hungary is home to the largest thermal water cave system and the second largest thermal lake in the world.
- The Huns, under Attila the Hun, built a powerful empire in Hungary at the end of the 4th century after the rule of the Roman Empire.

Recipe: Linguine and Scallops in Hot Paprika Sauce
1 pound scallops
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons green onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup clam broth
3/4 cup nonfat cottage cheese
1/4 cup nonfat sour cream
1/4 cup skim milk
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1/8 teaspoon hot Hungarian paprika
salt and pepper to taste
8 ounces linguine

Directions: Saute scallops, garlic, and green onion in wine and 1 tsp of olive oil. Cook on high heat until liquid evaporates, stirring a few times to cook scallops through. Sprinkle with basil and remove to a plate.
In same pan, add remaining tsp of the olive oil and mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in clam broth simmer 2 more minutes.
Put cottage cheese in a blender and blend until smooth.
Add sour cream and blend again. Add the milk and paprika and blend once more.
Pour mixture into the pan with mushrooms. Add scallops and warm over very low heat until mixture is warmed through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, bring water to a boil, add pasta, and cook until al dente. Drain and place in a large serving bowl. Pour sauce over pasta, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Cooked Scallops

Notes: 1 lb of scallops is 453.59 grams. Where I live is quite difficult to find fresh seafood but was able to find the next best thing. Some of the ingredients were hard or impossible to find here. So, in case you have the same problem:
*Clam broth, I substituded with shrimp or seafood broth. I got some buillon cubes and mixed the broth from there.
*Sweet Hungarian Paprika = Regular Paprika
*Hot Hungarian Paprika, you can use chili powder. Not exactly the same but an adequate substitute.
*Dry white wine… actually not hard to find but didn’t want to go out and buy a bottle so I used Chardonnay. It tasted good nonetheless.
*I used freeze dried garlic. I don’t use a lot of garlic in my cooking, especially since I usually only cook for myself. So I got a little bottle of the freeze dried stuff. I find it to be quite good.

VERDICT: This was really good. It does seem like an Italian dish because of the linguine but the taste is very Hungarian. Like I said, it would be a great dish to have for a romantic dinner. It was a sweet & spicy flavour that is hard to describe. Not overpowering at all and it was a light flavour. Even my sister, the picky eater of the family, liked it a lot. Serve with a nice green salad and white wine. Delish!

The Republic of the Fiji Islands is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean east of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu. The country occupies an archipelago of about 322 islands, of which 106 are permanently inhabited, and 522 islets. Fiji’s main island is known as Viti Levu and it is from this that the name “Fiji” is derived, through the pronunciation of their island neighbours in Tonga.

Interesting Facts:
- The population of Fiji is mostly made up of native Fijians, who are Melanesians (54.3%), although a few also have Polynesian ancestry, and Indo-Fijians (38.1%), descendants of Indian contract laborers brought to the islands by the British in the nineteenth century.

- Fiji’s culture is a mix of indigenous, Indian, Chinese and European traditions, language, food (based mainly from the sea, casava, dalo & other vegetables), costume, belief systems, architecture, arts, craft, music, dance and sports.

Recipe:  Spiced Prawns with Almonds

3 tbsp Vegetable Oil or Ghee (lucky you if you can find Ghee… I used olive oil)
2 Bay Leaves
1 Cinnamon Stick
The seeds from 5 Cardamom Pods, crushed (use the green cardamom pods, you can coarsely grind the seeds in a coffee grinder or a magic bullet)

1-½ lb large Raw Prawns (shrimp), shelled and deveined (remember to do the ice water trick for the fullest flavour)
1-inch Fresh Ginger Root, grated (I cheatd and used the jarred grated fresh ginger)
1 Onion, chopped
4 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 tbsp Plain Flour
3 tbsp Ground Almonds (you can get away with 4 tbsps)
½  tsp ground Turmeric
600ml/20fl.oz. Coconut Cream or Milk

2 Green Chilies, deseeded and finely chopped

1 tsp Sugar
Salt
1 tbsp Lime Juice

Directions:

Heat the ghee or oil in a frying pan, add the bay leaves, cinnamon and cardamom and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the prawns and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the prawns using tongs or a slitted spoon and set aside.
Reheat the oil then add the ginger, onion, and garlic, and fry for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the flour, almonds, and turmeric, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the coconut milk, chilies and sugar, mix well and simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes.
Return the prawns to the pan, season with salt and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Stir in the lime juice then remove from the heat and serve immediately.

VERDICT:
It may seem like there are a lot of ingredients but it was actually pretty easy to follow. I was afraid to screw it up so I did use a timer to have the exact minute count but even that didn’t make this recipe difficult.  My biggest challenge really was finding green chilies, I went to 3 different supermarkets and found lots of jalapeños, serrano and ancho chilies but no green ones. Thank goodness a friend of mine grows a small garden and, for some reason, he had green chilies to spare (I say “For some reason” because he doesn’t use them himself). So I want to thank my friend Paul for contributing to an important part of this recipe.
The recipe called for salt at the end to season and I only used about a teaspoon, in my opinion salt was really not needed thanks to the symphony of flavours that mingled together to make this creamy delight! I served it over, of course, whole grain rice on its own and we all really enjoyed it. It was delicious! Then again, I am very fond of coconut milk in sauces so I may not be the best judge on this one. All I can say is that it was so good I almost regretted having to share! Almost…

Fun Facts:

- The country is called “Africa in miniature” for its geological and cultural diversity.
-Portuguese sailors reached the Cameroon coast in 1472. They noted an abundance of prawns and crayfish in the Wouri River and named it Rio dos Camarões, Portuguese for “River of Prawns”, and the phrase from which Cameroon is derived.

RECIPE: Fish Stew with Rice

2 slices Onion
5 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons tomato concentrate (I used tomato paste, seemed to work fine)
2 lb. fish, boned and cut in large pieces (just got fish filets)
1 & 1/2 pints water
2 teaspoons salt
2 carrots, sliced
1/2 lb. cabbage, shredded
2 small sweet potatoes, cut in 1-inch cubes
1/4 lb. okra (1/2 packet frozen okra)
1 lb. cooked rice

Okra Added

Cook Onion in hot oil until tender but not brown
Add tomato concentrate and fish. Cover and cook over low heat for 1/2 hour.
Add water, salt and vegetables to fish mixture; cook gently for 1 hour.
Place a portion of rice in the centre of a plate and ladle stew over rice.

k.. the idea was a good one. Something unusual with ingredients that were pretty easy to come by. Overall prep was quite easy, cook time was an hour and a half but nothing too laborious overall. I have to say though that I was dissapointed, this is one recipe that MUST be eaten hot and right away, if you’re planning on leftovers I would suggest a different recipe and, if you are cooking for picky eaters maybe leave out the okra, if you haven’t cooked okra before just keep in mind that once it’s cooked it has a “strange”consistency, for lack of a better word, it’s a little slimy.

Not sure if I did something wrong or if this is the way the stew was supposed to be the day after but the consistency was not the best. I used whole grain rice, as always, and followed the recipe to the letter. It didn’t specify the type of fish required so I used cod filets. If someone else has cooked a Cameroon fish stew and had it turn out delicious please let me know if you used a secret ingredient that I may have missed? Basically the ingredients called for in the recipe were: Onion, tomato concentrate (I used tomato paste), 2lbs fish, water, salt, carrots, cabbage, sweet potatoes, okra (1/4 lb. fresh, 1/2 pkg frozen) and 1 lb. cooked rice.  The stew was pretty good the first day but if you’re planning to freeze or save for leftovers then I wouldn’t recommend it.

Also, and this is quite important. The smell lingered for a couple of days. It was a not too pleasant fishy smell. Again, this could be because of the type of fish I used or maybe something I may have done wrong… Although I’d like to think that it was the fish since I haven’t EVER screwed up a recipe

***UPDATE!***
I hate to throw out food so I tried to change this up a bit. After reheating  each serving I added sour cream and a bit of salt. It changed both the taste and the consistency enough to make it good. I wouldn’t call it scrumptious but it was edible and I was able to save it from going in the garburator!

Brunei (pronounced Brunai): officially the State of Brunei, Abode of Peace. It is located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia, apart from its coastline by the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the state of Sarawak, Malaysia, is separated into two parts by Limbang, which is part of Sarawak. Brunei, the remnant of a very powerful sultanate, regained its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 January 1984 and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Fun Facts: It is one of the smallest countries on earth. at 5,765 sq. km. (El Salvador is larger at 21,040 sq km. Who Knew!). POP 150, 000
Over half the population is Malaysian and most are Muslims.

Recipe: Nasi Goreng Keropok Belinjau (a version of Fried Rice)

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked one-day old rice (of course I used whole grain)
6 tbsps margarine, melted (you can free hand it here, I used about 4)
4 oz. mixed vegetables (I suggest the asian or oriental frozen mixed veggies from Green Giant, Europe’s Best or President’s Choice)
4 oz.  prawns, peeled
1/4 lb. chicken meat, thinly sliced (you can get away with using 1/2 lb. I did!)
2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika powder
1 cube of chicken stock
2 stalks spring onion, cut diagonally
1 stalk coriander leaves, chopped

Directions:
Heat margarine and stir fry minced ingredients until aromatic. Add prawn, chicken meat, pepper, paprika powder and chicken stock.
Add rice and mix well.
Add mixed vegetables, spring onions and coriander leaves. Stir to combine.

Ok… so overall this recipe was pretty easy. And I learned a lot! For example, I didn’t know that cilantro and coriander where the same thing, I went around to the supermarkets looking for coriander and they kept showing me cilantro! Finally I went home to look it up and sure enough, they are the same. Also, Spring onions are the same as Scallions but can be substituted if necessary by green onions. I used 4 stalks instead of 2.
I don’t own a kitchen scale (I really should get one though!) so I measured the meat by hand and I’m sure I used more than what the recipe called for but it didn’t ruin the taste one bit.

Make sure you put the prawns or shrimp in ice water (maybe even a couple of ice cubes in there too) after you shell them and remove the head and tail until you are ready to add them to the pot, it actually helps keep the flavour when you cook them, just a little tip I learned watching cooking shows. ;)

Verdict: This dish was so aromatic and it was very good! I had leftovers so brought some to work to share, everyone agreed that the smell was so good it made people hungry and it tasted even better the day after. The recipe didn’t call for salt and there really isn’t a need to add it, the buillon cube is enough sodium. I believe that even the pickiest eater would like this (unless they don’t like cilantro/coriander). I will definitely make it again, I think it would be a great addition to any potluck too!