Meat Thukpa (Nepali Recipe)

1 lb. Tibetan noodles, similar to spaghetti, or cavatelli(I used regular spaghetti)
1/2 lb. Lamb, cut into ¼-in. slices (can be substituted with chicken or shrimps)
1/2 lb. Spinach, washed and cut into pieces
1 cup onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced (I used about 1 tsp. powdered ginger)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin powder
3 fresh chilies, julienned
1/2 teaspoon jwanu (lovage seeds)(I omitted this as I didn't have any)
1 bay leaf
1 cup tomatoes
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups lamb broth (I used beef broth)
2 tablespoons musturd oil (I used olive oil)
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

Cook noodles in boiling salted water until slightly undercooked. Drain and rinse. In a sauce pan heat 2 tablespoons of musturd oil. Add onions, fry till light brown. Add turmeric, garlic, ginger, cumin powder, and chilies. Stir well for 1 min. Put the pieces of lamb and brown well. To the lamb mixture add tomatoes, soy sauce, yogurt, broth, jwanu seeds, bay leaf, salt and pepper and cook until the lamb is tender. Add the noodles and stew for 5-7 more minutes. At last, add spinach and fold into the stewed noodles for a minute or so, until wilted. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with roti.

Sweet Scones

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. butter
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup currants, raisins or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, blend in the butter until crumbly. Add the milk and dried fruit. Stir with a wooden spoon. With your hands, form the dough into a ball. If it is too dry, add 1 tbsp. of milk. If it is too wet, add 1 tbsp. flour. Dust a clean table top with flour. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick with a rolling pin. Using a round cookie cutter or tho open end of a drinking glass, cut the scones into circles. I used the dough scraps to make more scones by patting the dough into a round, flat circle and cutting into four wedges. Place on cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until they start to brown. Let cool 5 minutes, then serve.

We served them the Scottish way, with jam and whipping cream spread on the insides and put together like sandwiches. We had a Scottish afternoon tea party today while studying the country of Scotland.

Finnish Meatballs

1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1 yellow onion, minced
1 egg
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice (I didn't have allspice so I used French Onion Dip Mix instead)
1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg, cream, salt, and allspice in a bowl with your hands until evenly mixed. Roll the mixture into golf ball-sized spheres.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook about half the meatballs in the melted butter until evenly browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes; remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining meatballs, keeping the liquid in the skillet when finished.
Sift the flour into the skillet drippings; cook the flour in the skillet drippings until brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly stream the milk into the skillet while whisking vigorously; pour the cream into the mixture and stir until smooth. Add salt and pepper. If you aren't good at making gravy and end up with some lumps you can pour the gravy through a strainer. Return all the meatballs to the skillet; stir to coat with the gravy. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the meatballs are cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

Icelandic Baked Fish

1 tablespoon butter
6 fish fillets or 6 cod fish fillets I used both cod and Alaskan Pollock (we preferred the Pollock but both were good)
1 lemon
salt , pepper to taste
200 g emmenthaler cheese or 200 g tilsiter cheese , grated (I used emmenthaler)
1 tablespoon mustard (I used dijon mustard)
1 cup cream
½ cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven at 180° celsius. Butter a baking-dish. Put the fillets into the baking-dish. Season the fillets with salt, pepper and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Cover the fish with ground cheese. Mix mustard with cream and pour it over fish fillets. Cover with breadcrumbs. Bake the fillets for 35 minutes. Serve with rice or noodles.

Swedish Meat Pies

1 tablespoon butter
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
2 large red potatoes, grated
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup shortening
12 tablespoons sour cream (i needed a little more than this)

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Crumble in the ground beef and add onion, parsley, dill, and grated potatoes. Cook and stir until the meat is browned. Drain any excess grease. Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese until melted. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Mix in the shortening with a fork or pastry cutter until only pea sized lumps remain. Stir in sour cream a little bit at a time until the dough holds together. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface. Divide into eight equal portions, and pat into balls.
Roll out each ball of dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Place a heaping 1/2 cup of filling onto each one. Fold over into half circles, and seal by moistening the edges with warm water and pressing together. Place on a baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Makes 8 LARGE meat pies.

We made these while studying Sweden during a unit study on Vikings and the areas around where they lived.

Maple Baked Beans

4 cups water
1 pound dried navy or butter beans (I used red kidney beans)
1 Tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, sliced
1½ teaspoons salt
1 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ginger

Preheat oven to 350° F .
Add water and beans to a large pot.
Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 2 hours.
Drain the beans, reserving 2 cups of the liquid. (Add water to make 2 cups, if necessary.)
In a small skillet, melt the butter.
Add the onions and sauté until golden, about 7 to 10 minutes.
Add the onion, salt, maple syrup, dry mustard, and ginger to the beans, and transfer mixture to a large baking pot.
Cover the pot and bake in the middle of the oven for 2 hours.
Occasionally check the beans and add more water, if necessary.
After 2 hours, uncover the beans and bake an additional 30 to 45 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed.
Let stand about 10 minutes before serving hot.
Serves 10 to 12.

I paired this dish with the Ojibway Wild Rice when we studied the USA. Much tastier than maple baked beans from a can!

Ojibwa Wild Rice

1 cup wild rice
2½ cups water
1½ teaspoons salt
4 strips bacon cut into small pieces
6 eggs
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons chives, minced
⅓ cup bacon drippings
Melted butter

Place the wild rice, water, and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until all the water is absorbed.
Meanwhile, brown the bacon in a large skillet.
Remove the bacon from the skillet and drain it on paper towels.
Save the bacon drippings from the skillet.
Pour the eggs into a mixing bowl and add ½ teaspoon of the salt and the pepper.
Pour the eggs into the skillet where the bacon was browned, and brown the eggs lightly.
Turn them over gently and brown on the other side.
When the eggs are firm, cut them into narrow strips.
Lightly toss the bacon, egg strips, chives, bacon drippings (plus melted butter or margarine to make ⅓ cup) with the cooked rice.
Serve hot.
Makes 4 servings.

This recipe was used when we studied the United States of America, particularly the Great Lakes region. I paired this dish with Maple Baked beans a dish I found under the heading of USA Native Americans

Cultural Dishes

We are currently homeschooling our boys in grade 2 and kindergarten. We try to once a week do a brief study about a different country. We study the country's map, where it is in the world, it's flag, a story or a missionary from that country and the most fun - the food! We have found many good recipes on this journey and in the following posts I will share some of the great new dishes we have enjoyed!