Bring Europe to My Kitchen. Please.
 

I confirmed today that we will not be returning to Europe this year.

But my pots and pans arrived so going to bring Europe to us! What are your favorite dishes inspired by countries all over the world not just in Europe?

My first experiment dish is Coq au vin... so a French theme. Does anyone know its history or anything at all about it? Favorite recipe? Which part of France and are there variations of Coq au vin? We will be having people over during these theme nights so any trivial tidbits about the dish is especially appreciated!

Food is such a huge part of travel and everyone seems to have a different opinion. Kindly share your thoughts and other yummy suggestions. I have a mixer and food processor available.

Thank you! :)

Fois gras bien sure!

I love this book:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/08...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It will take you back to all your favorite bistros in Paris.

I love Asian food but it's often more work than I care to do. Having recently read 'How Not to Die', by Dr. Michael Greger (a fun read, believe it or not), I've been on a quest for easy non-meat recipes. My current favorite is a red lentil dal with coconut milk, over brown jasmine rice. Easy & delicious, lots of recipes online.

<i>Bring Europe to My Kitchen. Please.
Posted by: tessietoes on Aug 17, 16 at 6:37pm
What are your favorite dishes inspired by countries all over the world not just in Europe?
My first experiment dish is Coq au vin... so a French theme. </i>

Unless you can find an authentic 10 pound Burgundian chicken your expectations will fall short. How they raise chicken in France bears no resemblance to the process in the USA. So find the best farm bird you can. Most grocery store poultry is made in a factory.

There are plenty of recipes on the Internet.

Living in Central Europe, and now that I'm a trailing spouse I have more time to experiment in the kitchen. I am enjoying learning about, and attempting to make dishes like Goulash with beef, deer, and Wildschwein (boar) and Schnitzel from scratch. The Schlupfkrapfen of Tirol are very similar to the pierogies I've made since childhood, just with different fillings. Semmelknodel with homemade beef stock is a family favorite on the cold nights, too.

http://cuisinieres01.blogspot.fr/201...oq-au-vin.html

But as spaarne rightly points out, you need the right chicken, very hard to find in the USA.

Check the What's For Dinner threads in the Fodor's Lounge for hundreds of ideas for recipes from all over the world.

What about Sauerbraten, one of the few dishes that remained from Roman-medieval cuisine when much more spices were used than today?

Sauerbraten is beef (originally venison, also horsemeat) marinated for 3 to 7 days in red wine with a little vinegar and spices added. Then it is braised or baked for 2 hours until tender. The sauce is made from the marinade, with raisins added and, very important, thickened with gingerbread.

Guten Appetit!

Surely you can look up Julia Child's iconic recipe for coq au vin, adopted for the American kitchen since you won't find the tough old rooster originally used.
To truly show off, make a cassoulet--basically "baked beans" done southwest France style.
A good French ragout? Flemish carbonnade--one of my favorite stews to make when our kids were growing up.
Don't forget a bouilliabaise and a tarte tatin.

I love Ina Garten's Ribollita recipe (reboiled Italian cabbage soup--much better than it sounds). Makes me dream of Tuscany.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/i...ta-recipe.html

I like Patricia Wells' Bistro cookbook, she gives short anecdotes about many of the dishes.

Ina's Paris cook book is ggod. Patricia Wells' Trattoria also.
Nancy McDermott's Thai cookbook. Paula Wolfert's Southwest France.
Julia Child's paella is my "go to" recipe as well as her French onion soup.

Julia Child has a wonderful, classic coq au vin recipe.

Pick up both volumes of her Mastering the Art of French Cooking and it will keep you busy for a year or so.

"Surely you can look up Julia Child's iconic recipe for coq au vin, adopted for the American kitchen since you won't find the tough old rooster originally used."

Oddly enough, I happen to have a tough old bird in my freezer as I type this and figured an authentic traditional coq au vin was the only treatment that might work on it rather than just using it to make stock. If anyone here can point me to a good recipe I'd be appreciative.

I don't think tough old birds are that hard to find in the US if you actually seek them.

To the OP's question I've been craving asian and middle eastern food quite a bit lately. I make a lot of dishes that are probably rip offs of authentic versions but they satisfy the flavor cravings. I am making this tonight http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/r...at-bai-grapao/

Interesting website, limmy.

Ah, limmy aren't you the lucky one. Can't wait to look for the label in the Safeway--tough old bird. LOL

Pretty sure you could also use Julia's recipe.

Love David Thomson's recipes. I have one of his books with me in the camper so I can cook up some Thai food along the way (maybe).

I too am cutting down on meat a lot, and enjoy Asian dishes including lots of different dahl recipes. Lentils are so good for you and adaptable too. I do occasionally indulge in sausages with Puy lentils which is is easy and tasty.

I also do a very unauthentic veggie paella, though I did get the idea from a Spaniard.

Why not alternate days? Have a European dish one day (quenelles de volaille perhaps) and the next day an American dish to remind you that the U.S. also has some amazing food (maybe Chesapeake Bay soft shell crab or crab cakes with grilled sweet corn on the cob, for example).

Yes, I've made a few of David Thompson's recipes and all were "keepers". I grow Thai bird's eye chilies and Thai basil in my garden so I'm always looking for ways to use them.

I am also cutting down on meat. This means a lot of beans and lentils and more eggs. Today is our first meat day of the week and I'll only use a half pound, in the past I would have used a whole pound.

I make a faux veggie "paella" too :)

About my tough old bird, I've been trying to get my meat from small local farms with humanely raised & slaughtered animals. So I got this tough pastured bird. I've never made coq au vin before, I've never even eaten it if memory serves so it will be a bit of a stab in the dark for me. Hopefully Julia will be a guiding light. Maybe we could compare notes, tessietoes.

As nice as summer produce is I am looking forward to some paprikas, königsbeger klopse, stroganoff, etc. in the winter. And there is a Marcella Hazan recipe for smothered cabbage soup but I'm unsure if this is a dish actually eaten in Italy? It is so good on cold dark days of winter.

Middle eastern & Mexican food all year round.

I need a Vietnam trip to get a better feel for home cooking. And Peru!

Hopefully I pickup some new dishes on my trip to istria coming up in a couple weeks.

I love this idea for a thread, I hope it stays alive.

Have you seen the film "Julie and Julia"? That should give you a number of ideas for French food--along with "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," which is my bible. Another fine French cookbook is Elizabeth David's "Cooking of Provindial France." One of my favorite soup recipes, Potage Crecy (carrot soup), comes from an adaptation of a recipe in that book by a friend whose family were renowned caterers in Vienna.

The Pierre Franey cookbooks are excellent, with recipes that are not terribly complex--but very good.

If you can find a copy, "French Cooking for the Food Processor" is a treasure.

For Italian food, the Marcella Hazen cookbooks--and watch the Lidia cooking series on PBS.