E…Egypt

  Egypt

Our E – Egypt day was held at Julie’s place but the only pyramids were the piles of food.

Think of Egyptian food and you must immediately think of Dukkah (or Duqqa), the tasty mixture of herbs nuts and spices whose name is Arabic for “to pound”, which describes it perfectly.  We started with Marie’s home-made Dukkah served with Chili Oil and Garlic oil.  This is one of those treats that you can’t stop eating once you have started.

Dukkah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laura prepared Ful Medames or fūl, an ancient dish that has been adopted and modified by various Arabic-speaking countries and a great meal for any time of the day.  Laura also made Aish Baladi (Egyptian Pita Bread).

 

Ful Medames

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeanne made Egyptian Eggs, soft-boiled then fried and rolled in Dukkah.

Egyptian Eggs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wendy made Kushari, a vegetarian recipe of lentils, macaroni and rice that was sprinkled with Baharat, a finely ground mixture of spices.

Kushari

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barley was a staple of ancient Egypt and Joan’s tasty and colourful Barley and Nutty Roast Vegetable Salad continued the healthy vegetarian nature of our day.

Barley nutty Veg Salad

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pauline prepared Egyptian Roasted Chicken and Potatoes, served with yogurt cucumber dip.

Roasted Chicken and Potato

 

 

 

 

 

Julie made Omm Ali (Egyptian Bread Pudding), served with Pomegranate seeds and ice-cream.

Bread Pudding

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished with Kathy’s Basbousa with Pomegranate, Roasted Almonds and Rose water.

Basbousa

Credits:

Laura’s Ful Medames is from culturecheesemag.com.  For her Aish Baladi recipe see our Recipes page.

Wendy’s Kushari is from SBS food.

Joan’s Barley and Nutty Roast Vegetable Salad is from lifestylefood.com.

Kathy’s Basbousa is from SBS Food Safari

Julie’s Omm Ali (Bread Pudding) is from SBS Food.

Pauline’s Roasted Chicken and Potatoes is from foodofegypt.com

See our Recipes page for more recipes.

C…Colombia

Colombia

For our Colombia day we met at Pauline’s.  It was April Fool’s day so Jeanne tricked everyone with a dish of kitchen scraps destined for her chickens, which produced some bemused responses until we realised what day it was.

We started with Laura’s Bolitas de Yuca y Queso – Yuca Balls stuffed with cheese.  She had thought it would be fairly bland and was tempted to add to the recipe, but decided to keep it authentic.  The result was surprisingly tasty.

Yuca Balls

 

 

 

 

 

Julie prepared Sopa de Frijoles Negros (Black Bean Soup), a soup of black beans accompanied by side-dishes of chopped ham, rice and onion which could be added to suit individual tastes.

Sopa de Frijoles Negros

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeanne also presented a soup, but this was a chunky combination of Lentils and Chorizo, with accompaniment of tomato, rice, avocado and yoghurt.

Lentil Chorizo Soup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nadine made Carne Afanada, a self-saucing meatloaf.  A unique feature of this was that she used Green Banana Flour from Natural Evolution, a gluten-free product, in the recipe.

Carne Afanada

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris made Colombian Empanadas, with beef and potatoes, served with creamy yellow mashed potatoes, Naca de Papas.

Empanadas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joan prepared a Banana-Pecan and Dulce de Leche Upside-Down Cake.

Banana Pecan Cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished with Pauline’s dessert of Dulce de Brevas – Figs in Syrup served with a fresh white cheese.  Instead of panela Pauline used brown sugar, and to substitute for queso fresco she blended equal quantities of ricotta and feta cheese.

Figs in Syrup

 

 

 

 

 

Credits:

Laura’s Yuca Balls was from My Colombian Recipes.

Pauline’s Dulce de Brevas also was adapted from My Colombian Recipes.

Joan’s Banana-Pecan and Dulce de Leche Upside-Down cake was also from My Colombian Recipes, with the Dulce de Leche from Epicurious.

See our Recipes page for more recipes.