Hellobee Boards

All of these recipes look amazing! I have no ethnicity, but goodness, I do love soul food.

@mrs. wagon: You won't be disappointed!

@mrs. wagon: yum!

@Mamaof2: I think the beans are for pre-baking the crust. You put them on top of parchment paper to weigh it down so it doesn't puff up--that way there's room for more delicious filling!!

Natilla is a common dssert in Colombia, where my husband is from. It usually is dulce de leche flavored, but the coconut is my favorite. Sprinkle it with a bit of cinnamon before serving. Yummm...

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 cups whole milk
1 cup cream
1/2 cup cream of coconut
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon butter
Pinch of salt
Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes Yield: About 3 cups of custard.
PREPARATION

In a large measuring cup or small bowl, whisk the cornstarch into 1 cup of the milk. Set aside.

Add the remaining one cup of milk and the cream to a heavy saucepan. Add the cinnamon stick, a pinch of salt, the brown sugar, and the cream of coconut.

Heat mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it almost reaches a boil. Lower the heat slightly, and whisk in the cornstarch mixture.

Cook, stirring, until mixture thickens and becomes shiny, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter. Add the vanilla, and 1-2 tablespoons of rum if desired.

Divide natilla into serving dishes, or place in one large dish. Chill until ready to serve. Sprinkle with cinnamon before serving.

@mrs.shinerbock: That looks fantastic!

If anyone has a good Caribbean/Latin American rice and beans recipe (I know!) I'd love them forever. DH is Jamaican and I can't even make a pot of rice and beans. Yikes lol

I'm so excited to try these new recipes!!!

Here's is a non-authentic but Korean inspired recipe that is so tasty! Sometimes I just do kal-bi ribs on the grill and just make the scallion salad with butter lettuce and chili paste. We made this a ton this summer when we had people over and everyone raved over it and loved it. I make about 4 times the amount of scallion salad with lots of red chili bc it's so good!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Steak-in-Lettuce-Rolls-238343

Not my photo

I'm Caribbean/Creole/Native but most of my recipes in that vein have crawfish in them. If that's anyone's jam I'll post one We had étouffée in a pastry crust last night instead of over rice and it was soooooo good.

@Boheme: yum! None of my family is originally from Louisiana, but we eat a lot of Cajun and Creole food and always have gumbo for Christmas dinner.

@.twist.: @Dandelion: You guys make me lol!

@LuLu Mom: Those look sort of like bierox!

I cannot pretend to any ethnicity, being the standard European/American mutt. But I looooooove ethnic foods. I've been known to put Indian, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese dishes on the table based the recipes as I've been able to find on the internet. I would love more Filipino recipes!

Here's a good white girl chicken/turkey pot pie that I made up after Thanksgiving last year. It is soooo not fancy, but it is really good. The secret is the crust:

½ recipe of butter crust: 1.25 cups flour, 1 stick butter, ½ tsp salt, ¼ c + several tablespoons ice cold water. Add rosemary or whatever dried herb sounds good to you right now.

Put the flour in a bowl and use a pastry cutter to cut in ice cold butter. If you think it is getting warm or mushy, put it in the freezer and do other things! Keeping it cold is paramount. Once the butter is the size of peas or smaller, add just enough water to make a rollable crust. Wrap it in plastic wrap or wax paper and put it in the fridge or freezer to re-chill while you do the rest.

The innards:

1 package (square) of frozen corn
1 package (square) of frozen peas
Handful of carrots cut up
(Or seriously, whatever leftover frozen or fresh veggies you have.)
Leftover turkey or chicken, chopped

Take a generous pat of butter (1.5 – 2 T) and melt in saucepan. Add 2 tsp “better than chicken” bullion. Add a few tablespoons of flour to thicken (like a roux or béchamel sauce). Cook a couple minutes. Add, probably, a cup and a half of water (so bad about measuring). Cook to thicken. Add ¼ to ½ cup parmesan (cheap-o grated can stuff).
Put all the veggies and turkey into the square baking pan. Pour liquid over. Give a few shakes of pepper. (I don't add salt because of the bullion and parmesan.)
Lightly roll out the crust on a floured surface. Cover with the crust, poke a few vents in it, and bake at 375 for 45 minutes, then check. It ended up taking another, 30 - 35 minutes to get the crust golden.

If you keep the butter super cold in the crust, each of those little pea-sized butter specks will evaporate and steam magical flavor into the crust. If you double it and add a tablespoon or two of sugar, you have the best pie crust ever. Yes, it is slightly harder to work with than other recipes, but the butter makes it so very worth it, because the flavor is by far the best.

@looch: I have a recipe for my MIL's sambar (basically lentil curry, a staple in south India)... Should I post?

Here is my contribution. As a lifelong resident of Indiana, I present to you: The Hamburger.

Ingredients:
Beef

Directions:
Patty and grill.
Serve with desired toppings.

Most of the traditional Chinese dishes I make is done from memory and what I have in my pantry/fridge. So I can't really give recipes. But this is a recipe I use on a regular basis that is pretty close to the real deal. Ma Po Tofu

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Ma-Po-Tofu-103565

@beaker: Yes, I love Indian food!

So after I got home last night I was thumbing through a cookbook that I got long ago when I lived in Bolivia--here are my two absolute favorite Bolivian foods. Again, they can be a bit time consuming but are worth it in the end. I didn't feel like typing out the recipes so I found these online, which are close enough to the ones in my book.

1. Salteñas--ok, so these are actually Argentinian but the Bolivians have co-opted them. My favorite breakfast, I could easily put away 2-3! They are little football-shaped pastries stuffed with yummy stuff like beef, potatoes, peas, egg, olive and raisin. You can make them with chicken. They freeze really well too, so when I make them I will double or triple the recipe. My braid on top never looks as nice in the picture though! Recipe: http://www.imaginainventaeintenta.com/bolivian-saltenas/

2. My other favorite (especially on a cold, winter day) is Sopa de Mani (peanut soup)--a hearty creamy meat soup with lots of veggies. The creaminess comes not from milk or cream, but from a puree of raw peanuts! And it's topped with french fries, how could you say no? Best served with a dash of hot sauce mixed in Here's the recipe: http://boliviancookbook.wordpress.com/soups/sopa-de-mani/

@MediaNaranja: @looch:

sambar recipe (lentil curry)
- measurements are approximate because of course my MIL does it all by feel

bring 1.5 cup lentils to a slow boil with
1 tsp salt
1 tsp tumeric powder
1/4 tsp asafoetida (I've omitted this before and it's not a huge deal, you can get it in asian grocery stores)

When the lentils are soft/cooked, add vegetables (whatever you want that will hold up to boiling, common choices are)
- spinach (if you only add spinach, this is often called spinach daal)
- potatoes (1 or 2, diced in big chunks)
- carrot (baby carrots are awesome for this, 3-4)
- a tomato (1 or 2 in big chunks)
- okra (a few finger length pieces)

also add your curry powders now (but mix in a little bowl with water before dumping in the pot)
- 1 ts curry powder (her favorite brand is Baba's, perhaps can only be found in Malaysia)
- 1/2 ts sambar powder (if you can't find this just use more curry powder)
- a small piece of tamarind root, mashed up in water (I've omitted this before and it was fine)
- whatever other spices you want, I commonly use cumin, garam masala, paprika

let this all keep boiling for 10-15 minutes

meanwhile saute an onion (diced) with ginger (can use paste or chunks of the root), oil, black mustard seeds, and some curry leaves

turn the heat off of the sambar, add the onion, etc. and enjoy

It should look something like this...