Ethnic recipes anyone?

The wonderful discussion about Judaism here on the Recipes forum has inspired me!

Would anyone like to join me in telling about your ethnic heritage and sharing a recipe or two?

I'm Italian.  All four of my grandparents are from the same town in Abruzzi - Chieti.  So my family recipes are specific to one region of the country.  I'd be happy to share them if anyone else would like to join in.

It doesn't matter if these old treasures are diet friendly.  We can have smaller portions or find ways to make them healthier.  Nostalgia is good for the soul.

Jagerschnitzel

 

For the Meat

 1 lb pork cutlets, about 1/2 ",thick (can also use veal)

1-2 Egg, beaten

Salt

pepper

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

oil

For the Gravy

2 ounces bacon, diced

4 ounces onions, chopped

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 dash thyme

Salt

Pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon parsley

2 tablespoons sour cream

Pound the cutlets and rub in the salt and pepper.

1. Let stand for about 10 minutes.
2. Dip cutlets into the beaten egg and then, crumbs.
3. Brown in a small amount of oil over low heat for about 10 minutes on each side.
4. While meat is browning, saute' the bacon and onions until golden brown.
5. Add the tomato paste and mushrooms and saute' over a low heat.
6. Add the wine, water, and seasonings; let simmer for about 5 minutes.
7. Stir in the sour cream.
8. Pour over the schnitzel.

Spaetzle Recipe

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 1/4 to 3/4 cup water

Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add egg; mix. Add water gradually until batter is stiff but smooth. Press dough flat on a plate or floured board. With a sharp knife, scrape small pieces of dough off and drop into boiling salted water. There should be only one layer at a time of spaetzle cooking. Boil gently for 5 to 8 minutes, or until done to your taste. Remove with perforated spoon and let drain. Serve as a side dish with meat. Serve right away or sauté the finished spaetzle in butter until golden and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Roast Pork with Sauerkraut a German dish

any size roast you like bone in or boneless

1 bag or can or rinsed sauerkraut

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped apple (skin on or off)

1 TBSP. caraway seeds

1 cup white wine or beer

fresh ground pepper

Mix all in a deep casserole or rasot pan

Place pork in the center on top.

Dust with paprika and ground sage

Roast until meat is 170+ degrees. I check to add water if needed. This smells incredible and tastes great if you like pork.

Have you ever done pork and sauerkraut in a crockpot?  It turns out great and the meat is so tender!  I use pork shoulder, bone in.

jiggles- chana is usually served over long grain white  rice but it is kind of a soupy texture.... here it is

Chana Recipe Seasoned Chickpeas with Onions and Tomato Make a hot pepper mixture by grinding together and setting aside: 1/2 jalapeño pepper 1/2 clove garlic, minced 1/4 inch fresh ginger, grated pinch cumin seeds Heat in a saucepan: 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil tiny pinch hing 1/2 teaspoon cumin/mustard/sesame seed mixture When the seeds pop, add and sauté until the onions are soft: 2 medium onions, diced 1 1/2 tomatoes, diced the hot pepper mixture 1 Tablespoon tomato paste (opt.) Add powdered spices and whole spices: 2 teaspoons cumin/coriander powder 1 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon garam masala 1/4-1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper powder (opt.) 6 whole cloves 10 black peppers 2 inch cinnamon stick, broken into pieces 1 Tablespoon bay leaves Then add: 1 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas (1 [19 oz.] can) 2/3 cup water 1 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 Tablespoons fresh coriander leaves (cilantro), chopped Simmer for 10 minutes. Serve hot. You can crush a few chickpeas against the side of the pot with your spoon to thicken the sauce. Category Dals & Legumes Servings Makes 4 cups Serving Size 3 TBS Calories 34 Protein 1 g Fat 0.9 g Carbohydrates 5 g

clairelaine, i hope this reciepe is what you were looking for it's the " goulash " my mother makes

1 can plum tomatoes

1 can tomatoe soup

1 med chopped onion

noodles [i use egg noodles less fat]

1 lb of lean ground beef cooked

while cooking meat add chopped onion and can tomatoe soup.

after noodles are cook add tomatoes and beef mixture. mix together and let simmer on stove till the hot.

even if this isn't goulash it sure is good ;and filling....:)

That's what I grew up on, except my mom's had green pepper and elbow macaroni.  It's good stuff!

Sounds sort of like American Chop Suey???

kristym, it is, sort of - an old dish modified to appeal to local taste.  Thank you so much for the German recipes.  I've never made potato dumplings.  It's nice to have a tried and true recipe, which is another reason for not letting our family recipes die.

Oooo! Have to tag this for myself! I love this one! I love to make new recipes and get ideas. Thanks clairelaine for this post! I have too many recipes to tell but I'll pull one out yet! Thanks again! (((HUGGS)))!!

Okay, it took me long enough but here it is.  My mom's Caldo Verde recipe.  The measurements are the best that I can give, unfortunately my mom never cooks with measuring spoons or cups (and I hardly do either).  Most of this is by eye and changes depending on what we have at hand and what we are in the mood for.  Also, different regions of Portugal and different families will have a different take on this, but this is the best :-)

Caldo Verde (Green Broth)
1 large pot of water or chicken broth (approx. 2 liters)
5 starchy medium potatoes like an idaho
1 chicken boullion cube (if using water instead of broth)
2 Tbsp olive oil
large bunch of Collard Greens or Kale (I prefer the Collard Greens)
a few slices of chorico (optional)

1.  Cut off the thick stem of the greens.  Stack together the Collard Green leaves and roll them up like a cigar.  Starting from the bottom cut across the roll so that you get thin shreds of the greens.  It should not be cut straight down since this will make very long strings but rather at a slight angle.  The old school hardcore portuguese woman hold the roll in their hands and cut towards their thumbs which have had years of hardening.  I do not recommend this unless you really know what you are doing  for you may cut yourself severly.  Use a cutting board.  The end result should be a bowl full of greens resembling your yard after you've mowed it :-)
2.  Cut the potatoes into 1 inch cubes or so for them to boil quickly.  Add to the pot of water or broth. 
3.  If using water, add boullion and turn on burner to boil.
4.  Once potatoes are soft remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
5.  Using a stick blender puree the potatoes in the broth (careful, it's hot).  This is where an expert eye comes in handy to know if you've reached the right consistancy.  The thickness of how it should be it really up to you.  I like it fairly thick, not so it's like watery mash potatoes, but almost creamy like.  Kinda hard to explain, so I"ll leave that up to you and how you like it.
6.  Return to burner and add the shredded greens.  Boil for 3-5 min until greens are limp.
7.  Add olive oil and the slices of chorico.  The amount of chorico is up to you again.  It should be so that every bowl that gets laddled gets one slice or maybe two.  In fact maybe some shouldn't get any at all.  It's kinda like winning the lottery when you get the bowl with the chorico slice :-)  You can also omit the chorico all together but I would not do that.
8.  Let boil for a min or so longer for all the flavors to meld together.
9.  Give a final taste and salt if necessary.  Soup should be fairly thick with the potato puree and the amount of shredded greens.  My ideal is when you can stick a fork in your bowl and it will almost stay up because of all the greens, but it should still be soup-like.
10.  Serve with a good chunck of crusty portuguese bread and feel everything in life suddenly become 100 time more wonderful :-)

How interesting that she makes it with collards!  I've only had it with kale.  I must try it!  This is such a healthy dish.

yeah, that's what we always used, we grow a ton of it in the garden every year.  but even that isn't exactly what they used back in portugal.  the green they use is couve and i'm not quite sure what that is in english but my mom says she's never quite found it here in the states.  when i google it i get this however.  The picture all the way on the bottom however is couve-galega (galacian couve) which is the collard greens we use.  Galacia is 12 km or so from my parents villages, just north across the spanish border. 

that's the stuff i grew up on, so tasty.  some people also just roughly chop the greens instead of doing the shredding thing, but i think it's better shredded.  also some people don't puree the potatoes or at least not all the way, but again, i think it's better pureed to make the soup nice and thick and smooth.  play around with the recipe though to suit your taste :-)

The version I make has partially smashed potatoes, just enough to thicken the soup.   I chop the greens pretty fine, and I don't put any chorizo in it.  Do you add garlic?  I put in quite a lot.

I googled some images of couve and it looks like a type of cabbage.  Collards are related to cabbages, so the flavor is probably more authentic. 

Look what I found Verdurascampestres

I'll have to check the link when i get home, it's blocked here at work.  garlic and onion can be added, certainly, but i wouldn't put too much in it because i wouldn't want the garlic flavor to overwhelm and lose the sutle chorico flavor.  but then again, if you're not using chorico then go for the extra garlic.  it's a pretty flexible recipe. 

if i was to do the garlic and onion thing, it'd probably make a bigger ordeal of it just to get more flavor.  maybe while the greens are cooking up those few minutes, i'd saute the chopped onion, garlic and chorico slices in some olive oil in another large pot then transfer the soup into that pot.  i think you'd get more flavor out of it that way instead of just putting it into the soup, but both ways would work i guess.

This is the "city" my parent's villages belong to!  Chaves, one of my favorite places on the planet.  I've got a bunch of family there.  Actually, technically my mom's village belongs to Valpacos but I couldn't find a good webpage on it, it's smaller than Chaves. 

I am indian. I have never cooked but i know how the indian food is prepared. I always saw my grandma make yummy stuff for me. My favourite is Kadi made from plain yogurt, chickpea flour and onions.

Step

1/2 cup chickpea flour

2 cup plain yogurt

1 tblspn corriander seeds (they will add main flavor)

1 or 2 curry leaves

1 teaspoon curry powder

salt according to yr taste

green chilles if u like spicy food

Dumplings ( indian we call them pakodas) - if u want recipes is right at the end

Preparation

Blend yogurt and chickpea flour. make sure the flour is thoroughly mixed. add 1/2 cup water ( dont make it too liquidy, as it wont taste good with pita bread or with rice) One should not see ne lumpy stuff.

keep the mixture aside and heat oil ( 1tbl spn) add coriander seeds once oil is hot. when u put seeds in the pan just be careful from getting any splashes. Add onion(make sure u have cut onion in thin and in shape like this --->>>> ), salt, curry powder, red chilli powder, garam masala.

once onions are light brown and soft; add the blended mixture of yogurt - chickpea flour. now cook until the liquid is all mixed together. make sure u dont cook on high heat. This required low cooking as yogurt will take time to mix with the flour and flour will also take time to mix with yogurt. it will taste good with rice....

this used to be my weekend meal.... ummm makes me miss my grandma

Now to make is more presentable make pakodas and dump them once the curry above is made

chickpea flour - make a paste using water or even plain yogurt

boiled potatoes, onions, salt, green chillies, curry powder, and other herbs u wanna add and mix all ingredient and make some balls and dip in the chick pea flour mixture and fry then or bake them.

they will turn out so good. when u add herbs make sure u add cilantro and coriander seeds and corriander leaves

Thank you Jenn!  There is an Indian grocery store closeby and I get all my spices there.  The owner and her daughter have been very nice to me.  I have several cookbooks by Madhur Jaffrey, and I sometimes take one with me.  They help me find all the ingredients in the recipes.  Thanks to you, I now know what to do with chickpea flour!

Home made Indian food is so much healthier than what you get in restaurants!

Anyone know of a way to make a low fat/low cal healthy pupusa? (Salvadorean food) Maybe an alternative to the queso or chicharron filling? Is there a "diet" corn flour (masa)?I already fry with minimal olive oil, and eat the encurtido endlessly since it's just veggies.

Thanks for the input!