Culture Kitchen: Mexico feat. Guest Chef Mariah

Hi all! Thank you to everyone who joined us last Wednesday for our first-ever in-person AND online Culture Kitchen event! We had a blast learning to make Ceviche this month and look forward to more in-person events in the future.

This month we featured guest chef Mariah, who taught us how to make Ceviche, a widely popular dish in Mexico. The dish was simple and bursting with flavor, and you will have plenty left over to share with friends and family. The full ingredients list and recipe can be found below.

Did you know?

The lime juice in this recipe is what cooks the raw shrimp! The acid in the juice denatures the proteins of the shrimp, which is a similar process to cooking with heat.

If you aren't feeling shrimp, you can also use shredded crab or chopped cauliflower as the protein for this dish. If using cauliflower, make sure to chop it into bite-sized pieces!

By the time you're done with this recipe, you will probably want to eat it straight out of the bowl with a spoon; for those that can wait, we recommend serving on tostadas (Mariah recommends these ones if you like tajin). You can add tajin, tapatio, and mayonnaise as desired as well.

Once again, a big thanks to Mariah for showing us how to make this refreshing summer recipe! Our guest chefs are the heart of this program, and we truly appreciate the time and effort they put into teaching others recipes that are important to them.

Stay tuned for our next event in August! Buen provecho!

Ingredients

• 1 lb raw shrimp, peeled & deveined (not frozen, if frozen, defrost the night before)

• 2 Cucumbers

• 6 Roma tomatoes

• 1-2 Jalapenos (more or less for spice)

• 1 Red onion

• 1 Bunch Cilantro

• 12 Limes, juiced

• You can use a manual hand juicer, electric juicer, or a lime squeezer, whichever you prefer

• Salt & pepper to taste

Optional Ingredients

• Tostada shells for serving

• Tajin to taste

• Mayonnaise

• Tapatio hot sauce

• 1-2 Avocados

• Clamato or water to dilute the lime juice (Clamato if you prefer the extra tomato taste)

Supplies

• Cutting Board

• Knife

• Juicer, lime squeezer or hands

• Large bowl with lid or foil/plastic to cover

Steps

1. Juice your limes, if not juiced already. Set aside.

2. Chop your cucumbers, tomatoes, jalapenos, onion, and avocado (optional) into small cubes. Combine all chopped ingredients into a large bowl.

3. Finely chop your cilantro and add it to the bowl.

4. Chop shrimp into bite sized pieces. If you would like, you can leave the shrimp whole as well. Add the shrimp to the bowl.

5. Pour in the lime juice and give your ceviche a stir.

6. Cover your bowl with a lid, foil, or plastic and refrigerate for 1-1.5 hrs, stirring occasionally. You will know your ceviche is ready when the shrimp is fully cooked. They should be white/pink, with bright red flecks. They should not be gray at all. If in doubt, let sit for additional time since you can't 'overcook' this recipe.

7. After it is done cooking, remove from fridge. You can eat straight away, or prepare tostadas with toppings of choice. You can also add clamato or water to dilute the 'broth' for a more diluted flavor if desired.

8. Buen provecho!

Culture Kitchen: Jordan

Hi all! Thank you to everyone who tuned into our Culture Kitchen event for the month of June, featuring a recipe from Jordan. Our guest chef Omar walked us through how to cook Maqluba, or ‏صحة وعافية in Arabic. Maqluba translates into English as “upside down,” which is one of the defining characteristics of this dish. The ingredients and recipe can be found below.

The dish consists of meat, rice, and fried vegetables placed in a pot which is flipped upside down when served. This dish is very important and cooked in many family gatherings in Jordan. Sometimes people can cook it with chicken, meat, or even just vegetables and rice depending on preference.

Ingredients

Main Dish

• 1 head Cauliflower

• 1 Yellow Onion

• 2 Large potatoes or 3-Medium potatoes

• 2 eggplants

• 1 small bag of white rice preferably long grain

• 1 chicken breast per person

• 1 48 oz bottle of Canola Oil

• 1 Small bottle of chicken broth

Seasoning

• Salt

• Pepper

• All Spice

• Dried mint

• Cumin

• Bay Leaves

• Knot Cube Bouillon Chicken Cube

Side Salad

• 1-2 cucumbers

• Whole milk yogurt

• 1 pick of a garlic clove

Steps

1. First wash the white rice and let it sit in warm water.

2. Then wash the chicken breast, sear it, and add it to a pot of water. Let it boil with the bay leaves and a small cinnamon stick (optional) for 12 -18 minutes.

3. After cutting all the vegetables up, including the potatoes into cubes, the cauliflower into smaller stems and eggplant just across the entire way into circles.

4. Heat up the oil and fry all the vegetables. Let them sit on a rack to drain excess oil.

5. Fry the boiled chicken breast until golden.

6. Once all the above steps are complete you can start layering all the items above, starting with the chicken, then the vegetables; first goes the eggplant, then the potatoes, and then the cauliflower.

7. Mix all the required seasonings in a cup with a small amount of warm water, usually for every cup of white rice use 1 teaspoon of allspice, cumin, pepper, and half a cube of Knorr Cube Bouillon Chicken Cube. For the salt, it depends on the quantity of vegetables, rice, and personal preference.

8. Finally, follow the directions on the rice packet for adding water, then add an extra half cup for the vegetables and chicken.

9. Bring to boil then cover and let it simmer until the rice is fully cooked.

10. Finally, turn off the heat and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Flip your pot onto a flat serving tray/pizza tray/flat plate to enjoy the dish. The best way to do this is to lay the flat surface on top of the pot, and then grab the handles of the pot and flat surface to flip in one smooth motion. It should be served upside down as referring to the name of the dish.

11. For the salad, cut the cucumber into small cubes, then mix the yogurt, cucumber, a little bit of garlic (or to taste), 1 tablespoon of lemon, a splash of salt and dried mint leaves and mix everything together. The ratio of yogurt to cucumbers should be 2:1.

12. Enjoy! Or for the equivalent of Bon appétit in Arabic: شهية طيبة

Culture Kitchen: Romania

Hi all! Thank you to those who joined us for our last Culture Kitchen! This past Monday we had the pleasure of featuring a guest chef from Romania. Alina walked us through how to make White Bean Dip, also known as Fasole Batuta in Romanian. The dip is very simple and uses low-cost ingredients, but the outcome is both creamy and delicious. The caramelized onion topping adds a touch of sweetness that perfectly compliments the flavor of the beans.

You can find the complete recipe below.

As Alina explained during the demonstration, many of the traditional dishes from Romania feature seasonal, low-cost ingredients. While under communist rule by Russia, the country experienced many food shortages, specifically with regards to bread/starch. Beans were more accessible, which is why this dish became a staple for many families. It is also nutritious, and can be made with basic kitchen tools such as a fork or a whisk.

Once again, thank you to Alina for sharing this dish and its history with us. We truly learned an incredible amount about Romanian culture while working together to make this delicious dip. If you want to learn another dish from around the world, make sure to keep an eye out for our next Culture Kitchen event coming up in May!

Ingredients

• 3 ¼ cups white beans (cannellini or white northern), uncooked or cooked

• 1-2 bay leaves (if cooking the beans)

• ½ onion (if cooking the beans)

• 1 onion, sliced into thin rings

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or more as desired

• 2-3 garlic cloves to taste, grated

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 teaspoon sugar (brown or white)

• Fine salt

• Sea salt

• Water

• Sweet or smoked paprika to taste (optional)

Steps

If your beans are from the can/already cooked, skip to step 5. You can save some of the canned water to adjust the dip's consistency if desired.

1. Rinse beans a few times; soak them for at least 8 hours or overnight.

2. Cook beans

3. Pressure cooker method. Rinse beans, place them in the pressure cooker along with ½ onion and bay leaves, put in a generous amount of water to cover the beans, follow the instructions in the owner manual for your particular model of pressure cooker for cooking beans.

4. Stove method. Rinse beans, place in a large pot or Dutch oven, cover with plenty of water, add the ½ onion and the bay leaves, bring to a boil. Cook for approximately 1 hour or until beans are soft. Cooking time will depend on the size and age of beans.

5. Drain beans but keep approximately ½ cup of the cooking water which you can use to bring them to the desired consistency. You may end up not using it if you like the consistency the beans pureed with oil.

6. Discard the onion and bay leaves.

7. Let the beans cool slightly, place them in a food processor (or a bowl if using a blender/hand mixer/whisk/fork) with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

8. Add the grated garlic and process/blend until smooth. Add more cooking oil, a tablespoon or so at a time until you get to the consistency of soft mashed potatoes or hummus. You can also add some of the reserved bean water if desired.

9. Add salt to taste.

For the caramelized onions:

1. Heat about 1/3 cup of oil in a large non stick pan. Add the onions and cook gently for 8-10 minutes, stirring from time to time.

2. When the onions are golden, add the tomato paste, sugar, paprika and stir until well combined and slightly caramelized. Taste and add more paprika or salt if you’d like.

3. Transfer the beans to a bowl or a serving platter and top with the onions.

Enjoy!!!