"Quillgirl, I'll have to look up most of it. I'm afraid that this old country girl doesn't know what most of that stuff is."
Most of it is pretty simple stuff... comfort foods from other countries. Jook/Congee is just a thick rice soup/porridge eaten for breakfast (kinda like a version of chicken n dumplins.) 9 cups water, 1 turkey wing, 1 cup rice, a knob of ginger (1/2 piece) salt & pepper. Cook on low for about 1- 1.5 hours. Remove ginger, shred turkey meat from wing into soup (discard bone and skin.) Ladel into a bowl and top with chopped peanuts, green onion, cilantro, soy sauce, or anything else you can find etc...
Curry is just lightly stewed vegetables with some curry powder added. Serve with rice, pita bread and yogurt. (Indian food)
Hummus is just pureed chickpeas (but you could use canned butter beans too) with tahini (sesame paste) and oil, salt, lemon juice. You can usually find tahini in your grocery store these days (health food section or ethnic food section.) Good protein and tasty with veggies to dip or wrap up in a pita bread.
Ratatouille is a french vegetable stew (list of vegs given) mixed together in a pot/dutch oven and baked for about 1 hour until it becomes a thick stew. Serve on top of pasta or just some cheese bread. I make this at the end of summer a lot when I've got loads of those vegetable in the garden. It's also good cold like a salad.
Huevos rancheros is eggs cooked in salsa, put on top of a corn or flour tortilla, with some cheese/sour cream along side.
I'll bet those are the only things you haven't heard of? Really not hard to make these things and they are a nice change!
Spoonbread is a southern staple, and so is grits. We use grits like mashed potatoes...not just for breakfast.
two more recipes: try a veggie pot pie using sauteed mushrooms instead of meat with the other veggies! Try topping bean chili with cornbread dough (mix in some green onion and cheese) and bake in the oven (a chili cobbler.)
One more: baked eggs. Saute onions and garlic in some butter, drain a can of italian style tomatoes and chop, then add to onions and cooks until thick. Put in a shallow casserole dish and make 6-8 "wells" in the mixture. Carefully crack 6-8 eggs into the wells, put in the oven under a broiler until the eggs are set to the consistency you like (I like them a little runny.) Just before they set, sprinkle cheese on top so that it gets golden. Serve with toasted bread and a salad. Yum!
