Around the World in the Hetzel Kitchen

(Originally posted here. ) No last minute runs to Whole Foods this time.  Hah!  I win! Algeria Gained independence from France in 1962. Borders the Mediterranean Sea. 11th biggest country for land area, second largest in Africa. Only 3.17% of their land is arable and .28% is permanent crops. 34.5 million in population. 99% Sunni Muslim There are 90,000 refugees from Western Sahara in Algeria. Cuisine : Fusion of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences. National Dish : Couscous Sources: CIA Factbook and Algeria.com I was really hoping that my international cookbook would have a recipe for Algeria, since it has "Northern Africa" as an area for recipes.  Nothing there, though.  I'll let you know how the cookbook works when I can use it. Instead, I decided that wanted to make something with couscous since that was the Algerian national dish.  So I started looking.  I ran into some of the same problems as last time: I would find the exact...

(Originally posted here. ) Another post, another last minute run to Whole Foods.  This time it was for mint.  *Sigh*  Amy, maybe you should come visit me and I can send you to Whole Foods and you can be happy it is so close! Kevin and I have a leftover problem in this house.  When we woke up this Saturday, we had two servings of beef stew, veal, almost an entire pot of chili, and multiple servings of chop suey.  This is fairly commonplace.  Therefore, I decided to make this Monday (last week, the 15th) so that we could eat leftovers on Sunday.  The holidays are going to screw with my schedule even more... More on leftovers next time. Anyway, onto some facts: Albania Size: Slightly smaller than Maryland Population: About 3 million (2010 estimate) Religion: Estimated to be about 70% Muslim, but all mosques and churches were closed in 1967 and not allowed to reopen until 1990. Cuisine: Heavily influenced by Greece, Turkey, and Ita...

Photo courtesy of user Ricymar Fine Art Photography on Flickr (Originally posted here. ) Let's start with a story... Last week when I was here, I made Coq Au Vin and it required me to skin chickens legs and thighs.  I vowed never ever again.  Not the most appetizing, nor easiest, thing to do.  So when I found the recipe I was going to make for Afghanistan, I was determined to buy the chicken already skinned.  However, at the store, they didn't have an skinless, bone-in chicken.  I was going to have to break my vow after only one week. Kevin and I got home and I had asked him to help me with the skinning part.  A few steps into the kitchen and I remembered - I didn't have naan.  Another thing I looked for at the store but they didn't have.  Kevin graciously offered to skin the kitchen while I rode my bike to Whole Foods.  We had just come from was the bike shop, so I had had this bike for less than 30 minutes and was anxious to...