Around the World in the Hetzel Kitchen

(Originally posted here. ) Angola  Rebuilding after a 27 year civil war that ended in 2002. Gained independence from Portugal in 1975. Size : Over 1.2 sq km, 23rd largest in the world, slightly less than twice the size of Texas Water : 0 sq km Location : South Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean Population : Over 13 million Second-highest death-rate in the world Religious followings : 47% indigenous Literacy rate : 52% for women Angola started out very promising.  I was able to find a large number of recipes.  After going through a lot of websites and a lot of different stuff, I settled on this one for  Chicken Muamba. It seemed fairly simple while using stuff that I wouldn't normally used.  Besides, I also found it on other sites as well.  Seems like a recipe for success, right? I went ahead and made a list and went to the store.  Chicken?  Check.  Tomatoes?  Check.  Okra?  Wait a minute.  No...

(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...

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...