Kusherie

• 1 cup lentils
• 1 quartered garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2-3 large onions
• 1 cup oil
• 6 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni
• 2 cups dry rice
• salt
• chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 dash lime juice
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1 dash yellow mustard
• 2 tablespoons vinegar

Directions:

Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 45 mins (Took me much longer than 45mins to make everything)

1. Chop the onions into small pieces. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the chopped onions for use later in the sauce.
2. Heat the oil on med high heat, you want the oil to be very hot before putting in the onions.
3. Add the onions in batches and fry until you get a deep brown (but not burned) colour. You want them to be crispy. Be sure to watch them carefully as they go from medium brown to dark kind of quickly.
4. Drain them onto paper towels and set aside.
5. Boil lentils in water (about 4 cups) along with 1 clove garlic cut into quarters, and 1 tablespoon cumin until cooked, drain and set aside. (I ended up using about 6-7 cups of water, for the lentils to be mushy but this was my first time making them)
   

MEANWHILE:

6. Boil the macaroni until done (about 10 min). Set aside
7. Cook the rice in the chicken stock add salt if the broth is unsalted.
8. Once rice and lentils are done, stir them together.

Make the sauce.

1. In 1 tablespoon oil heated over medium heat add 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 tablespoon chopped onions that you reserved from before, and a dash of salt, stir and fry about 2 minute.
2. Add 1 and ½ teaspoon sugar to the onion garlic mixture and mix well.
3. Next, add one can 15 oz can tomato sauce.
4. Now add 2 tablepoons vinegar, a small squirt yellow mustard and a dash of lime juice. You can adjust the amounts according to your personal taste but it should have kind of a slight puckery bite.

To serve
1st layer - Rice & Lentils
2nd layer - Macaroni
3rd layer - sauce
4th layer - fried onions

Stuffed Eggplant (Fyldte Gratinerede Auberginer)

2 large eggplants
2 onions
4 tomatoes
3 pieces chicken, cooked
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Butter
2 tbsp bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped parsley

1. Cut eggplants in half lengthwise and blanch 10 minutes in boiling water. Remove pulp, being careful not to break the skings. I finely chopped up the eggplant pulp at this point.
2. Chop the onions, tomatoes and chicken very fine, and mix with some of the eggplant pulp. Add the salt and pepper, mixing well, and cook in a little butter in a frying pan, long enough to blend well. Combine with the remaining eggplant pulp.
3. Fill each half of the eggplant with the mixture, top with bread crumbs and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
4. Before serving, sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Serves 6.

Note: This is the exact recipe I found, but I ended up only using one onion for three large eggplants because I thought it would be too much onion otherwise. Also, the stuffed eggplant tastes way better when served with gravy on top.

Pawpaw Montespan

In Bermuda, unripened papayas are called pawpaws.

Ingredients:
4 green pawpaws, skinned and diced
1 tomato, thinly sliced
1 Bermuda onion (I just used a yellow onion), thinly sliced, fried
1/2 pound ground beef, browned and drained
Grated cheddar cheese
Bread crumbs

1. Cook pawpaws until tender.
2. Mash and put a layer into a greased baking dish.
3. Cover with a thin layer of tomatoes, then meat and onion, then cheese.
4. Repeat these layers until all ingredients have been used.
5. Finish with pawpaw, sprinkle with cheese.
6. Cover with bread crumbs.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Pomazanka z Redkvicek a Syra - Croatian Cheese Spread

Ingredients:

•4 ounces (1 stick) softened butter
•1 (8-ounce) package softened cream cheese
•1 to 2 cups shredded radishes
•2 tablespoons chopped chives or green onions
•Salt to taste

Preparation:

1.In a medium bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese. Mix in grated radishes, chives or green onions and salt, combining thoroughly. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. Goes well with dark rye breads or raw veggies, bread sticks or crackers.

Frikadeller - Danish Meatballs

Meatball Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 brown onions, finely chopped
½ cup fine bread crumbs
1/8 teaspoon allspice
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ cup milk
1 tablespoon oil, for frying

Gravy Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup sour cream
Salt and lots of fresh ground black pepper, to taste of course
2 tablespoons meat drippings
2 14-ounce can chicken broth
1 or 2 teaspoons dill weed

Procedure:

1. Finely chop onion. Add to beef, pork egg and milk. Add seasonings. Mix to incorporate all ingredients. Add bread crumbs and mix just enough to make a uniform mixture.
2. Form the meat mixture into 1-inch balls. Place a rounded tablespoonful of the meat mixture in the palm of your hand. Roll gently between both palms forming a ball. Just roll the ball but do not compress or squeeze any more than just needed to make the balls.
3. In batches, cook the meatballs in a large frying pan over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of oil. Gently turn the meatballs to cook on all sides until nicely browned. Remove to rack or paper towel to drain. Repeat until all meatballs are cooked.
4. Remove 2 tablespoons fat from the fry pan and reserve. Drain off remaining fat but leave “brown bits.” Place pan over medium heat. Return reserved fat and add 2 tablespoons butter. When melted, add flour. Stir and cook to make roux and incorporate “brown bits” left in the pan. Cook until roux is light brown, about 10 minutes. Slowly add chicken broth in batches stirring well to make smooth mixture between additions. Taste and add salt if needed. Add dill weed. Continue cooking and stirring until gravy thickens. Fold in sour cream. Return meatballs to frying pan, stirring, until heated through. Remove from heat. Place in serving bowl and add a generous sprinkle of fresh ground black pepper.

Note: I made a couple variations to the dish I made. For the meat balls, I used all pork and no beef. I also only used 1 onion. I didn't have allspice or dill weed on hand, so I used a garlic seasoning instead.

Rozata (Creme Caramel Custard) from Croatian Night

Ingredients:
CUSTARD:
8 eggs
8 Tbsp sugar
1 l (1 qt) milk
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp rum or maraschino
CARAMEL:
2 Tbsp sugar

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
   
2. CARAMEL: Spread 2 Tbsp sugar evenly over the bottom of flan mold. Heat the dish until sugar is melted to a golden-brown syrup. Let cool until hardened.
   
3. CUSTARD: Beat eggs with sugar until foamy. Add lemon zest, rum and milk. Pour mixture into the prepared flan mold.
   
4. Place mold in a baking pan. Pour enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the mold, cover with aluminum foil. Place in the oven and bake until set, about 1 hour.
5. To serve, invert a flan mold of Rozata onto the center of a large plate and remove the mold. Serve with whipped cream.

Bermuda Codfish Cakes from Bermuda Night

1 lb salt cod
3 large potatoes, boiled
1 tbs. Dijon mustard and 1 tbs mayonnaise, mixed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs. fresh ginger root, minced
2 tbs. fresh thyme
several dashes of sherry pepper sauce
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
vegetable oil, for frying
2 large bananas

Soak cod overnight; change water at least once. In fresh water, bring cod to a boil and cook until flaky and tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and cool. Mash fish with potatoes. Add thyme, ginger root, garlic and mustard/mayonnaise mixture. Roll into balls the size of lemons and flatten. Press into seasoned breadcrumbs. Fry in oil until golden. Top with a slice of banana and serve on a hot cross bun.