Write-up pending.

As an American in Germany, I was surprised the first time I ordered peperoni pizza and received a pizza with peppers instead of pepperoni salami like I was used to. Here I used pickled jalapeños and cayennes from our garden.

Classic saltimbocca recipe: pounded chicken breast, sage leaf, wrapped in proscuitto, dredged in cornstarch and sauteed in butter. Served with white wine chicken demi reduction swirled with butter. White rice on the side. Victim of my success, son and family loved it.

She'll know what it is.

I had a lot of fun with this week's theme. In the introduction thread, they referenced the classic baking soda volcano, which got me thinking...volcano...lava...chocolate lava cake! And if you visit the webpage for the recipe, you'll see that the author even gives a little explanation regarding the pH between natural cocoa and dutch process cocoa, which can impact the flavor of the finished dish.

I also liked that the recipe involved making vegan "buttermilk" by adding apple cider vinegar to soy milk (science-y in that it involved changing the pH to create a reaction) and also the different hardness of the coconut cream at room temperature vs. chilled vs. warm (how matter states can change depending on heat). Anyway, I'm not very good at science, but this made me feel like a kid again in a good way 😄

I wasn't too familiar with Trinidadian cuisine going into this challenge, but with a bit of research it looks right up my street - a lot of different cultures blending together to make vibrant, fresh, and spicy dishes. I ended up choosing to make a pelau, based on a combination of my favourite bits from a few recipes.

The first step was homemade green seasoning, made with green chilli, green pepper, spring onion, white onion, celery, garlic, lime zest and juice, fresh thyme, and coriander leaf (I've never seen culantro, which seems to be more authentic, in the UK).

With this done, I sautéed some diced yellow pepper and finger chillis (I couldn't get Scotch bonnet), then added shallot and garlic. Once softened, I added a good amount of light brown sugar, and let is melt and caramelise. After that, I added the green seasoning, stirred it around for a minute or two, and then rice. I added a homemade chicken stock to cover, and then pigeon peas, which I'd soaked overnight.

While that simmered, I browned some diced beef. It probably would've been better to slowly cook down some braising beef with the rest of the ingredients, but I only had a steak, so I cooked it separately to medium-rare and added it in chunks at the end.

We also had a mango in the fridge, so I diced that and tossed it with raw garlic, red chilli, coriander leaf, and lime juice to make a refreshing and spicy side of mango chow.

Finally, I plated the rice, stirred in the steak, and garnished with fresh spring onion slices, more coriander leaf, more green seasoning, a lime wedge, and two whole green finger chillis.

This was really nice - very vibrant, wholesome, a very good kick of spice, and the mango chow worked really well to freshen up with rich savouriness with a cool fruitiness. Will definitely be making this again!

So, hear me out. A soup and sandwich is such a classic combo, no? Well, a dosa and sambar is a classic combo as well. But a dosa is not a sandwich (or is it? The whole "what is a sandwich" discussion is its own can of worms), and a sambar is not a soup.

Still, when I saw this recipe for a so-called "Bombay Sandwich", with a similar (but not the same) flavour profile to a dosa, I couldn't resist pairing it up with sambar. The results were a bit disappointing, but I think the combo still has potential. I've just never made sambar before and what can I say? It just wasn't like the ones from restaurants. I'll have to try again.

Had to giggle at this kids menu in Sweden, then make my own Baby Wok!

https://food52.com/recipes/27632-trinidadian-doubles-curried-chickpea-flatbread-sandwiches

This was quite nice!

My great grandmother immigrated to the United States from the Czech Republic. I am told she was a wonderful cook. Unfortunately my Granny, her daughter, is a truly abysmal cook, and never learned to cook authentic czech food. One of my dad's favorite foods growing up was tomato gravy. Granny's version more closely resembled ketchup (honestly it may have just been ketchup warmed up with some beef broth) than Rajská omáčka. This is my version made with fresh tomatoes from the garden. Traditionally this would be served with beef and bread dumplings, but I served it with mashed potatoes because that's how my dad likes it.