Burritos (Mexico)

World-Bites (18) / Burritos

Burritos are one of the most popular examples of Mexican cuisine outside of Mexico. It consists of a flour tortilla wrapped or folded around a filling. The flour tortilla is usually lightly grilled or steamed, to soften it and make it more pliable. In Mexico, refried beans, Mexican rice, or meat are usually the only fillings and the tortilla is smaller in size. In the United States, however, fillings generally include a combination of ingredients such as Mexican rice, beans, lettuce, salsa, meat, avocado, cheese, and sour cream, and the size varies, with some burritos considerably larger than their Mexican counterparts. For most Mexican food lovers burritos evoke pacifying comfort food qualities that soothe the soul. Touted for their health benefits, black bean burritos are also a good source of dietary fiber.


Ingredients:

6 large (8-or 9-inch) tortillas
1 tablespoon oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (10-ounce) can chicken breast chunks, drained
1/2 (15 1/2-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup cooked long-grain white rice
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes 8 ounces shredded Jack or Cheddar cheese
Chopped cilantro or scallions for garnish, optional

Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven; heat to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring until softened. Stir in chicken, breaking up meat slightly. Stir in beans, rice and tomatoes.

Unwrap warmed tortillas. Spoon about ¾ cup of the filling in the center of the tortilla, leaving an inch at either end. Sprinkle ¼ cup shredded cheese on top, fold in 1-inch ends, then roll tortilla around filling. Place in a large shallow baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of burritos. Cover with foil and heat in oven for about 10 minutes, until cheese is melted and filling is hot.

For a garnish, sprinkle with cilantro and/or scallion.

Note: For extra flavor, cook rice with chicken broth instead of water; use canned tomatoes and chilies for a spicier taste. For a recipe somewhat lower in fat, use reduced-fat cheese.

Fish 'n' Chips

World-Bites (17) / Fish 'n' Chips

Fish 'n' Chips come from England, and you can’t imagine an English town without a Fish and Chip shop. Before the onslaught of Indian Chicken Tikka Masala, Fish 'n' Chips remained England's number one national snack. It is not as hard as you might think to create your own perfect Fish 'n' Chips at home. It just takes a little preparation time, that’s all. The actual cooking is done in just a few minutes and the preparation time can also be measured in minutes. You can use any kind of fish with this recipe, but for genuine English Fish ‘n’ Chips, it is best to use a white fish such as Cod or Haddock. The fish, although it is deep fried, actually cooks inside the batter, and is really steamed because it never touches the oil, just the batter does. You can’t really call it a low fat recipe, but if the oil is hot, the fish is very crispy, holds very little fat and tastes steamed. Most people eat fish 'n' chips with tomato ketchup, but the English sprinkle dark vinegar (malt vinegar) over the fish 'n' chips.

1 1/2 pounds potatoes, washed and peeled
2 pounds fillets of cod or haddock
Seasoned flour for dredging
Oil (for deep-frying)
1 egg (at room temperature)
1 cup water
1 cup self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly-ground pepper

Start preparing exactly 40 minutes before serving time. Slice potatoes into long sticks about 1/4-inch thick. Put sticks into a bowl and cover with ice cold water to soak. This will remove some of the starch and will result in a crispier and less fattening French fry.

Prepare the batter by breaking the egg into a large mixing bowl and lightly whisk with the water. Still whisking, add the flour, a little at a time. Make sure all lumps of flour are beaten out so that you finish up with a smooth consistency. Add salt and ground pepper and set aside.

Thoroughly wash the fish fillets under cold running water. Check to ensure that all bones have been removed. Divide the fish into 8 equal pieces ? 2 per serving. Carefully dry with paper towels and dredge each piece in seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Heat oil to 375 degrees F to 400 degrees F. At the same time heat up 1 inch of oil in a heavy-bottom frying pan to the same temperature.

While the fat is slowly getting up to temperature, drain the potatoes, getting as much moisture from them as possible with paper towels. Dip each piece of fish into the batter mixture. Allow excess batter to drip back into the bowl and gently immerse the fillet in the hot oil. Do not cook more than 2 or 3 pieces of fish at a time. The inside of the fish will be cooked when the outside batter is a mid to light brown. Turn the oven to low so that you can keep the cooked pieces of fish warm while the others are cooking.

Take 2 handsful of potatoes and carefully release them into the deep-fryer. When golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon so that you can shake off the excess oil, and turn onto paper towels.
Seaso lightly with salt and serve wrapped in a newspaper cone with malt vinegar and/or ketchup.

Currywurst (Germany)

World-Bites (15) / Currywurst


Germany's most popular snack, the ‘currywurst’—literally, "curried fried sausage"—now has a museum dedicated to itself in Berlin. 60 years since it was invented, this urban snack has a cult following—800 million are eaten in Germany every year. Herta Heuwer, who invented the quick snack, certainly never expected her culinary creation—bite-sized pieces of sausage covered in curry-flavoured ketchup—to prove a hit with so many people. When she made Germany's new favourite meal for the first time on 4th September 1949, it was just a way of passing time, though decades later it has become a classic, in Germany and around the world.


Ingredients:

3 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 pound sausages
2 tablespoons chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pinch paprika
Curry powder to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to Broil/Grill.
2. Pour tomato sauce into a large saucepan, then stir in the chili sauce, onion salt, sugar and pepper. Let simmer over medium heat, occasionally stirring; bring to a gentle boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer another 5 minute.
3. Meanwhile, broil/grill sausages for 3 to 4 minutes each side, or until cooked through. Slice into pieces 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. Pour tomato sauce mixture over sausage, then sprinkle all with paprika and curry powder and serve.

Butter Rolls (Denmark)

World-Bites (15) / Butter Rolls

If you like butter, you'll love these simple but delicious Danish butter rolls - Smørdejgssnitter. They're baked in a sweet milk sauce. Just the thing for a cold morning. Very easy to make, great flavor and fabulous melt in your mouth texture. A terrific recipe for slightly sweet, fluffy crescent rolls. They're a bit more dense than a croissant but much lighter than an average dinner roll. These rolls take a while to make (the dough rises in the refrigerator overnight), but can be done well ahead of time...and they're certainly worth the effort.

Ingredients (Makes 18 rolls)

* ¼ cup boiling water
* ½ cup butter
* ¼ cup cream
* ½ teaspoon salt
* 3 eggs -- beaten
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 packages dry yeast
* 1 tablespoon Sugar
* 3 cups flour
* 1 cup nuts -- ground
* ½ cup Sugar


Directions

Pour the water over the butter. Cool. Add cream, salt, eggs, vanilla and the yeast mixed with the tablespoon Sugar. Let it stay 10 minutes. Add the flour. The dough will be stiff but not sticky.

Let it rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk. Punch down. Cut off pieces of dough with a spoon and roll in the ground nuts mixed with the Sugar. Twist each piece into a figure 8. Place on greased baking sheets and let it rest 10 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 450º oven 10 to 15 minutes.

Cheese Souffle (France)

World-Bites (14) / Cheese Souffle


This puffy dish of cheese and eggs is one of the most popular snacks originating in France and now favorite internationally. These individual souffles are elegant for brunch. A classic, pillowy cheese soufflé turns supper into an act of kindness worth bestowing on yourself. It is the perfect antidote for a mental low down. A couple of bites into this mind altering dish and the low down is a thing of the past. You’re rejuvenated, ready to take on the world. It’s easy to make, goes great with a baby romaine, avocado and sliced Ruby Red Grapefruit salad with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette.

Ingredients (Serves: 5 servings)

You need soufflé moulds, well buttered and floured

* Butter, room temperature, for greasing the souffle
* 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
* 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) butter
* 3 tablespoons flour
* 1 teaspoon dry mustard
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 1/3 cups milk, hot
* 4 large egg yolks (2 1/2 ounces by weight)
* 6 ounces sharp Cheddar
* 5 egg whites plus 1 tablespoon water
* 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

Use room temperature butter to grease souffle mold. Add the grated Parmesan and roll around the mold to cover the sides. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the freezer for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, heat the butter. Allow all of the water to cook out.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, dry mustard, garlic powder, and kosher salt. Whisk this mixture into the melted butter. Cook for 2 minutes.

Whisk in the hot milk and turn the heat to high. Once the mixture reaches a boil, remove from the heat.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks to a creamy consistency. Temper the yolks into the milk mixture, constantly whisking. Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Whisk until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until glossy and firm. Add 1/4 of the mixture to the base. Continue to add the whites by thirds, folding very gently.

Pour the mixture into the souffle moulds. Fill the moulds to 1/2-inch from the top. Place on an aluminum pie pan. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, then serve immediately.

Pizza (Italy)

World-Bites(13) / Pizza

Pizza is a world-popular dish of Italian origin, made with an oven-baked, flat, generally round bread that is often covered with tomatoes or a tomato-based sauce and cheese. Other toppings are added according to region, culture, or personal preference. In the 20th century pizza has become an international food with widely varying toppings. These pizzas consist of the same basic design but include an exceptionally diverse choice of ingredients. Pizza is an emerging fast food in Indian urban areas. With the arrival of branded pizza, it has reached to many cities. Pizza outlets serve pizzas with several Indian based toppings like Tandoori Chicken and Paneer. Indian pizzas are generally made more spicy as compared to their western counterparts, to suit Indian taste. Along with Indian variations, more conventional pizzas are also eaten.


Ingredients

Pizza Dough: Makes enough dough for two 10-12 inch pizzas

* 1 1/2 cups warm water
* 2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast
* 3 1/2 cups bread flour
* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon sugar

Pizza Ingredients

* Olive oil
* Cornmeal (to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone)

* Tomato sauce
* Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese, shredded
* Feta cheese
* Mushrooms, thinly sliced
* Bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, thinly sliced
* Chopped fresh basil
* Onions, thinly sliced


Special equipment needed

* A pizza stone, highly recommended if you want your pizza dough to be crusty
* A pizza peel or a flat baking sheet
* A pizza wheel for cutting the pizza

Method
Making the Pizza Dough

1 In the large bowl, add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Stir to dissolve completely if needed at the end of 5 minutes.

2 Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar on low speed for about a minute. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.

3 Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Preparing the Pizzas

1 Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.

2 Remove the plastic cover from the dough and punch the dough down so it deflates a bit. Divide the dough in half. Form two round balls of dough. Place each in its own bowl, cover with plastic and let sit for 10 minutes.

3 Prepare your desired toppings. Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way. About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese would be sufficient for one pizza. One to two mushrooms thinly sliced will cover a pizza.

4 Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further. Let the dough relax 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter - 10 to 12 inches. Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker.

5 Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings). Use your finger tips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Let rest another 5 minutes.

Repeat with the second ball of dough.

6 Lightly sprinkle your pizza peel (or flat baking sheet) with corn meal. Transfer one prepared flattened dough to the pizza peel. If the dough has lost its shape in the transfer, lightly shape it to the desired dimensions.

7 Spoon on the tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and place your desired toppings on the pizza.

8 Sprinkle some cornmeal on the baking stone in the oven. Slide the pizza on to the baking stone. Bake pizza one at a time until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden, about 10-15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve warm.

Hamburgur (America)

World-Bites (12) / Hamburgur


Hamburgers are America's favorite grilled food. The term 'Hamburgur' originally derives from the German town of Hamburg, Germany's second largest city, from where many emigrants came to America. Residents of Hamburg, New York, named after Hamburg Germany, attribute the invention of hamburgurs to the Menches brothers, vendors at the 1885 County Fair. Today, the hamburgurs are usually a feature of fast food restaurants in U.S.A. and many other countries. Traditionally, hamburgurs are made with ground meat, but Chicken burgers are also gaining popularity, especially in India and many Asian countries.

Ingredients (Chicken Burgur)
Serves 4

For The Patties:
1lb/500g chicken meat ground or finely chopped
1 half onion finely chopped
1 dash lemon juice
4 pinches paprika powder
2 pinches dried oregano
a little pepper, fresh ground is better
a little salt
1 hand fresh bread crumbs
1 egg lightly whisked
1 quarter chicken stock block dissolved in a quarter cup water

For the Rolls:
4 rolls
sliced tomato
thinly sliced onion
lettuce
mayonnaise


Mix all the patty ingredients thoroughly, leaving the salt for after the patties are cooked if you prefer.
Make sure the mixture is cool. Divide mixture into 4 equal balls and press into patties .
Cook on low heat under the grill, on the barbecue or in a pan until cooked through .
Split the rolls and toast the cut surfaces lightly (under grill, on barbecue or in pan) just before the patties are done. Spread mayonnaise on the bottom half, add a thin slice of onion, some lettuce and sliced tomato. Top it off with a little mayo, the patty and the other half of the roll.
Brush the hamburger and hot dog buns with melted butter and toast them briefly on the grill, if
desired.

Borek (Turkey)

World-Bites (11) / Borek



Borek is one of the most popular pastries in Turkish cuisine. Börek (also burek, boereg, and other variants on the name) is a kind of pie popular throughout the former Ottoman Empire. It’s similar to pasty but made with phyllo pastry. You can put any ingredient you like. There are a lot of kinds of borek; with cheese, with potatoes, with minced meat, with spinach, with green lentil, with leek, etc. It’s so easy and delicious. You can have it with your breakfast or at 5 o’clock tea or at any time you like. The top of the börek is often sprinkled with sesame seeds.


Ingredients:

For dough :

* 2 eggs (one of the egg yolks is for topping)
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1\3 cups olive oil plus 1 tablespoon for topping
* 2\3 cup whole milk
* 1 1\2 teaspoon baking powder
* flour (almost 4 cups)

For filling:

* 1 packet baby spinach (chopped small pieces)
* 1 big chopped onion
* 1 pinch salt and pepper
* 1 packet blue cheese (*my contribution)
* 2-3 tablespoon olive oil


Method:
Lightly grease a round 27 cm (10 inch) cake pan with olive oil
Preheat oven 350F
In a large pan, cook the onion with olive oil until it turns yellow. Add the spinach, cook until spinach dries down and add the salt and pepper. You can also use meat and potatoes for filling.
Next, in a large bowl, add all the ingredients but with only 1 cup flour. Start kneading. It should be very sticky, add flour one cup at a time and continue kneading until dough becomes soft and not sticky. Stop adding flour.
Dust the work surface with some flour. Make small balls from dough and roll each ball very thin 8 inch diameter. ( or little longer and narrower)
Pour 2 or 3 tablespoons filling and 1 tablespoon blue cheese one side of dough and make a tight roll. Make a ring and put it in the middle of the pan. And than start wrapping the roll from middle to out. Brush the Borek with the egg yolk and olive oil, bake it until brown. Serve when it is almost hot.