What Is Your Ethnic Masterpiece?

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

What is your best ethnic meal, and how do you make it?

For me, it has to be foil wrapped brook trout, with diced potato, and sweet corn, all Native American foods. Add a good roasted summer squash to that meal.

To make it:
2 7 to 10inch brook trout, fresh caught, cleaned and dressed. bone in with heads removed
1 potato, washed and diced with skin on
1 cob sweet corn
1 dumpling squash per person, top cut out and seeds removed
salted butter
e of foil on top, and roll all of the edges together to make an water-tight seal. Roast in a bed of coals, on a gas, or charcoal grill, or in a 350' oven for 20 minutes.

Leave the corn in its husk, but check for insects. Place the corn, husk and all into the heat source, and roast for ten minutes.
Spread butter, salt and pepper all over the inside of the squash. Place into a pre-heated 375' oven 10 minutes before starting the foil pouch.

Place thin pats of butter onto a 14" long strip of foil. Arange diced potato, and fish onto the foil. Season with salt, and pepper. You can place thin lemon slices in the fish cavity, but lemon isn't native American. Place another same-sized piece of foil on top and seal the edges together. Place the foil pouch into the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

plate and serve with butter for the corn.

It might seem like ordinary American fare, but is truly an ethnic dish. The only more ethnic native food I can think of is something with cattails, wild berries, and acorns. Though I've picked all kinds of wild berries, I've never made a main dish with them. An acorns need special handling to make them edible, and I have no experience with cattails.

So what's your ethnic masterpiece?

Seeeeya: Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Janet H]

Ok - I'm in. I have 2


I love spanakopita and have learned to make is well (yes, I know... not very humble). You can make this is several shapes. My favorite shapes are a rolled ring and sort of eggroll shaped individual servings (more crunchy crust).

The second "ethnic" dish is a french baguette. Seems simple... but developing good flavor and getting the cook right is tricky in a home oven.

 

[pepperhead212]

I cook more "ethnic" foods than everyday foods - mostly the Mexican, Indian, Chinese, and SE Asian foods I love so much. So it would be difficult to pick a best, or favorite. However, Thai curries are something that I have mastered, and there are a number of essential ingredients in them that I either grow, or obtain from the Asian market. Some, like the coconut milk, fish sauce, and shrimp paste, I experimented with different brands of, to find my favorites, and the peppers I also experimented with, to find what seemed to make the best, both red varieties and green curry pastes. The red, SE Asian coriander seed makes the best Thai curry; I tried the Moroccan and Indian corianders, and they are good, but not quite as good. (A friend and I used to make curries side by side, with one item different, for comparison). And nothing makes Thai curries as well as freshly picked kaffir lime leaves and Thai basil - two of those essential ingredients I started growing, due to my love for Thai curry. I also grow lemongrass, and I tried growing galangal, but no luck; fortunately, these two are ok from the markets, along with garlic and shallots - other essential ingredients in Thai curry pastes.

I used to make this much more often, and I even bought jasmine rice in 25 lb bags, to eat with it. I'm not diabetic, but Mom was, and when I researched foods for her, I found that jasmine rice was as bad as eating pure sugar! Now, I just make Thai curry as an occasional treat for myself, and mix the jasmine with another, low GI rice or grain.