Olympic Food Challenge: Azerbaijan - Musembe

When I sat down to meal plan for the Olympic Food Challenge I made sure that we wouldn't be eating the same thing two days in a row.  I separated out the beef dishes, the fish dishes and the chicken dishes.  It appears that I wasn't paying attention to what the meals consisted of.  Tonight's meal from Azerbaijan, is the third meal in four days to consist of meat and vegetables braised in a turmeric rich sauce.

Unlike the previous two meals Musembe requires a little construction rather than throwing everything into a pan.  The meat* is cooked in water until it is tender before turmeric and cinnamon are added.  Once the spices have been stirred into the beef, the vegetables (onion, aubergine, tomato, pepper and potato) are layered into the pan so that they steam over the meat for the rest of the cooking time.

I was a little concerned that the dish would dry out, but the liquid that the vegetables gave off produced enough liquid to finish cooking the beef** and make a great sauce.  Luckily for us we had a guest around for tea tonight, as I ended up cooking enough for a handball team.  H has been following Tonight's Menu for some time and was not in the slightest bit phased by an Azerbaijani dish that she knew nothing about.

The layering of the dish meant that its preparation took more time than I had anticipated, but it meant that the girls had plenty of time to "catch up" before we sat down to eat.  I only wish that I hadn't been so fastidious with the layering as my tetris like tessellation was destroyed as soon as the dish was served.  We plumped for wild rice to have with the musembe and there is still a portion left over.  As Azerbaijan is famed for its soup, it seems only fitting that the leftovers are headed in that direction.

For the record, Azerbaijan have already won a bronze medal in weightlifting.  Go Azerbaijan!

*I chose beef over mutton or lamb, mainly because Z doesn't like lamb and we have mutton coming up later.
**I used a combination of braising steak and shin beef.

Moussaka

When planning our meals for this week Z announced that she would like to make a moussaka for our evening meal tonight.  I can only assume that having an aubergine in the fridge over the weekend got to her.  The aubergine is one of my least favourite vegetables but by the time it is fried, smothered in spicy mince and topped with cheese, it's not too bad.

As I'm still working on the late shift at work, Z and her mum had all the fun in the kitchen.  Following this recipe, Z made the mince yesterday and finished off the layering and baking today.  Making the sauce in advance meant that it had time to mellow and for the flavours to develop.  Z then tweaked the seasoning, more or less doubling the spice quantities in the recipe, before slamming it into the oven.  All that was left to do was make a side salad and enjoy.

Kedjenou

Two years ago, instead of Euro 2012, the telly was full of Africa 2010.  The World Cup.  Another disappointing football tournament for England and another football tournament that Scotland and Wales had failed to qualify for.  One thing makes the World Cup in Africa stand out for me.  It isn't Shakira's official song and it certainly isn't the vuvuzela.

I didn't have a blog at the time.  In fact at the time, I was ridiculing a good friend for having a food blog.  Paul at How Not to do a Food Blog is far from an inspiration*, but he is a top bloke, loves food, writes well, and chucks together a great roast pork belly.  Anyway, for reasons that I cannot explain, I decided to eat meals based upon the teams playing in the evening football matches.  One evening USA were playing, so we had hotdogs.  Another night Chilli were playing so I found a traditional bean stew recipe.  Then came the Ivory Coast.

I don't know who they were playing that night.  I couldn't tell you if it was a European team and I fancied a challenge.  It could well have been that I couldn't find a recipe for the opposition at all.  What I can tell you is that what I did find was this recipe for Kedjenou.

Its simplicity belies the full flavour that the dish delivers.  The lack of liquid in the ingredients list also makes you wonder what you are going to end up with.  The fact that two years on, I'm still cooking this one pot, no effort wonder should tell you all you need to know.  After a couple of hours the chicken is perfectly cooked and the vegetables have collapsed and created a fantastic sauce.

Tonight, we have cooked some couscous to have with the chicken and vegetables, but you could easily have some pita bread on the side.  This one dish, as well as being delicious, is the reason behind the Olympic Food Challenge.  If I had made it through the world cup without finding a stand-out meal I probably wouldn't have thought twice about eating the Olympics.  I can't wait to discover my next kedjenou.


*I'm more than capable than making my own stupid bed and lying in it.

Pork and Aubergine Satay Kebabs

We had decided yesterday what we were going to cook this evening.  I had something akin to a craving and as Z was going shopping anyway, I dispatched her to Leeds Kirkgate Market to raid the stalls of Fish Row.  Sadly I had completely forgotten that mussels are now out of season* so a rethink was in order.

I had planned to make a Thai style mussel dish and serve some satay vegetables on the side.  It didn't take much to elevate the satay from side dish to main event.  We had already bought the sauce from Taste on Vicar Lane.  We also had onions and a green aubergine in the fridge so all that was needed was some pork.  The kebabs were marinated with lime juice and light soy sauce before grilling.  This was a million miles away from the food I was craving, but it was great.  I'll just have to wait until September before I can have the mussels I wanted.

*Only eat mussels when there is an R in the month.

Baked Potato with Ratatouille and Goats Cheese

While making last night's risotto, Z also managed to make a ratatouille from the vegetables that were knocking about in the fridge for tonight's meal.  We always have tomatoes, onions and peppers in the house.  They turn up in so many dishes, including salads for lunch, that they have a permanent place on the shopping list.  For some reason, we also had a pair of aubergines in the crisper.  I am not a fan of the aubergine.  I have only actually found one way of cooking it that I love.  But when it is mixed in with all of the other vegetables you hardly know it's there.

With the rat in the bag, all Z had to do before I got home was bake a couple of giant spuds that I bought on Kirkgate Market.  By the time I got home from work, everything was ready, including a couple of slices of goats cheese topping off the filled potatoes.  It turns out that it is national vegetarian week this week.  If I had known in advance I may well have changed the menu for our evening meals.  I think this would still have made the cut.