International | Mormon Mavens

Wow. I get to post on Thanksgiving Day. So in case you anticipate running out of creative ways to recycle your turkey leftovers, I am sharing a recipe from Pinterest that I have been wanting to try for a while and it contains no turkey…really. It came together very easily and tasted really good.

Ingredients: (please note that some of the ingredients for the soup are also used in the meatballs, so plan accordingly.)

SOUP:
1 T. vegetable oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. dried Mexican oregano
1/4 t. ground cumin
6 cups beef stock
2 cups crushed tomatoes
1 canned chipotle chile plus 1-2 t. adobo sauce
2 carrots, grated
1 t. salt
1/2 cup grated zucchini
1/4 cup uncooked rice

ALBONDIGAS (meatballs):
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/4 lb. bulk chorizo
1/4 cup grated zucchini
1 egg
1 clove garlic, minced
1 stale small corn tortilla, processed to crumbs
1 T. fresh cilantro, minced
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. dried Mexican oregano

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large stock pot (or dutch oven) over medium heat and saute the onion, garlic, oregano and cumin until onions are soft. Add the beef stock, tomatoes, chipotle, carrots and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.

2. Make the albondigas by combining all of the meatball ingredients in a bowl and mixing well. (One tip, the original recipe calls for a small, stale corn tortilla processed to crumbs but mine would never get small enough. Next time I will use crushed tortilla chips.) Pinch off about a tablespoon of meatball mixture and roll it into a ball about 3/4-inch in diameter. Continue with the rest of the mixture.

3. Bring 2-3 inches of water to a boil in a medium to large saucepan. Add the meatballs and boil for 3-4 minutes to reduce some of the grease. Drain the meatballs and discard the water.

4. Add the meatballs, zucchini, and rice to the soup and simmer for another 30 minutes. Serve hot. Garnish as desired.

Source: Pinterest, originally from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison

I recently presented the country of Canada to our homeschool geography co-op and wanted some recipes that really represented the country well. A Canadian friend highly recommended Nanaimo Bars (pronounced nuh-NYE-mo) and kindly offered me some Canadian custard powder to use for them as well. (I have read that instant pudding powder is a fair substitute for this custard powder if you can’t find it.) These layered bars are very tasty!

Ingredients:
Layer 1:
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1/4 cup sugar
5 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 egg, beaten
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds

Layer 2:
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
3 Tbsp. heavy cream
2 Tbsp. custard powder*
2 cups powdered sugar

Layer 3:
4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet baking chocolate**
2 Tbsp. butter

1. In a double boiler, combine the butter, sugar, and cocoa powder stirring together until melted and smooth. Beat the egg into a small bowl; add a little of the cocoa mixture to the egg bowl and stir together well to temper the egg. Then pour the egg mixture into the double boiler with the cocoa mixture and stir well until thickened, 2-3 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and almonds. Press firmly into the bottom of an ungreased 8×8-inch pan.
3. In a bowl, cream together the butter with the heavy cream and custard powder. Add in the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread this over the crust in the pan and chill to set.
4. Melt the semisweet chocolate and butter together until smooth (I used the microwave to do this, in 30 second increments). Pour over chilled bars. You can chill to set this or let the bars sit out at room temperature until the chocolate is set. Cut into bars.

Makes 16 bars

Source: allrecipes.com

*–I have read that vanilla instant pudding powder is a fair substitute for this custard powder if you can’t find it.
**–I was out of baking chocolate so I just used 4 ounces of semisweet chips.