World Recipe Fridays - Afghanistan

It's been a while since my last post, and I apologize for that.
Unfortunately, I've been having a rough past two weeks and haven't had time to sit down and post. I also haven't had much time on my computer because of my commitment to organization and time management for the month of February, as I've been focusing more intently on my schoolwork and reading instead of time on the computer.
However, I feel that keeping this updated is important and should be part of my commitment to organization and time management, and therefore I am refocusing my efforts to include my blog.

I've also decided that I am going to designate Fridays as World Recipe days.

Each week I am going to post a recipe from a country of the world. I'll be trying to keep the recipes as authentic as possible. I'll determine which countries I choose from an alphabetical list of independent recognized nations according to WorldAtlas.com. That way if you are interested to know which recipe I will be covering each week, you can follow along from the list I've included here.

The first country I'll be covering is:

Afghanistan
Afghanistan is located in the Middle East, or South Central Asia. It is a landlocked country, and it is bordered by Iran in the west, Pakistan in the south and east, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast. 


Afghan cuisine is largely reflective of its chief crops, including wheat, barley and rice. It also includes dairy products like yogurt and whey, various nuts, vegetables and fresh and dried fruits. There is emphasis on seasoning, but typically the food is neither too spicy or too bland. Lamb and chicken are the two most popular meats when available, but are typically consumed by more affluent citizens, as it is expensive, and domesticated animals are valued more for the products they produce like eggs and dairy rather than slaughtering them for meat. Rice dishes are the most widely consumed dishes.


Afghani Lamb with Spinach Stew
Ingredients:

2 and 1/2 lb lamb stew meat (preferably leg)

1/3 cup of olive oil

3/4 lb  of onions (diced large)

4 ts of chopped garlic

2 ts of turmeric

1/4 ts of nutmeg

1/4 ts of ground cardamom

1 ts of crushed red pepper (or to your taste if you like it spicier or more bland)

1/2 ts of cinnamon

32 oz of can tomatoes (drain & chop)

1 cup of rich brown veal stock OR 1 cup of rich beef stock

1/3 lb of fresh spinach (wash & drain)

1/2 cup of yogurt

1 tb of grated lemon peel

salt (add as much or as little as you see fit, depending on your taste)

1/4 cup of pine nuts (roasted at 350 F. for about 3 minutes)

Sear the lamb in the olive oil in a cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven. 

Add the onions and saute them for 2 minutes.

Then add the garlic and saute it for 1 minute. 

Put in the turmeric, nutmeg, cardamom, crushed red pepper and cinnamon and saute the mixture for 1 to 2 minutes more, being careful not to burn the onions or garlic. 

Add the tomatoes and veal stock and stir.Cover the dish and bake at 350 F. for about 1 hour, until the meat is tender and begins to break up.
Remove the dish from the oven and add the spinach, stirring until the spinach is wilted and blended in.
Allow the stew to cool slightly.
Add the yogurt, lemon peel and salt to your liking.
Sprinkle with the roasted pine nuts.

Approximately 4 servings.

War on Terror

The U.S. has expanded its efforts on the War on Terror to Yemen. Although it is not entirely due to what happened on Christmas Day when Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian who trained in Yemen with Al Qaeda, attempted to blow up flight Northwest 253, that incident is part of the reason for expanding the efforts of the War on Terror. There is a lot of background leading up to the decision of the U.S. declaring war quietly against Al Qaeda in Yemen (granted, we are not actually declaring war on the Yemeni government itself, as we are working with them in order to attempt to take down Al Qaeda).

We are now in a three front war with Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen.

The article in the NY Times states that the Pentagon will be spending $70 million in the next 18 months to train and equip Yemeni military, which is more than doubling our military aid to Yemen previously.

Yemen is suspected as the next central training hub for Al Qaeda because over the last two years it has been facing growing problems with threats of succession in the south, rebellions in the northwest, and dwindling oil supplies for export and income.

Before Christmas Yemen did carry out air strikes on Al Qaeda with support from President Obama and equipment from the United States. The latest death toll of Al Qaeda militants was over 60, according to officials.

The reason I'm giving such a brief post on all of this is that I think it's important to follow. Reading the NY Times and other such newspapers and sources will give you a broader understanding. I figured I'd just start it off with a few links where you can read more about it.

If you're interested in the amount of money that the United States has spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, click the following link:

Cost of Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

I was shocked, needless to say, at the amount of money our country has spent on these two war fronts.

No wonder we don't have universal health care.