CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED San Marino is one of the world’s smallest countries and it exists entirely within Italy. As you might imagine, finding something that was unique to San Marino when it is entirely surrounded by the culinary beast that is Italy was a little difficult. I found one recipe that claimed to originate in San Marino. This one. It involves pasta, cheese, and red sauce. All things I enjoy! It also includes a Béchamel sauce which I’d never made before but have happily eaten in the past. There’s basil, basil is good.  There’s also prosciutto.  I have a mixed feelings about prosciutto. It is fine but I don’t quite understand the hype around it and it isn’t something I seek to add to recipes and, when it is on a charcuterie board, it isn’t my first choice. This might be the most expensive meal I’ve made during this project and I had to make some substitutions.  The local grocery store doesn’t carry Fontina cheese so I used gouda and provolone. (Google said they were suitable replacements.)  The store also doesn’t carry the exact kind of prosciutto listed in the recipe but I used the one style they do carry which looks very much like the prosciutto in the recipe photos. The Gouda cheese and prosciutto were expen$ive! It was relatively easy to make. If you can boil water, you can par-cook the lasagna noodles. If you can make gravy, you can make Béchamel sauce.  Layering the things wasn’t difficult but getting things to roll up nicely was a little tricky and a little messy but doable. How did it turn out? It was delicious! The prosciutto ended up adding a rich and savory touch to the nests that really surprised me.  The nests seemed like they were going to need more marina than the recipe called for but didn’t. Though, if you like things saucier, it wouldn’t hurt to spoon a little extra over them. If you like lasagna, you’d like this. If you like stuffed shells, you’d probably like this. If you like pasta with lots of cheese, you’d like this. I think it will probably reheat very well in the microwave, if you stick to only one or two nest(s) at a time. Would I make it again? No. It is absolutely delicious but just too expensive, especially when Brian won’t eat it. (He doesn’t really like pasta, unless it is spaghetti with Bolognese sauce). For the amount I spent on the Gouda and prosciutto, I could have gotten a couple of nice steaks. It was fun to make and try but it is similar in flavor to other, less expensive, dishes.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED There were several recipes from Samoa that I found appealing but Sapa Sui was a little different than anything I had eaten recently and I was craving different! I watched several videos of Samoan people making Sapa Sui and I think every Samoan family has their own take on it but they all have meat, some sort of veggie, garlic, ginger, some form of vermicelli, and some kind of soy sauce. The type of meat, vegetable, and soy sauce vary from one video to the next so there’s a lot of personal choice with this one! I opted for ground chicken, onion, green pepper, and some mixed frozen veggies. As far as soy sauce, I used regular soy sauce and kecap manis that I had on hand from a previous International Meal. (Kecap manis is a thick, sweet, and aromatic soy sauce that originated in Indonesia.) This was pretty easy to make, you mostly just add stuff to a pot and stir. The noodles do need to be prepared separately but they just soak in a bowl of hot water for a little bit. I had green pepper and onion already chopped up, leftover from a different meal so I didn’t have to do any chopping. And the frozen veggies just had to be thrown in. Easy! I’m gonna be honest this is not the most appetizing looking meal. But it is very tasty! If you like soy sauce, you’ll like Sapa Sui. It does not taste overwhelmingly of soy sauce but that is a major component of the flavor profile. I liked it a lot. Would I make it again? YES! And I can’t wait to experiment with other types of meat and other veggie combinations!

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED This recipe was the first one that popped up when I started looking into food in St. Vincent and The Grenadines and I kept coming back to it because it sounded really good to me. It's chicken, onions, green peppers, tomato paste, herbs and spices, and Guinness. I don't like to drink Guinness but I like it in sauces or stews. It adds depth to all of the other flavors. Not sure how else to describe it. The end result, which is eaten over rice, is a rich tomato-forward chicken stew that I really really liked. Mine turned out very orange in color and I can only guess that is due to the chili powder I used. (New Mexico Red Hatch Chili Powder) I imagine you can use whatever chili powder you enjoy at whatever heat level you prefer and it would be good no matter what. I would absolutely make this again but I'd cut the recipe in half because I'm gonna be eating leftovers for days. Which really isn't a problem, I just like to have more variety in my dinners.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED St. Lucia is another small island country, with all the challenges I've had with most small island countries. But I found a curry recipe that I hope is authentic so all is well! This curried beef recipe contains all of the things one would expect from a curry (garlic, ginger, curry powder, etc.) and then it includes some ketchup. I was not sure how the ketchup would work with everything else but the final product does not taste at all like ketchup. It tastes more like a curry-ish beef stew. The curry flavor is there but it's not super strong. I ate it over basmati rice but I think it would be great with just some naan on the side. It was a good hearty meal and I enjoyed it but I don't know if I will make it again. Outside of the International Meal thing, I don't make a lot of beef meals for myself and this would just be for me, alone, because my other half does not like anything remotely curry.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED Oh yay, another small island country! I don't actually have anything against small island countries, they're just challenging in the context of this International Meal thing. They rely heavily on seafood and, if I were there, I would partake of it. But I live in the middle of the desert and the seafood I have access to is not fresh and not usually the type of fish the small island countries enjoy. I also live with someone who is absolutely disgusted by the smell of fish. So, island countries are difficult for me. It took a little while to find a non-fish recipe that included easily obtainable ingredients. I'm not 100% sure about the authenticity of this recipe. I found it on two websites and one of them referenced a third website as their source. The source website no longer exists so I had to track it down on the Internet Wayback Machine. I did find it and it appears to have been a site devoted to sharing food from island nations. So, I rolled with it. You need steak (since it was going be in a marinade for awhile, I bought some cheap steaks), champagne, curry powder, cayenne pepper, spicy peppers, garlic, and a few other things to make this dish. The champagne is used as part of a marinade and the steak is also cooked in it. I don't really enjoy champagne but I tend to like the flavor of things once the alcohol has been cooked out so I hoped that would hold true for the champagne in this recipe. And it did! The end result is a flavorful, somewhat spicy steak that has just a hint of a wine-like flavor. I made coconut rice with black beans to go with it and the creaminess of the coconut rice helped balance out the spiciness of the steak. I also had a side salad because I had salad things that needed to be used up. While I enjoyed the meal and will happily eat the leftovers, I probably won't make this again. I'd rather do other things with steak. And champagne is not something I keep on hand.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED Brochettes are essentially kebabs with meat and onion and they are served with fries, whatever kind of fries you prefer. They are traditionally made with goat meat but I do not have access to that so went with chicken thighs as I'd seen a few remarks that chicken is also commonly used to make brochettes in Rwanda. Anyway, this one didn't turn out well and it was absolutely NOT the recipe or foods' fault! I deboned the thighs, made the marinade, got the chicken in the marinade, no problem. (The marinade is made with crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic, and a spicy pepper or two. And is very tasty!) My original plan included grilling the brochettes because that's how they're made. Then I noticed that the last person to use the grill, who shall remain unnamed (not me), neglected to turn the gas off on the grill the last time they'd used it and it had been running for quite awhile. So, the grill was no longer an option. I adapted and cooked them in the oven, on a large sheet pan, at a high heat. They turned out fine and flavorful but grilling them would have made them top notch. They also were not very picturesque after being cooked in the oven. While figuring out the oven thing, I burned the potato wedges... I ended up making a second, smaller batch that turned out okay but took additional time. I decided this was not a photo-worthy meal so no picture of my plate this time around. All in all, the brochettes were good but I can tell that they really would have been so much better cooked on the grill. And I will make them on the grill in the future so I can get the real flavor!

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED So, I did not make borscht. I'm not a fan of sour soups and I only like beets in certain circumstances and even then, I have to be in the mood for them. The Pozharsky cutlets were different from anything I was expecting to find in Russian cuisine so I decided to go with them. They were referred to as the ancestor of the chicken nugget in several place and, after making and eating them, I can definitely see the connection. There are roughly 124,568 variations of this recipe but they all included ground up chicken, bread, bread crumbs, and butter. You mix the chicken with a panade (This IS a word, Spellcheck!), shape it into cutlets, and then dredge the cutlets in bread crumbs, brown them in butter, and then finish the cooking in the oven. There's not much in the way of seasoning, just salt and pepper but I used seasoned dried bread crumbs for the dredge because that's what I had on hand and they added a nice flavor to the dish. It's not really a difficult recipe to make but it is a bit messy. The end result reminded me of a glorified chicken patty. They were pretty good but very heavy and filling. I ate them with mashed potatoes, gravy, and canned La Sueur peas. Because they are not heavily seasoned or spiced, I think they would be good with just about any kind of potato, and vegetable sides. I think, if you like chicken patties and/or chicken nuggets, you'd probably like these. They aren't exactly like either of those but they're definitely related, like second or third cousins. Would I make this again? Probably not. I enjoyed them but I don't think I'd ever crave them. And the browning in butter step made me feel greasy and in need of a shower afterward. I like to eat fried foods, occasionally, but I do not enjoy the way I feel after cooking them, at all.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED I didn't really know what to expect from Romania, I'd never heard anyone ever say anything about the food. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found and ended up having a difficult time narrowing it down to one thing because I found several foods I wanted to try! I eventually went with the Tocana cu rosii because I was craving something beefy with tomatoes. There really aren't a ton of ingredients and it is pretty easy to make. It does take some time and it requires a little babysitting but I enjoy the process and I have the time. The linked recipe says pork or beef can be used and I opted for beef. While there aren't a lot of spices, the onions and tomatoes do a great job of creating a hearty flavorful sauce. I might add a little garlic and some pepper next time but it is fine without it. The linked recipe says it can be eaten with polenta or mashed potatoes or French fries. And it would be awesome with all of those but I had some leftover rigatoni that I needed to use up and I ate it over that. And I really enjoyed it! It would be great over rice too. I will definitely be making this again! Note: The recipe says parsley or dill can be added as a garnish. My local store did not have any dill (it is not something they carry consistently) and the parsley was wilted and looked very sad so I skipped it this time around. It was still delicious!

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED. When I found this recipe in my research for Qatar, it immediately piqued my interest. I like chicken. I like vegetables (mostly) and I like putting together a nice pot of stew! I did make a couple of adjustments to the recipe but I don't think they changed the flavor at all, they just made it easier to eat. I didn't use whole, skin-on chicken pieces, I used boneless skinless thighs because I prefer to not have to pick bones out of my stew or deal with "wet" skin. I also cut the carrots into tiny little cubes. I've found that when I cut them into tiny little cubes, they add a more even sweetness to the final dish without big bites of carrots. I don't mind the taste the tiny little cubes add to the broth but I do mind big bites of cooked carrots. Everything else, I did as the recipe suggested and it was fairly easy to make. And it was delicious! There isn't a thing I'd change about it. I'm tempted to make another batch and put it in the freezer because I think it would be great to have on hand if one is sick and doesn't feel like cooking. I really really really liked this stew and I would make it again!

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED Portugal had a few things I was interested in but I decided to make this soup because I'd never made a soup where the potatoes were blended into a thick broth with an immersion blender and I wanted to find out how that worked. (See also: I have an immersion blender I haven't used often enough to justify the space it is taking up in a cabinet.) It ended up being an educational experience for me. I learned that: 1. There is a limit to how much kale I want to encounter in a bowl of soup and this recipe exceeds that limit. 2. There is a limit to how much kale I want to wash and attempt to slice into very very thin strips. This recipe exceeds that limit. 3. I thought I liked kale but now I'm not so sure. 4. Linguiça sausage is delicious. 5. I need to use my immersion blender more often. But also with more care so I don't splatter broth everywhere. All in all this soup (made with onions, kale, potatoes, and sausage) was just okay. It really felt like it was missing seasoning. It does contain salt, pepper, and garlic but none of them really seemed to make a dent in the blandness of the broth. The amount of kale was an issue. I didn't manage to slice it as finely as the recipe author so that may have contributed to my problems but a pound of kale, thinly sliced, is still a lot of kale. I have a lot of leftover soup and I will finish it but I will be adding some things to it to make it a more enjoyable meal. Definitely more pepper. And some roasted garlic. Maybe a little bouillon to give the broth more depth. And maybe a dash of red pepper sauce to the bowl. I don't think I will make this again.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED I like meatballs so, when I found out about Pulpety, I had to make it. The meatballs are made from ground pork, though I found recipes that used ground pork, ground turkey, ground beef, or a combination of two ground meats. So, I think it really boils down to personal preference. I went with ground pork because that seemed to be the most common meat used in the recipes I read. They are served in a sour cream and dill sauce which is also flavored with cooked carrots, celery, and onions. You must like dill in order to enjoy this recipe. (I like dill very much.) I also liked Pulpety very much! I ate the meatballs and sauce over mashed potatoes with green beans on the side but I think it would go well with plain boiled potatoes or some warm crusty French bread with whatever vegetable sounds good to you. It's a hearty meal, good for cold weather days, and it definitely falls into the comfort food category. Would I make this again? Yes!

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I wanted to try it. There aren't a ton of ingredients (chicken, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, vinegar, onions) but there's a TON of flavor. The vinegar did not overpower the other ingredients, it somehow made all of the ingredients better and more flavorful. This was one of the easier meals I've made. Marinate the chicken, and then cook things in one pan in stages. It was one of the messier meals I've made, it spattered sauce all over the stovetop and nearby counter while cooking, but was worth the mess! I ate it with Jasmine rice and some frozen veg blend. I loved it and I'm pretty sure it is going to become part of my regular meal rotation! 😃