hi maggie. the afghan lamb was nice although i dont think i would make it again. but it is good to experience foods from a different culture.we had it with chapatis and salad. hubby wanted it to be a lot spicier. however it was just right for my taste bubs. do post if you find any albanian sites with recipes on.

hi noshlette. hope you have a lovely trip. cant wait to hear you tales when you return.

Take care Noshlette, let us know what the food is like.

Have a great time and hope you pick up some great recipes you can share with us when you get back.

Hiya just FYI word of warning - I'm off to south east asia on some travels and won't be around till sort of end Feb I will try to check in here as often as possible but not sure if I can do the Albanian round - will look forward to everyonelse's results though and i will post my afghan adventure one of these days!! promise lol

Hi louby lou1 - look forward to knowing how your stew turned out!

hi maggie w. read your blog on the afghan food, very interesting. just on my way out to get the ingredients now as im going to cook it tonight. i think we will eat it on saturday night to let the flavours develop as you said in your blog. i think it should be just right for me in the spice department as i dont like anything too spicy, hubby will prob be a bit miffed though as he likes his food quite spicy. il let you know how it tastes.

hi noshlette. checked out your link. albania sounds fine to me. will try and look some sites up later. look forward to reading of your afghan blog.

take care everyone.

Hi Noshlette - sounds OK to me!

Hiya!

Sorry I've been a bit quiet - just been really busy of late - I have documented my afghan adventure just haven't had the chance to actually write all my thoughts down! *But I promise to do so before the month is out*

Anyway as next month rapidly approaches I thought perhaps suggestions are in order...
Wikipedia has a list of countries on
[link]
and if we were to follow that countries list then the next sort of cuisine we might explore would be still within the alphabet A for Albanian

Is that suitable ?

Hi posset - I think A for abstinence sounds good to me. You can't feed your poor husband and son with either a lentil or a pulse - yuk! Now come on, I'm sure they deserve better than that - how about a few lettuce leaves?
I don't have any suggestions for next month, I just tend to go with the flow!

MaggieW, It looks amazing, how absolutely fantastic! Well done you! Great photo too, you are clever!

I am ashamed to admit I haven't cooked any Afghani recipes. I have been doing my A for abstinence this month, with pleasing results, I'm glad to say. However my husband and son are feeling the pinch with my ultra healthy eating plan and If I mention another lentil or pulse I fear there will be a mutiny As soon as I dare I'll cook one up and get back to you (promise before end of the month)

Where are we off to next month? Any suggestions?

Hi louby lou1, Noshlette, posset - I have now posted the Afghan lamb stew on my foodblog [link]
It was really good, otherthan it needed more of a spice kick to it.

hi maggie. hope you are feeling better! cant wait to hear how your lamb stew tastes. haven't had a chance to make anything afghani this week will try to make something either saturday or sunday. i have been busy baking a banana and apple loaf today-(not very afghani i know, but the kids love it). will look forward to reading your review of your stew.
take care

Hi all - I have now cooked the Afghani Lamb Stew with Spinach (did this in the slow cooker). Have popped it into the freezer. Will add the yoghurt, spinach and pinenuts after I have reheated this on Saturday evening. I will let you know how this turned out very soon.
Has anyone else made any Afghani dishes they would like to tell us about?

Hello Ali.
It sounds like a wonderful idea and I really hope it takes off for you
I would be very interested although unfortunately I live in Birmingham .
However best of luck!!!

Hi everyone i'm a new girl to this site, i'm also a great lover of food, i fancy a change in career and am looking to set up a cookbook club in my area, middleton manchester, something on the lines of i provide lunch/dinner for members while they browse through a selection of cookbooks and ' talk food ' i am still at the early stages at the moment and would love to hear from anyone out there who would be interested , i look forward to hearing from you and would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

Hi louby lou1 - since my posting at 12 noon I've gone down with this cold everyone's got at the moment! Feeling rubbish at the moment. Not wishing to sound like a moan, obviously. Will try my best to still cook the above this coming week.

good luck to you both on the cooking. cant wait to read the reviews. especially the lamb and spinach one as im looking forward to cooking that this week as well. but i think il wait to read maggies review first.
happy cooking

Hope your cooking goes well Noshlette.
This week I will make Afghani Lamb Stew with Spinach. Will report back and let you know how well it went!

Hello

Glad to hear of your cooking adventures louby lou
I'm just about to cook my afghan adventure *giggles* I have to say I am rather tickled by all this.

Anyway the dishes I'm cooking are
Afghan Kadu Bouranee (Sweet Pumpkin)
and
Kabuli Palau (Afghan Chicken Rice)

I'll be trying to log the process to put on to my food blog ;-) and let you know how it pans out. The recipe calls for dried mint leaves :( i've been thinking of using mint sauce as a substitute or mint tea! (laughs) ah well...

Oh and just to keep this post on topic too : I found out that there is a restaurant with some mixed reviews in London called Afghan Kitchen!
(Yay me!)

Unfortunately I haven't managed to make anything yet from the site. Hope to do so soon. I will keep on tracking the recipes you have made though. Best wishes to all.

oh sorry to hear you've been ill posset. hope you are feeling better now. i had tonsilitis last week could only drink soup through a straw all week. im happy to be eating 'normal' food again. i havent had the noro virus yet and fingers crossed i wont get it.my evening went fine thankyou. i searched out a green thai recipe from another site and it was delish. im waiting for the new nigella express book to arrive so im going to be busy this weekend cooking from that and the afghan site as well.

Great to hear that louby lou1. I had an unfortunate incident with the Noro virus and minced beef just before Christmas and the memory is too fresh in my mind to contemplate eating minced meat of any kind at the moment! (hence I was not in a fit state to get back to you with the Thai curry recipe, so sorry, hope your evening went well) Gosh that is a vile bug.

I am glad you have tried the recipe and enjoyed it. 'Tasting' the recipe in my mind, I thought it would be delicious. I promise I will try one of the others over the weekend and post back here

hi guys. just to let you know i tried the afghan kebabs from the site posset linked us to and they were absolutely delicious. we had them yesterday with pitta breads, salad and a mint youghurt. even the kids enjoyed them. think i might give the kofta kebabs a go over the weekend. will let you know if i do. hope you are all well.

i will defo let you know when i have tried some of your recipes maggie. will try and have a go at one over the weekend.

Louby lou1 - pleased you have had a read of my blog. Please let me know which recipes you try and how you get on with them. There is a 'contact me' box on the blog on the righthand side quite a way down the first page.

Noshlette - Relish has a great site and events but unfortunately I didn't manage to get to any of them. Sometimes the price and venue have been the deciding factor why we didn't go. The ideas though can always be tapped into.
The Afghan dishes sound interesting. I can't abide tea though, and so I don't think they would be very welcoming towards me!
Enjoyed reading your posting.

posset - glad you had a look at my blog!
I have just popped over to your link - will have to read it properly when time permits. One or two of the recipes look really good - would be great on the BBQ.
I love the site you have recommended and I am going to have a more indepth look at it.