World Cup, Semi Finals

World Cup, Semi Finals

Day 22 & 23

The World Cup is almost over. Almost a month has passed since the first match and first day of my World Cup Challenge. Two more dishes to go, Saturday and Sunday. The semi finals provided a couple of shocks including Germany's massacre of hosts Brazil. I decided to cook Brazilian for the second time on Tuesday and went with a Brazilian Style Chicken Stew:

World Cup, Day 22 - Brazil

Chicken Stew

My research into Brazilian cuisine has confirmed two things in my mind; 1. They love BBQ and 2. They love coconut milk in a stew! I really enjoyed my first Brazilian dish (can be found here) and wanted to try another. I went with a chicken stew as I couldn't handle anymore beef and, to be honest, the weather didn't lend itself to having a barbecue. I was going to serve the chicken with rice but i didn't check my larder first. I ended up mixing in some Lentils which worked very well.

Serves 4

1 Free Range Chicken (cut into pieces)
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
2 tbsp Rapeseed Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
1 stick of Celery (finely chopped)
1 Carrot (finely chopped)
1/2 Hot Chilli (finely chopped)
1 Large Beef Tomato (diced)
1 Tin of Coconut Milk
250 ml Chicken Stock
150g Lentils (rinsed well)
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Mix the ground coriander, cayenne pepper, turmeric, cumin and salt together and rub all over the chicken pieces. Lightly oil a baking dish and put the chicken in it. Cook in a preheated 230 degree oven for 15 minutes. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile heat the oil in a stewpot (oven safe with a tight fitting lid) over a medium heat and add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and chilli. Season and cook for 6-7 minutes until softened. Add the tomato and cook for 2-3 minutes longer before adding the chicken. Pour the coconut milk into the baking dish (now empty) and scrape up any stuck on bits of chicken/spices before pouring into the pot along with the chicken stock. Bring to the boil and add the lentils. Season, cover and cook in the oven at 170 degrees for 20 minutes. Ensure the chicken is cooked through with a thermometer (make sure its internal temperature is at least 73 degreesC)

World Cup, Day 23 - Argentina

Rainbow Trout with Chimichurri Sauce

During this challenge I've really enjoyed cooking South American dishes. I hate to say that it's a continent who's food I had never really researched and felt no inclination to do so. I was very wrong, my three favourite dishes of the World Cup have been South American and I'll certainly be researching and cooking them more often. Argentina is famous all over the World for the high quality beef it produces. It is customary to serve any grilled meat/fish with a Chimichurri Sauce and so I decided to base my dish around it. I'm not sure how easy it is to find Argentinian Beef in Ireland but I didn't even try. I wanted fish! A trip to my reliable fish monger showed some rainbow trout on special, already butterflied and ready to cook. How could I resist. I served this with couscous that was loaded with onion, chilli, ramiro pepper and celery. (saute veg in oil and add in couscous and hot vegetable stock: 1 measure couscous to 1.8 measure of stock. Season, cover and remove from heat. Let sit for 10-15 minutes) Delicious!

Serves 2

For the Chimichurri:

25g Fresh Parsley (stalks included, roughly chopped)
3 cloves of Garlic (roughly chopped)
1 tsp Course Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Black Peppercorns
1/2 Chilli (roughly chopped)
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1 Small Onion (roughly chopped)
2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
Juice of 1/4 Lemon
5 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

For the Trout:

2 Butterflied Rainbow Trout (skin on)
1 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

Vegetable Couscous to serve (see above)

1. First make the Chimichurri by putting all the ingredients except the oil into a food processor. Blitz until the ingredients are blended pretty small. Scrape any bits from the side before putting the processor on its lowest setting and mixing in the oil. Set aside in the fridge until needed.

2. Heat a Griddle Pan over a high heat and add the oil. Brush the oil all over the surface and allow to get really hot. Add the fish, skin side down, and season the top well. Allow the fish to cook almost all the way through (you'll see it changing colour) before flipping it over and cooking for 1-2 minutes to finish. Serve on a bed of the couscous with a generous helping of the chimichurri sauce.

Moqueca De Camarao

World Cup, Day 1 - Brazil

Moqueca De Camarao

Shrimp Stew

The World Cup is finally here! Four years of waiting and speculating culminates in a 32 day party of (hopefully) spectacular football. To celebrate this, I've decided to cook 32 different dishes inspired by one of the countries participating each evening. The research has been completed and my challenge began today with a dish from the host country - Brazil.

I originally planned to prepare a Feijoada but I had to review quite a few of the dishes due to the high fat contents. The national dishes of many countries are often part of celebratory feasts eaten once a year; therefore they tend to be quite rich, indulgent and fatty. 32 days of dishes like this could have a serious effect on my waistline, so I've gone with alternative dishes from some nations.

Tonight I served Moqueca De Camarao, a Brazilian-style shrimp stew. It's really delicious. The sweetness of the coconut milk with the sharpness of the lime make for a perfectly balanced dish. Try it, it's quick, easy and best of all it's a pretty cheap dish to cook! Here's my take: it probably isn't the most authentic recipe in the world but trust me, the flavour combinations are terrific!

Serves 3

4 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

300g Cherry Tomatoes (halved)

1 Red Pepper

1 Chilli

1 Can of Coconut Milk (400ml)

2 tbsp Hot Sauce (I used Gibney's)

zest and juice of 1 Lime

1 Medium Onion (finely chopped)

1 clove of Garlic (finely chopped)

1 tbsp Fresh Coriander (finely chopped)

300g Tiger Prawns (raw, peeled and de-veined)

Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Place the tomatoes, red pepper and chilli on a baking tray. Add 2 tbsp of oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Stir well and roast in a 210 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before peeling and de-seeding the red pepper. Put the red pepper, tomatoes and chilli into a blender with the hot sauce and lime juice. Blend well and add the coconut milk. Mix well and set aside.

2. Saute the onion and garlic in the remaining oil over a medium heat for 7-10 minutes until soft but not coloured. Season well and add the coriander and lime zest and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the prawns, season and cook for 5 minutes until cooked. Add the sauce and allow to slowly heat through. Take off the heat just before boiling and serve with boiled rice.