World Cup, Playoff and Final

World Cup, Playoff and Final

Day 24 & 25

It's over. The spectacular 2014 World Cup has come to an end after a month of somethimes great, sometimes not so great football. It's been great to see so many unfancied teams do so well but I think it's fair to say that the best team won.

It's been a similar story in my challenge. The nations whose cuisines I hadn't previously paid much attention to were the ones that impressed me the most. The South American countries in particular took me by surprise and I'll be ensuring that I take plenty of inspiration from more of their dishes. For the 3rd/4th place playoff I decided to celebrate dutch cuisine as I had somehow managed to neglect them for the entirety of the tournament so far.

World Cup, Day 24 - The Netherlands

Old Style Chicken

I have never spent much time delving into Dutch cuisine, you don't really hear too much about it. I spent quite a bit of time researching recipes and dishes when I came across this one. It really jumped out at me, I was salivating just reading the ingredients list! It was a resounding success, I would actually consider this my favourite chicken recipe now, give it a try! It's important to cook the legs on a wire rack over a baking tray, it means that the skin will crisp up evenly and excess fat can drip off. This recipe is an adaption of Karin Engelbrecht's Chicken From The Golden Age. I served this with Sweet Potato Chips; cut a few sweet potatoes into chips and put them on a baking tray in a single layer. Add a good glug of oil with some salt and pepper. Mix well and put into the oven with the chicken. They should cook in the same amount of time.

Serves 4

8 Free-Range Chicken Drumsticks
2 Streaky Rashers
50g Butter
1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
1 tsp Dried Rosemary
1 tsp Dried Marjoram
1 tsp Dried Basil
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
2 Cloves

Sweet Potato Chips to serve

1. Put everything except the chicken into a food processor and blend until smooth. Push your fingers underneath the skin of the chicken creating little tunnels. Fill these with the bacon butter and rub whatever is left onto the skin of the chicken. Put on a wire rack over a baking tray and into a 200 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until cooked through. Check that they are cooked by inserting a thermometer and ensuring the reading is over 73 degrees celsius. Be sure that the thermometer isn't touching the bone when making the reading. Serve with Sweet Potato Chips.

World Cup, Day 25 - Germany

Apple and Caramel Tart

The final. The last day of The World Cup Challenge! For the final I needed to cook a dessert as we were invited to a friends house for dinner so I said I'd make dessert. I took inspiration from the most famous of German desserts, the Apple Strudel. I have never been a fan of any type of apple tart (rolled or not!) so I knew I would have to drastically change things to suit my tastes. I came to the conclusion that there is nothing in the World that doesn't benefit from the addition of caramel and so the concept was born. I had to buy Carnation Caramel as I was under serious time pressure but there is no reason you couldn't make your own (either by boiling a can of condensed milk or by using a recipe like this)

I like to use the shortcrust pastry recipe that can be found here. I just replace the salt with a pinch of sugar for a sweet tart/pie.

Serves 6-8

1 Quantity of Shortcrust Pastry (see above, rested in the fridge for at least 30 minutes)
800g Bramley Cooking Apples (peeled, cored and roughly chopped)
2 heaped tbsp + pinch of Sugar
1 Tin (397g) Carnation Caramel
1 Egg (beaten)
Pinch of Ground Cinnamon 

1. Put the apples and 2 tbsp of sugar into a pot over a medium-low heat and stir well. Cover and let stew until completely broken down. Stir in the Caramel and heat through for a couple of minutes. Set aside.

2. Butter a 28cm cake tin and roll out the pastry into a circle about 10cm bigger than the base of the tin. Line the bottom of the tin with the pastry ensuring to patch any tears. Keep the sides of the pastry up and pour in the apple and caramel filling. Spread it evenly with the back of a spoon. Allow the sides of the pastry to fold over the filling a little giving a lovely rustic look. Brush the top of the pastry with the egg and sprinkle over a pinch of sugar and cinnamon.

3. Bake in a 200 degree oven for 25-35 minutes until the pastry is golden and cooked through. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before turning out of the tin. and allowing to cool completely on a wire rack.

World Cup, Round of 16

World Cup, Round of 16

Day 16, 17, 18, 19

The World Cup Round of 16 games proved to be some of the most exciting so far with the little teams really putting it up to the giants. I can now begin to plan my dishes for the quarter final clashes after some rather unsuccessful attempts during this round. On Saturday I decided to see why Chewy Luis is so hungry and cooked a Uruguayan dish:

Day 16 - Uruguay

Pollo en Escabeche

Marinated Chicken

This dish left a lot to be desired. I looked up about ten versions of the recipe but they were all quite different. I went with a bit of a mix but the basic idea is to brown chicken pieces in hot oil and then stew in vinegar until cooked through. Although some recipes recommended a mix of vinegar and stock I went with (to my eye) the more authentic ones, vinegar only. The chicken and vegetables are edible but the dish becomes dry as you can't really use the vinegar as a sauce.

I can understand using vinegar in a chicken recipe, a tablespoon or two into a stew can really bring it to life but this was too much for me. I don't blame Suarez for taking a bite out of Chiellini, he couldn't have tasted much worse than this!

There is, of course, the possibility that I made a right bo**ox of this or went in the wrong direction. If you have a good one or know someone from Uruguay that does, please send it on.

Day 17 - Mexico

Vegetarian Chilli

I love Mexican food and so decided I'd celebrate the vibrant cuisine for the second time. After a few days of heavy eating I wanted to go with something full of vegetables and very little meat. After browsing through Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's "Veg Everyday" book (which was living beside my bed for a few weeks) I decided to something crazy; a dinner with no meat! To say I love meat is to partake in the biggest understatement of all time. I didn't even eat vegetables until about two years ago (apart from potatoes of course) so to think that someday I would CHOOSE to cook a vegetarian dish is crazy. I have cooked vegetarian dishes before of course but this is different, this is a dish that is all about the meat. Not anymore! I've adapted Hugh's brilliant recipe to my own tastes but if you don't like it too hot then remove the seeds from the chillies.

Serves 4

2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
2 Chillies (finely chopped)
2 cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
1 stick of Celery (finely chopped)
1 tsp Cumin Seed
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp Ground Coriander
Pinch of Allspice
1 Red Pepper (diced)
1 Green Pepper (diced)
1 tbsp Tomato Puree
1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 Tin of Kidney Beans (drained)
100ml Red Wine
100ml Water
1/2 tbsp Worchestershire Sauce
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
Boiled Rice and Yoghurt to Serve

1. Heat the oil over a medium heat and add the onion. Season and cook for 5-6 minutes to soften. Add the chilli, garlic, celery and spices and cook for 5-6 minutes stirring regularly. Add the peppers and tomato puree, stir well and cook for 2 minutes before adding the tomatoes, beans, sugar, red wine, water and worchestershire suace. Simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes until thickened. Serve with the boiled rice and yoghurt.

Day 18 - Germany

Beschwipster Huhn

Drunken Chicken

On Day 18 I decided to cook German. I had done a German "dish" during the group stages but it was my cheat day. I put together some sour dough bread with lots of butter and topped it with a sliced hard boiled egg. Not exactly Gorden Ramsay! This time I decided to go with something that would require a little more effort. Although German's are particularly notorious for their sausages and sauerkraut, I wasn't really in the mood for pork so I picked a chicken dish instead. This is my take on the classic Beschwipster Huhn (Drunken Chicken)

Serves 4

2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
50g Streaky Bacon (chopped)
1 Onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
8 Chicken Thighs (or a mix of thighs and drumsticks)
1 stick of Celery (finely chopped)
2 Carrots (finely chopped)
200ml Red Wine
100ml Chicken Stock
1 tsp Dried Marjoram
1 Bay Leaf
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
Bulgar/Potato/Rice to Serve

1. Fry the bacon in the oil over a medium heat for 5 minutes before adding the onion and garlic. Season and cook for 5-6 minutes to soften. Add the chicken pieces and brown all over before adding the celery, carrot, wine, stock, marjoram and bay leaf. Season well, cover and simmer over a low heat  for 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked. I served with Bulgar to keep things healthy but you could serve with potatoes/rice etc.

Day 19 - Switzerland

Bundner Nusstorte

Swiss Walnut Tart

It may have taken me 19 days of World Cup action but I've finally made a dessert. In my house it's never necessary for me to do any baking, Ali is the baking queen! It's a good mix, I do the savory, Ali the sweet. I thought I better try my hand at one for this challenge though and couldn't resist this wonderful looking (and tasting) tart. I used this recipe from the ever reliable food.com. The filling is fantastic, I swapped the standard sugar for demerara in the filling and it worked a treat, giving a deeper, more intense flavour. I wasn't overly fond of the pastry although I did add the 2 tablespoons of water without checking so it could well be my fault. If you have a favourite shortcrust pastry recipe though, I'd use it instead.

Das Eierbrot and Spaghetti with Meatballs

World Cup, Day 10 & 11 - Germany & U.S.A.

Das Eierbrot and Spaghetti with Meatballs

Day 10 is the first time I've struggled to fulfill my challenge as we had a hectic day but I managed to cheat and prepare a German 'dish' - Das Eierbrot: an open faced sandwich topped with butter and egg. It's simple yet satisfying. With an easy dish like this, it's important to use the right ingredients. Get some good sour dough bread and cover with real butter, no spreadable or heart friendly stuff here please! Then slice a hard boiled egg and place it on top with a sprinkling of salt and pepper - beautiful!

Today, Day 11, I wanted to make something from the U.S.A. It was a tough choice: a nation the size of a continent has several dishes to choose from! I decided on spaghetti with meatballs in a tomato sauce. Most people think this is Italian but it's actually from the U.S.A. Although spaghetti and meatballs are staples of Italian cuisine, they are never served together. Spaghetti with tomato sauce is served as a pasta course, followed by the meatballs as a meat course. Italian chef Paolo Tullio on his Newstalk slot with Sean Moncrieff explained recently that when working in New York, the Italian's would bring a packed lunch of spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs. Although the Italians looked upon this as two separate courses, Americans understood it as one meal.

I always make a big batch of meatballs and freeze half of them before cooking. The meatballs should be about golf ball size. Half of the meatballs with the sauce will serve 4-5 people.

Makes 28-30 Meatballs

2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 Onions (finely chopped)
2 cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
500g Beef Mince
500g Pork Mince
1 Egg (beaten)
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

For the Sauce:

6 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
1 clove of Garlic (finely chopped)
1 Chilli (finely chopped)
1 Carrot (Grated)
1 stick of Celery (finely chopped)
2 Tins of Chopped Tomatoes
1 tsp Sugar
1tsp Dried Oregano
2 tbsp Parmesan Cheese (grated)
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
Spaghetti to Serve

1. Make the meatballs by heating half the oil in a pan and adding the onion and garlic. Season well and cook for 6-7 minutes to soften. Set aside and allow to cool completely. 

2. Put the beef and pork mince into a mixing bowl and season well. Add the cooled onion mixture and egg and mix well. With wet hands, shape into golf balls. Use half the meatballs to serve 4-5 people and place the rest in the freezer. Let the meatballs you're using chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile make the sauce by heating the oil in a saucepan and adding the onion, garlic, chilli, carrot and celery. Season well and cook for 6-7 minutes before adding the tinned tomatoes, sugar and oregano. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

4. Heat the remaining oil in a clean pan over a high heat and fry the meatballs on all sides to brown. Add the meatballs to a baking dish and pour over the sauce to cover. Cook in a 180 degree oven for 10 minutes before sprinkling over the Parmesan. Cook for another 5-10 minutes. Serve over spaghetti topped with more Parmesan if you like.