S is for Spain

Where we're going this evening - Spain

Now here we are on more familiar territory.  In my not-so-well-travelled life, I have been abroad many times, but in all but two instances, that has always been to Spain (or more accurately to Tenerife).

I love it - so much so that I have spent more years than I care to think about (and certainly more money than I dare think about) attending night classes in order to learn Spanish.  The ol' grey matter is not cut out for languages, though, and despite working hard and gaining a GCSE along the way, something refuses to 'click'.  I can read a newspaper (generally), and order food - and even write a letter, but don't try to talk to me in Spanish unless you want me to look back at you blankly.  Hey ho.

That does not stop me appreciating the good food - and the weather isn't too shoddy either - so what else do we know about Spain?

About twice the size of the UK, Spain has just about three quarters of the UK's population.  It is occupies a prominant possition to the west of Europe with borders to France and Portugal, and it's but a short hop across the Strait of Gibralter to north Africa.

In the late middle ages when it was very fashionable to jump on a boat and claim the first bit of land you came to as yours, the Spanish where right up there with the Brits 'exploring' the world - which is why so much of South America has Spanish as their first language.  In fact, Spanish is the most widely spoken language in the world.

Spain is a Catholic country, a Monarchy and has a well developed economy.  Well, it is now - Spain was troubled by a civil war in the early 1930's after which General Franco ruled for the next thirty years.  Once he died in 1975, the monarchy was restored, economic growth flourished, and even those troublesome regions always wanting to go it alone settled down with some autonomous rule agreed.

More recently, Spain has joined in with the rest of Europe, and enjoyed good income from tourism - although what with property prices having a serious hiccup, corruption at local government level and a world recession affecting tourism, things aren't so good for the Spanish now.

Mind you, part of the problem, it seems to me, that in common with some of the Greeks and Italians, certain sections of the Spanish population think that taxes are something that happen to other people, but then wonder why there is no money in the pot to pay out for pensions, schools, hospitals, infrastructure etc etc.

Whilst this rumbles on, at least there is a fine climate to enjoy, and the food is terrific - so lets say hola to our Spanish amigos and see what's on the menu...

Tonight's Menu...

Paella Varios platos de tapas (various tapas dishes)

The national dish of paella - short grain slow cooked rice with meat/fish/seafood - is a cert here, but it is difficult to choice what else to cook, as we are severely spoilt for choice.

In the end, I decided to put a number of tapas dishes together, and thought about  the ones that I most enjoy eating when I am away.  Tapas are small dishes traditionally served in bars with a drink - like a small dish of nuts, or a cube or two of tortilla; olives; or maybe a bit of chorizo and cheese.  Tapas as we know it now is a bit more substantial - if the traditional portion can be likened to going to he pub and having a bag of crisps with your pint, the modern day tapas is more like having a sandwich at the bar, and a bowl of chips too.

Let's see how we get on.

Paella - recipe from my head
Coat paella rice with oil in a wide pan, then add chopped onion, sweet peppers and garlic and fry until fragrant.  Meanwhile keep a pan of stock/white wine just warm on the hob.  Gradually add the stock/wine to the rice, ladle at a time & let the rice absorb.  Once nearly soft, add fish pieces/prawns/cooked white meat/peas.  Give it all a stir & serve with crusty bread.

Tapas - recipes from 'Tapas' by Love Food from Parragon books
Spanish potatoes - fry halved new potatoes in a little oil with sliced onion and sweet pepper.  Add a little chili & mustard then add passata and stock and simmer gently until the potatoes are tender.
Sauteed garlic mushrooms - sautee mushrooms & garlic in olive oil, leave on a low heat until cooked then add a squeeze of lemon & serve in a dish with a sprinkle of parsley
Garlic tomatoes - halve small tomatoes, place cut side up in a roasting dish, tuck in thyme sprigs and garlic cloves.  Drizzle with olive oil and roast  until tomatoes begin to char.  Squeeze garlic over tomatoes & serve with parsley garnish.
Prawns in garlic oil - fry chopped garlic and hot chilis in briefly in oil then add large prawns.  Keep turning prawns till coated with oil and heated through.  Give a squeeze of lemon and serve with crusty bread
Albondigas (meat balls) - mix beef/pork mince with breadcrumbs, an egg, milk and grated parmesan with nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Make into small balls & saute.  Add sauce (made of chopped tomatos, onions, & basil) and simmer until meatballs are cooked.

The Result

And what have we learnt?

• Overcooking paella rice will make your final dish not dissimilar to a savoury rice pudding.
• There is something to be said for putting more wine in the glass, and less in the paella.  After all, the paella is pretty happy to have veg stock used instead, which cannot be said for my wine glass
• Albondigas as made by mama in the Tenerifian kitchen do not taste like the ones I made tonight.  I should have stuck with my first instinct which was to raise a quizzical eyebrow at the mention of including parmesan cheese. 
• The Spanish like garlic - and it's a good job that I do too, as I reek of the stuff, as does my kitchen, clothes and will do for ages yet, I suspect.
• Small portions of a lot of different stuff is a faff, even if each dish is pretty simple to make
• Not to neglect the drink - just because I knew that I wasn't going to do a sweet for this evening's dishes, I missed a prime opportunity to made a whacking great jug of sangria.  Or maybe it wouldn't taste the same without the sea/beach/sun? In the interests of research, I should have given it a whirl. 

And out of 10?

• for the paella - a tasty 8/10 - this marred only by the fact that I overcooked the rice slightly - although the mixed smoked fish, meat and prawns were delicious. 
• for the tapas - a solid 7/10 - the prawns (not shown) were particularly good and very much akin to the 'real thing' - also the potatoes similarly authentic in taste (although they could have been spicier).  The mushrooms & tomatoes were great, and so easy.  The whole was let down slightly by the albondigas - I know that each kitchen will have it's own favourite recipe, but really - what was I thinking with parmesan cheese?  Certainly worth trying to find a recipe to give a more familiar taste. Or I could just go back to Tenerife.

R is for Russia

Where we're going this evening - Russia

Having been to some smaller countries recently, we are now going to somewhere MASSIVE in the shape of Russia.  In fact, Russia is the largest country in the world, beating Canada into second place.  It is a whopping seventy times the size of the UK, but with only two and a half times the population of the UK, Russia can be a lonely place to be.

When thinking of Russia, two things pop into my mind - it's bloody cold, and they all drink vodka.  Of course, this is a huge generalisation - but a flick through Russian recipes does seem to have a common vodka theme, and I don't recall any big brands of Russian sunwear.

After a lot of feudal fighting in the middle ages, Russia settled down under the leadership of Michael Romanov, and remained under Romanov rule - with some family spats - for the next 300 years. But it all blew up with the first world war - Russia was not prepared for the fight, and was left in a state of economic and political collapse, culminating in the overthrow (and execution) of the monarchy, and the bolshevik uprising in 1917 and the formation of the Soviet Union.

Communism and rigid state intervention remained the order of the day until the early 1980's when in an attempt to stimulate economic growth, political constraints were loosened.  This gave a voice to the disgruntled, leading to reform and the break away of former Soviet states and to the dissolution of the Soviet Union some 20 years ago.  This now leaves the country in a complicated federal system with some semi autonomous regions, and some not, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin - a man who hasn't let democracy get in the way of being in the top job for the past decade or so.

Vast and sparsely populated as Russia can be, it's not all peasants herding their goats on the steppes and living in yurts - Russia is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world, and is therefore rather rich, and has the ninth largest economy in the world and is expanding rapidly.

Russia does culture rather well too.  The architecture is breathtaking - all those onion domes in Red Square - and the Bolshoi Ballet, not to mention composers Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. The Russians like their sport too - ice hocky, football and basketball are all popular.

Famous Russians - apart from the historical figures of Lenin, Stalin, Tsar Ivan the Terrible and Catherine the Great - include actor Yul Brynner, Anna Kournikova the tennis player, and of course Rudolf Nureyev.

And who can forget Rasputin, the anti-hero, as made famous by Boney M...

And what of the food?  We can expect lots of hearty warming dishes - after all, the winters are long - and yes, vodka is often on the table to accompany the evening meal.

That all sounds pretty promising, so let's don our ushankas (that's those cosy fur hats with the ear flaps) and say  Приветw to the Russians...

Tonight's Menu...

Golubtsi (Russian Cabbage Rolls) Yacklavach

I have a good choice of hearty Russian dishes to try, but by absolute chance, last weekend the restaurant review in the Daily Telegraph was for a Russian joint called Mari Vanna, and so I took my cue from there.  Golubtsi is one of those dishes with a thousand variations, however the basic premise is minced beef/veal/pork mixed with variety of herbs/pepper and breadcrumbs/oatmeal/potato then wrapped in cabbage leaves and cooked in a mushroom/tomato sauce or stock.

That dish was happy to be accompanied by green salad and bread, but what to do about a sweet?  I chose this cake recipe because the author says 'we used to eat this on Christmas Eve when I lived in Russia'.  How charming!

Mind you, just because this is what happened in that household is not necessarily indicative of Russia as a whole, I guess.  After all, it is a tradition in our house to have something called a Fred Time (i.e. shorthand for a cup of tea, as popularised by the Bernard Cribbins 1962 hit, Right Said Fred ', which featured the recurring line, 'had a cup of tea'....).

Growing up, I had no inkling this phrase was not common parlance, and was mystified when I used it in the first week or two of secondary school to blank stares, just as we were all getting our pecking order sorted out.  I suspect that I never recovered from the status of 'a bit odd' in the eyes of some.  But there ya go.

However - onwards and upwards...

Golubtsi (Russian Cabbage Rolls) - recipe from food.com
Soften cabbage in boiling water & separate leaves. Remove hard stalks.  Meanwhile, mix beef/pork mince, grated potato, oatmeal soaked on milk, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, ginger, dill, parsley, horseradish and minced garlic.

Put a tablespoonful of the meat mixture in each cabbage leaf and roll up.  lace in a casserole dish.  Make a sauce of condensed mushroom soup, water, tomato puree, tobasco & Worcestershire sauce.  Pour over the cabbage rolls & bake for an hour in a medium oven.

Yacklavach - recipe from ruscuisine.com
Blend a little butter with brown sugar.  Beat in eggs, lukewarm water, flour, and - oh yes - a whole heap of vodka.

Pour the batter into a lined cake tin or muffin cases & back  until golden. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

The Result

And what have we learnt?

• Meatballs are meatballs, wherever in the world you go.  These are padded out with grated potato and oats rather than breadcrumbs, but plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose, as they say in France.
• Wrapping mince in cabbage leaves does make for handy portions - although it all tastes a bit -uh - cabbagy if you overcook/reheat the dish.
• Trying to cream 6oz of soft brown sugar with just over an ounce of butter is always going to be hard going.  Not so much creamed, as grainy.
• The proportion of liquid to creamed sugar/butter/egg/flour makes for a creamy batter.  
• Adding a goodly amount of vodka to the mix makes transffering the (now sloppy) batter to muffin trays an eye-watering experience
• Vodka might be flavourless, but a good party game is asking your guests to guess the mystery ingredient.  First to get it right is an alcoholic wins.Actually, I suspect that the alcohol 'bakes out' - or I could be pulled over for being 3-buns-over-the-limit...?

And out of 10?

• for the golubsti - a reasonable 6/10 - the mince mixture is good, but this doesn't do much more for me that meatballs do.  It has give me a couple of ideas to spice up meatballs though - and actually, the sauce was very nice.
• for the yacklavach - a tasty 7/10 - actually, although these little buns (served warm with ice-cream) did have a certain 'something', they were put me more in mind of a sweet cake in the manner of a ginger cake than of alcohol.  

M is for Malta

Where we're going this evening - Malta

Tonight's trip is right to the very south of Europe, to the Mediterranean where the tiny republic of Malta nestles just off the tip of Sicily, and a stone's throw from the north African coastline.

There are fewer than half a million Maltese on an island of just 120 square miles. What a tiny country! By comparison, I live near the second city of Birmingham which is just slightly smaller than Malta at 105 square miles, with a population of well over 2 million.

Although small, Malta does not lack historical significance - this stems from being in a strategic position equidistant from Europe and Africa. In fact, there's been a real revolving door of conquerors - the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, the Spanish, Knights of St John, the French, and - just so we don't feel left out  - the British.

The Maltese are a plucky lot, and did such a great deal for the allies in the second world war that King George VI awarded the George Cross to the whole island.  Life's a bit quieter these days, and Malta is it's own country - and has adopted a policy of neutrality - and is part of the Commonwealth and the European Union.

Malta's strategic position at the top end of the Suez canal means that the main trade is from maritime services, although, what with the weather being rather nice, tourism is important to the economy too.

The Maltese seem to be a superstitious lot (perhaps that stems from having your door kicked in be the next round of oppressors every five minutes), with plenty of quirks and customs, particularly relating to fertility and childraising, some of which are a bit odd (dangle a wedding ring on a thread over the unborn child and depending which way is moves will indicate the sex of the child);, some of which are a bit creepy, if you ask me (avoiding cemeteries when pregnant).

With such a small population, I'm struggling to find famous Maltese (besides the father of a friend of mine at junior school, but he doesn't really count) - but I must give a mention to Darren Attard, who appears in a long list of Maltese dignitaries and politicians; his claim to fame being as 'Australia's best youngest Elvis impersonator'.  Good luck to you, Darren.

On that note, we'd better get all shook up and say hello to the Maltese...

Tonight's Menu...

Lampuki Pie (Fish Pie) Ghadam Tal-Mejtin (Dead Man's Bones)

This is a bit of a tricky one - Malta has a whole heap of influences on its cuisine from all those marauders over the years.  Rabbit seems to be a big deal, as well as some stuffed breads and sweets.

I didn't fancy cooking rabbit, but Lampuki fish seems to come in as a close second in terms of popularity, so that'll do me.

Ghadam tal-mejtin is a traditional almond biscuit dish cooked at the beginning of November to celebrate the feasts of all saints and all souls.  The name translates as 'dead man's bones' and the biscuits are shaped into bone shapes before cooking.  Lovely.  Told you they were a bit weird...



Lampuki Pie (Fish Pie) - recipe from Felice in the Kitchen

Lampuki fish is fried & deboned (I cheated and used cod fillets from Aldi), then set aside.  Gently fry chopped onions, crushed garlic, spinach leaves, chopped tomatoes, peas and lemon zest (I used orange zest).  Optional are chopped olives (yuk! not round here, matey).  The veg and fish are combined then baked in a pie.


Ghadam Tal-Mejtin (Dead Man's Bones) - recipe from About Malta

Whisk egg whites until very thick then beat in almond essence, caster sugar and ground almonds.  Fashion into bone shapes (ha! this is impossible!) and bake. Cover with icing or a sprinkle of icing sugar.

The Result

And what have we learnt?

• Believe the recipe when it calls for such a large sack of spinach that you struggle to get it through the front door.  Spinach defies the law of physics in that once you've wrestled into the biggest pan you have and forced lid on, within a minute you have a smear of green on the bottom of the pan and that's it.
• Zest should be used in moderation unless you want your otherwise delicious pie to have a really citrus zing to it.
• Some recipes are either just wrong, or I seriously misinterpreted something. After beating in the ground almonds into the beaten egg whites, the consistency of the mixture certainly was not shapeable.  Even adding perhaps half as much ground almonds again, it was only just about stiff enough to handle, and then it was sticky, sticky, sticky.  I compromised with blobs.

And out of 10?

• for the lumpaki pie - a pleasing 7/10 - I think it would be a bit of a faff to buy whole fish then skin and fillet before putting the pie together, but the fillets I bought were perfect.  A lovely taste - if a bit, er, fruity.
• For the Ghadam tal-mejtin - an unsuccessful 3/10.  I must have cocked something up somewhere - or I should have cross-referenced with another recipe for this dish.  Once the damn sticky mixture was cooked into cookies, they tasted like macaroons, but more chewy.  Not my cup of tea.

L is for Latvia

Where we're going this evening - Latvia

We are off tonight to right over the opposite side of Europe to the UK - in fact, so far to the east in Europe that Latvia was a part of the USSR, along with the other Baltic states of Lithuania and Estonia. Now Latvia is part of the European Union having peacefully broken away from Russian rule about 30 years ago.

Latvia is a quarter of the size of the UK, but has a population of just 2 million people - one of the least populous European nations.  The northern European climate is of cold winters and long cool summer days.  The country is quite low lying, but is covered in swathes of forest and fertile arable land, with a long coastline to the Baltic sea with bright sandy beaches.

Latvia's landscape is mostly unspoiled with a high predominance of state protected national parks and reserves.  Boy, it's pretty. Walk through those resinous fir forests and smell the turpentine.

So it's unspoilt and tranquil and has a strongly performing economy (even in these straightened times) - I'm liking the sound of this very much.

The good people of Latvia are said to be reserved, tall and blonde - the women pretty, the men with moustaches, and are called horse heads by their Baltic neighbours.  The national sport is football, followed by ice hockey (as you might imagine with a country of such cold winters) and - more unexpectedly - basketball.

Although I'm struggling to come up with many household Latvian names (couple of footballers play in the Scottish league, but that's about it), the chap who came up with the idea of using rivets to strengthen denim seams in jeans is from Latvian (Jacob Davis), as is Arvids Blumentals who moved to Australia after the second world war, to mine opals, hunt reptiles and study the aborigines. There is a crocodile monument erected in his Latvian home town of Dundaga - and the film Crocodile Dundee is based on him.

With that, I think that we are more than ready to head northeast and say sveiki to our Latvian hosts...

Tonight's Menu...

Rasols (Sausage Potato Salad) Latvian style baked onions Apple Loaf

Traditional Latvian cuisine tends towards the peasant-like - grey peas and ham hock, and rye bread a big fixture, but not to be put off, I find that there are also Russian and Scandinavian influences which are all to the good.

I would have like to have tried the traditional bacon-filled rolls, but I'm still unsure of my bread dough making skills, so settled for a salad with cured sausage instead, served with rye bread; along with a passing nod to tradition with baked onions.

Also on the menu is an apple loaf which looks good to be eaten as a desert or as cake. Excellent.


Rasols (Sausage Potato Salad) - recipe from Latvian Stuff

Combine cooled boiled chopped potatoes and chopped hard boiled eggs with cooked peas and chopped Polish sausage.  Cover with a dressing made of sour cream and mustard & season to taste.  Chill for a few hours to let the flavours develop.

Latvian Style Baked Onions - recipe from food.com

Thickly slice onions and saute in bacon dripping. Put into baking dish, cover with breadcrumbs (I used rye bread breadcrumbs, just to get into the spirit of the thing) and grated cheese.  Bake until browned.

Apple Loaf- recipe from Latvian Stuff
Cream butter & sugar, them add egg yolks & vanilla then sift in flour and baking powder, combining with a little milk.  Whisk egg whites until stiff then fold in.  Put into a loaf tin then press apple slices into the batter.  Sprinkle over sugar and cinnamon & bake in a moderate oven.

The Result

And what have we learnt?

• If you are boiling large potatoes in their skins, per the recipe, either the potato centres will remain semi raw with the outside cooked, or the centre will be cooked and the outside virtually mashed as the potatoes are cooled and the skin peeled off.
• Polish kabanos sausages are rather tasty, but then they damn well should be at £4.50 for six skinny peperami lookalikes.
• If you are making the dressing by using double cream and souring it by whisking in a little lemon juice, being too vigorous with the whisk will result in something not out of place served with a cream tea, as opposed to suitable to use as a dressing.
• Baked onions are unfussy.  I felt like a Latvian peasant from the middle ages.
• Poking apple pieces into cake batter is extremely messy, with no discernible benefit over - for example - stirring the pieces into the mixture in the cake bowl before putting in the baking tin.
• If you've bought double cream with the duel purpose of using in the dressing (see above) as well as to serve with the apple cake, do remember to keep some to one side to use as intended, rather than forgetting and using it all up making the dressing.

And out of 10?

• for the sausage potato salad - a rather mediocre 5/10 - I'd use small salad potatoes if I did this again which would cook quickly and evenly in their skins and chop up cleanly without disintigrating.
• For the baked onion - a nice enough 6/10 - a seriously budget-concious dish, although it would be rather more tasty with a couple of sausages chopped in too.  
• for the apple loaf - a lovely 8/10 - the apple pieces make it moist and cinnamon and sugar give a really crunchy topping. Yum.  Even better, I suspect, with cream. 

I is for Italy

Where we're going this evening - Italy

We're off to southern Europe, after our exotic trip to the Caribbean last week, and we are heading to the Mediterranean to see what we make of Italy.

Long, thin Italy is slightly larger than the UK with about the same population.  Famously, it is shaped like a boot, facing West, ready to kick the island of Sicily lodged at its toe.

Like Egypt and Greece, Italy is another big-hitter in terms of history - the Romans came, saw and conquered  the majority of Europe for the best part of 500 years.  This is another organised and civilised people who brought many innovations to the lands which they overran and occupied.

The Roman Empire introduced road building, trade, art, culture, language, bathing houses and central heating over to the UK - but their civilising influence was not appreciated at the time and we took a technological step back several hundred years once they left our shores.

And although I suppose any invaders are not going to be welcomed with open arms, surely some of the Britons could have said, 'say what you like about those Romans, but they didn't half have some good ideas on roadbuilding/bath houses/military organisation...etc etc.'

Clever beggars, the Italians - not content with the whole Roman thing, they went on to produce the great explorer Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus; and then there was the whole renaissance movement with Bottecelli, then Michelangelo, and then the brilliant mind of Leonardo da Vinci.

Those Italian brains are still fizzing away today - in the rich industrial north of the country (all sharp suits and sex appeal) as well as the beautiful more agricultural south (all olive groves and siestas).  Whatever the cultural variation, Italy has the bucketfuls of style in whatever they produce - car manufacturers include Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Ducatti; appliance makers Zanussi and Smeg; designers Gucci, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana; then there is Lavazza coffee, Martini, and Pernod.

What is it about those Southern Europeans that makes them so darn sexy?  The French were the same when we were over that way the other week.  Famous Italians include Sophia Loren, Rudolph Valentino, Greta Scacchi and of course Cassanova; of Italian descent we have Frank Sinatra, Madonna and a great chunk of Hollywood A-listers.

I'm glossing over the less savory bits that Italy has given us - like Mussolini, the stereotyping of the Mafia, and of the less than heroic reputation in battle that the Italians seem to have acquired, and I think we should head straight for the food - so let's say ciao to Italy...

Tonight's Menu...

Lasagne Focaccia Tiramisu

You can't think about Italy without thinking about the staple food of pasta.  I did think about getting the seldom used pasta maker out to do things completely from scratch, but as I also wanted to make some time consuming bread and had some previously fresh lasagne sheets languishing in the freezer for far to long, the pasta maker has stayed in the cupboard.

Any of those rustic breads are pretty spot on, so that's an easy decision as an accompaniment, although any bread making I do tends to be via the breadmaker, so let's see how we get on.

Tiramisu is an easy decision, even without being leaned on by mum - I don't have a particularly sweet tooth, but at a restaurant, this is often my choice,.  Lets see if we can recreate it here.

Lasagne - recipe from my head.

Brown mince & add veg  to suit and tomatoes then simmer to make a bolognase sauce.  Traditional veg are onion, garlic, basil then loads of tomatoes.  Tonight's variation has a bit of bulgar wheat, onion, garlic, mushrooms and courgette along with the tomatoes (note: the reader may query the non-traditional inclusion of courgette - however, the vegetable gardener will quite understand that it being late summer, courgette is a standard ingredient in at least one dish of every meal.  That includes breakfast).

Make a white sauce with butter, flour and milk then add plenty of cheese.  Layer bolognase, pasta sheets & cheese sauce. End with cheese sauce - top with extra cheese & brown on top under the grill.

Focaccia - recipe from Fresh Bread in the Morning

Make a dough with strong white flour, oil, water, salt and yeast & leave to rise (note: I used the dough setting on the breadmaker).  Knock back dough & knead till elastic & smooth.  Pull out to a rectangle about half an inch thick (note: this is virtually impossible as the damn dough being nice and elastic springs back to where it was a minute ago).  Poke depressions with fingers, drizzle with oil & oregano & leave to rise.  Cook in a hot oven, then drizzle more oil & rocksalt & leave to cool (note: the cook who can 'leave to cool' has an unnatural level of will power.)

Tiramisu - recipe from bbc good food

Beat cream, caster sugar, marscarpone cheese & marsala to a whipped cream consistancy.  Soak (breifly!) sponge fingers in strong coffee.  Layer fingers, cream mix, grated choc, and again, ending with cream, choc & dredging of cocoa.  Yum.

The Result

And what have we learnt?

• Bolognase goes a long, long way.  A 9oz pack of lean mince has gone into six (greedy) portions of lasagne.  
• As long as you have some meat and loads of chopped tomatoes, you can pretty much sneak anything into a bolognase.
• Although I cheated in part with making the bread, bread making from scratch is really scary ('Knead until smooth'.  'Leave until well risen'.  These are just two of the bloody useless phrases I came across looking for my focaccia recipe) - although it did turn out good in the end.  Not saying that the next one will though.
• Any recipe which starts with mixing cream, creamy cheese, sugar and alcohol, then includes biscuits and chocolate is pretty much guaranteed to be a winner.  
• Another note to read recipes through in full before hand.  In the time it takes to follow the instruction 'dip sponge fingers into coffee...', then turn back to read, '...until covered but not soggy', the sponge fingers are, indeed, soggy.

And out of 10?

• for the bolognase - a solid 8/10 - it's always a bit of a faff to make, with the meat sauce and the white sauce, and the layers, and the oven cooking afterward, but well worth it.  Tasty and freezes well.
• for the focaccia - a tasty 7/10 - I'm still wary of bread from scratch - it's getting the knack of doing enough kneading & leaving it the right amount of time to rise properly.  This was good, but it could easily all go wrong next time!
• a VERY, VERY good 9/10 for the tiramisu.  Quick and easy to make, tastes brilliant - a real success.

G is for Greece

Where we're going this evening - Greece

I had rather a lucky escape this week - whilst thinking of where in the world to travel for my next culinary experience, I happened across Goa, and started to look at the Goan cuisine.  I spent quite a few days wrestling with ingredients that not only would I struggle to get hold of, but I had never, ever heard of.

I'd settled on a main course which I thought I could find (more or less) what I needed for and started to assemble them.  It bothered me that I couldn't do a sweet - I didn't know what 'rawa' is, or where to get hold of 'jaggery'.

Never mind, it was the best that I could do, so I started to research the tropical island and it's history.  Except it is not a tropical island, it is a state within India, thus immediately ruled itself out of the running for 'G is for...' - ha!

So Greece it is - and what do we know about this economically trouble nation?  Well, rather more that we know about Goa, for a start, and that's a fact.

Greece is at the most south-westerly part of Europe, and consists of a rocky peninsular surrounded by hundreds of beautiful islands.  The wonderful coastline, sunny Mediterranean climate and white sands make Greece a popular tourist destination.

The country is about half the size of the UK, but with all those idyllic islands, the coastline is the eleventh longest in the world.  The population is 11 million - a sixth of that of the UK - and about a third of those live in and around the capital, Athens.

You thought that we had a lot of history going on in Egypt a couple of weeks ago, well, the ancient Greeks will give the Egyptians a run for their money.  While the Britons were still running about in animal skins and living in mud huts, the ancient Greeks were writing wonderful poetry, watching plays and debating matters of great philosophical import.

More recently, it's all gone a bit wrong for the good people of Greece.  They jumped into the common currency of the Eurozone which held many advantages, but failed to realise the basis premise that even if you can borrow money really cheaply as you are in the club, you do have to pay it back at some point, and if the economy goes a bit loopy because of world recession and you're living above your means, it's going to come back and bite you on the bum at some point.

There are many famous sons and daughters of Greece - Telly Savalas, Maria Callas and Jennifer Anniston are all of Greek lineage - and mum will not forgive me unless I mention Nana Mouskouri, her favourite singer in the whole world.  And who hasn't fallen in love with Greece along with Shirley Valentine?

So let's do Zorba's dance and say Γειά σου to the Greeks...

Tonight's Menu...

Bakaliaros Tiganitos (Fried Salt Cod) Skorthalia (Greek Garlic dip & sauce) Melomakarona (Honey cookies with nuts)

Like much Mediterranean cuisine, the Greeks use a lot of olive oil.  Also featuring are goat, herbs and honey. Yum.   Fish is also a big deal, as you would imagine with so much shoreline, and hearty fare generally.  And ouzo to drink, but not round here, thank you.

I've cooked couple of Greek dishes already in the international cookery short course that started all this nonsense off, and I thoroughly enjoyed the lamb parcels with veg (kleftico) and vegetarian moussaka which were on the menu at that point - both of which are now staples in my repertoire as they are easy to make and extremely tasty. Hurrah!

So I've gone for a fish dish with garlic creamed potatoes, and biscuits commonly eaten at Christmas.  Will these dishes join the others in my recipe book?


Bakaliaros Tiganitos - recipe from about.com


Soak salt cod overnight & rinse and rinse again, then cut into 2" pieces (note: I'm all for salted fish where you can't get fresh, but - frankly - I'm not going to walk past the fresh fish counter in order to buy salt cod) Combine flour & water to make a thick batter, season and coat the fish, then fry for a few minutes until golden brown.

Skorthalia - recipe from about.com

Peel and simmer potatoes until tender, them cream with plenty of crushed garlic.  Slowly beat in olive oil and a little white or red wine vinegar to taste.  The potatoes can be left quite stiff, or with more oil/vinegar blended to a dip consistency.




Melomakarona - recipe from about.com

Blend orange zest infused sugar with olive and vegetable oil.  Beat in flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda.  Add in a splash of brandy and orange juice and mix to a dough.  Split into walnut sized pieces and roll into ovals which are flattened slightly with the back of a fork.

Once baked, dip in a syrup made up of reduced honey, sugar, water, cinnamon, and lemon peel, and let the biscuits absorb.  Fish out and press into chopped walnuts (note: yuk - I used chopped mixed nuts) and finish with a sprinkle of cinnamon

The Result

And what have we learnt?

• The batter for the fish was easy to make, being just flour and water. It coated the fish better than I thought it would
• Leftover flour and water batter mixture can always come in handy to stick down any curling wallpaper that I might have around the house.
• Hot countries don't use butter to bake with (it would all melt to a puddle) but they do use oil.  Although I've always used cakes/biscuits with butter and not oil, the resultant dough (eugh! greasy!) actually produces extremely tasty cookies.  The texture is different to melted method cookies, or rubbed in method cookies, but rather moorish nonetheless.
• Be wary of putting sugary syrup over perfectly tasty cookies in case it ruins them.  I don't have huge sweet tooth and have made the error previously of adding syrup to sweet pastries with the result the the whole lot went in the bin - for this tightwad to admit that is very painful indeed
• If you are making a batch of syrup to steep the cookies in, don't go and have a bath and leave the syrup to reduce over a low heat as (a) it will produce caramel and (b) that plastic spoon that you left in the pan will melt and add a certain something that you had not counted on

And out of 10?

• for the fish battered bakaliaros - a reasonable 7/10 - nice, but if I've tasted better batter.
• for the garlicky mash skorthalia - when the consistency is of mashed spuds, this creamed garlic potato dish merits a 7/10.  When I kept some potato aside to add much more oil and vinegar in order to bring it to a dip consistency, a gloopy 5/10. 
• for the cinnamon orange melomakarona - jury out on the syrup/nuts addition to the cookies (due to having to buy more in the way of honey, not to say a new stirring spoon), but as they are, they are jolly good - a nicely orangy 7/10.  Easy to make - if a different method to that which I am used to.

F is for France

Where we're going this evening - France

It's the very shortest of trips tonight, as it is just 26 miles across the English Channel that separates the UK from France.  That and a language, prevailing attitude & temperament and a cultural gulf to disappear into.

So why aren't our nations as close socially as we are geographically?  It can't just be that the British assume that as English is the most spoken language, then we needn't bother (or have the common courtesy) to learn any other, and that the French refuse to speak in anything but their tongue - although the lack of ability to communicate between the common man of the two nations cannot help.

Perhaps the reason lies in the inherent Socialist nature of the French (since all that nonsense with the peasants revolting and chopping off the heads of the nobility with the guillotine), compared to the class-ridden hang-ups of the British.  Or that the French embrace the European Union ideal, whereas the British have always hung about on the sidelines.  Or maybe because we're still sore about being invaded and beaten by William the Conqueror in 1066.  Long time to hold a grudge, though.

Or maybe it's the way the French insist on all this kissing business when you meet up, rather than a firm handshake - mind you, the are French are known for both their romantic nature.  That and their love of fine dining - in fact, quite how the women can be so sexy and chic in a nation which boasts such delicious food, including 400 different cheeses and the best vineyards in the world is some wonder.

You only have to mention Charles Aznavour, Juliette Binoche, Brigitte Bardot, and Audrey Tautou to see that we are amongst the Beautiful People (although you do get Gerard Depardieu, Marcel Marceau and Jacques Cousteau to balance it out a bit), and the mere mention of Nice and the casinos of Monte Carlo is enough to make you want to suck your stomach, get a pedicure and reach for the Christian Dior latest outfit.

Not really, obviously - as if we were wafting around the French Riviera in our designer frocks and our Chanel No.5, we wouldn't be tucking into tonight's rather tantalising menu, would we?

So let's hail Joe le Taxi and say 'bonjour' to our French amis...

Tonight's Menu...

Boeuf Bourguignon Profiteroles

France's cuisine varies depending on the region - the north and northeast is all hearty stews and root veg (and - perversely - champagne), the south is all Mediterranean oils, peppers, tomatoes, the east and centre is all red wine (burgundy - ha!), great cheese and big-bottom Limousin cattle (for the boeuf bourguignon, which is where we came in.

France produces such great food that I have been spoilt for choice - although, if I am being fair, snails & frog's legs would be an experiment too far for this lily-livered Brit.

I was facing a being-cut-out-of-the-will-moment with the desert, so prudence (and future inheritance of the Kenwood Chef) prevailed, and profiteroles for mum it is.



Boeuf Bourguignon - recipe from that lovely Nigel Slater - yes, I know he is not French, but he is lovely.

Brown pieces of shin beef which have been tossed in seasoned flour.  Remove from pan & lightly fry button onions & button mushrooms (note: I used my shallots) till golden,  Remove from pan & fry a chopped onion & some lardons (or streaky bacon).  Add beef back to the pan with garlic, bay leaves, thyme, a bottle of good red wine (note: I used burgundy, of course (and reserved a small glass for the chef)) and simmer VERY GENTLY for an hour and a half.  Add button mushrooms & button onions& simmer VERY GENTLY for half an hour more.  Serve with steamed potatoes (note: and courgettes, if (like me) you are eating courgettes with all meals currently - including breakfast).

Profiteroles - good old Delia here.

Sift strong plain flour & a little caster sugar onto baking parchment.  Add cubed butter to water in a pan & bring to the boil - briefly - then turn the gas off, shoot the flour/sugar into the pan & mix like mad (note: or with considerable ease with the electric mixer).  Beat in egg & when glossy, spoon mixture onto greased baking sheets.  Once baked in a hot oven, leave to cool having pierced the sides to let the steam out.

Serve with a spoonful of whipped cream in each one, and drizzle over melted chocolate.

The Result

And what have we learnt?

• Nigel Slater - lovely as he is - does make a bit of a meal of a stew. I just brown the meat then chuck everything in - none of this 'fry until golden, set aside, then...' stuff, and I'm not sure that this gains any
• The French have the right idea - putting a bottle of wine into anything is bound to be a plus
• The lovely Nigel suggests that the bourguignon is is better the next day - I couldn't agree more.  Stews are always more tasty/tender after some maturing, I find, and I'm sure that this will be true with this too.
• I was astonished that a weedy batter spooned out onto baking trays and popped in the oven could transform into pastry puffs - a real 'well, damn me!' moment
• although the choux buns are a bit boring on their own ('well, damn me' moments notwithstanding) cream & chocolate transform more or less anything.
• I thought that profiteroles/eclairs had a certain mystique - but no - well do-able, indeed!

And out of 10?

• for the bourguignon - a solid 8/10 - and I'm sure that it'll be even better when it's matured and cooked up again on in a slow oven all day tomorrow.
• for the profiteroles - a well-doable 8/10 - I have punctured the mystique of these! They are not difficult at all - although with the cream and choc they are still not an everyday item. Very tasty.

D is for Denmark

Where we're going this evening - DENMARK

Back to Europe tonight - we're popping across the North Sea to Denmark.

With fewer than 6million citizens, Denmark has less than 10% of the population of the UK - tiny, huh?

But, like the UK, it is a constitutional monarchy - Queen Margrethe II & Prince Henrik head the royal family, and also - like the UK - Denmark is a member of the European Union, but has not adopted the Euro currency.

With it's only land border to the south with Germany, and occupying a strategic seaboard position adjoining both the North and the Baltic seas, Denmark has had it's share of squabbles with the other Scandinavian countries, Sweden & Norway.

Mind you, this is also Viking territory with all that lootin' and rapin' and pillagin' going on over half of northern Europe back when men were men and girls wore pointy helmets with horns on and -er - 'shaped' armour breast plates and sang in a pleasing mezzo-soprano, ushering fallen heroes into Valhalla.

It's all rather tamer stuff now, Denmark being one of the most generous donors of world aid per capita. The taxes are high, but the education, childcare and excellent healthcare are all free.

Famous Danish are actor Viggo Mortensen (be still, my beating heart), fairy tale supremo Hans Christian Andersen, and all-round good egg Sandi Toksvig; and I think that there is no visitor to the capital Copenhagen who has not taken a photo of the the Little Mermaid sculpture in the harbour.

As far as the food is concerned, Denmark is well known for its bacon - a huge export market there - open sandwiches (called something unpronounceable using made-up letters not found on a normal keyboard), meatballs, and of course, Danish pastries.

So come with me on the long haul ferry from Harwich across the North Sea and say 'hej!' to the Danes...

Tonight's Menu...

Danish Meatballs (frikadeller) with Creamy Dill Sauce Danish Pastries

Tonight's menu has rather written itself.  Apart from the unpronounceable open sandwiches for which the Danes are famous, Danish meatballs also look good - the only hitch here is that there would appear to be exactly the same number of Danish meatball recipes (all handed down from various ancestors) as there are Danes, so I've had to take a middle line.

And my mother has reminded me that being written out of the will is an option should Danish pastries not feature in the first available 'D' spot - so that's pretty much set in stone too.

Danish Meatballs with Creamy Dill Sauce - meatball recipe is from the food.com website, as is the dill sauce recipe

Mix minced veal (or beef mince) with half as much minced pork, egg, breadcrumbs, finely chopped onion salt and pepper in a large bowl with a dash of water.  Knead for a few minutes then split into golf ball sized patties.  Flatten & fry in butter over a low heat until cooked.


Make sauce by making a roux of butter & flour in a milk pan over a low heat, gradually blend in chicken stock, then sour cream & chopped dill. Season & pour over meatballs.

Danish Pastries - a dilemma here - you can make Danish pastries either with dough (like Chelsea buns) or as I did - sort of yeast-based flaky pastry recipe.  

Make a dough by mixing strong & plain flour, yeast & salt with egg & milk. Knead a little & leave to rise for an hour. Roll dough to a rectangle & dot butter over the middle third.  Fold top & bottom, roll out.  Cool for 20mins.  Repeat 2 times.

Mix softened butter, caster sugar, mixed spice, cinnamon, raisins, in a bowl & spread over rolled out dough. Roll up & cut 9 slices.  Put rounds on baking tray - flatten a little, bush with egg & bake. Glaze with icing sugar/lemon juice.

The Result

And what have we learnt? 

• meatballs are an all-in-one easy-peasy standby recipe which can be adjusted to suit what's in the fridge
• Sauce with a cream ingredient is velvety smooth when you make it, solid and difficult to resurrect when doing 'leftovers'.
• 'until you have a smooth, slightly sticky dough' is not a helpful instruction when you've not done this before - 'slightly' meaning what, exactly?
• being uncertain of the viability of yeast is a disadvantage when embarking on an unknown recipe - has the dough 'risen to twice it's size in an hour'? Or is is sitting like a toad in a hole?
• trying to roll out dough (which may or not be a bit stiff and/or not well risen (see above)) into a rectangle to incorporate a whacking amount of butter dotted onto, folded, and rolled out again is difficult - especially when the dough is a bit too solid and the butter maybe over soft.  Tendency of folded dough to ooze butter when rolling not a good sign, I suspect  
• Filling of soft butter, castor sugar, raisins. mixed spice, cinnamon is very good, but I could double the quantities for next time, I think.

And out of 10?

• for the meatballs - a solid 7/10 - nothing hugely special with these, but tasty and a good texture.
• for the creamy dill sauce - a velvety 8/10 - now this was good - making a white sauce with stock is always a good move, and adding in soured cram made it really smooth, the dill added something and made it all very nice indeed
• for the pastries - a tame 6/10 - nice try, but more practice needed here - I suspect that they are not difficult if you've go the knack of it.  It's all down to experience I think - if I could get these to meet mum's approval it would be easy to knock these out time and again

A is for AUSTRIA

Where we're going this evening - AUSTRIA

First up, we're travelling to Austria in the heart of Europe, home of the Von Trapp family, Arnold Schwarzernegger, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and birthplace of ...er... Adolf Hitler.

Austria has a rich cultural heritage, has played a central part in European politics in the 20th Century (not just the Hitler thing) and produced some very fine food indeed - which is where we come in!

Tonight's Menu...

Weiner Schnitzel with potatoes & cucumber salad Sachertorte

Weiner Schnitzel is a breaded escallope of veal or pork, and it is often served with boiled buttered potatoes and cucumber salad.  Sachatore is a rich chocolate cake originating from (barring disputes) the Hotel Sacher in Vienna.


Weiner Schnitzel - recipe is from the About Vienna website (with other research from other websites)

Place your veal or pork escalopes between cling film and flatten slightly with a rolling pin (note: slightly - we're not making pancakes here), then dust with flour (note: I used half and half polenta - I think I read that this would give a crunchier finish, although I might have made this up), dip in egg, and coat in breadcrumbs with some chopped parsley (note: give the flour or breadcrumbs some decent seasoning)

Heat plenty of oil in a large pan, wait till the oil shimmers slightly, the slide in the escallope and fry until golden brown.


Boiled Buttered Potatoes

Peel or scrub some small new potatoes, steam or boil until tender, toss in a little melted butter, garnish with chopped parsley.


Cucumber Salad - recipe is from the Fairway website (with research from other websites)

Take thinly sliced cucumber, sprinkle with a little salt and set aside in a seive for half an hour, then rinse and mix with thinly sliced & separated rings of a red onion.  Dissolve a little sugar in some white wine vinegar (note: I used white balsamic), pour over the cucumber/onion, toss and set aside to marinade in the fridge.  Garnish with chopped dill.


Sachatorte - recipe is from Celtnet recipes

Make the cake by creaming butter and sugar, beating in egg yolks and stirring in cooled melted chocolate.  Fold in sieved flour & baking powder.  Whisk egg whites with sugar & fold into the chocolate mixture.  Turn into a springform cake tin & bake.

Make glaze by simmering apricot conserve, lemon juice & a little water, then sieve and brush over the top and sides of the cooled cake.

For the icing, add cream & syrup to a pan and scald.  Pour over melted chocolate & mix until smooth & glossy.  Pour the icing over the cake & smooth over evenly.

The Result

And what have we learnt?

• that this round the world thing is a GREAT IDEA!
• that breadcrumbing and frying stuff does not have to be (a) so scary as you might burn the house down or (b) so full of calories that you will blow up to the size of a barn with immediate effect; 
• not to sneer at weird pickled bits of stuff - the cucumber and onion salad is a perfectly acceptable vegetable accompaniment - with the added plus that served in this way, the red onion does not yield (for me) the customary heartburn
• that continental cakes are rich and dense, but are rescued the creamy rich chocolate covering

And out of 10?

• for the Weiner Schnitzel - a successful 9/10 - will definitely be breadcrumbing and frying again
• for the  Potato - a brilliant 9/10 - can't fail with homegrown potatoes, just need to be careful not to overcook
• for the Cucumber Salad - a surprise hit of 8/10 - crunchy, sweet and sharp all at the same time, could serve with a green salad next time
• for the Sachertorte - a slightly disappointing 6/10 - it's far more of a faff than a traditional chocolate sponge, and rather more dense, so a bit hard going.  The icing's lovely though.