One month. 32 Countries. 60 lunches and dinners. I'll be cooking the dishes of as many World Cup nations as possible. Trying new things, maybe some drinks and raising money for a good cause along the way.
So having cooked my way through 40 different countries and watched more football than I ever thought possible Coma na Copa has come to an end.
It's given me new insight into different food traditions, improved my confidence in the kitchen and introduced some new dishes to my life.
I think the best, and perhaps most challenging part was choosing to find the recipes on on independent blogs. It wasn't always easy but as a result I've discovered some amazing and inspirational cooks to follow.
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So just as there's awards like the Golden Boot, Ball and Glove for the players that did well over the World Cup 2014, I thought I'd do my own little mini awards for the dishes that stood out...
Easiest Dish to Cook -
Hurmasice - Bosnian Cakes in Syrup
Golden Recipe (most successful recipe) -
Alfajores from Argentina
Golden Plate (most popular recipe) -
Chilean BBQ Chicken
Best Surprise -
Mexican Asado de Puerco
Golden Save (recipe to add to your repertoire) -
Italian Spaghetti with Sardines, Lemon and Anchovy Crumbs
So at last the final is here. I was pretty torn about which country to cook for, but after some friend cajoling from my (German) food blogging friend Julia I decided on Germany as I wanted to try a new cooking technique by making Knoedel.
These are from Bavaria (where the lovely Julia also happens to be from) and are delicious dumplings made with bread.
I found this great recipe on Food 52 and the results were very tasty - I would definitely recommend making this and I know I will be making more Knoedel in the future. Midway through making and with the memories of my failed attempt at Uruguayan gnocchi fresh in my mind I decided to look for videos to see if I was getting the texture right and found this pretty funny and informative demo by the rather brilliant Bavarian Chefkoch. So now I know a knoedel when I see one!
The dinner would have been perfectly topped off with some delicious German beer but as import taxes give it a steep premium price here and also in the spirit of fairness, we ate it with some beautiful red wine from Argentina. That way everyone's a winner!
Serves 8
Brasied Chicken
8chicken leg & thigh pieces
1yellow onion (small dice)
5carrots (medium pieces)
8garlic cloves (thin slices)
3plum tomatoes (medium dice)
1/4cup marsala wine
1 1/2cup white wine
3cups chicken stock
1/2cup heavy cream
1/4cup flour
olive oil
salt and pepper
Knoedel
1yellow onion (small dice)
4garlic cloves (minced)
2eggs
1cup parmesan cheese
1cup milk
1cup flour
12white bread slices
1tablespoon chives (minced)
2tablespoons butter
salt & pepper
Get a heavy (wide) pot on the stove top and cover with olive oil and get hot. Dredge the chicken pieces in seasoned flour. Sauté the pieces until golden brown, do not over crowd the pan. Cook in batches if need be. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Once chicken is golden brown remove from pot and add in the onions and cook for about 10 minutes, then add in the garlic for a minute. Now add the tomatoes and carrots and cook another couple minutes.
Deglaze the pan with the marsala and scrape all the bits up form the bottom of the pan. Now add the chicken pieces back into the pot. Pour the wine and chicken stock in.
Loosely cover the chicken and bake in the oven for around an hour. Take out of the oven and put on the stove top to reduce for about 10 minutes. Now add the heavy cream and reduce again for 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
Sauté the onions in the butter for the knoedel until nice and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and cook for another minute. Set aside.
Get a pot of salted water up to a boil.
Take the bread and cut off the crust and dice in medium chunks. Put the bread, milk, eggs, cheese, flour, cooked onions and garlic, and chives in a bowl and thoroughly combine. The consistency needs to be dry enough to roll in a ball. You may need to adjust the milk or flour slightly depending on the density of the bread. Season with salt and pepper.
Take the bread mixture and roll in quarter size balls. Drop the balls in the boiling water and cook for about 30 minutes in a loosely covered pot. Test a knoedel out and make sure it is cooked in the centre. When they are done drain out the water and serve with the creamy braised chicken. Make sure to add enough sauce so you have some with every bite.
Day #31: Nega Maluca com cobertura de brigadeiro - Brazilian Chocolate Cake
So I know I've already made a Brazilian cake this week, but it was so good that I wanted to try another one!
In fact it isn't just about the fact I want to eat something ridiculously chocolatey on a Saturday afternoon, it's part of a wider movement I am trying to get off the ground.
After Brazil's terrible 7-1 loss to Germany in the quarter finals it's clear that the confidence and Brazilian love of football has been shaken to it's core. But on the plus side I baked one of the best cakes I have ever made and eaten on that fateful day so I think that going forward Brazil should start marketing it's cakes more! Menos bola. Bolo Mais!!!! / Less Ball More Cake!!
This recipe was adapted from one found on Verdade de Sabor a great looking, slightly quirky baking blog in Russian and Portuguese created by another Kate in Moscow.
Ingredients:
For the sponge:
4 eggs
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups self raising flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup vegetable oil odorless
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup hot water
For the Chocolate cream:
1/2 jars (195g) sweetened condensed milk without addition of vegetable fat
6 tbsp cocoa
6 tbsp milk
1 tablespoon butter
Preparation:
1. Heat oven to 180 ° C.
2. Grease and flour a rectangular (20x30 cm).
3. Sift the flour and baking powder together in a bowl.
4. In a separate bowl mix together the sugar and oil. Add the eggs one by one. Then add the cocoa and salt and finally the flour mixture.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the surface of the blade and put in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes. To see if it's ready check with a wooden skewer. Remove from the tin and allow to cool completely.
Chocolate cream: Mix all the ingredients in a in a saucepan and put on a medium heat. Stir constantly, to bring it up to the desired thickness. Once the cake is cool, cover with icing.
Day #28: Gehaktballen met jus - Dutch Meatballs in Gravy
Ok so I know meatballs are a little obvious but who doesn't love a good little globe of seasoned meaty goodness.
For this recipe I revisited the Kayotic Kitchen (you might remember from the Stamppot dish on Day #18). There was also a nice similar recipe on The Dutch Kitchen Blog, which has plenty of other recipes too if you fancy exploring more dishes from The Netherlands.
Ingredients:
1 pound minced beef
1 onion finely minced
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1/2 a tbsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp coarse mustard
1/2 tsp white pepper
6 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
butter (lots of it)
1 cup beef stock
flour
Directions:
1. Start with 1 pound good-quality minced beef.
2. Add 1 egg, salt to taste (we like them salty, so I add 1 1/2 tsp), 1/2 a tsp ground white pepper, a pinch of cayenne and 1/2 a tbsp ground nutmeg.
3.Wrecked my brain over a Ketjap substitute (any ideas?) and decided to go for 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce. It was perfect.
4. Add 1 tbsp milk, 2 tbsp coarse mustard and 2 tbsp of sweet chilli sauce.
5. Add 6 tbsp breadcrumbs and mix well with your hands. Make your hands slightly wet and form 4 to 5 meatballs. Make them firm. Really press them on all sides to remove as much of the air trapped inside as you possibly can. It’s the air that makes them crack during browning.
6. Sprinkle a little flour all over each meatball!
7. Heat roughly 50 grams of butter. When the butter stops bubbling, add the meat balls and brown them on all sides. When they’re brown enough for your liking, pour in 1 cup of beef broth and pop the lid on. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, crack the lid slightly allowing moisture to escape
8. This process will create the Dutch gravy. You can add a little mustard (or ketjap) for extra flavour.
As I have the day off today and I love leeks, thought I would make this for lunch ahead of Argentina's game later.
Tarta de Puerros (Leek Tart)
Seves 8
For the dough*:
3 1/3 cups self-raising flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. oil
water, as needed [roughly 1 cup]
1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Make a well in the center and add the egg and oil. Slowly add the water while mixing together the ingredients, until a medium-stiff dough forms.
2. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead until smooth. Allow the dough to rest, covered with a damp kitchen towel, for 30 minutes. Divide the dough in two, reserve the other round of dough for another use. and roll out the other to a thickness of 30 mm.
*This makes 2 rounds - one can be kept in the fridge or frozen to use at another time. If you do a lot of homecooking this can be useful as it will save you time on another recipe.
For the filling:
4 leeks, sliced lengthwise and chopped [3 cups chopped leeks]
2 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbsp. olive oil
¼ cup chopped chives
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
½ cup cream
3 eggs, lightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Transfer the dough to a tart pan with a removable bottom. Prick the dough lightly with a fork all over. Bake the crust until the edges begin to brown, about 12 to 15 minutes, pressing the bottom and sides of the crust occasionally with the back of a fork. Cool slightly.
2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the leeks, onions, salt and pepper, and cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute.
3. Remove from the heat, then cool. Add the chives, parmesan cheese, cream and eggs to the leek mixture, and stir well to combine.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 180ºC. Pour the leek mixture into the tart shell and smooth the top. Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 30 minutes, or until set and golden. Allow the tart to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
I know everyone’s probably a bit distracted but today’s Coma na Copa Brazilian Carrot cake was really good Maybe Brazil should start being known as the country of cakes rather than football!
There's been lots of things I've discovered so far in Brazil and one of the most exciting has been the culture of cakes here.
This cake has a lot of my favourite things going on - it's light, covered in chocolate and bright orange inside. It's very different to a European carrot cake as the carrot is blended into the mix to give it that great colour.
The recipe is adapted from Technicolor Kitchen which is a great blog of Brazilian cooking that is really easy to navigate.
Bolo de Cenoura (Serves 10-12)
250g carrots – aprox. 3 small carrots
260g self-raising flour
200g sugar
4 eggs – if you use very large eggs cut down to 3
200ml vegetable oil
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt
For the Chocolate icing:
4 tablespoons hot chocolate powder or 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons milk
1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/355ºF. Grease and flour your tin.
2. Finely grate the carrots. Sift the flour and baking powder to mix.
3. Place the eggs, oil and carrot in the blender and mix until fluffy, add the sugar and beat until creamy. Add the flour gradually and mix until combined.
4. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30-45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven, the cake doesn't need to cool completely as the icing is hot and it's good eaten warm.
5. For the icing: mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until near boiling. Remove from heat and let it stand for 5 minutes before pouring it over the cake.
The recipe is slightly adapted from the Hungry Food Love blog on which writer Melissa shares recipes from the Caribbean and South America.
I had never used cornflour in baking before and thought that this more-authentic recipe would be good to try. If you do make them - there will be a stage when you are combining that flours to the fats that you will just not see how it can come together to form a dough - DO NOT ADD MORE FLOUR! I did this the first time (because I'd been cooking other dishes for 4 hours, there was a torrential downpour in our open air kitchen and I was a soggy bag of nerves before my interview).
If you mix the flour in with your hands you will be able to get it into something resembling a sticky ball (you can flour your hands if it's really sticky) and then let the fridge work it's magic as once it's cooled for 20 minutes it's much easier to work with, do make sure your work top is very well floured otherwise it's a nightmare trying to get them off and onto the baking sheet.
I made my own Dulce de Leche because the jarred ones here are extremely sweet, as it's not that widely available in jars in the UK, don't be scared to do the same. There are lots of methods to make it and even more useful videos and guides like this one online.
Ingredients – yields 35 to 40
2 ½ cups cornstarch
1 cup regular flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 egg yolks
¾ cup milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Dulce de leche (about 1 jar / can if you go the condensed route way)
Shredded coconut, or crushed nuts like almonds or pistachios
Directions
1. Sift cornstarch, flour and baking powder.
2. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar until soft and creamy.
3. Slowly add the egg yolks and keep beating until all is mixed well.
4. Add the milk incorporating well.
5. Combine the egg mixture with the dry ingredients and form a ball with your hands. The dough should be flexible and not sticky. Add a tablespoon of milk if is to dry or cover your hands in flour if dough is sticking to your hands.
6. Cover the dough and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
7. After 20 minutes have passed, roll out the dough out thinly on a well floured surface until it's about 30 mm thick.
8. Cut circles about 60 mm in diameter and repeat the rolling then cutting circles process until you have no more dough left.
9. Place circles in a greased baking sheet and bake at 180C for 20 minutes or until edges start getting golden brown. As they don't need to rise you can open the oven to check they are not over baking.
10. Transfer to a cooling rack. Once cookies have cooled, generously spread one side with dulce de leche (about 2 teaspoons per biscuit) then sandwich together s you get a rim of filling then roll in crushed nuts or coconut.
I hadn't cooked a proper Colombian dinner so decided to go back to the great blog My Colombia Cocina for tonight's post-match dinner.
I made it a little less soupy by using less potatoes and serving it with rice. It was just what we needed to soak up the beers and the mellow flavours were really comforting after all of the dramas of the game.
Ingredients to make 4 portions
4 pieces of chicken chicken, (I used breast pieces)
8 or 10 peeled an diced potatoes
1/2 bunch of spring onions
1 handful of coriander, leaves separated and stalks finely chopped
1 organic chicken stock cube
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 litres of water (approximately) I started with 1 litre and added more if I thought it was too dry.
Salt and pepper.
Preparation
In a large pot bring the water to boil over high heat, add the chicken, onion, garlic, coriander stalks, chicken stock and cumin.
Once you've cooked the chicken for 1 hour add the potatoes and salt and pepper to taste.
Let cook for another 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender but not too soft.
Serve hot with the chopped coriander leaves on top.
As we were heading out to watch the game at 5pm, there wasn't time to cook dinner, but a good excuse for an early Caipirinha!
Before you think a good Caipirinha is just a matter of muddling sugar and limes, think again. With various Acadamias and Casas de cachaça and of course numerous home made ones, here in Rio there are several schools on thoughts on how to make the perfect Caipirinha.
My friend Elinardo tells me that the cheaper the cachaça, the better the Caipirinha but his girlfriend Farah tends to disagree!
Makes two Caipirinhas
Ice
30 mls fresh lime juice, plus 3 lime wedges and 1 lime wheel
2 teaspoon sugar
30 mls simple syrup (see Note)
120 mls cachaça
For the simple syrup:
To make simple syrup, simmer 1/2 cup of granulated sugar with 1/2 cup of water in a saucepan, stirring frequently, until the sugar has dissolved. The simple syrup can be refrigerated in a covered container for up to 1 month.
For the Caipirinhas:
Fill a rocks glass with ice. In a cocktail shaker, muddle the lime juice and lime wedges with the sugar and simple syrup. Add the cachaça and 1 cup of ice and shake vigorously. Strain the mixture into the rocks glass and garnish the caipirinha with the lime wheel.
Here's me looking a tad nervous before my interview with BBC World News presenter Julia. Was trying to focus on getting all of the pronunciations for the different dishes right.
The interview took place on the roof of their studios in Copacabana, just above the fan fest, luckily there wasn't a game going on!
It was a really fun experience and I enjoyed sharing some of my dishes with the team.
