INTERNATIONAL RECIPES

 

I am giving you below a few recipes for international dishes, which I hope you will enjoy.

 

 

                                          MEDITERRANEAN MUFFINS

A delicious Greek snack which I often prepared for my family and friends.

 

Ingredients:

300 g (2 cups) plain flour

1½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

 

1 large egg

250 ml (1 cup) milk

62.5 ml (¼ cup) Greek yoghurt

62.5 ml (¼ cup) mild-tasting olive oil

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced

 

200 g (2 cups) grated graviera from Crete

75 g (2½ oz) feta, crumbled or more

3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

½ cup Kalamata olives pitted and finely chopped

½ sundried tomatoes, finely chopped

1 tbsp chopped parsley

½ tbsp chopped dill

½ tbsp thyme leaves

 

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and brush a 12 socket muffin tin, generously, with butter.

 

Whisk all the dry ingredients in a bowl and repeat the process with the wet ones.   Then pour the wet ingredients and mix well to combine.  Add the two kinds of cheese, the Kalamata olives, the sundried tomatoes and the chopped herbs and stir very well together.

 

Divide the batter between the buttered muffin sockets and bake for 25 minutes or until golden and crusty and they spring back when touched on the centre. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin then transfer to a rack to cool slightly.

 

Serve warm with a mixed green salad and a glass of wine.

 

  

                                          RISOTTO WITH MUSHROOMS

 

This is a delightful Italian first dish.

 

Ingredients:

1500 – 1750 ml (6-7 cups) warm chicken stock

4 tbsp olive oil, separated

1 lean bacon rasher, finely chopped

500 g (1 lb) mushrooms, trimmed, wiped and sliced

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

½ leek trimmed, slit lengthwise, thoroughly washed and finely chopped

1½ cup, arborio, vialone or carolina rice

62.5 ml (¼ cup) dry white wine

1-3 tbsp brandy

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp snipped chives

4 tbsp finely grated Parmesan

 

 Sauté the mushrooms and garlic in a little olive oil and place in a bowl. Place the remaining olive oil, in a saucepan with the leek and bacon and cook for 2 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring for 3 minutes more or until it becomes translucent.

 

Pour in the wine and brandy and cook until the alcohol evaporates.  Pour in a ladleful of warm chicken stock and allow it to be absorbed by the rice.  Continue in this fashion, cup by cup, stirring each time until all the stock has been absorbed and the rice is cooked “al dente” Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

 

Finally, add the mushrooms with their juices, the butter, the Parmesan and stir very well together until the risotto becomes creamy.  Serve sprinkled with chives.

 

 

                                           CATAPLANA PORTUGUESE

A fabulous fish dish from Portugal.

 

Ingredients:

Shrimp stock:

1½ kg (3 lbs) large shrimps, deveined, thoroughly washed and patted dry

2 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 bay leaves

1 pinch of saffron threads

1 tbsp butter

2 quarts (8 cups) of water

1 tbsp tomato paste

5 sprigs of parsley

 

Cataplana:

2 kg (4 lb) clams

2 tbsp olive oil

2 thin slices prosciutto, finely chopped

2 large onions, peeled, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced then halved

2 green peppers, thinly sliced

¼ tsp sweet paprika

1.8 cups  (14 ½ flued oz) tomato juice

A splash of dry white wine

6 cups prepared shrimp stock

1 kg (2 lb) large shrimp, deveined and thoroughly washed (heads and shells used for the      stock) and sauteed in olive oil 1 minute on each side.  Sprinkle with a little salt.

125 ml (½ cup) of cream

Parsley for garnish

 

Sauté the heads and shell of the shrimp in olive oil and cook, stirring until brown. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaf and saffron and sweat until the onions are soft.  Stir in the butter and the tomato paste and cook, stirring for 2 minutes more.  Cover with 2 quarts of water and boil, moderately, for 30-45 minutes in a cast-iron cocotte.

 

Remove from the heat, add the parsley and after 15 minutes strain through a fine strainer. Use the stock immediately.

 

For the Cataplana, soak the clams in a large bowl filled with iced water for 14 minutes, this will help them to release the sand.  Then scrub and rinse under cold water and discard the strings. 

 

Sauté the sausages and prosciutto in olive oil, stirring for 5-7 minutes, then add the onions and peppers and stir fry for 2 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Pour in the stock, add the clams and simmer in the cocotte until their shells open.  Finally, stir in the shrimps and the cream cook for 1 minute more.

 

Serve immediately in hot soup plates.         

 

 

                                          ANTICUCHOS FROM PERU  

 

  This fabulous dish can be prepared with meat, chicken or prawns.

1.25 kg (2.5 lb) beef heart trimmed, thoroughly washed, patted dry and thinly sliced/

250 ml (1 cup) red wine vinegar

4 tsp freshly ground cumin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 

5 garlic cloves, peeled

2 tbsp finely chopped parsley

2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro 

4 dried chillies, soaked in water, seeds discarded  

375 ml (1.5 cup) olive oil, separated

Bamboo skewers

10-12 potatoes boiled in salted water and peeled 

Place the meat in a glass bowl.  Blend the vinegar with all the other ingredients and 1 cup of olive oil until a soft paste is formed.  Pour over the meat and massage it, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Save the remaining marinade and oil mixture. 

Meanwhile, soak the bamboo skewers so that don't burn when they go on the grill.    Thread 3-4 pieces of meat on each skewer.  Place the anticuchos on a hot grill brush them generously with the remaining marinade mixture.  Allow the meat to cook for 1 1/2 minutes on each side, but do not overcook to prevent them from hardening.

Serve three skewers on each plate with the boiled potatoes, drizzled with olive oil and corn on the kob. 

 

 

 

                                                   APFELKUCHEN

A delightful German dessert.

 

Filling:

45 g (1¼ oz) currants soaked in

3 tbsp rum for 20 minutes

 

30 g (1 oz) melted butter

15 g (½ oz) white breadcrumbs

1 kg (2 lb) about 6 medium-sized tart cooking apples, peeled and sliced

 

Pastry:

250 g (½ lb) plain flour

180 g (6 oz) butter, softened

4 egg yolks

30 g (1 oz) sugar

1½ tbsp. finely grated lemon rind

 

Custard:

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

75 g (2½ oz) sugar

375 ml double cream

30 g (1 oz) sugar mixed with

30 g (1 oz) melted butter

 

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).   For the pastry rub the flour and butter together until they resemble fine breadcrumbs.  Stir in the egg yolks, one at a time, until a soft but pliable dough occurs, then stir in the sugar and lemon rind. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes at least.  Press the pastry evenly on the bottom and up the sides of 20 cm (8-inch) hinged cake tin, 5 cm (2 inches) deep.

 

Now begin to fill the pastry case.  Stir the breadcrumbs with 30 g (1 oz) melted butter and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the dough.  Spread the apples over, drain the currents and scatter them over the apples and set the rum aside.  Bake in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes.

 

During this first stage of baking prepare the custard.  Beat the eggs and the egg yolks with the sugar with an electric egg-beater until pale and fluffy.  Beat in the reserved rum and the cream and pour half of it over the apples in the partly baked pastry shell.  Bake the tart for 20 minutes more, until the custard is set.  Then pour the remaining liquid custard over and bake for 30 minutes longer.

 

Finally, sprinkle the tart evenly with the sugar and butter mixture and bake in the top of the oven for about 15-20 minutes more until the top of the tart browns lightly.  

Remove from the oven and let the tart cool completely, before removing the frame.   Slide the tart on a pretty serving dish serve.

 

 

 

                                                 ICED LEMON TART

A delicious British and American dessert which I am sure you will enjoy.

 

Crust:

1 cup finely crushed biscuits

50 g (¼ cup) sugar

85.3 ml ( 1/3 cup) melted butter

 

Filling:

One 420 g (14 oz) can sweet condensed milk

2 ¼ tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp whisky

1 tbsp Cointreau or any other orange flavoured liqueur

250 g (1 cup) thick cream whipped to soft peaks

 

1 lemon, thinly sliced for garnish

 

 

Mix all the crust ingredients well together.  Press the biscuit mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a Pyrex dish.  Bake in an oven preheated to 190 C (375 F) for 5-6 minutes, remove from the oven and cool

 

In a bowl, mix the first four filling ingredients, until well combined and gently fold the whipped cream until no traces are evident. 

 

 Spoon into the cool crust and even the surface.   Cover with cling film and freeze for 4 hours until firm.

 

Remove from the freezer and wait for 10 minutes before serving.  Garnish with lemon slices.

 

 

 

 

                                             Autumn Fruit bt Gustav Klimt