Day 24: Calamari with Aioli Vs Bitterballen/Kroketten

Day 24: World Cup Final

Spain 1 The Netherlands 0  

Spain are World Champions

3rd Place playoff
Germany 3 Uruguay 2

For the final meal of the World Cup Kitchen I have decided to also have a food match between something from the 2 cuisines. Like the football match itself Spain would always be the favourites and like the match itself Spain did indeed win 1-0.

For the Dutch I tried my best to replicate the Dutch favourite: Bitterballen & Kroketten. Personally I am not a huge fan of either and cooking it has not overly changed my opinion but try them yourselves if you like, perhaps they might be for you?

On the Spanish side I went for Calamari. Given what our tentacled friend in Germany, Paul the Octopus said I felt drawn to Calamari with some lemon wedges. Calamari are of course squid but I am sure you will forgive me on this one. The secret to tasty calamari is to soak them overnight in milk and they turn out absolutely perfect.

Day 23: Jagerschnitzel with Bacon Mushroom Gravy

Day 23: Semi Finals

Spain 1 Germany 0

With its origins in East Germany this particular schnitzel is always served with a mushroom sauce. What is really interesting with this schnitzel dish is how the spices are mixed with flour and the egg emulsion is egg, milk & mustard. All combined with your breadcrumbs & pork offer you something very tasty 

Day 22: Pollo En Escabeche

Day 22: Semi-Finals

Holland 3 Uruguay 2

 

This is a very interesting dish, it is an authentic Uruguayan recipe for marinated chicken. It uses a combination of 2 parts vinegar and one part olive oil, so you could argue that it is more of a pickled chicken than marinated chicken.

Very simply you just brown your chicken pieces (I used de-boned thigh pieces) then you add in your onions, carrots, garlic & herbs/spices and mix together your vinegar & olive oil and simmer for 1 hour or until the chicken is done. You let the chicken completely cool and then you can eat it in a Salad or in a sandwich.

Its all very tasty and something I certainly never tried before, so why not try it!

Day 21: How to cook the perfect Steak

Day 21: Quarter Finals
Germany 4 Argentina 0
Spain 1 Paraguay 0

If Argentina are in a World Cup and you are doing a food related blog you simply have to do Steak for the Argentinian team. If you want to enjoy a steak you got to know how to cook it properly!

Some time ago I spent quite some time finding out how to cook the perfect steak…. steak was always a big let down when I use to cook it….never really got it the way I liked it but I now have it sussed so will break it down what you need to do and how you cook the perfect steak.

Day 20: Pannekoeken (Pancakes)

Day 20: Quarter Finals
The Netherlands 2 Brazil 1
Uruguay 1 Ghana 1 (Uruguay win 4-2 on pens)

Pancakes are most certainly not Dutch in their origin but when you live in a country with no apparent food culture you got to go with what you can get. The Dutch do however love their Pannenkoek especially at Dinner time, with Pannenkoek houses very popular offering a wide range of both sweet and savory options on pancakes.

Day 19: A Marinated Salmon Salad from Japan

Day 19
Paraguay 0 Japan 0 (Paraguay 5-3 on pens)
Spain 1 Portugal 0

For the World Cup Kitchen today it was an easy choice. I decided to go for this delicious Japanese Salmon salad. I had played with the idea of sushi but I will hold that one off for another day. The salad today can be eaten for a lunch or a light dinner. When buying your salmon for the best results try to buy a high quality piece of Salmon.

The centrepiece of this salad is the marinated salmon pieces which are marinated in a delicious Lime/Sugar/Soy/Sesame Oil marinade and is served with bean sprouts, grated cucumber & red chilli.

It is deliciously light and can be assembled quite quickly. When marinating the salmon try to leave it for at least 2-3 hours for best results.

Day 18: Slovakian Goulash Soup

Day 18
The Netherlands 2 Slovakia 1
Brazil 3 Chile 0

 

I have just returned from a weekend in Budapest and I had the below soup or a variation of it every day for my lunch. I know the paprika is Hungarian but the Goulash is also a very popular dish in Slovakia.

The rule of tongue with this soup is to really let the beef simmer away for as long as you can, as the longer you leave it the more tender it will become.

Day 17: Fish & Chips

Day 17
Germany 4 England 1
Argentina 3 Mexico 1

So England are out, but not without giving us one of their true classic dishes. Fish and Chips are enjoyed the length and breath of the country but as always whenever I take over a traditional dish I have a habit of tweaking it with other cuisines and using ingredients that you would not use traditionally.

Here I use a Beer batter that uses a Belgian dark beer (Trap Trip Dubbel). Also when making the batter I separate the egg and whisk up the egg white and fold this in just before you use the batter. This process makes the batter light and fluffy. 

Also when I am making my chips I do them the Belgian way, very simply half way thru the cooking process you want to remove the chips from the oil and dry them completely. You then place them back in to cook, the end result gives you the perfectly cooked chip that is crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked in the inside.