Tag Archive for: Europe
Albanian Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 eggs
- 1 slice of bread soaked in milk or water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt
- black and red pepper
- 1 onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- fresh parsley
- oregano
Instructions
- Finely process the onion, garlic, and fresh parsley.
- Mix all ingredients together.
- Form small balls, about 2 inches in diameter.
- Roll meatballs in a little flour.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes.
Notes
You can stick a toothpick in each meatball for easy serving. Be careful not to bake them too long or they might become dry.
Russian Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb green cabbage thinly sliced
- 2-3 carrots coarsely grated
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1 small cucumber sliced into circles and then into thin sticks
- oil Russians usually use sunflower oil
- fresh dill
Instructions
- Mix the cabbage, carrots, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Squeeze and stir the mixture with your hands to help the cabbage release some juice.
- Add the vinegar, cucumber, oil, and lots of fresh dill.
- Add more salt or vinegar to taste.
Notes
This cabbage salad is the most common salad in classic Russian cuisine. It's name in Russian is literally "Vitamin Salad." I've given you the base recipe, after this you are only limited by your imagination! Here are some common variations:
Variation 1. Omit the cucumber. Add in finely chopped sweet red pepper and finely chopped sweet red (or sweet yellow) onion.
Variation 2. Omit the cucumber. Add in apple and sweet onion, thinly sliced into "sticks."
Variation 3. Omit the carrot. Increase the amount of cucumber and other greens (green onion, dill, parsley). I like this salad with the pretty shades of green.
Variation 4. Omit the cucumber.
This is a fresh, healthy salad that is an excellent replacement for coleslaw in your summer menus. It makes a nice side dish with pork, beef, or other heavier main dishes.
Albanian Byrek
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb baked peta
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup butter melted; scant
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
- 3 cups milk
Instructions
- Mix together the eggs, salt, yoghurt and milk.
- Grease a large baking pan (traditionally byrek is baked in large, round, metal pans).
- Begin layering: cover the pan with peta, then the milk mixture, then drizzle butter/oil on
- Keep layering (peta, milk, butter) until you run out of ingredients.
- The top should be melted butter/oil.
- Bake for 40 minutes at 375 F.
- Remove from the oven. Cover the byrek with a wet dish towel. Let sit until cool.
- Remove the towel. Place a large pan upside down over the byrek pan. Flip over the byrek so that it comes out upside down onto the other pan. This will ensure that the top of your byrek is soft and not crunchy.
- Cut the byrek into small squares or diamonds and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Byrek is a delicious pie very common in Albania and other Balkan countries. "Peta" is not the same as "pita." Peta is a dry, baked, very thin, tortilla-like dough. It soaks up a lot of moisture in this byrek recipe. If you can't get baked peta, and you don't want to make your own (it is a very time-consuming process!), you can use phyllo dough. However, then you must cut down on the milk/egg mixture significantly because the phyllo does not absorb nearly as much liquid as the peta does.
Finnish Carrot Bake
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 2 lbs carrots
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/4 cup heavy cream, sour cream, or creme fraiche
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp ground anise
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup butter melted; scant
For Topping
- fine dry breadcrumbs
- butter
Instructions
- Peel carrots and boil until soft.
- Finely puree or mash the carrots.
- Mix in the other ingredients except for the topping ingredients.
- Pour the carrot mixture into a greased casserole dish.
- Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top.
- Add several pats of butter to the top.
- Make optional patterns on the surface with a fork.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 60 minutes.
Notes
This is a traditional Finnish dish for a Christmas buffet, but it is easy and tasty to make at other times as well. It goes well with ham, meatballs, sausages, or ribs.
Swedish Chocolate Balls
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup quick oats
- 3/4 cup + 3 tbsp butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp cocoa
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp cold, strong coffee
- coconut or granulated sugar to coat each ball
Instructions
- Mix butter and sugar until fluffy.
- Mix in the other ingredients.
- Form small balls.
- Roll the balls in oats, coconut, or granulated sugar.
- Place the balls in the fridge to harden.
Notes
"Fika" is coffee time, which includes not just a cup of delicious, strong coffee, but cookies, cakes, and more. This is a favorite Swedish sweet to have at Fika.
English Coronation Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 2-3 tsp mild curry powder
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
- 1 tbsp mango chutney or 1/2 cup fresh mango
- 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 celery stalk
- 1/2 cup dried apricots
- 1/3 cup sultanas or raisins
- handful of fresh coriander or cilantro
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Put the chicken breasts into a large pan, and boil.
- Finely slice the celery and chop the dried apricots and mango (if using fresh rather than chutney) into small pieces.
- Combine the mild curry powder, mayonnaise, yoghurt, mango chutney/fresh mango, Worcestershire sauce, celery, dried apricots, and raisins into a mixing bowl. Then mix in the coriander.
- When the chicken breasts have cooked through, let them cool then chop or shed them into small pieces.
- Combine the chicken with the mixed ingredients.
- Add a dash of salt and pepper and the juice of ½ to 1 whole lemon to taste.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Serve on a bed of fresh lettuce leaves, cucumber slices and tomatoes, or enjoy as a sandwich with lettuce. It would also work well mixed with pasta as a chicken pasta salad.
Video
Russian Chicken and Potato Pie
Ingredients
- 3 carrots grated
- 6 medium potatoes boiled and thickly sliced
- 1 1/2 lbs raw chicken or turkey breast cut into short strips
- 2 lbs white mushrooms chopped and fried in a little oil
- 6 medium onions diced and fried separately in a little oil
- 4-5 raw potatoes peeled and very thinly sliced
- 8 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
- salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400° F. Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.
- This is a layered casserole. In between each layer is a layer of “egg pancake”. To make an “egg pancake”: beat one egg in a cup with a fork, pour onto a hot, greased skillet and tilt the pan so the egg covers the bottom of the skillet. Do not turn over the egg.
- When the egg has cooked, carefully remove the “egg pancake” from the skillet.
- For a 9 x 13 baking dish, you will need 2 “egg pancakes” to cover each layer.
- You can be making the “egg pancakes” while you are preparing the other ingredients.
- Place the carrots in the bottom of the baking dish. Lightly salt the carrot layer. Cover the carrot layer with 2 egg pancakes.
- Place the boiled potato slices on the egg. Lightly salt. Cover the potatoes with 2 egg pancakes.
- Place the chicken or turkey on the egg. Lightly salt. Cover the chicken with 2 egg pancakes.
- Mix together the mushrooms and onions. Place the mushroom and onion mixture over the egg. Lightly salt. Cover the mushroom mixture with 2 egg pancakes.
- Place the thin potato slices on top. Stick thin potato slices vertically around the edge of the casserole and push them down so they aren’t sticking up above the top of the dish, forming a border around the casserole. Lightly salt the top of the casserole.
- Bake for 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are done. Top with shredded cheese and return to the oven until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
Notes
During the week we eat simple food like potatoes and eggs, but on the weekend we make it fancy by putting it all together in a casserole! You can also add black pepper or provincial herbs to this casserole.
Russian White Radish Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups daikon radish sliced into thin sticks
- 2 cups ham or cooked chicken sliced into thin sticks
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup onion sliced into thin half circles
- Mayonnaise
- Salt
Instructions
- Begin by making “egg pancakes”.
- Heat a little oil in a skillet.
- Beat one or two eggs in a cup with a fork and pour the egg into the skillet.
- Tilt the skillet so the egg covers the bottom.
- Do not turn over the egg.
- When the egg is cooked, remove it carefully to a cutting board.
- You should have a stack of either 6 small “egg pancakes” or 3 larger “egg pancakes”.
- Let the eggs cool for a few minutes. Then roll up the “egg pancakes” and slice them thinly.
- Stir together the daikon radish, ham or cooked chicken, “egg pancakes” and onion.
- Add salt to taste.
- You can prepare these ingredients a couple hours ahead of time.
- Just before serving, stir in mayonnaise.
Portuguese Hot Pot (Cozido à Portuguesa)
This is a delicious, traditional, and healthy Portuguese meal for the whole family. Every region of Portugal has it with small differences. We eat it mainly in cold months.
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb beef
- 1/2 lb pork spareribs
- 1/2 lb pig's forefoot
- 1/2 lb pig ear
- 1/2 chicken
- 1/2 lb bacon (toucinho)
- 1 chourico sausage
- 1 black pudding (morcela)
- 1 flour sausage (farinheira)
- 6 medium sized potatoes
- 3 turnips
- 1 Portuguese cabbage
- 3 carrots
- salt
Instructions
- Boil everything together in water in a large stockpot on the stove for about 1 ½ hours.
- To serve, arrange all the ingredients on a large platter.
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