Final Post

Spanish was the winner of this challenge – not only in the football, but the cruisine. Maybe we were lucky in the recipes we found but they seem to eat a wide variety of dishes. In contrast, we started to get a little tired of the meat, potatoes and cabbage combination that dominate the cruisines of many European countries we tried.

Two dishes stood out as ones we’ll definely have again – the Spanish Chicken in Garlic Sauce and the Dutch Beef stew with beer and dumplings.

The Chicken and Sweet Potato Stew received the wooden spoon – mainly because the sweet potato was just too dominant. Big M dislikes sweet potato so perhaps it wasn’t the best choice for Netherlands.

I’m pleased to say we covered all countries plates. We had only one makeup dish as a result of Italy not playing as well as we thought they would – so we cooked it on an off night. However, we didn’t do so well on the cups. We effectively missed Turkey and Romania. We could have easily had vodka for Russia or Sweden, but we already had some in the cupboard and ended up cheating on both of these. We had one non-alcholic cup and for our next football challenge we should probably aim for a few less beers!

Last time when we did the challenge I had borrowed out a large pile of cookbooks from the local library. This time we decided to primarily go with recipes our own cookbooks (Italy, France, Spain and Switzerland) and online. The trouble with online recipes is that you really do not know how authentic they are and we were trying to genuinely capture the essense of the country. In some cases I choose a recipe because it had a photo! Next time it’ll be back to the books.

There was a huge improvement in the photos this time – we had a new camera (digital SLR), tripod, a basic lighting setup. The grey card kindly borrowed from Luzette was appreciated.

See you back over at Gustoso.

Germany vs Spain – The Final

The German Cup
Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel
Georg Schneider & Sohn Aventinus
Erdinger Weissbrau Dunkel

The German Plate
Gerwurzte Schweinsrippchen – Braised Spicy Spareribs

Score

little m

I was really keen to have Spanish again, but we went with German instead (I think the beer options swayed the chef!) These finger-licking spareribs were a solid dish to finish the challenge on. I’d leave the cloves out next time, as I didn’t care for them in this recipe. The potatoes were bought at the Kelvin Grove markets on Saturday, and were well worth the special trip.

I’ll let you in on a little secret – I had a go at making a Spanish flan (from a packet) – it tasted just like bottled custard. I also made German chocolate pudding (from a packet) – and it tasted just like yogo! Neither of them were photogenic and water condensation spoilt the tops. They were both duds, so we agreed to not include them in the score.

Big M

(cup)
(plate)

The 3 German beers I picked this time were basically the dark (dunkel) versions of those I had earlier on. Again the Schneider rained supreme, however at 8% was a little too much for me, you could only have one.
3 and half stars.

The German dish we picked I am not sure is completely authentic, the roast potatoes were an English favourite. We found king edward’s at the markets as well as nicola and kipfler. The king edwards were simply better as they crisp up well and remain fluffy and strong tasting inside. The ribs were very tender and flavoursome and I will be having them again.
4 stars.

Spain vs Russia

The Spanish Plate
Chicken in garlic sauce with baked potatoes

Score

little m

Spain is the new black. Italy is out, and Spain is in. It is fast becoming one of my favourite cuisines. So here’s to getting through to the finals! Another winning dish – it just needed another veg side to make it a perfect score. The baked potatoes are always a crowd pleaser, and the chicken was surprisingly not too garlicky. Just right.

Big M
(plate)

A night off on the drinking.

Another Spanish winner. You are supposed to use sherry in the dish but we substituted it with Rosso vermouth! It worked for us as the chicken is very tender after only 20 minutes of simmering. The potatoes were a simple par boil then mix in with olive oil and salt and into the oven 220 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes.
4 and half stars.

Italy

The Italian Cup
Menabrea Birra

The Italian Plate
Rigatoni with sausage, fennel and tomato

Score

little m

This is a dish I have never had before and I must admit it grew on me. I wasn’t so sure if it was the different taste of authentic chunky Italian sausage or the fennel, but the next day I had it again for lunch and loved it! This is an easy dish for a weeknight.

Yes, sadly Italy is out of the competition and we missed having Italian cuisine when they did play. So this is our first make up evening – since no other teams were playing.

Big M
(cup)
(plate)

Nice Italian lager but nothing out of the ordinary.
2 and half stars.

The rigatoni went down well. We used home made Italian sausages from the European deli (Pennisi) at Woolloongabba. It was even better the next day, so make plenty!
4 stars.

Germany vs Turkey

The German Cup
Weihenstephaner original
Georg Schneider’s organic wiesen edel-weisse
Erdinger weis bier

The German Plate
Knackwurst mit spatzle, karotten im bier

Score

little m

We have German sausages quite regularly as the meat has a fine texture, with no mystery bits or fatty lumps. We confess the spatzle was from a packet – Big M was surprised it would take 25 minutes to cook. His initial estimate was only 10 minutes (like pasta). We’ve had this style of carrots before and I remember them to be more sweeter – perhaps play with the amount of sugar and choice of beer.

Big M
(cup)
(plate)

The best cup here was the Georg Schneider’s. In comparison to the other 2 it is much more flavoursome and complex with cloves heavy on the palette. All 3 are worthy matches to knackwurst.
4 stars.

The knackwurst gets 3 stars on its own. We get ours from the Chiberg stall at the Jan Power’s markets. The Gotzinger brand of beer is much more accessible recently, you can find them in Woolworths and IGA.  They also do a great Kassler as well. Unfortunately the spatzle was plain, the Carrots in beer were nice, a good way to cook them.
3 stars.

Spain vs Italy

The Spanish Cup
Ambar
Sangria

The Spanish Plate

Bocadillas – Iberian ham, Manchego cheese and marinated capsicum on bread roll
Cordero al limon – Lamb with Lemon
Patatas bravas – Potatoes in Tomato Sauce
Pisto manchego – Courgette, Tomato and Capsicum Stew
Chocolate and chestnut cake

Score

little m
(cup)
(plate)

Holy what a huge Spanish fiesta! Luckily it was a Sunday and no one is playing tomorrow so we can recover from this big day in the kitchen. (Sorry the big cook off has meant we are a little behind in posting).

The sangria is a tried and true drink.

The bocadillas were great and we had these for lunch. Actually they would want to be good as the spanish ham cost $15 and so did the cheese! Worth it, as a once a year treat.

The tapas was also very good – we tried to make it a balanced meal with one meat, one vegetable and potatoes for the carb (my favourite).  This worked very well and there were plenty more tapas dishes I’d like to try. We bought the clay pots especially – I had wanted them when we were in Barcelona but couldn’t justify carrying them back home. You need to cure them before use by soaking in water overnight. They made a really strange sizzling noise, which I’m guessing was the air escaping!?!

To top off the very indulgent day we finished on chocolate chestnut cake.  I had seen tins of chestnut puree in the delis and always wanted to give it a try. It’s really thick, a bit like fine peanut butter without all the oil…. sort of. I actually used macadamias instead of the hazelnuts, although you could easily leave out the nuts altogether, as I think they are there to just add texture.

Fingers crossed Italy makes it through, because we haven’t eaten it yet!

Big M
(cup)
(plate)

Ambar was a nice malty lager, nothing special however. The Sangria was a good mix of red wine, freshly squeezed orange and lemon juice, contreau, plymouth gin, sugar and orange and lemon slices. Kept in the fridge for the next day is even better!
3 and half stars.

5 stars - I did not think we could make it! Bocadillas was the best sandwich I have ever eaten. The ingredients work together well and the Iberian ‘plack pig’ jamon is why the 5th star come out. The lamb is not slow cooked but cooked on low temperature in the oven for 15 minutes. We did not use the absolute most lean cut of lamb and payed the price. Patatas bravas is my Spanish version of chips with mushy peas – they just work. I can’t see us topping this effort.
5 stars.

Netherlands vs Russia

The Russian Cup
Black Russian

The Netherlands Plate
Chicken and Sweet Potato Stew

Score

little m

Saturday was a huge day for planning the week’s menus and grocery shopping. I thought we were on the down hill slide now, with a few nights off, but actually we have missed quite a few cups so we’ll try to make them up. The first one is a Black Russian – which technically isn’t even Russian. Oops!

I thought there was orange in the Chicken and Sweet Potato Stew, but there wasn’t. I quite like sweet potato and this dish is okay but I wouldn’t bother with it again.

Talking about dishes – check out these well dressed European men in football.

Big M
(cup)
(plate)

I dunt loike it.
2 stars.

Turkey vs Croatia

The Turkish Cup
Rose sherbert

The Turkish Plate
Lahmacun – Turkish Pizza

Score

little m

Once again, we were a little uncertain and unplanned for what dinner would be! Lahmacun is also know as Turkish pizza – and it’s usually topped with minced meat (lamb or beef). You roll the pizza up in to a tube and eat it that way – some times it will include other fillings, like vegetables or kebab meat. If you don’t have time to make the dough from scratch you could use pita bread or tortilla for the base.

The turkish bread we bought was very thick – I’d prefer a thinner base next time, which I think is more authentic. There was no way you could roll this version, and the mince topping kept falling down my sleeves and on the floor!

The rose sherbet we actually had the next day, as the flavours needed to infuse overnight. A refreshing change to soft drink. Although I can’t see many footballer fans drinking this one!

Big M
N/A (cup)
(plate)

I could have had Efes as the cup for this one. Efes is a Turkish lager and although its not a great beer I can’t bear the thought of another cup-less country!

The Lahmucan was a good Friday night pizza dish. To improve this I would drizzle with garlic yoghurt and hummus.
3 and half stars.

Portugal vs Germany

The Portuguese Cup
Quinta Das Seten Costas Alenquer 2005

The Portuguese Plate
Prego no pao – Portuguese garlic steak burger
Pastéis de Nata – Custard tart

Score

little m

This morning we didn’t know what we having for dinner, so it was a bit of panic when we arrived home and quickly had to agreed on what to eat and then buy the appropriate groceries! Fortunately, I’d found a low effort recipe for Portuguese burgers, that contain a steak “nailed” with garlic (garlic inserted into holes in the steak) and red wine. The garlic may be a little overpowering for some, but I really enjoyed these.

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that the Pastéis de Nata (custard tarts) are from Nandos! Although I’m pleased to report that they weren’t too sugary. Just right.

Big M
(cup)
(plate)

If you prefer the French and Spanish wines to Australian then you will love this Portuguese bottle. This is what I like to think as a red wine rather than a purple wine. It tastes of the earth rather than a plum. This would go well in a Sangria too.
3 and half stars.

The simplicity of the steak burger really worked for me. No soggy tomato or lettuce, just meat garlic and onion. The garlic does not cook so I recommend taking the garlic out of the steak, unless you love raw garlic. I think adopting the garlic into the Aussie BBQ’d steak sandwich is a winner.
4 stars.

Russia vs Sweden

The Russian Plate
Salmon and potato salad

Score

little m

A simple dish which I’m tempted to call a Russian Caesar salad. OK maybe that’s going a bit far – as a salad it’s quite good. Throw together in a bowl – salmon, boiled potatoes and eggs, (cooked) red onions, and then garnished with mayo and parsley. Serve cold and it’s all too easy.

The potato may be humble but I’m starting to miss having rice based dishes for dinner.

Big M
N/A (cup)
(plate)

Again we have had to miss the cup out. I thought that Dan Murphy’s would sell something Russian other than vodka but to no avail. Please send in your Russian drinks.

I would be happy to eat this salad for lunch but it’s not quite fancy enough for dinner. I took a leaf out of the Swedish book and again poached the salmon in wine, which was good.
3 stars.