No. 39 - Chad - I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Peanut-Butter!

The culinary options for Chad were again 'Utterly-Peanut-Buttery', another peanut based stew or 'I-Can't-Believe-Its-Not-Peanut-Butter' (more suitable still would be 'Thank-God-It's-Not-Peanut-Butter'), fluffy, sugar coated, deep-fried deliciousness.

Needless to say, I went with the latter.

Beignets 

160ml water

45g butter

120g plain four

3 eggs

1 tbsp sugar 

extra icing or caster sugar for coating

palm oil or groundnut oil for frying

In a saucepan, melt the butter and sugar in the water. Add the flour and mix vigorously. The mixture will begin to thicken. When it comes away from the sides of the pan and forms one lump of pastry, take it off the heat and allow to cool. When it has cooled slightly add the eggs one at a time until smooth. 

Heat a few centimeters of oil in a saucepan or wok. Crop a tablespoon of the pastry mix into the oil one at a time. They should puff up and float. When one side is browned flip it over and brown the other side. When evenly browned, drain on kitchen paper and allow to cool slightly. Then toss in caster or icing sugar until evenly coated. Serve immediately. 

No. 19 - Belarus-tic Beef Stew!

Belarus taught me that no matter how beautiful the kitchen, there is still no joy in peeling a potato (or figuring out how to use someone else’s oven). What was joyous, however was using Ide’s KitchenAid. For those of you who don’t know, KitchenAid is to mixers what Dyson is to vaccum cleaners. I have literally have never enjoyed anything so much, lowering the mixer and raising the mixer, lowering the mixer and raising the mixer. I had a total Nigella moment. Baking will never be the same again.

The KitchenAid may be the sole reason that Belarus was the first Culinisation country to incorporate a desert. That and the fact that I had plenty of time and space to swan around this borrowed kitchen, unlike at home where I can hardly find space to put a fork. Two course meals at home are therefore far and in-between. One can only dream of a glorious kitchen and a KitchenAid of my very own, don’t even get me started on a dishwasher. Truth is, I’m as close to getting a KitchenAid as I am flying to the moon.

Belarusian Beef Stew in a Pot.

Your bog standard stew really, beef topped with potatoes topped with mushrooms topped with sour cream. Ok, not technically bog standard, but the Belarusian answer to an Irish stew. Simple, yet effective and even better the next day. It also has the novelty factor because you get to eat it straight out of the pot.

Serves 2

400g decent quality beef, cut into chunks

3 garlic cloves, chopped

4 potatoes, peeled and diced

1 onion, chopped

a punnet of mushrooms, sliced

a small tub of sour cream or a few tablespoons

oil for frying

water to cover

Fry the beef with the garlic in a little oil until browned. In a separate pan fry the onion and mushrooms until soft. Now all you have to do is assemble everything.

Find a suitable sized pot with a lid and line the base with the beef making sure you have all the bits and juices. Season. Then layer on the diced potatoes and just about cover them with water.Season. Then layer on the mushroom and onions. Season. Finally top with sour cream, pop on the lid and bake in a 170 degree oven for 2 hours. Let rest for 30 minutes before serving. Eat straight out of the pot or serve on plates.

Belarusian Apple Pie

Like I already mentioned this was the most fun I’ve ever had baking although that has little to do with the recipe. This pie is really simple and has very few ingredients. It’s the kind if desert you can throw together without needing a trip to the shop. In name it’s a pie, but really its sponge-topped apples. The best bit is that the topping goes crispy and chewy like a meringue. I don’t know if that’s because I got a little to overexciting with the KitchenAid and over mixed/whisked everything but it really made this desert.

Serves 6

4 cooking apples

3 eggs

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of flour

butter for greasing the baking dish.

Peel, core and slice the apples. Whisk together the eggs and sugar until fluffy. Whisk in the flour a little at a time. Line a greased baking dish with the apples and then pour on the cake mixture. Bake in a preheated oven, at 170 degrees for 50 minutes or until the top is crunchy. Serve with ice cream or custard.

No. 13 - Austria - Don’t be a Weiner!

The perfect solitary supper and an indulgent treat for one - perfect if you fancy spoiling yourself, kicking back and enjoying the luxury of a veal chop home alone. This was the dream, but when I asked for a veal chop in the butchers, I couldn’t believe my ears when he weighed it and said it came to €6.15! For a skinny wee veal chop! Needless to say, I looked from the butcher, to the veal chop and back to my designated €5 note and hesitated for probably an embarrassing length of time. The butcher sensing my skepticism agreed that it was a bit expensive so I didn’t feel to bad sending it back to be replaced with a lousy pork chop. Another time, he said, when you want to treat yourself. Problem is, when I want to treat myself I buy a steak.

I wanted to translate the name of the recipe from wiener schnitzel (veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried) to the equivalent pork coated in breadcrumbs and fried. I discovered that schnitzel refers to veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried and Wieners are those sausages, so the jury is still out on what this dish is actually called but I would make a guess and calling it a pork schnitzel seems about right, even if Weiner makes me laugh.

Pork Schnitzel

Obviously a weiner schnitzel is the preferred schnitzel, but the pork one’s not half bad either. It’s really just a glorified breaded pork chop and I had mine with slow roast garlic tomatoes, which recipe doesn’t feature here because it doesn’t technically belong in Austria. I had loads of tomatoes left over from the barbecue and fancied getting rid of them all at once. Its just some crushed garlic, basil and olive oil spooned onto some halved tomatoes and roasted in a low oven for a couple of hours – in case you were wondering. Instead, make yourself a green salad, spritz over some lemon juice and you’re more likely to find yourself in authentic Austria territory. Oh and using a veal escalope might help!

Serves 1

1 pork or veal chop

a plateful of fresh breadcrumbs

a plateful of plain flour

an egg, beaten

vegetable oil for frying

Salt and Pepper

Lay out three plates in front of you with flour in the first one, beaten egg in the second, and breadcrumbs in the third. Lay the chop on a chopping board, cover in cling film and bash to flatten with a rolling pin (or the cling film roll in my case). Try and get the chop as flat and skinny as possible. Season the chop with salt and pepper on both sides.

Then dip into the flour, shake off the excess. Then into the egg, shake off the excess. Then into the breadcrumbs, shake off the excess. Heat the oil in the pan and ensure that it will come half way up the chop when it’s in the pan. Fry the chop in the hot oil for a few minutes aside until just cooked. Serve with a green salad and a spritz of lemon juice if you want an Authentic Austrian Supper.