Belgium cooking with beer.

I've decided to make some posts about traditional drink in Europa countries. Now it is time for Belgium's beer. The Belgians are very proud of their beers, of which there are basically three types:

• Bottom-fermented beers, which are brewed at a low temperature ( below 50 F, 10 C). They are pale and yellowish in color and , because of the hops, slightly bitter and dry taste. The best known brands Jupiler, La Stella, and La Maes.
  
• Spontaneously fermented beers, a process which is triggered by bacteria and yeasts which naturally occur in the Senne valley.
• Top-fermented beers, which can be brewed at higher temperatures (59-68F, 15-20C). Their color is usually copper to dark brown and their taste sweet and fruity.

Belgium's beer brewing tradition goes back about a thousand years. It is not surprising that beer is an ingredient in many Belgian recipes. Here is a traditional Belgium meat dishCarbonnades Flamandes or Flemish Beef Casserole.

Flemish Beef Casserole
ingredients (4 servings)

• 1 kg beef shoulder
• 1/4 cup butter
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 large onions
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 500 ml Gueuze, Lambic or any brown beer
• 1 slice of bread
• 1 bouquet garni
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  
• 1 tablespoon mustard

Cut the meat into large cubes and fry in the butter until brown on all sides. Add salt and pepper and remove from the frying pan. Cut onions into ringd and braise them lightly in the meat juices. Add the sugar and the beer and bring to the boil. Crumble the bread and add to the gravy together with the bouquet garni, vinegar, mustard and the meat. Cover and cook at low temperature for about 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. The best accompaniment is mushed potatoes and carrot.

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Kvas a popular drink in Russia.

Russia Sochi has been chosen like the place for the next Olympic Games. So I have decided to look for some interesting traditional Russia meal.
Kvas is just as popular in Russia as beer is in other countries. The name literally means "sour drink", and it is brewed from all kinds of household staples, namely dry bread, apples and pears, cow berries and cranberries, blackcurrant's and redcurrant's, strawberries and buckwheat. Sugar or honey are used to sweeten the brew. Homemade kvas froths up easily and contains only a little alcohol.




Homemade Kvas

• 500 g rye bread
• 40 g yeast
• 100 g sugar
• 5 Tbs lukewarm water
• 1 bunch of peppermint
• Blackcurrant leaves
• 50 g raisins
• Rind from 1 untreated lemon
  

Slice the rye bread and dry in the oven, place in a saucepan and add 4 liters of boiling water. Cover with a cloth and leave for 4 hours, then pour though a fine sieve.
Stir the yeast with a little sugar into the lukewarm water, leave to rise for about 20 minutes and add ti the brew. Then carefully squeeze the moisture out of the bread mixture into the brew, add the remaining sugar, mint- putting a few mint leaves aside- and the blackcurrant leaves, ans leave the brew overnight in a warm place for it to ferment.
Strain once more thought a cloth and bottle. Place a few raisins, a peppermint leaf and a piece of lemon rind in each bottle. Close tightly and store in the refrigerator for 3 days. When the raisins have risen to the surface, strain the kvas ones again and rebottle. It will be ready for drinking.

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Which Sauce for which pasta.

Pasta should only be allowed to swim in the much-loved clear broths and soups. Otherwise the sauce should be portioned so that the pasta completely absorbs the liquid. If the sauce is thin, then the pasta must be more absorbent and the hollow than for a thicker sauce.

Aglio e olio - crushed garlic, parsley and cold pressed olive oil with spaghetti, spaghettini, vermicelli and linguine.
Ai frutti di mare - with seafood.
All'amrtriciana - bacon and tomato sauce which good for bucatini, spaghetti, gramigna.
Alla napolitana (Sugo di pomodoro) - tomato sauce with all kind of pasta, regardless of shape and consistency.
Alla panna - in cream (with lots of pepper) comes with tortellini and regatoni.
Alla siciliana - tomato sauce with fresh sardines, goes with vermicelli and bucatini.
Allo spezzatino - with braised fish. Eaten with maccheroni, marelle, fusilli, penne, rigatoni, pappardelle and other ribbon noodles.
Burro e salvia - sage butter, made from butter and crispy fried leaves of sage. Goes well with all kinds of pasta.
Carbonara - bacon, cheese and eggs. Goes with spagetti and other long noodles.
In brondo - clear broth (usually chicken). With anolini, cappeletti and tortellini.
Pesto- basil sauce eaten with filled or unfilled noodles , especially with trenette, fettuccine, tagliatelle, linguine and farfalle.
Salsa cruda - "raw", i.e. an uncooked sauce with raw eggs or uncooked tomatoes, parsley, basil and Parmesan cheese. Eaten with ribbon noodles.
Salsa di noci - sauce with wallnuts and Ricotta cheese. Goes with ribbon noodles.

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Spaghetti with lemons, prosciutto and rocket leaves.

ingredients:
400gr good quality thin pasta or spaghettini
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup of olive oil 2 small fresh red chillies, seeded and well chopped
10 slices prosciutto cut into strips
1 tablespoon of grated lemon zest
250gr rocket leaves, cleaned and shredded

Dressing: Blend in a bowl lemon juice, chilli, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Pasta:
In another bowl mix prosciutto, zest of lemon and rocket leaves. Cook the pasta, drain and add to prosciutto mixture. Pour the dressing over and enjoy your spaghetti with lemon .

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Baked raspberry meringue

This sweet delight is very easy to make and really enjoy to eat. I bake them in turbo oven with vent, but if you don't have the vent in your oven so after turning off the oven leave meringues in for cooling.

ingredients (10 servings)

• 2 egg whites important at room temperature
• 75 gr sugar
• 30 gr demerara sugar (light brown cane sugar)
• 120 gr frozen raspberries, not defrost them
  

Use clean mixing bowl without any fan in it. Whisk egg whites at medium speed for about 2 minutes until frothy. Increase speed to medium high and gradually add sugar. First use the white sugar and then the demerara sugar. Whisk for 5 minutes till firm and stands up in peaks.
Separate the frozen raspberries and add gradually to eggs.
Putt on a baking sheet silicon or baking paper. Shape 10 large cookies. Bake for an 1.5 hour at very low heat (125 C) in preheated turbo oven with vent. Turn off the heat but not the vent and cool for about an hour. Move the raspberry meringue to a closed tin. Serve immediately or frozen( if frozen , serve without defrosting).

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Bass fillets with mango, fresh chilli, olive oil and lime.

ingredients( 4 servings)

• 320 gr bass fillet with no bones and skin
• 8 tablespoons mango cut into small cubes
• 4 teaspoon purple onion chopped
• 4 teaspoon coriander leaves chopped
• 4 teaspoon basil leaves chopped
• 2 teaspoon fresh chilli chopped
• 8 tablespoons olive oil
• 12 tablespoons lime juice
• salt and pepper

Cut fish fillets to small cubes. Mix gently all the ingredients. Put in goblet and serve immediately.

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Cinnamon yeast cake

Here is my mother's recipe of cinnamon yeast cake which she used to bake for holidays.

ingredients

pastry:

• 1/4 cup lukewarm water
• 30 gr yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 120 gr butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• salt

filling:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 70 gr melted butter
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 80 gr chopped pecan nuts

Mix yeast and water and leave for 10-15 minutes. Bring to a boil milk in a small saucepan, remove from the heat, add butter, mix well and cool. In food processor ( helping with hook) combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, eggs and salt. Add the milk mixture and the yeast. Add remaining flour and mix for10-15 minutes at medium speed. Take medium size bowl, brush it with butter and place in to dough. Cover and let the dough rise till double in size. Hit gently with palm and knead dough a little on a floured place. Roll the dough out into rectangle of 20x40 cm and 1/2 cm thick and brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Keep 1 cm edges without filling. Roll the dough into a 40 cm cylinder and cut 3.5 cm thick slices. Arrange the slices of cinnamon yeast cake not closely together in greased baking pan with the slices side up. Cover the pan with a towel and let rise for 20-30 minutes. Bake the cinnamon yeast cake in preheated oven for 40 minuted at medium heat (160 C). To be sure that the cake is ready take toothpick, pierce the cake and if it comes out clean your cinnamon yeast cake is ready. I hope you'll enjoy my mom's cinnamon cake.

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Pork with nuts and mint

This recipe I've found on cozypan.com blog. I modernized it a little and baked delicious pork with nuts and mint.

ingredients

400 gr pork
150 gr of cashew nuts (walnuts possibly also)
2 tablespoon fresh mint finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh coriander finely chopped
2 cm of ginger root grated
1 Chile pepper
3 tablespoons of peanut oil
2-3 tablespoons of soya sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 cloves of garlic chopped
juice of one lemon

Preparation method exactly the same like on cozypan blog.

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Lamb kebab with green tehina

ingredients:

1 kg lamb meat minced
1 onion chopped
1/2 cup parsley chopped
salt and pepper
a little anise flavored liquor
fresh rosemary stalks for skewers

tehina:

1 cup raw tehini
juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves crushed
few coriander leaves
a lot of parsley

Mix the meat with onion, parsley and spices. Add anise liquor and let stand a while. Form meat balls and insert on a straight rosemary stalk with top leaves were removed ( or if you don't have rosemary stalks take the regular skewers). Add to the kebab skewers cherry tomatoes. Grill or fry in a little oil in a heavy pan.
In food processor blend tehini, juice of lemon, garlic, coriander and parsley leaves and 1/2 cup of water. Blend till a thick tehini. Spread the tehini in the center of plate and put on the plate kebab skewers.

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Meat and vegetables Italian Lasagna.

Here is my favorite dish which I love to cook and to eat. Italian lasagna with beef meat, beacon, grated Parmesan cheese, onion, celery root ,tomatoes, carrots, sauce bechamel (white sauce), garlic and lasagna noodles. When I don't have time I use ready lasagna noodles if not make a dough by myself.

Fresh, home-made pasta, pasta fresca, is typical of nothern Italy, European Union member. As early 1300 a Florentine cookbook made note of the first recipes for fresh pasta from wheat flour, eggs and salt. The speed and dexterity of the women making hat-shaped parcels from fresh pasta is unbelievable. They then fill them with various vegetable or meat sauces or with spinach or Ricotta cream cheese. No medding, christening or Christmas dinner is really an occasion without fresh, filled pasta parcels..Every town in Nothern Italy boasts its very own carefully preserved shapes and fillings. There nare more tham 110 different recipes for tortellini, and more than 50 recipes of lasagna.

Basic recipe for pasta fresca (fresh pasta dough):

ingredients

• 500 g wheat flour
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt

Sieve the flour onto the work surface. Make a well in the middle, break the eggs into it and add salt. Gradually work in the flour from the edges until a rough dough is produced. Knead the dough for 15 minutes by nahd until it is shiny and elastic. Wrap in hahdy wrap and leave to stand for 1 hour. Dust the work surface with flour and roll out the dough until it is very thin and cut into large equal-sized rectangles. Bring enough salted water with a little olive oil to the boil and boil the sheets of lasagna for 5 minutes. Carefully remove from the water and drain on kitchenroll.

Here is very Italian recipe of this delightful lasagna cozypan.com

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How to choose fresh meat.

It is desirable to buy meat in clean and "crowded shop" which has been authorized by the veterinary inspector.

Be convinced that on the meat you buy there is a press of veterinary supervision with precise data of the manufacturer and mdg.date and expiry.

Chicken is a little bit pink but not red.

Beef and chicken should have a typical smell of fresh meat.

Beef should not be sticky.

The fresh beef has red color but without shine. If the piece of meat shines most likely that in it some chemicals have been added.

Dark edges on a piece of beef - the meat is dried.

The fresh beef should be elastic. If to press on it with fingers the finger sign should disappear at once.

The defrozen meat, passed off the fresh meat, very easy to distinguish: The defrozen meat always wet (fresh always dry). And besides that on the defrozen meat can be dark spots which can appear during frosting.

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Why to buy professional cook knives?

My friend Jon he is a chef in Italian restraint. He told me that 50 percent success in cooking (home cooking or professional) is sharp and very good knifes. Good knife costs more than 100 $ but we don't need knifes set for home cooking. It is enough one or two very good professional cook knifes. "Why to buy professional cook knives? They are so expensive" you'll ask. Because good professional cook knife is also called chef's knife is the versatile "workhorse" of knives for any types of cutting: meat with bones, herbs, fruits and vegetables. Try to cut tomato with ordinary knife and you'll see the difference. Made from the high carbon stainless steel and having forged construction expensive professional cook knife or any specific type of knife will serve you long. One more advantage is that it stays sharp longer. Keep your knife clean ( don't clean professional cook's knife in dishwasher they don't like it) and sharp and you'll enjoy cooking like me.

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