Chow Down to Eurovision 2015 - Belarus

Hello this is Minsk calling....all together now I Love Belarus! 

You all know how much I love Belarus in Eurovision ever since the amazing Angelica Agurbash! 

Dmitry Koldun was the first to work magic on the voters and see Belarus in a Eurovision Song Contest Final. 

Work Your Magic not only made it to the 2007 final but also did incredibly well placing 6th. 

I also Love Belarus for having a dish that is a vegetable made out of chocolate and cake. 

Pirozhnoe Kartoshka (potato pastries) make 40-50

Ingredients

• 500g vanilla cake*
• 200g dark chocolate
• 50g butter
• 300g sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tbsp. liqueur (white creme de cocoa)
• Pinch of salt
• Cocoa
• Slivered almonds to decorate

Method

• Put the cake in food processor and pulse to "cakecrumbs"
• In a double boiler melt the chocolate and butter
• Add the cake crumbs, melted chocolate, butter, condensed milk, liqueur and salt to a mixing bowl
• Bring all the ingredients together to form a moist dough
• Shape the dough into little potato shapes (mine are inspired by the kipfler)
• Place on a lined baking tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes
• Coat pastries in cocoa
• Decorate with slivered almond for the eye of the potatoes

These are ridiculously easy to make and will be the hit of any Eurovision party. I can see myself making a few batches in Vienna to keep the energy levels up or feed any passing artists that may want to have a chat. 

A variation I want to try is using the condensed milk after it had been boiled in the tin to make a caramel then add some more salted for that crowd favourite, salted caramel. 

Not the most appetising look...but give theme Time (I know what I did there)

That is one mighty tasty bag of potatoes! 

I made the cake as follows but shop-bought cake would do if you are happy for your friends and family to know you don't care about them enough to make from scratch..... (I'm kidding, don't send letters!)

Vanilla Cake

Ingredients

• 150g butter
• 150g sugar
• 150g self raising flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Method

• Beat all ingredient together into a smooth batter
• Pour into a greased 20 cm cake tin
• Bake at 180 for 35-40 mins 

It's been 11 years but Belarus will again send a duet again to Eurovision. Time will be performed by Uzari on vocals and Maimuna on violin.

The duo complement each other brilliantly, Uzari's vocal expansions are accentuated brilliantly by Maimuna's violin gymnastics.  

In this busy world of technology where an hour now seems like a minute the song rings true that Time is ticking away as loudly as thunder.

 In 2015 I again have a reason to sing I Love Belarus, I just hope there is Time to sing it twice!

Past Belarus Chow Down to Eurovision:

2014 Belarus Cheesecake of course!

2013 Love Me Tonight Draniki 

Chow Down to Eurovision 2014 - Belarus

добры вечар (dobry viečar) this is Belarus calling, home to the Eurovision spectacular and featured artist in Chow Down to Eurovision 2013, Angelica Agurbash.

This year's artist Teo provides a Chow Down to Eurovision gift by performing another food titled song, Cheesecake.

At first I thought this dish would be a piece of (cheese)cake, a smooth and creamy baked cheesecake with blueberries or perhaps a savoury crab cheesecake.

 

Well then I thought I'd be a bit clever and well you know, it's Belarus so it should be Belarus in the cheesecake.

Famous last words......

So while I felt my life was completely "tied up in their sweet cheesecake" the thought I clung tightly to throughout was I Love Belarus!

 

Anastasiya Vinnikova performed I love Belarus in 2011 and while I loved Belarus it seems not many others did, they came 14/19 in the semi final

Sadly for the first time in Chow Down to Eurovision history, we have a country who has a tale to tell but not the recipe.

 

Trying to create the flag of Belarus in cheesecake has invaded my every thought process for months now.

 

Would it show the flag as you looked down on it? But then you could end up with a slice of just red or just green...

 

Should it be in a loaf tin so it's a rectangle?

 

Should I cut away the side and then add more for the white embroidered motif?

 

Maybe I could use a tuile as the side border?

 

Could I make a rectangular macaron?

 

Ok I'll temper white chocolate and add freeze dried raspberries....but it shouldn't be a sweet cheesecake, Teo sings he doesn't want a sweet cheesecake.

 

You can imagine the fun and pain I have had with this cheesecake!

 

I'll take you through some of the prototypes and where I ended up. I wont be including a recipe in this post as I'm not at the point that I could in all fairness publish something I was sure worked, and tasted great.

 

The savoury roast tomato, basil pesto and capsicum cheesecake, the flavour of the pesto was quite enjoyable but the rest got a big no from me. 

The sweet raspberry and pandan cheesecake was a bit of a flop....literally!

 

The pandan was the winner in this one, so it seems I am ok at the bottom layer.

 

There is also some Italian meringue with strawberries as I thought this could look like the border when cut.

There was no way it was going to stick on that one.....

 

 

I'd remembered singing at the Gunning Flower Show about a million moons ago and being given a jelly cheesecake slice for afternoon tea.

OK so jelly, the colour should work and it should definitely hold it's shape.

There is no chance of this cheesecake not holding it's shape, if you threw it at a wall it would only bounce back.

There is more Italian meringue and strawberries but I think a cake boarder is the way to go.....only time will tell.

 

So while I don't consider my adventure with Belarusian cheesecake a complete epic fail, it is something I will keep working on so I can publish a recipe I'm happy with in the future.

The Don't Boil the Sauce philosophy is really just about having a go, so I'm actually ok with showing you that sometimes it just doesn't happen the way you want it to.

Who knows, everyone loves an underdog with a back story, so perhaps Belarus could go on to win Chow Down to Eurovision 2014??? After all I Love Belarus!

Teo will dish up a far more polished cheesecake in the second semi final, so let's hope he doesn't need to rely on Google maps for directions and heads straight into the final. 

 

удача udacha!

Chow Down to Eurovision 2013 - Belarus

Dobry Vecher,  Ladies and Gentleman we have landed in Belarus. Since their first participation in 2004  Belarus has never failed to delight, amuse, shock and appall. Anastasiya Vinnikova summed up my true feelings about Belarus in 2011, I Love Belarus, ('got it deep inside').  
The Queen of Belarusian Eurovision is former MRS Russia Angelica Agurbash, who in 2005 brought us "Love Me Tonight" which some of us did more than others, she came 13th in the semi final.

Yes, I have an Angelica shrine

 

Every Google search for Belarusian cuisine came up will lots and lots of potato pancakes, Drakini. I tried a couple of versions and in the end based this recipe from a Russian clip on Youtube, I followed the pictures. I have taken inspiration from Angelica and used a filling in the centre to create that age old Eurovision standard, the reveal. After hours of watching Love Me Tonight I knew there were only 2 ingredients that could possibly do, cheese and mince.

Love Me Tonight Drakini
Ingredients

• 250g beef mince
• 120ml passata
• 1.5kg potatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 2 eggs
• Plain flour about 1/2 cup but maybe more or less
• Black pepper
• Salt
• 100g grated cheese
• Lard or oil

Method

• In a fry pan, cook the mince and passata on high for about 8 minutes, till the mince is cooked through and the passata has reduced into the mince.
• Put the potatoes and onions into a food processor and blend till the consistency of porridge
• Transfer into a large mixing bowl
• Add the eggs, flour, pepper and salt
• Stir to combine, you may need to add a little more flour depending on the consistency.
• Add 2 tablespoons of oil/lard to a hot fry pan.
• Add about dessert spoon of the batter to fry pan and push the spoon in to create a small well.
• Spoon on a little of the meat mix into the well.
• Cover with about 1/2 spoon of pancake mixture
• Let cook for about 2 minutes and then flip over.
• Cook for a further 2-3 minutes till brown and cooked through. You made want to lower the heat on the fry pan during the cooking if they look like they are going to burn.
• Serve with sour cream
• While experimenting with the recipe I did a version where the meat and cheese was mixed into the batter rather than in the centre, this was AB's personal favourite version.

 

This year Belarus is sending us Alyona Lanskaya and her song Solayoh

udacha!