Chow Down to Eurovision 2015 - Malta

Good evening Europe, Sydney, Melbourne and Sunshine* today we are tipping our toes in the warm waters of beautiful Malta.

But first a word from the lovely Maltese warrior Amber who had a message for all her fans in Australia. 

*a small suburb in Melbourne where Amber has family

Sadly in Vienna Malta just missed out on a place in the final coming in eleventh in semi final two.

Delivering such a deliciously strong entry in Chow Down to Eurovision 2015 could it be Malta's time to take the top prize here?

I'm sure Amber would still want you to vote for Malta!

Stuffed Olives
Ingredients

• 300-400g olives pitted (I like green Sicilian but use your favourites)
• 95g tuna (canned spring water)
• 3-4 anchovies plus a splash of the oil
• 10g capers
• 1 slice of bread crust removed
• 1 spring onion

Method

• Blend all ingredients expect  olives in a food processor
• Put mixture into a disposable piping bag (you don't want tuna flavoured icing next time)
• Pipe each olive with the tuna mixture

So simple and I just love the colour of the olives....but wait I'm not finished yet!

Because it just isn't Eurovision without a reveal, the olives can also get treatment with flour, egg and Panko and then fried in hot oil till golden.

Salty, crispy, salty goodness, you will need to become a warrior as once these hit the table it will be on for young and old hunger games style!

Past Malta Chow Down to Eurovision:

2014 Pomegranate molasses ice cream 

2013 Makku- White bait 

Chow Down to Eurovision 2013 - Italy

Ciao tutti, come state oggi? Siamo arrivati in L'Itallia, penultimo paese in questa Chow Down a Eurovision 2013.

Unlike France I could probably continue this post in L'Italiano but I wont, Italy is our second last country in the Chow Down to Eurovision 2013.

The essence of Italian food is simplicity and when it comes to cucina povera it's about making do with what you can.

Today's dish is what I lived on when I was studying in Italy, not only could I eat it by the truckload but it was something I could actually say it! "Vorrei mezzo chilo di broccoli, grazie" once you have that half kilo of broccoli, pasta con i broccoli is the only way to go.

I also really love Italian cinema and spent a lot of time at the movies, I even saw Australia dubbed into Italian which was weird but there was a sneaky home sick tear shed.

Fiumi di Parole (river of words) by Jalisse was another surprise Eurovision treat when it featured in the movie Ex. She also won Sanremo in 1997 with the song but came 4th in Eurovision and Italy wasn't seen at Eurovision for 14 years!!

Pasta con i broccoli
Ingredients

• 1kg dried pasta any shape (penne or anything that holds the sauce)
• 500g broccoli
• 160g bottle of anchovies
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 200g parmesan or pecorino

Method

• Add pasta to a large pot of boiling salted water
• Cut the broccoli into pieces and add to the pasta pot once water is back to the boil
• Cook pasta till al dente and drain
• Return the pot to the stove
• Over medium heat add anchovies including their oil and olive oil to the pot
• Crush the garlic and add to pot and stir
• When anchovies have broken down add pasta back to pot and stir to coat
• Take off the heat and stir through the cheese
• Buon appetite
• You can also add a knob of butter or a touch more oil if you prefer
• The size of the broccoli is varies when I make it so it breaks down more but size if up to you.

Italy will host the 2014 Eurovision song contest, eh magari!! (I wish)

Marco Mengoni will sing his Sanremo winning song L'Essenziale in this years final, can he do better than Jalisse and win both? I can't cope with another 14 year Italian absence!

Buona Fortuna!

 

Pimp my potato salad

Sometimes you need simple and light but sometimes you need the full glamour of the "gourmet".

And remember it is always pronounced with a hard T at the end, Gour-MeT, which goes very well with a focaccia better known as a Fok-a-Chia.

I remembered a Potato salad I gave the Pimp-My-Salad treatment too, it’s the same salad as always just with better shoes, I mean ingredients. There is also a hint of the Caesar with the addition of the anchovies. I prefer to serve it warm but have been known to happily tuck into any left overs the next day.

Pimped Potato Salad

Ingredients

•  1kg Potatoes
•  Seasoned flour (salt and pepper added to flour)
•  Olive oil (about 1 cup)
•  6 slices prosciutto in 1cm pieces
•  4 boiled eggs quartered
•  4 spring onions chopped
•  200grams shaved Parmesan
•  Kewpie mayonnaise
•  1/4 cup toasted flaked almonds
•  1 small tin/jar of anchovies

Method

• Roughly chopped the potato into even pieces, just a bit bigger than bite size.
• Toss potatoes in the seasoned flour
• Add to a baking dish with a good amount of olive oil, not drowning but enough to paddle.
• Bake in the oven till crisp and golden on 200 degrees C, about 45mins.When the potatoes are ready drain off the oil, a metal colander will drain them and keep them crispy.
• In a large bowl add the potatoes, prosciutto, eggs, spring onions, parmesan and mix gently to combine.
• Dress with a squeeze of the mayonnaise (you can set the amount)
• Top with anchovies and the toasted almond flakes (that I forgot to buy and are not pictured)