Chow Down to Eurovision 2015 - Netherlands

Goedenavond, grab your clogs, balls of cheese and red light globes we are in the beautiful Netherlands.

  

Long time Don't Boil The Sauce! readers of The Chow Down to Eurovision will be familiar with my connection to Amsterdam, my dear friend Chantal. 

The two previous Netherlands' Chow Down to Eurovision entries have been inspired by my travels and gifts from Chantal and this year is no exception.

I was thrilled when a Christmas parcel arrived from Amsterdam containing a book on Dutch food! She knows me so well! Grazie Bella!

Chantal also sent me the book that is now famous in my Twitter avatar.

(beard has grown a bit, might need a reshoot)

There is so much excitement in writing this post knowing that in a few weeks I will be back in Amsterdam having a croquette with Chantal. Since the last time I saw her she has become a mum to twins and I can't wait to meet the new family.

I know that as AB and I head to Schiphol and bid farewell to the Dutch family I will be wishing for just One More Night....Give me one more day!

Cue Ester Hart with One More Night, the golden diva came 13th in 2003.

Fresh from the tree out the back, you don't get fresher than that!

Dutch Apple Pie recipe adapted from Dutch Delight by Sylvia Pessireron
Ingredients

• 10-12 large apples
• 100g dried currants (soaked in warm water and drained)
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 175g sugar
• 250g butter
• 2 eggs
• Pinch of salt
• 500g self raising flour
• 50g almond meal
• Extra egg yolk

Method

• Pre heat oven to 190°C
• Peel, core and quarter the apples
• Slice apples thinly
• Coat apples with cinnamon and sugar
• Either in a food processer or by hand mix the sugar, butter, eggs, salt until smooth
• Add flour and knead until it comes together and is no longer sticky
• Grease and flour a 26cm springform round cake tin (original is 28cm, I went for height)
• Cover base and sides with about 1/4 of the dough mix, pressing to try and make it even
• Add almond meal to the base to avoid a soggy bottom
• Layer the apples and currents into the pie, alternating till you have none left
• With remaining dough lay strips on the top of the pie in a traditional criss-cross pattern (or for a Eurovision reveal of the inside, just roll out and cover as you would a..um..pie)
• Brush with beaten egg yolk
• Bake for 50 minutes till golden
• Allow to cool before removing from cake tin (I didn't wait and mine was very crumbly...which isn't really a bad thing really)
• Serve with cream and/or ice cream

What more currants?

It didn't slice up as beautifully as the pie I had in Volendam but the flavour took me straight back there.

 It is common now for many countries to send contestants from X Factor or The Voice but The Netherlands has opted to send a The Voice judge Trijntje Oosterhuis

 Teamed up with the song writing brilliance of Anouk the Netherlands will again send pure class to Eurovision 2015 with Walk Along.

Will Trijntje be able to go one better than the Common Linnets and will we be all dining on bitterballen and apple pie at Eurovision 2016?

I'll turn my chair for this one!
veel success!

Past Netherlands Chow Down to Eurovision:

2014 Chinese Tomato Soup

2013 Bitterballen



Chow Down to Eurovision 2014 - France

Bonsoir, this is France calling, where things have gotten a little hairy both physically and emotionally.

Things may have been a bit cursed for this entry as there were a few hiccups, one being that the first time I typed it, working on the HTML I managed to clear the post the split second before it autosaved....oh well, start again.

The birth of this year's entry for France was a moment of fate.

I had bought my dear "Manu Feildel obsessed" friend MP a cookbook for her birthday (autographed... I am an awesome friend) so when he was launching his new book at his new Melbourne restaurant of course I had to escort her. (we paid not a sponsored post)

So after the meal and after they had revived some of the ladies and a couple of gentlemen from hyperventilating with a severe case of Manu lust there was a photo opportunity.

I was official photographer while MP had another book signed and hoped for a marriage proposal. 

She told Manu how I had given her an autographed book for her birthday to which he said I must have got a lot of brownie points for.

We did laugh about how he thought we were a couple, though MP didn't laugh as much when I said I was sure he thought she was on the better end of the deal.

So, ok, the birth of the dish...

While Manu was asking what we thought about the food, I pressed on and went straight into the "ok, so a Eurovision of food, what dish should represent France?"

While he was deliberating I could see my friend was having an issue using my camera to which I offered some assistance, "it's upsidedown love..."

"tarte tatin, it's upside down!" exclaimed Manu, and so that is how this entry was born.

We could even go so far as to say she was Manu's muse but that may put her over the edge........

It's lovely to see how excited he was to meet the guy from Don't Boil The Sauce!

Louisa Baileche continues our facial hair theme, as in 2003 she may have put her face in a tarte tatin before she went on stage as no matter how she flicked her hair it wasn't going anywhere, poor love.

Given it was Manu's suggestion I felt it would be a tad awkward not to use his recipe, unfortunately it wasn't in either of the books MP had.

A Google search revealed this version from Boy's Weekend which sadly I report doesn't work if you follow the method listed as you just end up with fried sugar.

For the caramel on the tarte tatin pictured I consulted the recipe in John Whaite Bakes At Home and then followed what I thought would work.

Worrying about what I should publish here as I didn't just want to say, thanks for the idea Manu, but your recipe doesn't work, I went back to Manu's website and found a copy of the recipe with instructions that look like they would work much better. (If only I was clever enough to try there first instead of relying on Google results!)

My twist to this apple tarte tatin is candied citron for that extra burst of flavour and I love the way it almost disappears into the caramel.

I will workshop my own version with the citron and a puff pastry base and publish that at a later date, when I'm sure it all works.

Till then this is Manu's version with the correct method.

Perfect just barely warm with some thick cream or ice cream.

Bon appetite!

 

Twin Twin wanted a Moustache in Copenhagengen but barely managed a whisker.

Chow Down to Eurovision 2014 - Israel

ערב טוב this is Jerusalem, Israel calling.

Last year Israel was extremely popular in Chow Down to Eurovision with their dish Hummus with the Lot.

There is a limit to how much hummus one human can safely consume and without over sharing all I'll say is I know that exact quantity.

We are going to be having breakfast in Israel today with an apple fritter known as Apples in Pyjamas, it tastes just like a donut but it's an apple so you can truly say you only had an apple for breakfast.

Izhar Cohen provides the cardio to burn off our breakfast with Olé, Olé from 1985.

Get out the leg warmers, head bands and smile extenders this is classic 80's jazz ballet at it's Tony Bartuccio best!

Despite winning in 1978 Izhar placed 5th in 1985.

 

 

 

Apples in Pyjamas

Ingredients

• 3 granny smith or other tart apple
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• Cinnamon
• Sugar
• Oil to fry (about a litre)

Method

• Add flour, milk, egg and a pinch of sugar to a jug
• Blend smooth with a hand blender
• Slice apples about 1/2cm thick
• Remove core with a cutter (I had a star cookie cutter)
• Heat the oil in a deep saucepan on high heat (raise and lower heat as required)
• In 2 separate bowls place some extra flour and the batter
• Coat the apple ring in flour
• Dip the apple into the batter and let the excess run off
• Fry for about 1 minute on each side till golden brown
• Coat in cinnamon sugar (add as much or as little cinnamon as you like to a bowl of sugar)
• These would be perfect with ice cream for a quick faux apple pie
• If you work quickly you don't need lemon to stop the apples going brown, the flour also helps to slow the process

 

 

 

Can Mei Finegold and Same Heart bring the Eurovision trophy back to Israel for the fourth time? 

בהצלחה

Chow Down to Eurovision 2014 - Netherlands

Goedenavond this is Netherlands calling from the beautiful canals of Amsterdam.

Our trip to Amsterdam in 2011 (can't believe it's 3 years already, get me to flight centre STAT) has inspired this year's entry for Chow Down to Eurovision 2014.

One of the things I love to do while travelling, apart from eat and check out the supermarkets, it see what's on TV.

I think it gives you a taste of the differences in culture by doing something you would normally do at home.

Sadly these days it seems to be more dubbed reruns of Friends and Seinfeld, though it was fun flicking on the TV to see Australian Master chef with Dutch subtitles.

Maggie Macneal (minus Mouth) sang Amsterdam which placed 5th in 1980 and provided a wonderful soundtrack to our trip.

I'm sure none of the Dutch people tired of my head appearing out of a boat in the canals singing Amsterdam, Amsterdam at the top of my lungs.....their only respite was when my mouth was full of croquette!

 

 

One of the "delights" of our Amsterdam trip was our hotel not only had tea and coffee making facilities but Cup-a-Soup as well, clearly no expense was spared!

Not content with the good old chicken noodle, it was Chinese Tomato, which we learnt was popular with children in Holland possibly due to the addition of sweet apple sauce.

AB as a tomato fan loved it but did declare that "the croutons were a waste of time" 

I come up with my own version, that doesn't require packets or a 27 hour flight.
There are some apple croutons that have been slipped in but allegedly they aren't a waste of time!

It's a bit more adult with the apple cider and apples rather than apple sauce.

Chinese tomato soup
Ingredients

• 1kg tomato topped and halved
• 2 large granny smith grated
• 700ml chicken stock
• 300ml apple cider
• 1 clove garlic grated
• 1 small thumb ginger grated
• 1 tbsp. oil
• 3 tbsp. kecap manis
• 1 green chilli sliced finely
• 1 tbs. dark soy (use light for a lighter colour...obviously)
• 2-3tbs. brown sugar
• 1/2 an apple extra for croutons (optional)
• Squeeze of lemon juice

Method

• In a large saucepan add oil, ginger, garlic and chili
• Add the apples and tomatoes and stir to coat in oil
• Add apple cider and bring to the boil
• Add chicken stock
• Add kecap manis, sugar and soy
• Simmer on low for 20 minutes
• Blend with a hand blender
• Roughly cut extra apple into small pieces and coat in lemon juice
• Drain any extra juices and sprinkle apple croutons onto soup, or stir through (these aren't a waste of time I have been informed)

After Anouk got The Netherlands to the finals last year after an 8 year absence will The Common Linnets' Calm After The Storm continue the trend or start another drought?

I'm hoping for rain!

veel success!

Chow Down to Eurovision 2013 - Denmark

Denmark has a special connection with Australia through Our/Their Princess Mary so I wanted a dish that had a touch of both countries. Apples are the theme ingredient as Princess Mary is from Tasmania where they produce wonderful fruit. I thought that this was a little bit more classy than using beer because they met in a pub, yep I'm all class. Speaking of class I did have a trainer whose dogs had met Princess Mary, I'm not sure where that puts me on the Kevin Bacon degrees of separation scale but I think we are practically BFFs.

Technically Denmark did not break the 6 person limit on stage rule in 1988 as one of the people was inside the singer, well at least for another 3 weeks anyway.

Apple Oven Pancake
Ingredients

• 2 apples
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 40g butter unsalted
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 150g plain flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Pinch salt
• 60g butter
• Icing sugar to dust

Method

• Preheat oven 240°C
• Cut 1 apple in half and grate the remaining 1 half and the whole apple.
• Thinly slice the other half of the apple into wedges (for optional decoration) and squeeze with lemon juice to stop them browning.
• In a saucepan put the grated apple, sugar, cinnamon, butter and squeeze of lemon.
• Simmer on low for about 5 mins till the apples are softened. Take off the heat to cool slightly.
• Put butter into the glass dish and put into the oven until butter is melted
• Brush the dish with butter
• Pour the batter into the dish of melted butter
• Arrange the apples on top
• Return the dish to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes
• To serve dust with icing sugar and drizzle with honey if you'd like that extra sweetness.

A variation is to not add the grated apple mix into the batter but add it to the top of the cooked pancake. This will let the pancake rise higher like a Yorkshire pudding.

I hope there wont be "Only Teardrops" for Emmelie de Forest this year in Sweden.
Held og lykke!