Nettle, potato and garlic soup aka glove up soup!

When Life gives you nettles....you buy gloves!

As you can see Life has given me an abundance of free food in the form of stinging nettles. They fill the backyard near the chicken coop and thanks to the prickles the chickens don't eat them. 

Nettles spread like no ones business so if you aren't the best gardener (like me) you can just say you dedicated your garden to your love of nettles.

The only down side to nettles is they grow in the winter when it's dark by the time I get home so it's not a convenient mid week ingredient without some forward planning.

While a soup is the easiest use I think they slip into any recipe that calls for some greens so my next plans are to try them in a pesto and a ravioli.

To prepare them I pick the leaves off the stem and rinse thoroughly in cold water. I also don't touch them without gloves even after they are cleaned.

When it comes to nettles slogans from my youth come in very handy 

"if it's not on it's not on!" 

The chickens can disappear into the depths of the nettle maze, I assume their feathers protect them from the prickles. (Wish my pants did!) 

The giant "tomato sauce day" colander so that's a lot of nettles. 

Nettle, potato and garlic soup
Ingredients

• 2 brown onions chopped
• 6 large potatoes quartered skin on
• 1 head of garlic peeled (less if you don't like garlic as much as I do)
• 3-4 cups of nettles (it's not a precise measurement its rather just however many nettles you have)
• Olive oil
• 2L Stock approx (chicken, veg or just water)

Method

• Add a splash of olive oil to a pot.
• Sauté onions till just soft.
• Add potato, garlic and cover with stock.
• Simmer until potatoes are falling apart approx. 30 mins.
• Add nettles, cook for 1 minute
• Blend till smooth.
• Season and serve with a crusty roll and far too much butter!
• Cream (150ml) can also be added to the soup if you like a creamier soup 

Chow Down to Eurovision 2015 - Cyprus

Good evening Nicosia, may we have your dish please?

Just like Eurovision voting this wonderful dish from Cyprus should be done in about 5 hours!

Inspired by a recipe I found on SBS food, today's dish is as simple as cutting a potato and putting some lamb in the oven. 

So in memory of the late Terry Wogan I'm going to just get on with it!

Slow Roasted Lamb and Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1.5-2kg butterfly lamb (I think it was a leg or may have been a shoulder....I know it was lamb)
• 1kg potatoes (of your choice)
• 2 whole heads of garlic
• 2 lemons
• 2 large sprigs rosemary
• 2 large sprigs oregano
• Olive oil

Method

• Cut potatoes into quarters and add to a large baking dish with lid
• Add lamb on top of the potatoes
• Drizzle lamb with olive oil
• Season the lamb with salt and pepper
• Add the whole garlic to the baking dish
• Use a vegetable peeler to cut long strips of lemon zest
• Add the juice of the lemons over the lamb
• Add the herbs
• Bake at 150°C for 4.5 hours with the lid on and a further 30 minutes lid off
• Serve chucks (it's too soft to slice) of lamb with some roasted garlic and potatoes.....and serviettes and it is gonna get sticky!

The sticky meaty garlicky goodness comes flooding back to me every time I see this picture, though if I'm honest my preference would be for a crunchy potato

John (Giannis) Karayiannis sang beautifully for Cyprus and my judgment is not influenced at all by the fact that he said I was cool for having a Eurovision tattoo. 

(I could be his father and I'm cool, I am totally hip with the young peoples!)

When you leave your beard balm at home!

Cyprus came 6th in the semifinal and 22nd in the final.

Previous Cyprus Chow Down to Eurovision:

2014 did not participate 

2013 Homemade Haloumi trio

Chow Down to Eurovision 2015 - Switzerland

Beautiful, beautiful Switzerland how wonderful it is to cook from you again.

Switzerland the land of my favorite chocolate and the only time I've had motion sickness which was on the train over the Alps delivers a showstopper of a dish.

As mentioned when we visited Iceland, the internet provides a lot of inspiration for the Chow Down to Eurovision and when you see a dish called Cholera tart it is an instant Eurovision food qualifier.

According to the internet, which is never wrong, this dish was invented out of necessity during an 1836 Cholera outbreak. Due to limited availability of food people would put whatever they had into pastry, typically vegetables, bits of meat and cheese.  (Yes folks I've even added some history) 

Cholera is a delicious come as you are tart that with the right marketing could be a catchy food trend of epidemic proportion! 

Cholera tart
Ingredients

• 2 sheets of puff pastry (or home made, I know I didn't make it this time)
• 600-700g cooked mixed vegetables *see note
• 250-300g grated Swiss cheese or mix of your choice
• Optional additional soft rind cheese to garnish

Method

• Line a greased 25cm quiche pan with the puff pastry
• Add the vegetables
• Cover with cheese and garnish if desired
• Bake at 180°C for 30 minutes
• Serve though it might not be wise to tell your guests they are getting cholera for dinner

Note 

The cooked vegetables I used were a mixed of red cabbage, Romanesco broccoli, potato, purple cauliflower and red onions that was chopped to bite size, a great way to used up leftovers!

Being about necessity it doesn't have to be pretty....

As unexciting as it may seem the flavours really do all come together to make this a very enjoyable midweek dinner or lunch the next day.

In 2015 it was Mélanie René's Time to Shine for Switzerland and despite being in a forest with a coven of illuminating drummers and an outfit that could go from evil to good with the swish of a cape, Mélanie came last in semi final 2.

Will Switzerland suffer the same fate in the Chow Down to Eurovision?

Previous Switzerland Chow Down to Eurovision:

2014 Prawns with Devil's butter sauce 

2013 Chocolate Parfait with Chillied Almond

Chow Down to Eurovision 2015 - Greece

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kali̱spéra, Athens calling...here is our entry to Chow Down to Eurovision 2015.
Oh almost forgot...Thank you for the really good show!
There is really very little time that I'm not thinking about Eurovision or the Chow Down, I'm forever on the hunt for that special dish for each country.
 
This year's entry for Greece came from a friend that was chatting about a recent trip to Greece visiting the old family village.
 
Well yes that is all very interesting but tell me what you ate...so he did.
A family favourite that allegedly every Greek would have grown up on is patates me agva or chips and eggs.
 
Potatoes and eggs really what's not to love!
 
I had talked about doing a version with Kipfler potatoes roasted in duck fat but was instructed that buying chips from the fish and chip shop was the more traditional way to go, so who am I to argue...
 
Ok, I have a confession and only because I am way too honest, I did use frozen chips (gasp) only because I had tried on three occasions to buy the chips but I ended up eating them on the way home. (yes 3 times...damn you hot chips smell)
 
So moving quickly onto some music while we all try and not think about jumping in the car and getting some hot chips...
 
 

 

A fleeting 4 years before Helena Paparizou became all our number one securing a victory for Greece in 2005, she was ready to (I would)Die for You.
 
As part of Antique Helena placed 3rd, the highest Greece had placed until it was equalled with 3rd place performances by Sakis Rouvas and Kalomira.
 
This is my favourite of her two entries as the choreography is much simpler to recreate at home without needing 2 bare chested Greek blokes hoisting you up to play a pretend lyra. 

 

 

Patates me avga (chips and egg)

Ingredients

• 400-500g potato chips 
• 4 eggs
• 50-100g feta
• Oregano
• Chilli flakes

Method

• Warm the chips in a frypan on medium heat with a splash of olive oil
• Add the eggs and mix with chips, just like  scramble egg
• Just before they are cooked crumble the feta through
• Season to taste
• Top with oregano and chilli flakes

(Greece is sharing the same plate as Finland because it was a gift and I love it....and it was shot before running order was known)

Taking the stage in Vienna for Greece is Maria-Elena Kyriakou with One Last Breath.

Maria-Elena certainly has quite the set of lungs that can deliver all the breaths required to rise like a phoenix.

Due to budget cuts it did sound like Greece and the Czech Republic were going to have to share the same piano intro.

On the official ITunes version though it seems Czech Republic has been granted custody of the intro and Greece has changed to an electronic crescendo that has you are just waiting for someone to get the clap and yell "Cleo, Donatan!" 

 καλή τύχη!

 

Past Greece Chow Down to Eurovision:

Pickled Octopus

Greek Chicken Platter with Tzatziki

 

Chow Down to Eurovision 2015 - Belgium

Goedenavond, Bonsoir, Guten Abend, this is Belgium one of the original Eurovision countries calling.

 

In 1956, when it all began, Belgium presented 2 songs Le plus beau jour de ma vie sung by Mony Marc and Messieurs les noyés de la Seine sung by Fud Leclerc. In that year each of the 7 competing nations could enter 2 songs, could you imagine if we had 80 songs competing in this year's Eurovision!!

 

I have chosen not to harp on the fact that no one recorded the first contest and just skip a year to bring you today's Eurovision classic.

 

1957 saw Bobbejaan Schoepen sing in Dutch Straatdeuntje (streetcar), well I say sing but there was quite a large portion of whistling. Bobbejaan scored 5 points and placed 8th tying with Lys Assisa, back for Switzerland. (I bet he was wishing he had tied with her the year before!) 



 

Our Eurovision dish today is a dish so obviously Belgium I'd avoided it for 2 years, so as not to be cliché.
 
I think it is time that we all embrace the mussels from Brussels.
 
And just in case you got a little too excited and were thinking muscles....I have prepared a simple guide to help you with your mussel/muscle appreciation.
 

 

 
I could no longer put this dish off because I am lucky enough to have access to the most amazing mussels at the farmers market. Mussels are a staple dinner every 3rd Saturday of the month (the week the mussel man makes an appearance) that they had to make their way into the Chow Down to Eurovision.
 
When I head to Belgium this year there will be no relaxing with a large beer and a plate of moules frites, I will be working very hard studying the dish.
 
I may even need to study it two or three times and perhaps analyse some Belgian chocolate while I am at it, that's just how dedicated and hard working I am!!
 
There are a few sauces that have been known to accompany this dish but after I read about a blue cheese sauce, that was the only way to go.
 

Moules Frites (mussels and chips) aka Game On Moules!

Ingredients for 2 people

• 1kg mussels
• Knob of butter
• Splash of olive oil
• 1 leek chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• Handful of chopped herbs (parsley, thyme, chives, tarragon)
• 6 Kipfler potatoes
• 150g blue cheese
• 30ml olive oil
• 1/2 cup seasoned flour
• Oil for frying

For the moules (mussels)

• Clean and de-beard the mussels (I just pull the beard out and discard any mussels with broken shells)
• In a heavy based pot with lid add the splash of oil and knob of butter
• Add the leek and garlic and stir over a medium to high heat
• When the leek is soft add the white wine, mussels and put the lid on
• Cook until the mussels have opened (about 5 minutes)
• Stir through herbs and serve with chips and blue cheese dip

For frites (chips) (or buy some chips)

• In a saucepan of cold water bring the potatoes to the boil and cook till just tender
• Cool and keep in the fridge overnight
• Cut the potatoes into wedges or chips
• Coat in seasoned flour
• Cook in small batch in very hot oil till crisp

For blue cheese sauce

It is probably more of a dip than a sauce.

• With a fork mix the blue cheese and oil together until combined

 

That little orange morsel of sea sweetness and the blue cheese is a serious flavour experience "a party in your mouth" as they say!

 

Belgium will be represented in Vienna by Loïc Nottet who will perform Rhythm Inside.

 

 I am looking forward to seeing what Belgium can come up with for a stadium presentation.

Will Loïc set the audience and juries hearts a rapppabab-ing or is Rhythm Inside more of that "really cool quirky theme tune from the latest hipster HBO series"?

Or both?

Goei chance! 

 

Past Belgium Chow Down to Eurovision:

 

2014 Witlof Gratin

 

2013 Beer Soup

 

 

Chow Down to Eurovision 2014 - Lithuania

Labas vakaras this is Lithuania calling, almost our halfway point in Semi Final 2 of Chow Down to Eurovision 2014.

Often some of the best performance in Eurovision come from the background with some superb/unique vocal contribution or possibly  dancers that appear from under a tent dress, a piano and sometimes yes even a sack.

It could be a sand artist, a stripper, a drum banging granny, a Russian Olympian, or perhaps a wood fired oven just begging for some babushka's biccie.

Lithuanian is offering us another wonderful ensemble player, salad, as not every dish in the Chow Down to Eurovision needs to be a headlining artist.

In 2001 Skamp brought us some stylish backing singing, just off the party bus after a buck's night.

You got style, had a certain style but placed 13th.

In my travels around the internet (first class all the way) I found a brilliant site offering traditional Lithuanian foods and couldn't go past trying their turnip salad. This recipe is based on their recipe for Ropiø salotos

Turnip Salad
Ingredients

• 1 large turnip
• 1/2 bunch of spring onions
• 300ml sour cream
• 1/4 of a bunch of dill
• Sea salt flakes and pepper
• 1kg chat potatoes
• olive oil

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°C
• Cut potatoes in half and add to a baking dish
• Add about a 1/4 cup of olive oil, just enough to coat potato rather than swim
• Season with sea salt flakes and pepper
• Bake for about 40-45 minutes till crisp
• Peel the turnip
• Grate coarsely and squeeze out any excess liquid 
• Add to a mixing bowl
• Roughly chop the spring onions and dill
• Stir sour cream through turnips, spring onions and dill
• Season to taste
• Serve as a pimped up sour cream with the potatoes or even on it's own
• I could see this also working well as a filling with smoked salmon

Vilija Matačiūnaitė will definitely command Attention especially if she is able to make her dancer's head disappear as it does in this clip.

Will we see her go straight to the fi-fi-fi-final?

Sėkmės!

Chow Down to Eurovision 2014 - Poland

Dobry wieczór, after a 2 year absence from Eurovision this is Poland calling.

This is Poland's first entry in Chow Down to Eurovision, so please let's make them feel welcome.

The inspiration for this entry came after listening to a talk by the amazingly brilliant Magda Szubanski on reclaiming fear. (It's a must listen)

During the talk Magda speaks of family history in Poland so of course while tweeting her it was magnificent, I had to ask her for a Chow Down to Eurovision Dish! (never miss a trick)

If you don't follow her on twitter yet, you most certainly should! @MagdaSzubanski She is one of the world's good guys and I'm very thankful for her suggestion though she may not recognised the final dish. (Did I avoid crazed fan territory? I tried so hard)

 

I have played around with the idea of the pierogi and it became almost like a porcini potato gem, the best of Poland and Australia.

 

Continuing today's Magdalena theme, Magdalena Tul sang Jestem for Poland in 2011 and while it has a touch of the single ladies about it, she came last in the Semi Final.

 

Perhaps next year they could send Magda Szubanski for guaranteed douze points
(I'm calling shot gun on back ups ok?)

 

Like languages with multiple dialects there seems to be endless variations of this soup, some that are allowed to infuse for days and even ferment.

 

My homage is  perfect for when you need a super changed hit of vegetables, ok so the gems are deep fried, but think of the antioxidants!

 

Polish Beetroot Soup with Porcini Potato "Gems"

Ingredients

• 3 beetroots
• 1 parsnip
• 1 swede
• 1 turnip
• 2 brown onions
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks, with leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. peppercorns
• 5 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 bay leaves
• Big pinch of salt

Gem ingredients (about 15 gems)

• 2-3 potatoes boiled, cooled
• 50g dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 egg
• 3-4 tbs. fine semolina flour
• Panko breadcrumbs
• oil to fry
• Salt and pepper

Method

• Add beetroot to a baking dish, splash with olive oil and salt and cover with foil
• Roast in a 160°C oven for about 1 hour till tender
• Make the stock in a heavy based pot.
• The stock will be strained so the vegetables can be quartered and added whole
• Heat a splash of oil to coat the vegetables and brown for about 2 minutes
• Cover with boiling water and simmer for 2-3 hours (can be left overnight to develop)
• Strain the stock
• When the beetroots are cool, cut into fine strips (remember one man's fine is another man's chunky so don't stress, just cut)
• Add beetroot back to stock, the colour will be a brilliant purple
• Heat slowly
• Season to taste
• Serve topped with parsley or herbs of your choice, mine is a bit light on herbs due to my love of purple, I don't want to cover any of it up!

 

To make the gems

• Cover the mushrooms in cold water, let sit for 30 minutes
• Pass the cooked cooled potatoes through a ricer (medium holes)
• Drain the mushrooms and roughly chop (liquid can join the soup or be saved for later)
• Add egg, mushrooms, pinch of salt/pepper and flour
• Gently combine, the lighter the touch the lighter the gem
• Shape into desired shape and coat in breadcrumbs
• Deep fry in hot oil for 1-2 minutes
• If not too big they will float when ready like gnocchi

Donatan & Cleo will shake what their mama's gave them in My Słowianie - We Are Slavic, a touch of the not single for long ladies!

Will they twerk their way into the final?

Powodzenia!