Around the World in 80 dinner parties - Ideas please.

Amanda65

I cooked Brazilian on New Years eve and it was delicious.

I made a Feijoada for main course (used this recipe as lots use pigs ears, tongue, trotters etc :eek:)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pork-and-Black-Bean-Stew/Detail.aspx

I then made a Pudim de leite condensado for dessert and it was delicious

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/brazilian-style-flan-pudim-de-leite-condensado/Detail.aspx

The only thing I would say is that this took much longer to cook than the recipe states.

We washed it all down with Caipirinha's - lovely
http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/brasilbrasil/caipirinha/

lisa26_2

Hi all, what a fab thread! Have decided to use this as inspiration for my weekly menu planning and pick one meal from a different country each week. I've been through the thread and found 38 different countries suggested so does anyone have any more?

How about Japanese as another suggestion, I didn't see that on the list!!

Sentora

debbym wrote: »

How about dutch


ERWTENSOEP

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups split green peas
3 quarts cold water
1 pig's foot (or ham bones)
4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into squares
4 frankfurters (use your favorite sausage)
1 pound potatoes
1 celeriac, diced
1 cup celery, chopped
2 leeks, well washed and chopped
2 onions

INSTRUCTIONS:

Wash the peas, soak them for 12 hours (unless you use quick cooking peas),
and boil gently in the water they were soaked in for at least 2 hours.
Cook in this liquid the pig's foot, and bacon for at least 1 hour.
Add the sliced potatoes, salt, celeriac, leeks and celery; cook until everything tests done and the soup is smooth and thick. Add the sausage during the last 10 minutes. The longer the soup simmers,
the better the flavor. Three hours is usual. The soup thickens
-so much it can almost be cut - as it cools.

Oh you've beat me to it.... :T
BTW there is much quicker and easier recipes than that. Like the one I will be cooking tomorrow night

XXX
Sentora (Amsterdammer :cool:)

adelight

What a brilliant thread :j
I love polish, hungarian and czech food, it's so hearty and perfect for this time of year!
Someone did a polish menu on come dine with me that looked delicious, especially the beef rolls and carpathian cake!!
http://www.channel4.com/4food/on-tv/come-dine-with-me/come-dine-with-me-extras/irena-magdalewiczs-menu

Now i'm gonna have to do knedliky and cabbage stew tonight!

What about something swedish? Herring on crisp bread with salad and boiled egg to start, potato spratt casserole or meatballs for main and swedish pancakes or a cheese cake dessert.
Oooh or midsummer/smorgasbord complete with head cheese and a fika style dessert!

I do love a cuisine that values fish and pickled cabbage :rotfl:

sexymouse

Another idea for a greek starter and a greek dessert, is falafel with tzatziki or houmous (you can buy both, or get mixes to make falafel), and dessert can be greek yoghurt drizzled with walnuts and runny honey (this was a favourite of ours when we were in Rhodes).

Little_Miss_Determined

Oooh! I love this idea. I might copy it. This is my first day on this site. My sister had mentioned it but I never got round to looking at it but a bad back has meant that I've had loads of time to browse and I love it!

The cookbook 'Jamie's America' has got some great American recipes. There is a recipe for BBQ beef ribs which is amazing and there is a recipe for beer butt chicken which is undignified for the poor dead chicken but is the best chicken I've ever had!

Even though it is about American food he looks at all of the other influences that American food has had (egyptian, chienese, navajo) so it has got quite a wide range of recipes that might help.

only.partly.my.debt

I was going to say Turkish (meze's, tagine, baklava) but realised it may be similar to some of the Greek/Spanish and even Armenian ones here. Interesting...

You could use similar ingredients but cook them in the fashion of the country - e.g. Australian BBQ, NZ Maori Hangi (need to have an empty veg patch as you dig a hole, bury the raw food then build a fire on top to cook it - takes hours but I've heard only good things), stuff like that?

rosie383

Okay, here's an Algerian recipe.

Cous Cous

1-2 onions
3 cloves garlic
Meat (optional)
Or stock cube
Wee bit of veg oil
Veg such as potatoes, courgettes, carrots
Chick peas (not many, garnish really)
Salt and pepper
Ground coriander (at least 1 tbsp)
Ras el hanout -Algerian spice mixture (optional)
Tomato puree

Cous cous
Little extra oil.

Roughly chop the onions and grate the garlic. Put in a big pot with your meat (if using) and the oil. Stir for a minute or two then add maybe a couple of litres of boiling water and seasoning. Add about a dsp of tom puree at this stage. Add stock cube if using. Simmer until meat almost tender, or until sauce starting to get a bit richer.
Cut veg into big chunks and steam above your sauce. I find that if I steam the veg, they don't break up when I put them in the sauce later.
When you are happy that the sauce is tasty, remove meat, strain it and put it back in your pot. If you don't want to strain it, then grate the onion at the beginning (more MSE anyway, as you get more flavour from less onion).
Add the chick peas and about another tbsp of tom puree.
Put your cous cous in a bowl and drizzle a little olive oil over the top. Sprinkle a little salt on too. Pour boiling water over, just enough to cover it. Leave to absorb the water, maybe 10 mins. Fork it through.
Take your veg from the steamer and add to the sauce.
Put the cous cous in the steamer and leave over simmering sauce for around 10 mins WITH NO LID! This ensures it cooks without going soggy.
Adjust seasoning to taste.

Serve cous cous in a big bowl. Like a mountain shape IYKWIM. Lift the meat and veg out of sauce, and put on top of your cous cous, and ladle over a little of your sauce. Serve with a jug of sauce that people can add in dribbles as they eat. If you put too much at the start it gets too wet and is not pleasant.

We always serve with a salad and sliced red onion/ pickled chillis for those who like them.

This is a traditional way of cooking cous cous in Algeria, and very money saving. Just use whatever veg you have available. My MIL has been known to serve it with only steamed onions, as that was all she had.
I have not put measures for all the ingrediaents, as it is all a case of tasting as you go along.

The_Miser

Amanda65 wrote: »

I cooked Brazilian on New Years eve and it was delicious.

I made a Feijoada for main course (used this recipe as lots use pigs ears, tongue, trotters etc :eek:)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pork-and-Black-Bean-Stew/Detail.aspx

I then made a Pudim de leite condensado for dessert and it was delicious

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/brazilian-style-flan-pudim-de-leite-condensado/Detail.aspx

The only thing I would say is that this took much longer to cook than the recipe states.

We washed it all down with Caipirinha's - lovely
http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/brasilbrasil/caipirinha/

Tenha saudades. Sem duvida voce e brasileira pois e chamada em carioca "Suco da Leite". (I'm homesick. Undoubtedly you are Brazilian but it is called Suco de leite - milk juice) but the recipe leaves a bit to be desired!!!!!!

Instead of all that palaver get a can of sweetened condensed milk, put in a pan of water and boil for 2 hours. Open can and let it fall out, ready made. Because it is soooooo sweet, serve with thin slices of cheese - a mature Cheddar would suit.
For the feijoada I would use French "haricots" (dried white beans steeped in water) which should be cheaper and increase the bean to meat ratio. You almost cannot cook this too long.

Decent pinga (caipirinha,cachaca) is difficult to find in England; you can make a good caipiroska using vodka instead; this is also common in Brasil.

angeltreats

The Miser - I don't suppose you know a good website for Brazilian recipes? Doesn't matter if it's in Portuguese