On June 11th, as I tuned into South Africa v Mexico, I warned Abby that the next few weeks may not be so fun for her. She is being a good sport about it––thanks to our HDTV she can finally see the ball.
To make things interesting Abby suggested World Cup Suppers. The dishes I prepare must be influenced by the cuisine of any or all of the non-losers (as it is possible to tie in the Group Stage).
Friday:
South Africa v. Mexico; France v. Uruguay:
I had already planned to make tacos using a grass-fed flank steak. Thankfully Mexico tied South Africa.
Picco de Gallo:
1x Vine ripened Tomato, brunoise
1x Yellow Boy Tomato, brunoise
1x Shallot, brunoise
Cilantro, to taste
Lime Juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cut tomato and shallot into brunoise, or very fine dice. Wash and dry cilantro, remove large stalks, and roughly chop. Add cilantro. Cilantro can be quite strong tasting and some people don't like it's taste. I don't recommend omitting the cilantro, if you don't like it only add a bit, or, substitute part or all for parsley––the green is vital to visual presentation of the salsa. Squeeze in fresh lime juice, about 1/2 a lime depending of how juicy your limes are. Add salt and pepper to taste. Rest for at least 10 minutes to allow flavours to marry.
I pan fried the steak with a light Mexican rub––I use a mix of dried chilies, cocoa, star anise, cloves, salt, pepper, brown sugar, coriander seeds, celery seed, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder. Sear 1 side over high heat, turn and reduce heat to medium, and cook to desired 'done-ness'
Saturday:
Korea v. Greece; Argentina v. Nigeria; England v. U.S.A.:
Because of work on Saturdays dinners are usually light and easy to prepare. We ate a collection of Welsh and Scottish cheeses––we don't have English cheese at the shop, and besides the English have a habit of claiming things Welsh and Scottish as their own.
Sunday:
Algeria v. Slovenia; Serbia v. Ghana; Germany v. Australia:
I must admit total ignorance of the cuisine of the first four teams, and their national cuisine. I discovered that Slovenian food is greatly influenced by Italian cuisine, and since Italy is playing today––the following day––I chose not to make Slovenian food.
Ghanaian cooking, it turns out, uses a lot of starch mashes, cassava, yam, and plenty of plantain, or slow roasted stews. I was fearful that dinner was going to be bratwurst and potato salad, then I found this recipe at africawithin.com:
1x Yellow Boy Tomato, brunoise
1x Shallot, brunoise
Cilantro, to taste
Lime Juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cut tomato and shallot into brunoise, or very fine dice. Wash and dry cilantro, remove large stalks, and roughly chop. Add cilantro. Cilantro can be quite strong tasting and some people don't like it's taste. I don't recommend omitting the cilantro, if you don't like it only add a bit, or, substitute part or all for parsley––the green is vital to visual presentation of the salsa. Squeeze in fresh lime juice, about 1/2 a lime depending of how juicy your limes are. Add salt and pepper to taste. Rest for at least 10 minutes to allow flavours to marry.
I pan fried the steak with a light Mexican rub––I use a mix of dried chilies, cocoa, star anise, cloves, salt, pepper, brown sugar, coriander seeds, celery seed, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder. Sear 1 side over high heat, turn and reduce heat to medium, and cook to desired 'done-ness'
Saturday:
Korea v. Greece; Argentina v. Nigeria; England v. U.S.A.:
Because of work on Saturdays dinners are usually light and easy to prepare. We ate a collection of Welsh and Scottish cheeses––we don't have English cheese at the shop, and besides the English have a habit of claiming things Welsh and Scottish as their own.
Sunday:
Algeria v. Slovenia; Serbia v. Ghana; Germany v. Australia:
I must admit total ignorance of the cuisine of the first four teams, and their national cuisine. I discovered that Slovenian food is greatly influenced by Italian cuisine, and since Italy is playing today––the following day––I chose not to make Slovenian food.
Ghanaian cooking, it turns out, uses a lot of starch mashes, cassava, yam, and plenty of plantain, or slow roasted stews. I was fearful that dinner was going to be bratwurst and potato salad, then I found this recipe at africawithin.com:
Avocado Salad with Groundnut Dressing:
2x Avocado, chunked or sliced
15ml Lemon Juice
30ml Groundnuts/Peanuts
2.5ml Paprika
2.5ml Cinnamon
Cayenne, to taste
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Remove pit from avocados, and cube. Add lemon juice and toss to coat, set aside.
I used Sudani peanuts, which many bulk stores carry (Sudani peanuts have a pinkish, streaky skin). Remove skin from nuts and crush using the heel of your knife, a coffee grinder, or a mortar and pestle. Add spices. I sub'ed paprika for a 50/50 blend of a spicy North African chili powder and Hungarian paprika, and omitted the cayenne.
I made the mistake of blending the peanut/spice mix with the lemon juice, which I do not suggest. Adding the lemon juice to the spices turns the spices into a kind of paste that is hard to coat the avocado with. Also, I only had one avocado, but left all other ratios as is. If you only have one avocado halve the recipe, otherwise the dressing eclipses the delicate taste of the avocado. The lack of oil totally freaked me out, so I added about 1/2 a tablespoon of really high quality Spanish olive oil, if you have avocado oil, it would be preferable (only add olive oil if you have a really delicate one with nice fruity and grassy notes to compliment the avocado).
This salad turned out much better than I had expected. I would use hot paprika rather than sweet, and probably smoked rather than plain.
The main consisted of deli bought schnitzel, and garlic rubbed, oven toasted, potato chive bread topped with tomato shallot concasse mix.
15ml Lemon Juice
30ml Groundnuts/Peanuts
2.5ml Paprika
2.5ml Cinnamon
Cayenne, to taste
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Remove pit from avocados, and cube. Add lemon juice and toss to coat, set aside.
I used Sudani peanuts, which many bulk stores carry (Sudani peanuts have a pinkish, streaky skin). Remove skin from nuts and crush using the heel of your knife, a coffee grinder, or a mortar and pestle. Add spices. I sub'ed paprika for a 50/50 blend of a spicy North African chili powder and Hungarian paprika, and omitted the cayenne.
I made the mistake of blending the peanut/spice mix with the lemon juice, which I do not suggest. Adding the lemon juice to the spices turns the spices into a kind of paste that is hard to coat the avocado with. Also, I only had one avocado, but left all other ratios as is. If you only have one avocado halve the recipe, otherwise the dressing eclipses the delicate taste of the avocado. The lack of oil totally freaked me out, so I added about 1/2 a tablespoon of really high quality Spanish olive oil, if you have avocado oil, it would be preferable (only add olive oil if you have a really delicate one with nice fruity and grassy notes to compliment the avocado).
This salad turned out much better than I had expected. I would use hot paprika rather than sweet, and probably smoked rather than plain.
The main consisted of deli bought schnitzel, and garlic rubbed, oven toasted, potato chive bread topped with tomato shallot concasse mix.
Interesting culinary challenge, matching soccer teams.
ReplyDeleteClearly, it is necessary to root for the teams whose national cuisine is appealing. You may have culinary repeats as they close in via the round robin process.
You can be thankful that soccer is not played in Nunavut and Antactica. Braised blubber with a side of raw seal?
I think not.