5 Different Dishes From Across Europe
We love to try different dishes from all over the world. Here, we summarise 5 very popular European dishes:
Dish 1 - Main
Swedish Meatballs - (Ikea inspired)
Ingredients
1 onion, small
2 slices white sandwich bread , crusts removed, chopped into small cubes
300g minced meat (beef)
300g minced meat (pork)
1 egg
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground mixed/all spice
1/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
For the Gravy
40g butter, unsalted
3 tbsp flour
500ml beef stock (salt reduced)
100ml double cream
Preparation
Cut the onion in half and grate the onion into a bowl. Make sure to scrape off any excess onion and juices into the bowl. Next, add the bread (sliced into cubes) and mix well to make sure to get all of the onion juice. It should make the bread pieces soggy, however if not, just add a small splash of milk. Add the remaining meatball ingredients except the oil and knead the mixture to make sure it's fully mixed. After mixing, take a tablespoon, measure each meatball equally and roll into a ball shape. You should be able to make roughly 25 - 30 meatballs.
Cooking the meatballs
STEP 1
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add half the meatballs and brown all over (but raw inside still) - about 3 minutes. Remove onto plate, then brown the remaining batch. If there is lots of oil, pour off excess and discard.
Gravy
STEP 1
Lower the heat to medium and add butter into the frying pan . Once melted add flour and stir in. Cook for 1 minute.
STEP 2
While mixing, add about 1/4 of the stock - it will thicken quickly. Then gradually add remaining beef broth, stirring as you go. Whisk if needed to make it lump free.
STEP 3
When the liquid is simmering, add meatballs from the plate to the pan. Turn up the heat slightly to keep it at a rapid simmer. Cook for 8 - 10 minutes or until the liquid thickens into a thin gravy, stirring occasionally. Finally add in the cream, simmer for a further 2 minutes then remove from the stove.
Dish 2 - Dessert
Black Forest Gateau -Germany
Ingredients
6 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g golden caster sugar
50g cocoa powder
100g plain flour
150g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing
150g dark chocolate
Cherry jam
40 pitted black cherries, fresh or tinned For the cherry syrup
175g golden caster sugar
2 tbsp cherry juice / apple juice
For the Cream
750ml whipping cream
75g golden caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp cherry juice / apple juice
Preparation
In a large bowl start to make the cake mixture mix together eggs, vanilla and sugar together whisk until thick . Sift the cocoa powder and flour together, then fold in. Next stir in the melted butter.
Next prepare the chocolate shavings for decorations. Shave the block of chocolate using the long side on a grater or by using a potato peeler. Once the whole block is shaved, place the shavings in the fridge to chill.
STEP 1
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Next line 2 identical cake tins with baking paper and grease them with butter (or alternatively use the same tin twice). Divide the cake mixture equally in each tin and bake for 20-25 minutes. Once you have checked the cake is cooked by using the end of a butter knife, leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes. After the cakes have cooled down, turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
STEP 2
Next make the syrup, put 200ml water and the sugar in a pan; bring to the boil for 5 minutes. Leave to cool; stir in the plain cherry juice / apple juice.
Now make the cream, whip the cream and sugar together. Once whipped, fold in the vanilla and cherry juice / apple juice.
STEP 3
Now for the fun part time to assemble the cake. Cut each cake layer in half horizontally. Use a knife to level the tops if necessary.
Place one layer of cake on a serving plate. Brush the cake generously with cherry syrup. Spread over the cherry jam and layer with whipped cream approximately 1cm deep and spread evenly. Top with approximately 1 cup of cherries and gently press them into the whipped cream. Repeat with the remaining layers . Once you have finished, brush on the remaining cherry syrup on the outside of the cake and cover the top and sides with the remaining cream.
STEP 4
Finally you can decorate with your black forest gateau. Get the chocolate shavings out of the fridge and start sticking them around the sides of the cake. Lastly top of the cake with the remaining cherries.
Dish 3 - Dessert
Loukoumades - Greek doughnuts
Ingredients
175g plain flour
2 tbsp light muscovado sugar
zest of 1 orange
1 tsp fast action yeast
160ml warm water
oil for deep frying
1 tsp cinnamon
100g caster sugar
Serve with honey / nutella / chocolate sauce
STEP 1
Put the flour, sugar, orange zest and yeast in a bowl with a pinch of salt and gradually stir in 160ml warm water. Keep stirring until you have a runny, sticky dough. You can do this in a mixer. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. This will take at least an hour.
STEP 2
Once the dough is risen, scoop your dough into a plastic piping bag. Place a saucepan over medium high heat and fill with no more than 1/3 full of oil. Heat until a pinch of flour will sizzle quickly. Whilst the oil heats up, lay some kitchen paper on a tray and mix the cinnamon and sugar together in a large bowl.
STEP 3 When the oil is ready, squeeze out marble-sized blobs of dough out of your piping bag. You might want to use a pair of scissors to snip the dough into small blobs (no bigger than walnuts) straight into the oil. Do this very carefully so you don’t splash oil onto yourself. Cook the doughnuts in batches, turning them over until a deep golden brown. Lift them out with a slotted spoon, tip them onto the paper to drain briefly and then toss them into the sugar. Repeat with the remaining dough.
STEP 4 When all are done, drizzle some honey over the top or dip them into some nutella/ chocolate sauce.
Dish 4 - Lunch
Norwegian Lemon & Shrimp Sandwiches
Ingredients
4 bake at home petit pains/rolls
15g butter
400g uncooked peeled shrimps
100g mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 teaspoons snipped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Serve with lettuce leaves and sliced tomato
Directions
STEP 1
Bake petit pains/rolls in the oven as per on pack instructions. Slice open after baking.
STEP 2
Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat butter over medium heat. Add shrimp; cook and stir 3-4 minutes or until shrimp turn pink.
STEP 3
In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper until blended. Add shrimp; toss to coat. Spoon shrimp mixture into the bun . If you fancy , top with lettuce and tomato.
Dish 5 - Drink
Virgin Peach Bellini - Italian
Ingredients - serves 5
2 ripe peaches (peeled, pit removed & sliced)
500ml peach juice (available at eg. Sainsbury’s, Waitrose & Ocado, or choose a peach variant juice)
500ml sparkling apple or grape juice
1 small pack (150g) raspberries for garnish
Ice
Directions
STEP 1
First put the sliced peaches and peach juice into a blender and blend until completely smooth.
STEP 2 Next add the sparkling juice and blend for a couple seconds just until mixture comes together. (optional you can add some ice into the blender to make a slushy consistency)
STEP 3 Put the ice into the serving cups and pour over and finish it off with raspberries for garnish.
Edibee
At Edibee we are always thinking about food and we would love to be part of your food journey too. Whether this is by learning more about foods from different cultures, trying to cook something new with the kids or making food more fun with the right accessories. You can follow us on our adventure of tried and experienced recipes filled with flavour and healthy benefits. We have cuisine packs jam packed with information about the recipes and fun activities for the children. They are bundled with fun facts about the countries where the dishes originate from encouraging learning for the children.