For the Love of Food

Well, I am quite pleased to say that our potluck was a huge success.  Not only did we had over 30 people show up for dinner, but we had many people show-up in the morning to help with our garden Spring Cleaning event.  And, after many hours of hard work in the garden and in front of the grill, we were all ready to sit down and share a nice large meal together.

The buffet was full and everything was picked away to the last piece!  The chocolate-coated fruit was a huge hit with the children and it was gone within minutes!

The whole event was such a great success and made all our gardeners so happy that they asked what we had to do to have another event like this.  I got so many compliments on organizing the event and thanks to our “sponsor” – Foodbuzz – for making this possible.  So…we are thinking and hopefully next month we will come-up with something new and exciting for Foodbuzz 24,24,24 again.

See recipes bellow:

Roasted Suckling Pig for 30 (recipe from Nermin – Bosnian)

Ingredients:
1 whole 20-25 kg Suckling Pig
~10-15 Tablespoons Salt

10-20 kg high quality Wood Charcoal (if it’s cold outside you need more, if it’s warm outside you need less)
Lighter fluid

Directions:
The evening before roasting:

Remove all organs, if any left in, from the pig and reserve for another occasion (or feed them to your dog). Rub in inside of the pig with about 2 handfuls of salt before adding the spit.

To add the spit start in the rear opening, push through the body, and come out through the mouth. Secure the pig to the spit on each side and in the center (interior). With a spark knife, cut a hole in each thigh and under arm and fill with salt – rub in with your finger. Rub another 4 handfuls of salt on the inside of the pig and then hang the spit in a safe, cool, and insect-free location. Our best option was to close it in the grill over night because it is still very cold outside nights.

The day of the roasting:

Set up your spit with it’s motor work. Place a pile of good charcoal under each end of the pig – make the pile under the thighs slightly larger than the one under the underarms. Keep the charcoal away from the center of the pig because it is very thin and will cook more quickly than the thighs and underarms. Pour lighter fluid over each pile of charcoal and set on fire. Turn the motor of the spit on so that the pig is rotating constantly. Close the barbecue doors and open to check every 15 minutes. Once the skin of the pig starts to lightly bubble, poke the skin with a knife to release the juices and scratch of the juice that runs down the pig until juice is no longer running out of the holes.

Continue to roast for a total of 5-6 hours – checking every 15 minutes to make sure that the charcoal is still warm and that the pig is not burning in any location. It should be a nice dark golden red when done.

Remove the pig on the spit from the barbecue and lean against something stable while it cools for about 10 minutes. Someone needs to sit in front of it and shoe the flies away. Once the initial cooling is done, wrap with a blanket so that it’s completely covered and tie closed. Let cool for another 2 hour (roasted suckling pig tastes best at room temperature and not hot). Remove from spit and cut into manageable chunks.

Serve with bread and salad. Makes enough for about 30 adults.

Montenegrin Goulash for 15 (recipe from Sdravgo – Montenegrin)

Ingredients:
2,5 kg Onions, pured
8 oz. Vegetable Oil
~6 Liters Water
4 Tablespoons + to taste Salt
1 kg Carrots, pured
3 kg Bell Peppers (mixture of red, green, and yellow), pured
5 kg Beef (knuckle), cut into 2″ cubes
4 teaspoons dry Parsley
4 teaspoons dry Celery Leaves
4 teaspoons dry Basil
4 teaspoons dry Rosemary
4 teaspoons spicy Paprika
4 teaspoons Garlic Powder
4-5 Bay Leaves
4 teaspoons Pepper
4 teaspoons Vegeta
300 Tomato Sauce
1,5 kg Potatoes, peeled and diced

Directions:

In a food processor, pure, separately, onions, carrots, and bell peppers – keep in separate plates – so that the raw vegetables are as small as possible.

Add the onions with 1/2C oil in a huge pot over medium heat and stir constantly. Add 2 tablespoons of salt and continue to stir constantly. After about 15 minutes, once the onions are soft, add the carrots and mix well. Add about 1 cup of water and stir constantly until the carrots are soft. Then, add the bell peppers, mix, add about 2 cups of water, and continue to stir constantly until the bell pepper have softened.

Rinse the beef in water, cut into 2″ cubed and place in a large bowl. Toss with 2 tablespoons of Salt and add meat to vegetable mixture and mix in. Continue to stir constantly…for 1 hour.

After 1 hour of stirring add about 5 liters of water and the parsley, celery leaves, basil, and rosemary. Continue to stir constantly for another hour.

After 1 hour add all other spices, tomato sauce, and salt to taste – mix well. Stir constantly for another 30 minutes, taste and regulate spices to your liking. Add potatoes and continue to stir constantly for another 30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through and starting to fall apart.

Serve immediately or remove from heat and let sit and reheat for about 5 minutes before serving. Serve with bread.

Makes about 15 main dish servings.

Herb Butter (recipe from Ingrid – German)

Ingredients:
250 grams Butter, softened
Salz, to taste
a few drop of fresh Lemon Juice
a handful of Herbs, such as: Wild Garlic, Chives, Parsley, Thyme, Oregano, Tarragon, Burnet, Sorrel, Bishop’s Weed, Pilewort, Chickweed, and other herbs that have fresh small leaves on them – minced

Directions:
Mix the butter and the minced herbs together. Add salt and a few drops of lemon juice to taste. Press the mixture around with a fork until well combined.

Place the mixture in a serving container and let harden in the refrigerator.

Goes well on bread, or melted over hot grilled vegetables or grilled meat.

Makes about 1 cup.

Peperonata (recipe from Frida – Italian)

Ingredients:
6 large Bell Peppers (red, yellow, green, orange), seeded and chopped
4 Tablespoons of Vegetable Oil
250 grams Onion, chopped
2 – 3 cloves Garlic, cut into thin sclices
2 Bay Leaves
500 grams canned Whole Tomatoes, quartered
Salt, to taste
freshly ground Pepper, to taste

Directions:
In a large pot heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and bay leaves and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers, mix, cover and let cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt, and pepper, mix and let simmer, uncovered, until the liquid has almost completely condensed.

Remove the bay leaves and add more salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot or cold. It goes well as a side dish to grilled meat or as an appetizer.

Makes about 5 cups.

Buckwheat Crepe Rolls (recipe from Sabine – German)

Ingredients:
5 Buckwheat Crepes
1 small package of Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tablespoons Chervil, diced
12 thin strips of Lox

Directions:
Coat each crepe on one side with cream cheese and sprinkle with chervil. Layer with strips of lox and roll tightly. Slice into thin strips. Serve cold – they start to unroll in the warm weather.

Perfect Texan Salsa (recipe from me – USA)

Ingredients:
800 grams canned Whole Roma Tomatoes, juice drained
1 small Red Onion, quartered
1 green Turkish Chili
1 Cup fresh Cilantro, roughly chopped (including stems)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
juice of 2 Limes
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Pepper (rough grind)

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until all pieces are very small. Serve with tortilla chips.

Makes 2 cups.

Caesar Salad (recipe from me – USA)

Ingredients:
Dressing:
4 cloves Garlic, chopped
4 slices Anchovy, diced
2 teaspoons Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tablespoon Dry White Wine
1 teaspoon Whole Grain Mustard
1 teaspoon Mustard
Juice for 3/4 medium Lemon
1 Egg Yolk
1 Cup Mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Parmesan Cheese

Salad:
1 head Romain Lettuce, washed, dried, and chopped
the greens of 5 Green Onions, sliced
4 slices cooked Bacon, crumbled

Directions:
Dressing:
With a mortar and pestle crush the garlic, anchovy, salt, and pepper into a fine paste. Mix in the Worcestershire sauce and wine. Whisk in the mustards, lemon juice, egg yolk, mayonnaise, and Parmesan until the well combined and the color of the mixture has lightened to a light yellow.

Makes 1.5 cups.

Salad:
Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Toss on dressing a few tablespoons at a time until desired amount has been reached. Serve immediately.

Serves 10.

Chocolate Covered Fruit (recipe from Elke – French)

Ingredients:
an assortment of fresh fruit: Strawberry, Pineapple, Banana, etc
a bar of Chocolate

Directions:
Melt chocolate, stick fruit with toothpicks, dip in chocolate, set on a serving tray and let cool.

Apple Strudel – (recipe from Andreas – German)

Ingredients:
Dough:
1 Egg
1/8 Liter warm Water
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
350 grams Flour
1 pinch Salt

Filling:
2 Kg Apples, peeled and diced
Raisins
choped Nuts
Cinnamon
Sugar
melted Butter
Bread Crumbs
Powder Sugar

Directions:
Whisk the egg, warm water, and oil together in a bowl and mix/kneed with the flour and salt. Kneed until the dough no longer sticks to your fingers, about 15-20 minutes. Then, form into a ball and let rest for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 180°C (356°F).

Roll out the dough (the dough recipe is enough to make 2 strudels) until it’s “so thin that you can read a newspaper through it” (as his mother would say). Lay the finished dough onto a kitchen towel, brush on melted butter, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and chopped nuts. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking pan. With the help of the kitchen towel, roll the strudel into a roll and place on the baking pan. Brush the strudel with melted butter. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar and eat.

Dishes brought to the meal without recipes:

Salad – Vietnames

Obatzter – German

Sausage wraps – ??

Greek Salad

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