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Category: Vegetarian

Area: Russian

Ingredients:

• 4 Potatoes
• 3 Carrots
• 1 tbs Salt
• 1/2 tbs White Wine Vinegar
• 4 Eggs
• 7 oz Sausages
• 4 oz Dill
• 1 can Peas
• 4 Onions
• 1 cup Mayonnaise

Instructions:

Cut the potatoes and carrots into small uniform cubes.
Place them in a large pot and fill with water.
Add salt and vinegar. Bring it to a boil over medium high heat, and then reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook until the potatoes are cooked through, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and let it cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, cut the sausage and pickles into small cubes, and chop the green onions.
Cut the hard-boiled eggs into small cubes as well.
If using fresh dill, chop them as well.
In a large bowl, combine potatoes, carrots, sausage, pickles, peas and green onions.
Add mayo and dill and mix until well combined.
Salt and pepper to taste. Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Category: Vegetarian

Area: Mexican

Ingredients:

• 4 whole Green Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 small finely diced Onion
• 2 cloves minced Garlic
• 1 cups Quinoa
• 1 can Black Beans
• 1 cup Sweetcorn
• 1 can Diced Tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• ½ tsp Chili Powder
• ½ tsp Smoked Paprika
• To taste Salt
• To taste Pepper
• 1 1/2 cup Shredded Mexican Cheese
• Chopped Cilantro

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish or a similar-sized casserole dish.
2. Place the bell pepper halves in the prepared baking dish, cut side up. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly softened.
3. While the bell peppers are baking, prepare the filling. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, and cook for 3-4 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic, and cook for another 1 minute, until fragrant.
4. Stir in the cooked quinoa, black beans, corn, diced tomatoes, ground cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes, until heated through. Remove the skillet from heat, and stir in 1 cup of the shredded cheese, if using.
5. Remove the bell peppers from the oven, and carefully stuff each pepper half with the quinoa and black bean mixture. Top the stuffed peppers with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, if using.
6. Return the stuffed peppers to the oven, and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the peppers are tender.
7. Remove from the oven, and allow the stuffed peppers to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.

Category: Beef

Area: Italian

Ingredients:

• 2 onions
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 500g lean minced beef
• 90g mushrooms
• 1tsp dried oregano
• 400g can tomatoes
• 300ml hot beef stock
• 1tbsp tomato puree
• 1tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 350g spaghetti
• Topping parmesan

Instructions:

Put the onion and oil in a large pan and fry over a fairly high heat for 3-4 mins. Add the garlic and mince and fry until they both brown. Add the mushrooms and herbs, and cook for another couple of mins.

Stir in the tomatoes, beef stock, tomato ketchup or purée, Worcestershire sauce and seasoning. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 mins.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling, salted water, according to packet instructions. Drain well, run hot water through it, put it back in the pan and add a dash of olive oil, if you like, then stir in the meat sauce. Serve in hot bowls and hand round Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling on top.

Category: Beef

Area: Irish

Ingredients:

• 300g soaked overnight in water whole wheat
• 2kg cut into 3cm cubes lamb loin chops
• 120ml olive oil
• 24 Skinned shallots
• 4 large carrots
• 2 turnips
• 1 celeriac
• 350g charlotte potatoes
• 150ml white wine
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 sprigs oregano
• 450ml chicken stock

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Drain and rinse the soaked wheat, put it in a medium pan with lots of water, bring to a boil and simmer for an hour, until cooked. Drain and set aside.

Season the lamb with a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper. Put one tablespoon of oil in a large, deep sauté pan for which you have a lid; place on a medium-high heat. Add some of the lamb – don't overcrowd the pan – and sear for four minutes on all sides. Transfer to a bowl, and repeat with the remaining lamb, adding oil as needed.

Lower the heat to medium and add a tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add the shallots and fry for four minutes, until caramelised. Tip these into the lamb bowl, and repeat with the remaining vegetables until they are all nice and brown, adding more oil as you need it.

Once all the vegetables are seared and removed from the pan, add the wine along with the sugar, herbs, a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Boil on a high heat for about three minutes.

Tip the lamb, vegetables and whole wheat back into the pot, and add the stock. Cover and boil for five minutes, then transfer to the oven for an hour and a half.

Remove the stew from the oven and check the liquid; if there is a lot, remove the lid and boil for a few minutes.

Category: Seafood

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 1kg Potatoes
• Knob Butter
• Dash Milk
• 50g Gruyère
• 75g Butter
• 2 sliced Leek
• 75g Plain Flour
• 150ml White Wine
• 568ml Milk
• 2 tbs chopped Parsley
• 250g Salmon
• 250g Haddock
• 250g Smoked Haddock
• 6 Eggs

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 (180C fan).
Put the potatoes into a saucepan of cold salted water. Bring up to the boil and simmer until completely tender. Drain well and then mash with the butter and milk. Add pepper and taste to check the seasoning. Add salt and more pepper if necessary.
For the fish filling, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the leeks and stir over the heat. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 10 minutes, or until soft. Measure the flour into a small bowl. Add the wine and whisk together until smooth.
Add the milk to the leeks, bring to the boil and then add the wine mixture. Stir briskly until thickened. Season and add the parsley and fish. Stir over the heat for two minutes, then spoon into an ovenproof casserole. Scatter over the eggs. Allow to cool until firm.
Spoon the mashed potatoes over the fish mixture and mark with a fork. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown on top and bubbling around the edges.

Category: Dessert

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 175g Butter
• 175g Caster Sugar
• 140g Self-raising Flour
• 50g Almonds
• ½ tsp Baking Powder
• 3 Medium Eggs
• ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
• ¼ teaspoon Almond Extract
• 175g Butter
• 175g Caster Sugar
• 140g Self-raising Flour
• 50g Almonds
• ½ tsp Baking Powder
• 3 Medium Eggs
• ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
• ¼ teaspoon Almond Extract
• ½ tsp Pink Food Colouring
• 200g Apricot
• 1kg Marzipan
• Dusting Icing Sugar

Instructions:

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line the base and sides of a 20cm square tin with baking parchment (the easiest way is to cross 2 x 20cm-long strips over the base). To make the almond sponge, put the butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and almond extract in a large bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until the mix comes together smoothly. Scrape into the tin, spreading to the corners, and bake for 25-30 mins – when you poke in a skewer, it should come out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling while you make the second sponge.
For the pink sponge, line the tin as above. Mix all the ingredients together as above, but don’t add the almond extract. Fold in some pink food colouring. Then scrape it all into the tin and bake as before. Cool.
To assemble, heat the jam in a small pan until runny, then sieve. Barely trim two opposite edges from the almond sponge, then well trim a third edge. Roughly measure the height of the sponge, then cutting from the well-trimmed edge, use a ruler to help you cut 4 slices each the same width as the sponge height. Discard or nibble leftover sponge. Repeat with pink cake.
Take 2 x almond slices and 2 x pink slices and trim so they are all the same length. Roll out one marzipan block on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar to just over 20cm wide, then keep rolling lengthways until the marzipan is roughly 0.5cm thick. Brush with apricot jam, then lay a pink and an almond slice side by side at one end of the marzipan, brushing jam in between to stick sponges, and leaving 4cm clear marzipan at the end. Brush more jam on top of the sponges, then sandwich remaining 2 slices on top, alternating colours to give a checkerboard effect. Trim the marzipan to the length of the cakes.
Carefully lift up the marzipan and smooth over the cake with your hands, but leave a small marzipan fold along the bottom edge before you stick it to the first side. Trim opposite side to match size of fold, then crimp edges using fingers and thumb (or, more simply, press with prongs of fork). If you like, mark the 10 slices using the prongs of a fork.
Assemble second Battenberg and keep in an airtight box or well wrapped in cling film for up to 3 days. Can be frozen for up to a month.

Category: Beef

Area: Italian

Ingredients:

• 2 onions
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 500g lean minced beef
• 90g mushrooms
• 1tsp dried oregano
• 400g can tomatoes
• 300ml hot beef stock
• 1tbsp tomato puree
• 1tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 350g spaghetti
• Topping parmesan

Instructions:

Put the onion and oil in a large pan and fry over a fairly high heat for 3-4 mins. Add the garlic and mince and fry until they both brown. Add the mushrooms and herbs, and cook for another couple of mins.

Stir in the tomatoes, beef stock, tomato ketchup or purée, Worcestershire sauce and seasoning. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 mins.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling, salted water, according to packet instructions. Drain well, run hot water through it, put it back in the pan and add a dash of olive oil, if you like, then stir in the meat sauce. Serve in hot bowls and hand round Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling on top.

Category: Dessert

Area: Polish

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Butter
• 3 Egg Yolks
• 8 oz Cream Cheese
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 3 cups Flour
• 1 Jar Jam

Instructions:

In a medium bowl mix egg yolks, philly cheese and baking powder using a hand held mixer. Carefully start adding the flour. When the mixture will not be mixing well, and will look like wood chips, put away the blending mixer and using your hands knead the dough.
Create a roll and cover in foil and freeze for 15 minutes. At this time preheat the oven to 375.
Take the dough out and separate into two. Roll and cut out 3 inch trangles.
Make as many as you can and on centre of each put a small spoon of jam. Roll them into a croissant shape.
Place the croissants onto a greased cookie sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
Repeat with the rest of the dough.
When you take them out, put aside and sprinkle with powdered sugar on top.
This makes about 3 batches of 20 cookies each.
Total count about 60 cookies.

Category: Vegan

Area: Italian

Ingredients:

• 1 cups green red lentils
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1 small zucchini
• sprinking coriander
• 150g spinach
• 10 lasagne sheets
• 35g vegan butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 300ml soya milk
• 1.5 teaspoons mustard
• 1 teaspoon vinegar

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
2) Boil vegetables for 5-7 minutes, until soft. Add lentils and bring to a gentle simmer, adding a stock cube if desired. Continue cooking and stirring until the lentils are soft, which should take about 20 minutes.
3) Blanch spinach leaves for a few minutes in a pan, before removing and setting aside.
4) Top up the pan with water and cook the lasagne sheets. When cooked, drain and set aside.
5) To make the sauce, melt the butter and add the flour, then gradually add the soya milk along with the mustard and the vinegar. Cook and stir until smooth and then assemble the lasagne as desired in a baking dish.
6) Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes.

Category: Vegan

Area: Spanish

Ingredients:

• 6 small Baby Aubergine
• 4 small Fennel
• 1 thinly sliced Red Pepper
• 1 medium Courgettes
• 1 finely chopped Onion
• 300g Paella Rice
• 1 tsp Paprika
• pinch Saffron
• 200ml White Wine
• 700ml Vegetable Stock
• 100g Frozen Peas
• 1 chopped Lemon
• Handful Parsley
• pinch Salt
• pinch Black Pepper

Instructions:

1 Put the fennel, aubergine, pepper and courgette in a roasting tray. Add a glug of olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss around to coat the veggies in the oil. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, turning a couple of times until the veg are pretty much cooked through and turning golden.

2 Meanwhile, heat a paella pan or large frying pan over a low– medium heat and add a glug of olive oil. Sauté the onion for 8–10 minutes until softened. Increase the heat to medium and stir in the rice, paprika and saffron. Cook for around 1 minute to start toasting the rice, then add the white wine. Reduce by about half before stirring in two-thirds of the stock. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes without a lid, stirring a couple of times.

3 Stir in the peas, add some seasoning, then gently mix in the roasted veg. Pour over the remaining stock, arrange the lemon wedges on top and cover with a lid or some aluminium foil. Cook for a further 10 minutes.

4 To ensure you get the classic layer of toasted rice at the bottom of the pan, increase the heat to high until you hear a slight crackle. Remove from the heat and sit for 5 minutes before sprinkling over the parsley and serving.