Carmelized Red Onion Tarts with Sausage, Pinenuts & Sage

The tarts are very simplistic in that they sausage meat, pine nuts & sage baked on a bed of carmelized onions. They are super easy to get together and the end result is delicious.

Italian Breadcrumbs

Every now and again you stumble onto a recipe that you know will be with you for a very long time…..an absolute piece of pure genius that every time you eat it, you enjoy every single bite and cannot wait to make it again

Well this recipe for Italian Breadcrumbs is one such recipe…..

Quesadillas

This recipe is an old favourite of mine. Its just so easy & as well perfect for when you are having lots of people over for an evening in your house. You make up your cheese mixture keep it in the fridge, then cook when the people arrive or when they get hungry. Just keep going until the cheese mixture is finished. Add cooked shredded chicken or prawns to make different types.

I remember stumbling onto this recipe that was written to be cooked on a BBQ – you roll the tortillas up & wrap in 2 layers of tin foil and place on a warm BBQ. It works well but tends to be very messy when eating.  

What I have attached below is the original quesadilla recipe – Quesadilla in Spanish means cheesy tortilla and in practise it is a glorified cheese sandwich. You can really add whatever it is you like to the below basic ingredients – if you do not like one of them remove and add what you do like.

Vegetarian Club Sandwich

There is nothing quite like a good sandwich, it is something that I am quite the expert at, I got to say. So what makes the perfect sandwich? 

Essientially it is ingredients that all compliment each other in taste and flavour, something you got to be able to take in your hands. If you eat your sandwich with a knife & fork there is something wrong….

If you check the Sandwich section to my blog you will see some other sandwich ideas but today I am going to talk about the Club Sandwich. 

There are a few golden rules in my book here before we start:

- The Club Sandwich is always a triple decker affair

- The Bread should be really fresh
- You will toast the middle piece of bread and let this get cool – this will offer the sandwich a delicious crispy crunch when you bite into it
- Use only fresh ingredients for best results (treat yourself to top quality tomatoes and cheese)
- Divide your sandwich into 2 distinct sandwichs that will sit on top of each other. You want the flavours here to compliment each other and not battle against each other.
- Use my Tomato Chutney in this sandwich

Day 20: Pannekoeken (Pancakes)

Day 20: Quarter Finals
The Netherlands 2 Brazil 1
Uruguay 1 Ghana 1 (Uruguay win 4-2 on pens)

Pancakes are most certainly not Dutch in their origin but when you live in a country with no apparent food culture you got to go with what you can get. The Dutch do however love their Pannenkoek especially at Dinner time, with Pannenkoek houses very popular offering a wide range of both sweet and savory options on pancakes.

Day 16: The Hamburger

Day 16:
Uruguay 2 South Korea 1
Ghana 2 USA 1

With it origins from Hamburg, Germany but its widespread appeal coming from America there is nothing tastier than cooking up your own burger and of course your own favourite garnish.

A quarter pounder is a little over 100g so a safe bet is to give yourself 100g of mince per burger. Making the burger itself is just a matter of combining everything in the right order. Starting with the mince and the egg yoke, when you add the egg yoke you can straight away feel the change in the texture of the meat as the egg infuses around it.

Day 8: Serbian Cevapcici

Day 8

Serbia 1 Germany 0

Slovenia 2 USA 2

England 0 Algeria 0

World Cup Kitchen is a Serbian Cevapcici  

This kebab like sausage originates from the Balkans and is considered the National Dish of Serbia and is also common in Slovenia. The ingredients differ from country to country but in essence it is a combination of minced meats and spices.

Day 4: Broodje Kaas (Delux)

Day 4

Holland 2 Denmark 0
Japan 1 Cameroon 0
Italy 1 Paraguay 1

World Cup Kitchen will be a Dutch Cheese Sandwich…well a super deluxe version!

Very simply the sandwich is marinated tomatoes (olive oil, chilli & garlic) with fresh basil leaves and a white cheese (port salut, gruyere, fontina) all toasted on a pan on very thick fresh wholemeal bread.

Day 3: Chicken & Leek Pie

Day 3
South Korea 2 Greece 0
Ghana 1 Serbia 0
Germany 4 Australia 0

World Cup Kitchen is an Australian Meat Pie -  a Chicken & Leek pie

When I lived in Australia the one thing I loved more than anything was their meat pies. Shakespeare Pies in Newtown, Sydney was a regular of mine and since I have returned to Europe I do miss the widespread availability of a good meat pie.

Therefore it was logical that in Australia's first game I would try to best create a Aussie Pie. They are best prepared in individual pie dishes but I have looked all over Amsterdam for them but with no success, so I just prepared them in a larger baking tray/dish.

Tuna Melt

There are many ways to make a tuna melt so there is no right or wrong way. 

My way has been tweaked over the years but the basic principles of it remain the same.

The Golf Sandwich

Played my first round of golf yesterday. For some reason I always associate eating a sausage roll with golf….I know that sounds like the start of some new Tiger Woods joke but in aint.

When your out on the course you do get hungry and a banana just doesn’t cut it – we always have sausage rolls out on the course as they as easy to eat, tasty and filling. So for yesterday I decided to make my slant on this......  

"The Sausage Sandwich"

The Toasted Sandwich

Growing up we always had a toasted sandwich maker on the go whenever we wanted or needed something quick and tasty. My Dad was quite the experimenter when it came to different sandwiches and it was him that first introduced me to the concept of cooking raw egg in a sandwich. As you seal up the sandwich the beauty of it is that you create an envelope of goodness as it cooks everything inside in a sort of steamed pocket.

Guacamole

A very simple and easy way to make Mexican Guacamole 

Check my tabbed labels and Mexican to see some recipes to use Guacamole with


Ingredients                                              

Avocado

Half red onion

Small tomato                                          
Juice of 1 lime                                           

Black Pepper                                              
Spoon of Mayonnaise                                      
Spoon of Salsa/Sweet Chilli sauce 

Mozzarella Garlic Bread

Been playing around for quite some years at always making my own garlic bread as it is always so much tastier and cheaper than the ready made options you buy in the 
supermarkets. Also when making the butter you can really play around with it and make it to your own taste. My personal preference is a garlic & herb butter with a sprinkling of garlic salt & black pepper also in the mix.