Estonia

Christmas food

Already some time ago, but I noticed that it would fit on the blog. A friend from Estonia, Raili, took this photo for me (we told each other to take a photo of our Christmas food :D). So, this is a Christmas food from an Estonian family. My friend loved it.

Finland

Makaroonilaatikko

Finnish Macaroni bake. Oh it tasted great! The egg milk was new to me, to put that into a bake. But together with the cheese it just tastes reallyyyyy good. Easy to make and that's definitely something to make again. :)

Recipe (for 4 persons)

Ingredients 

400 g / 14,11 oz macaroni noodles

250 g / 8,82 oz mincemeat (mixed)

1 table spoon of flour

1 little can of tomato paste

Salt and pepper

2 eggs

0,5 l / 169,1 fl oz milk

200 g / 7,05 oz grated cheese

Oil

Cook the noodles in saltwater.

Fry the mincemeat in some oil crumbly/friable, then mix it with the tomato paste, flour it and deglaze it with some water. Season it with salt and pepper and let it simmer some minutes.

Put the well cooked noodles in a greased, fireproof cooking tray (like on the picture) and fold in the seasoned mincemeat. Whisk the milk and the eggs. Then pour the egg milk over the mincemeat mixture. Sprinkle the grated cheese on it.  

 

Estonia

Estonian potato salad

I'm really in love with this country, it's such a nice country and has a beautiful language and many other things. I made the potato salad, because I wanted to make something Estonian. It took pretty much time, because it was the first time I made such a salad. But it tasted very good and interesting.

Recipe (vegetarian, for 4 persons)

Ingredients
300 g / 10,58 oz potatoes
200 g / 7,05 oz carrots
200 g / 7,05 oz dill pickles
2 (organic) eggs
50 g / 1,76 oz onions

Salad dressing:
150 g / 5,3 oz sour cream
150 g / 5,3 oz mayonnaise
Salt
Sugar
Mustard

For garnish:
Chopped parsley

1. Boil the unpeeled potatoes and unpeeled carrots until soft.
2. Hard-boil the eggs (ca. 9 minutes).
3. Peel the onions.
4. Cut the dill pickles into small cubes.
5. Stir the mayonnaise with the sour cream to a dressing; season it with salt, sugar and mustard.
6. Cut the boiled eggs into small cubes.
7. Peel the potatoes and carrots and cut them into cubes (1x1 cm)
8. Mix all the ingredients together and stir in the dressing.
9. Garnish the completed potato salad with chopped parsley.

 

The Netherlands

Dutch Stew

I showed my mother all the receipts from different countries that I had printed out, and this one is the one she chose. Easy to make and in my eyes it was very good.

Recipe (for 4 persons)

Ingredients
6 potatoes
8 carrots
4 onions
4 sausages (Mettwurst)
1 Liter / 33,81 fl oz water
1 cube of stock
poss. salt

Cut the sausages and carrots into slices. Chip the potatoes and the onions, put everything together into a pot and pour water on it. Then add the stock and cook it through 30-45 minutes. Poss. season with some salt.

 

USA

Mac 'n' Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese. We had to replace some ingredients (onions instead of garlic clove, curry ketchup instead of worcester sauce). Oh, and we also hadn't many macaronis left, so there is also a different kind of noodles in it. :D Still, it was pretty good. A friend from America told me that he was eating Mac 'n' Cheese and sent me a pic, that was the reason why I made it then :')


Recipe (for 8 persons):

Ingredients
45 g / 1,6 oz butter
3 tablespoons of flour
4 garlic cloves
6 bayleaves
1 Liter / 33,8  fl oz milk
600 g / 21,16oz macaronis or elbow pasta
8 tomatoes
150 g / 5,3 oz cheddar cheese
Thyme
Worcester sauce
Grated nutmeg
100 g / 3,53 oz Parmesan cheese
Olive oil

Boil the noodles in salt water. Melt the butter on a low heat, intersperse the flour and stir on a medium heat until the ingredients combine to a pasta. Add the garlic cloves. Then add the bayleaves and stir in the milk slowly with a wire whip, so that a smooth sauce develops. Boil it up once and then let it simmer on a low heat. Preheat the oven on 220 °C / 428 °F.
Cube, salt and pepper the tomatoes. Strain the pasta and put it into the sauce, then take the pot away from the cooker. Fold the cheese, the tomatoes and the thyme in. Add a bit nutmeg and worcester sauce. When needed, add a bit water.
Put the pot in the oven and let it bake 30 minutes.