European Recipes

Hi Laura,,

The only things we eat( that one makes, not like just buying french cheeses etc) that are "old country" are escargots, creme brulee( my paternal side) and cabbage rolls( my maternal side).
All recipes are from family. On hubbys side of family they do the red cabbage and some sort of plum tart/flan (paternal side) .

Had to edit this, forgot to add Borsht, I make the very best, secret recipe from my grandmother,, once a friend and I argued about who made best version , hers was Ukrainian , and mine Polish/Latvian,, we even did a taste test with our hubbys,, unfortunately stalemate was never broken as both hubbys wisely voted for their own wives versions, LOL

I cook some German dishes that do reflect my childhood memories of growing up there. My father and my grandmother supplied some of the recipes. The rest are from a standard German cookbook. Oh, and I use www.chefkoch.de quite a bit, it's probably the biggest European recipe databank with a very supportive and helpful forum. There is another thread on favourite German foods here and I have recipes for most of what is mentioned there - and use them. With the exception of Spaetzle and Knoedel which I don't do from scratch but with a pre-made mix.

French cuisine is another favourite since I lived there for a year about two decades ago. "Galettes au Ble Noir" (buckwheat pancakes) are a staple in our house as is a nice light chocolate mousse on special occasions. And just today I thought I should make a French Onion Soup again, just right thing on a cold winter's night. Some of these recipes are from an old cookbook by Bocuse, some are from the family that employed me as an Au-Pair.

For the longest time I wasn't really that interested in Italian cuisine. Yes, I've always made pizza from scratch but I doubt it had much in common with what you'd actually get ther. Only since this summer's trip to Italy have I started to try a few recipes. I put Jamie Oliver's Italy cookbook on my Christmas wishlist :-)

When in Amsterdam last year, I was often served a small, spicy (cinnamon, cloves, etc) cookie with my coffee. I bought a cook book as a souvenir & today made Speculaas: spiced biscuit from that book. It's a home made version of the little coffee cookie. Also from the same cookbook, I made Dutch apple pie last summer. This is the apple dessert served in most brown cafes. They both turned out very well & now each time I have them I'll be reminded of the trip. Now if only I could get a recipe for the mustard soup I had as a starter one night - strange but really good.

Congratulations, Rose!

Spekulatius aren't that easy to make but certainly very yummy. I don't think I try to make them myself and continue to go with the store-bought versions - even though I do own some antique Spekulatius stamps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculaas

My trip last year inspired me in many ways. Lots of things I don't think i'd be capable of making, but a few things here and there i've tried! I had these wonderful fried artichoke slivers at a tapas place in Barcelona and i've made those, also from Barcelona i've mostly successfully tried to reproduce the incredible hot chocolate I had there. I always made my own pizza but after having been to Italy, I changed how I make it and now I only use the San Marzano tomatoes and whole milk mozzarella so it tastes a lot closer to what I had there, and I learned how to make Bucatini all'amitriciana. And I bought myself one of those little stovetop espresso makers and I make my own cappuccino now, which I'd never thought to do before going to Italy and having the real thing every morning In general, though, after my 6 weeks over there, instead of specific recipes, I instead gained an overall appreciation for eating fresh and making my own simple meals, going to markets and things like that and it changed the way I eat in general, just trying to eat fresher, more natural things.