By Marion Rhodes, CTA Vice President.
Last weekend, CTA held its Annual Pool Party & International Potluck in Denver, Colorado. Our President Thais Lips had invited members and their families to her HOA pool in Centennial for a well-deserved break from the daily demands of freelance translation work.
It was great to see some new CTA members come and mingle with old-timers while enjoying the Colorado sun and some snacks from around the world. But variety wasn’t just limited to the food: the guests formed a smorgasbord of different backgrounds as well. With attendees as young as 4 months old and visitors from as far as West Virginia and Mexico, we certainly had nice mix of people!
Like last year, we asked those who brought international fare to provide their recipes so we could try them at home. Thank you to everyone for attending, thanks for sharing a piece of your culture with us, and thanks for supporting CTA!
Here’s our international CTA recipe collection:
Kubba – Arabic Minced Rice and Meat Patties
Recipe courtesy of Ali Al-Nazzal
Ingredients:
1/2 kg rice
1/2 kg ground beef
2 onions
1/2 cup walnuts, ground
Turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparing the batter:
Boil the rice in water. Add some salt and turmeric. After about 30 minutes, or once all water has evaporated, mash everything together until a thick batter forms.
Preparing the filling:
Cut the onions into small pieces and brown them in a frying pan with some corn oil, then add the ground beef. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the beef/onion mixture from the stove and add ground walnuts. Blend well.
Form small balls out of the rice mash and fill them with the beef mixture. Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the Kubba until they are slightly brown. Place the Kubba on a paper towel to cool.
Pão de Queijo – Brazilian Cheese Bread
Recipe courtesy of Thais Lips
Ingredients:
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup oil
2 cups of tapioca flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
2 eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese – I vary and add mozzarella, queso blanco and/or provolone
Salt
Oil for greasing
Preparation:
Starting with liquids, mix everything in a blender, then blend until you achieve a homogeneous mixture
Pour the batter in a greased silicone mini muffin pan. This recipe calls for two pans of 12 each.
Bake in preheated oven at 370°F for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Americanized Liptauer Cheese Spread
Recipe courtesy of Erin Shay
Ingredients:
8 oz. softened cream cheese
4 Tbsp sour cream
4 Tbsp softened butter
2 tsp drained capers
2 tsp minced anchovies
2 minced shallots or scallions
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp caraway seeds
Salt to taste
Preparation:
Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Chill before serving with vegetables, crackers or toast.
German Apple Streusel Cake
Recipe courtesy of Marion Rhodes
Ingredients:
For the cake bottom:
300 g flour
150 g Fage Greek yogurt
100 g sugar
6 Tbsp vegetable oil
6 Tbsp milk
1 egg
1 pinch salt
1 Tsp baking powder
For the streusel topping:
350 g flour
200 g sugar
2 Tsp cinnamon
200 g butter or margarine (softened)
If desired:
½ large jar of apple sauce or sweet apples, peeled and thinly sliced
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients for the cake bottom until a thick, even batter forms (using a dough hook or your hands). Roll out the dough on a baking sheet, sprinkling with some flour to avoid sticking. Bake at 390°F for about five minutes while preparing the topping, then take out the dough and, if you want, add a layer of apple sauce or finely sliced apples (not required).
To make the streusel topping, mix all ingredients by hand, then crumble the streusel on top of the cake. Bake everything at 390°F for about 45 minutes or until streusel are golden brown and crisp.
German Strawberry Tart
Recipe courtesy of Marion Rhodes
Ingredients:
3 eggs
125 g butter or margarine
125 g sugar
1 p. vanilla sugar (or use vanilla extract)
250 g flour
1 Tsp baking powder
Milk
Strawberries, cut into halves
1 package clear cake glaze
Preparation:
Beat the eggs, butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add flour and baking powder and blend well. Slowly add milk until a smooth batter forms that slowly flows off a spoon.
Pour the batter into a tart form and bake at 350°F for about 25 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.
Once cool, top with strawberries. Prepare cake glaze according to package directions and spread over the tart evenly with a large spoon. Let cool.
Pastel de Santiago – Spanish Almond Pie
Recipe courtesy of Rachel Sinn, taken from Classic Spanish Cooking by Elisabeth Luard
Ingredients:
Pastry:
½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup superfine sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
About 2 cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
8 eggs
2 ¼ cup superfine sugar
4 1/3 cups ground almonds
Juice and finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
Instructions:
Make the pastry first. Beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and cinnamon. Using your hand or the food processor, work in enough flour to make a smooth, softish paste. Work the paste into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll it out very thinly on a floured surface and use to line a tart pan, with a diameter about 9 inches.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Now make the filling. Beat the eggs until light and fluffy, then sprinkle in the sugar spoonful by spoonful, and continue to beat until white and doubled in volume – keep going, even with machinery the process takes longer than you think. Gently fold in the ground almonds, lemon juice, and zest. Spoon the mixture into the tart base – it can come right up to the edge because it shrinks as it sets. Don’t overfill.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and the topping firm and beautifully browned.
Unmold. When cool, finish with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar with, if you have it, a scallop shell printed on the surface (patterns available in Spanish kitchen equipment shops).
(Serves 6-8)
Albondigas en Salsa – Spanish Meat Balls
Recipe courtesy of Rachel Sinn, taken from Classic Spanish Cooking by Elisabeth Luard
Ingredients:
Sauce:
1 lb ripe tomatoes (canned is fine)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 small glass dry sherry or red wine
1 small cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
Salt
Meatballs:
12 oz ground meat (pork and beef is the classic combination)
1 egg, beaten
2 cups fresh bread crumbs
1 garlic clove, very finely chopped
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Salt and pepper
To finish:
Flour, for dusting
2-3 tablespoons olive oil, for frying.
Preparation:
Make the sauce first. If using fresh tomatoes, scald, skin, and chop. In a small saucepan, heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic until they soften and take a little color. Add the tomatoes, bell pepper, the sherry or red wine, and the cinnamon stick. Add the bay leaf and season with salt. Bubble up for a moment, then turn down the heat, and leave the sauce to simmer and reduce while you make the meatballs.
Work all the meatball ingredients together thoroughly – the more you work it, the better. With wet hands (keep a bowl of warm water handy for rinsing your fingers), form the mixture into little bite-sized balls. Dust them with a plateful of seasoned flour.
Heat the oil for frying in a roomy skillet, slip in the meatballs and fry, turning carefully until firm and lightly browned on all sides. Add the tomato sauce, bubble up and simmer gently until the meatballs are tender, about 20 minutes. Serve with crisp lettuce leaves for scooping.
(Serves 4)
Gazpacho – Spanish Vegetable Soup
Recipe courtesy of Irene Igualada
Ingredients:
(For a little more than 1 liter)
1 kg of tomatoes
1 green bell pepper
1 cucumber
A piece of onion (I used about a sixth of a yellow onion)
A clove of garlic
Olive oil
Salt
Vinegar
Preparation:
Wash the tomatoes and the bell pepper. Clean the inside of the bell pepper and chop it. Chop the onion. Peel the cucumber well and chop it. Peel the tomatoes, the best way of doing this is by making a cut and blanching them (dipping them in boiling water for about 20 seconds), then the peel comes off very easily.
Put everything together, including the clove of garlic, in a blender a mix well until there are no chunks. It should look smooth, almost like a juice. Some people use a food mill to make it even thinner. Then add olive oil, salt and vinegar to your taste (I use a couple of tablespoons of oil and a half tablespoon of vinegar). Put it in a pitcher and cool it in the fridge. Yummy!
Perfect for a hot day. Serve it in cups to drink or in bowls to eat with a spoon (you can make a garnish with diced vegetables).
*It’s more common and more traditional to add bread, too. In this case, you’ll need stale bread (yesterday’s bread) and you’ll just add it to the mix. This will make gazpacho thicker, so you may want to add some water too.
*You can add or remove ingredients to your liking. Some people don’t like cucumber or garlic. Some people add melon! The important ingredient here is tomatoes.
