Formula 1 Foods - Austria round-up and the next challenge: UK

I went to Austria last year and made a few of the local dishes after I came back, so this round of Formula 1 Foods was quite easy for me. The idea is to make something inspired by the country that is hosting each race and last time it was Austria.

Apple strudel is said to originate from Vienna and when I was there I saw a demonstration and got to try some freshly-baked strudel; I was given a recipe to take away which I made at home. The trick is getting your pastry so thin that you can lay it on top of the recipe card and read the text through your pastry!

I also tried a piece of Sachertorte in the Hotel Sacher where it was invented; I had actually made this and posted it on my blog a while previously so it's a good excuse to share the recipe again!

Another local speciality is Wiener Schnitzel and while I've made it several times in the past I hadn't blogged about it before so this is my latest post. I used pork and chicken but veal is the really traditional way to make it. And it has to be served with sauerkraut!

Suelle at Mainly Baking made these Linzer Squares which are made of hazelnut pastry and filled with jam and make a tasty little treat.

Jane at Onions and Paper didn't have time to bake anything for the challenge so took the opportunity to talk about one of her favourite foodie spots in Austria, the Nashmarkt in Vienna. Check out her beautiful photographs!

The next challenge takes place in.... the UK! My boyfriend is a big fan of Formula 1 but says he would prefer to watch it on TV than go to the actual race. Aside from the cost, you get to see a lot more on television than if you are standing in one place by the track! Have any of you been or are you going this year?

For the challenge you can share any British-inspired recipe, whether it's something traditional or something you've dreamt up thinking about your favourite tourist attractions or British activities. I'd love to see a maypole dancing themed cake but I know I won't have time to make anything quite that elaborate myself!

The linkup is open now until Sunday 12th July so you've got plenty of time to get your recipes in.

Austrian Schnitzel with Sauerkraut

It's the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend and there was really only one thing I could make for Formula 1 Foods - schnitzel. As I explained in this post after I went to Vienna last year, Wiener Schnitzel is the national dish of Austria. To be completely traditional it would have to be made with veal, but pork is very common and so is chicken.

I made pork for me and chicken for my boyfriend, dipping a piece of meat into flour then egg then breadcrumbs, and frying until cooked through.

The accompaniments are important too - sauerkraut is a must, though I bought this rather than made it. Many UK supermarkets sell sauerkraut - I used to get it from Lidl as they carry a lot of German brands but they stopped selling it due to lack of demand, but luckily I picked some up in either Sainsbury's or Tesco - I forget which now.

When I ate the Schnitzel in Austria, it was beaten into a very large thin piece of meat - I don't know how they did it. There were a choice of sides but the traditional one was boiled potatoes with parsley - far nicer than it sounds, so that's what I made with my Schnitzel this time.

There's still time to send in your Austrian-inspired recipes to Formula 1 Foods!

Viennese Apple Strudel

When I visited Vienna in November we went to the Schonbrunn Palace. As part of our Winter Pass ticket, we got entry to the Apple Strudel Show: a demonstration of how to make apple strudel with a piece to try.

Apple Strudel is said to originate from Austria and is a Viennese speciality in particular and the oldest known copy of a strudel recipe is a library in Vienna.

The demonstration was entirely in English which was lucky as though I speak German my boyfriend does not. As it was winter there were only a few of us watching; I don't think the other people were English and there were a couple of children who probably wouldn't have understood anything so I think we were quite lucky!

The demonstrator showed us how to make the pastry from scratch and after rolling it out, she used her hands to spread the dough further, much as people do when they are making pizza bases. She even threw the dough into the air and caught it a few times!

She explained that the dough needed to be thin enough that you could read the recipe through it, and proceeded to show us, which was amazing!

The filling was already prepared in a large bowl; she explained that it included apple, raisins, breadcrumbs and sugar, and then we watched as she placed some of the filling along one side of the dough and rolled it up using a tea towel. Part of the reason for this is that you end up with the rolled up strudel sitting on the tea towel, which makes it much easier to lift and transport to your baking tray.

The strudel went in the oven and I was expecting her to do a 'here's one I made earlier' and take the strudel from the previous demonstration out of the oven, but she didn't and the demonstration ended as the strudel went in the oven, so we didn't get to see it when it was cooked. We did get a piece to eat from a strudel which had been made earlier, served cold, which was really delicious.

We were also given a copy of the recipe to take home and since my boyfriend doesn't like apple, I decided I would make an apple strudel to take to his mum's house on Boxing Day as there would be plenty of people there to help eat it. I made the strudel on Christmas Eve as I knew I would be too busy after that!

To make the pastry, you need:
250g flour type 700 - I'd no idea what this was so used plain flour
2g salt
1 egg
100g lukewarm water (note that is grams, not millilitres)
20g oil

Preheat the oven to 190C. Mix all the ingredients and knead until you have a soft dough - I used my Kitchenaid. Form into a ball and "let it rest in vegetable oil for 30 minutes". I wasn't sure if this meant literally put the dough in a bowl of oil as that seemed like a lot of oil, so instead I rubbed oil all over the dough. My dough had been very wet and sticky but surprisingly the oil took away all of the stickiness.

Heat 50g butter in a pan and fry 100g fresh breadcrumbs until they are golden brown.

To make the filling, mix the breadcrumbs with 140g sugar, 10g cinnamon, 170g raisins, 10g lemon juice and about 1 kg peeled and thinly sliced apples, and a shot of rum. I used about half that amount of apples as it looked like an awful lot, and I knew I wouldn't be able to stretch my pastry out as big as the demonstrator so I didn't think I would need quite as much filling! I also left out the rum.

Roll out the dough on a floured tea towel. Use your hands to stretch it as thinly as possible. I wasn't quite throwing mine in the air and catching it like the demonstrator did, but it was a surprisingly pliable dough and easy to stretch.

I even tried the 'can you read the recipe through your dough' trick and I could - I was amazed as I'm not normally very good at making pastry!

Place the filling along one side of the dough, and use the tea towel to help you roll it up

It just fit into my grill pan with the grill part removed - none of my actual baking trays were big enough!

The recipe said to bake in the oven at 190C until golden brown - it didn't actually give a cooking time. I think I baked mine for about 25 minutes but you really do just need to keep an eye on it. Here's what it looks like from the inside: I can't wait to try it later today!