Dear bloggers,
It is my new mission in life, or at least in the kitchen, to figure out how to make the perfect perogie. The kind that grandma makes. I've learned by now that the key is not to use Safeway Select perogies. Not even the costco brand will suffice. Really, the only perfectly satisfying perogie has to come handmade from an elderly couple that sold their perogies in the basement of a church.
The second thing I've discovered is perogies can't be frozen before cooking. Boiling perogies makes them watery. Thawing them in the microwave makes them chewy. And letting them thaw on the counter makes me hungry and impatient.
I've learned that perogies cannot be fried in olive oil, or they will taste like olives. I've discovered this also holds true for waffles.
As you can see, I've developed as small understanding of what it takes to make the perfect perogie, but this doesn't explain why every time I try to make perogies they come out either burnt, raw, or completely molested by the frying pan. If anyone has any suggestion on how to make the perfect perogie, please, please fill me in.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Boiled Cures for Non Existant Diseases
You will need:
- a bad stomach ache
- one onion
- milk
- lemons
- lots of honey
- some sage
- basil
- hot water
- wine
- pelligrino
- a lot of patience
As you now know, I suffered from "food poisoning" (stomach aches) last week, and my symptoms carried on into my work day.
I'd imagine that a couple of trips to the washroom could go unnoticed at a typical job, but I don't have a typical job for a young canadian blondie. It's very hard for me to get a job as a waitress as my previous bosses never allowed me to pour alcohol before seeing my ID (apparently my 40 dollar Serving it Safe certificate never proved anything) and at every single mandatory liquor commission meeting I've attended I've been used as "a prime example of an underage drinker that can under no circumstances be given any amount of alcohol."
So I am not and never will be an Earl's Girl, and I doubt I'll ever serve so much as pancakes at any restaurant. Ever.
Instead, I am the only canadian-born girl of any age, shape, or size working at DeLuca's Italian Market. It's the greatest job anyone like me could ever hope to have. Instead of being hit on by drunk frat boys all night I get proposed to about eight times a day by 70 year old europeans, who call me bella and sneak me sandwiches and chocolate eclaires all day long.
The down side of this is that any slight problem I may be having with my health (tiredness, stomach aches, bad breath) instantly become a great concern for my fellow workers. You can see how more than one trip to the bathroom a day may arouse some concern, so eight trips in the span of an hour spurred a fantastic amount of rumours throughout the entire 40 person staff. Of course, anyone that has been to DeLuca's will know that the staff is made up of Spaniards, Russians, Philippinos, Israelis, and Italians, each with their own remedy for my worrisome illness.
One American woman I work with told me to chug a bottle of Pelligrino water. This seemed logical, and I was halfway through the bottle when the three russian ladies in the kitchen saw what I was doing and shouted "Maiushka!" (Maiya in russian?) You must not drink Pelligrino! You must drink sage! Take sage, put it in a glass of hot water with 1/2 of a lemon and 3 drops of honey, stir for two minutes, then let it sit for five minutes. Drink quickly, but not too quickly."
I smiled and assured them the pelligrino had done the trick, but the russians were already shouting of the wonders of sage and preparing me their remedy. More so as not to insult them than anything, I took the drink and sipped it, trying to ignore how bad it tasted and how bad it was making my stomach feel.
Of course I was about three sips in when one of the Israeli women yelled from across the room "Maiyeeta!" (Maiya in Israeli?) Sage is wonderful for stomach aches, but do you ever have menstruation?" Customers turned their heads with interest towards me. Eventually, because the entire kitchen staff had stopped what they were doing to hear my answer, I nodded. They all look at me proudly and the exclaimed "aaaah, for cramps of the menstruation, you must drink the same drink, but with basil!"
"Thank you!" I shouted back.
"It works wonders for menstrual pains!'
"Yes, thank you!"
Half an hour later, I went to take my break and a Spanish man from the Deli sits down next to me. He leans in and whispers with great seriousness, "Bonita. I hear you have terrible flu." (He works downstairs and I work upstairs so how he knew this baffles me). "For this, my father used to give me great medicine, and now I will give it to you." I hold out my hand, thankful to finally receive some Advil or gravol, but instead he merely leans in closer and says:
- Take one onion.
- Put it in a pot of milk.
- Boil the milk and the onion together for 10 minutes.
- Take out the onion.
- Continue to boil the milk for another 5 minutes.
- Put the onion back in.
- Boil for 1 more minute.
- Take out the onion and strain the milk through a strainer.
- Throw out the onion and add honey to the boiling milk.
- Drink the boiling milk with honey quickly, but not too quickly."
I thanked him but told him I didn't like hot milk and would try gravol instead.
He shrugged and said "if you don't like milk, you may try the same thing with wine. Advil will not work."
I suppose, dear bloggers, that the only point of this very long blog is to remind us all that maybe we do need to think twice before we pop pills to ease our everyday aches and pains. Maybe we just need to eat a banana to cure our tummy aches, or indulge in some red meat to wake us up a bit. Or, if you're spanish, do a lot of careful boiling and un-boiling involving onions.
- a bad stomach ache
- one onion
- milk
- lemons
- lots of honey
- some sage
- basil
- hot water
- wine
- pelligrino
- a lot of patience
As you now know, I suffered from "food poisoning" (stomach aches) last week, and my symptoms carried on into my work day.
I'd imagine that a couple of trips to the washroom could go unnoticed at a typical job, but I don't have a typical job for a young canadian blondie. It's very hard for me to get a job as a waitress as my previous bosses never allowed me to pour alcohol before seeing my ID (apparently my 40 dollar Serving it Safe certificate never proved anything) and at every single mandatory liquor commission meeting I've attended I've been used as "a prime example of an underage drinker that can under no circumstances be given any amount of alcohol."
So I am not and never will be an Earl's Girl, and I doubt I'll ever serve so much as pancakes at any restaurant. Ever.
Instead, I am the only canadian-born girl of any age, shape, or size working at DeLuca's Italian Market. It's the greatest job anyone like me could ever hope to have. Instead of being hit on by drunk frat boys all night I get proposed to about eight times a day by 70 year old europeans, who call me bella and sneak me sandwiches and chocolate eclaires all day long.
The down side of this is that any slight problem I may be having with my health (tiredness, stomach aches, bad breath) instantly become a great concern for my fellow workers. You can see how more than one trip to the bathroom a day may arouse some concern, so eight trips in the span of an hour spurred a fantastic amount of rumours throughout the entire 40 person staff. Of course, anyone that has been to DeLuca's will know that the staff is made up of Spaniards, Russians, Philippinos, Israelis, and Italians, each with their own remedy for my worrisome illness.
One American woman I work with told me to chug a bottle of Pelligrino water. This seemed logical, and I was halfway through the bottle when the three russian ladies in the kitchen saw what I was doing and shouted "Maiushka!" (Maiya in russian?) You must not drink Pelligrino! You must drink sage! Take sage, put it in a glass of hot water with 1/2 of a lemon and 3 drops of honey, stir for two minutes, then let it sit for five minutes. Drink quickly, but not too quickly."
I smiled and assured them the pelligrino had done the trick, but the russians were already shouting of the wonders of sage and preparing me their remedy. More so as not to insult them than anything, I took the drink and sipped it, trying to ignore how bad it tasted and how bad it was making my stomach feel.
Of course I was about three sips in when one of the Israeli women yelled from across the room "Maiyeeta!" (Maiya in Israeli?) Sage is wonderful for stomach aches, but do you ever have menstruation?" Customers turned their heads with interest towards me. Eventually, because the entire kitchen staff had stopped what they were doing to hear my answer, I nodded. They all look at me proudly and the exclaimed "aaaah, for cramps of the menstruation, you must drink the same drink, but with basil!"
"Thank you!" I shouted back.
"It works wonders for menstrual pains!'
"Yes, thank you!"
Half an hour later, I went to take my break and a Spanish man from the Deli sits down next to me. He leans in and whispers with great seriousness, "Bonita. I hear you have terrible flu." (He works downstairs and I work upstairs so how he knew this baffles me). "For this, my father used to give me great medicine, and now I will give it to you." I hold out my hand, thankful to finally receive some Advil or gravol, but instead he merely leans in closer and says:
- Take one onion.
- Put it in a pot of milk.
- Boil the milk and the onion together for 10 minutes.
- Take out the onion.
- Continue to boil the milk for another 5 minutes.
- Put the onion back in.
- Boil for 1 more minute.
- Take out the onion and strain the milk through a strainer.
- Throw out the onion and add honey to the boiling milk.
- Drink the boiling milk with honey quickly, but not too quickly."
I thanked him but told him I didn't like hot milk and would try gravol instead.
He shrugged and said "if you don't like milk, you may try the same thing with wine. Advil will not work."
I suppose, dear bloggers, that the only point of this very long blog is to remind us all that maybe we do need to think twice before we pop pills to ease our everyday aches and pains. Maybe we just need to eat a banana to cure our tummy aches, or indulge in some red meat to wake us up a bit. Or, if you're spanish, do a lot of careful boiling and un-boiling involving onions.
Monday, November 28, 2011
The Short and Sweet Story of the Successful Smoothie
Hey guys! I actually made something good today!
Simple Soothing Smoothie
- 1 frozen banana
- handful of blueberries
- handful of strawberries
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup cereal- I used cranberry almond cornflakes!
Put it in a blender and blend.
... It's really hard to go wrong on this one I think.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
The Girl Who Cried Food Poisoning
Dearest fellow bloggers,
I've learned that cooking really is a dangerous activity when you have no clue what you're doing. Not only are you in danger of cutting yourself, slipping in whatever has fallen on the floor, burning yourself on the stove top, getting chilli flakes in your eyes, or choking on spices, you're also highly susceptible to food poisoning. It therefore saddens me greatly to tell you that I'm 90% sure I've become a victim of exactly this.
Even worse, I have been poisoned not by myself but by my own dear mother who, after reading my blog, probably realized that her daughter, who was living off of pureed couscous, brick-y borscht, and cheese toast, could use some help.
She cooked a beautiful meal of spinach and rice, fried mushrooms, and pork schnitzel. The Schnitzel, I noted, was slightly pink.
Before I go on, I think this story needs a little bit of background. I'm a bit of a hypochondriac and I suffered from anxiety attacks for the greater portion of last year. People tend to get a bit frustrated with me when I complain about headaches, stomachaches, and food poisoning, and I can't say I blame them. I used to be normal until my sister got into med school and informed me that my minor tummy aches could be a possible sign of AAA- (basically, my heart could explode at any given moment)- that my need to pee more than three times a day was probably a sign of kidney failure"- and that the bags under my eyes were a definite sign of pregnancy. So you can understand my concern when she looked at my slightly pink pork, shrugged, and said in her casual dr's tone "the worms found in undercooked pork won't hurt you, if they do affect you at all they'll eat away your brain and give you really bad headaches and seizures but that's all."
So you'll forgive me for being a little picky about this pork.
Unfortunately, I have been overly cautious in the past about food poisoning. People usually don't like cooking meat for me because I'll examine it for ten minutes in the light prior to eating, and when I finally decide it looks alright I'll put it in my mouth, only to spit it out again when no one's looking and check that it hasn't gotten any pinker while I wasn't watching it.
I guess I understand why everyone at the table wanted me to just shut up and eat my pork.
I swear that I have food poisoning now, but I suppose it may not have been from the pork since my head feels OK and my brain feels relatively full... but for the moment I have no interest in meat whatsoever and will therefore not be cooking stew this week as promised. For now, I'll put the beef I bough at safeway into, alas, the freezer, for a time when I forgive meat for destroying my stomach and (god forbid) eating my brains.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Dinner for one is not much fun. :)
dear fellow bloggers, I've learned many things from this blog, but mainly I've learned that cooking is absolutely exhausting. It's not even the actual cooking that I find impossible, it's the planning ahead. When you're little and tailing your parents around pointing at things like dunkaroos and popcorn you don't realize that a lot more planning goes into grocery shopping than just saying "oh, that looks good." You have to think to yourself, will eating this for dinner tonight contribute to my vitamin B12 deficiency (is this meat or something I don't feel sad eating), should I get orange juice or cranberry juice (do I have a cold or do I have... something else), yes this dessert may include 3/4 of my daily allowance of calories but it's really yummy and OH HEY IT HAS B12 IN IT LET'S BUY IT!!! Even more challenging is judging portions. For instance, last night I had no time to cook dinner so I bought myself Safeway's roasted chicken and soup. Now I am left with 7/8ths of a roasted chicken in my fridge that expires tomorrow. I will be having chicken for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. To accompany my meals of chicken I'll be drinking a litre of milk that goes bad today, yogurt that goes bad, um, three days ago, my couscous from the previous week that I don't have the heart to eat or throw out, and a moldy loaf of bread. These are mere examples of the things I have bought with great care, only to realize that really, I only need to buy about one vegetable a day to ensure nothing gets thrown out. You guys should see my freezer. It's filled with all the things I've made, tasted, then decided I didn't want but would save for later. This includes vegetarian chilli that i was too scared to eat after 3 days because I didn't want to get food poisoning and die but I also didn't want to throw it out and waste perfectly good chilli (I figure that with time I'll be less afraid to eat it), and beet salad which is in there for the same reason (though I think beets only expire after 18 years). I guess what I'm wondering is what's the best way to portion food for one? It'd be really helpful if my boyfriend could just help me eat things once in a while, but since his pallet is only familiar with stir fry, pasta, and chinese food I know this will take some time.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Couscous
COUSCOUS
You will need:
some olive oil
salt and pepper
a tomato
a celery stick
a carrot
couscous
a jar of peanut butter
whole wheat bread
I know I promised pizza on my last post, but tonight felt like a "let's boil whatever grains we have in the cupboard and add stuff to it" evening. Tonight I spotted a nice jar of couscous in the cupboard and thought "hmmm, I've never made couscous before but it's basically the same thing as pasta so I'll give it a go.
Couscous is not the same thing as pasta. Unlike pasta, boiling couscous in a pot for ten minutes will not create wonderful el dante grains. It'll turn your meal into a bowl of couscous with the consistency of mush.
But that's OK- mush is something we can work with!
Once the couscous has turned to mush, take it out of the pot. If you wish, you can remove the couscous about 8 minutes earlier.
In a small bowl, put in about a tablespoon or two of olive oil and whatever spices suit your fancy. For this meal, I chose salt and pepper.
I considered putting in basil too but I couldn't tell which was basil and which was oregano so I decided to leave it. Would oregano have tasted alright?
Next chop up some vegetables. The nice thing about couscous is that it tastes like nothing so whatever vegetables you add will go with it quite nicely! I chose to use a carrot, a celery stick, and a tomato. Some green onions would have been nice too, but I was pretty fed up with this recipe by the end so I chose to leave those out.
Finally, stir everything together. You can eat this meal hot or cold depending on how hungry you are. After tasting it hot I decided to save the rest for later so I could see how it tasted cold.It tasted pretty freaking awful hot.
Once finished, clear away all the dishes, turn off the stove, and with your head held high open the cupboard and find some bread and peanut butter to make a peanut butter sandwich, which alas, will never fail you.
You will need:
some olive oil
salt and pepper
a tomato
a celery stick
a carrot
couscous
a jar of peanut butter
whole wheat bread
I know I promised pizza on my last post, but tonight felt like a "let's boil whatever grains we have in the cupboard and add stuff to it" evening. Tonight I spotted a nice jar of couscous in the cupboard and thought "hmmm, I've never made couscous before but it's basically the same thing as pasta so I'll give it a go.
Couscous is not the same thing as pasta. Unlike pasta, boiling couscous in a pot for ten minutes will not create wonderful el dante grains. It'll turn your meal into a bowl of couscous with the consistency of mush.
But that's OK- mush is something we can work with!
Once the couscous has turned to mush, take it out of the pot. If you wish, you can remove the couscous about 8 minutes earlier.
In a small bowl, put in about a tablespoon or two of olive oil and whatever spices suit your fancy. For this meal, I chose salt and pepper.
I considered putting in basil too but I couldn't tell which was basil and which was oregano so I decided to leave it. Would oregano have tasted alright?
Next chop up some vegetables. The nice thing about couscous is that it tastes like nothing so whatever vegetables you add will go with it quite nicely! I chose to use a carrot, a celery stick, and a tomato. Some green onions would have been nice too, but I was pretty fed up with this recipe by the end so I chose to leave those out.
Finally, stir everything together. You can eat this meal hot or cold depending on how hungry you are. After tasting it hot I decided to save the rest for later so I could see how it tasted cold.It tasted pretty freaking awful hot.
Once finished, clear away all the dishes, turn off the stove, and with your head held high open the cupboard and find some bread and peanut butter to make a peanut butter sandwich, which alas, will never fail you.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Quickly, one more very important thing. You may remember me suggesting under my post "BORSCHT AND CHEESE TOAST" that when in doubt about how to flavour your food with garlic it could be a good idea to mince one clove, and toss in another whole clove, just to compromise. I have just mistaken an entire garlic clove for a potato and it tasted very, very bad. Note to self: MINCE two garlic cloves.
Back to Borscht
Hello fellow bloggers, just wanted to give everyone a quick update on my borscht. It has lasted in my fridge for up to three days now and still smells like beets, so I guess that means it's ok to eat! My very acute food poisoning instincts have forced me to realize that my borsch is made from chicken stock and therefore has the ability to poison me in an unknown amount of time. Why is meat so terrifying? Maybe I should start making my soups with vegetable stock. Would vegetable stock last longer? I plan on trying to finish this lovely dish of purple water with soggy, unidentifiable vegetables by tomorrow, but just in case I somehow resist, when would would you advise putting the borscht into the freezer?
As far as taste goes, the taste of this borscht is non-existant. However, in its own way, it's helping me achieve my goal of 8 glasses of water a day, which I suppose is nice.
Lastly, I would like to ask a question about microwaving leftover Borscht. Why is that when I put it in the microwave for two minutes, the vegetables become so hot that they start whistling and popping, threatening to explode and leave their poor remnants all over my microwave, yet the broth remains icy cold? Is this just to spite me? How would you suggest warming up a bowl of soup? Putting it all in a pot, turning on the stove, and then cleaning the pot in my clogged sink (currently filled with purply-red water that may never drain) seems like a real hassle, but maybe it's the only way.
Anyway, time to turn a new page and thus a new recipe. Tomorrow I will be making pizza from 9-6 at DeLuca's, after which I will return home to make some pizza for dinner, because that's all my creative mind could think to make whilst doing my weekly grocery trip. I suppose 9 hours of putting pepperoni on slabs of dough will limit your imagination a bit. More on that tomorrow friends, until then gnight!
As far as taste goes, the taste of this borscht is non-existant. However, in its own way, it's helping me achieve my goal of 8 glasses of water a day, which I suppose is nice.
Lastly, I would like to ask a question about microwaving leftover Borscht. Why is that when I put it in the microwave for two minutes, the vegetables become so hot that they start whistling and popping, threatening to explode and leave their poor remnants all over my microwave, yet the broth remains icy cold? Is this just to spite me? How would you suggest warming up a bowl of soup? Putting it all in a pot, turning on the stove, and then cleaning the pot in my clogged sink (currently filled with purply-red water that may never drain) seems like a real hassle, but maybe it's the only way.
Anyway, time to turn a new page and thus a new recipe. Tomorrow I will be making pizza from 9-6 at DeLuca's, after which I will return home to make some pizza for dinner, because that's all my creative mind could think to make whilst doing my weekly grocery trip. I suppose 9 hours of putting pepperoni on slabs of dough will limit your imagination a bit. More on that tomorrow friends, until then gnight!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Yam Fries and Chicken Fingers
recipe:
1 mega yam
salt
thyme
rosemary
parsley and sage optional (oh how I slave myself)
olive oil
Alright folks, what exactly is the big deal with yam fries? Are they actually more nutritious than just your standard potato fries, or am I only under that impression because they have more colour than the usual components of my typical meal?
All I can say about yam fries is that even though every time I eat one and question if I even enjoy the strange sweet starchy taste, I constantly crave another fry. Maybe its the salt, or the faint smell of rosemary and thyme!
Thyme- thats another annoying thing about yam fries. Why do they take so much time to make? All you have to do is slice the yam into wedges, throw them on a pan with olive oil, sprinkle on herbs and salt and toss them in the oven. Does the whole process really have to take all night?
Apparently in a poly pocket sized oven, it does.
Here's my question to you. Why were my yam fries soggy? Did I use to much olive oil or did I take them out of the oven too early? Even though the tips were turning black they tasted soft and olive- oily.
Anyway all in all these yam fries weren't a complete disaster. They tasted pretty nice with a mayo-sriracha dip I whipped up, and chicken fingers that I did not make by myself so you don't get to have a recipe for those. That's still to come!
1 mega yam
salt
thyme
rosemary
parsley and sage optional (oh how I slave myself)
olive oil
Alright folks, what exactly is the big deal with yam fries? Are they actually more nutritious than just your standard potato fries, or am I only under that impression because they have more colour than the usual components of my typical meal?
All I can say about yam fries is that even though every time I eat one and question if I even enjoy the strange sweet starchy taste, I constantly crave another fry. Maybe its the salt, or the faint smell of rosemary and thyme!
Thyme- thats another annoying thing about yam fries. Why do they take so much time to make? All you have to do is slice the yam into wedges, throw them on a pan with olive oil, sprinkle on herbs and salt and toss them in the oven. Does the whole process really have to take all night?
Apparently in a poly pocket sized oven, it does.
Here's my question to you. Why were my yam fries soggy? Did I use to much olive oil or did I take them out of the oven too early? Even though the tips were turning black they tasted soft and olive- oily.
Anyway all in all these yam fries weren't a complete disaster. They tasted pretty nice with a mayo-sriracha dip I whipped up, and chicken fingers that I did not make by myself so you don't get to have a recipe for those. That's still to come!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Day 1: Borscht and Cheese toast
Here we go. Starting a blog is so much more nerve racking than I expected! I feel so exposed...
For tonight's meal, I wanted to try something loaded with vegetables, and I decided Borscht would be nice- it would go great with the Safeway perigees I've been hoarding in my fridge for the past year. I couldn't find a recipe I actually found appealing for Borchst, so I just decided to wing it. I also couldn't find a pot big enough to make a good amount of soup, so I divvied everything into two pots, which I thought was kind of clever.
Here is my FIRST OFFICIAL recipe for Borscht:
3 beets
2 potatoes
3 carrots
2 celery sticks
a quarter of an onion (fully forgot to put that in, but it would've been nice I bet)
salt
pepper
garlic (minced or just toss in a clove, I minced on and tossed one just because I had no clue which would be better)
and some cabbage… I just tore bits off a head of cabbage because it was REALLY hard to cut!!
Finally, chicken stock. I like the low sodium kind because it makes me feel good about myself.
Since beets are the hardest of these tasty vegetables, they went into the boiling pot of water first. Potatoes are also pretty hard so I tossed them in a few minutes after the beets. etc, etc.
(Okay, how do people have the patience to write step by step instructions for recipes, never mind follow them??)
Of course, all of the vegetables ended up soggy, but the real problem with this Borscht was that it tasted too much like chicken soup and didn't have that wonderful earthy taste beets should give the broth. I don't know why this happened. Did I not let the Beets boil long enough? They tasted over done to me.
Anyway, to try to fix this problem I boiled some beets in a pot of water until they gave some of their beet-y flavour to the H2O. Then I mixed the water and the chicken stock together. This didn't work at all but I thought it was a nifty idea.
In the end I decided I didn't much like the Borscht and didn't want it for dinner so I made this instead. Here is my SECOND official recipe!!
Cheese toast:
- two slices whole wheat toast
-6 slices of cheese
- 4 slices of tomato
-4 slices of spicy salami (genoa is good!)
put the cheese on the toast and pop it in the toaster oven. when the toast inevitably burns before the cheese begins to melt, pop the concoction in the microwave for about 10 seconds so the cheese begins to bubble. Add the other ingredients and voila! dinner is served.
As you can see, I'm in dire need of help. I'm really into food, and those who know me know I'm also a bit obsessed with my health, but I have absolutely no grasp on either of these things. So fellow bloggers, please take some interest in what I've got to say, but more importantly give a cook a hand and help out where you can. Today's questions:
- When making Borchst, how long do you boil the vegetables for, and when is the proper time to start to simmer down?
Cheers, next up is beef stew.
For tonight's meal, I wanted to try something loaded with vegetables, and I decided Borscht would be nice- it would go great with the Safeway perigees I've been hoarding in my fridge for the past year. I couldn't find a recipe I actually found appealing for Borchst, so I just decided to wing it. I also couldn't find a pot big enough to make a good amount of soup, so I divvied everything into two pots, which I thought was kind of clever.
Here is my FIRST OFFICIAL recipe for Borscht:
3 beets
2 potatoes
3 carrots
2 celery sticks
a quarter of an onion (fully forgot to put that in, but it would've been nice I bet)
salt
pepper
garlic (minced or just toss in a clove, I minced on and tossed one just because I had no clue which would be better)
and some cabbage… I just tore bits off a head of cabbage because it was REALLY hard to cut!!
Finally, chicken stock. I like the low sodium kind because it makes me feel good about myself.
Since beets are the hardest of these tasty vegetables, they went into the boiling pot of water first. Potatoes are also pretty hard so I tossed them in a few minutes after the beets. etc, etc.
(Okay, how do people have the patience to write step by step instructions for recipes, never mind follow them??)
Of course, all of the vegetables ended up soggy, but the real problem with this Borscht was that it tasted too much like chicken soup and didn't have that wonderful earthy taste beets should give the broth. I don't know why this happened. Did I not let the Beets boil long enough? They tasted over done to me.
Anyway, to try to fix this problem I boiled some beets in a pot of water until they gave some of their beet-y flavour to the H2O. Then I mixed the water and the chicken stock together. This didn't work at all but I thought it was a nifty idea.
In the end I decided I didn't much like the Borscht and didn't want it for dinner so I made this instead. Here is my SECOND official recipe!!
Cheese toast:
- two slices whole wheat toast
-6 slices of cheese
- 4 slices of tomato
-4 slices of spicy salami (genoa is good!)
put the cheese on the toast and pop it in the toaster oven. when the toast inevitably burns before the cheese begins to melt, pop the concoction in the microwave for about 10 seconds so the cheese begins to bubble. Add the other ingredients and voila! dinner is served.
As you can see, I'm in dire need of help. I'm really into food, and those who know me know I'm also a bit obsessed with my health, but I have absolutely no grasp on either of these things. So fellow bloggers, please take some interest in what I've got to say, but more importantly give a cook a hand and help out where you can. Today's questions:
- When making Borchst, how long do you boil the vegetables for, and when is the proper time to start to simmer down?
Cheers, next up is beef stew.
About Food Balker
First off, I've just got to get this out of the way. The title is a play on words of the awesome website "Food Gawker", which everyone should check out because it's addictive. Hopefully if you follow my blog you'll eventually get why I chose the name, and maybe even find it funny, or you might think its an awful name so if you do feel free to suggest something better.
GLAD THAT'S OFF MY CHEST.
Anyway.
I've always wanted to be one of those people with a food blog. When I'm bored I go on Food Gawker and gawk till my heart's content and pretend I'm going to cook all the wonderful meals I've "favorited". Usually I end up opting for whatever my boyfriend whips up, which is usually stir fry. It's delicious, but I need change in my life.
I recently found out that I'm practically anemic and have some other underlying issues with my stomach that are driving me insane. I've thus decided to take my health into my own hands. Instead of gorging on the junk food I'm given at my job as a Baker's assistant, I'm going to start cooking. I have no idea how to cook. I've pretty much mastered my microwave by now, but I still find the stove tricky and don't trust myself enough to use the oven whilst unintended--- especially since our apartment's teeny stove is about the size of a poly pocket kitchen appliance.
GLAD THAT'S OFF MY CHEST.
Anyway.
I've always wanted to be one of those people with a food blog. When I'm bored I go on Food Gawker and gawk till my heart's content and pretend I'm going to cook all the wonderful meals I've "favorited". Usually I end up opting for whatever my boyfriend whips up, which is usually stir fry. It's delicious, but I need change in my life.
I recently found out that I'm practically anemic and have some other underlying issues with my stomach that are driving me insane. I've thus decided to take my health into my own hands. Instead of gorging on the junk food I'm given at my job as a Baker's assistant, I'm going to start cooking. I have no idea how to cook. I've pretty much mastered my microwave by now, but I still find the stove tricky and don't trust myself enough to use the oven whilst unintended--- especially since our apartment's teeny stove is about the size of a poly pocket kitchen appliance.
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