Overblog Tous les blogs Top blogs Lifestyle
Suivre ce blog Administration + Créer mon blog
MENU

food

Recipe for Roasted Potatoes

Publié le par Charly C.

Hello everyone!

The Great Lent started in Romania - this is the lent before Pascha (or Easter). It lasts for 7 weeks and is the longest of them all, hence the name. OK, now it's close to the end, as I kept on delaying editing pictures and writing. The article is finally here!

During any Lent, Romanians are supposed to fast by eating a vegan diet - so no meats including fish, no eggs and no dairy products. (hmm, I actually don't know if honey is forbidden or allowed.) This page explains better the rules of fasting. It also makes no mention of honey, and thus I think it's allowed.

In any case, when buying premade foods in Romania, we should pay attention to the packaging to say "de post" - this means the product is vegan-friendly.  If you don't want to eat honey, search for the word "miere" (=honey) in the ingredients. Fish is allowed for consumption on certain days during the Lent (fasting period). 

  • Romanians don't celebrate Fat Tuesday nor Ash Wednesday. Good Friday is not a public holiday either, but the 2nd day of Pascha (Monday) is a bank holiday, and only hospitals, police, public transportation, and a few shops still stay in business. 

I already have a few vegan-friendly recipes posted, and I want to share with you the recipe for Roasted Potatoes as well - this is an important recipe to know how to make if you love potatoes because they're awesome when roasted. 

Recipe for Roasted Potatoes

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3-4 larger potatoes, preferably suited for baking
  • salt
  • oil
  • powder black pepper
  • other herbs or condiments you like
  • also, a baking tray

METHOD:

Peel and slice your potatoes. Make sure to have rather thick slices and not thin. If they're thin, reduce the cooking time by 15 minutes to avoid burning them. 

Take a baking tray, smear it with cooking oil, place your potato slices in it. 

Smear your potato slices with cooking oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and all the condiments and herbs. 

Let bake in the oven for some 45 minutes, on medium heat, preferably on the middle rack of the oven. 

You can now serve!

I made this recipe over and over, and I didn't always take pictures. This is why some of them are dated "December 2018." The light is bad because I usually cook in the evening and therefore the artificial light is not great.  

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Voir les commentaires

General and vegan stew with potatoes

Publié le par Charly C.

Today I decided to make a stew and also share the process as well. This stew is 100% vegan, as i made sure not to use anything that was made by animals, or with their meat. 

I'm hungry, so let's start the recipe already.  Here are the ingredients:

  • potatoes -more than 1 kg (2.5 lbs? 3 lbs?) 
  • 2 medium carrots
  • some 300 grams of green beans  (less than 1 lbs)
  • 1 bell pepper (any color)
  • 1 teaspoon of salt ? (depending on how salty you want it)
  • 1 or 2 spoons of cooking oil
  • sweet or hot paprika (powder)
  • black pepper (you can use both powder and whole, or either one)
  • aromatic herbs - packed individually. -see the image below

You can also add a small eggplant in this stew, if you want. I don't recommend zucchini nor baby pumpkins - I tried and I found the experiment rather unpleasant. 

METHOD:

Take the beans and 2 spoons of oil, and put them in a large enough pot, that you place on a small fire or heat source. 

Peel and dice your carrots, and place them on top of the beans. Also pour some water and some salt, and cover with a lid.

It's time to peel, wash and dice your potatoes. Potatoes cook much faster than carrots, and if the fire or heat is on medium to low, there won't be much to worry about. 

Once this is done, drop the cubed potatoes into the pot, and fill with water just enough to cover everything,much like in the image below. Now leave the pot to cook over medium heat for some 45 minutes.

When the time is up, you add the condiments, herbs, chopped bell pepper (mine was frozen, so you can't see it well), and 2 spoons of tomato sauce.

General and vegan stew with potatoesGeneral and vegan stew with potatoes

Now, after you added all that, mix and let sit on the fire for some 15 minutes more. This is enough time for the bell pepper to cook and for the aromas to mix up, and flavor the dish.

Next, you can serve lava hot if you feel like it, but I recommend you wait some 30 minutes for it to cool down a little - it will still be delicious. You can serve it as is or with lettuce or Greek salad, fried tofu or fried soy meat substitute. 

FOR MEAT EATERS:

You can also serve with chicken, with fried eggs, fish, and even with steak - basically anything that can be fried or roasted. You can put smoked bacon in it during cooking, if you really want to, for more flavor.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Voir les commentaires

Romanian style spinach - with milk!

Publié le par Charly C.

This is the first entry for 2019, so happy new year! I will try to update you soon (fingers crossed) with how I managed to keep my last year's new year resolutions, and which are the new ones. 

You know I have (paid) work to do when I start writing or doing anything else out of stress. .. as long as I can get some stuff done, I should be forgiven? no? only if I meet the deadline on Friday? I'll meet it. ;) 

And now on with the recipe! First I have to tell you that this recipe first appeared on my old blog, back in March 2017. However, last night I re-made it and took more pictures, so I post this as a fresh entry, but with both old and new pictures.

They say spinach is very healthy for you, but not everyone likes it. I must say I REALLY like spinach for some reason. Too bad I'm not eating more of it, though.

I'll not go into why is it good for you, or give one hundred reasons to eat it. I'll just advise you to try new recipes for the foods you don't really like.. or better-said vegetables you like least. I'll share a rather simple recipe that hopefully will make you curious enough to try it out. Perhaps you'll even like it.

Romanian style spinach - with milk!

There is a bit of garlic in this Romanian recipe - in the original version which I want you to try. You probably know by now I don't eat or cook with onions or garlic, but I will share this recipe exactly how it is done - as I believe most of you will like it better this way. Let's say that you can easily get nauseous because of this food if you don't add garlic, and you can't use onion instead either.

INGREDIENTS: (4 servings)

  • 1 kg (2 pounds) fresh spinach *
  • 5-6 tablespoons oil
  • 5-6 garlic cloves
  • 3-4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 800 ml cold milk
  • salt [to taste]
  • 8 eggs [2 for each serving]

METHOD:

  • Wash your spinach well, several times if needed. Make sure you have only nice looking leaves in there. [skip this step if you use a frozen product like me]
  • Boil it for a few minutes in salted water. It should look cooked. Strain.
  • Grab your wooden chop board and a non-metal spatula or spoon** and finely chop your spinach. [you'll skip this step for frozen products, as they might already be chopped]
Romanian style spinach - with milk!Romanian style spinach - with milk!Romanian style spinach - with milk!
  • Heat oil in a pot large enough to hold 4 pounds of food, as you'll add all the ingredients in here. Chop or mince your garlic*** and add it in to cook a bit. The garlic should become a bit translucent not brown (or the food becomes bitter) just enough to give some flavor.
  • Add your flour and mix well and wait for it to become a bit brown.
  • Add half of your milk and let it simmer for about a minute - you should have a white [thick] sauce at this point. Mine was a bit lumpy because I didn't mix/stir well enough. Avoid lumps in your sauce [if you can].
  • Add your chopped spinach and stir.
Romanian style spinach - with milk!Romanian style spinach - with milk!
Romanian style spinach - with milk!Romanian style spinach - with milk!
  • Add the remaining milk until you get the desired consistency. Don't forget to add salt. Let cook until it becomes steamy again. I personally didn't feel I needed etra milk.
  • OPTIONAL:  add a teaspoon of sugar and vinegar (or juice from a half lemon). I didn't add these, so I'm not sure if it will taste better. Apparently, some older women cook it this way. ****
  • Fry your eggs sunny side up, and place 2 on each serving, and serve!
Romanian style spinach - with milk!Romanian style spinach - with milk!

Bon-appetit!

You can also serve with fried chicken liver like seen below, but it simply tastes better with eggs. We eat fried liver in Romania - chicken and pork liver are most popular and delicious when hot!

NOTES:

*I used frozen spinach because it is impossible to find fresh one in December, around here.

**we have special butcher knives made of wood or silicone. 

***I'm not sure if there is a taste difference, but the idea is not to use the garlic cloves as they are.

****The first time around I didn't add neither lemon nor sugar. Last night I added lemon. I used the juice from half a lemon for the whole quantity of food.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Voir les commentaires

Mac&Cheese recipe

Publié le par Charly C.

Towards the end of the month of November we decided to have some Mac and Cheese, but like the real deal. And yes, there is a non-real version too. So I asked A to search for the recipe as I never made this and I tend to just whip some dishes up, with no recipe and the result is not always good, as you can imagine. 

One of the things I need to improve is my willingness to follow recipes and the presentation. Sometimes I'm also under the impression the taste is not the one I imagine it to be. Since we have no reference point, we just have to think the food tastes good. However, the good news is that I plan on cooking more in 2019, even if I won't share everything I cook.

Enough babbling, on with the recipe! 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 250 g macaroni;
  • 125 g (real) butter;
  • 150 g cheese - we used a local cheese called "telemea" 
  • some salt 
  • some ground black pepper
Mac&Cheese recipeMac&Cheese recipeMac&Cheese recipe

METHOD

Boil water with some salt, and add the pasta. Let it boil according the instructions on the package - usually some 10 minutes. 

Dice the butter and shred the cheese. This way, the butter will melt faster. 
When the time is up, drain the water, add the butter and the cheese and mix.

mac and cheese

Let everything in the pot, on the fire for 2 extra minutes, then turn off the fire. 

When the time is up, add the black pepper on top. You can eat it right away, but better wait some 5 to 10 minutes so it will cool down a bit, with a lid on top. 

mac&cheese recipe

Let me tell you that this was the best pasta I had in a very long time. This is why I decided to share this recipe with all of you. Also, if you never tried Mac and Cheese before, this is a great chance to try it out. I know some folks prefer to make recipes that have been cooked by others before, and that were successful. 

Mac&Cheese recipe

Earlier I mentioned I used the cheese telemea. It's a Romanian cheese similar to feta, if I'm not mistaken. You're better off learning more about it from its Wiki page. It's usually salty or very salty, though less salty varieties have been made too. Nowadays, most telemea cheese on the market is made of cows milk, probably because it's easier to come by. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Voir les commentaires

Oriental salad - Romanian version

Publié le par Charly C.

I haven't posted a recipe in a very long time, i believe. I think it's time I shared something - a salad this time! It's easy to make, pretty good for the upcoming holidays, delicious in my opinion, and is also vegan friendly! 

Well, ok, what I'll share is not vegan friendly because I used eggs, BUT keep the eggs out and you can safely enjoy it! If you're wondering why I had to specify this is a Romanian version of the salad, is because Google showed me a different type of salad when I searched for the name of this dish. 

I'm not exactly sure what's the story behind this salad, all I know is that it's pretty easy to make, and that it's never enough. 

Oriental salad - Romanian version

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 kg potatoes
  • 200 g black olives (for color; use seedless ones)
  • 200 g pickles
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 2 eggs (you can skip them for a vegan salad)
  • aromatic herbs  - parsley (fresh or dry), dill (i skipped it)
  • some salt and ground black pepper
  • oil and vinegar

This is the list of ingredients for a basic salad I found on a Romanian website. I know some people add more stuff in this salad. One of the most common ingredients is sliced onion, but you must know we don't eat it. Other ingredients I noticed were shredded cabbage, raw cucumbers (along the pickled ones), and pickled beet, and the salad becomes a bit pinkish. 

Do not add any type of meat in this salad, because then you'll make something else. 

Oriental salad - Romanian versionOriental salad - Romanian version

METHOD

Start by peeling and dicing the potatoes. Then throw them in a pot with water, and place on medium heat. Don't forget to add some salt - I used some pink salt, not that it really matters, but we were curious. I boiled the potatoes for some 30 minutes, but I don't think I had 1 kg.

The next step is to slice or dice the rest of the ingredients, including the olives and eggs. Don't forget about the other ingredients you want to add. 

Next, when the potatoes are done, rinse them with some cold water, and mix them with the ingredients. Of course,don't forget to add oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and the herbs. 

Oriental salad - Romanian version

Look at those vibrant colors! This salad is eaten usually by itself or sometimes maybe with steak or chicken. There's no need for bread when eating this dish. You might need to eat other dishes before or after it to feel completely full. 

I hope you like it if you make it!

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

 

Voir les commentaires

Roasting eggplant - vegan friendly!

Publié le par Charly C.

I have to post this, because for the first time I managed to roast eggplant in a way that worked, is healthy, and I actually enjoyed eating. Oh, and yea! It's vegan friendly

So i had these eggplants [aubergines] about to go bad. So wondered what to do with them. Roasting them sounded really good. Here is how I did it!

Roasting eggplant - vegan friendly!

Ingredients:

  • eggplants [as many as you like]
  • condiments [i used black pepper, basil, and thyme]
  • some salt
  • some cooking oil [unflavored is best]

I first washed and peeled the eggplants. Then I sliced them as evenly as i could - i'm really bad at this task. Their thickness was about 1cm - i didn't measure.

I realized that using a long-bladed knife helped a lot with this task. 

Roasting eggplant - vegan friendly!Roasting eggplant - vegan friendly!

I used the brush usually useful when baking, to lightly spread some oil on my baking pan. 

I realized that the baking pan is quite important - I had some non-stick types, but they burned by foods as they were too thin, and the non-stick coating peeled. 

The pan i used this time is thicker and rather shiny, but I can't tell what type it is, or what it's made of. All i know is that i can scrub it quite a lot and it won't peel. It's not really enamel either, or at least i don't think it is enamel. 

Roasting eggplant - vegan friendly!

After I sliced the eggplants, and after i had lightly oiled the pan, I placed as many slices of eggplant as i could in the pan. I then tried to smudge a bit of oil on each slice, and sprinkled with salt and the condiments, and then i put the pan in the preheated oven. 

I let the slices stay for some 25 to 30 minutes, and then i flipped them over. I proceeded to still let them cook for some 15-20 minutes. 

Unlike with the non-stick pans, the slices did NOT stick to this pan - they did stick to the non-stick ones when i tried the recipe before. I have no idea how it happened. All i know is that i got rid of the so called non-stick ones, but mostly because they started peeling.

Roasting eggplant - vegan friendly!

I cook with gas, hence fire, and this may be a reason for my previous attempts at roasting to turn into failures. Vegetables turned mushy, or burned. I guess this baking pan is specially made for cooking and roasting with gas. 

Bottom line is that if your roasts are not like the expectation, try to change your pan - it might just do the trick.

(c) Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Voir les commentaires

yummy zucchini patties

Publié le par Charly C.

So yesterday we received some zucchini and their season seems to have started. I'm not entirely sure about that. In any case, "A" really likes patties made of zucchini, and for good reason: they're pretty light, despite being fried, as there's no meat in them. They're also pretty good, if you have a good recipe. 

While there's no meat in the recipe, you need some eggs or some other agent that can successfully replace the eggs. The egg is meant to help the patty stay in one piece, to enhance the taste, and there was another reason i forgot. So this is not a vegan recipe, but a vegetarian one. 

Read below the pics for ingredients and instructions!

You'll also need a grater/shredder, 2 bigger bowls and a smaller one, perhaps a sieve as well. 

1 big zucchini and an extra random piece, a big carrot, some salt. make sure you have more zucchini than you have carrots, if their size are different.oh, and you guessed it: no weighing in this recipe.

1 big zucchini and an extra random piece, a big carrot, some salt. make sure you have more zucchini than you have carrots, if their size are different.oh, and you guessed it: no weighing in this recipe.

shred the zucchini and the carrot togethershred the zucchini and the carrot together

shred the zucchini and the carrot together

squeeze out the juice. I did this twice.

squeeze out the juice. I did this twice.

mix with the eggs, season with some salt, black pepper, other herbs you like and other flavorings. NO SUGAR! also add some flour. it should look similar to this.mix with the eggs, season with some salt, black pepper, other herbs you like and other flavorings. NO SUGAR! also add some flour. it should look similar to this.

mix with the eggs, season with some salt, black pepper, other herbs you like and other flavorings. NO SUGAR! also add some flour. it should look similar to this.

time to fry in a bit of oil [about a spoon?]. Make sure they're evenly done on both sides. you can put as much as you want in a patty, but make sure to flatten it.

time to fry in a bit of oil [about a spoon?]. Make sure they're evenly done on both sides. you can put as much as you want in a patty, but make sure to flatten it.

yummy zucchini patties

You can now enjoy! Best served cold. I had 15 patties in total, but I ate one before taking a picture of all of them. "A" said they were really good :)

Bon Appétit~~~~

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Voir les commentaires

Bucharest adventures in April

Publié le par Charly C.

This entry was quite long in the making, for several reasons: my poor memories, recovering and editing the pictures, and actually writing everything, in between other stuff going on in our lives. Published a bit later than hoped, but not that late, and better than never at all ;)

Last week of March was when all the winter happened as the worst winter weather hit us. Luckily, as soon as April started, the weather also turned into spring. It never snowed again, after that. YAY!

Since the weather warmed up, we were able to go out more and have various adventures. 

these flowers appear later in the monththese flowers appear later in the month

these flowers appear later in the month

The month started off with the Easter celebrations in the Catholic world, but Romania is an Orthodox country so we had Easter on the 8th, 1 week later. 

During the first week of the month we were quite busy, and we couldn't wait for Easter to come so we'd relax a bit. Luckily, in Romania Easter Monday is a bank holiday so everyone stays home to relax and eat.

At 11 pm on Satuday we went to the church to to hear a bit of the mass and to bring home the "Light" - or a lit candle. All Romanians do this for good fortune in the "new year" [from an agricultural point of view]. 

Check out this video for a little insight into how the midnight mass goes. 

many people heading towards the same churchmany people heading towards the same church
many people heading towards the same churchmany people heading towards the same church

many people heading towards the same church

The next day, on Sunday Easter we were supposed to go to A's parents' house. And so we did. They moved out of city, but luckily the city bus takes us close to their new place. We had to walk from the bus stop to their house because the usual minibus driver doesn't work during major holidays like Easter. 

A small feast was waiting for us there - see the picture below. That's a cheesecake that replaces the traditional pasca which is a bit different both in looks and in how's made. 

The slices with boiled eggs in the middle are a special meat loaf made only for Easter, called drob

You also get to see a bit of the countryside, from A's parents' balcony, in the pic below.

Bucharest adventures in April
Bucharest adventures in April

Some time later, A's birthday came. That day we had to go with the older cat to the vet. He wouldn't eat and he would throw up if he did. The vet said it's just a gastritis, and gave him some shots and home treatment. 

Everyone praised Whiskey the cat for his prettiness and for being such a good boy. 

The next day, in the evening we decided to have a bit of fun. Or to try to relax a bit. So we went to see a movie - A Quiet Place. You probably already read my thoughts on the movie, and if not, by following the link you can do so now.

he was in my arms and trying to hide :)

he was in my arms and trying to hide :)

We also had to go search for a specific cat food, that we learned we can find at this rather new mall that opened not too far from us - some 6 tram stop away, and that's close. Check out this post about the public transportation in Bucharest.

There was an interesting place where they would only sell French fries. Of course we had to try them out. And I personally wasn't impressed - only 2 guys taking orders and serving people, so I had to wait some 30 minutes? The taste wasn't impressive either, but the fries were made on the spot which also added to the waiting time. 

And while I did say these were fries, they weren't thin like at McDonalds, but thick type, wedges. I also think they needed to be cooked for longer and maybe at lower temperature? 

In any case, we saw another location downtown, in the Old City Center area which is easier for us to get to. 

Bucharest adventures in AprilBucharest adventures in AprilBucharest adventures in April

One day A asked me for avocado on toast. So I made some. Not much to say there, but it's too small to make a separate entry on it. 

Toast the bread. Cut open the avocado, remove the pit. Slice it up or mash it and spread on the toast. Then serve.

I discovered avocado tastes better with a dash of salt on top. If you think this is weird, wait for my entry on the weird foods I sometimes eat and enjoy. 

Bucharest adventures in April

After some time, I decided to make some doughnuts. I decided to follow a Romanian recipe for "Little Lies" which I have to tweak. The recipe I had gave me some cookies or biscuits instead of donuts, which is probably why they're called "Little Lies" -in Romanian minciunele.

However, they were pretty sweet and worked well with tea and coffee, and there's that at least. 

I have this cat shaped cookie cutter and I decided to make some of them shaped like cats, because why not? I got the cookie cutter as a freebie from a box of margarine. It was meant to make cute looking sandwiches for your kids, but that's too much work for me. 

Once I find recipe that I like better, I'll share it. Till then, just a sneak peak at my Little Lies.

all dough-nuts should be covered in confectioner's sugar, if you ask me.
all dough-nuts should be covered in confectioner's sugar, if you ask me.

all dough-nuts should be covered in confectioner's sugar, if you ask me.

At some point we went to a cafe for the first time in ages. Or it felt like that to me. I think we had hot chocolate and tea? or something like that, I completely forgot.

Bucharest adventures in AprilBucharest adventures in April

Some time after that, I decided to turn some old shirts I had into pillow cases. I like doing things myself the most - this makes me feel accomplished. 

The blog entry will appear in June, [which is awesome because I discovered some pictures I forgot to add] however the idea was born in April and was mostly performed in May. If you read this entry when it's published, the link won't work, but if you read it some time in June, out of curiosity, it will work. You can have a little sneak-peak below.

Of course, my oldest cat decided to help out.
Of course, my oldest cat decided to help out.Of course, my oldest cat decided to help out.

Of course, my oldest cat decided to help out.

We also had some work to do, and we still did go out after that. But nothing much happened, except for the adventure we had outside of the city, in search of an outlet. I'll let A talk about it, as it was her idea and i'll just add the pictures in.  

A month ago we decided to go to an outlet store that was suppose to be in an area we haven't visited before. However, we had no idea of how this trip was going to go. We sure didn't expect what was coming ~

First of all, we got in the bus and as we looked on the map, realized it was gonna take at least 22 long stops. 22!! We never really went that far. Beside that, the day was quite hot, it was a rush hour, and the bus was packed with people. So half way there i started feeling nauseous and like i had no air...many of the people in the bus seemed to have no problems as if they were used to it ~

An hour later (no joke) we finally got off the bus. It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and even tho we went to other malls that are somehow out of city, this one was different. The entire area didn't seem safe at all, there was a lot of shadiness. We crossed the street and started walking by these what seemed to be abandoned houses and trying to make sure no stray dogs were gonna bite our ass. It wasn't comfortable at all and i felt quite unsafe...after walking a while trying to gather all our courage we ended up crossing a street to get to a railway and in that moment, we started to think what the hell are we doing. The mall didn't see to be in sight, actually there was nothing like a mall in the area at all. That's when we decided to turn around and go back as we didn't want to end up being there at night. 

After more waiting for the bus, it finally arrived and we got in. But, since we were already out, we thought it would be a good idea to go to another mall that was located somewhere halfway through the trip. And so we did.

Well, this mall was a lot better. We got to rest a bit while exploring it. I was looking for some sport shoes and at the very least they had some options. When we got really tired we went outside to a cafe to sit and eat something. We had some fries and a burger that were not impressive. The burger was supposed not to have any onion, but i found a big layered slice of onion in it. At least it looked funny. 

At that point we just wanted to get back home but didn't know how. We started looking at tram schedules to see which one we need to take, and spent some 15 minutes waiting in a stop. Then we realized that might not be the right stop as the tram we were waiting for somehow turned into a different one with another route. Pretty discouraged we went back at the mall and after waiting some more and trying to figure things out, we called a taxi.

Luckily at least that was uneventful. The taxi came fast and took us home, where we finally arrived home, 6 hours after heading out in the first place. This trip gave me some interesting feelings ~

Bucharest adventures in AprilBucharest adventures in April
Bucharest adventures in AprilBucharest adventures in April

First of all, i thought i knew the city pretty well so i didn't expect getting lost. I also thought its really hard to get lose and especially not be able to locate the transportation i need easily. Then there was the uncomfortable feeling of the area, which i didn't feel very often at all. Bucharest is generally a safe city with no problems, so i wonder where does that come from...
And the tiredness. I feel i'm becoming an old person since I got tired so fast. 

All in all this has been an interesting experience, but not one i am about to repeat anytime soon. The mall managers should definitely do a better job at explaining where its located so that shoppers don't put their hopes up in the first place....or maybe it was just a ghost mall that could never be found, o.o. Now that would be quite a twist....

Hopefully you didn't get too bored, if you managed to get to this point. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Voir les commentaires

Making meatballs

Publié le par Charly C.

Actually, I was torn about posting this recipe. About 2 months ago or so I decided to give up meat from my diet. Or to eat as little of it as possible. I'm by no means a vegan, but I guess a vegetarian? I will occasionally eat meat, especially if it's given to me but I won't go out of my way to buy it. 

I have both ethical and religious reasons for this choice. However, I had the recipe in the making for quite some time now, and I wanted to post some fresh material. Pictures are old as well - 2015 old. 

hmm.. yea....

hmm.. yea....

I must say I love meatballs: fried meat, fat, flavor..? I mean, what's not to like, right? Sadly, I can't even eat minced meat, let alone fried stuff. 

Well, health related issues aside, today I want to tell you how you can prepare meatballs as well. Trust me: it's so easy, but you might have to make your hands dirty. I only dislike the frying process.

INGREDIENTS:

  • some 500 grams of minced pork meat. You can use pork and beef, chicken, or almost any type of meat I suppose.
  • 1 egg [2 if you have almost 1 kg /2 lbs of meat]
  • salt, pepper
  • some all purpose flour

METHOD:

mix everything together, until it looks similar to thismix everything together, until it looks similar to this

mix everything together, until it looks similar to this

Take small amounts, turn into balls or random shapes, and fry on both sides until they become brown

Take small amounts, turn into balls or random shapes, and fry on both sides until they become brown

they should look similar to this.

they should look similar to this.

Make sure there is no pink left on the inside of the meatball. You can do this by making it more flat - which is what I do, or by splitting one open to check the color change. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Voir les commentaires

raw carrot salad - vegan friendly

Publié le par Charly C.

raw carrot salad - vegan friendlyraw carrot salad - vegan friendly

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 or 2 large carrots, or maybe 2 to 4 smaller ones
  • some vinegar
  • some salt
  • some oil – the default cooking oil here is made from sunflower seeds. I remember using olive oil once, but it was too heavy and the taste was not the one I was used to.

For instructions, read below the images. ;) 

I used a pretty big carrot.

I used a pretty big carrot.

peel and wash the carrot(s)

peel and wash the carrot(s)

Shred the carrots. Julienne works nicely too.Shred the carrots. Julienne works nicely too.

Shred the carrots. Julienne works nicely too.

season with salt, add oil, add vinegar, in no particular order, and mix.season with salt, add oil, add vinegar, in no particular order, and mix.season with salt, add oil, add vinegar, in no particular order, and mix.

season with salt, add oil, add vinegar, in no particular order, and mix.

NOTES

  • You can add a green (or more sour) apple as well.
  • You can also add shredded raw white cabbage.
  • You can use mayonnaise instead of salt, oil, and vinegar. [not vegan anymore, and heavier]
  • I don’t think the apple and mayonnaise go well together, but you can try if you are that curious.

This salad is perfect throughout the year. I can’t say I like it more plain than I like it with mayonnaise, but the one with apples is my least favorite. I usually feel bloated after having this one. It tastes pretty nice by itself.

Bon Apetit~~

in between stages.

in between stages.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not vegan, but this doesn't mean I eat meat all the time. Yes, I used the tag [hoping] for more exposure, but I think it's connected or relevant. 

This salad can be enjoyed by those who follow a vegan diet or lifestyle as well. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

 

Voir les commentaires

<< < 1 2 3 > >>