sunnyside: little bucharest

had to run a romanian-food related errand for my mom today and rather than drag myself to sunnyside by myself, I dragged alex and his two brothers as well.

take 7 train to 40 Street, explore

romanian garden
(from left: russian beef salad, polenta with cheese and sour cream, eggplant salad with onions)
we also ordered skinless sausage (mici) and sarmale (stuffed cabbage)
the stuff that makes strong romanian women!
(and help ensare sexy american boys)
I honestly do think if you know how to cook you will obtain a (lazy?) boyfriend.
alex loves when i make romanian dishes.

whisky & tea trying to clear up my sore throat

savarine from nita's european bakery
recipe
i love this dessert
i fall for the oozy yummy rummy whipped cream puff every time

Salata de Vinete

Until I was in my teens, I didn't enjoy, or eat much, Romanian food. A lot has changed and now I figured out how to make the foods I used to hate! Salata de vinete (eggplant spread) is a classic recipe that I obsess over and like to make at least 2x a month. It's really easy and simple peasant food, and now that I am a peasant, it's really quite appropriate.

Need:

3 medium-large eggplants
1 medium onion (can leave out if you want)
3 cloves garlic (more or less, depends how garlicky you like things)
4 tablespoons olive oil


Make:

Place aluminum foil on a large pan and crank the oven up to 550 degrees. Take a fork and poke holes all over the eggplants. Pop 'em in the oven and wait for the eggplants to "collapse" - about 25-30 minutes or longer, depending on the eggplants. So finicky, these eggplants.

Take the eggplants out of the oven and peel the skins off the eggplants (and the tops), leaving the meating insides. Put the insides in a blender with the minced onions, minced garlic and olive oil and puree.

It'll still be really hot (and it's best cold) so put it in the fridge and enjoy...with bread or crackers....later!

Feast Pt. II : Stuffed Peppers with Couscous

My grandmother used to make the most delicious stuffed peppers, but these, I made with a twist. I barely eat meat (outside of restaurants) - an anomaly in my Romanian family. Growing up, I was vegan for a while, so I learned pretty quick how to stuff myself silly with weird sounding thingys like "cracked durham wheat". Couscous, I actually enjoy, and it's a lot easier to make than rice - which, for some reason, I seem to burn almost every time.

So easy mix, right? Stuff the peppers with couscous and you are filled up like you just ate some steak from Luger's.

And so, we have a pot of boiling water, and dunk some peppers into it (taking out the stems and seeds beforehand), making sure to cover the peppers with the water evenly and keep them there for 5-7 minutes, until they get tender.

Meanwhile, since you're not busy, make the couscous, but make sure you prepare it with chicken stock. Chicken stock = so much better than water. Then, pour the couscous into a bowl along with 1 tbspn olive oil, however much dill and basil you like and crumbled feta cheese. Mix up the mixture and stuff it into the peppers.

Voila, dinner! I used mozzarella cheese here as a last resort, but feta would be better. Food is food though...and I'm not about to argue.

In Where I Make A Feast!

Oh tonight was a sheer colossus of food. And you're going to make it to - it's so easy, it's disgusting - ha, not the food, but the process. It's all about the process here, people.

Here, I made varza - a Romanian sauerkraut treat!

First, add some olive oil to a pot on medium heat. Then chop up 1 medium onion. Maybe less though, if you find it's too onion-y. After you add it and it's all "saute-ed" up, add about a 1/2 a 12 oz. can of tomato paste to the mix. Mix the onion and tomato paste mix until it reaches a less clumpy, more sauce-y consistency.


Then, oh - then comes the fun part! Open a regular old can of sauerkraut - you know, the stuff that tastes sort of sour and delicious and pour it into the pot. The juice in the can will make it as sour as you want, so if you're anti-sour, take it out. I like it semi-sour, so I pour most of it out. Then you just plop it into the pot and stir it up! After it gets pretty hot - hot - hot, cover the whole concoction with water, and watch it boil.




The point here is, that all this water need to be absorbed, yet also evaporate. Stir vigorously, do whatever ya gotta do. I don't even really know why I add expect - except my mother tells me I need it, and well, I can't argue with tradition. After all the water has leached out of the varza (about 15-30 minutes), it's perfect to eat.

Cassoulet: Vive La France!

Finally getting readjusted to living in reality. Mexico isn’t reality, so I’m back to doing the things I do. Cook, read books, watch movies, sleep til 1. Oh, it happens. Tonight, I made cassoulet. I’m obsessed with all things French so I bought all the delicious goodies that come with making a French meal…baguette, red wine & well, I was going to watch “Breathless” but I’m a Robert Downey Jr. mood so I chose “Only You” instead. It’s set in Venice - is that close enough to Paris? Magnifique!

I found the recipe at epicurious.com - it’s basically just cooking some bacon, throwing a lot of veggies with some olive oil in a pot, add garlic, add beans & red wine and pop it in at 400 degrees for a half hour. It’s a peasant’s dish and considering that’s what I am at the moment, it couldn’t be more appropriate.

Cassoulet: the finished product!

Ah, and just for the hell of it, I made some eggplant dip (see the eviscerated eggplant carcass on my stove?). Oh my grandmothers would be so proud!