Notes from a dysfunctional kitchen
I have promised myself time and again that I will look after this blog and work on my writing ( and cooking). Time and again I have disappointingly failed to do so.
Nevertheless, here are two stories from my dysfunctional kitchen. The first is about chili con carne, the balkan version and the second one is vegetarian shepherd's pie.
First thing first. Cooking for family can be stressful, unless your family like mine is omnivorous with few preferences. For example I don't like potatoes and prefer not to eat them, some don't like exotic spices, others don't like chili, there are those who don't eat meat if it isn't minced or chicken, then you've got people who don't eat veggies, but on the overall we are omnivorous and willing to taste new food as long as it is made from the ingredients that we eat.
So on the occasion of having the family over I decided to cook chili con carne. I've been literally longing to try out this recipe for weeks. I had suggested it to my SO and he said "Yeah, but over the weekend." The weekend didn't happen. Anyway, I used 500gr minced meat, the recipe said beef but I used a mix of pork and beef the ratio was 2/5 pork 3/5beef, but you can adjust your preferences. The recipe itself is pretty basic. Depending on how many people you cook for you will need 1 large onion and carrots - saute them and add the meat when brownish add a can of tomatoes or a jar of home made tomato salsa, add chopped peppers red or green or whatever colour and a can or a can and a half of brown beans. And let it simmer for about half an hour to 40 minutes depending on your stove. In the meantime prepare classic rice pilav, in other words boil the water add the rice cook at medium for 15 minutes and then on slow for 5 minutes, cover with cotton kitchen towel and let it rest. Serve the chili on a bed of rice and if feeling exotic grind a bit of dark chocolate. The dirty little secret I didn't tell my omnivorous family was that I had put half a bar of 75% dark chocolate in the chili. As for the chili part I decided not to use chili peppers or jalapenos in the chili but served them separately.
The dish was a success and it was compared to stuffed peppers, which means a lot.
[pic available on instagram]
The second dish was a spur of a moment dish. While doing the groceries this morning I noticed sweet potatoes. Perhaps this was a sign telling me it was high time I tried them. The fact is that I don't like potatoes in any form or shape, not that I don't eat them but if I can avoid them I am happy to do so,thus the postponing of tasting sweet potatoes.
Long story short, when I got home I searched my favourite food site, bbc goood food and found a recipe for vegetarian shepherd's pie. Of course, I changed few of the ingredients, for example I used regular cheese in the end and added parnship and parsley to the lentils. As the recipe said I baked it for 20 minutes and voila. It was tasty I have to say, but it confirmed something I had known before venturing to buy the sweet potato, regular or sweet me and potatoes simply don't click. However, I strongly recommend this dish to people who think vegetarian food is boring and not wholesome and that meat is a must for Sunday lunch.
Nevertheless, here are two stories from my dysfunctional kitchen. The first is about chili con carne, the balkan version and the second one is vegetarian shepherd's pie.
First thing first. Cooking for family can be stressful, unless your family like mine is omnivorous with few preferences. For example I don't like potatoes and prefer not to eat them, some don't like exotic spices, others don't like chili, there are those who don't eat meat if it isn't minced or chicken, then you've got people who don't eat veggies, but on the overall we are omnivorous and willing to taste new food as long as it is made from the ingredients that we eat.
So on the occasion of having the family over I decided to cook chili con carne. I've been literally longing to try out this recipe for weeks. I had suggested it to my SO and he said "Yeah, but over the weekend." The weekend didn't happen. Anyway, I used 500gr minced meat, the recipe said beef but I used a mix of pork and beef the ratio was 2/5 pork 3/5beef, but you can adjust your preferences. The recipe itself is pretty basic. Depending on how many people you cook for you will need 1 large onion and carrots - saute them and add the meat when brownish add a can of tomatoes or a jar of home made tomato salsa, add chopped peppers red or green or whatever colour and a can or a can and a half of brown beans. And let it simmer for about half an hour to 40 minutes depending on your stove. In the meantime prepare classic rice pilav, in other words boil the water add the rice cook at medium for 15 minutes and then on slow for 5 minutes, cover with cotton kitchen towel and let it rest. Serve the chili on a bed of rice and if feeling exotic grind a bit of dark chocolate. The dirty little secret I didn't tell my omnivorous family was that I had put half a bar of 75% dark chocolate in the chili. As for the chili part I decided not to use chili peppers or jalapenos in the chili but served them separately.
The dish was a success and it was compared to stuffed peppers, which means a lot.
[pic available on instagram]
The second dish was a spur of a moment dish. While doing the groceries this morning I noticed sweet potatoes. Perhaps this was a sign telling me it was high time I tried them. The fact is that I don't like potatoes in any form or shape, not that I don't eat them but if I can avoid them I am happy to do so,thus the postponing of tasting sweet potatoes.
Long story short, when I got home I searched my favourite food site, bbc goood food and found a recipe for vegetarian shepherd's pie. Of course, I changed few of the ingredients, for example I used regular cheese in the end and added parnship and parsley to the lentils. As the recipe said I baked it for 20 minutes and voila. It was tasty I have to say, but it confirmed something I had known before venturing to buy the sweet potato, regular or sweet me and potatoes simply don't click. However, I strongly recommend this dish to people who think vegetarian food is boring and not wholesome and that meat is a must for Sunday lunch.
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