My camera for my companion

 
I have an announcement: I’m branching out a bit.

Having this blog has made me love taking pictures even more than before. Partly because of all the practice I get photographing all my cooking and meals, but mostly because of all the lovely, wonderful photography blogs I’ve discovered in the past six or eight months.

The photographers behind these blogs – a few of which are listed in my blog roll at the right – really inspired me to take more pictures. Not just of food, but of ordinary things and my everyday life. I’ve also spent some time trolling around flickr looking at the photos of some of my favourite bloggers, and at series where people take one photo every day for a year, one self-portrait a week, etc. etc.

So I’ve decided to start a new project. For now, it will exist here at the little red kitchen, even though it isn’t really about food. I feel like this space is always evolving and changing, so to me it fits.

Every weekend, I’m going to post photos that I took during that week  - one a day.  Any photos at all – good or bad, of people or places, of food or buildings. This way, I am forced to take more pictures, and I hope I will get better at it.  I also want to seize the opportunity for picture-taking more often, and keep an eye out for something to catch in my camera lens. And, I hope you’ll all enjoy it too.

I promise not to cheat and post five photos that I snapped in a hurry Friday night. I’m going to do my very best to put up one from each day, no matter how horrible they might be.

For me, having this blog is all about being creative. I started it because I love to cook and write about food. Now I know I also love to take pictures. So I’m going to spend the summer in Edmonton with my camera for my companion.

Please let me know how you like my new project in the comments! I’d love to get any feedback.

And now, here’s set number one.

June 1 – 5

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday
 

Thursday

Friday

Homemade in Toronto: Turos Teszta

 

I was also lucky enough to have Eva, Emily’s girlfriend, cook me supper while I was staying with them. She also made me a Hungarian recipe: Turos Teszta, or as Eva translates it, Cheesy Noodles.

(In case you are wondering, Eva is Hungarian … these dishes didn’t just fall randomly from the sky.)

Turos Teszta is one of the easiest suppers to make ever, and also one of the most delicious. Also one of the most fattening. There, I said it.

It’s basically an excuse for a meal that’s sort of a combination of breakfast and supper and is prime comfort food: a blend of noodles, bacon and cheese.

You could dress up this dish in lots of ways, and as I ate it my mind started wandering to fresh herbs and sun-dried tomatoes and green onions. But really, it’s perfect in all its bare simplicity too.

You start by cutting up a whole bunch of bacon into small pieces. I’m not sure how much exactly. I’d guess about a half a package. Or maybe a whole package, what the hell.

Fry the bacon in a big frying pan. While it’s frying, put a pot of water on to boil for the noodles. Then cut up your cheese. What’s used here is pressed cottage cheese, also called Turo. It tastes like cottage cheese – very mild – but has a consistency more like feta. I think feta could also work, but it would make it much saltier.

Add the noodles to the water once it’s boiled. The noodles we used were thin, flat egg noodles. I don’t know if they’re particularly Hungarian or not, but I really think any kind of egg noodle or Italian-type noodle would do here. A chunky shape like rottini or shells might work well.

Fry the bacon until it’s dark and crisp. Drain the noodles and put them in a big bowl. Add the bacon and the cheese and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Dig in!

Homemade in Toronto: Palacsinta

Writing about Toronto feel miles out of date by now, but I just can’t let it go. It was too good a trip and I really want to share it with you.

It might seem strange that I’m telling you about the homemade food I ate in Toronto. After all, to me it is the land of a million restaurants.

But between the restaurant suppers and the many cafe treats, there were a few meals at home tucked in there. Unfortunately I didn’t make any of them. My gracious hostesses, Emily and Eva, were only too happy to spoil me.

When Emily and I lived together back in university, all four of us roommates had certain dishes that we often made for each other, or for potlucks. Rachael could whip up a delicious green salad with feta cheese, green onions, almonds and an amazing dressing. Jessie used to make this yummy, earthy mixture of mushrooms, pinto beans and brown rice. My favourite contribution was the Moosewood cornbread recipe. And Emily would treat us to pancakes for weekend breakfast.

If you knew us four at all, you would realize that these foods are all hugely characteristic of our personalities, and how we’re defined in this group. I’ve only just come to this conclusion now, as I write this three years later, but I think it’s pretty bang-on.

And I swear, the next time the four of us are all together (unfortunately, it happens rarely), I want to request that we all make those four foods and have a wonderful, nostalgic, albeit rather carby, meal.

The pancakes Emily used to make were little ones called “Three-in-a-pan”. I think the recipe came from a Unicef kids’ cookbook. Eaten hot and sprinkled with icing sugar, maple syrup and raisins, they were a divine way to start the day.

But in Toronto a few weeks ago, Em didn’t make Three-in-a-pan. She made Hungarian crepes, or Palacsinta, instead. Well, she said they’re Hungarian, and the recipe is from a Hungarian cookbook. But to me they tasted like other crepes I’ve eaten before that I always thought were French. I’m not complaining – they were delicious. Especially since they’re filled with jam, and have maple syrup on top to boot.

I’ve never made crepes before, but I’ve been meaning to for years. I think I have this strange notion that they require a lot of special technique to make sure they come out thin and perfectly crisped. That maybe I need to go out and buy a crepe pan just to make sure I get it right. Plain old pancakes seem a lot easier.

But Em mixed these up in a cinch, and delivered them to me and Eva rolled up and, again, sprinkled liberally with icing sugar. Along with the jam and the maple syrup. There’s nothing like a jolt of sugar to start the morning.

It’s just like old times. 

Thanks to Emily for this recipe!

Palacsinta

Ingredients: 

4 eggs
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup milk
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Beat eggs and sugar until frothy, add salt and milk, beat in flour slowly, until very smooth, then add melted butter to have a very thin batter.

Use a non-stick crepe pan or a regular non-stick frying pan. Heat to sizzling point, then reduce heat for your first crepe. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter in pan and swish around until the entire bottom of the pan is covered. When lightly brown use a flat crepe spatula to turn over and brown ever-so-lightly. Remove onto a flat warm dish. 

Fill with whatever filling you want - traditional Hungarian filling is apricot jam (we like raspberry and strawberry). And always dust with icing sugar!

Yields about 12 - 16 thin crepes.

Toronto

 
I love discovering an unfamiliar city through the lens of a camera.

I went to the Toronto area last weekend for a conference, and I took the opportunity to spent five days in Toronto with my best friend. There was lots of walking, lots of eating, lots of laughing and talking, and lots of picture-taking.

I don’t have time to write a long post now – and I think my trip to will be worth a few posts all together – but I wanted to share with you a small selection of the shots I took.

 

  

 

I’ll be back soon with stories and pictures of lovely meals and treats! It was a food-filled trip and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.