The Fermentation & Curing Chamber

Ok, I have to tell you about my latest bug.  Growing up in Eastern Europe where EVERYTHING is cured, smoked, with prosciutto and sausages hanging in the pantry, I couldn’t help but try to reproduce the same delicacies here on US soil. But I was faced with a couple obstacles like I had to keep my basement smell free, and keep my neighbors happy if I was to build a smoke house to cold smoke the meat outside for 10+ hours. Here’s the first task for my charcuterie adventures in curing meat - the fermentation and curing chamber.

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Read the rest of Charcuterie - Fermentation and Curing Chamber (1,588 words)

© Gabi for Mamaliga, 2010. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: air dried meats, Charcuterie, curing meat, curing meat gear, italian cured meats, meat preservation, meat smoking, pancetta, salame, sausage making

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Parents watch this, and teach your children well (how to cook).

© Gabi for Mamaliga, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: anti-obesity, child obesity, jamie oliver, TED

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Courtesy of Divid Gilkey/NPR

By now I expect that most of you know of the devastating Haitian earthquake, seen the pictures and reports of the survivors that now need to battle hunger and thirst. No need to update you on that.
You are probably left with the daunting question of “Why it happened to them and not us?” and feel the urge of somehow helping out in some way or another. Without going into deep thinking, can it be that those of us with resources are spared so that in situations like these we can share and help those in need? Just a thought…

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© Gabi for Mamaliga, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Concern USA, Haiti Earthquake, World Hunger, Yele Haiti

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Panettone

Merry Christmas! This is the second time me baking the Panettone from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice for the BBA Challenge. I didn’t blog about it since there were some things I wanted to tweak and adapt from his original formula (that, with all respect to the man, doesn’t even come close to the quintessential Panettone Milanese). Quite a few changes. Now I know why Nicole calls the BBA Challenge a ‘challenge’…

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© Gabi for Mamaliga, 2009. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: BBA-Challenge, candied fruits, candied orange peel, Christmas, christmas italian bread, italian cuisine, panettone, Peter Reinhart, sourdough, sweet bread, The Bread Baker's Apprentice

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Chocolate Tart

Don’t be fooled. This humble chocolate tart is packed with enough potential to turn even the most chocolate-disciplined person into a dessert-ivore. So much more that is so easy and fast - if you read my previous post on baking short crust sweet pastry tart shells and you have two or three of them in the freezer.

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Read the rest of The Humble Chocolate Tart (346 words)

© Gabi for Mamaliga, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chocolate, chocolate tart, cooking, dessert, ganache, jamie oliver, Naked Chef, Recipes

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Short Crust

In days when I crave something sweet and classy (and that’s daily, lately) this flexible short crust I discovered in Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef cook book saves me of going through intense labor to create a delicious tart.

I will be referring to this short crust many times so you better give it a try and familiarize yourself with it.

The next post will be a simple wicked chocolate filling that paired with this crust produces a sublime chocolate tart.

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Read the rest of Short Crust Sweet Pastry (619 words)

© Gabi for Mamaliga, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Desserts, jamie oliver, pastry, Recipes, Short Crust, sweet pastry, Tart Crust

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A quick one. One of the reference voices and food bloggers in Hungarian, Central and Eastern European cuisine, travel and culture Suzanne Urpecz from The Hungarian Girl blog, took an interview with me that is featured on her blog - some exciting stuff if you want to know more about the one behind the Mamaliga blog.

In the mean time make sure you read through Suzanne’s posts and fill up on the wealth of information for those of you traveling to Europe, or looking for precious info on European wines,  or simply eager to try out some of the most delicious recipes from the same region.

Thanks Suzanne!

© Gabi for Mamaliga, 2009. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Central European cuisine, Easter European cuisine, Hungarian recipes, Hungarian wines, Hungary culture, Suzanne Urpecz, the hungarian girl, Toronto dining

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Cedar Picnic Table

Only so you know on what am I spending usually the hot summer weekends, this post is about a picnic cedar table I built (commissioned by my wife) out of these six sided hexagonal picnic patio table plans

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© Gabi for Mamaliga, 2009. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Austalian timber oil, cabot, cedar, hexagonal patio table plans, outdoor furniture stain, patio table, picnic table, red cedar

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Bacon Explosion

Had to do it. I knew it was going to come. The notorious creation of the BBQ Addicts, The Bacon Explosion a scandalous arteries clogging log of sausage, with crispy bacon bits, wrapped in … you guessed a layer of thick bacon! No trace of a vegetable in sight! None.

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Read the rest of The ‘Light’ Bacon Explosion (255 words)

© Gabi for Mamaliga, 2009. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bacon, bacon explosion, barbeque, BBQ, BBQAddicts, meat, pork, sausage

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Turkey Burger on Top 9 on Foodbuzz!

I didn’t even dream at the time of creating it that my humble Turkey Burger would make it to Top 9 on FoodBuzz! How cool is that! I might need to pay more attention to it later in a dedicated post with a recipe. Any takers? Anyway - check it out! It is mouth drooling and it can easily compete with the cover picture of the Saveur magazine (September 2009 issue)!

If you are a FoodBuzz member (and if you are a foodie - YOU SHOULD) please add Mamaliga (me) as a Foodie Pal would love to keep in touch!

© Gabi for Mamaliga, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: barbeque, BBQ, foodbuzz, foodbuzz top 9, grill, portabela mushroom, saveur, turkey burger

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