http://www.mamaliga.com I am a Romanian Man Living in Chicago Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:59:51 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="attachment_558" align="alignleft" width="303" caption="The Fermentation & Curing Chamber"][/caption] 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. ... http://www.mamaliga.com/charcuterie/charcuterie-fermentation-and-curing-chamber Because he goes beyond the basic facts of how to put a (mind you, delicious) meal together. Watch Jamie Oliver's TED presentation about child obesity in America. After all he has all the credentials of a proper chef, not that of an Iron Chef sensationalism, but who needs that anyway? ... http://www.mamaliga.com/reflections/why-i-like-jamie-oliver [caption id="attachment_548" align="alignleft" width="312" caption="Courtesy of Divid Gilkey/NPR"][/caption] 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 ... http://www.mamaliga.com/world-hunger/haiti [caption id="attachment_535" align="aligncenter" width="571" caption="Panettone"][/caption] 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 ... http://www.mamaliga.com/holidays/panettone-not-your-mommas-fruitcake [caption id="attachment_495" align="alignright" width="456" caption="Chocolate Tart"][/caption] 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 ... http://www.mamaliga.com/recipes/the-humble-chocolate-tart [caption id="attachment_472" align="alignright" width="421" caption="Short Crust"][/caption] 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 ... http://www.mamaliga.com/baking/jamie-oliver-short-crust-sweet-pastry Hey Mamaliga fans! 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 ... http://www.mamaliga.com/mamaliga/i-got-interviewed-by-the-hungarian-girl [caption id="attachment_419" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Cedar Picnic Table"][/caption] 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 It took a while but I finally ... http://www.mamaliga.com/outdoors/hexagonal-cedar-picnic-table [caption id="attachment_433" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Bacon Explosion"][/caption] 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 ... http://www.mamaliga.com/bbq/light-bacon-explosion [caption id="attachment_426" align="aligncenter" width="647" caption="Turkey Burger on Top 9 on Foodbuzz!"][/caption] 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 ... http://www.mamaliga.com/random/the-turkey-burger-in-top-9-on-foodbuzz