The final Paprika of my 4 part series is pictured below.  This Paprika was made for a female student at W&L.  She is a sister of the Zeta Tau chapter of Kappa Delta (ΚΔ).  We used the pink version of the Trident pajama pants to create sleep shorts. The remaining yardage was saved  for the piping, the Trident and Greek Letters.  The background fabric is a decorator-weight Waverly print.

ΚΔ’s colors are olive green and pearl white. The client wanted pink as the 3rd color as the intended recipient has her entire room decorated in pink and green. That is one of my favorite color combinations as well.  Not only would the pink and green be great for a ΚΔ but it would be great for a ΔZ, AKA, or anyone who my kids say “rocks the croc”.

As requested by the client for the 3 other Paprikas, a zipper was installed in the bottom seam and the designs on the back of the pillow are skewed towards the top so the monogram can be added.

watching paprika. HELLA GOOD

This is the giant sized pot we purchased at Target for the Turkey Brine. We were making sure the turkey fit. It does — it’s in the Trader Joe’s bag.

This is the oven schedule on the computer. We made it nearly 2 weeks ago.

This is the pot with Corelyn as a reference.

Chopping the veggies we’re going to roast and the mushrooms for the stuffing.

Deviled egg mix.

The brine.

Broccoli gruyere gratin.

mmmm mmm good.

]]> http://rosemaryremembers.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/paprika-ii/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:40:13 +0000 rosemaryremembers http://rosemaryremembers.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/paprika-ii/

This Paprika is the second in a set of four for a client.  The intended recipient is a student at Denison University. He is a member of the Ohio Iota chapter of Phi Delta Theta (ΦΔΘ).  Denison’s logo is a bicolor capital D.  The client wanted solids for the majority of fabrics and a touch of coordinating plaid for the outline of the Denison D, the Greek letters, and the piping.

The flip side of the pillow has his fraternity written in 4″ block  letters centered left and right but positioned towards the top so the client can have the pillow monogrammed.  These are the same size letters that the Greeks wear on their shirts.  I used the same plaid for the letters. 

Both the Denison D and the ΦΔΘ are appliqued with a satin stitch to provide a more finished appearance.  This pillow also has a hidden zipper in the seam so the exterior can be removed for easy washing.

Now this won’t be an easy thing to explain if you, dear reader, aren’t Hungarian. But I’ll try my best.

This recipe was inspired by my gypsy grandmother, but the original is part of a 2-day feast and they make the stew of hen. I sometimes make that feast, too, but it takes half a day to spend in the kitchen so without company and an inspiring amount of beer it isn’t very fun to do. Hence, I created this quick but still very extraordinary version.

The stew itself requires two (plus an optional third and fourth), and the gypsy style another one very Hungarian ingredients, so if you are cooking it elsewhere, make sure that you have a Hungarian shop nearby or try the links (I never ordered anything from this store, I just found it now when writing this).

First of all, I tell my guests what I’ll be making for dinner and even the Hungarians make a funny face when they hear it. The ingredients are very uncommon to go together (except in gypsy families) but they – as usually everything gypsy-originated – taste divine. Okay, long story short, I get it, here’s how it’s done.

I make stew from 1 kg of pork-thigh. I heat up a tablespoon of lard (if you can’t get some, use 2 spoons of oil). I braise a nice big onion and a few slices of garlic (sliced up well) with 2 teaspoons of salt, until the onion gets glassy. Then I stir-fry the meat, chopped into small cubes and dried with kitchen paper before. When the colour has changed, I turn the cooktop low, and spice it with freshly ground black pepper, a pinch of basil, a pinch of marjoram, 2 teaspoons of noble sweet red paprika, 2 teaspoons of hot piros arany (it is hot and salty red paprika creme, a very intensive taste) and optionally, a teaspoon of goulash paste (it is like the leftover sauce from yesterday’s stew, so an intensely spicey, thick essence). I also put a sliced-up tomato and a bell pepper in it. Fill the pot with cold water so it nearly covers the meat and cover it. Let it boil for a good 40 minutes (or as long as the meat is tender). Then uncover it and let the unnecessary water (if any) steam away.

In the meantime, cook noodles and top it with curd cheese, farmer’s cheese, thick cottage cheese or whatever you can buy, but make sure it isn’t sweet. Real curd cheese look like on the left picture, by the way. And it looks like on the right when on top of noodles.

When the stew is done, simply put it on top of the curdy noodle. Traditionally, it’s eaten this way, but you can make it even better by siding it with fermented jalapeños.

Yummy!

One can probably guess a common ingredient after walking around the market in Budapest – paprika! There are a lot of stew and soup dishes, usually a bit spicy.

This is commonly seen everywhere in Budapest. It’s usually a chicken or beef stew cooked with vegetables and some paprika.

The picture does not do this justice! This is langos – and it’s SO DELICIOUS! I found a small langos shop near my hostel. The owner had a big bucket of dough on the side. After I made the order, she rolled the dough out and put it into the oil for frying. It turned out crispy outside and soft inside (but sort of elastic too). I had cheese and sour cream for the topping. Mmmm so yummy.

I found the stuffed cabbage roll in the Great Central Market. There was meat, rice, vegetables stuffed inside. The balance between the paprika and sour cream was just right.

G and D took me to this really nice Hungarian restaurant. We had halászlé - the traditional fish soup for the appetizer. Again, it’s spicy but the paprika doesn’t overpower the taste of the fish stock.

Hungarian style steak. Again marinated with paprika. The cabbage on the side is also cooked with paprika (but obviously more complicated – I just don’t really know the recipe).

I know my descriptions aren’t too interesting because everything seems to be about paprika, but everything I tried was so delicious! I really like Hungarian food now. G gave me a bag of paprika along with a nice bottle of Hungarian wine as a gift. I was so excited to cook some dishes with the paprika! Unlike regular hot chili pepper, paprika’s spice is subtle but it really brings out flavors in different ingredients.

The Paprika is a pillow that has been appliqued, quilted, or in this case: both! This Paprika was made from a middle-school student’s t-shirt. One side of the Paprika is a large rendition of the school mascot from the back of the shirt.

 The other side of the Paprika incorporated the miniaturized mascot from the front of the shirt as well as award patches from 2 different sports that the boy plays for his school. The client wanted the little designs to skew towards the top of the pillow so she could have it monogrammed. So there is a nice big space at the bottom for his name or initials.

This Paprika incorporated piping and a hidden zipper in the bottom seam so that the insert can be removed so that the actual pillow cover can be easily washed. Both sides of the Paprika were free-motion quilted using a meandering stipple design. Like a t-shirt quilt, this is a necessary step for a t-shirt pillow so that t-shirts remain stabilized.

Lagade tre olika thairätter här om dagen! Grön curry och tigerräkor, röd curry med kyckling och kyckling med peppar- och söt basilikasås. Jag verkligen älskar thaimat! Ju starkare desto bättre och med massor av  färska grönsaker…. MM mm mmmmmMM!

n. 400 g hunajamarinoituja broilerinfileesuikaleita
1 iso, punainen paprika
200 g herkkusieniä
½-1 purjo tai 3-4 kevätsipulia
1 rkl raastettua inkivääriä
2 rkl öljyä
1 pkt (300 g) wok-nuudeleita(chop suey-kastikkeella)
vettä
ripaus suolaa
½ rkl öljyä
pinnalle:
1 ruukku tuoretta korianteria hienonnettuna

Paloittele paprika, lohko herkkusienet ja suikaloi halkaistu, huuhdottu purjo.

Kuumenna öljy paistokasarissa tai vokkipannussa ja ruskista siinä broilerisuikaleet kahdessa erässä. Kiehauta öljyssä myös suikaloidut vihannekset ja raastettu inkivääri. Pane lihat takaisin pannuun.

Kiehauta tuorenuudelit nopeasti (noin minuutti) runsaassa, suolaripauksella maustetussa vedessä. Valuta nuudelit hyvin ja lisää joukkoon tilkka öljyä. Sekoita nuudelit pannussa kahdella lastalla nostellen broilerin ja vihannesten joukkoon. Mausta ruoka nuudelipakkauksessa olevalla chop suey- kastikkeella. Hienonna pinnalle tuoretta korianteria.

Resepti otettu täältä.

This is Part II in the Must Empty The Fridge series, starring:

• 1 large onion
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 5-6 medium potatoes
• 2 smallish eggplants (or 1 large)
• 1 bell pepper (composed, in my case, of 1/2 a green one and 1/2 a red one)
• ~2 cups of liquid (chicken broth, vegetable broth, water, or a combination)
• 1 tablespoon paprika (at least!  …I won’t tell you how much I really used)
• salt to taste

1. Saute the onions and garlic for 4-5 minutes.
2. Add the potatoes, eggplant, paprika, salt, liquid.  Simmer until the vegetables are soft; 15-20 minutes should do the trick.
3. Add the peppers and let them get warm and happy for another minute or so.
4. Serve over egg noodles.

Now, paprikash can be one of those comfort foods that transports some of us straight to our grandmother’s house, to a different continent and a different time…  But that’s perhaps only if sweet paprika is used?  I happened to use hot paprika, which gave the dish zero grandmotherly comfort but a whole lot of delicious roars and thunderbolts.

Soriana handmade soap

Liquid Oils : soya, linseed, canola, corn

Solid oils : pig fats (at 50.8%)

Water : solo 10oz

Lye : 5.29oz

Paprika for the orange color, cardamom for the spice

Fragrance : orange and vanille

HPS at 225F

Fragrance oil :

The name of Soriana because I had found the lard there, the purest to date that I could get my hand on around here.

I have also decided to use the minimum of water required here to see how the soap would beheave in the HPS.  Usually we would use the maximum of water, to preven the soap to burn.

Soriana handmade soap

A variety of spices, courtesy of Brittanica

The story of spices is a long and historic perspective on the world, cataloging centuries and centuries of trade and discovery. They’re essential to the art of cooking, and effectively changed the way recipes were prepared. In essence, spices changed cooking from a necessity to a hobby, no longer committing food to the bland, uninteresting and downright awful tastes of pre-Renaissance Europe.  

According to Charles Corn’s 1999 book Scents of Eden: At History of the Spice Trade, spice is a dried seed, root, bark, leaf, fruit or vegetative substance used to enhance the flavors of other foods.

The historic trade can be traced back to 2600 B.C.E when Egyptians fed Asian spices to slaves to “give them strength,” according to the Encyclopedia of Spices. The more commonly known spices, the dinner table must owns salt and pepper, were used in older cooking to cure meat and to well, make it tolerable. In modern times, salt and pepper have become an absolute norm for any kind of cooking in any culture. In fact, most chefs (such as the ever-popular Food Network icon Bobby Flay) suggest to use salt and pepper in every recipe.

Oregano, a staple herb in Italian cooking, originates in ancient Rome and Greece. The flavor has become a normal ingredient in Mediterranean recipes, like sauces and tomato-based tastes. It was also the winner for herb of the year in 2005 by the International Herb Association.  

Paprika

 Chili powder, a combination of dried hot peppers across the world (from South and Central America to the Middle East of Asia), is grounded pepper that has a large amount of capsaicin; what gives pepper their spicy taste. The look, a fine red powder, is often confused with paprika, which also originated in the Americas.

Paprika is often associated with Hungarian dishes, according to The Spice House. Hungarian soups and meals, such as  ”Pörkölts and paprikás,” use paprika as the central spice. Pörkölt is “is a ragout made from pork, beef or mutton or chicken with onions and paprika,” says Budapest Tourist Guide. The spice is much more popular in European dishes than in America, where it is often used in devilled eggs.

Although much sweeter than other typical spices, cinnamon is still considered a spice. Most often used for baking purposes, cinnamon can also be used to add variations in meat and sauce recipes. In Mexico, the spice is often added to chocolate, adding to the sweetness, and various liquor concoctions. All Recipes offers a nice recipe for Mexican chocolate cake, which contains the sweetness of cinnamon.

Garlic, with historical and modern perspectives in mind, may be the most popular spice of all time. Traced back some 6,000 years to Central Asia, garlic is used in most if not all cultures in their cooking and thousands and thousands of recipes. The spice is extremely popular in Italian cooking, such as garlic bread.

Garlic bread, for the miraculous few who may not know, is prepared as follows:

Garlic Bread

Ingredients -

(1) loaf of bread (a baguette); (1) tablespoon of minced garlic (in jar, or manually); (1) tablespoon of mixed herbs; (1) tablespoon of oregano; (1) tablespoon of margarine or butter.

• heat grill to medium or oven to 350 degrees.
• mix herbs, margarine (or butter), and oregano in a bowl to make garlic butter.
• Cut the bread in half or into thirds. Spread the garlic butter on the pieces. Cover surfaces well.
• Cook on grill butter side down. Or place in oven butter side up. Cook until bread is golden brown.
• Sprinkle oregano and herbs when done

The finished product goes well with almost all dinners as a complimentary side-dish.

Cumin, one of the more commonly used herb world-wide, is used primarily in Spanish, Latin American, Middle Eastern, and Indian dishes, like soups, chilis, and various chicken, beef, and porn recipes. According to Culinary Cafe, cumin has a “distinctive, slightly bitter yet warm flavor.” As a seasoning, cumin works very well with sautéed dishes of all varieties, but because of the potent bitterness of the seeds, cumin can tend to overwhelm the tastes if used too heavily.

Ginger is sold in various forms across the world, from the bulky root form to a fine powder. Primarily used in Asian dishes, ginger as a seasoning is often used as an additive to common sauces, dressings, cakes, drinks, etc. In American cuisine, ginger is most often recognized in ginger-enduced baking recipes, such as ginger snaps and gingerbread.

Outside of its culinary uses, ginger has been used throughout history for its medicinal purposes. According the University of Maryland Medical Center, ginger can ”help prevent or treat nausea and vomiting associated with motion sickness, pregnancy, and cancer chemotherapy. It is also used as a digestive aid for mild stomach upset, as support in inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, and may even be used in heart disease or cancer.”

Thyme leaves

The herb thyme has over 100 different varieties, including several hybrids, but only common garden and lemon thyme are used in cooking. The plant offers a strong taste that is often used in soups, stews, and chicken dishes.

Used heavily in French cuisine, thyme as a herb is used often as a seasoning to various vegetables, like onions, potatoes, carrots, spinach, and other greens. In American cuisine, thyme is an additional herb to many sauces, marinades, and other blended flavors, like Cajun recipes like gumbo.

Hundreds and hundreds of more lesser-known spices are available almost everywhere. For the typical college student who wishes to up their cooking talents, know the uses and flavors of spices. Know them religiously, in fact. Spices, found in every grocery store, are usually extremely cheap (outside of Saffron), so not having at least pepper and salt is a bit demeaning to yourself.

For a different look at history of the spices we talked about, check out this time-line and map of where the flavors started from and how their popularity rose.: Here.

I had mentioned in my last post that I was going to talk more about paprika later.

It is now later.  Surprise!

Paprika is becoming more common as time goes on…as people discover the subtle smoky spice of paprika.  I do love paprika.  I love the regular kind with its bright red, and relatively bright taste.  I put it in everything I can get away with it.  Pretty much most of my savory dishes at one point use paprika.  When we run low on black pepper, like we are right now, I simply put paprika on instead of black pepper.

Smoked paprika is a different animal.  It’s regular paprika’s old, crotchety grandpappy with an intense, robust smoked flavor.  It’s so damn good.  Not as universal an application as regular paprika, due to the more intense flava, but definitely has its place in the spice rack.  I love a combination of smoked paprika and regular paprika when doing blackening rubs on meat.

Tonight, the Bistro takes on an Austrian variation on a Hungarian dish. How? Well, James Beard’s Viennese Goulash includes the essential ingredient that makes Hungarian goulash Hungarian goulash — namely, Hungarian paprika, which is more flavorful than other kinds. But it also includes a twist by way of Vienna: a paste of crushed caraway seeds, garlic and lemon zest added at the end of the cooking time.

It starts with sautéeing onions in butter and oil, mixing in the paprika and white wine or cider vinegar, then browning the beef cubes in the mixture. After all the cubes are browned (a few at a time), the mix is seasoned with salt and pepper, and thyme and tomato puree are added and simmered down. Flour then gets sprinkled onto the beef, beef broth is added and there’s more simmering. The caraway-garlic-lemon zest paste is stirred in when the beef is thoroughly cooked, for 10 minutes or so.

The resulting goulash sits on a bed of pappardelle pasta like many a good goulash, waiting for you to experience the fresh and spicy flavor lent to it by the last-minute Viennese touch.

The first few stills of Paprika director Satoshi Kon’s new movie, The Dreaming Machine were just released, as seen on Twitch.

The Japanese website for Satoshi Kon’s upcoming film The Dream Machine has gone live with the primary intent of recruiting animators. The website features a series of promotional images featuring character designs, backgrounds, and some test footage. This will be Kon’s first film since the phenomenal Paprika in 2006. Here’s to hoping that Susumu Hirasawa will compose the soundtrack for The Dream Machine as well. Link is here: http://yume-robo.com/