Category — Main courses

I’ve kept you on pins and needles waiting for this recipe, haven’t I? To be honest, I delayed posting it because I wasn’t as happy with it the last time I made it and wanted to make a few adjustments, so you see, I had your welfare in mind all along. Well, that and we were away on vacation, and have just generally slipped into a more relaxed summer mode.

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Sloppy Joes were for me were always one of the most unappetizing things that American cuisine can offer.  Just look at them. Mushy cooked beef with store bought condiments. You plop them over cheap, additive-enriched bread, which will be with the human race long after we are gone. How could you even consider eating it? Right?

There is always a first time. The moments that change your perspective on the world and things evolving around it. There is the first taste of cake when you realize this world is not that bad (well, except the parents who limit it ), a kiss where you realize you want more, there is the first moment when you realize it is time to try something scary. [Read more →]

So, I have become kind of obsessed with this corn “relish” recipe from the most recent Everyday Food. It’s about as simple as it gets, there’s no cooking involved. None! As we were chowing down tonight, Valerian asked “why do we even cook corn?” because it is so so tasty hacked right off the cob. And I’m not talking about any pampered organic superstar corn from the farmers market; I think it’s way too early for that anyway, especially since California apparently took a holiday in Oregon this spring and we’ve had weeks of unseasonal rain. No, this corn came from the grocery store, 33 cents an ear, and delicious as all get-out.

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Street food is the soul of the nation. It is true all over the world, except the USA. In Fort Mason, overlooking the San Francisco Bay, national identification merges with the scenery.

Let me back up a little bit. It is 2006 and I am visiting California. My in-laws respect my obsession with food and they love to show me fancy eateries. And I reciprocate, since I love to try them. It may have been a bit shocking for them when they asked me  about my favorite restaurant during my 2006 stay and I told them it was a taco truck.  Yes. The taco truck, which feeds workers in Napa. I remember very fondly visiting John, his vineyard, talking to the ripening grapes, uncovering the “sun blocking leaves”, and hoping to learn something about viticulture that could make my grapes in Slovakia the same as John’s in California. While the last will never happen, I do have happy memories of a taco truck, where I had my first encounter with pulled pork, as Anthony Bourdain would say a “noble beast”. And that memory stayed with me until last Friday.

Learning about a food-pornographic, decadent and morally filthy activity known as a “meeting of taco/food/catering trucks” was a revalation for me and I canceled all my job interviews. Jump in the car, let’s go! I have to admit, part of me was scared. I have such a fond memory of that first taco truck. What if these guys will ruin it? Well, see the result for yourself.

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Emperor’s Crumbs or császármorzsa or smarni or Kaiserschmarrn was our first recipe on this blog. I felt like revisiting it for three reasons: first, it is our name and signature recipe, so we should try it with American ingredients. Second, we are delighted to mention that we’re featured on The Hungarian Girl’s website and I don’t want to risk any mistakes! Most importantly, my mother-in-law had a birthday recently, and a decadent breakfast reminiscent of fancy Austro-Hungarian weekends was a perfect way to celebrate it. So I remade the recipe to serve 5-6 instead of the original 2. I also made it more “California compliant” and used less eggs and almost no fat, while keeping its outstanding flavor. It still tastes rich and delicious. If you want to know the background of emperor’s crumbs then check back to our first post and the old recipe.

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