Thurs, Aug 19, 2009 - Chicken menus and dessert

While out doing errands, we stopped by a restaurant to try out their menus.

The Hungarian got a large piece of chicken, covered with cauliflower and cheese with rice,

and I got a chicken and mushroom cream sauce with rice.

Dessert was some sort of bread, topped with spiced apple and meringue. Not bad... it's been a while since I've had meringue, so I was quite happy :)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - Turo sauce noodles

The Hungarian went foraging and look what he found! So sweet! Isn't he the best? Cracked pepper and salt in olive oil is a great way to eat bread ^_^*

For dinner we tried the túró (kurd cheese) sauce but with tejföl (sour cream) this time... such a difference! It was really rich, so I couldn't finish the whole dish, but I definitely liked it this time :d yum!

The curd cheese kind of looks like a dry cottage cheese.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 - set menu

We had a set menu today at our favorite restaurant downstairs again.

We had a raspberry lemonade... I'm quite in love with the lemonades on this street!

The soup was a cream of garlic... soooo delicious! :d

This time the main was pork with french fries. Much juicier than the fried chicken.

With a side salad of cucumbers in a very light dressing.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 - My herbs ;)

I've finally started up herb garden ^_^*

At the local Spar, we found some chives which I splitted into four bunches and rosemary. These were planted and now sitting in the sunniest of our bedroom windows. Unfortunately, most of our windows are facing north, so we don't get much sun :/

But three of the four bunches of chives have taken pretty well and some are even putting out flowers... I'm wondering what color this one will be...

The rosemary isn't looking so genki, but I stopped watering it in the hopes that it'll perk up. It might actually be a cover type instead of upright, but for now I'm just misting it every other day or so.

We also planted green onions and part of a new piece of ginger... I have no idea how the ginger is doing... could be rotting down there for all I know :| ::gulp::

I put some of the green onions in water for a few days and then planted them. Andras was surprised that food from the store could be planted haha! He doesn't eat vegetables very much...

I smuggled in some cilantro, dill and basil seeds from the states. So far, only the basil has sprouted, but I'm quite excited!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 - Hungarian analgesic

I've started going to the dentist for a root canal treatment... not the most fun :( but a side benefit is having the chance to taste a powdered painkiller... that tastes like vanilla- brilliant! It's mixed with a glass of water and goes does down really well with only a bit of bitterness at the end of the draught! I've also taken the habit of drinking hot milk with powdered cardamom, cinnamon and honey before going to bed :d

Monday, August 17, 2009 - Hot sandwiches

Went to the local butcher's and got some spicy sausage this time... really nice! Decided to make a hot sandwich of sausage, garlic and cheese (I think we had some butter or cream spread)...

I skipped the cheese because it's causing some breakouts around my chin... can't wait for them to go so I can have cheese again! So many delicious cheeses to try!!

As a side we had fried zucchini with paprika, but it became tasteless after the spicy sausage. Next time I'll try a cold cucumber and tomato salad as a side instead ;)

Jó étvágyat!

Sunday, August 16, 2009 - dinner at the Zentai's

At the Zentai's we had gulyasleves (goulash) with beef, carrots, potatoes, white carrots, garlic and celery. Quite nice :)

Homemade re'tes! Poppyseed...

Sour cherry and apple... sooooo much better than the bakery!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009 - Hungarian wine

After dinner I decided to try a Hungarian white wine.

I'm not a wine expert, so I can't really describe it properly, but the legs were weak, (I'm still battling sinusitis, so I can't smell much), it was a bit dry, maybe there was some apple? Overall, pretty nice :)

Saturday, August 8, 2009 - after the party

After the party, we had A LOT of leftover wine... I'll be doing some Hungarian wine tasting for you later on ;)

but bonus! I found this in the fridge! (turned out it was from his brother cleaning his fridge, but that's ok ;) He gave us swiss cheese, two types of sandwich meat, really nice salami, and some garlic herb camembert... yum!

That night we went out for gyros. We got a plate to share with rice and some ayran. Ayran is a type of yogurt drink that is diluted with water and has some salt added. My Bulgarian friend, Milen, made some for us one time in Japan. It was much better homemade with dill added.

Friday, August 7, 2009 - Lunch before the party

Before the party, we decided to have a lazy day and take one of the set menus in one of the restaurants downstairs.

The set menu started with fruit soup and a dallop of cream (sooo delicious!)...

It had little blueberries and pieces of other fruits in it... fruit soup is the best!

Followed by a cucumber salad with yogurt and paprika...

Main was fried chicken with fries.

Drink was elderberry juice... not so sweet, but quite refreshing :)

Thursday, August 6, 2009 - Hummus Bar gong to the West End Mall

While searching for a dry cleaner's, we found a Hummus Bar. This is a great vegetarian chain around town which serves excellent hummus.

The falafel had a strange taste, but the hummus and pita were really delicious and the mint lemonade was really great!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 - Shopping at Spar

Here are some pictures from our local Spar. The bread here looks amazingly fake!

The taste and texture is not too bad, but the idea that people are coming through and testing the freshness of these loaves with their fingers is something I try not to think about too much.

I'm definitely going to have to learn to make bread. It's my next project in waiting...

Some photos of the hungry Hungarian in his natural habitat- the dairy section!

Waiting in the checkout line... some gum and popcorn for offer...

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 - fried eggs and cooking chicken

For breakfast, I wanted something savory, so I fried some onions and tomatoes and added scrambled eggs stretched with milk. On the side, yellow paprika and sausage.

By the way, here are some onions... they are sold in bunches tied by a rubberband...

That evening, Andras wanted some chicken, so we bought some...

and some chicken spice (pictured here with cappuccino-flavored Twixt and the freshest ginger I've ever had)

and here was the result. I pounded the chicken flat and have found that doing this makes my chicken come out a lot better. Added the chicken seasoning and peas and it came out really nice with some sauce. I also made pepper fried cabbage... an easy side dish my friend Lijie from Mongolia taught me :)

Saturday, August 1, 2009 - dinner at the Zentai's

In Hungary, meals usually start with a soup. Here we have a cherry, peach and apricot soup.

Followed by two meat dishes. The top is pork and the bottom is chicken. Both were crazy delicious. This woman seriously knows how to cook.

After that, tiramisu with blackberry and raspberries. Divine!

Then coffee...