Fresh Dill and Parsley

Polenta - better know as mămăligă

It was my grandpa who made the polenta every day once he retired at the age of 80. He filled the pot with water, placed it on the stovetop, added the salt and turned the heat to high. He has no patience, my grandma used to say. Polenta was his favorite thing. I've watched my grandpa and others in my family make it time and time again so I never had to read a recipe, measure ingredients, ask how to do it or anything like that. I just do it.

Romanian Stuffed Peppers- The Best Stuffed Peppers Ever!

These stuffed peppers are like a warm blanket hugging me on a cold evening. They are my # 1 comfort food and very much needed now that temperatures are heading south. The thing is, that it's not just about eating these peppers, it's also about cooking them. My entire 350 or so square foot apartment is filled with the most delicious smell while these stuffed peppers are cooking. There's something about peppers, meat, and tomato sauce boiling together that makes such a sweet smell.

I've made this dish countless times and occasionally even forgot to add onion.  I guess when you are too confident in your skill and knowledge you stop paying attention. Oh, yeah, I know how to make these so I'll just turn off my brain. At times, overconfidence can be as dangerous as low confidence.

The measurements are just a guideline so feel free to add more onion, less rice, more dill etc. I love the dill in this recipe so I don't suggest using parsley or another herb. In any case, don't forget the onion!

Country-Style Potatoes

It is amazing to me how many ways we have come up with to cook the humble yet delicious potato. I don’t think any other vegetable gets as much attention as the potato. If I were a vegetable, I think I would want to be a potato.  Broccoli is definitely not a vegetable I would ever want to be.  Everybody hates you, especially small children who turn their crying faces away. On the other hand, in the interest of longevity, it might be better to be broccoli than potato. This is a very interesting issue. How about you? Which vegetable would you want to be? Which vegetable do you feel suits your personality best and why?

I don’t think I can ever get sick of potatoes. When I read this recipe in a Romanian cookbook given to me by my aunt, I just had to make it, more than once. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Green Beans and Chicken

In the summer my grandma would make green beans cooked with garlic, dill, tomatoes and chicken. This summer I was obsessed with this dish.  Even though the taste of it was as clear in my mind as if I had eaten this yesterday, the cooking method was definitely foggy.  Luckily, for any questions on cooking and baking, I have my aunt who is the most talented cook and baker I know. 

Grandma's Meatballs with Garlic and Dill

In the past few years I’ve developed a strange relationship with meat. I don’t eat as much of it anymore.  This happened in part because of  health concerns, as there is a history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease in my family, and in part because of an increased awareness of how chickens, cows and pigs are raised in the United States.  Moral issues aside, the treatment of animals in the industrialized food chain has implications for our health as animals raised in confinement have a higher fat content than those raised on pastures.  You can read more about that in Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma.  That does not mean that I’m vegetarian. Although I have gone for months at a time without touching meat, I still eat meat but it is not my default choice and whenever I eat it, I try to make something special.  This is one dish that is special to me.  I watched my grandma make this dish time and time again. I was a fussy eater as a child but this is one dish I ate without a fuss.  My grandma was a perfect cook and I learned the basics of cooking by watching her. I wish she was still around to teach me more about cooking and life.