The lemon juice is a critical element of the balance of the recipe, so don't omit it because it seems odd. Similarly, the czabi imparts a mild spiciness that infuses the dish without overpowering it. Finally while frying in a mixture of pork and beef fat may not make this health food, it creates a flavour that is truly divine. Egészségére!
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Goulash: Western Take on an Eastern Specialty
The lemon juice is a critical element of the balance of the recipe, so don't omit it because it seems odd. Similarly, the czabi imparts a mild spiciness that infuses the dish without overpowering it. Finally while frying in a mixture of pork and beef fat may not make this health food, it creates a flavour that is truly divine. Egészségére!
Merry Christmas from the Hotel Cavell!
Beyond the usual canning, cooking this year has been particularly challenging. Working on mymasters, looking for a new job, then a different schedule that came with the new job, and Jane taking six weeks vacation made everything harder. At the beginning of December Suzy and I took a page from the old ways, and put together a meal plan. It's not prescriptive so much as a pattern, and it goes like this:
Sunday - "Big Cook" - Lots of extra to store for future meals
Monday - Soup
Tuesday - Grilled meat
Wednesday - Pasta
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Order in (usually pizza from our favourite joint, Bona Pizza on Donlands)
Saturday - It depends - Saturdays are varied, so we play them by ear
Leftovers from the day before become lunch the next day. Grocery lists are prepared in advance and scheduled.
Over the past month eating out and general waste of food has gone way down. The stress that used to come from having to answer the question of, "what are we having for dinner," has vanished in the face of certainty. It's also one less decision to make in what has been a hectic time. For the first time in living memory the Christmas presents were bought and wrapped before Christmas Eve. Only Christmas cards were a bridge too far this year, as we lost all of our addresses to a nasty bit of malware several weeks back.
The other side effect has been that we've been trying out new recipes for the first time in a while. Jambalaya, Goulash, Almedras Saldanas, and an update on our classic pea soup recipe are just a few examples. I will be putting up the recipes again as well, as we seldom cook right off the page...
Until then, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
The Clock is Ticking
Speaking of the brine, the old recipe is a bit arcane due to some unit of measure mismatches, here it is in plain cups:
8 cups of white vinegar
8 cups of filtered water
1 cup of salt
Plus a few more of the work in progress(with our amazing new immersion blender in action) and the finished products:

Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Last Jars
Until then, here are a few photo's for your enjoyment!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
The Key to Unlocking a Pomegranate (Redux)
Since then there have been a number of requests for more visual instructions. With the help of our friend Abby I now have this little video that combines written instructions and and video clips of the details.
Friday, March 28, 2014
What's Cooking on Cavell: The Movie
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Ploughman's... With Flowers?
While the so-called, "Ploughman's Lunch," may be a concoction of the Cheese Bureau in the late fifties, it doesn't mean it's not delicious. We periodically make one up when an easy supper or lunch is called for. This past Sunday I may have gotten a little carried away... Perhaps it was Spring's tentative arrival that inspired the creation of flowers...
Featured above is an olive-cilantro loaf from the St. John's Bakery, Pingue prosciutto and bresaola from Niagara Food Specialties, boiled duck eggs from Fresh From the Farm, spicy pepperoni, cheese, and butter (out of fame) from the Montfort Dairy. The pickles, beets, and asparagus are our own, and the olives are Turkish.
We've been asked to do a pickle plate for Easter as well, so there may be more, "flower," arrangements to come...










