Cooking
When I lived in Bowling Green, I learned to really appreicate cooking for myself. I regularly made myself healthy and diverse dinners, and enjoyed trying new things. Of course, this was only if it took only a 1/2 hour total to prepare.
I ate a lot of ethnic food, salads, marinated chicken, rice, brocolli, asaparagus, raviolis, and potatoes.
Now here in Ukraine I can not get some of those foods that were my staples. I have learned the word for asparagus (спаржа( but have yet to actually see it anywhere. Ethnic and spicy food is inexistant, and there is no marinade for chicken, and besides, chicken is incredibly expensive for me so I have yet to buy any meat since I moved from my host family. Ravioli like foods exist, but they are stuffed with potatoes or liver and called vareniki or pelmeni. I have finally found salad, but there is no salad dressing to speak of, and no fresh brocolli either. So I end up eating a lot of potatoes, vareniki (stuffed with potatoes), and when I can, I make up a fresh salad. Now, I also have a hard time spending even a half hour on cooking since we have several clubs late at night in town and by the time I get home, it is all that I can do to wait to boil the water for the vareniki or potato.
But a few weeks back when we hosted the music festival, someone had made these delicious hashbrowns for everyone in the morning that I have since adopted and tried to incorporate when I feel like making something that requires a little more effort than boiling water. The secret ingredient to kick them up a notch is curry.
So, if you want to eat like a volunteer, here is what you do.
Ingredients
1 large potato (regular size potato in US)
1 small onion
curry
sunflower oil
In frying pan, put in a lot of oil to cover the entire frying pan and then some
Wash and peel potato, you want no radioactive containaments
Grate potato
Cut up onion into small pieces and put into frying pan for 2 minutes before adding grated potato.
Once grated potato is in the frying pan, mix in about a teaspoon of curry powder. (Okay, so I do not use measurements I just shake it in there. Thanks again to Mr. Howe for that delicious stuff). Fry until outside part of hashbrowns are brownish.
Remove from heat and put into plate.
Grab Heinz ketchup from fridge (yes, I said Heinz Ketchup. This will set you back about 15 greeven, or about $3. It is very expensive stuff) and enjoy!
I ate a lot of ethnic food, salads, marinated chicken, rice, brocolli, asaparagus, raviolis, and potatoes.
Now here in Ukraine I can not get some of those foods that were my staples. I have learned the word for asparagus (спаржа( but have yet to actually see it anywhere. Ethnic and spicy food is inexistant, and there is no marinade for chicken, and besides, chicken is incredibly expensive for me so I have yet to buy any meat since I moved from my host family. Ravioli like foods exist, but they are stuffed with potatoes or liver and called vareniki or pelmeni. I have finally found salad, but there is no salad dressing to speak of, and no fresh brocolli either. So I end up eating a lot of potatoes, vareniki (stuffed with potatoes), and when I can, I make up a fresh salad. Now, I also have a hard time spending even a half hour on cooking since we have several clubs late at night in town and by the time I get home, it is all that I can do to wait to boil the water for the vareniki or potato.
But a few weeks back when we hosted the music festival, someone had made these delicious hashbrowns for everyone in the morning that I have since adopted and tried to incorporate when I feel like making something that requires a little more effort than boiling water. The secret ingredient to kick them up a notch is curry.
So, if you want to eat like a volunteer, here is what you do.
Ingredients
1 large potato (regular size potato in US)
1 small onion
curry
sunflower oil
In frying pan, put in a lot of oil to cover the entire frying pan and then some
Wash and peel potato, you want no radioactive containaments
Grate potato
Cut up onion into small pieces and put into frying pan for 2 minutes before adding grated potato.
Once grated potato is in the frying pan, mix in about a teaspoon of curry powder. (Okay, so I do not use measurements I just shake it in there. Thanks again to Mr. Howe for that delicious stuff). Fry until outside part of hashbrowns are brownish.
Remove from heat and put into plate.
Grab Heinz ketchup from fridge (yes, I said Heinz Ketchup. This will set you back about 15 greeven, or about $3. It is very expensive stuff) and enjoy!
posted by Molly | 7:31 AM
3 Comments:
I thought the huge bag of curry powder would be a good price-per-postage value item. Glad to hear it is being of service.
Can you buy Paprika there? It is all the rage in the bits of Eastern Europe below you- cheap and delicious, and it comes in HOT variety.
Also, what kind of tinned meat is available? Is Corned beef available and affordable?
-e
Mmmm... potatoes. It's interesting though because I've tried a few of those foods since Fani's teachers were Russian, she has learned quite a number of Russian foods. I guess one of the good things about living in the states is access to fresh foods that normally aren't quite as available elsewhere.
Corned beef? Heck if I know, I don't eat that stuff at home. Fish comes in cans. All sorts of weird stuff that could be meat comes in cans too, but again, after the host family, I ceased having to think about it. I try not to buy canned anything here.
Paprika is used for a lot of things, like potato chips and ketchup. It's pretty darn good.
Instead of meat, I try to eat beans or eggs. They are cheaper.
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