Burn treatment

NOTE!! Only light and small burnt surfaces should be treated with home remedies!!! If you have a larger area than 1-2 square inch, or a burn worse than 1st or 2nd grade, immediately see a doctor!!!

When I took the bacon out of the oven, slid it nicely to a plate, and then picked the pan to place it in the kitchen sink, I felt like screaming.
Not because of the pain, though I would've had every reason, but because I felt soo dumb.. I mean, how can you pick up a pan by the handle with BARE hands if it was just removed from a 450 F (250C) oven??

Right? Arrrgggg...
Now add to that the sad fact that there was no burn treating ointment at home except the spray, and I didn't have either the money, nor the willingness to go and get some gel from the pharmacy without knowing what the gel really has..

So, I did what every sensible person would do: cursed one loud and tawdry (trust me, the Hungarian language has some of the most sophisticated curse words :D ), dropped the pan to the wood floor (ouch, now we are both scarred) and rushed for a kitchen towel to get the pan safely in the sink.

Now when all the first seconds were over, it was time to think what to do with the burn. It was my second one for the day, but the other was small, on top of my hand, and I haven't considered it a threat to my everyday tasks, even though that was a 2nd grade burn, too.

Now this one, in my palm, about a 2 square inches, 2nd grade burn, was a threat.
I felt my skin shrinking and in pain, and imagined the blisters that would follow. Yuk!

I had a plan in my mind:
1) Stop the cells from burning by locally cooling them down.
2) Stop/prevent the forming of blisters, because that's gonna look ugly! to say the least.
3) Hydrate an nourish the skin locally to accelerate recovery.


And these were the result of my plans. On the right is my palm in the evening after being treated, with couple of burn zones and prevented blisters.





Untreated burn that I managed to collect earlier with an ugly blister ..

My friend insisted to get the burn spray, but having a degree in nursing tells you that the only thing you get by using it will be making the pain go away, as the spray contains lidocaine, which is an anesthetic. Now, I'm not the statue of bravery, but anesthetic is the last thing I needed. I wanted to cool my "boiling" cells down.

1) I ran over to the sink and let the water pour in my palm. Thanks to living in Poway, and having the pipes in out attic, the water was hot/warm, and didn't ease the burn.
So I ran to the fridge, and filled my palm with ice cubes and squeezed them. Though they say you shouldn't use too cold things, eg. ice, on the burnt surface, I had no choice as the water from the tap would've been too hot for the next couple of minutes..
The ice actually eased both the burning and pain simultaneously. Bingo!!
If you have proper COLD water running from your tap or fridge keep the burnt surface under running cold water.

2) One problem with cooling the burn with ice/water is, that it actually helps forming the blisters, so second step was to get some salt on it.
Yep, you heard right. Salt. It has both a antiseptic and dehydrating effect.. So I poured some salt on a kitchen paper and pressed down my palm..
Well, it was OK, but the burning feeling came back, I wanted both the salt and the coldness.
I picked a soft ice pack from the freezer, place the kitchen paper with the salt on top and pressed my palm against it..
Huhhh... That felt sooo good.... I kept it there for maybe 5 minutes...

3) Nourishing.. Pour some honey on the burnt surface, spread it evenly.
It will feel really good, I felt how the shrinking in the skin eases and feels much more comfortable.
But it wasn't cold, or moist enough. So I picked my natural yogurt from the fridge, spoon out a teaspoonful of yogurt and mixing it with the honey, lightly spread it in my palm.
When it warmed up too much, I wiped it off and spread another layer of honey-yogurt mix.

I probably repeated it 4 times at 30 minute intervals..
By the evening the skin looked a nice light pink, and almost no sign of burning.
Next days I was busy and had no time to further treat my burns, but this is how they looked in 5 days.


On the right the blister. Business as usual: burst, scar formed and I'm going to have a nice mark for the next year or two.



And on the left this is my palm, with barely visible burn Signs. The blisters never formed, and expept some dry feeling, it wasn't painful or anything after that

Grilled trout

My Costco mania is getting a tiny bit out of hands, but what can one trout fan do if they sell the best trout on the market?
Coming from inland with small, cold rivers trout is one of the fish you get used to, and it has many benefits.
Number one, which is hard to look over with a family of five on a low budget: price.
Second: the mild taste, so even the pickier eaters are gonna make peace with it.
Third: I don't think one can really go wrong with it.
Fourth: no cleaning involved! Yeeee!!!
Fifth: lazy people without a grill, or without wanting to heat up a grill can easily make it in 20 minutes.

Ingredients
1 trout / person

Serving
rice or boiled potatoes

Wash the trout, rinse both inside and out, and cut the head off. If preferred cut the tail as well, I sometimes do as it fits better on my grill.
Sprinkle a little salt (I prefer the Himalayan pink salt from Sprouts) , maybe pepper (or pink pepper) in the inside of the trout.
Sprinkle additional salt on the outside skin as well. Do not add too much tough!
Wrap it in aluminum foil and throw it on the pre-heated table grill, and fry it at the highest temperature. Turn, and fry for additional 10 minutes.
Meanwhile boil some Basmati or Jasmin rice, they'll be ready in just about the same time.
While the rice is boiling and fish frying, you can also prepare a quick salad.
Serve with lemon slices, and optionally with some soy sauce.

I I were thinking ahead, as I wasn't, I'd have made my favorite salad to accompany this fish: "ecetes uborka", aka fresh cucumber in vinegar. Recipe next time.. :), now I settled for some fresh sliced cucumber and radish.

Bon appétit! Enjoy!

Bacon bomb

Uhh... I found a video of a guy making this beautiful bacon flower pan and I just couldn't resist.
Unfortunately bacon is one of the reasons I'm not a vegetarian yet, so this was a big temptation.

I made some mistake in the process, and learned what would make it better. In general it was an OK comfort meal, ut believe me, it was so HEAVY, and filling, that it won't be on our table often unless we get some teenagers over :).
Obviously I made it with Costco's golden potatoes, as they are so great for most potato meals with their rich yellow color and flavor.
I also used cheddar cheese, the shredded mild cheddar, but I think a sticky and less fatty mozzarella would be a better match. Next time...

Ingredients
2 pounds (1 kg) bacon
3 pounds gold potatoes
1 pound cheese -
salt, pepper to taste 

Peel and slice 3 pounds of golden potatoes. What I learned from making this dish is, that the potatoes should be sliced as thinly as possible or they'll never cook.In a pan arrange the bacon in a circle, preparing it like a crust :).

Do not start all slices from the middle, offset them with 0.5, even 1 inch, and start every 4th from the middle only or you'll end with a big bump in the middle..

Next arrange the potato sliced circular, with the larges slices on the outside and smaller ones in the middle.Not that it would really matter from the taste's point of view, it is just easier to arrange them.

You can sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the potatoes before adding the next layer of... cheeese!

Grate the cheese and sprinkle a thin even layer on top of the potatoes. I guess I little overdone this layer, it was pretty thick even after it melted :).
Next time thinner layer of cheese and probably one of mozzarella instead of cheddar.
Looks great though, like a sunflower :).

Repeat the layering twice or three times more, and finish with the cheese.
As you go towards the top, make the circles smaller, so it forms a kinda peak at the end.

Now comes the fun part, fold back all the bacon to nicely cover the potato/cheese mountain, and place it on a tray and the preheated in the oven for about 2.5 - 3 hours (yeah, right?).
The temperature can be anything between 400-430 F, 200-225C.
Takes time until it bakes together, so plan ahead if you wish to have this for dinner. Good part though, ones is in the oven there is nothing you should do. Except maybe pour the melted bacon fat out from the pan after about 2 hours, so that the bottom doesn't sit in it.
I ended up turning it at the end to broil the bacon on the bottom as well, 'cause bacon is heavenly if crisp only.

Optionally you can serve it with cold yogurt..
Bonn appetite!

Notes:
Place a plate on top of the potato "cake", pour the fat by tilting it slightly, and with a decided move flip the cake onto the plate, than slid it slowly back in the pot.
Grab the handle with a SILICON glove!!

Potato wedges

With young guests coming and going I am always looking for a crowd pleaser, but I try to avoid overdoing the preps.
With kids I had the most trouble, obviously, as many of them are unfortunately picky, and even if they eat home made food or veggies, they like the taste of home..

I have another reason to publish these very simple recipes. My only daughter won't enjoy my prepared meal, so I'll post some she can reproduce on her own :). Maybe I won't miss her so much by doing so :).

These potato wedges are soo simple, that in 50 minutes they were baked, eaten, and this blogpost was born :) (well, almost :)),  obviously not so artistic pictures, but you can't feed pre and teenagers with pics :D.

Ingredients
Gold potatoes or baking potatoes, about 2 large, or 3 smaller / person
oil for brushing
pink pepper (if you don't have at home I recommend buying some!, but you can use rosemary as well if you prefer or you can;t get pink pepper)
salt 

Serving
Greek or Strauss' European yogurt
sour cream, about 1/3 of the amount of the yogurt
1 larger green onion chopped into small pieces
1/2 tsp mustard
salt, pepper
1 small cucumber, optional
shredded hard cheese, optional

Preheat the oven for 425-450 F, 225-250 C.
When it comes to potatoes, for this purpose I prefer Costco's Premium Gold Potatoes, those that are beautifully yellow when peeled. Unfortunately they don't sell consistent quality, but this batch I bought last was among the best ones!
Peal the potatoes, and depending on their size, and your preference, cut them into 4-6-8 slices. They don't have to be perfectly same. The smaller the crunchier, and a bit dryer, too.
Place them in a tray covered with parchment paper, brush them with oil, sprinkle salt to taste, and grind some pink peppers as well.

Bake on the higher rack in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, depends on the type of tomatoes you use and your oven.

Enjoy!

Šaltibarščiai - aka "cold soup" - from beetroot

 

As the name might suggest to my fellow Hungarians, this is everything but Hungarian dish :), however, it is summer, and hot, and the last thing I felt like eating was a warm soup.

Not to mention how I miss our travels through Europe, which feel so far away as it is hard not to get homesick.

One of my favorite soups was the cold beetroot soup. OK, all cold or hot beetroot soups were one of my favorites, and I even posted already one here, but it was time for the next one.

This is I think my absolute favorite Baltic beetroot soup, and we are still in season for making it.
The difference between the one posted earlier and this? For this you'll need the WHOLE vegetable, including the leaves and the stem.
It also requires one healthy godness: buttermilk.

If you are not yet convinced you should prepare it, let me tell you that is ready in 20-30 minutes, depending what tools you have at hand and how effective you are, of course :). For me it takes 30 minutes, 'cause I'll be searching for various cooking tools for at least 10 minutes.. *sigh*

Ingredients (serves 6)
1 bunch of young beetroot, with leaves
1 medium/small cucumber
1 bunch of chives
1 small bunch of dill
1 liter (quart) buttermilk
salt, pepper
radishes - optional

Serving
hot boiled potatoes, 1-1.5 / person
boiled eggs
dill, chives 

In a small pot put couple of potatoes to boil in their skin.

Cut and clean the beetroot heads, cut the in 4 and put them to boil for about 5 minutes in ~ 1 liter of water.
Meanwhile cut the stem, and the leaves in small pieces and stripes.
Remove the beetroot from the water with a skimmer. DO NOT discard the hot water!
Add the chopped stem to the water and boil for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile in a food processor crush the beetroot heads.
When the stems were boiling for 5 minutes, add the beetroot leaves and boil for additional 5 minutes.
At the end add the crushed beetroot and boil the together for additional 2 minutes.
Chop the chives in very small pieces, ad well as the dill.
Peel and grate the cucumber.

Drain the boiled beetroot, but again, DO NOT discard the water!
Place 1/2 - 1 egg / person to boil. I like it with the yolk still orange and soft, so I add them to boiling water and boil them only for 4 minutes.

Place the beetroot in a glass serving bowl (any bowl), let it cool slightly. Add the buttermilk, salt (I added about 1/2 tsp), pinch of black pepper, mix, and slowly add the wonderfully dark red water in which the beetroot boiled.
Last, mix in the chopped chives, dill (save some of both for serving!), and the grated cucumber.
If you chose to add radish, do not forget to either chop or grate those too and mix it in the soup.
Drain the potatoes, skin and cut in half or four.

Serve with hot boiled potatoes on the side, with some extra Greek yogurt if preferred more sour, the boiled eggs and some chives and dill for garnish!

Bon appétit!

Rázott, alias "shaken" or nyers lecsó

Ok.. This is cheating, 'cause it isn't really baked or cooked. But it's season, and summer, and I just love it.
Just couple of years ago, khhhmmm..  I reached teenage age and appearance started to matter. And me, the picky kid who ate only the meat sauce with bread, rarely the meat itself, and tho' loved veggies I wasn't choosing it over some comfort food, moved from the block of flats to my grandparent's village with a HUGE garden full of seasonal veggies.
Every evening I went to water the tomatoes, peppers and at the same time pick a handful for dinner.
My favorite was the beef tomato, so I picked a large one, with a medium sized pepper, a yellow, sweetish pepper, and a green onion with a large head.
Night, after night, after night...
I guess, besides the veggies, I loved the ritual as well: first doing my duties, that picking the tasty, fresh reward right away.
Those summers changed my life forever.. Having experienced this, I'm so happy that in addition to our little home garden, the schools around, including our elementary school, started to "grow" some green thumbs as well :).

I prepared this salad for middle one for dinner tonight and I thought I'll take the opportunity to snap a pic and share the story with you.
Our garden offers an amazing variety of tomatoes, thanks to the organic plants I purchased from Costco months ago.
In the picture you can see some of them: green zebra, sweet 100, super sweet 100, better bush and plum tomato. One is more delicious that the other, and they all taste DIFFERENT! What a feast!

Well, the story behind is longer than the ingredient list, plus I described it already, but here it is.

Ingredients for 1 person
1 large tomato
1 medium sized pepper
2 green onions (you can add half or quarter of a sweet onion as well)
1-2 tbsp oil, I like avocado oil for this purpose
salt
pepper (optional) 

In a small bowl, a cereal size bowl, cut the peppers in small finger size, sprinkle with salt. Cut the tomatoes in your favorite shapes, add to the pepper, as well as the onions, cut into small slices.
Sprinkle the oil on top, add more salt if wanted, SHAKE them together, and enjoy!
I suggest serving it with a freshly baked baguette or a slice or two of home made bread.
Or just as is..
Don't forget to dip the bread in the sauce left to clean the bowl completely :D.

Sticky chicken wings

Woooowww!
This was just THE BEST chicken wings I have ever eaten in my life!
I ate home made by me and others, store bought, American BBQ and Asian style, I even made some Hungarian style, but none ever compared to this one.

There are two magazines I truly enjoyed reading, one was Food and Wine, and this recipe is my treasured finding. As I am baking it during the night and my phone is broken, I decided to borrow their image until I can snap a picture of my own.

I always make some changes to the recipes and this is not an exception, sometimes due to lack of ingredients, or just because me or the family doesn't like them. One for sure I won't add cilantro :), but I added the link to try the original version for yourself. I might try a version with ginger and fish sauce.
Next, I wonder if this can be made on an grill, outdoors, but it is to be seen only when I finally get a grill..

Ingredients
12 wing cut in half, end discarded, 
I actually used 20 pieces of organic chicken drumettes from two trays
2 tbsp of sunflower or grape seed (call me mad but I NEVER by canola oil)
1 tsp salt
black pepper
4 tsp lemon juice
1/3 cup light yellow miso (shiro miso)
a large pinch of smoked chilly pepper powder
2 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 - 2 flat tbsp light brown sugar (3 for me is VERY sweet, edible, but less enjoyable..)
(I added a flat tsp of organic mustard, not because it is asked in te recipe, but because I don't like to throw away things, and my youngest had a tsp mustard left from his dinner on a plate :) )

Preheat the oven to 400F, 200C. Prepare a rack set over a baking sheet., you'll need a large one you can buy.
In a bowl toss the wings in the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and arrange them on the rack.
Bake the wing for 40 minutes, turning them half way.
Meanwhile in a small pan mix 3 tbsp of water, heat it slowly, add the sugar and mix until dissolved. Mix in the other ingredients: miso, lemon juice, soy sauce, chilly pepper until makes a smooth, tooth-paste like glaze. (I also added the mustard when I took it off the heat).

After 40 minutes brush both sides of the wings and bake it for 10 more minutes. I actually chose to turn the wings after 10 minutes and bake them 10 more minutes, it gave the glaze a nice caramel color on both sides.

Serve with lime wedges and cilantro if you wish.
Bo appetite!