Chefs, what you cookin'?

That tart sounds very good Soupe du Jour.

I am the chef assistant today. My husband is making fricandela, a type of hamburger popular here. He's serving it with lettuce and a cilantro sauce. I helped with some of the prep work.

Yummy. I had a vegan hamburger at a cafe yesterday. It had relish sauce that was so delicious. Yum!

This thread is killing me. I am hungry just reading it

Mmm! Homemade bread. I know the smell, but it's been a while since it's been in my house. I wish I could have some. Is it an artisan type or an old-fashioned white loaf? Or something else?

Thanks for sharing about the fricandela, @rechu! I had never heard of that kind of burger. Bet it was yummy!

I think there are all kinds of burgers or burger-like things from around the world that many don't know about. In Czech Republic there's a burger called "karbanátky" with minced onion, garlic, marjoram, parsley, binding ingredients, and then coated with breadcrumbs before frying. They are eaten with a fork and knife usually along with some kind of pickles or pickled relish.

Also popular are foods from the Balkan countries, such as čevabčiči, a similar type burger as the karbanátky, but also with plenty of paprika. Then I love kofta kebab, from Turkey. That has even more spices and herbs and is my favorite. I often make it with ground beef, but it is also commonly made with ground lamb.

I used to only be so-so about turkey burgers, but recently I found a great recipe on NY Times Cooking for them that changed my mind.

I love veggie burgers, too, but have only made one type in the past.

He makes several different ones. Not white loaf although he had that made too. He achieved absolute perfection in making a particular rye bread but it’s nothing like rye bread people know in the states. That's what he made yesterday. That’s bread from my home country. That’s the best bread ever made on this planet. Haha My family can’t have enough. He baked two loafs yesterday and my brother came over this morning to get one lol

To add it’s MY home country not his. He perfected many foods from the regions where I am from, or nearby lands. It’s very impressive. It tastes 100% right.

Haven’t cooked in a while. Had reheated chicken curry that yesterday just required me to pop it in the oven for 30 minutes.

I’m still having leftover paella with chicken and chorizo’s so no cooking in the kitchen tonight for me!

You've got quite a good husband, for sure!

Breads with rye flour are the norm in Czech Republic. In fact, it can sometimes be hard to find ones without rye flour, and yes the breads are certainly not all the stereotypical rye bread seen in the US. I like rye bread, but will confess that sometimes I yearn for some that don't have it.

I'm a bit like your husband in the effort to learning about and cooking/baking my husband's country's cuisine. Now we live in his country.

For Valentine's day tonight, I'll be making a pasta dish that my husband loves. It will include spaghetti (his favorite pasta) and sliced fried sausage (as close to Italian sweet as I can get), sun dried tomatoes and it's packing oil, pine nuts, and tons of fresh basil and some oregano, and also freshly grated Parmesan cheese and plenty of ground pepper. He's allergic to garlic, so I don't include it. I'd likely suggest a small amount (one clove) for anyone ever wanting to make such a dish. Not yet sure what veggie I will have as a side.

Supposedly fricandelas are an adaptation of either a German or Danish recipe. German would make more sense because many German immigrants have come here over the years. You often see them served in German restaurants. When we lived in the capital, we used to go to this restaurant called Elkika Ilmenau that has very tasty fricandelas. I almost always got them with their sauerkraut and homemade mayo. I rarely tried anything else off the menu!

The recipe we use is from a cookbook written by this woman and her husband. Restaurante Restaurante Tante Marlene — Our Chef They own several restaurants in Santiago. Once when we went, the husband was there and he gave us a discount out of the blue. My dad’s side of the family is a mix of Central European ethnicities, including German, my last name is German, and I definitely look the part. Maybe that’s why he gave us the discount. He also made a point of coming over to our table to talk to us. If you are interested, I’d be happy to post the recipe.

The above. I never ended up making it yesterday because we didn't get home in time. Also, a stack of crepes (see attached). We'll eat a couple for breakfast tomorrow, and maybe Friday, and freeze the rest.

I'd love the recipe, though if its main flavoring is garlic, I may not be able to make it. My husband is allergic to garlic, though I can usually make things without it, just adding a bit more onion or other flavorings.

The restaurant looks nice. I had always heard that South America, especially Argentina and nearby countries, had large German origin citizens. The menu has some dishes that are also eaten in Czech Republic. Czech Republic's (Bohemian & Moravian) cuisine has plenty of influences from Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Poland and also influenced those countries' cuisines.

I have no idea what my partner cooked last night but there's leftovers for me for dinner tonight!

A garlic allergy, that must be tough! Here's the recipe:

400 grams of ground beef and 400 grams of ground pork (we usually just use beef because you don't find ground pork all that much)
100 grams of breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove of crushed garlic (leaving it out shouldn't make much of a difference)
1 tsp mustard
Nutmeg to taste
Black pepper to taste
Oil for frying
Mix all the ingredients except the oil until well blended. Form hamburgers of about 200 grams each. The recipe calls for frying on the stove, but you can also bake or grill them.

Sounds yummy! Thanks for the recipe, rechu. I agree that a garlic omission would likely be fine. I have a couple minor tricks up my sleeve for eliminating it without major flavor changes.

Will try it with the ground beef and pork mixture. Ground pork is pretty common where I am in Czech Republic. It's also available in most stores where I grew up in the US. Very often both are even combined as part of what is called "raw meatloaf mix".

I hope you enjoy it, Soupe du Jour. The serving suggestion in the cookbook is to serve it with a black pepper-cream sauce, but we prefer a mix of grated pickles, mayo and mustard.

When I first moved to this country, I lived in the capital, we had access to larger supermarkets with more variety. I remember seeing that mix of pork and beef there sometimes. People in your part of the world sure do love their pork, don't they? My husband was watching this YouTube German recipe of pork loin wrapped in bacon the other day.!

The past four years we are in a more rural area. We were initially pushed out due to housing costs. Although, I do appreciate it more and more. It's peaceful and we have access to excellent produce. This this town is seeing more people arriving fleeing the city due to cost and safety issues, so more stores selling gourmet/artisanal products are popping up. Some are very good. Cecinas Bavaria | Rotiserias y Fiambrerias | Las mejores cecinas de Chile: Arrollados, prietas, platos preparados, jamon praga, pate, vienesas, etc. This German rotisserie is also not far and we stop in every so often.
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My husband cooked again today. I need to get my act in gear and cook something! He did a one pot dish in the wok with bok choi, onion, lovely local tomatoes, and a bit of chicken. He seasoned it with some paprika, onion salt and black pepper. Simple, but very tasty.

I just baked some banana bread and I made myself white rice and a vegetarian stir fry for dinner.

tonight I am cooking mac and cheese .... i'll add mustard and garlic to the cheese sauce

I have not had a chance to cook much lately. We're so often out and about that we eat too much at restaurants or at home are eating quick foods. The only thing I made this morning was a peanut butter and raspberry preserves sandwich. It was only so-so as the white bread was kind of dry, I can only get "natural" type peanut butter here, and though I love raspberry preserves, I prefer strawberry on my pb&j sandwiches. Otherwise, today was not a good food day. For a snack, we were coerced into buying mini hot dogs in puff pastry at a gas station. Then for lunch we had terrible so-called Vietnamese food. So boring that I doused it with soy sauce. Then for "dinner" we bought hot dogs in toasted rohlik rolls at a gas station. Both hot dogs of the day were tasty, but the ones in the toasted rohlik rolls were AMAZING! So, hot dogs! Neither of which I cooked. Czech Republic is a good place for them.