Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Tasty Tuesday: Turos Csusza

Remember when I used to sometimes blog about food? Yeah, me too. Then I stopped cooking for myself because JV is just so good at it.

But sometimes he doesn't feel like cooking, or he wants to have something I don't (pea soup in summer? no thanks). Behold, the world's laziest dish that maybe even might be good for you?

Turos Csusza

Since my work involves me with a lot of fellow immigrants, I've done a miniature world tour of cuisine: Persian, Sri Lankan, Hungarian, Arabic...I approve and my tastebuds approve. Also, my cooking repertoire approves, because often something is SO GOOD that I want to make it myself. Turos czusza is one of those, and it's easy as hell. I've made this a bunch of times since. (As compared to asheh reshteh, which I made once and completely botched because I didn't have enough of any of the herbs.)

The top recipe for turos csusza if you Google is from AllRecipes.com, and she suggests that you bake the dish for a few minutes after you prepare it. I eat this straight away every time I make it (freshly boiled pasta + refrigerated dairy = pretty good eating temperature), but if you prefer it a little warmer then you might as well nuke it instead of going to the trouble of preheating your oven. This is lazy food, child. This is when you can't be fucked but you feel too guilty to reach for that box of Kraft/Velveeta. (Not that you should feel guilty, because that is divine, but you know...sometimes you want to feel like you made an effort.)

What You Need

  • A carb of choice. The above recipe calls for egg noodles; I have it on good Hungarian authority that elbow macaroni is acceptable, so that's how I roll. I prefer whole wheat pasta just because my life is better when I get lots of fiber.
  • Cottage cheese
  • Sour cream/creme fraiche/Greek yogurt
  • Bacon or something savory to your own taste




What You Do

1. Prepare your carb of choice.

2. Prepare your bacon, if that's how you roll.

3. Mix your bacon, cottage cheese, and sour cream/creme fraiche/Greek yogurt with your carb of choice. Generally you have more cottage cheese than sour cream, but the ratio is totally up to your tastes.

4. IN YO' FACE


Notes


  • I really, really, really do not like bacon. When I make this, I use roasted onion instead. Is that a thing in grocery stores elsewhere? It might not be, considering that the Wikipedia entry is only in Swedish and German.

    I guess y'all outside of northern Europe are missing out on the magic that is rostad lök. :(

    We always have a tub on hand because you can just add them to just about anything and it gets tastier, like croutons that are just pure onion. This recipe is so much easier for me because it dispenses with preparing the bacon in favor of these roasted onions. I bet you could get something similar if you had a fruit dehydrator? They're crispy and have a thin bread crumb-y coating but still taste very much of ONION.


Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons and Kjetil Ree. // They look like kind of unappealing pork rinds or something here but I promise they're delicious.
  • Because I'm an adult, I take supplements and vitamins and things now, and one of the supplement-type things I consume is chia seeds. They go really well with this (because they taste of nothing, really, and just look like pepper) and probably help add a little extra protein to a meal that's largely fat and carbs.
  • I had never had cottage cheese before I had this dish. I was always under the impression that cottage cheese was one of those gross, unappealing foods people only ate because they wanted to lose weight (like grapefruit). But no! Cottage cheese is delicious!! Why all the negativity around it? Like the roasted onion, cottage cheese is a permanent fixture in our kitchen.

Give this one a go the next time you're feeling uninspired and like you CBF to make dinner! Maybe add some vegetables if you're feeling fancy!


2 comments:

  1. This looks really gross but I'm down to try it. Love carbs of all forms.

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    Replies
    1. It sounds weird but I promise it's good! Of course, I also have VERY. STRONG. feelings about sour cream, so I may be biased.

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