Semiserious Chefs

Pickling has been a crucial part of the Norse lifestyle for pretty much ‘forever.’ It’s either that or salting, and freezing when the weather is right, but there is no bad weather for pickling. They pickle vegetables, fruits, meats… you name it. Today we are making a quick pickle of red onions. These sweet and […]

In the Norse cooking of Sweden, Norway, and Finland, potatoes usually accompany a main dish that may have a sauce and fresh herbs already included, so often they just serve the potatoes boiled and skinned to be added to the main plate and mashed with either butter or the main sauce. Here we have roasted […]

Meat and Potatoes. Two staples of the Nordic diet. Given, they consume a lot of fish, but meatballs and patties are always a favorite. This dish blends another commonality, pickled vegetables. Obviously there are pickled onions as a topping, but these smallish patties also contain pickled beets, sweet gherkins, and capers, lending to a very […]

Armenia. It’s own nation; just barely. They are incredibly proud of their heritage and their homeland. They come from the ancient lands of the Mesopotamia and lived through the Ottoman empire. They’ve been ‘owned’ by both Turkey and Russia, over and over, and their cuisine is a mix of flavors that shows these ever waving […]

“This is a phenomenal dish! I wish they served this at my favorite place! If you were to ever own a restaurant this would need to be on the menu!” – Real quote from a Happy Guest This recipe came about after I was given a dill herb dip blend last Christmas. Eventually I created […]

I make a large batch of this blend to keep on hand because I use it so often! This combination was first inspired by a Christmas gift from my Sister-in-Law. She gave us several Christmas ornament bulbs filled with herbs and spices for making dips. One was a very classic dill blend; 1 teaspoon dill […]

One day I happened upon some pita bread in the discount bin. Yup! That is very often where my inspiration comes from: discounted produce, discounted bread, discounted meat… This evening it was a double whammy when I also found prepackaged ultra thin sliced beef on discount. As it is a pretty safe assumption that I […]

I discovered this sauce in one of my favorite go-tos, “The French Market Cookbook” and was very excited to have the first opportunity to use it last Thanksgiving. Not only was it the perfect dip for our steamed artichoke leaves then, but I have been repeatedly making it since for a whole variety of uses. […]

In 2006 Andrew and I traveled to Kazakhstan to help with a building project for a local pastor. I loved how each family had their own large garden! There are many flavors and foods that bring me back to that trip, but one of the common flavors Tatya Valya liked to cook with was fresh […]