TRAVERSE CITY -- Daniela Hruba and Andy Fischer have more than a marriage.
They have a culinary partnership.
Starting out as newlyweds with a freezer stocked with Michelina's entrees and a pantry with little more than boxed dinners and cream of mushroom soup, they have evolved into kitchen connoisseurs. Taking a long bike ride on a sunny fall Sunday, they spend the time musing on what they might prepare for dinner to go with a particularly nice red wine. In their East Bay Township kitchen, the prepared foods have been replaced with quality olive oils, spices and other makings for from-scratch meals.
It didn't happen overnight.
The couple first met through mutual friends in 1994, when Daniela was still living in her native Czech Republic and Andy was there teaching English as a Second Language. While they were dating, he had to leave because his visa was up. After several months apart, Andy proposed by phone.
It took nine months for the paperwork to come through, but finally Daniela came to the U.S. Andy grew up in northern Lower Michigan, and the couple settled in Traverse City. He works in insurance and she's an airline analyst for DSI in Traverse City.
While all of that fell into place, their meals didn't.
"When we met, neither of us knew how to cook," Daniela said. "I knew how to make two meals and we ate those all the time."
"I was cooking like a college student would cook," Andy added, "getting boxed things from the store and adding things to it."
Still, they liked to eat good food. And their budget at the time didn't allow for eating out much. What to do?
"We decided we needed to start cooking," Andy said.
It became a sort of challenge between them then -- who would do the cooking and what would they prepare. For Daniela, it was a matter of seeking out recipes and learning to make them herself.
She laughs now as she talks about their early kitchen attempts.
"Andy would follow recipes to the last drop," she said. "He would measure out a half-teaspoon of black pepper."
But what they both learned, once they got the hang of it, was that it was OK to improvise. When Daniela saw a recipe in a magazine she wanted to try, but didn't have the exact ingredients on hand, she made it with substitutions that she thought might work.
"I took whatever I had in the refrigerator," she said. "And it still turned out really good. Then I wrote it down, so I wouldn't forget."
And that's what they've done. Experiment with new recipes. Improvise. Then compile the recipes in a notebook that they keep on the kitchen counter and refer and add to constantly.
They also learned about butter, garlic and heavy cream.
They're the secrets to the culinary universe, as far as Andy is concerned.
"When you cook a lot, you find certain ingredients are critical," Andy said.
Those three items, and maybe deglazing a pan with wine or brandy after meat has been browned, provide the makings of a sauce for just about anything, he said.
Then there's Adobo seasoning. They use the Latino spice mixture in just about everything.
"It's our secret ingredient," Daniela said.
These days, their family gives them Penzey's spices for Christmas. Their cookbook collection has grown to include all manner of ethnic fare. Daniela also prepares Czech foods, getting many of her recipes from her father back home.
"It's fun because my dad never cooked, but my mom was sick for a while so he started cooking and he's so into it," Daniela says. "On Saturdays we talk on the Internet. He has a camera and he's always showing me what he cooked, and he e-mails me recipes. He's like this high-tech dad."
They've gone through different phases -- their quinoa phase, their risotto phase. Now they're more into a Mediterranean groove. With a twist.
"Lately I'm on the kick of casseroles," Daniela said. "You put it all together, pop it in the oven, drink a glass of wine and dinner is ready."
Leek and Lemon Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Butter
Olive oil
One leek, sliced thin
Vermouth or white wine
1 c. water
Chicken bouillon
Fresh lemon
Wondra flour
Capers
Pound chicken until thin. Dip it in flour.
In a frying pan, melt butter and olive oil. Fry chicken on both sides; remove.
Deglaze pan with some wine. Add leeks and saute. Pour in water and bouillon. Squeeze in lemon to taste. Thicken the sauce with a little Wondra (in a cup or bowl, mix into a smooth paste first using a little of the liquid from the pan with the flour and then stir that into the larger mixture so it doesn't clump). Put chicken back into the sauce to warm it up. Add capers to the sauce a few minutes before serving with a side of asparagus.
Palacinky (Crepes)
1 c. flour
11/2 c. milk
3 eggs
Vanilla sugar
Mix well. On Teflon pan, melt 1/2 t. Crisco. Pour a little bit of batter in and spread around the whole pan for very thin consistency. Flip when one side is done, after about a minute, and cook on other side. These can be filled or topped with just about anything. The Fischers' top choices: Nutella or jam filling, or while still warm, fill with chocolate ice cream, roll and top with whipped cream.
Barley medley
1 c. barley
3 c. water
2 t. Better than Bouillon, chicken flavor
Baby bella mushrooms, cut up
Onion, chopped
Garlic, crushed
2 celery sticks, chopped
2 carrots, diced
Adobo seasoning, salt, pepper, marjoram, thyme
Rinse barley and boil in water and Better than Bouillon. Add celery and carrots.
In separate pan, melt butter and olive oil. Saute onion, garlic, mushrooms and seasonings. When barley is done, mix in the mushroom mixture.
Kathy Gibbons can be reached at gibbonskath@yahoo.com. For more Everyday Cook columns, log on to record-eagle.com/everydaycook.
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