A Night in Casablanca: Part II, the FEAST and a Sweet Morning After

An intense week of planning and prepping for J's celebratory Moroccan feast finally came to its end; by the time Saturday morning finally came around, I was calm and focused on the task at hand. My house was clean (save the sink-fulls of dishes I'd still have to do throughout the day) and everything that could have been prepped ahead of time, was cleaned, cut and marinating in the fridge. Falling asleep Friday night, I felt like I was about accomplish something big that I had prepared for well.

Saturday started at 6am when my alarm welcomed me to the beautifully sunny morning. Saturday started again at 7:30am when I finally heeded my third alarm's (the rooster-sounding one) call that I get out of bed now. :D (It's ok, I plan things that way ...)

The first and most important task was to make myself some coffee. Ahhhh, sooo good .... then it was time to start the traditional Moroccan bread! The dough recipe was highly yeasted and composed of whole wheat and all-purpose flours. It also required me to take my first crack at kneading; I was pretty worried that I was adding too much flour during the kneading process (because the dough was very sticky), but after rising for an hour the loaf seemed ready to bake. This is where pictures in cookbooks become essential – I was comforted that my loaf at least looked right. This is also where you need to double check your recipes, because as I placed my loaf-filled cast-iron pan into the oven I thought, “it’s really weird that this recipe is so different than my past loaves, how will the loaf cook in 12-15min in a 220* oven?” A quick glance back at the page and I realized that 220* CELCIUS was indeed the correct temperature. Too bad my oven (and brain) doesn’t function in metric units. {sigh} … the bread survived another 10min on the counter as my oven temperature increased to 475*F. When the time was up, I tapped the bottom of the loaf and it sounded hollow so I knew it was done.

During the hour the dough took to rise, I drove over to the Sunnyvale Farmer’s Market. It was my first time to this location and I was surprised at not only how many vendors there were (in comparison to the HUGE Sunday Market in Mountain View), but the variety there was – including a delicious crepe vendor who made me one of the delicate pancakes with butter, sugar and fresh lemon for breakfast! Amongst my wares, I purchased 3pints of fragrant and ripe, in-season strawberries (you’ll see why later in this entry), 5lbs of sweet seedless oranges for my Orange Blossom Salad, 10 lovely vine-ripe tomatoes for my Tomato and preserved Lemon Salad, a 1/2lb of lychee nut because I’ve never had them in their natural form (mmm).

While the bread was baking, I segmented oranges for the first time. It is a process that makes me sorely wish my knife skills were better – and that I already owned my dream set of Wustof cutlery. The orange segments and juice went into a bowl with a few teaspoons of orange blossom water. The bowl was covered and chilled in the fridge for the rest of the day. The combination of fresh citrus and floral essence created a scent that was exotic and magical.


While the bread was cooling, I par-boiled and peeled the tomatoes. I’ve peeled tomatoes for sauce before, but this technique was a little different because the tomatoes were not supposed to be left in the boiling water long enough to have them cook. A race against time, 30 seconds in the boiling water gave way to a few minutes in an icy bath. The tomatoes did not peel as easily as I would have liked, but were eventually skinned, chopped and tossed in a bowl with a slivered red onion. I went on to rinse, pat-dry and slice my preserved lemon rinds, scooping out the slimy flesh and gently wiping away the loose pitch under a stream of cool water.

The following concern had seeded itself in the back of my brain: what if I just don’t like the preserved lemons?? I was preparing a meal that utilized the special ingredient in 3 dishes, what if it became the sour note of the night? I nervously arranged and tasted a forkful of the tomato, onion and lemon combination. A wave of relief, then exhilaration, immediately overcame me! It was like lemon heaven in my mouth– the perfect amount of saltiness and bright, lemony flavor. It was all that the blogs and articles I read promised and more!




Being more confident with the ingredient’s potential and more familiar with its flavor profile, I added extra to the tomato salad and decided to prepare a flavored oil for the bread with extra virgin olive oil, ghee, minced preserved lemon and black pepper. As the lemon rind is softened in the pickling process, the minced rind was mostly spreadable. The oil was one of the highlights of the night.

I took a break around 12:30pm to enjoy a salami sandwich and a glass of prosecco in the sun outside AG Ferrari Foods. I also picked up some fresh mascarpone for my planned strawberry application (more information to come).

Back at the house, I cleaned up my earlier-made mess and prepared myself to make another. I chopped the ingredients I’d need to add to the lamb once I started the tagine a bit later and I set the table. I decided to use my kitchen work-bench instead of my traditional dining table because I liked the idea of me and J finalizing and sharing the home-cooked meal in the kitchen. I had orange blossom water ready to warm over a tea light and arranged a vase of herbs.

By 5:30pm I was ready to start browning the lamb – a technique I have NOT mastered. My lamb was indeed dry going into the hot, oiled tagine, but a pool of liquid appeared and prevented the caramelization I was hoping to encourage. {sigh} I followed the rest of the recipe, softening the onions and adding the garlic, turmeric, cumin and ginger. I returned the lamb to the pot, added fresh parsley, cilantro, lemon thyme and some water, then covering the mixture to simmer for a few hours. I uncorked the red wine, tossed the tomato salad in lemon-paprika vinaigrette and removed the previously marinated olives from the fridge to reach room temperature. I cut and arranged the bread, covering it in damp paper towels to remain fresh until J’s plane landed.

J arrived on time and hungry at 7:15pm. I was calm, pleased with my preparation and excited to enjoy a meal I knew would be delicious.

The courses progressed as planned. The first bottle of wine was poured and glasses were clinked. The Austrian wine was alike to chardonnay (not the heavily-oaked California variety) in its texture and flavoring, but was especially suited to highlighting the lemon in the dishes of the first two courses. J LOVED the marinated olives, which maintained their firm texture and absorbed the preserved lemons’ brightness while remaining mild. (We had to re-jar some of them to ensure leftovers for her parents to sample the next evening.) The heavily scented oil gave the mostly flavorless meant-to-absorb-flavors bread a perfect purpose.


I completed and served the two salads: finishing the Orange Blossom Salad with slightly toasted, sliced almonds, slivered dates and fresh mint and the Tomato and Preserved Lemon Salad with chopped cilantro and parsley. The pictures do not do the flavors justice. Both were unique, one sweet and the other savory, one chilled, one room-temperature but were tied together by their citrus accents. The wine went beautifully with both and I was happy that the different acidities of the dishes never clashed, but fit smoothly with each other and the wine.

After the salads were shared, I boiled water for the couscous and added the fresh peas and preserved lemon to the tagine. The entree needed to cook just long enough for the peas to soften, but we continued to nosh and comment-on the first two courses until we had finished the first bottle of wine. :D The peas lost some of their vibrant color during this time, but the smell of the braised meat and spices was extremely agreeable. I tossed the couscous with some ghee and spooned the Lamb, Pea and Preserved Lemon Tagine over it.

My verdict? The tagine’s spicing was spot on. The marinated lamb (not called to be marinated overnight in the recipe, but suggested by Katia) had beautifully-layered flavor but did not come out as tender as some of the fall-apart braised meats I’ve enjoyed in the past. J and I discussed how the lamb was indeed tender but fell-short of my expectations, hypothesizing that the issue was timing. Although I cooked the lamb 30min longer than the recipe directed, I have a feeling that the heat distribution and conduction of a clay tagine is different than the Dutch oven used in the cook book. Overall, it was a fabulous dish and the couscous served well, soaking up the delicious juices.

The Rhone wine that I served with the main course was worth $25. Full-mouthed, fruity [but not like an in-your-face Zin] and medium-bodied, the red had the loveliest, lingering flavor of smooth black pepper. It paired very very well. (Ok, you're right ... the picture has me holding a glass of wine that is obviously not red. But I needed a paragraph to pair this picture with, and this will have to do.)

For the final course, I topped the almond-paste stuffed dates I had arranged earlier that week with orange zest and brewed a pot of Moroccan mint tea (tea courtesy of Casablanca Market in Mountain View). J’s addition of [many] spoonfuls of sugar really suited the delicious tea that perfectly ended the fantastic and wildly successful Themed Cuisine II meal. :D


While we went to bed very full and very happy, I was obliged to plan for us a special Sunday-morning breakfast: a homemade tart with fresh strawberries and a lemon-mascarpone cream accompaniment. J suggested (an example of one of the many reasons I love her) that we have champagne with the meal, served with the leftover strawberries. I happened to already have my previously-purchased bottle of AG Ferrari Prosecco in the fridge! The tart was very very good and made the house smell amazing. The shared bottle of Prosecco was great, too :D

Naked Almonds All Over the Room: A Night in Casablanca, Part I

As "planned" over a month ago before Themed Cuisine Week I: Ethiopian, the time for Themed Cuisine Week II: Moroccan is coming to fruition. Literally. My preserved lemons have been pickling for 5 weeks and are ready to make their way into a 4-course, wine-paired dinner. No expense spared to celebrate J's super-successful first year of Grad school (1/2 way done!).

I've been utilizing my newly-established South Bay Area resources to plan and execute this meal (prep has started a full 6 days before the big event.) Casablanca Market in Mountain View has not only provided the traditional tagine - the vessel in which I'll cook the main course - but also the expertise regarding cooking technique. Katia was more than helpful and she explained to me over the phone how I will use the clay pot to not only braise, but brown the lamb. I met a lovely woman at a local Italian gourmet market, AG Ferrari Foods in Sunnyvale, who shared with me a multitude of cheeses (including the revered barrata, served 3-ways), tastes of open wine and local food knowledge Friday night as I snacked on Italian treats at one of their sidewalk tables. Her husband owns a wine store in Santana Row at which I spent an equal amount of time (the next night) drinking more wine, snaking on more Italian antipasta and quizzing the staff on wine recommendations for the difficult-to-pair arrangement of dishes I'll be serving on Saturday. I left with two bottles, a discount and a smile :)

My dish selections are sourced from two fantastic cookbooks: Cooking at the Kasbah and The Food of Morocco. (Thank you, J, for the first one!) So you want a preview of the menu?

Our Night in Casablanca:

Preserved Lemon Marinated Olives

Traditional Moroccan Bread

Tomato and Preserved Lemon Salad

Sweet Orange and Date Salad

Lamb Tagine with Peas and Lemons

Couscous

Almond Paste-Stuffed Dates

Wine #1: An Austrian native, Grüner Veltliner is a grape that is making its way into the glasses in wine bars and restaurants world-wide. The grape is capable of creating a complex, full-flavor white wine with not only citrus notes, but a balanced sampling of spice. This lends it to pair well with heavily-herbed and hard-to-pair meals. Impressively, in recent international blind-tastings, secretly-submitted Grüner Veltliner varietals have been mistaken for and ranked among Europe's top-ten chardonnays. It's a conniving little grape :D

Wine #2 (for the main course): Sourced from the Rhone region of France, Clot de L'oum's La Compagnie Des Papillons (translated: company of the butterflies) has shared characteristics of its three grapes: Carignan, Grenache and Syrah. Here's a "professional" wine description for you since I know basicially nothing about French wine: "With bittersweet cassis, wet stone, licorice, lead pencil, game, and alluring floral elements emerging on the nose (these wines perpetually need to “breathe”) it offers a plush, refined palate with no superficial sweetness but impressively layered with black fruits, minerals, herbs and meat. Infectiously juicy throughout, it nevertheless finishes in anything but simple fashion, with impressive salt, stone and graphite minerality, subtly sweet cassis and blackberry fruit, and deep meatiness." mmmm ... hope it works out :D

I've spent a few days now planning shopping lists and planning the prep/cooking timing. Yes, I was proud to already own every spice called for in the recipes (save one special one I'll use to marinate the lamb per Katia's recommendation) and thanks, Dad, I learned from your intensely brooded-over Xmas Eve schedules. Sunday night, I started one of the steps towards our dessert - the homemade almond paste.

So how do you blanch almonds, Google? Take those raw almonds to the hot tub ... they'll be easily coaxed out of their coats, jackets and dresses. (Ok, fine, that's not how Google told me to do it ... but it's surely how it seemed to play out.) Let me tell you, naked almonds are feisty!! In a pan 1/2-filled with boiling water, you "blanch" the almonds for about 30sec, then drain them. The skins separate from the nut and with a little pinch, they slide right out ... and onto the floor. Or they fly across the room and under the table. Or they *ping* into the bowl with such force that they bounce right back out and into the recyclables. Maybe I just need practice. :( Needlesstosay, 1.5lbs of almonds later, I had a bowl of pretty, naked almonds.

These newly-shorn, white beauties took a whirl in the food pro in batches until they were finely ground and were then mixed with a combination of butter, superfine sugar, a touch of almond extract, and the special ingredient, orange blossom water (a wonderfully floral and exotic ingredient I happened to already own thanks to a trip to a local Pakistani market.) The resulting paste is much less sweet than the almond paste you'll find in stores and the flavor is layered and delicate. Friday night, the paste will be colored bright green, balled and stuffed into pitted dates {drool} from the farmers market, then garnished with orange zest. There is some seriously delicious and decadent dessertage happening here!

Being that the process was unique to this meal - and the fact that I have three jars of them - I will be utilizing the preserved lemons 3 ways:

1) Marinated Olives: Castelvetrano olives will be marinated for two days with cilantro, preserved lemon, parsley, cumin, garlic and red chilli. Castelvetrano olives are new to me; the prettiest shade of [almost] spring green, they are medium-sized, round, firm and very mild. The guy at Whole Foods was more than welcome to let me try one and helped me cheat the system by giving me the juice to add after they weighed the container at the front counter (and provided a leak-free container so that I wouldn't leak while riding my bike home). They are really wonderful and are a nice change to the very-salty, mushy olives you can find anywhere.

2) Tomato and Preserved Lemon Salad: Fresh, skinned tomatoes are chopped and tossed with fresh herbs, a dash of paprika and thinly sliced preserved-lemon rind. Now, I'm only speaking from Googled descriptions and my imagination, but the pickled citrus should add an almost floral, intensely-lemony, caper-like saltiness. I'll use it sparingly.

3) Lamb Tagine with Peas and Lemons: You really can't ever go wrong with braised lamb. But dress it with farmers-market-fresh peas, assorted fresh herbs including mint, cilantro, parsley and lemon thyme, robust spices like cumin, ginger, turmeric, coriander and garnish with a bright, citrus-y/saltiness? You just might have the main course that is served on special occasions in heaven ... we'll find out on Saturday.

Ok, that's enough for now - more will come after the meal is cooked and eaten.

Boats of Oats!!!

Ok ... so you have to trust me on this one. I'm on an oatmeal kick. I've been eating it most mornings for a while now, simply-made with some dried fruit. But this week I've been craving MORE oatmeal and it has started sneaking its way into my dinners as well. It all started with good clean ingredient-time-use-juggling banter in the "breakfast for dinner" vein (with two nights of SUPER AWESOME double-yolk eggs, a bit of cheddar and smoked salt over the chewy oat), but tonight I took oatmeal onto another plane - giving it a true place on the dinner table.

Picture this ... and picture me and my hand gestures emphasizing just how cool this meal is to me:

Ginger-infused, thick-cut, organic, rolled oats - made so very slightly al dente with minced fresh ginger - created the fragrant, slightly-chewy/slightly-creamy, savory bed for a sauté of red bell pepper, broccoli, onion, carrot and sesame seeds with a dash of chili sauce. (It seems also to have created a bad run-on sentence...) On top: a yummy yolk-poppable egg, a drizzle of soy sauce, sliced water chestnuts and pickled ginger. OMG ... I should go make more RIGHT NOW!

Ok, I'm done :) Thank you for your time!

Gabe's Graduation

 

Red Chard and Poorly Poached Ling Cod

 
 
1) Grow Red Chard
2) Cut Red Chard when 10" tall (my first veggie harvest!)
3) Saute onions, tomato, and fresh herbs with white wine and lemon juice
4) Poach Ling Cod and chard
5) Eat! .... the meal didn't look too pretty because my timing needs some work, but it was delicious!

The Act of Re-dinnering

I thought I'd share that last night's dismally forgetful showing was completely rectified through tonight's re-dinnering. Re-dinnering (v. n.) - redeeming (or a redeemed) a screwed-up meal with the application of the previously forgotten original plan and the addition of a component that "takes it up a notch."
Synonym: "better leftovers".

I heated up the last slices of my incomplete pizza in a large non stick pan, warmed the stuffed red-pepper in the wave and quickly sauteed up an onion and a zucchini until brown. I plated the first two left-overs properly - with fresh basil on the pepper and garlic/bean dip on the pizza. The additional side of sweet brown zucchini and onions, I tossed with ground cayenne and chopped mint ... mmmm.

Good Food in the East and the West [Coasts]

Ah! So many good things to savor and recount!

This past Thursday I hopped a red-eye to Boston because my sister, Kirsten, was graduating from college on Saturday (wooo! yay Sister!! Congrats again and again!). In classic Schmid tradition, the event was celebrated with the whole family attending a nice meal; my sister chose for her graduation dinner to be held at a favorite restaurant of hers, the Cottage, in Wellesley, MA. She described it to me as "fresh California cuisine meets traditional New England fare", heh, or in some way similar that makes me love her dearly and mock her description by asking if "fusion chowder" was on the menu. Oh, Kir, the place was fantastic!

Here is a picture-tour of some of the food we enjoyed: Cocktails. Heh. I asked the bartender to try to re-create the Sake Lemon Drop I had last week in SF. It wasn't the same, was a little stronger, and I was ok with both facts.

We chose a few different appetizers for the table, including delicious fried calamari with a fresh, ginger dipping sauce, fried

artichoke hearts, a seasonal mixed- grill salad and nachos.

Yes, nachos. Now I am not a chip fan, but when Kir asked me what I thought of the menu's description, I caved - homemade wontons, topped with sesame-seared Ahi tuna, Asian vegetables, ginger vinaigrette and a wasabi cream. They were fabulous and it is the only dish I can recall where raw celery enhanced the flavor!

Kir's boyfriend, Kyle, ordered one of the more interesting dinners of the night. A true food-pairing mind-boggle! Granola-crusted

Mahi-Mahi. My brain tried, but could not comprehend the taste

or texture that would result. When we asked the waiter to describe it, he said that brown sugar in the granola gave it a sweet coating. When Ky received the dish, it looked beautiful. The taste? So surprisingly well-paired. The firm fish was coated in a caramelized, slightly-chewy and moist granola crust with golden raisins that provided a sweet moistness to the "steaky" fish. It worked very very well!

I ordered the Polenta Cake w/ seared scallops: "crisp, creamy polenta, sauteed confetti garden fresh vegetables, blistered tomatoes,
crowned with goat cheese and micro-greens". It was wonderful to sop up the rich vegetable broth with the crunchy- outside/incredibly creamy[yet not cloying]-inside polenta cakes.

Everyone was quite pleased with their meals and the night was very much a success!

A few hours after Kir's Commencement Ceremony, I was on a plane back to Cali. I have used my relaxing Sunday to enjoy the 90* sun with bike-rides to the farmers market and other various errand-related locations. I've also been trying out some new cooking techniques with my standard brea dough.

For lunch, I grilled a rolled-out round of dough in a cast iron pan. Then I smeared it with ripe avocado and topped it with slices of fresh tomato, cilantro, society garlic and chipotle powder. The quick-to-assemble flat bread was super fresh, clean and delicious!

Dinner was significantly more labor-intensive. Like usual, I utilized my long plane ride to assemble a menu for the week. The dish that I planned to feed me for the next two nights? Pizza!

The preparation started with an hour of roasting garlic for the white bean/garlic spread that would be the base of my pizza topping. The resulting creamy and sweet garlic went into the food pro with a can of white beans, olive oil and fresh lemon juice.

Next I assembled my side dish: red peppers stuffed and roasted with tomatoes, garlic and Kalamata olives. They went into the oven for an hour on 375*.

Back to the pizza toppings: I sliced and caramelized one of the red onions I bought at the farmers market this morning. Once the half-moons were sweet and brown, I added a bunch of chopped arugula to wilt and removed both from the stove.

Meanwhile, I started up the grill and rolled out a small ball of dough onto some floured aluminum foil. As you can see in the picture, I do not own a rolling pin; a wine bottle stands in nicely - thanks for the tip, J! :D I brushed the dough with oil and laid it on the grill for a few minutes until the under-side was toasty. Then I took it back inside where I assembled the toppings, grated on some "Silver Mountain" cheese - a great, aged, raw-milk cheddar from Bravo Farms in Traver, CA - and threw it back on the grill to warm.

I didn't expect the grilling to go so quickly (and easily), so I was left waiting for the roasted peppers to finish. It was probably for the best, however, because I think the pizza's combination of flavors benefited from the wait (like most things, I'm sure, only I'm usually too impatient to find out.) I finished the toppings with cayenne, a dash of cumin and fresh herbs.

I joyously took my first bite of the pizza and wondered what I could add to make it better; something was missing. It was now that I cursed aloud - I had completely forgotten to apply the garlic/bean spread before adding the onions and arugula!! {Sigh} To compensate, I dolloped and distributed the cool, lemony spread over the top of the slices. Much better! :D Tomorrow night, I'll remember to chop some basil onto the roasted pepper, too. Cheers to summer!

The Kabri Household Welcomes New Arrivals ...

A quick post RE: my new additions (hey, my friends/co-workers are having children ... I'm content raising veggies at this point). Anyway, last night I planted some medium red California onions and a 5-pack of mixed lettuces. My largest tomato plant has two tiny yellow flowers, and my red bell pepper plants have buds! The red chard is about 6" tall - maybe it will be ready harvest next week? 

I'm off to Boston tonight through Saturday and San Jose is expecting temperatures in the high 80's/90's, so I hope the garden survives the weekend!

El Jardin De Kabri

Seriously, I am living "the life" ... and it really is the life I want to live ... well, sans a few important things like: my love. Oh ... and our dog .... and chickens. But it is gooood.

This weekend I went to brunch and out shopping in SF with J's mom - we had a lovely time, complete with brunch and happy-hour cocktails (mmm sake lemon drops), vintage consignment shop browsing and my first experience with Parisian macarons at Paulette. Having a thin, crisp outside, a creamy inside with a slight chewiness and a delightful filling, they were truly decadent (and pretty!) ... the candy-pink colored Sweet Wedding Almond and pale purple Violet Cassis outshone the others.

 

Otherwise, I've spent my days off re-planting my over-crowded tomatoes into 3 large pots, baking up a storm and enjoying the sun while perusing the Mountain View farmers market. And now I get to blog about it all with a glass of wine on my patio ... this is rough! My plants are all looking pretty good, but I feel like they will all shrivel up if I don't water them twice a day. I'm still trying to find the perfect locations for each plant so that they get enough, but not too-much, sun.

  

  

The Farmer's Market was fantastic. I got there 

earlier than last time and had my pick of fresh strawberries, asparagus, eggs, cheese, multi-colored potatoes, tomatoes, apricots, dried nectarines, avocados, zucchini and carrots. On my way there, I stopped by a store called Casablanca Market. There I met Katia, who had just arrived back in the States after a business trip in Morocco. She helped me pick a beautiful tagine and the spice mixture, Ras al-Hanout, that I'll need for my Moroccan Themed Cuisine week next month. The store sells gorgeous colored tile and an array of fragrant spices. She shared some dates while she explained how to cure and season my new tagine.

I took some pictures of the beautiful day and Mountain View's main street on my walk back to the car (I didn't ride my bike this week, because it is at the bike shop to be adjusted.) Being able to see not-too-distant hills in most directions makes me so happy. So does the sun. 

   

On the way home, I stopped across the street at Karoon, an international market, where I found freshly-made sesame halwa  (which I'll bring to J in two weeks), rose-flavored Turkish delight (my favorite sweet ever) and orange blossom water. I saw the latter of the three in the cookbook I mean to buy at Casablanca Market, where it was mixed with almond paste and stuffed into fresh dates {drool}. The nice guy at the counter at Karoon approved of my choices and asked what I planned to do with the orange blossom water. He smiled when I told him about the recipe, but shared that he knew of a lot of people who simply add it to drinking water. As soon as I got home, I added it to a large glass of ice water. With a splash of simple syrup, it is one of the most refreshingly light and lovely tastes I can imagine - similar to jasmine. I think the combination will become a summertime favorite.

On the home-front, today I've baked two loaves of bread and a dozen "Glazed Lemon Cakes of Love, Joy and Goodness". We'll see what my co-workers think of the tender, heart-shaped cakes, tomorrow - I'm really challenging that lemon tree to keep up! For dinner, I think I'll grill up some lemon-garlic chicken (marinating in the fridge) with carrots, asparagus and zucchini, smear some avocado on a grilled slice of bread and serve it all with a fresh-made salsa of tomatoes and herbs from the garden. Of course, I'll first have to consult my new favorite reference book, "Mastering the Grill: the owner's manual for outdoor cooking"  - it was a house warming gift from J ... I love it!!

 

Ah, California. You really do have a slower, more mindful pace. While it may be a challenge to adjust at work, I'm pretty sure I can get used to this during my non-work hours.

__________________________________________________________

UPDATE: Tonight's dinner confirms my previously expressed joy.

The zucchini, carrots and asparagus were tossed in celery salt and olive oil and grilled until just tender. Grilled zucchini and asparagus are up there as some of my favorite vegetables to grill (along with fennel and red bell pepper), but I had never grilled carrots. They took as long as the chicken, but came out deliciously sweet!

The salsa, made with farm-fresh tomatoes (soon to be from my own pots), green onion and basil, cilantro, society garlic, Vietnamese coriander, parsley and a few sprigs of arugula from my garden was so much fun to eat! It was simply sprinkled with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper and a dash of chipotle pepper and topped with a few slices of avocado. Every time I got a fresh bite of one of my herbs I couldn't stop smiling. Growing things is fun!!

The chicken was great, too. The lemon zest and garlic really carried over through grilling. It all went so well together (yeah, Syrah probably doesn't belong in this meal, but it was open and tasted good!) and the freshly-baked bread (rubbed in the vegetable seasoning before grilling) was a great utensil and sponge :) I even have enough left over for tomorrow's dinner! Hooray!!

Dessert is a slice of bread with some of the fantastic apple butter J's mom shared with me! Dessert is also a slice of halwa with a drizzle of honey ... oh the joys of joy!

Themed Cuisine Week #1: The Ethiopian Feast

Since moving to California a little over two weeks ago, I've been focusing hard on the cultivation of my inner Californian - naturally, being a Californian entails the regular enjoyment of good, fresh food and wine ... right? Right.

In the first few days after my arrival - even without my kitchen having been delivered with the moving truck - I had started my first vegetable garden in [many] planters/pots on my patio alongside my new Weber. I also took a trip up to the Russian River Valley with my parents where we dutifully enjoyed much wine during our various vineyard visits and dutifully purchased 3 cases for our at-home enjoyment.

I located my new home using the following fundamental criteria: [very] nice kitchen, must be less than 10mi from work and less than 2mi from a farmer's market ... sure, and a place for a bed (details, details). My new home achieved all of these things and exceeded my expectations with a large patio area, the flood of sunlight through my large windows and skylights and my fantastic landlords with lemon trees that overfloweth (as well as producing plum and apricot trees).  See my other blog for pictures of my new place. I went to the farmer's market in Mountain View the first Sunday and was overjoyed to see fresh strawberries, spring peas, cheeses, eggs and mushrooms galore. I anticipate the 11mi round trip on my new road bike to be a recurring Sunday activity.

On the home front, my beautiful new kitchen and its copious sunlight has rekindled my passion to cook new and interesting foods ... well, sunlight and the fact that I'm no longer working 70hrs a week. My new position in the office is considerably less stressful and leaves me searching for challenges elsewhere in my day. So along with a 18mi R.T. bike commute, I decided to involve myself in some food experimentation. Besides attempting to maintain an edible garden, I devised a plan to cook "Themed Cuisine", focusing on a different food nationality a week at a time.

A package of berbere spice (and a sweet sale on London broil) inspired my Themed Cuisine Week #1: The Ethiopian Feast. For those of you who have never eaten at an Ethiopian restaurant: get on that. And look forward to partaking in one of the most satisfying and comforting home-cooked meals you'll ever enjoy. In almost every restaurant I've been to, I've been checked-up on by a cook who appears to be the mother of the family eating one table over - as if she had excused herself from her house-guests to whip me up a feast of love. Assuring her that the food is wonderful so visibly satisfies her that I feel like a "good girl", commended for enjoying it so thoroughly with happy eyes and a truly happy smile.

Traditionally, you share the meal with your table-mates in the form of little (or BIG) piles of fragrant stews atop a large, bubbled, crepe-like 'place mat' made of teff flour called injera. You use additional pieces of injera to pick up the food - there are no utensils. Main spices used in the different stews include: turmeric, ginger, cloves, coriander, cumin, allspice, cardamom and cinnamon. I decided to attempt some of my favorite dishes.

On the menu:

Abesha Gomen (Ethiopian Collard Greens)

Ye'atakilt Alick'A (Cabbage and Potato Stew)

Berbere-Rubbed Steak

Injera

Three hours of cooking actually kicked off with

 the preparation of an ingredient that will be used next month when I attempt Theme Cuisine Week: Morocco, Tagine Cook-Out (or some other, clever name). I took advantage of my access to my landlords' over-productive (perfectly-productive) lemon tree and decided to have my first go at canning. I sanitized the jars, bands and lids in boiling water for 15min, then shoved into them cut lemons doused in salt. Of the three jars, I spiced one with traditional flavorings including black pepper, coriander, clove, bay leaf and cinnamon.  After a month in the brine, the rind [supposedly] becomes mild and is chopped up in various Moroccan preparations. We shall see...

On to the main event! While the collards wat (stew) is one of my favorites, I couldn't find collard greens at my grocery store so had to settle for kale. Combined with Serrano chilies, grated ginger, red bell pepper and a lot of onion, the dish was beautifully flavored - not spicy. I was surprised how well the kale and red pepper retained their color, flavor and firmness through almost 20min of simmering. 

The cabbage wat is another favorite vegetarian dish of mine. A big onion and 4 sliced carrots sauteed for 15min created the sweet flavor base. Stained with turmeric and scented with cumin, the sauteed-for-40min cabbage and potatoes produced a creamy, sweet and smokey starch accompaniment for my feast. Next time I'll use twice as much cabbage and half as many potatoes.

I publicly admit that I chickened out on the protein front. My favorite Ethiopian dish is called Gored Gored - a traditional butter made with toasted spices (Niter Kibbeh) is mixed with raw strips of beef {drooool}. I caved ... and chose to use my new grill and an overnight berbere-rub over Googling how to buy beef I could eat raw. Meh. Happily, the steak was fantastic - this is the start of a beautiful relationship between me and the grill.

After 3 hours of prep-work and cooking, I was almost ready to forego an attempt at the injera. But for the sake of doing my first Themed Cuisine Week right, I mustered up enough [stove-to-] intestinal fortitude to whip up a batch of teff-less injera (made instead with whole wheat flour and club soda). It was pretty good - characteristically bubbled - but lacked the lovely sourness of the real thing. As you can see below, however, it served its purpose!

 

(What would I do without my two Dutch ovens???)

I believe my first themed week was a great success! I made enough to cover me for a whole week's worth of [large] dinners and the stews have gotten better with every passing night. In one of the next two weeks I think I'll attempt Indian food and get back into cheese-making with a Palak Paneer dish.