One Vegetable, Five Spices / Un Légume, Cinq épices

What I like about farmer’s market is how people interact with each other and how it seems natural to talk to your next on line neighbor while filling your basket with lettuce and butternut squashes. There are individuals who come in early wearing tennis shoes and a cap and a big smile on their face, and those who live right across the street who come pulling their kids in green wooden carts, and there are those who come around noon, holding a mug of coffee and chatting with producers that have some free sample to offer.

Me? I am the type of person who arrives at 10, with my huge red and beige wicker basket (which can be practical to make my way through the crowded market) and my hubby pulling our daughter’s stroller. You will find me carrying two wallets: a small one for change, in my rear Jean’s pocket and the bigger one inside my basket. And yes, you will find me by the chestnut cheesecake and brownies samples too or by the eggplant stand trying to share some "coherent" recipes with some eggplant debutants.

I said: “coherent” because I just don’t know how to explain recipes orally. Not that I don’t know how to speak: “Hi, how are you? Pleasure to meet you.” I know all of that!
But when it comes to giving recipes I always get carried away by the excitement of the fruit/vegetable in question and find myself trying to explain 2 or 3 recipes to a poor lady that just wanted to know how do I cook my eggplant. But she is too polite the lady; she doesn’t dare asking me to stop. She even thanks me and keeps asking me questions although I can see that her right eye is looking at me and the left one is looking elsewhere, for somebody to drag her away from me.

Then I’ll go all smiles to my husband who was waiting for me at the corner, and who asks me: “how many recipe did you give her?”
“ I don’t know, may be three! Too bad I didn’t have a paper and a pen to write it all down for her. Oh but wait!! I completely forgot to give her the spicy eggplant recipe that you love so much. You think I should go and give it to her quickly? She is still there by the tomatoes stand!”
“Oh no! I think she’s had enough”, he replies joking.

This is indeed my hubby’s favorite way of enjoying eggplant and I promise to explain it to you calmly.

Eggplant Zaalouk is an Algerian dish, served as an appetizer or a side dish to Lamb Kebabs.
The traditional eggplant Zaalouk is prepared by frying the eggplant flesh with tomatoes, onions, garlic, cumin and paprika. It’s also called Eggplant Caviar in Europe.
My version has more spices and the eggplant is cubed and broiled with some olive oil. Toasting the spices in a pan is very important to have a fragrant, smoky finished dish. I used ground cumin but whole cumin would work as well. Sometimes I add to it roasted, cubed zucchini, when in season, and roasted, diced red and green peppers. It is Delicious warm, nestled inside a piece of bread and even better tomorrow, straight from the fridge.

Eggplant Zaalouk

Recipe:
- 1 eggplant, peeled or not, and diced
- 1 to 2 garlic cloves (I used Diana's and Dick German Extra Hardy) - 1 tsp caraway powder
- ½ tsp sweet paprika (paprika goes bad very quickly. check for date and keep it in a dark, cool place)
- 2 tomatoes, peeled and diced
- ½ tsp freshly ground coriander seeds
- ½ tsp freshly ground cumin powder
- A tiny pinch of cinnamon
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt, freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp cilantro leaves, finely chopped
- Olive oil for baking


Put the eggplant cubes in a colander. Sprinkle with generous amount of kosher salt and let it sweat at least 30 min. Sweating the eggplant removes the bitterness of the eggplants. If you're using Japanese, thin eggplant, there is no need to sweat the eggplant. Rinse the eggplants and pat dry really well with a clean kitchen towel. Heat your oven at 400F.

Arrange the eggplant in a baking sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil, until every cube is well lubricated and season lightly with salt and pepper. Bake until the eggplant cubes become golden brown and tender, about 20 min.
Meanwhile, heat a non-stick pan on medium heat. Add caraway powder, paprika, coriander seeds, cumin powder and the cinnamon. Stir the spices in the pan, using a wooden spoon until they become very fragrant. Pour over the tbsp of olive oil, diced tomatoes and minced garlic. Cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes on medium-low heat. Add the eggplant cubes (and other vegetables if using. See note below) and toss them so they get evenly coated with all the spices and the olive oil. Add some olive oil if needed and continue cooking and tossing for 2 minutes.
Sprinkle the cilantro leaves on top of the eggplant and season with salt and pepper if needed. Toss and plate.
Serve warm with some bread to mop all the goodness.

Note: If using zucchini, red peppers and green peppers, broil the peppers by themselves until the skin gets blistered. Peel, dice and set aside. As for the zucchini, bake them along with the eggplants and continue with the recipe as mentioned above.

Aubergine Zaalouk Grillée

In francais please:
- 1 aubergine, coupée en dés
- 2 gousses d’ail moyennes, finement haché
- 1 c.c de carvi en poudre
- ½ c.c de paprika
- ½ c.c de graines de coriandre
- ½ c.c de cumin en poudre
- 1 toute petite pincée de cannelle
- 1 c.s d’huile d’olive
- Sel, poivre fraichement moulu
- 2 c.s de feuilles de coriandre, finement ciselées
- Huile d’olive pour griller

Mettre les cubes d’aubergine dans une passoire. Saupoudrer généreusement de gros sel et laisser dégorger au moins 30 min. Rinser-les sous l’eau du robinet et sécher a l’aide d’une serviette de cuisine propre. Préchauffer le gril de votre four a 225C.
Disposer les cubes d’aubergine en une seule couche dans un grand plat allant au four. Verser de l’huile d’olive dessus pour bien les lubrifier. Assaisonner légerement de sel, poivre et mettre a 20cm sous le gril. Laisser cuire jusqu’a ce que les cubes deviennent dorées et tendres.
Entre temps, faites chauffer une poele antiadhesive. Mettre dedans carvi, cumin, paprika, graines de coriandre et cannelle. Faites chauffer sur feu doux, en remuant a l’aide d’une cuil en bois jusqu’a ce que vous puissiez sentir tous les épices. Ajouter la c.s d’huile d’olive, puis l’ail tout en continuant de remuer. Ajouter dessus les cubes d’aubergine et faites sauter afin d’imprégner les cubes des toutes les epices. Laisser cuire encore 2 min sans cesser de remuer. Attention a ne pas réduire vos aubergine en purée.
Mettre les feuilles de coriandre sur les aubergines. Faites sauter une derniere fois et servir dans un plat.
Servir tiede avec une portion génereuse de pain.

Other eggplant recipes and spicy appetizers:

- Stuffed eggplant rolls
- Chermoula and Calamari

Bostini Cream Pie Adventures

Five reasons not to make Chiffon Cake while watching The Health Channel Veria:

1- You will start talking weirdly and using terms you rarely use, like: metabolism, healing your body and macrobiotic diet.
2- You will feel guilty about baking chiffon cake and you will look for a way to make it “healthier” by adding whole-wheat pastry flour.
3- You will blame yourself for not excising in months when you see people walking and running outside, and you will take your anger on your egg whites by over whipping them.
4- You will convince your husband that a salad for lunch is all we will have while he wonders if he did something wrong.
5- You will forget to add sugar to the batter, and notice it after you put the cake in the oven. You over whip your cake for the second time.

Yes, this is what happens when you watch Veria. Needless to say that my experience with chiffon cake was one to remember.

I waited until yesterday to make the cake thinking it’s an easy challenge and I will have no bumps along the road. Oh how I was wrong!

My first mistake was to replace white cake flour by a whole-wheat one. It gave me a lumpy and thick batter that I had to strain before baking it.

My second mistake, as mentioned earlier was to forget the sugar. Picture this: I put my batter in my tiny ring molds. I put them in the oven and when I turn back to start cleaning the mess I made, here it is. My sugar is still on the scale wondering: “ Where do I come in? Isn’t my turn yet?”

I had to quickly take my molds out of the oven, invert them into my mixing bowl and “gently” fold in the sugar. Although the dough has already been beaten and strained and badly treated.
Surprisingly the cake turned out not as bad as I imagined it would be, but obviously not as moist as a chiffon cake should be.

Oh! And did I mention I forgot to add half the juice? I didn’t? (Sigh!) No wonder it was a bit dry. I went out for some fresh air after this.

Thankfully there was the custard and the melted chocolate on top to save the day; otherwise I would be crying and blaming it on everything but myself. Like blaming it on... a TV Channel!

Thanks Mary for a challenge that made me feel like the real daring baker sketched on our logo. It was fun.

Don’t forget to hop over to her blog for more details on this fabulous Bostini cream Pie. And be sure to check out other daring bakers Chefs-d’oeuvres.

Happy week everyone!

Leeks

The Leek, called "the asparagus of the poor" in France, is a vegetable native to the Middle East and related to onions, garlic, shallots and scallion. It is in season from fall to spring, and knows two verities: Summer leeks, which are smaller and subtle in flavor, and winter leeks, which are generally strongly flavored. The Leek is the national emblem of Wales.

- How to choose: The stalk should be firm to the touch. The bulb should have a shiny white color and bright green leaves with no bruises, cracks or wilted leaves. They should be about one, one-half inches in diameter. Try to purchase leeks that are of similar size to ensure more even cooking.

- How to eat: the edible part of the leeks is the white base and the light green stalks. Leeks have to be clean properly because the center is usually full of sand. Trim off the greener part of the leaves. Keep it for clarifying consommé. Remove the roots. Remove the dried and yellowish skin around the leek, if any. Holding the leek, leafy side down, insert your knife through the white part approximately 2 inches down from the root, and cut through the entire length of the leek. Repeat two or three times to split the leek open. Wash thoroughly under cold water.

- How to store: It can be stored, whole in the crisper of your refrigerator for 10 days. Cleaned and sliced, it can stay in the fridge, in pierced plastic bags for 5 days. Cooked, it can stay in the fridge, in a hermetic container for 2 days.

- How to cook: Leeks can be used in salads, soups (the most popular leek soup is Vichyssoise), quiches and tarts, terrines, served with meat, fish and shellfish. You can boil it, steam it, bake it, roast it and sauté it. Or you can simply eat it raw.

- Health Benefits: leek is low in calories and is a great source of fiber and potassium. It may help lower your cholesterol and the greener part is full of vitamin C.

My favorite way of eating Leeks is by cooking it in water and serving it with a mustard and apple cider vinaigrette and sprinkled with toasted walnuts. This weekend I made this simple and quick Leek dish that has been sautéed in Olive oil and served with fresh thyme leaves, a dash of spanish smoked paprika and a drizzle of lemon juice. The perfect Sunday, or any day supper.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Warm Leek Salad:

Recipe:
- 4 medium leeks, cleaned and sliced
- ½ Lemon
- 1 tbsp thyme leaves
- A dash of Spanish Smoked paprika
- Salt, pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil

Heat your pan. Add the olive oil, then the leeks. Toss quickly to coat the leeks with the oil. Let it cook, uncovered on medium heat while stirring regularly for about 8 min. Season with salt and pepper. The leeks should be tender but still has a bite to them. Add half the thyme, toss quickly and plate. Drizzle a little bit of lemon juice on top; you don’t want to add too much or it will be too sour, sprinkle with a dash of paprika and the rest of thyme. Let it cool a bit and serve it warm.

Salade Tiède de Poireaux

In francais please:
- 4 poireaux moyens, nettoyés et coupes en rondelles
- ½ citron
- 1 c.s de feuilles de thym
- Une pincée de paprika espagnole
- Sel, poivre
- 1 c.s d’huile d’olive

Faites chauffer votre poele sur feu moyen. Ajouter l’huile puis les poireaux et faites sauté rapidement pour bien les couvrir de l’huile. Laisser cuire decouvert en mélangeant de temps en temps pendant au 8 min. Assaisonner de sel et de poivre. Les poireaux doivent etre tender a l’interieur mais avec un peu de croquant a l’exterieur. Ajouter la moitié des feuilles de thym, mélanger rapidement et enlever du feu. Servir avec un filet de jus de citron, éviter de trop en mettre sinon vous aurez des poireaux aigres, d’une pincée de paprika et le reste du thym. Laisser refroidir un peu et servir tiède.

Appearances Can Be Deceptive / Les Apparences sont Souvent Trompeuses

Before we get married and before we moved in together, my husband thought I didn’t know how to cook, or as he says in his own words: “ I thought you weren’t that great of a cook”. Nobody told him so, I guess, there was no sign on my forehead saying: “Kitchen Hazard” and I don’t remember him even asking me if I knew how to cook or if I love cooking.
Was it my look? My hands? My age? The way I eat, or may be the way I tilt my head back when I laugh? No! Nothing. He just figured I didn’t cook.

The first dish we had together coming home, after an eight hours flight and jet lagged was an onion and Gruyere omelet. I overcooked the omelet and it wasn’t as moist as I like it but he was stunned, charmed. In other words my omelet proved him wrong: I knew how to cook, sort of.

Since then, my skills in making omelets have improved and he had, hopefully, noticed how lucky he is to have such a talented, not to mention smart and beautiful woman.
He knows by now that as much as I love taking on new challenges and never made before recipes, there are those days when I am much happy with a simple salad, some mashed potatoes or a savory tart.

I saw this tart some weeks ago, and it was one of those recipes that I had to make. You know the feeling, right? You see a photograph that catches your attention. You start to read the recipe and get mesmerized by the combination of the ingredients and how they sound wonderful together. You start dreaming about it day and night and anticipating the flavors in your mouth until you have all the ingredients and decide to make it. I was in love before even making it.
I thought it must be like having a slice of Brie on a slice of bread in one hand and a fresh fig in the other, and popping the whole thing together in your mouth. It must be even better on a tart.

The first night, I served it hot since you can either serve it hot or cold according to the recipe. How do I say this delicately? I didn’t like it hot. I ate it because I was hungry. The figs were still bubbly hot and I couldn’t taste the cheese. You could have used any other cheese instead and I wouldn’t taste it anyway. That’s how strong the flavor of hot figs was. But the crust was delicious.

The second night, still wanting to give it another chance, I served it at room temperature. Reheated just a little bit and let it cooled before serving it. My husband said he liked it better this way. It’s true that the figs being cold, you can have a taste of all the ingredients together but the cheese, even being perfectly ripe, wasn’t as melting as I expected it to be. In fact baking it kind of spoiled it, and I know now that I prefer to have my Brie on a slice of bread.

This tart was not what I thought it would be like, not what I had imagined and looked forward to. Nobody promised me it was going to be an explosion of flavors in my mouth and that I will instantly love it. Was it the tempting picture? My weakness for figs, or my lack of judgment? I don’t know. I just figured it has to be delicious. I guess appearances can be deceptive after all.