Chaldean Meat Pies

I try to keep my food blog only about Algerian/ Moroccan and North African cuisine in general, but when something as memorable as these little pockets of scrumptiousness cross my path and my belly, I can only make an exception and share it with you all.

A couple of weeks ago, I fell head over heels for a cuisine I have never sampled before: Chaldean cuisine; or Iraqi cuisine with Chaldean flair as the cookbook presents the recipes. I was invited to a local Chaldean event and from the appetizers to the desserts everything was mouthwatering, delicious and new to me. While some of the dishes were your common Middle Eastern and Lebanese dishes, a lot of them had some variations

Caraway spiced carrot salad

Lunch parties. For years I have cherished this vision about the perfect lunch party at my house: our friends and loved ones would gather around a long farm table in the backyard. The carcass of our basketball hoop laying by the grass would magically disappear and a large vase of ranunculus would garnish the peach colored tablecloth.  Adults will be nibbling on marinated olives and muhammara dip, while the kids would be playing knights with cheese straws or, even  better, eating them. The food, and I, would be ready well in advance and I won't have my hair still soaking wet from the last minute shower. 

Sautéed Kale with Cumin and Smoked Paprika / Chou frisé sauté au cumin et paprika fumée

Now I have a confession to make. Until recently, the only reason I was buying kale was that somehow it made me feel healthier. Kale was my morning run, the responsible, and sometimes boring, part of me; my pretext for eating more of that mocha ice cream. Other than that, I thought Kale tasted bitter. It was OK, but nothing like my favorites: spinach and Swiss chards. And I’m not even talking about Mohammed’s opinion on the subject. The man rolls his eyes every time I reach for that Frizzy looking green at the market. I think that our aversion with Kale had something to do with my lack of confidence and ideas when cooking this intimidating green.

My mother often tells me this story about the woman who taught her how to turn any kind of greens into an exciting dish. This woman, her name was Ghazielle, which literally translates to little Gazelle. Ghazielle was by no mean petite. She was 6 feet tall, had strong shoulders, a suntanned face, from working in the fields all her childhood, and beautiful, dark kohl eyes. When she wasn’t looking after my younger brother, Ghazielle would sometimes make fresh bread for us. Bending over the gassa* (a large earth ware where you knead bread and make couscous) she would push and fold the dough back and forth until elastic and smooth. Her bread was, and still is, the best homemade bread I’ve ever had. It’s rustic, imperfect in appearance, humble, chewy and so flavorful.

The Kitchen / La Cuisine

My trip to Algeria was about spending time with my family and friends, soaking up the sun, the blue sky and the sea; introducing my daughter to her origins, to my country, to my continent, to the place where her dad and I first met, to her cousins, her big and diverse family. Our trip was about love, fun and food.

We were six under the same roof. Every morning, my daughter would run down the stairs and into the kitchen to jump into my father's arms before sitting on his lap and take a sip from his coffee. My mother would already be wrapped in her apron doing important things like sweating some onions or dicing some vegetables. Breakfasts were toasts, caak, croissants, pastries, for the brave souls, which I am not, and m'semmen for special days and weekends. Mornings were laid-back, evenings were lingering with tea and sweets at 6PM and chocolate and dates at 12AM. My husband then joined us, followed by my sister, her husband and her three kids. We were then twelve under the same roof. There was no need to turn on the heating and no room to feel lonely. Some of us enjoyed spending time in the family room, others, like myself, snuggled in my parents bed watching cartoons with the kids. But the kitchen was where we all came together. It was in the kitchen where we laughed, argued, ate delicious meals, relaxed, danced, teased one another, where my daughter had her first earrings, where twice a week I ironed my father's shirts, where my sister nursed her one month old son, where my father reads his newspapers, where my husband had his first roasted lamb's tail and where I covered my eyes to avoid seeing such things as people eating lamb's tail.

But let's not talk about animal parts today. I'll leave it for later, for the brave souls. Today I want it to be special. As you have always been so nice to me, I want to share with you a recipe I should have told you about a while ago, as it is my favorite of all. I believe if I had one last meal, this dish would be on my table no doubt about it. This is my mother's spicy greens with bulgur.

Originally, the recipe calls for a variety of greens called khoubiz or bakool , which is found growing wild in the fields of North Africa. It tastes like a cross between arugula (rocket leaves) and watercress, with a hint of acidity, and there is no real equivalent for it here in the US. After experimenting, with fair results, with spinach, arugula, Tuscan kale, dandelion, I've had the best luck with the combination of spinach and arugula. It may not be much to look at, but when you have cumin, turmeric and red pepper flakes mingling with bulgur and spinach and arugula, the fusion is irresistible. Even for those who pretend detesting spinach, or any greens for that matter. (I have a friend who wouldn't eat anything with a green color and he absolutely loves this dish)

The spices and the cloves of garlic are pounded using a mortar and pestle to extract as much aroma before adding the resulting paste to the "sweaty" onions. As you pour the stock over the lovely ochre colored onions, restrain yourself from dipping your bread, or your fingers, as the sauce gets ready for the bulgur. At the end, steamed spinach and arugula join the party; a party that took half an hour to put together and will take half the time to gulp down. It's exquisite, I assure you. It's even exquisite the following day straight from the fridge, sitting on the countertop with a piece of bread in one hand and orange soda in the other. Every bite brings with it a part of home and my mother's kitchen into my own kitchen.

Thank you, mama!

My mother's Spicy Greens with Bulgur (Tchicha bel Khoubiz)

Recipe: Serves 4
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tsp cumin, freshly ground
- 1 tsp red chili pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
-1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp fine bulgur
- 1 spinach bunch
- 1 arugula bunch
- 1 tbsp cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp parsley leaves, roughly chopped
- Salt, Black Pepper

Wash the spinach and arugula. Drain off the excess water and put them in the basket section of a steamer. Cover and steam over simmering water until the greens just start to wilt, but still have their vibrant green color, about 5 - 7 minutes. When cold to handle, squeeze the water out of the greens and chop roughly. Set aside.

In a pan, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and cook on a medium heat until translucent but not brown, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pound the garlic with turmeric, cumin, and pepper flakes to a paste using a mortar and pestle. Add the garlic paste to the onions and stir to incorporate. Add The tomato paste and the stock and bring to a boil. Add the bulgur and stir again. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook covered until the bulgur is tender, about 15 minutes, depending on the variety of your bulgur.

Uncover the pan and add the steamed greens and the herbs to the sauce. Stir and cook for another 2 minutes and then remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

The dish keeps well in the fridge for up to 2 days, although I never recall keeping it longer than one day.

La recette épicée des épinards au bulghour de ma mère

In Français Please: Pour 4 personnes
- 2 c.s d'huile d'olive vierge
- 1 oignon moyen, finement haché
- 3 gousses d'ail
- 1 c.c de cumin, fraichement moulu
- 1 c.c de poivre rouge du chili
- 1/4 c.c de curcuma
- 1 c.s de tomate en conserve
- 2 c.s de boulghour
- 500ml de bouillon de volaille ou de légumes
- 1 bouquet d'épinard
- 1 bouquet de roquette
- 1 c.s de coriandre, grossièrement hachée
- 1 c.s de persil, grossièrement haché

Laver les épinards et la roquette. Essorer le plus de liquide possible et les faire cuire a la vapeur jusqu'à ce que les feuilles commencent a "fondre" mais tout en gardant leur belle couleur verte, environ 5-7 minutes. Essorer l''exces d'eau et hacher grossièrement les herbes. Mettre de cote.

Dans une poêle, chauffer l'huile d'olive. Ajouter l'oignon et laisser cuire jusqu'à ce qu'il devienne transparent, mais sans qu'il caramélise, environ 5 minutes. Entre temps, a l'aide d'un mortier réduire les gousses d'ail et les épices en une pate. L'ajouter aux oignons et tourner a l'aide d'une cuillère en bois. Ajouter la tomate en conserve et le bouillon. Porter a ébullition puis verser les graines de bourghoul en pluie sur le bouillon. Réduire le feu, couvrir la poêle et laisser les graines cuire, environ 15 minutes. Découvrir la poêle et ajouter les épinards, roquette, persil et coriandre. Remuer encore avec la cuillère en bois et donner un autre bouillon avant de retirer du feu, environ deux minutes. Gouter et assaisonner de sel et poivre noir si nécessaire. Servir.

Ce plat se garde bien au frais pendant deux jours, mais j'avoue ne l'avoir jamais garder plus d'un jour dans mon frigo car il est irrésistible.

Freshman / Première Année

My first year of college was spent 80 miles away from home, sharing a 170 sq ft room (16sq m) with my older sister, two metal beds, one noisy spring mattress and one tiny fridge.

Except for the old beds and the desk, everything was brought from home. Our mother helped us clean and redecorate the room, gave us her mini electrical oven, supplied us with home baked cakes nearly every weekend and gave us unconditional love and support.

Despite all this effort, the dormitory was far from homey. It was badly maintained, with noisy neighbors and hungry mosquitoes. Every other day, after school and already in our pajamas, my sister and I had to go down the three story building, stand in line to fill up our two five gallons jerrycans with water, because our sink was just ornamental, then go back to our room, catching our breath at each story. I have memories of girls washing their clothes outside by the water fountain and carrying them in big, wide plastic bowl while singing popular songs. Memories of dinners with my sister’s friends in our tiny room, where some of them would sit on the beds, some by the window and me on the desk. You had to go outside to cough.

The meals there were a matter of mood, luck and sometimes bravery. While my sister was in charge of doing the dishes and keeping the music going, I was in charge of feeding us and keeping us safe. To cook I had to bring out the folding table from under my sister’s bed (I had the oven and one folding chair under mine), put it in the middle of the room, place the electric stovetop on it, sit on my knees on the corner of the bed and keep the door shut at all time to avoid an accident. Dinners were simple, convenient and meant to keep us from starving. Rice, pasta, fruits and cheese were often on the table; the most sophisticated meals I’ve made being a ratatouille and chicken saffron rice.

Sometimes, when feeling fancy, we would go to the nearby butcher and by a rotisserie chicken, to which he would always add a loaf of bread for free. That night, we knew dinner was going to be savored blissfully; when other times, when feeling lazy, and brave, we would dine at the dinning hall. Standing in line, we would slide our steel trays along the kitchen windows to see our plates filled with, once more, what is supposed to be mashed potatoes, a suspicious fish soup, unseasoned cucumber and tomatoes salad, a slice of bread, cheese and plain yogurt. When extremely hungry, and extremely fearless, we would gulp down the soup, leave out the mashed potatoes and take the salad, bread, cheese and yogurt to our room. That night, we knew dinner was ruined and that our fridge was, yet again, going to add another cup of yogurt to its shelf. By the end of the week, and four cups of plain yogurt later, my sister and I sitting on the desk, our feet up on the window, we would feast on cereal and yogurt, yogurt cake and sometimes eggplant and yogurt dip.

We left the dormitory the next year, but took our beloved eggplant dip home with us.


Spicy Eggplant and Yogurt Dip

Recipe: Serves 4-6 people
- 2 medium eggplants
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp mint, finely chopped
- 1 tsp harissa
- 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ tsp cumin, freshly ground
- Salt
- Pita chips for serving

Preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil. Prick the eggplants in a few places with a pointed knife so that they will not burst. Put the eggplants under the broiler until the skin is black and blistered. Turn on the other side for a few more minutes. Roast the eggplants for 15-20 minutes, or until they feel very soft when you press them.

When cool enough to handle, peel the eggplants and remove as much seed as possible. Drop the flesh into a colander. Chop the flesh roughly with the point of a knife to let the juice escape.

Pour the eggplants into a bowl and beat in the olive oil, the harissa and the yogurt and mix until it is thoroughly blended. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Spoon into a serving bowl, cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold. Serve with pita chips (pita wedges baked in a bakeware at 350 for 5 minutes, or until crunchy) The dip is even better served the following day.

Dip épicé d’Aubergine et Yaourt

In Francais Please: Pour 4-6 personnes
- 2 aubergines moyennes
- 100ml de yaourt nature
- 2 c.s d’huile d’olive vierge
- 2 gousses d’ail, finement émincées
- 2 c.s de persil, finement haché
- 1 c.s de menthe fraiche, finement haché
- 1 c.c de harissa
- 1 c.c de jus de citron
- ½ c.c de cumin, fraichement moulu
- Sel
- Chips de pita pour servir

Préchauffer le grill de votre four. Couvrir un tole de patisserie de papier aluminium et mettre dessus les aubergines. Piquer les aubergines tout autour à l’aide d’un coteau pointu et mettre sous le grill jusqu’à ce que la peau noircisse et a se froisser. Retourner l’aubergine de l’autre côté. Eteindre le grill mais laisser le four allumé afin de continuer la cuisson des aubergines pour 15-20 minutes, ou jusqu’à ce qu’elles deviennent molles.

Refroidir les aubergines. Peler, épépiner le plus possible et mettre dans une passoire et couper grossierement avec le pointe du couteau pour se debarasser du jus.

Verser les aubergines dans un bol et y ajouter l’huile d’olive, la harissa et le yaourt et bien mélanger. Ajouter le reste des ingredients et mélanger encore une fois. Rectifier l’assaisonnement.

Mettre dans un bol pour servir. Couvrir de film plastique et mettre au frais jusqu’à ce qu’il refroidissent completement. Servir avec les chips de pita. (Des tranches de pita passées au four, 160C pendant 5 minutes ou jusqu’à ce qu’elles deviennent croustillantes)
Ce dip est encore meilleur le lendemain.

Preserving Summer / Conserver L'été

I didn’t mean to be away from my blog. I didn’t mean to leave you starring at this olive and chicken tagine, which started to go bad, for this long. August has been very busy around here. And the busiest month is yet to come, both for my kitchen and I.

I don’t know about you but since I can remember, our summer afternoons have always been filled with preserving the year’s bounty. It was a ritual, written in our book of life.
My father would bring us crates of green peppers, tomatoes, apricots and peas and my mother and I would spend our afternoons in the kitchen peeling, seeding, halving, blanching, roasting, cooking and freezing while talking about how this summer looks hotter than the others, why the cousin didn’t get married and how I need to work quickly instead of talking all the time. “El-hadra wel maghzel!” she always tells me, which means: “chitchat and distaff!”
The next day was the same: peel, seed, halve, blanch, roast, cook and freeze, chitchat chitchat, repeat! By the third day, afraid of not being able to reach the lower part of the crates and just growing tired of all these never ending crates laying around the kitchen, my mother would give the rest to neighbors and friends saying to herself that we have fairly enough for the winter. Until next summer comes along with crates, funnels, ladles, pots and wiser hands.

This year, although away from my mother’s kitchen, was no exception. Green peppers have been roasted and frozen, strawberries and blueberries were turned into jam, verbena was dried for our late nights herbal teas, basil was turned into pesto, pounds and pounds of ripe, delicious tomatoes were turned into the most exquisite tomato sauce and hot peppers were either roasted and frozen, or dried and turned into Mo’s, that would be my other half, signature hot sauce: Harissa.

Although being a North African condiment, I didn’t grow up eating Harissa that much. The rare occasions where I would have Harissa was at street vendors where they serve it along with Karentika, a chickpea based snack a bit similar to the Italian Farinata. Though it added a nice heat to the snack, I didn’t enjoy Harissa by itself. It was unnecessary hot and that was it. No flavor, no aromatic spices. Just hot!
And then came Mo, with dried chilies in one hand and tales of the best Harissa he’s ever had, while studying in Paris, in the other.
All I knew about Harissa was shattered into million pieces and blended with the dried chilies and the spices, and I loved it. I loved being wrong because my life will never be the same without Mo and his four jars of Harissa in our fridge. And while I wish I could give you the recipe of his Harissa, there is a tiny close in our marriage contract, next to the do-the-dishes-from-time-to-time-honey close, that says that I shall never give away his recipe to anyone. But you can always persuade him to send you a jar or two.

We usually eat Harissa as a condiment with soups, tagines, grilled kefta, couscous…in a word everything but desserts and salads, but this time I wanted to mix it to my usually boring squash fritters batter. Yellow squash can be very bland sometimes and the warmth of Harissa along with cumin, coriander seeds, garlic and mint add a much-needed burst of flavors to the fritters and conclude a happy ending to an intense day of preserving summer.

Yellow Squash Fritters with Mint and Harissa

Recipe: Serves 4
- 1 pound small yellow squash, grated (You can use green zucchini as well)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 small bunch parsley, chopped
- ½ tsp cumin, freshly ground
- ½ tsp coriander seeds, freshly ground
- 1 tsp Harissa paste
- 10 mint leaves, chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil

Squeeze the grated yellow squash dry by wring it out in a towel. (Using a towel is the best way I’ve found to get rid of the excess water, which you can use to water your plants)

In a large bowl, combine the yellow squash with the rest of the ingredients. Heat a film of olive oil in a nonstick sauté pan over medium heat. For each fritter, pour a generous tablespoon of the squash batter into the pan. Turn them over after the bottom turns golden. Cook on the other side until golden. Drain on paper towels. Serve right away.

Beignets de Courgettes jaunes a la Harissa et Menthe

In Francais Please: Pour 4 personnes
- 500g courgettes jaunes, râpées (Vous pouvez la remplacer par de la courgette verte)
- 2 gousses d’ail, émincées
- 2 oeufs entiers, légerement battus
- 2 c.s de farine
- 1 petit bouquet de persil, haché
- ½ c.c de cumin, fraichement moulu
- ½ c.c de graines de coriandre, fraichement moulues
- 1 c.c de harissa
- 10 feuilles de menthe, hachées
- Sel et poivre noir fraichement moulu
- Huile d’olive

Essorer les courgettes râpées dans une serviette pour enlever le plus d’eau possible. (Vous pouvez arroser vos plantes avec l’eau des courgettes)

Dans un bol, mélanger les courgettes essorées avec le reste des ingredients. Faites chauffer un filet d’huile d’huile dans une poêle ainti-adhesive sur feu moyen. Pour chaque beignet, verser une cuillere à soupe du mélange de courgettes dans la poêle. Retourner quand la surface des beignets prendra une belle couleur dorée. Faites cuires l’autre coté jusqu’à obtenir une belle coloration. Egoutter sur du papier absorbant et servir tout de suite.

Nibble And Spread / Grignoter Et Tartiner

Oh June! I didn’t know you had such a hot temper.

First you came with open arms and roses and candle lighted dinners on the deck. You were beautiful, pleasant, and funny. You were the answer to our prayers after harsh cold winter days. Mornings with you were cool and breezy. Mornings with you had a scent of the beach and shells and fishermen coming back from the sea. Mornings with you were lovely.
We opened our house, our windows and our kitchen to you. The curtains were pulled all the way to the ceiling. The winter clothes were buried in the basement. Hairdressers were busy. Children were free. We went to the park together and you delighted us with tender asparagus, crunchy radishes and sweet strawberries. You told us stories about friendship and riding bikes and festivals and scraped knees and picnics and how you liked being on the spotlight announcing the summer season. We laughed together. We raised our glass to you. You gave us more strawberries.

My Favorite Pickled Beets Recipe/ Ma Recette Préférée de Betteraves au Vinaigre

I had my first pickled beets about a few months ago at the local fruit market, and I instantly fell in love with them. They were on a tray for people to sample along with pickled onions, cauliflower, cabbage and other bright veggies. As I stood there, my mouth started salivating at these vinegary pickles just like your mouth must be salivating right now as you are reading these pickled words.
The taste of the beets was different from fresh beets. They didn’t have this “earthy” flavor anymore. They were sour, sweet, spicy, although the vinegar was a bit overpowering the rest of the ingredients.

After a few attempts at recreating what I thought was the perfect combination of sweet, sour and spicy pickle, I find this recipe to be the perfect pickled beets I’ve had so far. I added spearmint to the marinade as I like the fresh note that it adds to the marinade, but you can use dill if it’s what you prefer.

Pickled Beets

Recipe: Gourmet, December 2000
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/4 onion, halved
- 1 small bay leaf
- 3/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1/4 bunch fresh spearmint
- 3 beets (1 lb without tops)

Betteraves Au Vinaigre

In Francais Please: Gourmet, Decembre 2000
- 250ml de vinaigre de cidre
- 125ml d’eau
- 125ml de sucre en poudre
- ¼ c.c de graines de moutarde
- ¼ oignon, coupé en deux
- 1 petite feuille de laurier
- ¾ c.c de graines de poivre noir
- ¼ bouquet de menthe
- 3 betterave (environ 500g sans leur tige)

- Bring all ingredients except beets to a boil in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.

- Mettre tous les ingredients à part les betterave dans une casserole de 2- à 3-Litres de capacité, porter à ébullition en remuant jusqu’à ce que le sucre se dilue. Couvrir et laisser frémir pendant 30 minutes.

- Meanwhile, Cook beets in a saucepan of boiling salted water until tender. Drain and cool. Slip off skins and cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

- Entre temps, faire cuire les bettraves dans une casserle d’eau bouillante salée. Egoutter et laisser refroidir. Retirer la peau et couper en morceaux d’un centimeter d’épaisseur.

- Cool the marinade, and then pour through a fine sieve into a bowl.

- Laisser la marinade refroidir, puis passer à travers une fine passoire.

- Stir together beets and marinade, then marinate, covered and chilled, 1 day.

- Mélanger les betteraves et la marinade, puis laisser mariner, couvert et au frais, pendant au moins 24 heures avant de servir.

A Snowy day / Un jour Enneigé

Snowy, chilly Sundays have a baffling effect on me. I spend endless minutes starring at the window, thinking about today’s schedule, how I hate my new haircut (and the woman who did this to my hair), how I’m craving dark chocolate right now and when I should start baking cookies and coconut domes for the gift baskets. Thoughts crowded in my head in such confusion and excitement that I end up getting up of bed all dizzy and wobbly.

Still in my pajamas and my Pooh the bear slippers, I go to the kitchen to find my dear and sweet hubby already lining up the breakfast on the table, and my daughter holding her bottle of milk and playing with her soccer ball.
I eat my granola and wonder how my hubby finds all this energy to talk in the morning. He takes advantage of my still-in-the-moon state of mind to talk politics and ask me some mathematic equations. I am all wobbly again.

By the time we get up of the table, it’s already eleven. My daughter takes her nap and I am back to the kitchen to start, or at least try to start my day. I look at the window and it’s snowing. I look at my fruit basket and find my ripe and ready to be eaten plantains pushed to the wall by apples and tangerines. They look so sad. I am so cold. We need each other. And since it’s Sunday and cooking easy meals on Sundays is my motto, fried plantains with a mix of spices were going to be our appetizer.

The mix of spices that I used here is called Zahtar (which means in Arabic Thyme). Zahtar is popular in The Middle East (especially Lebanon and Turkey) and in North Africa. It has a woody, warm and slightly bitter taste. It’s basically a mix of lightly toasted white sesame seeds, dried thyme and fennel seeds. Some might add chili flakes for the heat, sumac, dried oregano and cumin. You can also add some olive oil to the spice mixture to form a paste, spread on a pita bread, and toast until crisp. Zahtar is also a magnificent spice mixture for chicken and fish. Just rub and grill.
I can only imagine how wonderful it might be as a gift in your Christmas gift basket.

My hubby said it was the best plantains he has ever had. Oh! He knows how to melt my heart. The dish was supposed to be served as an appetizer, but we gulped it all down for our snack because it was a snowy and chilly Sunday.

Zahtar Plantains

Recipe:
- 2 ripe plantains
- Canola oil for deep-frying
For the zahtar:
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted
- 1 tbsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp sumac
- ¼ tsp chili flakes (or more to suite your taste)
- Kosher salt

In a shallow bowl, mix all the ingredients of the zahtar (excluding the salt) and set aside. Peel the plantains and cut them into fairly thick slices (1/2 inch). Heat the oil for deep-frying in a deep pan to 350F, or until a cube of bread browns in 30-40 seconds.
Fry the plantains slices in batches, without crowding the pan and stirring so that they don’t stick together until golden brown. Drain on a double layer of kitchen paper.
While still warm, season them lightly with salt and place them in the zahtar bowl. Toss them thoroughly and serve immediately.

Bananes Plantains au Zahtar

In francais please:
- 2 banane plantain, bien mûres
- Huile végétale pour la friture
Pour le zahtar:
- 1 c.s graines de sésames, légerement grilles
- 1 c.s thym séché
- ½ c.c graines de fenouil
- ½ c.c sumac
- ¼ de flocon de chili (ou plus selon le goût
- Sel

Dans un bol peu profound, mélanger tous les ingredients (sauf le sel) et mettre de côté.
Eplucher les bananes plantains et les couper en tranches relativement épaisses (1 cm). Faites chauffer l’huile de la friture dans une poêle assez profonde, jusqu’à ce qu’elle atteigne 180C, ou jusqu’à ce qu’un crouton, jeté dedans soit doré en 30-40 secondes.
Frire les bananas plantains par petites quantités a la fois, tout en mélangeant pour qu’elles ne collent pas les unes aux autres. Jusqu’a devenir bien dorées.
Faites bien égoutter les plantains sur du papier absorbant double. Continuer avec le reste des plantains
Alors que les plantains sont encore chaude, assaisonner légerement de sel et mettre dans le bol de zahtar. Mélanger le tout pour bien répartir les épices. Servir tout de suite.

Being a Kid / être un Enfant

There are days like this when being a kid again is just what we need.

We wouldn’t have to think about our weekly chores and monthly bills. We wouldn’t have to think about how we might look or how we should be in public. We wouldn’t have to worry about our social status and our personal ambitions.

We would be kids. Again. Wearing pea dotted jumper and pink boots, we would jump in the mud and roll over crunchy leaves. We would dance at the super market and smile to strangers without looking crazy. We would stuff ourselves with jellybeans, muffins and cookies without thinking about calories and gaining weight. We would ride rocking horses and go on the swing screaming: “Higher! Higher! I want to touch the clouds”. We would be kids. Just kids, if only for one day. Just one day.

At least we can always pretend to be kids, only older kids, by stuffing ourselves to one of these healthy and hearty Rutabaga and Cilantro muffins.

Rutabaga is such a fascinating and intimidating vegetable in appearance, and resembles parsnip and cabbage in taste. I used it in these savory muffins along with cilantro and roasted red peppers to add a little bit of sweetness to the batter. The taste of the rutabaga is very mild in the muffins comparing to the time I made a rutabaga soup. Not a good experience. My hubby ate it just because he is too polite or was too hungry. And I finished my bowl just because it was “good for me” and because I don’t like to mistreat my soups. I am a nice kid.

The use of buckwheat flour can be substituted for another nutty flour of your choice, such as chestnut or chickpea flour. This muffin would be a perfect pair to a soup or a spicy arugula and pear salad on your thanksgiving dinner.

Rutabaga and cilantro Muffins

Recipe:
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup buckwheat flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp freshly ground coriander seeds
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 tbsp cilantro leaves, chopped
- 1 ½ cups rutabaga, peeled and finely shredded
- 1 red pepper, roasted, peeled and diced
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400F. Butter and flour 12 muffin-pan cups.
In a bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, buckwheat flour, baking powder, salt, ground black pepper, cilantro and the ground coriander.
Beat the eggs until blended. Add the milk, oil, honey, red peppers and shredded rutabaga and beat until blended. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until moistened.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin-pan cups. Bake for 15- 18 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out just a little moist. Do not overbake them.
Let them cool in the pan on a wire rack for two minutes, and then invert them onto the rack.
These muffins can be stored for up to 2 days in an airtight plastic container. The muffins are good on the first day and even better on the second.

Muffins de Rutabaga et Coriandre

In francais please:
- 200g de farine
- 75g de farine de sarrasin
- 2 c.c de levure chimique
- ¾ c.c de sel de mer
- ¼ c.c de poivre noir, fraîchement moulu
- 1 c.c de graines de coriandre, fraîchement moulues
- 1 c.c de miel
- 2 c.s de feuille de coriandre, hachées
- 185g de rutabaga, râpés
- 1 poivron rouge, grillée et coupe en dés
- 2 gros oeufs
- 250ml de lait entier
- 80 ml d’huile d’olive

Préchauffer votre four 200C. Beurrer et fariner un moule à muffins de 12.
Dans une jatte, mélanger les deux farines, la levure chimique, sel, poicre, coriandre et graines de coriandre.
Fouetter les oeufs un peu, puis ajouter le lait, l’huile d’olive, le miel, rutabaga et poivrons rouges et batter jusqu’ à ce que tout soit bien incorporé. Ajouter alors les ingredients secs et mélanager juste afin que le mélange soit bien uniforme. Ne pas trop mélanger afin d’avoir des muffins tendres.
Verser la pate a muffins dans votre moule a muffins et faites cuire pendant 15-18 minutes, jusqu’ à ce qu’un cure-dent inséré à l’interieur des muffins en ressort à peine humide.
Laisser refroidir dans le moule sur une grille à patisserie pendant 2 minutes, puis démouler. Servir accompagnés d’une soupe ou une salade de roquette ou de frisée. Ces muffins sont délicieux le premier jour, mais encore meilleur le second.
Ils peuvent se garder pendant deux jours dans une boite en plastique à fermeture hérmetique.

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

Worth the Sweat / ça Vaut la Peine de Dégorger

Do you sweat your eggplant?
I used to. When I was still living under my parent’s roof, following my mother’s cooking rules I had always to sweat eggplants before cooking them. “It will absorb less oil if you sweat them,” she would tell me. Then, I moved away, get married and became rebellious against some of what I’ve learned, thinking it was obsolete, a waste of time to sweat my eggplants. I have my own kitchen, my own knifes and pans, no more: “It’s for dessert, don’t touch it!” I can do what I want; eat what I want, when I want.

I don’t fry eggplants; I roast them or broil them so there is no need to sweat them, I would tell my self. Of course I was wrong and my mother was right once again.

Sweating eggplant before cooking it not only helps tenderize the flesh’s texture but also reduces some of its bitter taste. When buying eggplants, choose the one that are firm to the touch with a smooth and shiny skin and no blemishes. And when it comes to the size the smaller the better. Big eggplant tends to be too spongy, bitter and with a tougher outer skin than the small ones. Although now available in markets throughout the years, eggplants are at their very best from August through October when they are in season.

I saw this recipe of ricotta balls on Nicky and Oliver’s gorgeous website and I had to try it right away; especially when I saw that the recipe was taken from Arte, one of my all time favorite TV channels.
On their website, they served them just as is with the salsa, but I wanted something different, definitely not pasta as it sounded a bit heavy for dinner. So this is how I came up with this vegetarian stuffed eggplant rolls for the enjoyment of my hubby who is a great meat-eater. Actually, even him didn’t miss the meat, as it is a very satisfying, very smooth and melt in your mouth dish. The ricotta stuffing has a texture similar to gnocchi but lighter and fresher, and the eggplant its self has a meaty quality to it and a bite that goes perfectly with the creaminess of the ricotta.

Overall, I would recommend this recipe to anyone who loves eggplant, but also to anyone who is still reticent to eating or cooking with eggplant. It was a very enjoyable dinner indeed, worth the sweating and waiting.
I am taking this recipe to the popular Weekend herb blogging, hosted this week by Myriam.

Stuffed Eggplant Rolls

Recipe:
- 1 eggplant, sliced vertically
- Kosher salt
For the Salsa finta
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 mid-sized onion, finely diced
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 21 ounces canned tomatoes, whole or crushed (including juice)
- A generous dash of sugar
- Sea salt (or Kosher salt), freshly ground black pepper
- A handful of fresh basil leaves
For the Polpette di ricotta:
- 9 ounces ricotta
- 1 ½ ounces freshly grated parmesan
- 1 mid-sized egg
- 3 ½ ounces breadcrumbs
- A handful chopped fresh parsley
- Sea salt (or Kosher salt), freshly ground black pepper and nutmeg to taste
- 2-3 tbsp of salsa finta

Sprinkle the sliced eggplant with a very generous amount of kosher salt. Put them over a colander and sweat it from 30 minutes to 1hour and a half, until a brown liquid comes out of the eggplants. Rinse and pat dry the eggplants. Brush each side of eggplants with some olive oil. Broil them or grill them on each side until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper while still hot. Set aside.
For the sauce: In a pan heat the oil. Add onions and sauté until translucent. Add the tomato puree, then the canned tomatoes, crushed. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and the sugar.
Let it cook for 15 minutes and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
For the ricotta balls: Drain the ricotta over a fine-mesh sieve for at least an hour. In a large bowl, put the ricotta with the Parmesan, egg, two or three tbsp of salsa finta and parsley. Add the breadcrumbs gradually until you achieve a consistency that allows you to roll the ricotta into balls. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Mix until well incorporated. If the mix is too smooth add more breadcrumbs and if too firm add more salsa finta.
Form into logs and stuff each broiled slice of eggplant with it. Roll the stuffed eggplants and keep them tightly closed with toothpicks, Put them in the pan of salsa finta and let them cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes stirring from time to time to ensure even cooking. Just before serving add the basil leaves.

Roulade d’Aubergine

In francais please:
- Une aubergine, coupee verticalement en lamelles
- Du sel
Pour La Sauce Finta:
- 4 c.s d’huile d’olive
- 1 oignon moyen
- 2 c.s de tomate en conserve
- 600g de tomates pelées et coupée
- Une bonne pincée de sucre
- Sel, poivre fraichement moulu
- Une poignée de basilic
Pour Les boulettes de Ricotta:
- 250g de ricotta
- 40-50g de parmesan fraichement râpé
- 1 oeuf moyen
- 100g de chapelure
- Une poignée de persil, haché
- Du sel, poivre
- 2-3 c.s de sauce finta

Mettre les aubergines dans une passoire. Saupoudrer genereusement de sel et laisser degorger de 30 min jusqu’a 1 heure 30. Rincer les aubergine et bien les secher a l’aide d’une serviette. Badigeonner chaque lamelle d’huile d’olive et griller ou cuire sous le grill du four jusuq’a ce qu’elles deviennent bien dorées. Mettre de coté.
Pour la sauce finta, faites chauffe l’huile d’olive dans une poele. Ajouter les oignons et laisser cuire jusqu’a ce qu’il deviennent transluscides. Ajouter la tomate en conserve, les tomates coupée en dés, sel, poivre et le sucre. Laisser cuire 15 min et assaisonner plus si necessaire.
Pour les boulettes de ricotta, mettre le fromage de ricotta dans une étamine et laisser égoutter pendant une heure. Dans une jatte, mettre la ricotta, le parmesan, l’oeuf, deux ou trios c.s de sauce finta et le persil haché. Ajouter la chapelure petit a petit jusqu’a ce que vous puissiez faire des boulettes du mélange. Sel, poivre et une pincée de noix de muscade. Mélanger bien. Si le mélange est trop liquide ajouter le reste de chapelure, si il est trop sec ajouter plus de sauce finta.
De ce mélange de ricotta, faire des petits boudins que vous mettrez au milieu de chauqe lamellas d’aubergines. Rouler les aubergines et fermer avec des cure-dents. Mettre les roulades d’aubergine dans la sauce finta et laisser cuire encore 10 min, en tournant de temps en temps pour que la cuisson de la ricotta soit uniforme. Ajouter le basilic juste avant de servir.

A Family Affair / Une affaire de famille

When the weather is hot and the air is humid that it makes my hands sweat and my feet puff out, the stove becomes my worst enemy and the oven, my bête noire. I avoid all temptations that might tickle my papilla. I turn off the TV and the laptop. I put away all food magazines, and restrain my self from reorganizing for the umpteenth time my cookbooks and recipe folders. I lunch on salads and fruits and brag about how I lost some more pounds.
But when I can say, at least for most of the time, that I do restrain my self from eating too much; I wouldn’t say the same for cooking. And how can you do so when you were raised in a house where any event, and I mean any event, involves pans shaking, vegetables waltzing, bread mopping and a minimum of 15 people gathered around the table. As if it wasn’t enough to have the cooking syndrome in my genes, I married a man that smells, feels and guesses what is on the menu the minute he crosses the entry door. He gets as much excited as I do about a new recipe and some gorgeous vegetables at the market. And he always has the nice word that I like to hear at the end of the meal: “Thank you Honey! It was delicious". He is my kind of gourmand.

Every time I spot a new recipe, adrenaline rushes inside my body making my eyes popping out of my head and my mouth water. I become amnesic as I instantly forget about all what I was doing at that exact moment and runs to the kitchen to start my experimentations.
Ina Garten in one of her episodes made these Crackers using Parmesan and Black pepper. These crackers have more body than your usual crackers. They are very similar to shortbreads, crumbly and melt in you mouth. Her recipe calls to use one teaspon of thyme, which after baking won’t look enough. The thyme gets lost between the bolder flavor of both Parmesan and black pepper. You can use fresh thyme but I am guessing dried thyme or any other herb would work as well. I added to the crackers nigella seeds to add more crunchiness and as it bake the nigella seeds gives its smokiness that I just love. I generally use nigella seeds as a topping on my bread but I must say that this is another way where I will be using it.
This is a very versatile recipe that you can twist and personalize as much as your inspiration goes. Because when it comes to cooking or baking, there are no rules, and certainly not the weather, that can stand against your passion and your genes.

Parmesan Black Pepper Crackers

Recipe: adapted from Barefoot Contessa. Yields about 30 crackers
- 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 ounces freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp Nigella seeds
- 1 egg white, lightly beaten

In a bowl, mix the butter until creamy. Add the Parmesan, flour, salt, thyme and black pepper and mix to combine. The dough will be sticky and very soft. Put the dough into a floured surface and shape it into a 13- inch long log.
Wrap the dough and freeze it for 30min or until needed. You will still be able to slice it.
Using a sharp knife or an electric knife, slice the log into ½ inch thick discs. Spread the nigella seeds in a plate and roll the border of each cracker, first in the egg white then in the nigella seeds. Arrange the crackers on a sheet pan, lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350F oven for about 20min or until the edges start to brown.
Serve with a platter of cheese and grapes.

Biscuits Salés aux Parmesan et Poivre Noir

In francais please: Adaptee de Barefoot Contessa. Pour 30 biscuits
- 113g de beurre, a temperature ambiante
- 85g de parmesan fraichement rape
- 300ml de farine
- ¼ c.c de sel
- 1 c.s de feuilles de thym
- ½ c.c de poivre noir fraichement moulu
- 2 c.s de graines de nigelle
- 1 blanc d’oeuf, legerement battu

Dans un bol, melanger le beurre mou jusqu’a ce qu’il devienne vremeux. Ajouter le parmesan, le sel, farine, poivre noir et thym. Melanger jusqu’a obtention d’une pate mollle et collante. Transvaser la pate vers une surface legerement farinee et former en boudin d’une longeur de 33cm.
Envelloper la pate dans un film plastique et mettre au congelateur pendant 30min oujusqu’a ce que vous en aurez besoin. La pate ne se congelera as completement tant que vous l’utiliser le jour meme. A l’aide d’un couteau bien eguise ou d’un couteau elecrtique, couper le boudin en discs d’un centimetre et demi d’epaisseur. Mettre les graines de nigelles dans une assiette et rouler les bords de chaque biscuit, premierement dans l’oeuf battu puis dans les graines de nigelle. Arranger les biscuits dans un grand plateau, garni de papier fulfurise. Faites cuire dans un four prechauffe a 180C pendant 20 min ou jusqu’a ce que les bords des biscuits deviennent legerement dores.
Ces biscuits s’accompagnent parfaitement avec un plateau de fromage et des fruits.

A Crush on Carrots / Un Amour de Carottes

I am known to be a sensitive person. Stop laughing honey. I can see you from here. Where was I again? Oh yes, the sensitive part of me.
I am a very sensitive person: I am the kind of person who will cry hours after the generic of a movie, the kind of person who won’t kill a spider because it’s just wrong, but will most definitely kill a cockroach. I am the kind of person who will feel really bad when I forget watering my plants or when I, unintentionally, hurt somebody else’s feeling. I am the kind of person who will collect park tickets and dried roses as memories, and the kind of person who can’t stop cooking again and again her latest crush. Even if it is as simple as a carrot dish.
I had this idea of a savory tart Tatin, instead of the traditional apple Tatin, after I saw some cute cherry tomatoes tartlets Tatin.
Instead of using tomatoes, I decided to use carrots because I can’t have enough of caramelized carrots with herbs. I usually use sage with my carrots but this time I went with thyme as I wanted a more woody and rustic flair to my tart.
The tart can be made in individual sizes and served as little appetizers.
Now, what’s so special about caramelized carrots on a crust? Nothing, in fact.just the beauty of a simple dish that doesn’t need a lot of skills or time to make and which happened to be my latest discovery and my shameless sweet crush.

Rustic Carrots Tart Tatin

Recipe:
- See recipe here for Pastry crust, but do not use the sugar and substitute the 1 tbsp of orange blossom water by ice water
- 10 mini carrots, peeled (depending on the size of your pan)
- 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- Salt, pepper

Make the pastry crust and let it chill until needed. In the meantime, melt 1 tsp butter with 1 tsp vegetable oil in a cast iron pan. Put the carrots in a pan. Season with salt and pepper and let them cook covered on medium heat. Uncover the pan and flip the carrots when they become tender. Let them cook this time uncovered. When cooked through, transfer the carrots to a cutting board and split them in half. Set aside.
Roll out the pastry crust and cut a circle a little bigger than the size of your pan. Freeze the rest of the crust for another time.
Put three sprigs of thyme in the pan and add the brown sugar on top. Cook on medium low heat just until the sugar starts to melt. Put the carrots back to the pan.
Cover the carrots with the crust disc and tuck on the sides. Let it cook, again on medium-low heat for 5 min then put in a 350F until golden brown on top, about 15 to 20 min.
Let it cool in the pan for 10 min then invert to a plate. Sprinkle with the remaining thyme leaves and serve, as a suggestion, with a peppery salad, such as escarole or endive.

Tarte Tatin Rustique aux carottes

In francais please:
- Voir ici la recette pour la pâte, mais sans sucre et en subsituant la c.s d’eau de fleur d’oranger par de l’eau glacé
- 10 mini carottes, épluchees (le nombre depends de la taille de votre poele)
- 5 brins de thym frais
- 1 c.c de sucre brun
- Sel, poivre

Faites votre pâte et mettre au frais jusqu’a utilization. Entre temps, dans une poele, antiadhesive, allant au four, faites fondre 1 c.c de beurre avec 1 c.c d’huile vegetale. Versez les carottes dans la poele. Assaisonnez de sel, poivre et laisser cuire couverts sur feu doux. Decouvrir la poele et retourner es carottes quand ils commencent a cuire d’un côté. Laisser cuire sans couvercle. Quand les carottes sont cuites, transvaser les carottes vers votre planche de travail et les couper en deux. Mettre de côté.
Faites sortir la pâte et l’etaler sur une surface legerment farine. Couper un disc de la pâte avec un diameter un peu plus grand que celui de votre poele. Congeler le reste de pâte pour une autre utilisation.
Remettre votre poele sur feu tres doux et mettre dedans trois brins de thym, puis le sucre brun. Laisser sur feu jusqu’a ce que le sucre commence a peine a fondre. Remettre les carottes dans la poele. Couvrir les carottes du disc de pâte en faisant en sorte de bien la faire rentrer sur les bords. Laisser cuire 5 min puis continuer sa cuisson dans un four prechauffe a 180C pendant 15- 20min ou jusqu’a ce que la pâte devienne doré.
Soritr du four et laisser refroidir dans la poele 10 min puis invertir dans une assiette. Servir avec une salade de frisée ou d’endives.

Celebrating Summer / Célébrer l'été

When I think about summer, I think about the beach, the long days spent at the beach with my parents and siblings and the painful sunburn on my shoulders and back.
When I think about summer, I think about the naps we would take my mother and I in the living room because it was the coolest room in the house. We would sleep on a thin mattress right on the floor and wake up sore all over and completely disoriented. We would swear to never take a nap on hot days again but would do it again the next day.
When I think about summer I think about my father bringing home every afternoon two watermelons, a melon and three pounds of prickly pears that he had bought from roadside stands. I see my father sitting on his favorite small bench in the kitchen deck, holding the prickly pear with newspaper paper in one hand, the knife in the other hand to open the fruit and asking my mother to remove the fruit from its prickly skin.
When I think about summer, I think about children in my neighborhood cooling off as much as they can by swimming in the fountain square.
When I think about summer, I think about open-air markets, fishermen yelling: “Sardines! Sardines! La belle sardine!” fruits and vegetables trying to steal the highlight from one another, people laughing, speaking out loud and bumping into one another. When I think about summer, I think about my mother’s frenzy for red peppers. Every time we would go to the market, she would go straight to the red peppers stand, claiming that there is not much left at home. Although I know and she knows and our fridge knows that it’s already full of red peppers. Raw, grilled, stuffed, roasted, she is always looking for new ways to cook it, but the most recurrent and craved red pepper dish at home is simply roasted and marinated in olive oil, salt and garlic.
In this personalized recipe I took my mother’s recipe, added some crumbled goat cheese, sage, laid it on a flaky crust and drizzled some honey on top of each tartlets. The spiciness of the sage and goat cheese is balanced by the sweetness of the honey and the red peppers, and the crust is so flaky that you wouldn’t need to use a knife or even a fork. These kinds of tartlets are perfect as a light summer lunch, along with, if I may suggest, a bowl of mixed green. A bite of them and you will find yourself sitting next to the peppers stand of our market. Just don’t serve my mother some of your red peppers if you see her coming your way.

Red peppers, sage and goat cheese tartlets

Recipe: Serves 4
- See this recipe for the crust, but without sugar and orange blossom water
- 4 red peppers, roasted and peeled
- 3 big garlic cloves, finely diced
- Some soft goat cheese, crumbled
- 1 sprig of sage, chopped plus extra for decoration
- Honey
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Salt, pepper

Cut the peppers into thick juliennes. Season with salt peppers and add the olive oil, leaves of sage chopped and garlic. Toss and let marinate for ½ hour or more if you have time. The more you let it marinate, the better it will be. Make the crust following the recipe. Using a cookie cutter, cut discs into your crust and decorate with some crust leaves or whatever you desire. Bake your discs at a preheated 400F oven for 10min then reduce to 350F and continue baking until lightly brown. Spoon the mixture of red peppers into the crust discs, trying not to over fill it and not let it drip too much with olive oil, and top each tartlets with the crumbled goat cheese, a leaf of sage and drizzle some honey on top. Return them to the oven for 5-7 min until the cheese has slightly began to melt and brown. Let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm

Tartelettes aux poivrons rouges, fromage de chèvre et sauge

In francais please: Pour 4 personnes
- Voir le recette de la pate ici, mais sans sucre et sans l'eau de fleur d'oranger
- 4 poivron rouges, grilles et epluches
- 3 grosses gousses d’ail, hachees
- Du fromage de chèvre, emiette
- 1 brin de sauge, les feuilles hachees plus quelques feuille pour deco
- Miel
- 60 ml d’huile d’olive
- Sel, poivre

Couper les poivrons en lamelles et les melanger a l’ail, feuilles de sauge, sel, poivre et huile d’olive. Laisser mariner ½ heures ou plus si vous avex le temps. Plus vous le laisser mieux le resultat sera. Faire votre pate selon la recette. A l’aide d’un emporte piece, couper des discs de la pate, decorer avec des feuilles ou autres selon votre desir. Faites cuires vos discs de pate dans un four prechauffe a 200C pendant 10m min, puis reduire le four a 160C et laisser cuire jusqu’a ce la pate brunisse legerement (voir photo). Mettre un peu du mélange de poivron rouge sur vos discs de pate, en faisant en sorte de pas mettre trop d’huile d’olive sur les discs de tartelettes et en evitant de trop remplir ces dernieres. Decorer chaque tartelette de fromage de chevre emiette, d’une feuille de sauge et de quelques gouttes de miel. Retourner les tartelettes au four pendant 5 –7 min juste afin que le fromage fonde un peu et se colore legerement. Laisser refroidir sur une grille a patisserie puis servir tiede accompagnees d’une simple salade verte.

A Man and A Kitchen / Un Homme et Une Cuisine

My hubby can be a great cook when he wants to. He also has his own way of heating up the kitchen and his own way of getting things done, too.
First, he puts some music on, usually some salsa music. Then, he starts dancing his way to the kitchen; with some great moves I must say.
Standing in the middle of the kitchen, he asks me: “Ok! What are we going to do?”
“What are we going to do? What are you going to do?” “I thought you already knew!”
“Yes, Yes. I am just teasing you”, he always says.
He then starts chopping, dicing and using all my plates and my kitchen space while going back and forth to turn up the music volume. Between cooking, washing the dirty dishes, dancing, singing and stirring the pan every two seconds, it takes him about two hours or more to have dinner on the table.
When it was only the two of us, having him in the kitchen was assured to be a lot of fun, messy but fun. But now, with a crawling baby who loves running between our legs and who requires our attention every minute, time gets really precious.
So now, even though he doesn’t cook and doesn’t dance as much often as I want him to, he still amazes me with his “nothing special” dishes, as he calls them, like this Chermoula that is not only quick but most of all demands the use of a single kitchen item: A mortar.
Chermoula is a Maghrebi (North African) marinade used mostly to flavor fish or seafood but would work as well with vegetables and meats. The basic ingredients to Chermola are herbs, lemon, olive oil, garlic and spices. After that you can vary the recipe by adding other ingredients like onions, diced jalapeno, if you like it spicier, or saffron. Whatever you choose to do with this recipe, the only advice that I would give is not substituting parsley for the cilantro because it just doesn’t give the same delicate and lemony flavor that cilantro gives to the marinade. My hubby likes to use a mortar in making Chermoula because it lets him control the consistency of the Chermoula, which should be thick, and the pestle allows the spices and herbs to develop their aroma slowly by grinding them.

Chermoula and Calamari

Recipe:
- 1 lemon
- 3 garlic cloves, diced
- 1 tsp ras el hanout
- ½ tsp cumin seeds, toasted
- ½ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp hot red pepper, diced (optional)
- A pinch of salt
- The leaves of a small bunch of cilantro
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 pounds calamari rings

In a mortar, put the zest of the lemon, the spices, the salt and the garlic and grind using your pestle until it resembles a uniform paste. Add the juice of half the lemon, the cilantro leaves only and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Grind to form a paste and add the remaining olive oil if the chermoula is too thick. Season to taste. Let the chermoula rest for about 15 min at room temperature. Mix the chermoula into the calamari and let it marinate for an hour. Heat a non-stick pan. Sauté the calamari in the pan for two min on each side until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Chermoula avec du calamar

In francais please:
- 1 citron jaune
- 3 gousses d’ail, hachees
- 1 c.c de ras el hanout
- ½ c.c de graines de cumin, grilles
- ½ c.c paprika
- ¼ c.c de piment rouge, cisele
- Une pincee de sel
- Les feuilles d’un petit bouquet de coriandre
- 2 c.s d’huile d’olive
- 1 kg d’anneaux de calamar

Dans le mortier, mettre les epices, le sel, le zest du citron et les gousses d’ail. Concasser a l’aide de votre pilon jusqu’a ce que le mélange ressemble a une pate homogene. Ajouter le jus d’un demis citron, les feuilles de coriandre et une c.s d’huile d’olive. Concasser encore et ajouter le reste d’huile d’olive si le mélange vous semble trop epais. Gouter et assaisonner selon le gout. Laisser la chermoula de cote pendant 15 min. Melanger la chermoula aux anneaux de calamari et laisser mariner pendant une heure. Faites chauffer une poele anti-adhesive et faites sauter les anneaux de calamar pendant deux min de chaque cote jusqu’a ce que ils soient bien dores. Servir tout de suite.

A Spicy Mortar / Un Mortier Epicé

What do you get when you give a man a mortar and a kitchen. I will tell you everything in details next week.

Until then, have a great weekend everyone.

Moi et Ma Feta / Me and My Feta

Every two or three weeks it’s the same ritual. I go to the market to buy some feta: arrive at the deli, take my number and wait.
Thirty-six!
Yes, right here!
How can I help you?
I would like some Bulgarian feta, please
How much?
Hmmm! One pound
…
Anything else?
No, that’s it. Thank you.
You’re welcome. Have a great day!
Thanks, you too
…
Thirty-nine!

I then go back home and ask my self: “Why did I buy it again?”
I will probably start making some salad, usually a Greek salad with some feta on top or for a change I will use it with orzo pasta and shrimp or in a savory tart with some herbs and vegetables. But, as much as I love feta cheese and as much as my inspiration goes I just get bored sometimes with this same plain feta taste that I get again and again. Whether I use it to compliment a salad or a savory dish, it always leaves this same salty, goat cheese taste in my mouth.
By the time I finish my pound of feta, part of it would go bad spending most of its time lonely in the fridge.
A few weeks later, it’s back again.
Market. Deli.
Fifty-two!
Help you?
Feta. Please.
…else?
No. Thanks.
Good day!
You too.

Go back. Think. Salad? Quiche? Salad? Fridge? Bad!
Same old, same old.
Bo-ring!

Then one day it happened. The magic of the Internet and hours spent browsing other people food blogs have finally paid off.
I have found the solution. Or the solution has found me? Anyway, we have found each other at Haalo’s blog. If you don’t know Haalo yet, which I doubt, then you should take a glimpse at her original recipes and mouthwatering pictures. In her post she marinated the feta cheese with a variety of herbs and some “good olive oil” and then store it in the fridge for days to let the flavor develop.
I basically did the same except for the use of some herbs and some lemon zest in mine. I used Bulgarian feta cheese but you can use whatever feta cheese you like. If you like the taste of goat cheese then you won’t be disappointed with Bulgarian feta. My only advice, and it is my personal experience, is to avoid cow’s milk feta cheese because the best feta is the one made with sheep or goat milk. The recipe doesn’t have the exact amount of herbs because, again it is everyone taste whether you like to add some herbs more than others. Feel free to experiment with this versatile marinade and to use it in salads or just as a dip with a slice of your favorite bread. I know my next trip to the deli will be more exciting this time because I know exactly what I am going to do with my flavorful feta.

Marinated Feta:

Recipe:
- 1 pound of Bulgarian feta
- Parsley
- Chives
- Mint
- Rosemary
- Garlic
- Coriander seeds
- Fresh chili, finely diced
- 2 zest strips of a lemon
- Ground black pepper
- Good extra virgin olive oil

Pat the pound of feta dry on a paper towel. Carefully dice it in small cubes and place it in a bowl with the chili, the coriander seeds and the lemon zests. Chop the herbs and the garlic and add them to the bowl of feta. Toss gently with your fingers to avoid crumbling the cheese. Season with freshly ground pepper and toss again. Put it in a jar and add the olive oil until it all covers the feta. Seal and refrigerate. Prior to use it, put the jar of feta at room temperature until the olive oil is liquid again.

Feta Marinee:

In francais please:
- 500g de feta bulgarienne
- Persil
- Ciboulette
- Menthe
- Romarin
- Ail
- Graines de coriandre
- Piment rouge, Cisele
- 2 zest d’un citron
- Poivre noir
- De l’huile d’olive de bonne qualite

Avant toute chose, Faites secher votre feta delicatement avec du papier et la couper en petits des. Mettre la feta dans un bol avec le piment rouge, les graines de coriander et le zest de citron. Hacher les herbes et l’ail finement et les ajouter au bol de feta. Melanger delicatement en utilisant vos doigts. Assaisoner avec le poivre et melanger encore. Mettre dans un bocale a fermeture hermetique et recouvrir completement d’huile d’olive. Mettre au frais pendant des jours avant de le consomer. Avant de le deguster, Sortir votre bocal de feta et laisser-le a temperature ambiante jusqu’a ce que l’huile d’olive redevienne liquide.

Le dinner de la Saint-Valentin: Acte I / Valentine's day dinner: Act I

Tapas de moules / Tapas of mussels

Those pictures have been sitting in my computer for over a week and I didn’t have time to publish them on my blog. With my six months old daughter, my days are pretty busy. She is a bundle of joy; sometimes I wonder where she gets all this energy from.
Usually, we don’t go out on Valentine’s Day. Well first it’s not easy when your baby sleeps by 8 pm but also it is too busy, the restaurants are too much crowded and you end up waiting an hour to have a table. For us Valentine’s Day is a day like others. I don’t think you need a day to remind you about the people you love. For me, it’s just a good excuse to treat our self to a chocolaty dessert without feeling guilty about it.
For the dinner I decided to go with fish. I don’t know why, when I think romantic dinner, I think fish: it’s delicate, light, quick to cook and healthy. That way you can have a second portion of dessert. “Brilliant!”.
I started the menu with “Tapas of mussels, followed by “salmon steaks with mango sauce vierge”, and to finish it up a chocolate cake called “Sicilian”.
Tapas are finger food in Spain. The word tapa in Spanish means a cover. This way of life comes from Andalusia. It started, so they say, with a piece of bread, soon topped with cheese. Then, it extended to a variety of local ingredients, revolving mainly around shellfish.
Here the mussels are broiled with a topping of parmesan cheese, garlic and parsley, which helps to prevent the mussels from becoming overcooked.

The recipe:
-1lb fresh mussels
-3tbsp water
-1tbsp melted butter
-1tbsp olive oil
-5tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese
-3tbsp chopped fresh parsley
-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
-1/2 tsp black pepper

Scrub the mussels thoroughly. Sharply tap any open mussels and discard any that fail to close or whose shells are broken. Place the mussels in a large pan and add water. Cover the pan with a lid and steam until the mussels shells have opened, shaking the pan once halfway through. Drain the mussels and discard any that are still closed. Snap off the top shell from each mussel, leaving the flesh still attached to the bottom shell. Place them in a flameproof dish and set aside.
Mix the melted butter, olive oil, parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic and black pepper and spoon a small amount of the mixture on top of each mussel and gently press down with your fingers. Broil the mussels until they are sizzling and golden.

In francais please:
-500g de moules fraiches
-45ml d’eau
-20ml de beurre fondu
-20ml d’huile d’olive
-5c.s de parmesan rape
-3c.s de persil hache
-2 gousses d’ail finement hachees
-1/2 c.c de poivre moulu

Nettoyer bien les moules avec une petite brosse. Taper celles qui sont ouvertes avec le dos d’un couteau et jeter toutes celles qui ne se referment pas. Placer les moules dans une grande casserole avec l’eau. Mettre le couvercle et laisser cuire jusqu’a ce que les moules s’ouvrent, en veillant a agiter la casserole une fois avant la fin de la cuisson. Jeter celles qui restent fermees. Bien egoutter les moules, et enlever doucement un cote de la coquille de chaque moule en laissant la chair attachée a l’autre coquille. Mettre dans un plat a four et laisser de cote.Entre temps, melanger le beurre fondue, l’huile d’olive, le parmesan, le persil, l’ail et le poivre. Disposer une petite quantite du mélange sur chaque moule en enfoncant legerement avec les bouts des doigts. Faites passer sous le grill jusqu’a ce qu’elles deviennent dorees.