THIS was the highlight of the meal for me: deep-fried egg with tartar sauce & black garlic; smoked yellow finn potato salad, roast cippolini onions, capers.
The texture of the egg was incredible, and the potato salad had a wonderfully salty smoky taste to it. Fantastic. I need to use both capers & smoked red onions in my cooking more.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Orange and Black Olive Salad
This is one of my favorite salads from holidays that my mom would make. It seems like a strange flavor combination, but it is wonderful! You have to go find these particular olives for the salad. Most gourmet markets/whole foods should carry them. They are cured black olives. They look super wrinkly and are on the salty side. Green, smooth olives just won't do here. The look kind of like this.
Ingredients:
5-6 Medium sized oranges
Half a pint (1/3 lb) of cured black olives.
1.5 tsp sweet paprika (or hot, if you like)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
1. Section the oranges. You want to make sure that you get none of the pith. A good tutorial is available here. Then cut each section into two or three smaller pieces. Place in a mixing bowl.
2. Remove the pits from the olives and place the pitted olives in the bowl with the oranges. I don't bother to use a knife here, these cured olives should be easy to pull apart from the pit and the pit should just fall out once you tear at it.
3. Add the paprika, cumin, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt to taste. Remember, these olives are salty! So avoid over-salting the salad.
4. Put in the refrigerator for a few hours (if possible) to allow to 'marinade'
5. Serve and enjoy! It should look something like this.
Tip:
Don't through away all those extra orange pieces. Squeeze out the juice as you go (from the sides of the orange as well as from the middle part once you've removed all the segments). You should get a nice cup of orange juice. It's tasty.
Options:
1. Add some minced garlic for a kick.
2. Some recipes call for some Israeli Hot Sauce (schug or harissa). If you like spicy things you can either try to track those down in a Kosher/Israeli food market. You can make your own as well. The 'lazier' option is to add some cayenne pepper or 'hot'/Hungarian paprika to taste.
Ingredients:
5-6 Medium sized oranges
Half a pint (1/3 lb) of cured black olives.
1.5 tsp sweet paprika (or hot, if you like)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
1. Section the oranges. You want to make sure that you get none of the pith. A good tutorial is available here. Then cut each section into two or three smaller pieces. Place in a mixing bowl.
2. Remove the pits from the olives and place the pitted olives in the bowl with the oranges. I don't bother to use a knife here, these cured olives should be easy to pull apart from the pit and the pit should just fall out once you tear at it.
3. Add the paprika, cumin, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt to taste. Remember, these olives are salty! So avoid over-salting the salad.
4. Put in the refrigerator for a few hours (if possible) to allow to 'marinade'
5. Serve and enjoy! It should look something like this.
Tip:
Don't through away all those extra orange pieces. Squeeze out the juice as you go (from the sides of the orange as well as from the middle part once you've removed all the segments). You should get a nice cup of orange juice. It's tasty.
Options:
1. Add some minced garlic for a kick.
2. Some recipes call for some Israeli Hot Sauce (schug or harissa). If you like spicy things you can either try to track those down in a Kosher/Israeli food market. You can make your own as well. The 'lazier' option is to add some cayenne pepper or 'hot'/Hungarian paprika to taste.
New cookbooks and high holidays.
I just returned from a trip back east where I picked up two lovely cookbooks that my brother schlepped from Israel. One is by this woman (warning, hebrew!) and another is a book about Moroccan cooking called (translated) "Mom's Moroccan cooking" which is exactly what I asked for! I'm very excited.
Also, Monday is one of my favorite cooking holidays: Rosh Hashana. This year we're having over some Israeli guests who are having their first holiday outside of Israel so hopefully I can make them feel at home.
Some recipes to come.
Also, Monday is one of my favorite cooking holidays: Rosh Hashana. This year we're having over some Israeli guests who are having their first holiday outside of Israel so hopefully I can make them feel at home.
Some recipes to come.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Ubuntu - Appetizers Pt. 4
The orange blossom melon soup was yummy, but a bit too rich for me. By far the most interesting part was the basil seed "caviar." The slightly chewy little seeds had a bit of seed in the middle, and had a really nice different texture.
Ubuntu - Appetizers Pt. 3
THIS was my highlight of the meal: french bean & grilled peach panzanella. It has furthered my fascination with burrata, driving me to purchase many overpriced Ferry Plaza containers of delicious delicious whole milk burrata. The beans were perfect, and contrasted nicely with the peaches. Fantastic.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Ubuntu - Appetizers Pt. 2
Next came chickpea fries with herbs & a romesco sauce. Chickpeas are great, and I enjoyed them in fry form as well. The romesco sauce, however, was the highlight of the dish for me. Tasty tasty peppers and smokiness.
Ubuntu - Appetizers Pt. 1
For my birthday, my lovely friend N. took me to Ubuntu for lunch! I've had my eye on Ubuntu since I read this article.
We started out with marcona almonds covered in lavender sugar and sea salt. They were completely addicting, and I need to try making these myself.
We started out with marcona almonds covered in lavender sugar and sea salt. They were completely addicting, and I need to try making these myself.
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