A Simple Meal: Fresh Zaatar Bread

Therefore let the desire of possession take hold of no one, for what gain is it to acquire these things which we cannot take with us? Why not rather get those things which we can take away with us – to wit, prudence, justice, temperance, courage, understanding, love, kindness to the poor, faith in Christ, freedom from wrath, hospitality? If we possess these, we shall find them of themselves preparing for us a welcome there in the land of the meek-hearted. – St. Anthony of the Desert

Had a meeting with the homeless group that went really well. We talked about the history of the organization and where the organization is going, presented on new research we had done, advocacy work we were engaged in. There was a real community spirit in the meeting – as if it wasn’t the individual achievements of each person that were being raised up, but the accomplishments of an entire group of people and their commitment to serving the poor.

With that in mind, and with food prices going up, I wanted to blog on a topic of great interest to me: free bread. There is a little thrift store down the street that gets free bread deliveries from Panera breads every Tuesday. I help myself usually on Wednesday, since I don’t want to take the first batch. Today, I was able to snag a wheat baguette and Peasant bread that will probably last through the week. But I thought to myself: what shall I have with it?

Ahh: Zaatar.

Zaatar is a traditional Middle Eastern treat made from the combination of Olive Oil, Thyme, Sumac, Salt, and Sesame Seeds. It is a great dip for bread and Middle Easter school kids will eat it before exams because it is said to improve concentration.

Dinner many nights for me is some fresh bread, zaatar, and wine. I might have a fresh tomato with it. It is a simple meal, but sometimes I think we become so hell bent on getting all the nutrients out of every meal possible, that sometimes we max our meals far too complex. A nice basic meal suits just fine.

Really, the proportions for Zaatar depends on the individual who is making it: there are a variety of ways of making it. Generally, the mix is mostly the oil and thyme, with a dash of everything else mixed in. I like to be liberal with the salt because it’s my way. The more sesame seeds you add, the more crunchy it becomes.

You could dip the bread in the mixture, or you could pour the mixture over bread and bake it in the oven, resulting in more of a pizza-style dish. This is often an appetizer or side in Middle Eastern countries to some Red Lentil Soup, perhaps.

Zaatar is also a really good breakfast, for those who don’t require something sweet as the base of their breakfast. It doesn’t weigh down your stomach but can fill you up quickly. It tastes great with some warm coffee on the side.

I would suggest this as a dish for those who wish to fast, because it provides necessary carbohydrates, healthy fats, and protein while also being light. If you fast on Fridays, I would highly suggest this as it has often satisfied a need for meat.

Or, if you are fasting in remembrance of those who are hungry, particularly with all the trouble with world hunger recently, this is a great meal to have. And with the money you save from the meal, you can donate to an organization that is doing work to assist those who are hungry domestically and abroad.

Palestinian Lentil Soup

So, I keep on eye on political affairs whenever I get a spare minute. This week, things have been friggin crazy in Israel-Palestine. The short of it is that violence between Israel and Palestine has been escalating, and civilians are making up most of the casualties…

So as I was browsing articles on Electronic Intifada on this issue, I noticed they had a “recipes” category on their website. This intrigued me – what does a political/cultural commentary site have recipes on it for?

What I found was Palestinian-inspired recipes – and they all looked delicious! I wondered what I could whip up (as I was unsure what I would have for my evening meal), and then, this recipe hit me.

I have to say, this was a fantastic soup. The lentils softened and congealed wonderfully, for an almost buttery taste. It was just a little sweet, and it was very filling. This is fantastic for a winter day. Moreover, it is pretty easy to make (only takes an hour) and is pretty cheap. Serves 6 as a meal starter, or 3 as a full meal with pita. This would probably be really good with some fatoush salad. I had a Honeybell Orange for dessert, which served as a juicy and fresh finale.

Enjoy!

http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/335.shtml

Lemony Lentil Soup

This recipe is a variation on a lentil soup served during Ramadan iftaar dinners. With its warm spices and lemony taste, this recipe can brighten a dark winter day or alleviate a cold or the flu.

Ingredients

1 large onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup red lentils, washed and cleaned
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 teaspon ground coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
7-8 cups water
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/4 cup basmati rice, washed
Juice of one lemon
Olive oil

(Serves 6)

In a medium to large sized cooking pot, sautee the onion and garlic on medium heat until the onions are translucent. Do not burn the oil or the garlic.

Add the washed lentils and all of the spices and stir for a minute or two. Then add the water and salt and bring to a rolling boil for 3-5 minutes.

Reduce heat to low, place a lid on the pot, and let the soup simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally. You can add more water if the soup looks too thick.

Bring the heat back up, add the rice, and bring to a boil for a minute, then reduce the heat to low again, replace the lid, and wait until the rice is cooked (about 15-20 minutes).

Remove from heat and taste to see if you would like more salt.

Add the lemon juice only after the soup is no longer boiling.

Serve with sprigs of parsley and drizzle olive oil on each soup bowl.

To Canno-li or not to Canno-li – that is the question

Really, though, it isn’t even a question – there is never a bad time for Cannoli if you ask me. Heck, that dude in Godfather Part III was munchin on them during an opera performance in Italy – he croaked cuz they were poisoned, but nonetheless, the man understood the basic axiom: there is never a time when Cannoli isn’t good. And, one should not forget it’s positive corollary: Cannoli is always a good gift (except perhaps for savages) .

Now, as reported by reported by Elbowgrease, this week in my office it is “Cake Week“. It is tradition that we buy some kind of cake/dessert for the staff members for each of their birthdays (from the “staff appreciation” line of the budget, which should just be called the “delicious” budget line).

Cake Week began with pizelles that Kristin brought from her grandmother’s lovingly made hands; of which I did not partake. I love those pizelles, don’t get me wrong, but Janelle inquired the other day if I gained a few pounds and it set off a Kate Moss complex of epic proportions. “I do not need the pizelles, I’m just going to eat my fiber cereal mixed with peach kefir“.

I want to note something at this point: Janelle asking me if I gained a few pounds was totally reasonable, because I have gained a few pounds. And she thought that I’m a guy, so it’s not like saying that to a woman. Well, I guess I’m a bit sensitive about it.  But it should be noted that we were hot off the tails of a trip to Northern New York to go up to her grandpa’s old hunting cabin – our meals consisted mostly of sausage, a regional Bologna (which was delicious), Chicken Casserole; Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Casserole; Ground Beef mixed with mushrooms, peppers, and onions (the beef was locally grown, free-range, not from some hippy joint but straight from her uncle’s farm); and Lancaster Caviar ( an Amish-style appetizer of Cream Cheese with Sweet Pepper Jelly on it). So, gaining a few pounds and destroying my blood pressure was in order.

Anyway, the next day was Elbowgrease’s birthday (the impetus for Cake Week) and we had cupcakes. Now, at this point, I had been good about resisting the pizelles. There are even chocolate covered cherries (cherry sauce in the middle really) that are on the shelf next to my desk which beckon me each hour. But cupcakes put it over the limit. It wasn’t even that I like cupcakes that much, it’s just the frosting which calls to me, even in my sleep.

So then Wednesday came around, there were leftover cupcakes, it was thought that it would be, for the most part, then end of cake week. Not so. I decided, for some reason, that Cake Week needed to be fought for. Hence: a trip to Romeo and Juliet’s Bakery and Cafe on Hertel Ave in North Buffalo.

I wasn’t really sure what to get. Should I get Tiramisu?  It’s kind of cake-y, but expensive and could be difficult to portion out. R&J’s has good cookies – maybe some cookies? No, the pizelles were already covering the cookie-like part of cake week. And then, it hit me like a diabetic coma:

 

(NOTE: This is NOT from Romeo and Juliet’s)

 

Cannoli. Sweet, heavenly Cannoli. Not exactly cookie. Not exactly cake. Just sweet, sweet deliciousness. All bets were off. If I had hoped that this week would lead to better health, I was dead wrong. I quickly wrapped up 4 Cannolis and headed back to the office for the sweetness.

I must say, the Romeo and Juliet’s Cannoli’s were exceptional. They were just a little lemon-y, which made them even better. Sometimes the cheese filling (if poorly done) can leave a sort of chalky aftertaste, like you just put a tablespoon of powdered sugar in your mouth. These – not so. The filling was fresh and soft  and left a satisfying tart aftertaste. The crust was also very fresh and cracked apart easily; I’ve had some store-bought Cannolis with crusts that were a little soft from the filling sitting in them too long, and it was disgusting.

The moral of the story is: Cannoli always delivers. And Romeo and Juliet’s Cannoli delivers well.

 

Note: I capitlized Cannoli for the most part throughout this post, as I think it deserves that distinction.

Lentil and Lamb Curry

 

My first post ever! I’ve been inspired by Rice and Beans and Collard Greens (and checkered napkins as well) decided to start my own blog on one of my favorite subjects: food!

So my first post will be a recipe. This is an experiment, though I don’t think I’ve gone too far outside the box on it.

Let me start by saying that my favorite meat is lamb. My mother used to make lamb chops when I was a kid, just around spring, when my dad could grill it after the long winter of discontent (i.e., no grilled meat). She would serve it with mint jelly and potatoes. I was kind of turned off by the mint jelly, but I did love eating this juicy, slightly charred, and smokey hunk of meat with a little apple cider vinegar. I know, strange, but it had a little sweetness and a kick -much like the mint jelly but in a different way.

So, I bought a couple of lamb shanks a week ago and wanted to use them – this was my first time cooking with lamb. I spent years as a vegetarian during college because it was the hip thing to do, but it sure made late night chicken wing outings a pain in the butt. So, I’m recovering from the sins of my youth and venturing out into cooking meat dishes.

I would have gotten lamb chops, and this probably would have been a better idea, but I wanted to start with the shanks because I figured that they might be less fatty (I have no way of judging this, so I don’t know what kind of crazy criteria I was cooking up in my brain). The shanks were a solid pound, and when I bought them I thought I’d been in for a meal of massive lamb chunks.

I must say, I was disappointed. Not in the shanks – I’m sure they are standard, but in myself for buying meat without knowing what I was getting ( I guess I figured I was getting a good deal; they were only $5 and change). I did this a few months ago with some goat at a local halal meats market – that’s a long story that I probably shouldn’t get into. But as I was frying the shanks in my iron skillet I found that not much meat was coming off the bone. It was enough for my dish, but I guess I was expecting more.

Anyway, I used a crockpot for this recipe, as I usually do for curry dishes. Here’s the recipe

Lentil and Lamb Curry
3-4 Servings
Prep Time:  30 minutes labor, 4 hours of crock power
Approximate cost (in Buffalo): $8-9 dollars

2 Lamb Shanks (or 1 – 2 lamb chops, depending on how you like you meat:lentil ratio)
2 cups of lentils
16 oz can of whole, peeled tomatoes
4 cups of water
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup of canola oil
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of curry powder* (more if you like it spicier, less if you like it more mild)
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (optional, but a hold over from my youth)
a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
* I use a curry powder that I buy in bulk from a local italian market. It’s pretty good but I don’t think it’s your standard curry powder; so whatever you use for your own curry powder spices and however much you use, apply it here for this curry. Also, feel free to substitute the oil with ghee if you prefer; I don’t use ghee because I still feel a bit nervous about it - warm butter and all (and it is expensive!).

Start by boiling four cups of water and adding the lentils. Let the lentils boil for 10 minutes.

Then add lentils and water with the can of tomatoes to the crock pot and turn it on high. With just a drizzle of canola oil, fry the lamb shanks. Cut off the meat as it is cooking if you want this process to go faster. Cook it until the meat is a little crispy and starting to get charred on the outside. You should probably get about 1/2 pound or a little less of meat from the shanks; using a different cut of lamb is recommended.

After the lamb is cooked, put it in the crock pot and add curry powder, canola oil, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar. Stir until spices/sugar/lamb is evenly distributed. Then cover and let it sit for 2 1/2 hours.

 After the 2 1/2 hours, crush the three heads of garlic and add them to the pot. Cover for 45 minutes. Then carmelize the onion (I prefer to do this then to just put the onion in the crockpot for several hours) and add it to the pot. Cover for 45 minutes.

Dish out and quickly serve with brown rice, naan, or whole wheat pitas.

NOTE: I apologize for the poor quality picture; i’m doing this with a webcam; upgrades should be forthcoming.