From Suq to Shuk

What to do with leftover roasted vegetables... make a soup.

Yesterday afternoon I suffered a bout of hunger and decided to recycle my left overs rather than eating them for a third day in a row.  The bulk of what I had left over was the roasted vegetables from Saturday's Mexican dinner, and I had yet another butternut squash in the fridge.  Furthermore, I had some of the spice mixture with which I prepared the roasted vegetables in the first place, and thus reinforced the flavours further in the soup.   Leemor, who had missed the first part of the Mexican dinner, joined me to eat this soup yesterday afternoon and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.  Because funds are low, I had the soup for dinner as well as lunch yesterday, at which time Tal also tasted it and remarked that it tasted just like the roasted vegetables I had prepared.

The soup was a bit spicy but nothing compared to the beef prepared several days before.  The squash was intensely sweet, which was met perfectly by the heat from the spice mixture, the fat from the cream and duck fat and the salt I added.  Altogether, it was a very satisfying soup and excellent way to make use of leftovers.  If you've got some left-over roasted vegetables, you could easily make a variation of this recipe with your own spices.  Enjoy!

  

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeded

1 tbls olive oil

1 tbls of duck fat or butter

1 onion, diced

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 red chilli, seeded and minced

1 tbls of tomato paste

1 cup of cointreau

2 cups of chicken stock

1 tbls of the last dinner's spice mixture

about 1.5 cups of the left over roasted vegetables from the last dinner

250 ml of 15% cream

S+P

2 tbls lime juice

a few sprigs of cilantro, chopped, for a garnish

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 190C/375F.  Line oven tray with tinfoil, brush on olive oil, then place the butternut squash flesh side down on the olive oil coated tray.  Move the the squash around a bit so that the bottom side is fully coated with the oil.  Leave in the oven for 40 minutes.

Heat the duck fat in a dutch oven over medium.  Add the onion and sauté for 10 minutes, having turned down the heat to medium-low and stirring once a minute or so.  Add the garlic and chillies, sauté for another 3 minutes, then add the tomato paste.  Add half the cointreau, allow to reduce almost entirely.  Add the spices, mix in well then add the rest of the cointreau, allow to reduce mostly.  Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer.  Add the roasted vegetables, then pour in boiling water to cover.

Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before peeling it (don't burn yourself).  The peel should pull away very easily, after which, cut the squash into large chunks.  Enter into the the pot, then pour over more boiling water to cover.  Turn the heat down to somewhere between medium-low and low, and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes.  Blend very thoroughly, then mix in half the cream with S+P and lime juice.

Ladle into a bowl and swirl some cream for presentation and top with you cilantro garnish.  B'Teavon!

Braised osso bucco in oranges and habaneros, tomato rice, roasted squash and root vegetables and a mango black bean salad - A whole lotta Mexican spiciness

Two days ago I went to see Kassandra perform with her friend Noah at MezCal in Florentine (also reviwed on this blog).  Drinking Mexican beer and eating nachos and mole inspired in me to make some of my own Mexican food.  I had picked up two butternut squashes, some oranges and a melon at the Shuk the day prior.  I had bought a celeriac and a large parsnip intended for my green curry but they made it into last night's meal instead.  I had two pieces of osso bucco in the freezer, and set them in the fridge to defrost over night.  I then took out all the contents of my fridge that I thought would be appropriate for the meal and photographed them in their raw form.  I photographed only fresh ingredients, not the dry ones.  

Needless to say, a good cook like a good writer must edit.  Not all of the ingredients on the table made their way into the meal, but most did.  I made a Mexican spice mixture to go over my roasted vegetables, prepared some Mexican style rice (although I forgot the peas), and the meat was undoubtedly very tender.  The meat was also VERY spicy.  I had used one habanero is some dish a while ago and thought to myself "this isn't THAT spicy."  Well apparently there's a huge jump between one and three.

Kassandra joined me for dinner as did my roommate Tal.  Kassandra is a self-declared lover of capsaicin while Tal is the first to admit that she very rarely eats spicy foods.  At one point I was accused of making all of my food too spicy and for a long time I toned down the heat.  Well last night I brought it right up.  We were all sweating.  Surprisingly, despite our different levels of comfort with capsaicin induced heat, we were all suffering at the same level.  Tal actually seemed to be really enjoying herself and the sensation it left on her lips.  I at least, was sweat - a lot.  Having dealt the peppers themselves, my left hand was also slightly burning as the nerves that fired earlier from contact with the habaneros seemed to be re-ignited by the introduction of so much capsaicin into my mouth.  Thank goodness I was smart enough to not touch my eyes throughout the whole process and the heat was sequestered to my mouth and left hand.

Despite the intensity of the heat, the flavours really managed to shine through.  The beauty of osso bucco is the marrow in the bone that's released into the braising liquids that adds such a richness to the dish.  I caramelised some oranges with sugar and cloves under the broiler before adding them to the osso bucco pot to give a slightly smoky flavour.  The root vegetables were also somewhat spicy but nothing in comparison to the meat.  I made sure not to make the rice spicy at all to give a bit of a starchy contrast to the rest of the meal.  After we all cooled down from the main course (and all felt much better as our body had sweated out whatever toxins had accumulated recently), we continued with the salad that was sweet and really very pleasant.

The melon I had bought at the Shuk was more fragrant than it was flavourful.  As I cut it open, all of the seeds seemed to just fall out, which suggested that the melon might have been slightly passed its prime.  We all cut off the parts that were obviously bad but even what remained was just slightly boring.  Nevertheless the meal was intensely satisfying beyond simply intensely hot.  Unfortunately the colours on the plate were somewhat lacklustre, but I hope I offered in enough variety in the photographs to leave something pleasant to the eye.  Enjoy!

         

Ingredients:

For the meat

3 tbls of grapeseed oil, or other neutral oil

2 tsp of fennel seed

1 tsp of cumin

1 onion, sliced radially

3 habanero, seeded and sliced

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

2 valencia oranges, 1 cut into 1/8s, the other zested and juiced

the heads of 8 cloves

2 tbls of brown sugar

1/2 tbls fresh marjoram

1 tbls dried orgregano

2 thick slices of osso bucco

1.5 cups of chicken stock

lots of salt and pepper

For the rice

8 cloves of garlic

3 tomatos

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground corriander

1 tbls of pumpkin seed oil

1 cup of rice

For the roasted vegetables

1 3" sliver of cinnamon

4 allspice berries

1 tsp of black pepper

1 dried ancho chilli, seeds discarded

1 dried japones chilli, seeds discarded

1/2 tsp of ground corriander

1/2 tsp of ground cloves

1/2 tbls dried thyme

2 tbls of grapeseed oil, or other neutral oil

1 butternut squash, diced

1 celeriac, peeled and diced

1 parsnip, peeled and diced

salt

For the salad

1/2 can of black beans, drained

1 mango, sliced into strips

1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

1 large shallot, sliced into rings

2 tomatoes, cored and diced

1 tbls of lime juice

S+P

Directions:

Turn the oven on to maximum heat on broil.  Place the oranges in a baking dish and crush each head of clove over each piece of orange.  Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the orangee slices then leave them on the top rack for 8 minutes.  Remove from the oven and change the setting to bake and turn to 150C/300F.

Heat the grapeseed oil in a large oval Dutch oven over medium.  When hot, add the fennel seed, fry for 3 minutes.  Add the cumin seeds, after 20 seconds, add the onion, and stir.  Low heat to medium-low and sauté for ten minutes. Add the orange zest, garlic and habanero, sauté for another 3 minutes.  Move to the side of the pan and allow the excess oil to cover the rest of the pan.  Enter in each slice of osso bucco and brown on each side for 3 minutes.  Mix it all together, add the orange juice.   Add the pieces of oranges, marjoram and oregano, then add the chicken stock.  Add S+P  and 1 litre boiling water then cover with the lid and leave in the oven for 2.5 hours.

Raise the heat on the oven to 175C/350F.  Leave the 8 cloves of garlic for the rice in the oven for 45 minutes with the dutch oven.  Peel them after roasted, combine with tomatoes and the spices in a blender.  Combine the rice with the pumpkin seed oil in a baking dish, then pour over the tomato mixture.  Add 1/4 cup of boiling water, then cover with tin-foil and leave in the oven for 45 minutes.

Combine all of the whole spices in a frying pan, toast for 5 minutes, then transfer to a spice grinder.  Pulverise in the spice grinder then combine with the ground coriander, cloves and thyme.  Combine the diced vegetables with the oil in a baking dish, then sprinkle over about 3/4 of the spice mixture and mix well.  Top with salt.  Set in the oven with the rice for 30 minutes.  When the two are finished, return the meat to the oven for 10 minutes to heat up a bit again.

Combine all ingredients for the salad in a bowl then toss.

B'Teavon!

Thailand meets the South-West for Christmas

Carina is right - I ought to name my creations with something better than a really long description.  The alternative name for this dish is "Asian-barbecue marinated skirt steak with fire roasted red pepper mashed potatoes and a cilantro avocado emulsion".  The "Asian-barbecue" sauce consisted of sriracha, the vinegar from my jar of pickled galangal, lime juice and Worcestershire sauce.  Standard American barbecue sauce is a staple of the South-West, as are roasted peppers.  I made the emulsion with avocados (typical to the South-West), lime juice and cilantro (typical to both) and green curry paste which is very much Thai.  As far as I'm concerned everyone in the whole world uses garlic and so it's appropriate for pretty much any cuisine in my repertoire.  I decided to top the meal with a bit of mint for some extra contrast.  I cook my steaks medium rare which leaves them pretty pink in the middle.  That, in combination with the intense colour of the mashed potatoes, and the green of the avocado emulsion and the mint was all a little reminiscent of Christmas.  So there you have it - the logic behind the dish's title.

The dish was prepared from the ingredients already in my fridge.  I had gone with Carina to the Shuk to get supplies for whatever meals we wanted to make while she is here.  The skirt steak was purchased even earlier than that Shuk visit and my only way to save it without eating it immediately was to put it in an acidic marinade that would ensure some other life-form didn't start eating it before I did.  I had envisioned making a soup out of the peppers and potatoes but something made me go a different route and I'm glad I did.  Unfortunately I was impatient and didn't let the potatoes boil for quite as long as I normally would and for that reason they turned out a bit chunkier and more grainy than I would normally make.  I used enough butter, however, to ensure that they were plenty rich.  Despite all the butter, starch and meat, the dish actually felt rather light.  Carina is not a big meat eater but enjoy the steak and was particularly enamoured of the avocado purée.  She is intent on making it in the future and with this blog post she will have the recipe in order to do so.

This was a truly yummy meal that came as an excellent break from my long hours of research and writing.  You could multiply the quantities provided and make some really impressive food for a barbecue.  Unfortunately the colour of the mashed potatoes does not come across as intensely on TypePad as it does in Lightroom, so just imagine what you're seeing with a greater resemblance to fire.  Enjoy!

   

Ingredients:

For the steak

1.5 lbs of skirt steak, trimmed of fat and sinew

1/4 cup of sriracha

1/8 cup of lime juice

1/8 cup of vinegar from a jar of pickled galangal (or white vinegar with a bit of fresh galangal)

1 tbls Worcestershire sauce

S+P 

For the mashed potatoes

1 large red bell pepper, fire roasted

1 tbls olive oil

1 tbls coarse salt

3 large yukon gold potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 large clove of garlic

60 grams of butter

1/3 cup of whole milk

S+P to taste

For the avocado emulsion

4 tbls of lime juice

1 large handful of cilantro, stems removed

1 very small clove of garlic peeled

1 tsp of green curry paste

1 avocado

a large pinch of salt

Directions:

Combine the steak with all ingredients for the marinade in a bowl, making sure that the meat is coated on all sides.  Cover and leave in the fridge over night.  Remove from the fridge 45 minutes before grilling.

After fire-roasting and cleaning your pepper (see video), cut into strips.  Pre-heat the oven to 100C/212F and set on convection.  Combine the strips of roasted pepper with the oil and the salt (the salt will help to extract moisture) and set in the oven for 40 minutes.  Heat butter over low heat in a sauce pan and add the now slightly dehydrated red pepper strips to the pan while the butter is melting.  Allow to sweat for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat, add the milk and pulverise in a blender until smooth.

Bring the potatoes to a boil in cold water and boil until they not only fall off when pierced with a fork, but fall apart (about 15-20 minutes at a rolling boil).  Strain and mash completely before pouring the red pepper butter into the potatoes and fold in gently, do not whisk.  Add S+P to taste.

Combine all ingredients for the emulsion in a high rimmed bowl except for the avocado. Blend thoroughly with an immersion blender until the garlic is well broken up.  Add 1/4 of the avocado at a time and continue to blend thoroughly moving the immersion blender up and down as it spins.  Continue until all of the avocado is incorporated.

Heat a grill pan over medium and allow to get good and hot.  Sprinkle the steak with salt and pepper after taken out of the marinade, then add to the pan on a diagonal.  After one minute exactly, rotate ninety degrees.  After one more minute flip the steak and repeat the process on the second side.  Remove from the pan and allow to rest for 4 minutes.

Combine all ingredients on a plate and top with some mint.  B'Teavon!

Pan roasted goose breast over a butternut squash gratin, with guacamole, blueberries, candied ginger, tomatoes and a blackberry mole sauce

Oh man was this one good.  Many of the ingredients used in this meal were intended for the night prior when Lior and I just ended up eating soup.  That day we had been perusing the Shuk for fun things to buy and I decided to pay the frozen meat shop a long over due visit.  I picked up two goose breasts, which I left in the fridge to defrost over over 24 hours.  The rest of the dish came from my necessity to use up the 6 very soft avocados I had also purchased, and a butternut squash that had been in my fridge for nearly a month.  The soup was made on Friday after work, and this meal was made on Saturday.  Ilan came over and gave some excellent help prepping all the vegetables which allowed us to eat dinner for the first time before 8 PM in a very long time.

The blackberries used in the mole sauce were frozen as it is not blackberry season in Israel and that season is quite short here.  I decided that I wanted to make a meal with some Mexican flavours without any rice or beans.  In the end this recipe was not truly faithful to Mexican cuisine but simply took its cues from Mexico.  Frankly it's visually very appealing and it was a pleasure to assemble as well as consume.  If you've got a good game plan and an extra set of hands this meal can easily be done in an hour to an hour and a half.  It was positively a delight that I hope to repeat on my plates more often.  The goose was perfectly cooked.  My fellow diners will have to corroborate my account.

 


   

Ingredients:

2 duck breasts, fat removed and set aside

1 butternut squash

1 egg

1/2 cup of 15% cream

2 tsp of yesterday's spice mixture

6 avocados

1/3 cup of lime juice

1.5 tbls grape-seed oil

1 shallot, small dice

1 onion, small dice

1/2 carrot, small dice

2 chillies, seeded and chopped

3 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 branch of celery, small diced

1 cup of duck stock

300 grams frozen blackberries

50 grams of bitter chocolate (at least 75%)

1 bay leave

1 cinnamon stick

5 cherry tomatoes, sliced

15 blueberries

15 pieces of candied ginger

S+P

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 175C/350F.  Peel the butternut squash, then remove the shaft from the bulb.  Cut off the edges of the shaft to make a rectangular prism, then slice this all the way down on a mandolin.  Combine the egg, cream and spice mixture in a bowl and mix well.  Grease a baking dish, then layer the slices of butternut squash over each other and pour in the egg cream mixture.  Leave in the oven for 45 minutes.  Do NOT turn the oven off after removing it.

Divide the diced shallot, garlic and onion into two.  Mash the avocados in a large bowl with a fork well.  Add the lime juice and then whisk until smooth and airy.  Add half of the shallots, garlic and onions.  Cover with plastic wrap so that the wrap is directly touching the guacamole and leave in the fridge until plating.

Heat the grape-seed oil in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Add the remaining onions, shallots and celery.  Sauté for 6 minutes, then add the carrot, chillies and garlic.  Sauté for another 4 minutes before adding the duck stock.  Bring to a simmer then add the black berries one at a time.  Simmer for ten minutes, then blend thoroughly with an immersion blender.  Strain through a fine strainer, clean the pot, then return the strained sauce to the pot.  Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, and add the chocolate in small pieces.  Whisk together well, then lower the heat all the way and cover for 5 minutes.  Remove the lid and stir further making sure all the chocolate is dissolved.  Add the cinnamon stick and the bay leave and allow to simmer cover for another ten minutes.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat allow to get good and hot.  Add the fatty tissue from the two breasts and allow it to render out the fat for about 10-15 minutes.  Remove the fat to a bowl, allow to cool and then cover with plastic wrap and save for later uses in the fridge.

There should be enough grease left in the pan to cook the goose, if not, add 1 tbls of the fat back into the pan.  Heat over medium.  Dust the goose breasts with S+P then add to the pan.  4 minutes on one side, then flip.  After two minutes, place the pan in the oven for 5 minutes, remove, allow to rest for 3 minutes then slice and serve with the guacamole, gratin, mole sauce and blueberries, tomatoes and black berries.  B'Teavon!

Soup and salad week - spicy roasted pepper and corn soup

This soup was excellent and had everyone going back to the pot for seconds and in some cases thirds.  I made full use of my gas stove to roast peppers the traditional Mexican way, which is directly on the flame.  This imparts a bit of a smoky flavour to your roasted pepper as well.  I used only one habanero, and two tiny little dried pequin chilies, but the soup was really very spicy.  I had a some challah from the bakery and eating that with the soup was the only way Lior made it through I think.  Ilan and I have a much higher tolerance for spice, however, and as a result we were delighted by just how spicy this soup was.

Some of the many goodies I bought in Berlin were some new soup/pasta bowls which you'll all see with relatively great frequency, I imagine.  I'm usually tempted to only buy white dishes, but the light blue bowls with a slightly turquoise hue were only 4 euros a piece and so pretty; and as such they made their way into my carry on luggage as I didn't trust the baggage handlers to treat my bag with the necessary gentleness these lovely bowls required.  While the soup was not necessarily the most nutritious meal one can have, it was great tasting and still met the primary criterion of soup and salad week, which was easy on the digestive system.  YUM!  I'll say it again, YUM!  Make and enjoy it.  You can omit the two pequin chilies if you don't want the soup to be TOO spicy, but foregoing the spiciness entirely would be missing the point.

   

Ingredients:

3 red bell pepper, fire roasted

1 habanero pepper, fire roasted

2 tbls of butter

2 tsp of coriander seeds

2 pequin chilies, crushed slightly in your fingers

2 small cans of green giant corn, completely drained

1/2 a spanish onion, diced

flour to dust, about 1 tbls

1/4 cup of lime juice

1/4 cup of cointreau

1 large potato, peeled and diced

2 cups of duck stock (or chicken stock)

3/4 cup of half and half cream (15%)

1.5 cups of whole milk (3-4% depending on where you live)

Directions:

Open up your fire roasted bell peppers and habanero and remove the seeds, ribs and stem then cut into strips.  Heat 1 tbls of butter in a dutch oven over medium, add the coriander seeds and the pequin chilies.  After 3 minutes, add the onions.  Sauté the onions for 4 minutes then add the corn.  Sauté for another 4 minutes, stirring infrequently (only once or twice) so that the corn is nice and carmelised.  Add the flour and immediately add the other tbls of butter.  Once that butter has melted, mix everything together well.  After 1 minute, add the lime juice.  Once the lime juice has evaporated, add the cointreau.  While the cointreau is reducing, add the peppers to the pot and mix in well.  Add the duck stock, bring to a simmer then add the potatoes and 1 cup of boiling water.  Put the lid on and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are perfectly tender.  Remove about 2 large ladlefuls of the solids in the pot leaving all the liquid and put in a bowl to reserve.  Then blend the whole think very thoroughly in a blender or with an immersion blender.  Bring back to a simmer then add the cream and milk, mix in and turn off the heat.  Pour your reserved vegetables back in the pot for some contrasting texture.  Serve with a bit of a cilantro, and don't forget your S+P.  B'Teavon!

Deconstructed fajitas, Israeli style

I have been very fortunate to have so many people who come from New York schlep me things.  One such person, Linda, has done so on a few occasions and I wanted to thank her for doing just that by the best way I know how - making dinner.  I decided to go to my butcher in the hopes of finding flank steak, because Linda likes her meat quite rare and it's a very good cut to serve that way.  Unfortunately they were out so I bought some sirloin instead.  Lior and Ilan joined us for the event and I think it was quite a success.

I had the last bit of cilantro emulsion to use up and decided to incorporate it once more into my dish.  I went to the Shuk after purchasing the meat and bought enough only for that dinner and the next day Lior and I flew to Berlin (where I have already, in two days, had an excellent culinary experience upon which I will expand in further posts).  I had recently looked at a mexican inspired dish I made over a year ago and decided to improve upon it.  Because Linda is sensitive to chilies, I made this dish much milder than the one that inspired it but without foregoing quality whatsoever.  The Israeli aspect of the dish was the ubiquitous "salat katzutz" (chopped salad), which consists entirely of tomatoes and cucumbers.  I know I was missing the beans and sour cream but oh well.

After dinner, I had the pleasure of seeing my friends Oren and Esther who made a bit of a surprise visit to Tel Aviv for the day.  We all sat in the living room and talked until after midnight.  It was a great night and I hope to have many more just like it.

For the guacamole:

3 avocados

1 tomato, cored, seeded and diced

1 shallot, minced

1 large clove of garlic, minced

2 tbls chopped cilantro

juice of 1/2 lime

2 tsp of tobasco

S+P

For the salad:

3 tomatoes, cored, seeded and diced

3 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced

1 tbls of cilantro emulsion (see post on bucatini)

juice of 1/2 lime

For the rice:

1 tbls veg oil

4 tomatoes, roughly chopped (seeds and all, though the stem removed)

large shallot, minced

1 large clove of garlic, minced

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 cup of long grain rice

S+P

For the tortillas:

3 flour tortillas

200 grams of grated mozzarella

For the steak:

600 grams sirloin, cut into two 300 gram filets

1/2 and ancho chili

1 tsp of coriander seed

1" inch of cinnamon broken up in your fingers

1 tsp of cumin

1 tsp of fennel seeds

S+P

Directions:

Mash the avocado thoroughly with a fork in a bowl.  Add the garlic and shallot and mash in too.  Fold in all other ingredients.

Combine all ingredients for the salad 10 minutes before serving.

Heat the veg oil in a sauté pan over medium.  Add the tomatoes, garlic and shallots and allow to cook down for ten minutes, stirring once every 30 seconds or so.  Combine the frozen peas with one cup of boiling water.  Pour the rice into the tomato mixture and combine.  Pour in the peas and the water then add one more cup of boiling water.  Make sure it's simmering, then put the lid on and leave for twenty minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 350F/175C.  Spread the mozzarella evenly over the three tortillas and leave in the oven for 7 minutes.  Remove, allow to cool, then slice in 1" by 3" strips.

Combine all spices (except S+P) in a cast iron skillet and toast over medium for about 5 minutes then pulverise in a spice grinder.  Remove the fat and sinew from the steaks and add to the skillet and allow to render fat for about 4 minutes.  Apply 3/4 of this mixture evenly over each side of the two steaks then add S+P to taste.  Remove the fat tissue from the pan and add the steak, 2 minutes on each side.  Remove from the pan and cover in tin-foil, allow to rest for 5 minutes then slice and plate.

B'Teavon!

 

   

Pan roasted chicken with spicy roasted potatoes, roasted tomatoes, and fried onions

Last night I made a meal entirely around a sauce that never came to fruition.  Jordana came over to witness the affair - the failure of my lime aioli.  The aioli failed because my egg was too old, and so the emulsion never took and I had no more eggs.  I wasted a cup of olive oil on it, alas, but came up with quite a tasty meal nonetheless.

I have just gotten back from New York fully equipped with many many kinds of chilies.  I thought that fried potatoes with some sort of mexican chili mixture on them would go well to dip in a lime aioli, but alas, the aioli didn't turn out, and I ended up roasting the potatoes.  Despite the great number of mexican chilies, I would say that the meal was somewhat of a fusion of Mexican and Spanish flavours, as I used olive oil, not corn oil, and made a rather Spanish relish out of my fried onions and garlic etc.  I dusted the Chicken in chickpea flour (not so Mexican), but despite all the disparate elements, the dish came out well as far as I'm concerned.

One of the most exciting things about last night's meal were the tomatoes I had found.  I was exiting the Shuk when I got really excited because I thought I was looking at Habanero peppers.  But no!  Not Habaneros, tomatoes!  They were so cute, an delivered an exclusively tomato flavour despite my hopes to the contrary.  I roasted them whole and by themselves, then incorporated them into the fried onion mixture.  All in all, yum! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 ancho chili

1 aji costeño chili

1 japones chili

1 tsp of cumin

1/2 tsp of grains of paradise

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, bone removed, sliced into to halves

about 2 tbls of chickpea flour

1 small onion, sliced radially and very thinly

2 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly

1 Israeli chili, seeded and sliced

2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and about 1/4" dice

8 very small pepper shaped tomatoes (couldn't name the variety if I tried)

lots and lots of olive oil

1 tsp of lime oil

1.5 tbls apple cider vinegar

a bit of cilantro for garnish

S+P

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 205C/400F.  Toast the chilies with the cumin and grains of paradise over low heat, remove the chilies when they begin to puff up.  Cut them in half and remove the seeds, then store half of the aji costeño and half of the ancho chili, place the remainder in a spice grinder with the cumin and grains of paradise.  Pulverise in a spice grinder until all turned to power.  Then sift through a sieve and discard any large pieces left over.  Coat the potatoes in olive oil, then with about 3/4 of the spice mixture you've made.  Leave in the oven for 35 minutes.

Combine the tomatoes and olive oil in a small baking dish, sprinkle with salt, add to the oven ten minutes before the potatoes are done.  After removing both, turn off the oven and leave your serving plates in the oven to keep warm.  Cover the potatoes with tinfoil but poke some holes so they don't get soggy.

Heat 2 tbls of olive with 1 tsp of lime oil in a sautée pan over medium.  Add the onion, stir occasionally, sautéeing for about 10 minutes, until golden.  Then add the garlic and the sliced fresh chili.  After about 4 minutes, stirring once or twice a minute, add the apple cider vinegar, S+P, and move the contents of the pan all around to pick up and carmelisation that there may be, when then vinegar has evaporated, transfer the onions to the dish in which you had the roasted tomatoes, and cover with tinfoil.

Dust the chicken with chickpea flour, S+P.  Add 2 tbls of olive oil to the pan, heat over medium, and fry for 2 minutes on each side.  Remove the chicken to tinfoil and cover for 2 minutes.  Then plate and enjoy.

B'Teavon!

       

Guacamole for dinner

I've been in finals mode and haven't had the energy to cook like I usually do.  Furthermore, I spent half the day cleaning yesterday (my apartment is spotless), and I didn't want to dirty that many dishes.  I had shown up at the Shuk at 5 on Friday just as all the merchantד were closing their stalls for Shabbat, and the ones who were still open were selling everything for really cheap.  I bought a LOT of food for 18 shekels (picture below).  But I didn't know what to do with it, and my avocados were getting mighty soft so I decided to just make a big old guacamole, and that was dinner.  Ilan came over and we ate guacamole and hung out.  Tomorrow is the one year anniversary on my making Aliyah (immigrating to Israel), but tomorrow is also the date on which I shall be flying back to New York for a much anticipated 3 week visit.  I'm having some friends over tonight to celebrate the one year of being and Israeli citizen, and so all the other vegetables present in the picture will certainly make their way into whatever it is I make tonight for the party.  

It's a simple recipe for the guacamole but a good one.  Limes are no longer in season but as I'm cleaning out my fridge before I go away, I decided to use my last lime on reserve for the guacamole.  Enjoy.

Ingredients:

4 ripe Hass avocados

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

1/2 jalapeño, minced

the juice of 1/2 lime

1 tomato, cored and diced

S+P and tortilla chips

Directions:

Scoop out the avocado and combine in a large bowl with the garlic, the shallots and half of your lime juice, then mash with a fork until smooth.  Add tomatoes, the rest of the lime juice, S+P to taste and fold in (don't mash the tomatoes).  Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy.

B'Teavon!

  

MezCal, a Restaurant Review

Last night I had the pleasure of eating at one of Tel Aviv's very few mexican restaurants.  The prices and food were excellent and the atmosphere was both quaint and well decorated with images that brought Mexico a bit closer to Tel Aviv.

MezCal was opened two years ago by Ziv, an Israeli who spent a lot of his childhood in Latin America.  His father worked at a number of Jewish schools in Venezuela and then Mexico.  They lived in Monterey, Mexico, a culinary hotspot.  There Ziv became enchanted with Mexican cuisine and even said to me that he "began to feel Mexican."  Ziv himself is a cook and developed all of the recipes on the menu himself.  He trains everyone working in his kitchen personally to ensure that the food is prepared to his standards of authenticity.

 Mezcal is located in a small space in the Florentine neighborhood of south Tel Aviv.  Much of the public space is devoted to the well stocked bar along which people also sit to eat their meals.  I arrived with four friends shortly after the restaurant's 7 o'clock opening.  The friend at whose behest we went to the restaurant invited us all to a Tequila shot to start off the evening.  The bartender recommended the Frida Kahlo Tequila Blanco, which went down very smoothly.  Unfortunately, the tequila was served with lemon rather than lime, but such is the nature of Israel's gastronomical reliance on seasonality.

 

We were given menus with the titles of the dishes in Spanish and explained in English and Hebrew.  Red dots on the side of dishes indicated the level of spiciness, and brown dots indicated vegetarian options.  My friends and I ordered a number of dishes and over all they were well received.  I ordered the one dish with the greatest number of red dots next to it, the Pollo con Mole, which is grilled chicken covered in chocolate chili sauce. The sauce came with hints of cinnamon, cloves, garlic, onion and tomato as well.  Although dishes come with flour tortillas, corn tortillas are also available and made on site.

Lindsay and Liat ordered the Tostadas, which were fried flour patties topped with avocado, refried beans, lettuce, red pepper, red onion and feta and are served with salsa.  The feta replaced the traditional Mexican Queso Blanco and they were supposedly not filling enough for dinner.  They were reportedly delicious, however.

Becky ordered the Cebiche de Camarón, or the Mexican Shrimp Cockatail if you will.  The shrimp was pared with avocado, generous amounts of cilantro, tomatoes, onions, lime juice and hot sauce and accompanied by tortilla chips.  These were also more appropriate as an appetizer. 

 

Lastly, Jordana ordered the vegetarian enchiladas which were filled with tofu, refried beans, roasted peppers, cilantro and feta and topped with white cheese and sour cream.  Unfortunately I was able to photograph them only after one was half consumed.  They supposedly went down very smoothly and were filling and delicious.

 

When asked why he decided to open MezCal in the Florentine neighborhood, which is not in the centre, he responded that the younger population of the neighborhood was more open to exotic choices, and that he lived in the neighborhood so it was also a matter of convenience.  He called the Florentine crowd "more alternative and less aggressive" than the competition in the centre demands.  In his words, "if a restaurant stays alive after its first year in Tel Aviv, you have a steady following and you'll be around for a while."  He is very happy with the move and proud of his restaurant as well he should be.

All of the food was scrumptious and a wonderful change from the usual Tel Aviv fare.  The prices were very affordable as my dinner came to less than $10 and I was most certainly full and satisfied (even if my mouth was on fire for a while afterward).  Our service was helpful, attentive and prompt.  I highly recommend this lovely restaurant/bar.

    

Black bean and roasted red pepper soup

I devised this dish to celebrate Israel's plentiful bell peppers at this time of year.  I went to the Shuk yesterday and just about every merchant was selling them.  I picked the most uniform ones to ensure easy roasting.  I had been looking forward to roasting peppers on my gas stove ever since I purchased it, for it's a lot more difficult in a pan.  The technique used could be somewhat dangerous if you're not careful so be attentive!

The great thing about this recipe is that it's pretty quick to make; about 40 minutes.  It's a perfect way to get full on ingredients that cost little.  It's even vegetarian (but not vegan).  The one potentially unpleasant side effect is that natural accompaniment to any bean dish.

The spice mixture used in this recipe could be used in many Mexican inspire dishes and the quantities called for in it's production will render about 1/3 cup--far more than is necessary for this recipe.  It is as follows:

1 Guajillo chili

1 Chipotle Morita chili

2 Japones chilis

1 tsp of coriander

1 tsp of cumin

4 cloves

Toast the chilies over medium-low heat in a frying pan or skillet, until the chilies begin to puff up, but don't allow them to burn!  Then pulverise them in a coffee grinder.

The recipe for the soup is as follows:

Ingredients:

4 red bell peppers

1 15 oz./425 g can of black beans. strained

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 large Spanish onion, diced

25 grams of butter

20 grams of flour

2 tsp spice mixture

1/4 lime

a few sprigs of cilantro

Directions:

Roast the pepper directly over a medium flame until all the skin has been charred black.  As soon as the skin is completely black place the peppers in a ziploc bag for 15 minutes.  Heat 5 grams of butter in a dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat.  When the butter is good and hot, add onions.  Sautée for about 6 minutes stirring occasionally, then add the garlic.  After thirty seconds add the spice mixture, sautée for about two minutes, then add the beans.   Add 1 litre of boiling water, and simmer over medium heat. 

Remove the peppers from the back then scrape off skin and rinse the pepper under water to wash off any remaining black bits.  discard the very bottom and top of the peppers, and slit open the pepper along one side, with the knife parallel to the flesh, cut out the ribs and seeds, then lay your fillet of pepper flat and cut into 1/4" thick strips with the length of each strip being the short side of the fillet.  Throw these into the pot and put the lid on for about ten minutes. 

In this time, in a large bowl, mash the remaining 20 grams of butter into the flour with a fork until it has an almost dough like texture and the consistency is even (no lumps).  This is an uncooked roux.  Uncover the pot, and pinch off little pieces of the roux dropping about 5 or so pieces at a time into the soup and stirring well with a wooden spoon but without breaking the beans.  Add salt, pepper and the juice from the 1/4 lime and serve.

B'Teavon