Cups of ChaiI realize …..
that this just looks like a bowl of brown mush. But it is one delicious bowl of brown mush.
When I first made this, it was a throw-together recipe based on what I had in the fridge. Now, I plan meals to have leftover ingredients for this stoup (thicker than a soup, thinner than a stew = stoup). So, I made a batch of my favorite Asian slaw, by Once Upon A Chef, and had a lot of cabbage left over for this delicious bowl of brown mush.
Try it – it’s excellent on a rainy night and it stores, freezes, reheats really well. Serve it carb-free or with white rice.
Beef, Cabbage, and Mushroom Stoup
As with many of my recipes, this is about technique and not exact proportions. the technique here is to cook each thing separately so that you build layers of flavor. this recipe can accommodate different amounts of ingredients depending on what you have in the house. for example – i’ve never tried it, but i think celery would be great in this. make it vegetarian by substituting white beans for the beef!
My dear friend and college roommate Hana is getting married this summer. Hana and Jamaal are going to Italy for their honeymoon, so her sister Mona and I threw her an Italian themed bridal shower. Many thanks also to Jawaad, Mona’s hubby who got roped in to stuff mushrooms, Amna, who made an amazing panzanella and the desserts, and Mahroo for taking the pictures and showing up early to help cook!
So, a bit of background. During my senior year of college, I roomed with three of my best friends: Hana-Mona (2 separate people often referred to as one) and Sumreen. Sumreen and I had been roomies since freshman year and we added the H & M duo later. Hana, Sumreen and I were seniors, and Mona, a junior, was (willingly) dragged along on our escapades.
Shrimp Scampi
My patient roomies served as wonderful guinea pigs that year as I practiced cooking…Ameir and I had just gotten engaged and I thought I should enter married life with more in my repertoire than baking. So, of course, I owed Hana for her patient perseverance 
.
Many duas and love for Hana as she begins the next chapter in her life. I love you, roomie!
Spring Melon Salad
Hana’s Italian Spring Bridal Shower
Though I make a mean lasagna bolognese (which I’ll certainly tell you about sometime), I wanted to keep this light with a series of salads and hot appetizers. We did a mix of store-bought and super-easy stuff and homemade stuff. I also did as much ahead as possible so that morning, we could just assemble and cook. Even then, it does take several hours so divide up the work and get help on cooking day (thanks Mona, Jawaad, Amna, and Mahroo!). It’s all worth it for a lovely lady like Hana!
Here’s the menu: I’ve got some recipes, tips, and techniques after the jump!
- Bruschetta with ricotta, basil, and sundried tomatoes
- Spring Panzanella by Smitten Kitchen (made by Amna!)
- Tortellini with basil pesto
- Stuffed Mushrooms by Pioneer Woman.
- Chicken Meatballs by Smitten Kitchen (my variation)
- Shrimp scampi
- Spring melon and arugala salad with ricotta salata
- Tiramisu (Amna!)
- Lemon-Mint cake (Amna!)
- Italian Soda
remember my new obsession with mushroom stems? here’s the result!
these meatballs are so, so soft from a combination of fresh breadcrumbs, eggs, and savory onions and mushroom stem mixed into the meat. it also helps that it simmers slowly for an hour. sorry I don’t have any real pictures of the dish – I made it for a big family dinner and didn’t get a chance. it’s delicious, though!
this could also very easily be adapted for a slow cooker – just sear the meatballs and toss it into the cooker.
Mushroom Meatball Stew
Ingredients
3 pounds ground beef
3 packs white button mushrooms
5 or 6 medium sized onions
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
Any kind of stock (I used mushroom)
Black pepper
cumin or what Arabs call “meat spice”
Fresh parsley
2 pieces of white toast
1/4 – 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (the kind that comes in a can)
3 large eggs
1 large (family size) can of cream of mushroom soup
Meat mixture
1. In a frying pan, heat some olive oil and fry two or three diced onions. Meanwhile, wash three boxes of mushrooms and take the stems off. Whizz the stems in a food processor so they get diced finely. Put those in with the onions and sauté until everything is brown. Add a bit of salt, about 1/4 tsp or so.
2. Purée this in a food processor or add it as is into your 3 pounds of ground beef. Also add to the ground beef one handful of chopped parsley (maybe half the bunch).
3. Beat together three eggs, one or two teaspoons of meat spice (or one teaspoon of cumin) and a bunch of black pepper, and about one or 2 teaspoons of salt. Pour this into the meat mixture.
4. Make breadcrumbs out of the bread in the food processor (untoasted bread, so the breadcrumbs come out soft) and add those with the handful of Parmesan cheese into the beef.
Make the meatballs and stew!
1. Make these into small meatballs (I took a quarter cup of meat mixture and divided that into two meatballs each). Sear them in a hot pan with some olive oil; don’t cook them all the way through yet. Once they are seared, take them out and put them into a large pot where you will simmer the stew.
2. Don’t clean the pan that has been used to sear the meatballs. Instead, add two or three sliced onions (depending on how much you like onions) and chopped garlic; sauté until they are brown. Once the onions get good and brown, add sliced mushroom caps. Sauté for a couple of minutes until the mushrooms break down and get soft, but they don’t have to be totally cooked. Add all of this to the pot with the meatballs in it. The mushrooms may have released a lot of liquid, and that is a good thing.
3. Now add to the pot of meatballs one large can of cream of mushroom soup, and the amount of broth it calls for thinning out the soup. It will be liquidier than normal soup because the mushrooms released liquid.
4. Stir everything up, cover and cook on medium low heat for an hour and a half to two hours, until the meatballs are soft.
5. Turn off the heat. Cut up some spinach and just drop it into the pot of stew and cover the pot for about a minute until the spinach wilts in. Add as much spinach as you like (I used one whole bag of baby spinach), and the rest of the parsley. Taste and adjust for salt and black pepper.
Serve over rice!
gratuitous unrelated cat picture
i go through phases of obsessions, skill-building, and other various and sundry cooking quirks. i think i’ve overcome my chipotle fixation and i managed to get through this fall without butternut squash.
zest: i know i’ve mentioned this before, but i’d like to reiterate it. never, ever, ever use a lemon just for its juice. you can zest it right in to whatever you needed the juice for. or, freeze the zest with a bit of juice to keep it moist. if you’ve got zest in the freezer, you can make danishes like this in a flash.
warm plates: i don’t remember where i picked this up from, but i think it was alton brown or mark bittman in an old minimalist video. my forgotten teacher said “nothing leeches heat from hot food like cold plates.” this is so true. by the time i set the food down, grab drinks and silverware, and ameir and i both get to the table, the food starts to cool down. especially eggs – hot from the frying pan and straight onto a cold plate. cold eggs are not good (except in egg salad).
the idea was really seeded by my dad, who pours boiling water into an empty mug to warm it, then empties it and adds a teabag and fresh boiling water. also, abbu drinks his tea at near-boiling. the family theorizes that his mouth and throat are coated with some sort of heat resistant material.
now, this only works if you’ve got sturdy plates, of course. i’ve started warming serving dishes in the oven and eating plates in the microwave for 45 sec. it really makes a difference in keeping our food warm all the way through the meal.
keeping food warm in the oven: i’m also learning how to balance between timing and keeping food warm until serving. i hate serving cold food. when i’m making individual batches of things, like pancakes, i set my oven to the lowest it will go (170F) and put cakes in there until all the batter is done. if dinner is ready before we’re ready to eat it, whether it’s just the two of us or we have guests, i cover it and put it in the oven on 200F. [and if i can clean up while things are staying warm, all the better so i can just lounge after eating!]. of course, some things will dry out or overcook, and i’m still learning how to manage that, but this has largely made my life easier and my food tastier.
mushroom stems: real talk. the good part of mushrooms are just the caps, right? the stems have a weird woody, fibrous texture to them when cooked. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE.
if you chop them up finely [whizz in a food processor if there are a lot] and saute them over medium heat until they’re evenly browned, they turn into flavor oomphing caviar. [they've got umami. not unagi.] especially if you add finely chopped onions and diced garlic. now, whenever i’m cooking with mushrooms, i always de-stem them first and cook this down into the sauce. i’ve also added this into ground beef for meatballs with great success. [fyi i got this idea from pioneer woman's amazing stuffed mushrooms. if you have any filling left over, roll it into some chicken breast. yeah.]
i’d like to experiment pureeing the cooked stems, onions, and garlic into a paste and keeping it in the fridge or freezer, and add spoonfuls into marinades or sauces or soups.
that’s all for now!
ready
i don’t know if this is a sign of some nascent vitamin c deficiency, or if i’m working out a mild jealousy that my parents are in pakistan during citrus season and have been drinking fresh-squeezed kino juice every morning. but here’s the result.
step 1: i bought a couple of every kind of orange (and a grapefruit) available at food lion. blood orange, cara cara, and one whose name i can’t remember.
step 2: wash and dry very well. zest each one into a small bowl with a microplane grater. the grapefruit really gave me some trouble but overall the zesting was well worth it.
step 3: grab a serrated knife. slice off a bit off one end of the citrus so it sits flat on your board. then, run your knife roundly down the sides, cutting off the rind as you go.
step 4: segment the fruit – hold each one in the palm of your hand. you see the lines running up and down? that’s the membrane that can be kind of fibrous and chewy in some varieties. not so great in a fruit salad. again using a serrated knife and working over your serving bowl (not the zest bowl), cut diagonally inwards between each membrane line. you’ll get little triangular segments and a bunch of juice falling into the bowl. when you’re done, you’ll have a mass of membranes left with some fruit stuck to them – just squeeze over the bowl and discard the rest.
step 5: EAT.
can we just marvel over these colors for a second? subhanallah.
wait, taiyyaba, what do i do with the zest? OMG i’m so glad you asked.
so, a couple of weeks ago (still during my citrus craving), i had dinner with friends at Zaytinya. it was super amazing (except for the snail kibbe….yeah you read that right), particularly this citrus salad with bright fruit, slightly bitter greens, pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and a soft salty cheese. well, naturally, after i’d cut up all that citrus, i had to try it with the bits and pieces i had on hand.
i’m kind of humble-proud about this vinaigrette. i need to keep working on the proportions but the flavors are really great.
citrus salad
vinaigrette: citrus zest from several fruits; probably about 1/2 cup of mixed citrus juice, 1/2 cup of strong earl grey left over from making honey cake, half a tablespoon of honey, and a couple of capfuls of apple cider vinegar. whisk with some olive oil and a pinch of salt.
dress some strong, dark greens (i used arugala) with this yumminess. bowl it. top with various and sundry citrus segments and some slivered almonds (if you have more wherewithal than i did, toast them first). nom it. some feta or ricotta salata would be awesome on this as well.
my friend and colleague at work, bethan, has a theory about pinterest – namely, that it is a purely aspirational device for people to obsess about stuff they want to do but never will. i think she’s mostly right. Lord knows i never do any of the stuff i pin on my “neat and clean” board and unfortunately own only one of the awesome things on my “serveware” board. but, bethan, i’ve proved you wrong today!
for a couple of days, i’ve been craving the process of baking and eating a cake. so, of course, i went on a pinterest spree (no one was injured, amy/donny). one really caught my eye – smitten kitchen’s majestic and moist honey cake. so i made it today, bethan! (of course she’s still right….i pinned 10 and will probably won’t make any of the rest of them….)
smitten kitchen’s stuff never fails – she really knows how to develop a recipe. this is a spicy and super soft cake to which i will very quickly become addicted. follow smitten kitchen’s directions. i modified her recipe for size and substituted some ingredients. here’s what i did!
sk’s honey cake
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg [i didn't have cloves]
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey + a bit extra
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 capful vanilla extract
1/2 cup strong earl grey
1/4 + a couple of tbs 100% apple juice [unsweetened]
slivered almonds
as you can see from my ingredient list, i decreased the sugar a bit, substituted apple juice for the whiskey [cuz muslim] and orange juice [cuz i'm not a big fan of anything orange-flavored except oranges] and cloves [cuz i didn't have any]. i chose earl grey instead of coffee [cuz i thought it would go better with the spices].
i made this in a 9 or 10-inch round springform pan, baked at 350F for 41 minutes. immediately after it came out of the oven, i brushed the top with warmed honey. i served it with a dollop of cream cheese, whipped till fluffy with vanilla extract, vanilla sugar, and lemon zest. (whipped cream would be lighter, of course, but i had some of this left over from making danishes).
to make bethan proud [and my tastebuds happy], i’ll hopefully make my “sweets” board more than just an aspiration. we’ll see.
it’s saturday morning. i fell asleep early last night after a deposition (by which i mean i was sitting on the couch, watching star trek with the hubs, when the cat came to snooze on me, and suddenly it was two hours later and the hubs was saying “you really should go to bed, honey.”)
but now, it’s saturday morning. my biological clock still wakes me up relatively early on saturday mornings, so now i’m sitting in the sunroom watching the aforementioned cat chatter at birds on this lovely “still a bit too cold for NC but we’re getting there” spring morning.
my favorite (non-fruiting) tree is blooming, a white bradford pear that doesn’t have a strong fragrance but looks like an explosion of cotton balls. our backyard “grass” is really just a collection of clover flowers, which may be considered weeds but which i love. and, there are little nibs of color starting on our peach tree, which starts me down the path that leads to an insane amount of lovely fruit. i’ve got work to do, but have decided that i can put it off till tomorrow. when the hubs wakes up, i’ll make pancakes and then meet some friends for lunch at a favorite restaurant in chapel hill. so, all in all, this saturday morning is a very big alhumdulillah moment.
oh, and now the cat has arrived to knead biscuits on my lap.
why so long since my last post? laziness, mostly. but also resistance to doing anything that requires thinking after a long day of lawyering. the next few months promise to be as busy as this one is as i traverse through my first litigation experience. it’s a lot of fun and/but a lot of work and/but i’m learning a lot and enjoying it.
so right now, i’m enjoying my saturday morning. i’ll come up with some real posts soon.
i rage a constant war against my sweet tooth. i can’t help it. it’s genetic. inherited a double whammy from both sides of my family, but especially from my mother. my naana (paternal grandfather), used to start eating sugar right at the dinner table if dessert was not yet on hand.
on days where i’m feeling particularly truthful with myself, i admit that it’s a losing battle, and i make a pan of brownies. on days where i’m deceiving myself into thinking one sweet bite is enough, i make these cini-minis.
(and if i eat four of these, i promise myself to start my diet tomorrow).
pop a roll of cinnamon rolls and cut each roll into halves, thirds, or fourths (depending on how truthful you’re feeling). place each into a lightly greased mini-muffin cup. bake at the package-directed temperature for 7-10 minutes, or until they’re just done. watch ‘em. since they’re so small, they can overbake quickly. dollop with the frosting that comes with the packet. in addition to shame/ful/less snacking, these are really great for quick party snacks.
I have a life. So, cooking a good meal can be a challenge sometimes. But, in the “ace up my sleeve” category, I’ve got a few super-fast recipes using one can of beans and a few other things I usually have in my pantry. They make a light meal for one or substantial side dish for two and are quite healthy!
Canellini beans with caramelized onions and basil
1 onion, sliced in slivers
1 can canellini beans (or any white bean)
White sugar
Fresh basil leaves, basil pesto, or basil-in-a-tube (basil is my favorite here, but sage or rosemary are great substitutes).
Red pepper flakes
Just a bit of broth
Salt and black pepper
1. Warm some olive oil in a pan and get ready to quick-caramelize the onions.
Start at medium high heat (you can go higher if you’re attentive) and get a quick sear on them. Staying at medium-high, let them get a little brown on the edges and sprinkle with a light teaspoon of sugar. Turn it down and let them cook for about 7 or 8 more minutes.
Real caramelized onions take a long time, and don’t need any sugar. But when you’re tired, you can get an approximation in 10 minutes this way. Do try to leave them to cook on the lower heat as long as possible because they really provide great flavor to this dish.
2. While the onions are caramelizing, add in a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Adding them now helps the heat permeate through the whole dish.
3. Drain and rinse the canellini beans. Shake out the water, but it’s okay if they’re still a little moist. Add them to the pan and toss with the onions. Add salt and just a little bit of black pepper – not enough to overwhelm the light beans.
4. Add in a little bit of broth – about two or three tablespoons – and cover the pan to let the beans soften. (if you don’t have broth, it’s okay, but the beans might get a bit dry, so watch them. you can add a bit of chopped tomato instead).
5. The beans are done when you can mush one with a fork and when they’ve absorbed all the broth. At the last minute, stir in the basil (in pesto, fresh, or in-a-tube form).
I’ve served these in so many different ways as a side dish or as a meal, and each is delicious. Pick one!
As a side dish: They’re great just like this as a side dish to grilled meat.
White Bean Crostini: Puree with a little more broth and spread over crostini. Top with a little more caramelized onion, shredded fresh basil, or sundried tomato.
White Beans with Couscous: Serve over couscous, which takes maximum 10 min to make, so it’s perfect for this quick-cooking meal. Toss some mint or parsley into the couscous if you have it.
Stuffed butternut squash: Hollow out the round part of a butternut squash (unpeeled), drizzle with oil, salt and pepper. Roast it at 450F until it’s soft. Fill the hollow with these canellini beans. Serve with a green salad for an amazing vegetarian supper. (this obviously takes longer. i added tomato since i didn’t have broth).
(My favorite way! This is the main picture at the top of the post) Grilled Romaine and White Bean Salad: Heat a grill pan. Cut some romaine lettuce in half, lengthwise (leave the core in) and drizzle it with olive oil. When the grill pan is quite hot, put the romaine on it cut side down and leave it there until you get some delish grill marks on it. Turn and grill the other sides. Plate the romaine and pour the hot basil canellini beans on top. (wait, it gets better!) Drizzle with Balsamic vinegar (aged, if you have it). Oh. My. God. My mouth is watering right now just writing about this.
So many options from just one little can o’beans! Enjoy!
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon. We are from God, and to God we return.
Our beloved cousin, Ali, was killed in Damascus last week. Ali went missing on Thursday night, when he went to spend time with some friends and did not return. Yesterday, our family found out that he had been killed. He was buried today in the family graveyard.
Ali was the youngest of seven children. He was one of the kindest and happiest people I have ever known. Ali’s good manners, respect, and love were pervasive, and he spread them to his family and friends.
Ali was always ready with a smile, a joke, and a place in his big heart for everyone he met. He always made me feel so welcome when I visited Syria, even though I knew very little Arabic. Every memory I have of him makes me smile: Ali singing to his nephew, Ali driving like a maniac, Ali singing along to “What’s My Name?,” Ali telling us as we left for home to “Tell Molly I said salaam.” Allah yarhamhu.
Last time we went to Syria, Ali drove us everywhere around the beautiful country, taking time away from his studies to devote to our enjoyment. He was studying to be a lawyer.
Ali with his mom at the Syrian Mediterranean coast
Ali loved his family, and we love him. He will continue to live in our hearts and memories.
These make me smile. We had just spent a lovely weekend at the sea. We headed out so early that Ali didn’t have time for his signature hair gel. After some badgering, he let me take these. Afterwards, he applied half a tub of gel, rubbing palmfuls of goop into his hair, laughing heartily with us as we teased him about his style. May Allah give him the joy of Jannat al-Firdaus.
We pray for Ali and all of our brothers and sisters in Syria, those who are still living under tyranny and those who have escaped as displaced refugees. For those who have been killed, may Allah magnify their reward, forgive their sins, and accept them as martyrs in the highest level in Paradise.