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Hi there, I'm Rose. I love to cook food - and eat it. If you have any questions concerning any of my recipes, drop me a line at:
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rose [at] avocadobravado.net
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Cory’s brother Casey has returned to the Midwest and life here has returned to normal. We were on our feet for much of the extended weekend and visited various parts of the city – Inner Sunset, Inner Richmond, Golden Gate Park, Haight Ashbury, Japantown, North Beach, Chinatown, Alamo Square (the Full House houses), and we even accidentally stumbled into Fisherman’s Wharf. I vowed to never take any visitors to the Wharf. We’re hip 20-somethings, after all. Not fanny pack wearing grandmothers who collect decorative roosters and bonnet wearing swans. Between all the walking, dining out (Indian, Vietnamese, and Puerto Rican food), I did manage to squeeze in some cooking and I even finished Fable 2 (priorities!).
We had less than a 24 hour notice to prepare for Casey’s arrival, so I wanted to make a hefty amount of food to carry us through the evenings when I’d be too exhausted to cook. Tagines are a favorite in our apartment, I love the contrast of sweet and savory flavors. It’s been a long time since I’ve purchased prunes, so I was tickled to discover that they’re now being marketed as dried plums. That’s what they are, of course, but the word “prune” conjures up images of old folks discussing their fiber intake. Nope, prunes are not nearly as sexy as dried plums.
Beef Tagine with Prunes and Raisins
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2-3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 very large onion, diced
3-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
red pepper flakes or cayenne, to taste
salt & pepper, to taste
1 1/2 lbs beef stewing meat, cut into cubes
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, with their juices
2 cups potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup prunes, halved
1/4 cup raisins
1 tablespoon honey
chopped parsley or cilantro, for garnish
couscous, bulgur, rice, or millet (for serving, about 1/4 cup per person)
Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. When hot, add the onions and cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and spices, cook for an additional minute, stirring often. Add the beef, cook on all sides until browned.
Once the beef has browned, add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes or cayenne. Cover the stockpot, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Toss the potatoes into the pot and cover for another 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now add the garbanzo beans, prunes, and raisins. Cover the stockpot once more and cook for an additional 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through. Just before serving, stir in the honey. Season to taste, adding more salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve the tagine with chopped parsley or cilantro and over couscous, rice, bulgur, or millet.
Serves about 8
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Since making gyros a couple weeks ago, I’ve had tzatziki on my mind. The problem is, we never have Greek yogurt on hand for very long because I eat it all by the spoonful straight from the container almost right away (yeah, I’m a barbarian. So what?). I knew that if I were going to make meatballs with tzatziki it would have to be right away, or the yogurt would be consumed in less than 48 hours. I tweaked my basic meatball recipe to include lots of fresh parsley and some dried oregano and the results were fantastic. I used to think the addition of bread and milk to meatballs were just there for filler, but they also keep the meatballs fluffy and tender. I served these with a green salad and we ate them for dinner, but they would make a great appetizer as well.
Meatballs with Tzatziki
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1 lb ground beef (or 1/2 ground beef, 1/2 ground pork)
1 small onion, finely diced
1-3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup breadcrumbs or 1 slice of day old bread (crust removed), cut into small pieces
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt & pepper, to taste
at least 3/4 cup of tzatziki, for serving
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large bowl, soak breadcrumbs in milk. Meanwhile, chop the onion, garlic, and parsley. Beat an egg in a small bowl. Heat oil in a large skillet, when hot add the onions and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Remove from heat.
Add the ground meat, onion, garlic, beaten egg, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper to the large bowl and mix thoroughly by hand. Form the meatballs into the size of golf balls. If the mixture is too wet, add more bread or breadcrumbs. Place the meatballs on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet lightly brushed with oil. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until meatballs are slightly browned and no longer pink in the center. Serve hot, with a generous amount of tzatziki.
Serves 3-4
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Okra is sort of a weird getable that I mostly associated with the American south (and indeed, we also have a huge pot of gumbo in the fridge). That is, until I moved to Egypt and okra slowly worked its way into my diet. I originally intended on preparing a slightly different dish, from Claudia Roden’s The New Book if Middle Eastern Food. As is often the case, I ended up putting the cookbook away and went a slightly different route. Roden’s bamia matbookha will have to wait for another day. This dish did not disappoint, though – it was filling, hearty, and comforting.
Beef and Okra Stew with Chickpeas
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1 lb ground beef
1 onion, diced
1-3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 lb tomatoes, chopped OR 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes, with their juice
salt & pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1 lb okra, chopped
1 15-oz can of chickpeas
Add oil to a large heavy stockpot. When hot, add onion and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until softened. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add in the ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Pour the tomatoes into the stockpot and add the spices – coriander, cumin, clove, salt, and pepper. Cover partially and simmer for an hour. Stir occasionally.
After an hour, add in the okra and chickpeas and simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season once more to taste and serve.
Serves 3-4
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I don’t have a lot of cookbooks, probably about 4 total. The one I use the most is The Joy of Cooking, which I really like but I often find the recipes to be hit or miss. I use Joy mostly for reference, to learn about the various cuts of meats, setting a table, cutting open a fish, etc. My mom sent me Claudia Roden’s The New Book of Middle Eastern Food for my birthday and I’m delighted to finally have a cookbook that will become a regular in my kitchen. I’ve already spent hours flipping through its pages and I’ve planned all our meals for the week using nothing but recipes from the book. First up, meatballs with pine nuts and tomato sauce, also known as Daoud Basha (David Pasha). The dish gets its name from the Ottoman pasha who administered Mt. Lebanon in the 18th century, though I can’t find much more information about that. Some sources (who didn’t cite any references) said that Daoud Basha was something of a tyrant. In any case though, the meatballs named after him are absolutely delicious. The sweetness from the raisins is a great touch. Do make sure to get most out of your pine nuts by toasting them, it really does make all the difference.
Daoud Basha
(adapted from Claudia Roden’s The New Book of Middle Eastern food)
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a slice of bread (optional)
milk (if using bread)
1 1/2 pounds ground meat (lamb or beef, preferably lamb)
1 large onion, grated or finely chopped
salt & pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon all spice
2/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup raisins
2 pounds tomatoes
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cloves garlic
Preheat oven to 400F.
Toast the pine nuts by heating a small pan over a medium flame. Add pine nuts and stir frequently for 3-5 minutes, or until fragrant and slightly golden. Remove from heat and set aside.
Add a slice of bread to a large bowl. The amount of milk you will need depends on the size of the slice of bread. Cover the bread with just enough milk and let the bread soak up the liquid for a few minutes. Now add the ground meat, onion, salt, pepper, coriander, pine nuts, and raisins. Roll the balls into the size of walnuts and place them onto a foil-lined baking sheet coated with oil.
Brush the meatballs with oil and bake them for 15-20 minutes. Cut up tomatoes and blend them in a food processor or blender. Add a little salt and pepper, sugar, garlic, and pour over the meatballs. Bake for 35 minutes, turning meatballs over once. Serve hot.
Serves 4-6
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For most of my life, I refused to eat beef. Can you believe it? An American kid who hated hamburgers and hot dogs. I still don’t eat beef very often, but when I saw this recipe a few days ago, I knew I had to make it. This was an incredibly flavorful and delicious curry. I’m already looking forward to tomorrow’s leftovers. I made some slight changes to the original recipe, using ground spices instead of whole ones, using less meat and adding chickpeas, and going easy on the cayenne pepper. The original recipe called for two teaspoons of cayenne pepper, but the stuff I have is quite strong. So be careful to not go overboard with adding too much pepper.
Also, according to Google Analytics – I’ve had visitors from 90 countries this month alone. So for those who native languages is not English, I’ve added a widget on the left column that will translate my blog into several different languages. Food is, of course, a universal language.
Beef Curry with Potatoes and Chickpeas
(adapted from So I Married a Meat-a-holic)
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oil, butter, or ghee
1 lb beef cubes for stew
1 red onion, sliced
2″ piece ginger, finely chopped
4-7 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Thai chilis, slit
3 roma tomatoes, chopped
salt & pepper, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste
1 tsp ground coriander
1 t turmeric
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground cardamom
2 potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1 15-oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 c coconut milk
handful of chopped cilantro, plus extra for garnish
Heat butter, oil, or ghee in a large stockpot. When hot, add onions and cook on high heat until the onions begin to brown. Add ginger, garlic, and chilis and stir until fragrant, or about a minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, salt & pepper, and spices. cook until the tomatoes begin to fall apart.
Now, add the beef and to the pot and pour just enough water into the saucepan to cover the meat. Cover and simmer for about 35 minutes. Add the potatoes to the pot and simmer for another half hour, or until the potatoes are done.
Add the coconut milk and chickpeas to the pot. Cook for another 10 minutes or so, to help blend the dish together. In the last few minutes of cooking, stir in the chopped cilantro. Season to taste. Serve with rice and/or flat bread Garnish with more cilantro.
Serves 4
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