Ful

When I wrote the other day that I never make Egyptian food, it was a half-lie.

One can of ful (fava beans) from the Middle Eastern market in a pan with some onions, garlic, cumin, a tomatoe if you have it, and a few drops of lemon is a very good breakfast indeed, with (pita) bread on the side to wipe your plate clean.

Fresh Corn Fritters with Salsa Verde

I have a lot of unfamiliar things in this week's box of produce. At the top of the list: tomatillos. The only recipe I found for them was salsa verde in Veganomicon, so I went ahead - replacing cilantro with parsley & putting chili powder in lieu of an actual chili. Then I made corn fritters with the two ears of corn using the Vegan With A Vengeance recipe to go with the salsa verde. The salsa verde was like nothing I've ever tasted (can't quite decide if that was a good thing), and the fritters were okay, pancakey in taste and texture. I had to omit the chili from them too, which I think would've given an interesting kick. The fresh corn that went into them was delicious - I had no idea raw corn was so good. I hope I get to play around with more sometime soon.

Mashed Red Potatoes

A few weeks ago when I was mashing potatoes to make gnocchi (I know I mention this as often as possible, bear with me), it occurred to me how good they looked, and I realized at a later date I would have to mash some potatoes to eat as a final product.

Coming to the end of our CSA box of produce, one of the last things remaining was a bag of freshly-dug red potatoes: it was the perfect day. I left the skin on, chopped & boiled them, mashed them with a little bit of margarine, and added a bit of celery and parsley (the only two things from our produce we haven't managed to finish).

Home Food

I'm not sure when I really started cooking. I think the first thing I cooked as an adult was a vegetarian chili recipe in the book "Get Crafty: Hip Home Ec" by Jean Railla. The section on cooking in that book was short, but very inspiring, and it encouraged me to give it a shot. Despite the inspiring encouragement, for the longest time, the chili was all I made: it featured at potlucks, dinner parties my sister and I hosted, and dinners in front of the TV.

Since then, I’ve expanded my repertoire to include more than just an endless variation of chili. Curries, pastas, a range of baked goods (everything but the active yeast) – recently, even a Ukrainian stew. But the line has been drawn, rather sharply, on Egyptian food. My parents are both Egyptian, and while it’s true I wasn’t raised there, I did spend the last six years there, I speak the dialect, and the Egyptian government has been responsible for issuing every passport I’ve had.

My mother didn’t cook much, relying on our housekeeper for day-to-day affairs and saving her efforts for big ‘izoomas (dinner parties) where she’d go all out for the three days leading up to the big event, and then returning to our largely macaroni-with-red-sauce-centered lives.

Sure, molokhiya (green stew eaten with rice) made periodic appearances, and stuffed vine leaves were always on the menu when the dozen guests were invited for those dinner parties, but I can’t exactly say that Egyptian food is what I grew up eating.

Egypt is not particularly well known for its cuisine (the Lonely Planet described it essentially as being nothing to write home about) – I can accept that – regardless of what the world’s favorite travel guide thinks, I am attached to certain dishes - but it doesn’t explain why I’ve never cooked anything that could really be called Egyptian.

I just finished reading the food memoir “The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken: A Search for Food and Family,” yesterday – in which Laura Schenone, the author, undertakes an endeavor to unearth her family’s authentic Genoese ravioli recipe. Schenone recalls the elaborate Christmas dinners her mother would host - describing the meal as being “… the Italian food of American technology and industrial technology” – and pointing out that her family neither desired Genoese staples of times past nor remembered how to make them. Instead, the food at the Christmas dinners had “no direct connection to us. But this does not matter. We all agree in the meanings – that it is good, that it is right.”

Is this direct connection to the food we eat important? And does the connection have to be linked to “ethnic heritage”? What about the place where we live, and the connections that can be formed by eating locally and in season?

Roased Sweet Potato and Pear Soup

This turned out pretty well. Another sweet main-course dish (unless you think soup isn't a main course - it was actually the only course yesterday, unless you'd like to count hot toast as a side).

Another plus: super-easy to make.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Pear Soup
Modified from Real Simple magazine

Serves 4 generously
Takes about an hour


Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion
2 pears, peeled & chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
3 medium sweet potatoes
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 C). Prick sweet potatoes with a fork 4 or 5 times. Place on baking tray, preferably lined with parchment paper to protect the tray. Roast sweet potatoes in the oven for 45 minutes, or until tender.

Heat the oil in a large pan, then add onions, pears, and celery. Cook for about 8 minutes on medium high heat, or until pears are soft.

When sweet potatoes are ready and have cooled enough to handle, cut them in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon, adding it to the pan with everything else. Cook until heated through.

Wait until soup cools and put it in a blender or food processor, or use an immersion blender right in the pan to puree.

Serve with bread.

VWAV Glazed Orange Scones

For my painting class today I'd volunteered to be the one to bring snacks, so I made the Apple Pie-Crumb Cake Muffins and Glazed Orange Scones, both from Vegan with a Vengeance. For some reason the muffins didn't turn out so great - although they were so great last week when I made them at home - but the glazed orange scones rocked!

They look kind of cheesy (it's the orange glaze!) in the picture, but I'll blame that on the fluorescent lighting in our kitchen. Strangely enough, the scones tasted lemony, not orangey - but that wasn't a bad thing at all.

**
Cooking now: Roasted sweet potato and pear soup. I saw a recipe in Real Simple magazine for sweet potato and apples, but we're all out of apples, so here goes nothing with the pears.

Solo Sushi

My friends taught me how to make sushi. At our local natural and organic supermarket the salesclerk scanned the packet of seaweed, bamboo rolling mat, sushi rice and rice vinegar - my guiding cookbook had preemptively warned against using regular vinegar.

“Ooh, sushi!” she gushed. “Is this your first time?”
"It'll be my first time without guidance." She said she'd recently undertaken the same transition from guided to unguided sushi, and it had gone over well enough.

So, a few days later, avocado good and ripe, and the clouds bountifully shedding near-incessant rain and making me think home was a pretty good place to remain, I decided today was the day.

I didn't realize I would have a strong friend-missing moment rolling my own sushi. Back in Cairo, we’d had a Sushi Making Workshop (slash party) where our brave friends who'd already ventured into sushi-making territory guided us all into making perfect little rolls, with tons of photo ops along the way, not to mention a rule that any deformed sushi could be consumed immediately.

But thousands of miles away, I wondered how I had been part of this perfect-sushi universe. I was confronted with sticky rice that stuck to my fingers, not the seaweed; mushy avocado; and forgot which direction I was supposed to roll in. Not to mention that the rolls didn't want to bow down to the fate of the knife and be sliced.

A few Google consultations later (which weren’t that helpful – I needed pictures!), and a few last-minute sushi set-up readjustments, it came together. Cucumber, avocado, and thin leek slices united together surrounded by the sweet vinegary rice and the rolls submitted to their sliced fate – and their ultimate destiny of soy-sauce dipping and happy consumption.

Quinoa with Summer Squash

This was supposed to be last night's dinner, but instead we went out to watch the potential vice presidents debating each other - strange, I know - and ended up eating out (hummus platter and onion rings - a nice balance I think between healthy vs. unhealthy).

Anyway, since it was all pretty much ready, I went ahead and ate it for lunch. I was inspired by Mark Bittman's recipe for pasta with butternut squash over at his blog Bitten, so decided to follow his instructions for the squash but pair it with quinoa (pronounced keen-wa, a grain). It was a little bland, so I doctored it with everything suggested in the recipe: salt, pepper, a teaspoon of sugar, and (from one of the comments) chili powder. When I ate it I discovered it needed another direction: soy sauce. So I'm thinking of adding some bok choy (Chinese cabbage that came in our produce box) and some ginger for dinner to push it further into pseudo-Asian territory.

Speaking of the CSA box: it was packed! I really don't know how we're going to finish all this food. Apples, a bunch of grapes, pluots (like plums), the bok choy, celery, pears, a big cucumber, one onion, parsley, radishes, and lettuce! For two people, for one week. Not to mention we still have other produce we need to eat. I'll report how it goes.

DIY washable ink tattoo

Tell me I don't have a future as a kick-ass tattoo artist.

Model Apple Reinvents Itself; Sacrifices Self in Process

I made the Apple Pie-Crumb Cake Muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance last night for dessert, since I needed to use the fruit originally utilized as pretty models for my still-life for art class. The big red apple seen in the background seemed like a logical place to begin this endeavor.

The mr. said, "So we're eating art?"

I've included a photo of the before and after to the left to help you get a better feel of the transition that took place. I still need to utilize everything else in the painting: orange, pear and lemon, but the tiny apple in the front row is still up for debate (it has unsettling brown spots).

I HIGHLY recommend the muffins - there's an adaptation over at Mad Vegan in the Kitchen. One thing I've been puzzling over though, ever since becoming 'civilized' enough to use measuring cups and spoons: my quantities are turning out way less than the recipes promise! This recipe yielded only about 9 muffins instead of the typical dozen. What's that about?

In other food news, we're getting our first box of produce from the farm we signed up with as our CSA (Community-supported Agriculture, read about it here). Exciting.

Lighter

I did an experiment today. It wasn't intended to be an experiment, it was just supposed to be a walk. I left the house with only a set of keys for a 20-minute brisk walk. It took me a while to decide to do this. I don't really usually like leaving the house, especially not alone. This is not because of safety issues.

So, as I used to do especially right when I first got here, I let myself walk in whatever direction I liked, turning when I pleased, with the vague idea of reaching either a park half an hour away or a neighboring district (maybe 15 minutes away). The idea of walking - no, the actual walking with no possessions on my person save for my keys and the clothes on my back, as it were, was physically light. I generally like to lug around my (currently) 6 x 8.5 inch journal, pen and marker, book to read, wallet, tissues, a water bottle, and (recently) a set of colored pencils. Individually, they are all light enough, but together they form a collective burden on walks exceeding 15 minutes.

The going out without money was interesting too. I have a friend who did an experiment where she would go out with neither money nor possessions on alternate days for a period of her life. She had to walk everywhere, even if she had an appointment all the way across the city unless she had a ride from someone (no possessions = no car and no cash and so no cabs).

Like my friend, the lack of possessions carried with cut down on my options. No stopping for coffee or buying something impulsively or giving a dollar to someone asking for change. I always think that money gives people options, in a bigger sense. And there is of course the inherent assumption that options are good. More options is just better. I'm not saying I want to wake up tomorrow morning and discover my bank account has been depleted - and there is no point in glorifying poverty from a position of privilege like the one I have essentially been born into. I guess I'm just saying that options, in certain contexts, can be maddening, and I think can create shortened attention spans. I rotate in five-minute intervals between crocheting granny squares for a blanket, perusing my laptop and the time-consuming wonders of the internet, reading an Italian-American woman's 'food memoir', and checking my new cookbooks for recipes to try. Sitting on the lime green couch in my living room, surrounded by my things, switching back and forth from one activity to another, not knowing which to focus on, because there are so many choices at my fingertips.

Not-Quite Ukrainian Beet and Bean Stew

Last week me and the mr. trekked out to the library book sale, and I was able to stock up on bargain-basement-priced cookbooks, one of which was Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. Having read on one of my favorite blogs about how great her Moosewood cookbook is, I got it. Now, my normal cookbook relationship is to flip to the index and see how I can use up the vegetables in my fridge before they go bad. So, looking under B for beets I found Ukrainian stew.

I made a lot of omissions and substitutions. Cabbage and celery were just eradicated, plain potatoes replaced with sweet; caraway seeds with cumin (Google advised on the last one), among other things. So here's my modified version:

Ukrainian Beet and Bean Stew
Serves 4
Modified from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

1 teaspon canola oil
1 medium onion
2 C water or vegetable stock
1/2 C sliced carrots
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 large beets, peeled and chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can black beans (original called for kidney beans)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 C chopped leek

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and saute for a few minutes. Add 1/2 C water, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add carrots, stir, and simmer for another 5.
Add the rest of the water, potatoes, beets, tomatoes, cumin, vinegar and salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for roughly 35 minutes. You're done when the beats are tender.
Add the pepper while it's still hot, garnish with the leeks.

The end result is a sweet stew. For me I enjoyed it because it was such a departure from my usual vegetables - broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and zucchini. I served it with the Leak and Bean Cassoluet biscuits from Veganomicon.

Gnocchi

Vegan Mo Fo begins tomorrow! Oh boy.

Well, things are pretty active on the cooking front: yesterday I made gnocchi from VWAV (Vegan with a Vengeance) and topped it with basil-spinach pesto. The gnocchi turned out really well, and, as expected, took in total, a really long time. I took some photos along the way. I also have a tip for anyone attempting gnocchi: after mixing and rolling out the dough on your counter top, take the time to wipe it down right away, unlike me. I did it today, with a bit of elbow grease.
I even made salad, (salata baladi), with cucumbers, tomatoes, a tiny bit of onion and one grated baby carrot. I dressed it with the works: a pinch each of salt and pepper on top, a dash of vinegar (plain) and olive oil, and a drop of lemon (the kind that comes in a plastic bottle). Not bad.

1. Dough getting rolled out
2 & 3. Getting cut into small bite-size gnocchi pieces
4. Final product
5. Aftermath: extra frozen gnocchi to use later.

Total time: roughly 3 hours, including 45 minutes of baking potatoes in the oven.

Vegan Mo Fo

Just signed up for vegan mo fo - the vegan month of food, starting Wednesday October 1st, so exactly a week to go.

Today's left-overs: I made Vegan Dad's Potato Cauliflower Mash, to use up my cauliflower - exactly as the name suggests, potatoes and cauliflower mashed together. It's pretty close to plain mashed potatoes, but the cauliflower adds a nice crunch to the texture. I left out the sweet potatoes because I didn't have any, but I imagine they'd make it even better. I loved this recipe because it was so easy and used so few ingredients, so give it a shot with your left-over potatoes.

**

In other food news, yesterday I made tomato sauce from scratch! It took a few hours, but it was a good experience. I made great but totally non-adhesive (um, sticking-together-itness) lasagna with it, and that was the end of the sauce (it yielded a huge amount from what would amount to 12 medium-sized tomatoes). The lasagna included vegan sausage, fresh spinach, and button mushrooms.

I had declared this Italian week, and had plans for cooking something new today (especially since I'm planning to check out the farmer's market today), but I think the prevalence of left-overs from yesterday and the day before stop me from doing that in good conscience.

The One Thing

Yesterday the mr. made a few announcements. 1 - that I am good at a lot of things, but not excellent at any. 2 - that I should choose one thing to be excellent at and dedicate my life to it.

He tried to lure it out of me: "What do you enjoy doing the most? What could you do all day?"
"I like doing lots of things. Right now I like cooking and crochet."
"Then you should do that. Go to cooking school. Become really good at it."

Just when I'd pretty much decided to give up this idea of the One Thing and half-heartedly pursue uhm, pretty much everything.

Things I am putting off

So, if you scroll down slightly & peek at the left-hand column, you'll find I've gone through my archives and labeled a bunch of old posts, to make my archives more accessible for all (ok, mostly me). I have to say, I like looking through old blog stuff. Currently the mr. is working very hard - he has been for hours.

Here are a bunch of things I "want" to do but...:
1- study for my US driving license test. I've read through the entire pamphlet at this point, now I just need to commit it to memory.
2- read the rest of Naked Lunch. I had a quota of 20 pages a day to just get through it and have it done before it's due date at the library, but I've skipped for the past 3 or 4 days (ok, I only followed it for 2 days...)
3- work on my painting! i went and got a little lamp specially, and came close about an hour ago, but somehow I wound up here working on the blog.

**

Image: Stolen coaster! Background: the still life I am procrastinating on. Reflection in window: main living area of our flat.

Throwing Yourself

One of my friends advised me, before moving to Seattle from Cairo to join my already-established husband, that I had to find something. That I had to throw myself into something there, anything. Art class starts Monday.

Today: library (the new Oprah magazine is out. I just read the new one two days ago - that's like a whole new magazine) and park?

Yesterday: fettuccine with classic tomato sauce.

Today: Mossakah? Still intimidated. Mother-in-law advised:
Chop eggplants, deep fry in oil with garlic, layer in baking dish and cover with tomato sauce. Sounds simple enough, right? Might still wait for tomorrow and have the mr. make it himself. I don't even like "mossakah."

Birthday food

My original plan for the mr's birthday was to make him homemade gnocchi, but I had to change course because I wasn't feeling too well, so I needed something slightly less time-consuming and labor-intensive. I turned to Vegan Dad's Chickpea Coconut Curry served over rice, with a side of guacamole and a not-quite 'dessert' of Susan V's fat-free blueberry muffins.

So, the first three images are from the birthday dinner; the other two are just random, non-birthday meals.

Random 1: Broccoli florets with pesto and vegan mozzarella.
Random 2: Carrot-celery rice pilaf that turned out way too bland, and loosely based on a recipe I found in a vegan book the mr. has, Vegan Cooking for One or Two.

Today: maybe an attempt at misa2a3a (mosakah?)- he got the recipe from his mom.

Black Bean Burgers

This is what we ate today - recipe here. It made four patties. We topped the burgers with tomatoes, pickles, avocado and vegan mozzarella cheese. Not bad at all. For some reason I got really frustrated in the burger-making process - it started with me asking the mr. if the onions were chopped finely enough, and him saying no - so I kind of made him take over, and I became in charge of picking out pickle slices from the jar and putting them on the burgers.

I'd recommend them and would make them again - they were done pretty fast. Also, I think you could easily use any other kind of bean - say, lentils - instead of black beans, which seem to be a very USian kind of bean (i.e., not widely available elsewhere, I think).

Breathing Apples & more

Yesterday for dinner I did end up making the spinach-tofu, only the spinach shrunk down to about 1/16th of its size so I felt compelled to add a carrot and a few stalks of celery. Learning from previous mistakes (wait - there are no mistakes), I sliced the carrots as thin as I could so they would cook fast. Initially I threw them in with the spinach, but since the spinach was already all wilted, I went ahead and picked out the carrot slices - with my fingers, it wasn't too hot yet - and threw them in another pan on their own to fry at their leisure and not make the spinach evaporate. Seriously, the spinach diminished that much, the next step really would've been for us to have spinach-gas hovering over the stove.

So besides the carrot and celery additions, I did everything else ehow suggested in their how to cook spinach page. Pretty easy. And the peanut sauce recipe I used was one I've done before a few times, from about.com.

Next up, I want to try about's recipe for black bean burgers. It looks so easy, and I even have a can of black beans all ready to go! I'll probably do that tomorrow, although we still have carrots, broccoli, and celery in the fridge, so I need to figure out what I'll do with those.

Also, I found an interesting and very useful web page about storing produce - tells you what produce to refrigerate, and which to leave out, and which you should keep separate (turns out certain fruits, like apples, emit gases which causes non-gas emiters, like, say, broccoli, to ripen/ go bad faster).

Funny side note: my sister had a colleague that thought plucked apples were alive because they 'breathed,' - that is, she noticed if you put them in a lidded container there would be moisture at the top from the supposed breathing.