I found my SUMAC!

Home made Kefta Kebab with Saffron Rice

Watching the news about the Middle East brings heartache and churning to my guts. The righteousness for liberty will consume effort and persistence. I expect that it will never stop...even relationships take work everyday, why wouldn't freedom. The land of the free can be found anywhere if one can learn to free oneself first, I believe. I find comfort in visiting the local Jordanian and Lebanese Kebab joints. To taste the food of happy Americans of Middle East descent is reassuring that the right to speak and to act with determination can taste sweet, spicy, tangy and good.

Mezze at Neomonde, my Lebanese Taverna

Creating a Mezze banquet at Neomonde in North Raleigh is the easiest thing. It starts with the freshly made pita bread and combines it with the arrays of small plates of tabbouleh, baba ganouj, hummus, cucumber, stuffed grape leaves, etc. The kebabs at Petra are well prepared. Spicy ground beef on a stick, the grilled Kefta kebab is my favorite there. The unique thing about these 2 places is that they both have a market. I found preserved lemon, bulgur wheat and fresh cheese at Neomonde. Petra market includes not only the spices, dry and canned goods, but it also has a halal meat section and Turkish coffee/delight.
At the markets, I was ecstatic to have found the "Sumac". My first encounter with this dried red berry powder occurred when eating a Fattoush salad at the Lebanese Taverna in the DC area. The salad consisted of cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, red onion, and crisped pita bread as its base.  It gets drizzled with a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and the most important ingredient...sumac.

Home made Fattoush Salad

Kefta kebab was another item that I miss. Recently, I practically empty my whole cabinet of spices; from ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, mace, turmeric, saffron, cardamom, allspice and of course...sumac, to make this item. The spices get a thorough massage, along with chopped onions and parsley, into the ground meat. Shaping the meat to the metal screw was not an easy task; you really have to have the right consistency. The kebab was grilled and eaten with saffron rice and yogurt, cucumber and dill sauce. Our kids asked for seconds, not bad for the Middle Eastern burger.

Kebab at Petra, a Jordanian Joint

With a set of spices I discovered at Raleigh Middle Eastern shops, I felt like a part of an old caravan bringing home what once belonged to the isolated few across the ocean.  I also feel afresh, seeing other immigrants in the US who work hard and who have blossomed, worth the heartache. My thoughts are with those who are still struggling all over the world...my heart is with you. Focus and you will surely get there...

Cheers!

Teera

 

Winter Delight

Vegetarian Bim Bim Bap

It was rather refreshing seeing a few inches of snow on the ground this morning. I find it funny that schools in the Triangle are closed.  But the black ice is readily available here, so I can see the caution of a late start and an opportunity to have a little fun with the kids sliding on the icy hill this morning.

The neighborhood color is flooded with brown and thirsty dust of winter. Unless watering the lawn in winter is your thing (which I find it against the grain with nature), you can find the color in your grass.  Otherwise to find a flavor that brightens up your visual and appetite is a daunting task, but not hopeless all together.  If you look hard enough, the local bitter greens such as kale, collard green, Swiss chard and mustard green will cheer you up. This is the best season to eat them.  They are hard for your taste buds to get used to but easy to find in winter...a little oasis in a desert literally (a shot of sunshine--vitamin A, in the midst of the cold).  I picked a couple pounds of kale and started cooking...desperate for a shiny transformation.

A warm bed of brown rice is topped with the arranged steamed vegetables, from julienned, steamed carrots, kale, sautéed mushroom and gingerly tofu.  The crown is a sunny side up egg with a spicy miso sauce.  You may have heard of it-- Bim Bim Bap, Korean clay pot of rice.

Curly Kale from a local market

What makes this dish so special is the Curly Kale.  The kale participates in such a volume of flavor, balancing the miso and cutting the richness of the runny egg.  And it is a vegetarian composition. Both my father and brother are vegetarian.  This dish hopefully will be another tasty option for them.  The dish also got a thumb up from our children.  They did use "Katch Chup, instead of the spicy miso sauce.  

I quickly steam the kale and mix it in rice vinegar, a pinch of salt, sugar, sesame seeds and its oil.  The white miso paste was tempered with fresh ginger, chili and mirin.  If you have Kim chi on hand, by all means, add it to the bowl.  

So, here is how I did it:

A bowl of steaming hot brown rice top with equal amount of:

Julienned steamed carrot

Sautéed mushrooms with oil, soy sauce and garlic

Pan-fried firm tofu (it was marinated in soy sauce, ginger, garlic, mirin)

Steamed kale salad

Miso sauce is made is white miso, grated fresh ginger, Thai chili powder, rice wine vinegar and a pinch of sugar.

Put them all together and have a winter green moment.

Cheers,

Teera

The Love Potion

Escazu Chocolate

However much I want to say that Valentine's Day is so commercialized, I do like to be reminded now and then with hugs, kisses and how much my family loves me. Even if you're not into it or don't expect to be anyone's Valentine, you must give out love at least once per year.  Valentine’s Day is a good excuse to do so.   Like our children, packing 40 packages of chocolate takes dedication and love...even if it is for the classmates and not the actual Valentine. Our daughter was determined to write personal notes to all of her friends, now that her writing skills have been captured, best homework ever!  Our son made his Valentine cards 3 weeks ago and has been asking me every other day if today is Valentine’s Day yet.  He hid the cards under his pillow…how cute is that!  Let’s see if your Valentine can top that.

I can totally skip the flowers and go straight to the bubbly and the cocoa emulsification. I demand for not just any chocolate, mind you. Yes, all women know the good versus the bad. So, if you're thinking about Godiva and the franchise chocolate for your loved one, think again. Give her tailor made chocolate and dance with her or all night, if you want to get anywhere in the relationship. The chocolate must melt as it touches your warm tongue. It must be balanced between sweet and bitterness with a surprise from vanilla, chili or any other voluptuous element. And most of all, it must be "unique". We, women, are after all, the unique ones.

The Chocolate Shop

I must be honest with you that I do not typically crave for chocolate. But if and when I crave, my karma sets in to find the best. I discovered 2 places in Raleigh. To have, not 1 but 2 very different chocolatiers in your neighborhood is a blessing.  Escazu is in downtown Raleigh, next to Peace College. The other is Chocolate Boutique in north Raleigh.  Both are locally operated and all chocolate are uniquely made in house.  Escazu cacaos are from Costa Rica and Venezuela.  The chocolatier is a Venezuela native pastry chef who crafts chocolate with strong, exotic spices.  The Chocolate shop has a European trained chocolatier with Belgian chocolate.  You will find more recognizable flavor here such as key lime, lavender and sea salt.  The printing designs on the chocolate give you a hint of what awaits.

So, don' t be shy or short changed, get out there and find the unique chocolatier. Your loved ones deserve nothing but the best. Even if you don't tell he or she how much you love her or him everyday, now is the time.

Happy Valentine's Day,
Teera

Dim Sum Craves

Dim Sum at Hong Kong Chinese

When I was growing up, I looked forward to going to the market and visiting pushcart vendors who sell chive dumplings, Shumai, and sesame seed steamed buns.  The moment the fried, crisped garlic and the dark soy sauce get drizzled over the rising steam of the Shumai and sprinkled with fresh coriander, I would have grabbed the bag and run to a corner of the world. I would sit and savor every bite...like a void in the siren and unstirred mind in the mist of an earthquake.

Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaves

Living in the US, many of my Chinese friends introduced me to Hong Kong style Dim Sum.  I fell madly addicted to the chicken feet and fresh rice noodles.  

The tender, gelatinous , 5 spices stew skin with a taste of sweet soy, how could you resist. My lunch during the weekends while working in Arlington was at "China Garden", a Hong Kong style dim sum in the neighborhood with the best chive and pork dumplings.  I often saw Washington DC Italian chef, Roberto Donna visiting this joint with an hour-long line of 100s of people.

Dim Sum at Dim Sum House

I spent the last couple weeks testing and tasting 2 dim sum places in the Triangle.  The first one was Hong Kong Chinese in Durham.  The second one was Dim Sum House in Morrisville.  As suspected, both places had long lines with the wait between 20-40 minutes, filled with Asians...a good sign.  The best thing about Dim Sum is that once seated, the food carts will practically run over you to serve food...fast.  

Hong Kong Chinese steamed their dumplings with aluminum containers.  Dim Sum House has bamboo baskets.  The usuals were ordered at both places, Shumai, Hagao, sticky rice in lotus leaves, pork buns, fresh noodles with shrimp wrapped inside, bean curd skin wrapped vegetable and my beloved chicken feet. Everything is fair and well, except I voted the best chicken feet and chow fun for the  Durham joint.  The Chinese broccoli was crisp, young, and bouncy at Morrisville.  So, was the egg tart--sweet and mellow at the Dim Sum house.

Chinese Broccoli

Well ...with a cup or two of my chrysanthemum tea.  I long for the sesame seed buns and my chive dumplings.  Until then the chicken feet will walk me forward and warm me up just fine...thanks RTP ( and all the local Asians who demand for nothing less).

Cheers!

Teera