Cupcakes Anyone?

When was the last time that you had a cupcake that you absolutely loved?  Personally, I'm not a huge fan of them or their icing.  That being said, there is only one place that I absolutely LOVE to go for cupcakes.  At this place even their icings are AMAZING.  These cupcakes are perfect in size - 3 bites and they are gone!  No mess what so ever.

Since trying these cupcakes, I was so inspired to make my own.  I have made this recipe - that I am about to share - a few times and have been changing it quite a bit each time.  They are not too sweet; they are fluffy; they have an amazing aroma and most of all taste great.  Instead of icing, I decided to make a simple whipping cream with a touch of Persia!  So, I think I finally nailed it this time!  But who am I to judge?  You can do that for me...

Persian Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of sea salt

2 large eggs at room temperature

½ cup sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup plain yogurt

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon rose water

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon chopped pistachio nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.  Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.  Line the cupcake pan with liners.  Combine the eggs and sugar in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer on a medium speed until it’s thick and pale for about 10-15 minutes.  Mix in the oil, yogurt, rose water, vanilla extract and cardamom on a low speed until mixed well.  Add the flour in 3 batches and fold into the mixture with a spatula until well mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake molds filling them only ¾ full.  Sprinkle the chopped pistachio on top.  Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes.  Check with the toothpick to be sure they are done.  Let cool for 15 minutes before taking them out the pan.  This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

 Persian Cupcakes

Simple Whipping Cream Icing (optional)

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoon powdered sugar

1 teaspoon crushed dried edible rose petals for garnish

Beat the heavy cream and the powdered sugar with an electric mixer until it forms a peak, but do not over beat.  Apply a spoonful to top of each cupcake & sprinkle with a pinch of crushed dried rose petals.

 Persian Cupcakes with "Icing"

These cupcakes are so great with a middle-eastern flare. Hope you will enjoy them as much as I do. 

Note:  I got my dried rose petals when I was in Iran.  I keep them in a tightly sealed zip lock bag and keep in a dark, cool, dry place (AKA my pantry).  It has kept well for several years.  You can purchase these either from your local middle-eastern stores or online.  From what I understand, making them can be a very long and tedious process.  This is what they look like:

Dried Rose Petals

Feeling Ballsy

Hi.  I am back...

Did you think I was dropped off the face of the earth?  Well, close... I was dropped off on South Beach, Miami for a vacation with my family (not a bad place to vanish to, huh?).  It was literally last minute and not long enough, BUT MUCH NEEDED.  Since our return and bouncing back to reality, we had the Father's Day to celebrate of course.  With the new smoker in the house, naturally that's what my husband wanted to do on his special day.  So the Friday before, he showed up home with 20 pounds of ribs and chicken - just for us!  "Are you kidding me?"  We need to have at least 10-12 people to take care of this amount of meat!  Beside my mother-in-law, couple of friends were able to come over.  We are still 50% under the number of people we need to have, but that's okay... we'll eat smoked ribs and chicken all week long (like that has never happened before)!  That's what has been happening all week.  You know what that means: not much cooking on my part...

I have a couple of recipes in mind that will be just great for summer days and I cannot wait to share them with you. You should know that one of the most popular dishes in Iran is Kabob.  I would say that it's a traditional weekend "eat" for most Iranians, especially the ones who live in Iran.  It is also a meal that is most served for weddings, funerals and most other occasions (Iranians will look for any excuse to eat Kabobs).  There are different variation of Kabobs: beef, lamb, chicken, ground meat, fish and etc.  Kabobs are generally cooked on a charcoal grill.  The traditional way of serving Kabobs is over steamed white rice, saturated with butter and saffron and some sumac with roasted tomatoes and grilled onions.  It is absolutely delicious.  If you get a chance to try this delicious meal, do not pass up because you will regret it!  Most of our non-Persians friends have also become fans of this dish.

Today, I decided to simplify this recipe.  I will be making the ground beef version of this in the oven and served as a sandwich with Persian cucumber and tomato salad.  This dish is so easy to make and is perfect for the hot summer days.

Sumac Balls

Ingredients:

1 pound ground sirloin

1 small onion grated

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

¼ teaspoon sumac powder + extra for garnish

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

Pinch of saffron powder

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.  Using your hands, mix well.  Either using your hands or an ice cream scoop, make 1” to 1.5” round balls.  It is very important that the meat is at room temperature so it can cook evenly.  Place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and put in preheat oven at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

As for the salad, I must also say that this too is quite popular among Persians as well as non-Persians.  Perhaps you might have had the Greek or the Turkish version of this salad, but the Persian variety is quite awesome.  We also refer to it as "Salad Shirazi."  It is named after a city in Iran, Shiraz, which is located in the southwest of Iran.  Shiraz is known as a city of poets, wine and flowers.  I have never been to Shiraz myself, but from what I have heard, it's an amazing place.  I hope to visit some day with my family.

The following recipe is what I grew up with.  It is so refreshing and will go perfectly with the sumac balls as well as so many other dishes - Persian or not.

Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

3 Persian cucumbers cut into small dice (no need to peel)

2 round tomatoes cut into small dice

3 scallions thinly sliced (both green and white parts)

2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint (you can also use dried mint but use 1 tablespoon only)

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well.  You can either refrigerate it or serve immediately.  This is one of those salads that it tastes better the longer it sits.

Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad

 Note: It is recommended to use Persian cucumbers since they are seedless and also have very thin skin.  If not handy, use European cucumber.  If you have waxy cucumbers, you need to peel and also scoop the seeds out. 

We made ourselves sandwiches with pocket pitas filled with the sumac balls and the salad.  They were delicious.  You should try them some time ;) 

Pita Filled with Sumac Balls & Salad

Note: Minted yogurt doesn't really need a recipe... a bowl of yogurt mixed with a pinch of dried mint + salt and pepper.  You can serve these sumac balls as an appetizer dish over a thin layer of sumac with the minted yogurt dipping sauce.  They will be a hit at your next gathering!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Yogurt Is a Must

It's a lovely morning here in NYC before we hit another heat wave.  My son is in school and my younger one is napping which allows me to sit down and write peacefully...

You might have noticed another commonly used ingredient in Persian cooking: Yogurt.  Plain that is!  Persians love their yogurt and always have it in their fridge.  They have yogurt with just about anything.  They have it as a meal, as a condiment, as a side dish, in a soup, salad dressing, or even dessert!  Plain white rice and yogurt is an all-time favorite in our household.  I have a cousin who eats his spaghetti with plain yogurt and I must say it's not bad at all.  I have tried it myself and even give it to my kids.  I got my kids used to eating plain yogurt very early on and there's not a day that I won't send my son to school without a yogurt in his lunchbox.  Yogurt is so good for you... I am no doctor, but I'm sure you know the benefits of it.

On that note - you guessed right - I'll be telling you about yet another yogurt dish that is very common in my culture.  Again, this dish will be a light great lunch on warm days or you can serve it as an appetizer (as my mother used to do) with potato chips.  You will love it! 

Spinach Yogurt

Ingredients:

1-10 oz frozen chopped spinach (or fresh if you like)

½ teaspoon vegetable oil

1-32 oz tub of plain yogurt

½ teaspoon of sea salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

2 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Unpack the frozen spinach and place in a small pan on low heat until it’s completely thawed out and all the water is evaporated.  Add the oil and lightly sauté on low heat for about 7 minutes.  Set aside in a bowl until it is cool.  Then add yogurt, sea salt, pepper and lemon juice.  Mix well, chill in fridge and serve cold.

 Spinach Yogurt

Note: In Farsi yogurt means "Maast" or "Must."

Excuse Me While I Was in a Food Coma!

HELLO!  In case you were wondering where I have been, I was in a food coma for about a few days!  It all started as an innocent Sunday afternoon in my hood, walking around and through one of the main street fairs, which by the way are my absolute favorite things to do in NYC.  I love munching on different food and getting to know my local restaurants without having to dine - just grab and go.  It started out with ordering 2 empanadas, then washed it down with some lemonade.  But the corn on the cob looked so delicious too and reminded me of the street food in Tehran.  How could I resist the magnificent lobster roll - so refreshing after the empanadas.  Few blocks away, we spotted gigantic smokers and of course we had to find out what was being smoked.  Have I mentioned that my husband loves to smoke meat/ribs and eat them?  Well, I just did!  Naturally we were drawn to that corner... We ordered one pulled pork sandwich AND IT WAS THE BEST PULLED PORK THAT WE HAD EVER HAD.  We were seriously debating our second... My husband started chatting with the guy who was smoking; the guy was a professional who used to own restaurants and now he just caters for parties.  After one funnel cake and eating my son's leftover chocolate ice cream, we decided to go home.

My husband was so inspired that as soon as we got home, he got online and started searching and researching smokers!  Before I knew it - 2 days later - there was a delivery of a giant smoker to my front door!!!  What a h---?   When I order shoes, they don't arrive at my front door that quickly!  It was impossible to move this box; therefore, it was parked in my front hallway for 3 days.  After the third day, my husband decided to assemble this monster.  I must say though it was a pretty cute monster and I couldn't wait to see what it was capable of.  Naturally we wanted to test it out.  The following weekend we decided to smoke a pork shoulder and why not buy a couple of spare ribs and baby back ribs.... we ended up with 10-12 lbs of meat.  Luckily, one of my Mommy friends (from my son's school) with her family were able to join us at the last minute.  Hubby started smoking at 6am and by 4pm, he wasn't sure if the pork shoulder was ready yet!  We decided to eat anyways... I must tell you though, both the ribs and the pork were divine.  We however ended up with SO much leftover that from Sunday to Wednesday all we ate was pulled pork.  We literally pigged out on pork; therefore, the long story for explaining the food coma situation

I know it's totally unrelated to my Persian food blog, but it explains my lack of cooking and my lack of blogging.  Stay tuned though... I'll be posting some Persian cooking this week.

Have a wonderful evening.