Kitchen Confessions

What I am about to write on this blog should've been shared a couple of weeks ago!  But I am going to write up about it anyway because it is a great recipe and you might find it handy AND easy to do this holiday season.

It was one of those days - mid week - gloomy, cloudy and rainy.  I woke up in the morning only to find myself looking like someone who was stung by a bee!  My right eye was so swelled up that my eyelid felt it weighed a ton on my eye!  The swelling was so bad that the entire right side of my face looked weird.  I looked like a result of a domestic violence!!!  I was so freaked out and not sure what caused it.  I avoided putting my contact lenses in and got ready as usual to leave the house while I hoped for the best.  Despite the fact that I looked very silly with my sunglasses on a day like this, I figured it's better to have them on with the way I looked.  I do have seasonal allergies, so I thought this was probably related to that, but I had never experienced such a thing before.  I got the kids ready and dropped my older one off at his school while wearing my sunglasses indoors.  I had to confess to some moms - that I was closer to - why I had them on and once they saw my eye, they understood!  Now, I had to take my younger one to her per-school.  Of course, she decides to take a 7-hour tour of one block, stopping at every little step, leaf on the ground, any passing dog and so forth.  Oh, did I mention we were expecting a guest for dinner that evening whom I had not met?  This meant that I had a total of 2.5 hours to do grocery shopping, preparing, cleaning and organizing for that night.  If you are a parent with two toddlers and many toys spread around the house, you get my point.

Earlier that morning, my husband suggested seeing a doctor to find out what was wrong with my eye.  What was he thinking?  No time for that... which doctor to call?  A family doctor?  An ophthalmologist?  An allergist?  It would probably take me half a day to figure this out and then good luck getting an appointment on that day!  So, I decided to pretend that nothing was wrong and I went about my business while sporting my sunglasses every where I went.  Yes, I got many weird looks in my neighborhood, but the alternative was just not an option.  After I ran my morning errands and picked my daughter up from her 1/2 day program, I was home at last.  I had never been happier to be home and without sunglasses.  Why did it have to be rainy today out of all days?  As soon as my daughter was down for her after school nap, I remembered one of my grandmother's home remedies... Cucumber is anti-inflammatory.  PERFECT - I had some in my fridge and I immediately sliced some and laid flat for 15 minutes while I applied the cucumber slices on my eye.  This was a miracle.  It worked like a charm!  I was so amazed by the results.  I still looked puffy and weird, but the swelling had gone down quite a bit.

I was ready to roll and prepare our dinner for our guest.  This was going to be a dinner to impress.  Since my husband is a huge fan of lamb, we decided to make lamb shanks.  I had prepared this dish a few times in the past.  The first time, it turned out great as they usually do.  Then after that, it just wasn't the same anymore.  So, I was on a mission to get it right again - I just couldn't remember the amount of the ingredients I had initially used.  It was time to pull out my pen and paper and record the measurements.  I even tweaked the time and the temperature.  The final result was very close to my first try and I believe we had a successful dish!  Also - in case you were wondering - my eye looked so much better by dinner time and our guest hadn't even noticed...

Lamb Shank with Saffron and Lemon

4 lamb shanks - washed and dried

3 medium red onions peeled and thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves peeled and crushed

1-½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoon saffron water (1/2 teaspoon ground saffron dissolved in 2 tablespoon hot water)

½ cup lemon juice

½ cup of water

Preheat the oven to 325 degree F.  Put the lamb shanks in a large baking dish.  Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine all the other ingredients and slowly pour the mixture over the shanks.  Cover and bake for 2.5 hours in the oven.  Uncover and cook for another 30 minutes.

I know what you are thinking now, scrolling down for a picture!  Well, I am ashamed to say that after a day like that, I forgot completely to take a picture and I only remembered it while we were cleaning the dishes!  I was so angry with myself and I put off writing this blog in hopes of re-making that dish and to have a photo.

BUT I will promise a photo once I make it again.  Meanwhile, try it at home and let me know what you think.

Have a wonderful and delicious weekend.

I Dream in Chocolate on a Rainy Day

Good morning readers.  It is yet another gloomy, rainy day here and what better thing to do than eat comforting chocolatey things!  Let's not have any doubts about how much I LOVE chocolate.  The last batch of truffles I made were a hit among family members and friends who were fortunate to eat them.  Sorry, if you didn't get to taste any, but I promise I'll make it up to you this time!  My kids are dropped off in their schools and I have a solid 2-hour to myself in the kitchen.  So, today is the perfect day to experiment more with different flavors and of course with a Persian twist. 

 

Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Truffles

½ cup of semisweet chocolate

½ cup of bittersweet chocolate

1 cup of heavy cream

1 tablespoon of pomegranate molasses

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Cocoa powder
Finely chopped walnuts

Chop the chocolates finely with a sharp knife. Place them in a glass mixing bowl.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it starts to boil. Turn off the heat and allow the cream to sit for about 10 seconds.  Pour the cream into the bowl with chocolate.  Add the pomegranate molasses as well.  With a wire whisk, slowly stir mixture together until the chocolate is completely melted.  Whisk in the vanilla extract.  Set aside at room temperature (this mixture may seem a little runny, so just let it sit longer at room temperature). 

Using a spoon, drop a dollop of chocolate onto a plate lined with parchment paper.  Refrigerate for 1 hour, until firm. Roll each dollop of chocolate in your hands to roughly make a round ball.  In a paper bag, add a spoon of cocoa (or the chopped walnuts).  Drop a couple of round truffles and close the bag tightly and shake gently so the truffle balls are coated.
 
You can keep the truffles refrigerated, but serve at room temperature.

 Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Truffles

These truffles will make great hostess gifts this holiday season.  Try them at home and you will develop an addiction!  They taste amazing.  The pomegranate molasses gives these truffles a settle tartness which is a great compliment to the dark chocolate.  They will go perfectly with a glass of milk, a cup of coffee or Champagne!

Cheers and happy early holidays.

Spring Time in December

So, it's been unusually warm here for this time of year.  We typically bundle ourselves with our down-filled marshmallow coats, scarves, hats and gloves in December.  Today people were walking around with short sleeves and rain boots.  Yes, apparently the monsoon season has not quite ended in NYC!

It's been hard to get motivated and make soups in this kind of weather; however, there is one recipe that I've been wanting to share with you.  It is so simple yet delicious.  My mother used to make this soup and I learned it from her.  Once I got married, I notice that my mother in-law does a different version that I also enjoy.  So, I married the two recipes and came up with the following.

Creamy Barley Soup

Ingredients:

1 tablespoons olive oil/vegetable oil

1 large onion finely chopped

1 cup dry barley

1 ½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

8-9 cups of water

1 cup plain yogurt

2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice

In a large pot, over medium-low heat, sauté the onion in oil until it is soft and translucent.  Rinse the barley in cold water then add to the pot and sauté the mixture for about 5 minutes on high heat.  Add salt and pepper and mix well. Add water, put the lid on and bring to a boil.  Then cook on low heat for about 2 hours until the barley grains have become completely soft.  Add the yogurt and lemon juice and mix well.  Serve hot in a bowl.

You can put the soup through a food mill or use a hand blender if you like a smoother texture then add the yogurt. 

Garnish (optional):

1 tablespoon of dried mint

1 teaspoon olive oil + 1 teaspoon

In a small pan, heat the oil and add the dried mint.  Sauté on a low heat for 1-2 minutes until it looks shiny.  Do not let it turn dark.  Pour over the soup and serve hot.

 Creamy Barley Soup

The great thing about this recipe is that you can add other ingredients.  When my children were smaller and had just started eating solids, I made this soup with diced carrots, celery and even meat.  Then I made a puree out of it.  This is by far the most complete meal for a kid.  My kids used to love this dish, but now that they have discovered chicken nuggets and french fries, it's become a little challenging to feed them this soup!

The way my mom made this recipe was to cook the barley until it's soft, then she passed it through a food mill and added heavy cream.  She then sautéd some mushrooms and added as a garnish on top. 

Fun Fact:
1 cup of cooked barley has less than 200 calories which makes this meal even greater than it seems (since it's very filling).  It is also high in fiber and has no saturated fat.

Enjoy and have a wonderful evening.

Addicted to Chocolate

So today is sort of a special day, not because it's 11/11/11.  Nine years ago today, da hubby and I had our first dinner date in Manhattan.  I remember it was a Monday night.  I had flown to NYC from Indianapolis to visit a friend as well following up on a job opening that I had applied for at Tiffany.  He on the other hand was supposed to be traveling for work to London, but postponed his trip to take me out.  Nine years and 2 kids later, here we are - living in our Brooklyn home.

As mentioned earlier, I love chocolate, but not any kind.  I don't really care for candy bars unless it's a dark Kit Kat.  Dark chocolate is what I love the most and I pay good $ for the high quality boutique chocolate.  It is sort of a weakness of mine besides the addiction!  Growing up, my mother hid the chocolate from me in the back of the freezer.  Of course, I would find it then little by little take a row off to eat.  Soon, I had to get rid of the entire evidence (by eating the entire packet) to make her think that this particular packet didn't exist.  Nice try... she knew what was up.  Yes, I have been a chocoholic since my childhood.  As a result, I've been fattening up the pocket of the dentists since I was 5 years old.  One word: cavity.  Well, that obviously hasn't stopped me nor my love for this dark brown, silky, delicious beauty.

To celebrate this day, I wanted to get my husband something.  But he just had a birthday.  So, I decided to make him (AND myself) chocolate truffles.  I have made truffles in the past and we both enjoyed them very much.  Since my blog is a Persian blog, I decided to make truffles with an influence of my culture.  Clearly, it's my first time trying them.  So, let's hope they turn out because I do not have a back up plan!

Dark chocolate Saffron Truffles

Ingredients:

½ cup of semisweet chocolate

½ cup of bittersweet chocolate

1 cup of heavy cream

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

½ teaspoon saffron powder

Cocoa powder

Finely chopped pistachio

Chop the chocolates finely with a sharp knife. Place them in a glass mixing bowl.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it starts to boil. Turn off the heat and allow the cream to sit for about 10 seconds.  Pour the cream into the bowl with chocolate.  Add the saffron as well.  With a wire whisk, slowly stir the cream, chocolates and saffron together until the chocolate is completely melted.  Whisk in the vanilla extract.  Set aside at room temperature.

Using a spoon, drop a dollop of chocolate onto a plate lined with parchment paper.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm. Roll each dollop of chocolate in your hands to roughly make a round ball.  In a paper bag, add a spoon of cocoa powder or finely chopped pistachios (or both).  Drop a couple of round truffles and close the bag tightly and shake gently so the truffle balls are coated. 

You can keep the truffles refrigerated, but serve at room temperature.  I made 36 small truffles with this recipe.

 Dark Chocolate Saffron Truffles

(The picture turned out dark - apologies!)

WARNING: These truffles are extremely INTENSE!

Have a wonderful Friday night and a chocolatey weekend :)

Blogger's Absence Is Not a Glitch

HELLO!

I was just looking at the last time I posted and frankly felt very embarrassed.  Well, there are a couple of reasons that are quite legitimate.  I was away at least a couple of times and in between my dear hubby turned 40 which I had planned a party for him - it was a big deal after all (of course, I wouldn't know that personally, but have heard).  Also, I'll be honest that writing a food blog - especially your creation/revision - is not easy, people.  You need to be inspired to begin with, which I find very hard when I'm constantly running around with two kids who don't eat that well.  Also, I hate to have the food that I make get wasted, so I make sure that I have a very good game plan for this and also the food is season-appropriate!  Yes, a lot of thought goes into my blog. 

At this point, I'm not sure how many people are following my blog since you can now subscribe to get the new blogs sent straight to your inbox.  Wish there was a way to know though!  I actually saw a few family members over the weekend while we were celebrating my cousin's wedding in Santa Barbara.  I was told that they "had subscribed for the blog, but had not yet received any" and whether it was working?!  How humiliating, huh?  Well, I informed them that there was no glitch, but simply my lack of writing.  Yikes!

I must say fall is my favorite season.  I have always loved the weather this time of year; however, the weather in NYC has been quite weird recently.  It started off with lots of rain, then we had the infamous "October Snow Storm" and now it's beautiful, mild and sunny.  The sunny and mild is usually what I love about fall which will probably last another couple of weeks - if we are lucky.  I usually make a lot of soups and stews this time of year; also, when I start putting on the pounds as I get ready for winter hibernation.  These soups and stews are usually very healthy, but it's what I consume with the soups as well as what I reward myself afterwards that adds the pounds: bread and chocolate respectively.

On that note, let's get cooking and blogging with no glitch...

There are dishes in Iran that are called Aash (آش), which are soups but thicker.  Depending on the ingredients, Aash can be considered a full meal (but not according to my hubby - he considers them starters).  There is a particular one called Aash Reshteh (آش رشته) that's quite popular.  If Iranians could officially name it one of their national dishes, they probably would.

Today we are making Aash, but my way - the easy way!

Easy Aash

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked red kidney beans

1 cup uncooked white beans

1 cup uncooked garbanzo beans

1 cup uncooked lentils

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 large onion diced

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 tablespoon sea salt

½ teaspoon white pepper powder

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

10 cups of water or stock

1-10 oz pack of frozen chopped spinach

Pinch of saffron powder

Wash the red, white and garbanzo beans in cold water thoroughly, then soak them in a medium bowl overnight.  This helps the beans become hydrated and cook faster. 

In a large pot, heat the vegetable oil and add the diced onion.  Sauté the onion until it’s soft and glossy.  Drain the beans, making sure all the liquid is out, then add to the pot and mix with the onion.  Mix well until they are coated.  Add the turmeric powder and pepper and mix well for 2-3 minutes.  Add water (or the stock), put the lid on and bring to boil.  Wash and rinse the lentils and add to the mixture.  Then let it simmer on low heat until all the beans and lentils become soft.  Add salt, lemon juice and the frozen spinach.  Simmer for another 30-45 minutes.

Serve in a bowl with plain yogurt and a slice of bread.

Easy Aash & Yogurt

Hope you enjoy this easy, delicious yet comforting dish.

نوش جان !

I Bit My Tongue...

... Sandwich that is!

When was the last time you tried something new?  Food-wise of course!  As parents, we often ask our kids to try new things, new food, even activities.  We ask them to do things that they may not be comfortable doing, but are we listening to our own preaching?  Speaking for myself, I know that I may not always follow what I ask my children to do.  So, it's only natural that they follow our behavior rather than listening to our words.

I ask my son to try new food all the time.  Mind you, the stuff I ask him to try is not out of norm in anyway!  It could be a Persian rice dish mixed with small pieces of meat and even tinier pieces of green beans and tomato sauce (AKA "loobia polo").  The first thing he does, inspects it with his eyes, then he starts detecting all the greens and pushes them to the side of his plate as he explains "I don't like the green stuff."  I don't want to bore you with another non-eating toddler story, but you get my point.  He doesn't even try the stuff to figure out whether he likes it or not - he simply looks at it and then decides that he doesn't like it and that there's no way he would even try to put a spoonful in his mouth.

We are the over-size version of our kids believe it or not.  We too go by the visual appearance of the stuff that we eat.  I remember the first time I tried fried calamari, I was 13 years old visiting my father during a summer vacation in California.  He owned a restaurant back then, so naturally we spent a lot of time there.  If it were up to me, I wanted to have a cheese burger sandwich with fries everyday, but one day my father introduced a new dish for my lunch.  He brought the plate out of the kitchen.  It looked so pretty... they were fried up pieces of something and a side of a marinara sauce with lemon wedges.  I asked what it was and he didn't exactly explain what, but insisted that I should try one.  I must admit that those calamaris were so tasty that I couldn't stop myself.  After I was done, it was when he explained what exactly I had had.  I couldn't believe it and deep down I was kind of proud of myself for trying something new and even liking it.  I am now hooked on calamaris and secretly on a mission to find the best ones out there.... Still searching ;-)

Back to the topic... Yes, I made a tongue sandwich and it was so tasty - you should try it sometime.  It's happened often when we go grocery shopping and see odd things as we are searching for a piece of meat, rack of ribs and so forth.  I was so excited to have found a veal tongue packaged in the meat section of my grocery aisle.  It took me back to my childhood when my mother would come home from the butcher shop with a bag of veal tongues for our next party.  She made this dish often at her parties that we almost never had any leftover.  She often served it with roasted or steamed seasonal vegetables.  I also remember when I was a high school student, there was this semi-fancy sandwich shop where they would serve a tongue sandwich on a baguette, side of potato chips and a soda.  This place used to have a long line outside with people waiting for this yummy sandwich.

I learned to prepare tongue from my mother.  She didn't follow a recipe book or a note that I can recall and my version of it is what I had remembered as a teenager while doing my homework at the kitchen table and watching my mother cook.  I have tried it several times and I think I finally nailed it with the right amount of spices.

I must tell you that the veal tongue is not smelly or gamey.  Don't get intimidated by its look.  It is however a tough meat and I recall that my mother used a pressure cooker.  I created a recipe that you can do without the pressure cooker.

Veal Tongue Sandwich

1 veal tongue – about 1 lb

2 large bay leaves

½ teaspoon whole peppercorn

3 cups of water

½ cup diced onion – about 1 small onion

1 tablespoon butter

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 clove of garlic crushed – 1 teaspoon

¼ teaspoon paprika powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

¼ teaspoon saffron

1-15 oz can of tomato sauce

¼ teaspoon herb de province

1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Wash and clean the tongue.  Cut the extra fat at the end of the tongue.  Put in a medium pot.  Add water, bay leaves and peppercorn.  Poach it on a low-medium heat for about 1 hr.  Take off the heat and let it cool a little.  Set aside the poach water while discarding the bay leaves and the peppercorns.

Meanwhile, dice the onion and sauté in butter with salt and pepper. Add the crushed garlic and sauté some more.  Add paprika, turmeric and saffron.  Add a little of the poach water if needed.  Add the tomato sauce and the poach water then mix well.  Bring to a simmer then add herb de province and lemon juice.

Peel the skin from the tongue and discard.  Slice the tongue about ½ inch thick and add to the simmering sauce.  Cover and let it simmer on a low heat for about 2 hours until the sauce has reduced by half and the tongue has become very tender.

 Veal Tongue Stew

I made ourselves a sandwich and served it with a side of its sauce (to dip in).

Veal Tongue Sandwich

This dish will go greatly with a watercress salad dressed in a lemon vinaigrette (I couldn't find any watercress around my neighborhood!).  You can also serve it as a dish either a stew style with roasted croutons or slices of tongue with roasted seasonal vegetables.  I promise you that it's a very delicious dish and once you get over the fact that it's a tongue, you will really enjoy it.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Mommies Are Afraid of...

... monsters?
I wish!  Monsters are the least of Mommies' worries.  Mommies are afraid of kids behaving badly; not eating (well); not sleeping well; kids who are afraid of rain, wind, storms, dark... and the list goes on.

Sorry, it's been a wild roller coaster ride here.  In the past month, we had a major thunderstorm which lightly flooded our basement and ruined some Christmas boxes and our wedding presents (yes, they are still in boxes because my house is taken over by two toddlers' toys - we have definitely grown out of our space).  We also had an earthquake and last but not least hurricane Irene decided to drop by on a weekend which flooded our basement badly!  I actually had to put rain boots on then my husband and I used shovels to put the water in our kids' beach bucket to take out.  BUT the ground was so saturated that the water kept creeping up from the cracks.  Yes, that was a fun weekend with Irene.  Luckily, that was the only damage we had plus tons of broken branches in our backyard.  The great thing was that our kids slept right through it - as we paced the house all night - and they only witnessed the strong winds afterwards.

You might remember that I mentioned my kids are not the best eaters.  Not sure how they became this way since my husband and I love and enjoy eating.  I envy parents with kids who will try anything.  My son's definition of trying is to take a tiny bite out of a vegetable and IMMEDIATELY trying to spit it out (God forbid a little goodness gets inside of  his body) and then saying, "see, I tried it and didn't like it mommy!"  Well, thanks for trying, sweetie. 

I figured with start of the new school year - now that he is in Pre-K and goes everyday and all day - I need to have more options for his lunch menu beside hot dog, chicken nugget and occasionally spaghetti.  So, I decided to pack him what we have as a family which can make my life so much easier since I won't be preparing food for individuals at different times.  We even tried explaining to him that he is now a big boy and is growing and so forth.  We are really trying hard to pitch a sale here re:vegetables.  This kid does not like veggies at all.  He only likes cucumbers and recently he decided to have broccoli florets with yogurt.  Hey, whatever it takes!  For a kid whose favorite color is green, he cannot be convinced that the greens are actually good for you.  It's been a hard sell as you can imagine.  At this point, I wish I could even get him to like sandwiches.  This would also make life easier in the morning as I'm trying to feed them breakfast and make lunch for his lunchbox.  The only sandwich that he eats is feta cheese inside of a small pocket pita with absolutely nothing else.  He likes this sandwich because it doesn't get messy; things won't fall out as he's trying to take a bite; and more importantly his hands won't get dirty.  I believe I have created a monster that I AM afraid of!

This should explain my absent.  All I know is that I missed not having a few minutes to myself to write freely.


Stay tuned...

Kookoo vs. Frittata

So, it's been a beautiful week here in NYC (at least weather-wise).  I've been out with my kids everyday, trying to take it all in before it's over! 

Everyone has been eating light and healthy.  Lots and lots of fresh fruit, fresh fish and yogurt dishes for kids and for us - as usual - something on the grill, leftovers and quick-fix dinners.  Remember when I told you how Persians use a lot of fresh herbs in their cooking and dishes (flashback to Pantry Inventory Blog)?  Well, today's dish will involve lots of it!  So get ready to clean, wash, dry and chop some fresh herbs today.  This recipe is not hard to make, but it is definitely more involved than the previous ones.  It is called "kookoo sabzi" and is one of the dishes that is traditionally made on Persian new year (Norouz) with fried white fish and herbed rice.

It is typically made on a pan over a stove; however, I made some changes and decided to simplify this by making it in the oven.  This way, I don't have to babysit it over the stove and can just time it in the oven.  I also decided to use a muffin pan for this to have individual ones.  It will make a great appetizer platter or a brunch dish for your next party.  Oh, I also changed the name to "Frittata" for the ease of understanding the recipe... 

Mini Fresh Herb Frittata          

Ingredients:

1 bunch of parsley

1 bunch of scallion - both white and green parts

1 bunch of cilantro

½ bunch of dill

1 large clove of garlic

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon mustard seed

¼ cup barberries – cleaned and washed

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

8 eggs

cooking spray

Muffin pan

Makes 12 individual frittatas

Preheat oven at 350 degree.  Wash all the herbs (with stems on) and dry them well using a salad spinner.  On a large cutting board, using small batches, chop the herbs and set aside in a large bowl.  Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and add to the herbs.  Finely chop the garlic and add to the bowl (you can use a garlic masher if you’d like).  Add salt, pepper, turmeric, flour, baking powder and mustard seeds.  Using your hands, mix the mixture well until well incorporated but don't over mix.  Then add the barberries and the chopped walnuts.  Fold into the mixture.

Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with the cooking spray and pour the mixture into muffin tins, filling them evenly.  Bake in the center of oven for 35-40 minutes until the toothpick comes out dry.  Let cool for 15 minutes.  Then pull them out of the muffin pan using a silicon spatula.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

 Mini Fresh Herb Frittata

I learned to add the mustard seeds from one of my aunts.  She explained that mustard seeds will take the moisture out so that the batter will not get runny.  I personally also like the texture of the mustard seeds in this dish.  The barberries have a sour taste and add a great flavor to this dish.

Barberry is called Zereshk in Farsi. These berries are high in vitamin C and have a sharp tart flavor.  They are sun-dried and used often in our cooking.  Iran is also the largest producer of Zereshk in the world (next to Saffron).  Zereshk and Saffron are produced on the same land and are harvested at the same time.  I would think if one owns such a land has hit the jackpot and is set for life!  You can purchase barberries either online or from the middle eastern grocery stores.This is how sun-dried Zereshk looks like:

Sun-dried Zereshk

And this is what the plant looks like:

Barberry Plant

This dish can be served for brunch, lunch, dinner or appetizer.  It will also make a great sandwich.  It is so tasty with the Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad (Feeling Ballsy blog) or any type of yogurt dish.


Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Soup 'n' Wrap

Hi blog readers!  Can you believe it's August already?  Seriously... where does the time go?

Not only it's been hot in NYC, my kids are also both home now.  Summer camps are just too short and entertaining two toddlers is a big job.  These play dates on hot summer days can be exhausting and the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is stand in front of the stove and cook.  Yes, I still need to eat, but the fact is that I end up eating my kids' leftovers (just like most moms out there).  And believe it or not, I do get filled up on the leftovers!  Perhaps my kids are going through the same thing... not much appetite in the heat. 

On that note - and also because I missed blogging - I decided to prepare something that is very common to eat on hot summer days in Iran.  And the great thing about it is that most of the ingredients are the ones that we tend to have on-hand more often than not.  It is almost impossible to walk into a Persian's house and not find, yogurt, feta cheese and fresh herbs - no matter where they live. 

What I am about to make is so easy, delicious and light; it might just become your favorite summer lunch!

Herbed Cucumber-Yogurt Soup with Raisins and Walnuts

Ingredients:

2 cups Plain Yogurt

1 Persian Cucumber – washed and grated

½ teaspoon Dried mint

½ teaspoon Dried dill

1 ½ teaspoon Lemon juice

¼ teaspoon Sea Salt

Pinch of fresh ground pepper

1/8 cup water

Garnish:

2 tablespoons Black raisins

2 tablespoons Chopped walnuts

In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well.  Chill in the fridge.  Right before serving, add the raisins and walnuts on top.

Feta Wrap

1 large multi grain wrap

Feta cheese

Crunchy sprouts

Alfa sprouts

Spread the feta cheese all over the large wrap.  Place the rest of the ingredients on top and roll the wrap.  Cut in half and serve.

 Soup 'n' Wrap

Typically, we use fresh herbs in the wraps.  Since my garden herbs are extremely dehydrated from the heat, I just used the sprouts that I had available, which turned out very nice I must say!

Note: I suggest adding the raisins and walnuts right before serving so that they will not get soggy.

These recipes will make a perfect lunch for two!  "Nooshe Jaan!"