And for breakfast . . .

What was your most memorable breakfast?

If I could be transported back in time, perhaps it would be the first time I had breakfast in Istanbul, on the rooftop of the Askin Hotel, just two blocks from the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, our bird's eye view. 

Each morning, a short Turkish lady who spoke no English, sliced just-baked French bread, home-made butter, and with big smiles, served us a dark, mystery marmelade, goat cheese, tomato, boiled egg, and cups and cups of steaming hot tea. 

I remember the sun shining, and there, to the north, we could see Haga Sophia and the spires of Topkapi Palace.

Entering the Courtyard of the Blue Mosque,
Istanbul, Turkey (Camp 2004)

Just now I'm learning how to use Amazon's cloud and transferring photos from CDs to "the cloud" -- including this PowerPoint slide show, highlights of our visit to Turkey.



Meanwhile, here in Spokane and far from Istanbul, I haunt the farmer's market in search of goat cheese and fresh artisan bread.

Friday means Fabio's Meatballs . . .

Maybe you've already watched Fabio cook. He jokes, he flirts, he flings ingredients around. The result:  Fabulous! 

So yesterday, I looked at the hamburger defrosting in the fridge and thought about Fabio. While I rarely flirt in the kitchen, Fabio kind of cooks like me -- he doesn't measure exactly. So I watched his video once again (see below). 

I didn't have all his fancy ingredients, BUT I made the most wonderful meatballs. 

Here's my meatball recipe inspired by Fabio which serves four. (Fabio's video follows).

1. Make breadcrumbs. Cube 2 slices of your favorite bread. Stir fry cubes until toasted in 1 TBS or so of butter and a little olive oil (enough to generously cover the bottom of your frying pan). Salt or add garlic salt to taste. Set aside.

2. Make the meatball mixture. Mix well in no special order: about 1 pound of hamburger with 2 eggs, about 1 cup fresh basil shredded, about 1 cup of your favorite Parmesan cheese, those home-made bread crumbs, 3 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped fine, about 1 teasp of oregano, and a healthy teasp of salt. Set aside.

3. Make the sauce. Open a can of S&W crushed tomatoes (Italian Recipie with Oregano & Basil). Warm up in large frying pan. 

4. Make the meatballs. Fabio suggests rubbing your hands with a little olive oil so the hamburger doesn't stick to your hands (this works). As you form the meatballs, put them in the simmering tomatoes. Add a little water and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn gently and simmer another 10 minutes. Make the pasta (spaghetti) during these last 10 minutes. Add a little more water if the sauce gets too thick. UPDATE: I threw in a handful of spinach right before serving. That's some of the green stuff.

5. Prepare a presentation plate of sauce and meatballs, drizzling a little olive oil on the top AND adding a little leftover fresh basil. Serve with pasta, garlic bread, maybe a glass of vino, and a green salad. Oh, heck, how about spumoni for dessert. Enjoy!

My Meatballs -- inspired by Fabio (Camp 2013)

And here's Fabio himself -- an inspiring and inspired cook!

Update: May 24: For some inexplicable reason, Yahoo! took down Fabio's fabulous video on preparing these delicious meatballs, so please visit his home site at http://fabioviviani.com/  You won't be disappointed . . . 

Elephants don't eat chicken . . .

This last week, I've experimented with chicken. Take 4 chicken breasts and make Chicken Tacos (meal one), Chicken Pesto Sandwiches (meal two), and Chicken Pesto Salad (meal three).

The following recipes have nothing to do with elephants -- except that elephants have voracious appetites. You can trace their trail through the grasslands by checking for dead trees. They attack the trees, rip them from the ground, tusk them apart, and trample them. Dry brushwood is left. I keep remembering these beautiful elephants from their protected nature preserve in Tanzania. Perhaps we are the ones with voracious appetites, for poaching is decimating their numbers. 

But to the chicken. Three recipes follow: Easy Chicken Tacos, Chicken Pesto Sandwiches (my first attempt at making pesto), and Chicken Pesto Salad.

Elephant Crossing, Tarangire National Forest, Tanzania, Africa (Camp 2012)

Easy Chicken Tacos for Two
4 corn tortillas
4-5 chicken breasts
2 handfuls of cheese from 1 pkg shredded cheese (I like Mexican blend or cheddar)
1 tomato, chopped
Handful of chopped lettuce
4-5 basil leaves chopped
Optional: green onions, salsa, mushrooms, avocado

1. Simmer the chicken breasts just covered with water flavored with a little garlic salt. Takes about 15 minutes.
2. While the chicken is cooking, assemble and chop ingredients.
3. Cool the chicken. Take 1 and a half breasts and shred. Put the rest of the chicken in the fridge for other meals.NOTE: I then tossed the shredded chicken in the frying pan with a little olive oil and added mushrooms, more garlic salt and stir fried.
4. Cook the tortillas in either butter or olive oil, flipping until crisp.
5. Make your own taco and add salsa to your taste.

Home-made Pesto
Spring brought these large, bushy basil plants to my local store for $3.99. Time to make pesto! Get your food processor out!

Pluck leaves and wash enough basil  to fill about 2 cups of basil leaves.
Grind up the following in the food processor and dump in a bowl:
3 cloves of garlic (skinned) 
1/2 cup sliced almonds  (I'm trying more next time)
Grind up the basil.
Mix 1/2 cup olive oil with 1/2 cup lemon juice. Add about 1/2 teasp garlic salt.
Mix all and set aside.

Chicken Pesto Sandwiches.
Incredibly easy! Take that leftover chicken and chop it up into small bite-sized pieces. Add 1 stalk of celery, finely chopped. Add the pesto. Put generous amount of chicken mix onto a very fresh baguette or other designer bread. (You don't need mayonaise because of the olive oil.) Add thick slice of tomato. Lunch to die for. Supper to die for. Snack to die for. You get the picture. Store the leftover chicken pesto.

Chicken Pesto Salad.
It's hot outside. Cool off with the rest of the chicken pesto!  Take two plates. Add handfuls of your favorite lettuce chopped. Scatter 1/2 cucumber sliced, 1 tomato and 1 avocado bite-sized atop the lettuce. Add leftover chicken pesto. Add parsley and chopped green onions (optional)
Dressing: 1/3 cup olive oil + 1/3 cup lemon + garlic salt. Mix and pour over salads.
Also optional but very good:  Make croutons! Take one slice wheat bread and cube it. Stir fry in a little butter until brown. Sprinkle over salad.

As they say in Africa:  Jambo! (This means 'hello there' in a very friendly way.)

Satisfy your McMuffin Craving . . . at home!

Here's a family recipe that comes to me via hearsay and stories from my brother-in-law some 3,000 miles away. 

Once the craving hits for a certain kind of tasty muffin, you don't have to get dressed, leap in the car, or drive to the closest giant arches. You can create these wonders right at home with a few simple ingredients. Here's how we make McMuffins at home.

For each person, gather:

• 1 egg
• 1 English Muffin
• cheese (if desired)
• Tomato slice
• Lettuce slice or spinach
• butter

Melt butter in small frying pan. While egg is cooking, toast buttered English Muffin in toaster oven. Flip egg over. When egg is finished cooking and muffin is toasted, assemble McMuffin by building layers: egg, slice of tomato, sprinkle or slice of cheese, lettuce or spinach. Serve with hot tea or coffee. Pretend you are eating out and enjoy.

The Glorious McMuffin at Home

It's truly spring here in Spokane. Dear hubby scared the tar out of me by coming up behind me while I'm working on the computer. He put this lovely Pooh Bear next to my head and squeezed its tummy. When you squeeze its tummy, it says such creepy things like, "We're friends" and "Hello" or giggles. I don't think he deserves a McMuffin this week.

Wednesday's Recipe: Maklouba

Oh, the lessons we will learn!  This week, I tried to recreate that fabulous Arabic dish, Maklouba, or "upside-down rice," that we first tasted in Berkeley at the Zaki Delectable Mediterranean Cuisine. I found a wonderful recipe online posted by Legal Nomads for a Jordanian version and dashed to the grocery store to buy spices and veggies.

First lesson: Do you have the spices you need? At first, I thought I was making a major investment on Wall Street. Over $14 for just one spice? Yep, and I needed five new spices. I didn't know if my dear hubby (DH) would even like the resulting dish! So off to the bulk foods aisle I went, bagging my own for about thirty-five cents.

Next lesson. Always reread your recipe. Back home again, I threw a whole chicken into the oven to roast, remembering that at Zaki's Cafe, a roasted chicken added so much more flavor. Ooops! Always reread your recipe before beginning, for this version of Maklouba involved simmering the chicken to gain that oh-so-delicious broth.  So half way through roasting, out came the chicken from the oven; I popped it in a large pot.

Last lesson: Check number of portions before you begin. The results were delicious. DH said beyond delicious. But we could easily have fed 8-10 people with this version, so we have eaten Maklouba every night this week!

Maklouba

Keep in mind this is a complicated recipe BUT it is worth every effort you make!

Step 1:  Start chicken broth
1 whole chicken (parts removed, washed)
1 onion chopped
2 teasp tumeric
3 bay leaves
1 teasp salt
Put chicken, spices, and onion into pot. Add water just until chicken is covered. Bring just to a boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes, until chicken is fork finished (meat thermometer 165-170). Cool chicken and shred/cut into bite-sized pieces. Put chicken in a bowl in the fridge. Set aside chicken broth.

Step 2: Assemble Spices
Mix together about 1 teasp each of paprika, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg.
Add 2 teasp tumeric. You will use about 2 teasp of this mix in the soup stock when layering all ingredients. Save the rest for the next time you make Maklouba.
Chop fine 3-4 cloves of fresh garlic. Set aside.

Step 3: Precook vegetables and rice
Soak 2 cups of rice in just enough water to cover for 30 minutes with 2 teasp tumeric
Chop 1 cup fresh parsley and set aside to use right before serving
Toast 1/2 cup sliced almonds in a little butter and set aside to use right before serving

1 head of cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces (some people like the greens added too)
1 eggplant, cut into large bite-sized pieces
Saute cauliflower and eggplant with olive oil in large frying pan until brown.

4. Assemble all ingredients and cook
Start with a large pot. Layer in cauliflower and eggplant.
Add chicken in the next layer. Add chopped garlic on top.
Add rice (drained).
Add spices + 1 TBSP of salt to chicken stock and mix.
Pour gently over layers in cooking pot until water about 1" above layers.
Cover pot. Cook for about 10 minutes on high.
Without removing the lid, turn heat to simmer for 45 minutes.

Traditionally, when cooking is complete, you would let the pot cool for about 10 minutes and then flip the entire pot upside down on a large platter. But I didn't have a platter big enough. Use a large spoon to dig down through all the layers and serve. Now's the moment to add the parsley and sauteed almonds.

Maklouba (Camp 2013)

Did anyone make this??? I will happily cook this again, but maybe next time, I'll invite those 8-10 people over to share.

Wednesday's recipe: A ridiculously fast salad . . . Tabbouleh!

When you are sick, nothing helps more than good food, preferably prepared by someone else. But if you have to make your own comfort food, try this faster-than-fast Middle Eastern (Arabic) salad. I have some in my fridge now. Good even for breakfast!

Basically, you make the cous-cous, pull the other ingredients together, throw them all in a bowl, mix and chill. What could be easier? This lasts three or so days in the fridge, so make a batch! Next time, add more garlic for a zippy taste and different seasonings. Experiment with this high protein and tasty dish.

STEP 1: Make the cous-cous. Boil 1-1/2 cups of water. Add 1 cup of cous-cous. Cover, remove from heat (or the microwave), and set aside while the cous-cous absorbs the water. 

STEP 2: Gather your ingredients and throw them in a large bowl:  
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 can sliced or chopped olives, drained
1 can corn, drained
2 chopped tomatoes
1/2 chopped cucumber
1/2 chopped green pepper
1 garlic clove, diced fine
1 cup parsley, chopped

STEP 3: Mix all ingredients with cous-cous. Drizzle dressing of 1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh or from a bottle) and 1/4 cup olive oil. Add salt to taste (usually about 1 teaspoon). Mix well. Put any leftovers in the fridge. This salad travels well, and truly, you can eat it for breakfast. It's vegetarian AND vegan and helps to keep the vampires away (if you are so inclined).

Tabbouleh salad with Mermaid (Camp 2013)

Welcome home soup . . .

Gone a month and happily home to my own kitchen! 

Serve this rich, easy-to-make tomato soup with crusty bread and enjoy.Interpret my directions with an easy hand. I sort-of measure.

Beth's Welcome Home Soup

1 onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic, rough chopped
Stir above into soup pot with about 1 TBS olive oil.

While that's cooking, add:
About 2 big handfuls of those small carrots cut in half
2-3 stalks of celery, cut bite-sized
1 green pepper, cut bite-sized

Stir fry for about 5 minutes and then add:
1 15-oz can corn
(and this next is the secret to fabulous soup)
1 28-oz can crushed Italian tomatoes (I used S&W and it had oregano & basil already in it)

Now add about half a can of water (use the 28-oz can).
Stir. Add a little more water if you like.
Add the spices gently:
About 1/2 teasp paprika
Ditto salt, pepper and cumin

Simmer 10 minutes and truly enjoy. This recipe comes from a soup I tasted in a tiny, nameless restaurant someplace south of Berkeley. I had to try to replicate the wonderful taste for their soup included tons of fresh basil (which we don't have yet).

My Country Tomato (Rachel made the placemat)

Did you try it? Let me know!