Za'atar bread

I was introduced to za'atar on my first trip to Dubai and Kenya. Ever since then, I've been looking for ways to use it. I finally came across a flatbread recipe that looked simple enough. The only issue was how long it took to make it, given that you have to let the dough rise for a few hours. But hey, if you don't have any plans for the day, this works out wonderfully.

This is the second time I've made this and have to day, it turned out a whole lot better than the first time. Next time I think I'll add carmelized onions.

What to do with leftover chili?

Can you believe this is my second post in one week??

This comes from a suggestion from my friend Amy in Singapore. By the time I get home and thinking of dinner, she's in the office pondering breakfast.

I was on a roll from last night, wondering what else I could make for dinner tonight. I think, Amy being Amy, threw out a random dish: nachos. Little did she know that I actually had everything (sans one) to make this! This came together in less than 30 minutes. Of course, it helped that I had a ton of chili left over from the weekend. But that's besides the point.

Now what to do about dessert???

It's a purple kind of night!

Helloooo!!!! Long time no cook! I was finally able to get to my CSA this week as Monday was a holiday. I absolutely loved getting all those fresh veggies and fruit, and tonight I put them to good use.

Roasted brussels sprouts and purple cauliflower: this was so easy to make. I let the cast-iron pan heat in the oven as it was pre-heating. Meanwhile, trim and halve the brussels sprouts and cut the cauliflower into florets. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix well.

Roast for 15 minutes or so and serve warm. YUMM!!!

The second purple dish: smashed purple potato salad. I was going through the fridge and really needed to get use up some of the potatoes and I remembered coming this recipe on one of my favorite cooking websites: smittenkitchen.com.

This is just as simple as roasting the brussels sprouts. Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Once cooked, peel and smash in a bowl using a fork. Add a handful of finely chopped red onion or shallots, handful of finely chopped cilantro (the original recipe called for parsley, but I only had cilantro on hand) and lemon juice. Salt & pepper to taste and mix well.

As I was eating the potatoes, I kept thinking "what does this remind me of??" It finally came to me! Bhel puri! It was the combination of cooked potatoes, onion and cilantro. All it needed was some bhel mix. But that will be for another day and another post.

ps - btw did you know that it's brussels sprouts? All along I was saying "brussel sprouts". who knew!

Yam Fries

Hi!!! I'm sorry it's been so long since my previous blog, but I was sick for a while and there was some craziness of me interviewing for a job. I'm glad to report that after over a year and a half, I am finally employed!!! Yaay for me!

I joined a local CSA (community supported agriculture) a few months ago and I LOVE it! The fruits and vegetables I get every week are all in season, locally grown and I'm pretty sure organic. I enjoy getting different things almost every week as it expands my cooking repertoire.

For example, we've been getting rhubarb for the past few weeks. I've NEVER cooked with rhubarb before, never even thought about buying it; but since I had it, I had to figure out what do with it. I didn't have enough to make a rhubarb pie; sauteing it didn't hold any appeal and I couldn't figure out what else to do with it. I woke up the next morning and was craving pancakes and voila! I made rhubarb pancakes! They were quite yummy, with just a hint of sourness and perfect with some butter and syrup! YUMM!

The other thing I like about my CSA is that part of the proceeds go towards the garden at the neighborhood school so kids can learn about farming and gardening.

Here's a sample of the CSA haul.


So onto the main subject of today's topic: yams. My namesake. I got these in my CSA for two weeks straight and haven't done anything with them. Finally I got tired of looking at them and decided ok tonight is the night that I'm doing something with them! The easiest thing is to make fries. This is the first time I've made them, but it's the same concept as sweet potato fries, isn't it? They should turn out fine (let's hope!).
I cut the yams (and one sweet potato) into thin wedges and sprinkled with olive oil, salt and some chili pepper that my good friend John got me from Turkey.

I spread out the fries on a baking sheet and put it in a 350 degree oven. They baked for about 20 minutes and then I jacked up the heat to 380 degrees. They were cooked within the 20 minutes, but I wanted to crisp them up a bit. They are in the oven as I'm writing this and it is smelling wonderful! Just a warm sweet potato smell going through the whole house.

Ok the fries just came out of the oven and I had a quick taste. I almost burnt my mouth b/c I couldn't wait.

They look good and smell good, but would I make them again? Nope. Chalk this one up to experience. They're not bad, but just not as flavorful as I thought they would be. Apparently there is a HUGE difference between sweet potatoes and yams. I would definitely try this with sweet potatoes next time, but not with yams. I'll just have to come up with something else to do with the yams for next time.

Jam Session

I love the neighborhood I live in. It's in an older part of town, with some fantastic fruit trees. It also has a definite sense of community, which is how I wound up making jam for the first time ever.

Sarah and I picked a load of gorgeous green gage plums (I don't know why they are called green gage when they are clearly not green) one afternoon and spent the rest of the evening chopping and marinading them in sugar.

We gathered on Saturday afternoon at the local church as they had the most space that was needed to make jam.

I didn't realize how easy it is to make jam at home. I always thought it was a very complicated process, plus I was put off by the whole boiling of the bottles and sanitizing them. But after one afternoon of making jam, I can safely say I'll be making it again very soon. It is time consuming and you have to be very careful to sanitize the jars or you run the risk of potentially giving yourself and your friends food poisoning.

The process is very simple.

1. Cut fruit and marinade in sugar. We used a ratio of 2 parts fruit to one part sugar.

2. Boil the marinaded fruit in a deep pan on medium heat until it's pretty thick. To test if the fruit is ready to be jarred, place a tablespoon on a chilled plate and run your finger through the middle of the fruit. If it stays and doesn't run, it's ready for step 3.

3. Blend the fruit using a hand blender and place back on the stove. The blending process will release liquids which need to be boiled off. Once the fruit mixture has reduced (do the test again to see if it's ready), remove it from the heat and bottle in jars. Tighten the lid all the way and rotate it counter-clockwise by a half turn.

4. Place the jars in boiling water; be careful that the bottoms of the jars do not touch the bottom of the pan or the jars won't be properly sealed. You can put a metal/iron trivet on the bottom to make sure the jars don't touch the pan.

5. The lid should pop down if sealed properly. Let the jars cool and tighten the lids all the way. If the lid isn't sealed properly, you can either try to put the jar in boiling water again, or eat the jam within a week. I personally prefer eating it within a week. :)