I don't know why eating food on a stick is so much fun, but it is. The best kebabs I ever had were in Istanbul, the meat sizzled on the outside but was juicy on the inside. Luckily kebabs are easy to make at home even for those like me, without an outdoor grill.
I'm amazed at how versatile kebabs are and how they always manage to stretch whatever I'm cooking. It must have something to do with surface area and spacial relations. When food is served on a stick, it just seems like there is more of it. Two slices of eggplant, two small zucchini and just under two Italian sausages somehow made a huge dinner for two. It also gave me the feeling of Summer, even though it was cooked and eaten indoors.
When it comes to kebabs, skip the bamboo. The best kind of skewers are metal--I have two sets, flat metal which are particularly good for meat and vegetables and double pronged which are perfect for seafood. With either one you choose, the food won't slip and slide. In my experience food also cooks faster and more evenly on metal skewers than on bamboo. Buy 'em once, use them forever.
Global Cuisine
Global Cuisine
Chickpea Curry
Chickpeas are among the most ancient and versatile legumes. Originating from the Middle East long before Christ, chickpeas eventually spread throughout Asia and Europe and have been a part of our diets for milennia. Popular chickpea dishes include hummus and falafel from the Middle East, roasted ceci from Italy, and besan ladoo and chana masala from India. Chickpeas can be cooked whole from dried beans, eaten fresh from the pod, dried and ground into flour, or puréed. One of my favorite Indian sweets is besan ladoo, which uses chickpea flour to create the buttery and sugary balls enjoyed as a Diwali festival dessert.
One of the easiest and most loved Indian chickpea dishes is stew. Indian chana masala is a flavorful vegetarian curry of chickpeas with a wonderful blend of Eastern spices. Indians hold chickpeas in high regard and the bean is considered to be the most widely used legume in the subcontinent. Vegetarians especially appreciate chickpeas for their nutritional value as they are high in protein and fiber. But even if you aren't a vegetarian, you too can enjoy this chickpea curry. Whether you eat it as a main dish or a side to pair with meat, this dish is completely versatile. It's easy to love and most certainly worthy of having seconds.
Keep Calm and Carry Apps
Yesterday afternoon, I was lost in a meditative moment of nothingness while pleating dumpling skins around mound of shrimp filling. A gentle fall breeze had been blowing through my kitchen window, transforming the room from a sweaty summer dungeon to an autumn playpen.
A podcast of This American Life was playing in the background and it would drop in and out of my consciousness as I prepped my food for the day. My fingers danced through my mise en place bowls, filled with carefully prepped components of the dish I was focused on. It all came together in perfect harmony, with me paying very little attention.
Do you want to know a secret? Cooking is the easiest thing I do. I don’t mean that in a nasty “Pah ha, I’m so awesome at my job” kind of way. I just mean that, once I’ve made it to the actual cooking part of my job, I know that my mind (body, soul) knows what to do. By the time I’ve arrived in the kitchen, I have spent hours working with the client to specify the preferred regional cuisine, protein specific, dietarily proactive meal of their dreams and formulated a procedure and plan to carry out said dream meal.
Kofta Beef Kebabs
It’s been a very, very short summer. I am not at all happy that 2 of my 3 kids are returning to school this Tuesday. WTF…it’s mid August! Packing lunches, getting up early(not a problem for me, but for them-YES), and routine is all part of this weeks drill.
Honestly speaking, I barely cooked this summer. It felt great to take a break, yet with school two days away it’s time for me to get back into the kitchen. Shopping, prepping, and organizing has filled my weekend. Cookies and brownies are made and frozen (perfect snack for the lunch box), farmers market organic fruits are flash frozen (great for morning smoothies), salad dressings are made and bottled, veggies are washed, meat and chicken are grilled (for easy sandwiches or simply served on their own), and the meal planning has begun!
Spending 30 or so minutes each morning on prep will allow me to get these nutritous and balanced meals on the table each night. Tonight’s dinner is one of my favorites. Combining all the ingredients in the morning allows the meat to marinate all day. Shaped into balls, skewered, and grilled, this is one of those perfect 30 minute meals.
A Thousand Hills to Heaven, a Story of Hope, Love, Sacrifice, and, Yes, Food
Josh Ruxin did not write a book about food, although his story takes place against a backdrop of heart-wrenching hunger and Eden-esque abundance, tracing a journey from famine to feast.
He did not write a book about restaurants, although he tells how two American ex-pats created one of the hippest dining establishments in Africa.
He did not set out to write about good and evil, but his book describes one of the most horrific genocides in human history, and the astonishing efforts of both the victims and their persecutors to find forgiveness and redemption.
He didn't even write a love story, although A Thousand Hills to Heaven centers on two people who are very much in love—young Americans you might meet at a party, endowed with the same hearts, brains, and DNA as you or I—but who found the strength to work a thousand miracles in a land God forgot.
And he certainly didn't write a cookbook, but he concludes his story with six recipes that will make you want to head for your kitchen and light your grill to try them.
What he did write is one of the most extraordinary narratives of hope I have read in decades—a book that, just for reading it, makes you aspire to be a better person.
More Articles ...
Welcome to the new One for the Table ...
Our Home Page will be different each time you arrive.
We're sure you'll find something to pique your interest...