Tag Archives: Jerusalem

Chicken With Cardamom Rice

Drum roll please…my first ever meat meal that I’ve cooked from Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook Jerusalem!! And I made it in Italia!! Why am I in Italy you ask? Well, being a PhD student does have some perks. I traveled to Zurich for a scientific conference on Mycorrhizal Symbiosis, yes it was the most esoteric conference ever, and yes, that’s what I study :) For those of you who don’t already know, mycorrhizal symbiosis is the symbiosis between a fungus and plant root, and ~80% of plants have them. They are responsible for delicious mushrooms such as porcinis and chanterelles :) While the conference was super interesting and my talk went well, the food in Zurich was not super exciting. After a few days of eating heavy Germanic potato, bread, and cream based foods, I was ready to head to Italia to visit my cousin Aaron and his wife Kate, who live in Napoli AKA Naples. Aaron is a lawyer for the Navy, and is stationed in Naples for 2 years. After several days of eating my heart out of pizza and gelato (don’t worry I took pictures of all the food I ate in southern Italy and will be blogging about it shortly) I was ready to eat some home cooked food again. I bought Jerusalem for Aaron and Kate and luckily it arrived yesterday right in time for me to get to cook for them before we leave for Cinque terre tomorrow. I made the chicken with cardamom rice from Jerusalem, which I had been eyeing for a while. You can find the recipe online here. My cousin Aaron and his wife Kate loved it – this was indeed a delicious one pot wonder:

Chicken with cardamom rice garnished with cilantro, parsley, and dill.

The first step is to caramelize the onions. Slice them up thinly then saute them in olive oil for a while. The recipe calls for 10-15 minutes but I left them in there for at least 25. It took a while for them to get properly browned, but luckily they don’t require much attention so you can do other things while the onions are browning.

Slices onions about to be caramelized

While they are browning prepare the barberries or equivalent. I could not find either barberries or currants, which Ottolenghi suggests as an alternative, so I used dried cherries. I soaked them in fresh squeezed lemon juice while the onions were caramelizing. I’m not quite sure what a currant or barberry tastes like, but the dried cherry was really tasty in the dish!

Caramelized onions

While the onions were caramelizing I rubbed down the chicken thighs with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and pepper. I could not find whole clove pods but I found online that 1.5 tsp of ground cardamon can be substituted for 10 pods and it tasted really great so I recommend going with that since the dried spice is so much easier to find. Once the onions are caramelized remove them from the pan and replace them with the chicken. Sear the chicken thighs on each side for 5 minutes. You really want to make sure you get the bone in skin on thighs for this. The thighs came out super juicy and also even if you don’t end up eating the skin (we didn’t because I couldn’t get it to properly crisp) I think cooking the meat with the skin on adds a lot of flavor and helps keep the meat super juicy.

Chicken smothered in salt, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves searing in the cast iron skillet

Remove the chicken thigh for a minute, then add the rice and caramelized onions back in the pan with salt and pepper and the dried cherries. Kate and I could not find basmati rice at the Navy commissary so we used long grain white rice instead.

Basmatic rice with caramelized onions, dried cherries rehydrated in lemon juice, salt and pepper

Getting into the navy commissary was a bit of a trick. The sales clerk at the front needed to look at my passport and was not happy with it and almost did not let me in since I’m not a part of the Navy, but Kate assured him that she was the one shopping and I was just accompanying. He didn’t seem quite convinced but he begrudgingly eventually let us enter! Once the rice, caramelized onions, dried cherries/currants/barberries are in the pan, nestle the chicken back in and cover the pan and cook for 30 minutes. Since we had some free time we opened up a bottle of wine to drink while waiting for the meat to cook and I made some antipasti. Here is a fresh baguette we found at the grocery store and toasted with some olive oil in the oven:

Baguette toasted in the oven

Then I sauteed some green peppers with garlic and Aaron added a balsamic vinegar paste thing on top of the bread that was really tasty.

Antipasti of toasted baguette with olive oil and balsamic vinegar paste, sauteed green peppers, and garlic

The chicken ended up taking quite a bit longer than 30 minutes to cook. We had a really large cast iron pan and the flame was not that large, so I guess you just have to check and make sure the chicken is properly cooked. Unfortunately the skin never quite got crispy but after about 50 minutes the chicken was cooked properly and tasted really delicious and juicy. I chopped up fresh cilantro and parsley but since I could not find fresh dill just added some dried dill for the garnish. Here is the final dish with the cilantro and parsley and dill garnish:

Chicken with cardamom rice, caramelized onions, cherries, and cilantro, parsley, and dish garnish

Here I am in Kate and Aaron’s super cute Italian kitchen:

Me cooking in Aaron and Kate’s cute Napoli kitchen

It’s way cuter than mine, I know. I’m also super jealous of their giant cast iron skillet. Did I mention that they also have an awesome view of the Mediterranean right outside their window?

View of the Mediterranean from Aaron and Kate’s living room window

View of via Napoli from Aaron and Kate’s apartment

Yeah, I think I might have to move to Italy. Damn it is beautiful here. Kate made a light salad to accompany the chicken and cardamom rice. Ottolenghi suggests adding some olive oil to Greek yogurt and mixing it up and using it as a garnish. I highly recommend it – the yogurt really sets off the dish! It is so creamy and yummy mixed in with the flavorful cardamom rice with caramelized onions. Here is the final meal:

Chicken with cardamom rice accompanied by salad and Greek yogurt

The meal was a big hit! Kate and Aaron loved it and I have to say it was quite tasty. My first meat meal cooked from Jerusalem went off without much of a hitch even though I had to make a few substitutions to make it work in Italia. It’s also a pretty low key dish since it’s just one pot and you get to do other stuff while the onions are caramelizing and while the chicken is cooking, so it’s not that high maintenance. I’m having such a fun time visiting Italy perhaps I should move in with my cousin and his wife and Aaron suggested that I could earn my keep by cooking for them as their personal chef – seems like they liked my cooking :)

Eating my way through Israel: Part 2

I know you’ve all been dying to hear about my visit to Jerusalem after reading about the first part of my trip to Israel in my last post. So after I parted ways with Yohay and Tom on Friday, I got two days of fun and eating in Jerusalem with my cousin Geula! We first went to stay with her parents in Beit-El, where we spent shabbat. Shabbat was a great time to rest and rejuvenate after a busy trip. While I unfortunately don’t have any pictures of all of the delicious meals that we ate for shabbat dinner and shabbat lunch, I do have a picture of the home made challah that my cousin Batya made for shabbat. In Israel, they sometimes put za’atar on their challah.

home made challah!

After shabbat Geula and I returned to Jerusalem for more food and fun! We returned to the city pretty late at night on Saturday, so Geula took me to the arab shuk which turns into a really cool bar scene after dark. Geula introduced me to a Yemenite pastry called jachnun, which is basically fried dough. Of course is was delicious!

Jachnun, Yemenite jewish pastry It is traditionally served with a crushed tomato dip, hard boiled eggs, and zhug

We then went out in Jerusalem and hit up one of Geula’s favorite spots, an American themed karaoke bar. I am terrible at Karaoke but sang anyway, and Geula wowed everyone with her amazing voice and rendition of summertime.

Geula wowwing everyone with her karaoke rendition of summertime

Geula ripping up the stage at karaoke

For my last day, we woke up early so we could cram in as much sight-seeing and of course eating as possible. We visited the shuk during the day time to check out the store fronts. It was so awesome! I was in foodie heaven!

Halva heaven

I couldn’t get over how large the fruits and vegetables were at the market. They must have some seriously impressive agricultural practices in Israel. Have you ever seen squash this large?

Apparently they grow giant sized squashes in Israel

Check out all these beautiful vegetables!

Vegetables in the arab shuk in Jerusalem

Spices almonds covered in za’atar

Pastries at the shuk

More pastries

Teas at the arab shuk

Spices galore

Here is where I bought the sumac, red and green zhug for 14 shekels ($4).

Weighing out my spices

After I bought my spices, Geula brought me to Marzipan bakery, where they allegedly have the best rugelach in Jerusalem. Of course I had to buy some!

The best rugelach in Jerusalem, at Marizpan bakery

After shopping all morning in the shuk we returned to the old city in Jerusalem to go shopping. Here’s me in front of the Jaffa gate outside of the old city.

Me outside the old city in Jerusalem

About to enter the old city through the Jaffa gate!

Geula teaches belly dancing to women in Jerusalem. Here she is modeling a dancing cane in front of the belly dancing store where she shops.

Geula at the belly dancing shop

After shopping we were hungry again and Geula took me to this amazing restaurant where her friend works as the sous chef on the outskirts of Jerusalem called Cafe Itamar. It was pretty far to get there but it was well worth it. First of all, it’s in a super cute garden setting where you can even buy plants.

Cacti for sale at the restaurant

They even had cute ceramic mushrooms, which of course I loved!

Posing with the cute ceramic mushrooms!

Second of all, the food was AMAZING. Geula and I went all out and ordered two appetizers. Of course I had to order the mushroom casserole, which was topped in spinach and cheese, and a fried egg.

Mushroom casserole with fried egg

So you can see some of the mushrooms:

mushroom casserole

Then we ordered this cauliflower and hummus dip called masbacha, which was seriously so good.

Cauliflower masbacha

We ate it with this bread: Then we shared the ravioli with roasted vegetables entree, which was so delicious.

Roasted vegetable ravioli

Here is Geula smiling with the ravioli:

Geula and ravioli at Cafe Itamar

After that we were pretty stuffed but Geula’s friend surprised us with an extra treat – this pasta with mushroom sauce and roasted asparagus dish.

Roasted asparagus with mushrooms and home-made pasta

Geula and I eyed the these chocolate cakes for dessert but ultimately decided we were too full. I think I kind of regret that decision now… we should have made room! After all, how often do I go to Israel? Next time, I will definitely be ordering the chocolate cake for dessert! While the restaurant is kind of out of the way, it was definitely worth the trip. The food was amazing and the setting was so cute. How cute is this restaurant?

Smiling at Cafe Itamar

We hitch-hiked back to town (this was my first time ever hitch hiking!) and then visited some of our other family members. We met up with another cousin and had Yemenite soup for my last dinner in Jerusalem before I had to head home.

My cousin and I at the Yemenite restaurant

My cousin and me at the Yemenite restaurant

Especially after this super fun day touring in Jerusalem, I really did not quite feel ready to return to Berkeley after this amazing trip. At least now I have lots of fun plans and places to eat to look forward to next time I visit :)

Chickpea saute with Greek yogurt and couscous with tomato and onion

Ok, so yes, I know you are thinking – why is this girl calling herself fungi foodie when all she cooks is middle eastern food? Well guess what everybody – it’s been raining! A lot! In Berkeley! So I’m going to go mushroom hunting this weekend :) So with any luck I will have a delicious wild mushroom recipe for next week! Yay for wild mushrooms :)

But in the meanwhile, I’m continuing on my theme of cooking healthy, delicious vegetarian recipes from Jerusalem and Plenty. This week, I cooked the chickpea saute with Greek yogurt from pg. 211 Plenty and featured online here and the couscous with tomato and onion from pg 129 of Jerusalem and featured online here.

These dishes were on the less complicated side for Yotam Ottolenghi and my trip to Berkeley Bowl for groceries was one of the easiest and shortest trips yet! Either I’m getting much better at this whole grocery shopping thing or I am indeed choosing simpler recipes :P Here are all of the lovely fresh ingredients for the chickpea saute – look at all those fresh herbs and veggies! I really need to consider getting some potted herbs!

Ingredients for the chick pea saute

The first step is to separate the green part from the stalks of the chards – I’m totally falling for this stuff! It’s so pretty!

Swiss chard centers

So you blanch the chard stalks for 3 minutes in boiling water, then add the greens and blanch them for 2 more minutes, then remove from boiling water, rinse in cold water, and drain. Then you heat up 1/3 cup olive oil in a pan – Dan was appalled at this amount of oil – but I reminded him that olive oil is good for you :) He remained unconvinced but I decided to stick to Ottolenghi’s guidelines despite Dan’s rumblings. So you peel and chop up the carrots and saute them in the olive oil, then add caraway seeds. I’d never used caraway seeds before cooking from these books but they are such a good spice! I bought them super cheap from the bulk spice section at Berkeley Bowl and I’m totally hooked.

carrots sauteeing in olive oil with caraway seeds

So after the carrots are cooked, add the blanched chard back in, add in the chick peas (yes I used canned – perhaps a faux pas but after the disaster of trying to cook fava beans from scratch, I’m sticking to canned. It’s just so much easier!), add in garlic and fresh mint and parsley.

carrots with swiss chard, chicken peas, garlic, and herbs

Look at this ginormous bowl of vegetables!

Chick pea saute

But the finishing touch that really completes the dish is adding the Greek yogurt sauce on top. It just makes it so much tastier! And it adds a ton of calcium and protein – win-win :)

The greek yogurt on top really takes it up a notch!

chick pea saute with greek yogurt

So to accompany the delicious and healthy chickpea saute we made some couscous with tomatoes and onions. The first step is to dice and sautee an onion, then add sugar and tomato puree. Then dice two tomatoes (I added 3 because I love tomatoes!) and add them to the pan.

sauteed onions with tomatoes

In the meanwhile, add boiling vegetable stock to some couscous and leave it to sit in a bowl covered in cling wrap for 10 minutes. Once the couscous is cooked, then you mix in the tomato and onion mixture and wipe off the pan and add some butter to it. The next part gets a little bit complicated…at least for a novice like me….making the couscous crispy was no easy task! You are supposed to add butter then put the couscous back in the pan and cover it and let it steam for 12 minutes. Well, I did this and it was not quite crispy. Probably I should have let it steam for longer but we were hungry so I decided to just go for it…What followed was an EPIC FAIL where I flipped the couscous onto a dish and some of it landed on the floor but luckily most of it made it to the dish! I think I need to buy bigger dishes….

cous cous with tomatoes and onions

Ottolenghi has an amazing way with making vegetarian dishes that are completely satisfying and don’t make you miss meat one bit. These dishes are healthy, relatively cheap and easy, and super flavorful and fulfilling. The only complicated step that I utterly failed at was getting the couscous crispy and then flipping it over “expertly” onto a dish – so I did not manage to get that beautiful crispy crust that they claimed makes this dish. I still think it tasted amazing, but I think I will have to practice some more with the crisping and flipping..Here is my couscous with a corner of it looking crispy…it still tasted really good without the crispy crust but I will definitely need to practice with this one..

couscous with tomatoes and onion

Here is my completed meal :) It was a totally satisfying, healthy, flavorful, and fulfilling vegetarian middle eastern inspired meal. Thanks Ottolenghi for two more great dishes :)

Bon apetit! Healthy vegetarian mediterranean inspired meal!

Barley risotto with marinated feta

So this past weekend I spent at a research conference in Bodega Bay. This conference was for students conducting research at UC natural reserves, which is an incredible research network spanning many of the ecosystem types in California from the redwood tanoak forests of Big Sur where I work to the beaches where elephant seals spawn in Ano nuevo to the coniferous slopes of the eastern Sierras. The conference was for students who won awards to do research on reserves and was a chance for us to share our research with each other. Seeing everyone get so excited about their research gave me renewed enthusiasm about my own project studying the effects of Sudden Oak Death on fungi associated with the dying tanoaks in California. So while the meeting was really fun and I met some really interesting people, I was super tired when I finally made it back to Berkeley on Sunday. Luckily I had been planning on making this risotto last week but didn’t get around to it because I was busy preparing my talk for the conference, so I had all of the ingredients waiting for me in my kitchen!

So I invited over my friend Lauren who fortunately has lots of experience cooking with barley and we made the barley risotto with marinated feta from pg 109 of Jerusalem and also featured online here. If you are in the mood for a relatively low key but satisfying and unique vegetarian dish, this one is it! Compared to some of his other recipes, the ingredients are not that complicated and the cooking is not that difficult, other than the barley does take over an hour to cook (he says 45 minutes but I left mine simmering for at least an hour – the barley was still pretty chewy at 45 minutes!). Luckily Lauren and I had some episodes of Girls to catch up on, so we kept ourselves entertained watching the trials and tribulations of Hannah Horvath while our risotto simmered away.

I must say, this dish is really tasty. The marinated feta in olive oil and with toasted caraway seeds and fresh oregano leaves really sets it off and takes it up a notch. Ottolenghi is so good about adding those extra finishing touches that really make the dish! I didn’t have celery stalks on hand but I did have some leftover celeriac from when I made the parsnip dumpling soup, and I added that to the risotto and it tasted delicious! The shallots, garlic, celeriac smelled so good while they sauteed in olive oil and butter. The addition of fresh herbs and fresh lemon peel make this dish flavorful and refreshing! Unlike traditional risotto, which while delicious is creamy and heavy and makes you feel a bit guilty while eating it, this risotto feels fresh and healthy. I highly recommend you try it!

Ingredients:

1 cup pearl barley
2 tbsp unsalted butter
6 tbsp olive oil (this seemed excessive to be so I used 4 but under your discretion)
2 small celery stalks (I didn’t have celery so used celeriac instead and it tasted great!)
2 small shallots
4 cloves garlic
4 thyme sprigs
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (I used regular paprika)
4 strips lemon peel (I just peeled some off with a vegetable peeler)
1 bay leaf
one 14 z can chopped tomatoes
3 cups vegetable stock (I ended up using quite a bit more than this as I added more vegetable stock at the end when the risotto wasn’t cooked after 45 minutes)
1.25 cups passata (sieved crushed tomatoes – I wasn’t sure where to find this so I used canned crush tomatoes)
1 tbsp caraway seeds
10.5 oz feta cheese (this is A LOT of feta, I think I used more like 8 oz)
1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
salt

Instructions: So the first step is to rinse the pearl barley well under cold water and leave it to drain. Then melt the butter and 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan (I didn’t use a large enough pan at first – make sure it’s big!!), then dice up the celery, shallots and garlic and cook them under gentle heat until soft. Add all the rest of the ingredients save the feta, caraway seeds, oregano, and olive oil and stir to combine. Bring to boil, the reduce to gentle simmer and cook for 45 minutes to an hour (the barley takes a really long time to get less chewy). To prepare the topping, toast the caraway seeds in a dry pan. Crumble the feta in a separate bowl, add 2-4 tbsp olive oil, marinate it, and add the seeds. Spoon that along with some fresh oregano leaves on top of the risotto – don’t forget them because they really make the risotto extra special!

Barley risotto with marinated feta

Barley risotto with marinated feta and fresh oregano

All about Fattoush

As you may have gathered from reading my previous posts, I just love this fattoush :) It’s so good! Even Oprah likes it – see the recipe printed here! It’s one of the first recipes in Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s Jerusalem, and it just makes you feel so healthy and good about yourself eating it! I love all the herbs and fresh ingredients. Each time I’ve made it so far I’ve been switching back and forth between using buttermilk and mixing greek yogurt with milk for the dressing (you have the option of either using 1 and 2/3 cups buttermilk or 1 cup greek yogurt and 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp milk) and I’ve been trying out different pitas. I tried wheat pita today but I think white pita works the best. I also decided to add more tomatoes and radishes this time since I usually have a lot of left over dressing at the bottom after I’ve finished the salad.

Fattoush

The first step is of course getting all the ingredients – you need 2 large naans/pitas/flat bread, the greek yogurt and milk or buttermilk, 3 large tomatoes, 100g radishes, 3 Lebanese cucumbers, 2 green onions, 15g fresh mint, 1 tbsp dried mint, 2 cloves garlic (definitely worth it to invest in a garlic crusher. So glad I bought one at walgreens!), 3 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon (I invested in a lemon squeezer because I’ve realized that yes, fresh squeezed lemon juice is way better), 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tbsp white wine or cider vinegar, 1.5 tsp salt, pepper, and sumac to garnish if you have it.

First, I tore up 2 large pitas and put them in this giant salad bowl that I just bought myself at Marshall’s (the best place to buy cheap good quality stuff! Hey, I’m still a grad student after all..)

torn up pita for base of fattoush

Next, I chopped up the tomatoes. I decided to go for 4 tomatoes this time since I just love tomatoes. How pretty are they?

Tomatoes

This is a pretty easy dish to make, you simply slowly add ingredients, layer by layer. Here is the pita with the tomatoes:

Pita and diced tomatoes

Next I chopped the Lebanese cucumbers (also called Persian cucumbers in stores, the small ones):

Lebanese cucumbers

Then I added those to the tomatoes and pita:

Pita, tomatoes, cucumbers

Next I added the radishes. I found some really pretty ones at the Berkeley bowl.

Radishes

Then I sliced up the radishes and added them to the salad bowl:

Sliced radishes

Pita, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes for fattoush

The next ingredient is green onions. There are varying opinions on how high to cut the onion up the green part. I usually cut off the roots and then go about half way up the green part.

green onions

Next I got to add the fresh herbs, which I think are what really make this salad.

Fresh mint for fattoush

Fresh parsley for fattoush

After the herbs, I added two crushed garlic cloves, which is admittedly pretty garlicky. Next time I might add just one. Follow your taste buds on this one! Then add 1 tbsp dried mint, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tbsp white wine/cider vinegar, 1.5 tsp salt, and some pepper. The recipe calls for 3 tbsp lemon juice, and I definitely recommend investing in a squeezer and making it fresh. I bought one recently and I’m very happy with my purchase :)

Lemons to be squeezed for the fattoush

Next toss all the ingredients together and it’s best to let this dish sit for a while and let the flavors meld.

Fattoush

Ingredients

Scant 1 cup Greek yogurt plus 2 Tbsp. whole milk, or 1 cup buttermilk (replacing both yogurt and milk)
2 large stale Turkish flatbread/pita (9 ounces in total)
3 large tomatoes (13 ounces in total), cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 ounces radishes, thinly sliced
3 Lebanese or mini cucumbers (9 ounces in total), peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch dice
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 ounce fresh mint
Scant 1 ounce flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp. dried mint
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
2 Tbsp. cider or white wine vinegar
3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sumac or more to taste, to garnish

Conchiglie with yogurt, peas, & chile

On Tuesday February 4, 2014, I made a dish from Jerusalem with my friend Valerie, who is nurse in San Francisco. Valerie and I met when we were 10 at jewish sleep away camp and have been friends for close to 2 decades now! It’s really nice to have an old friend around in the bay area:)

So we made conchiglie with yogurt, peas & chile from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottoleghi and Sami Tamimi pg. 111. This recipe is nice compared to other recipes in this book in that it has fewer ingredients and they are a bit easier to source.

All of the ingredients for conchiglie with yogurt, peas & chile

One tip though if you buy frozen peas – this should be a no brainer but of course I bought all of my ingredients right before cooking and didn’t take the time to do this – let your peas thaw before you start cooking. As a graduate student I’m a bit lacking on the cooking supplies side, so I also do not have a food processor. No fear, my handy immersion blender did the trick! If you are going to buy one appliance – I highly recommend the immersion blender. They don’t take up a lot of space and have many handy attachments and can pretty much replace a blender or a food processor in your life. I imagine a blender would also work fine for this recipe. I used 0% Fage greek yogurt here and it worked out well.

blending together the greek yogurt and peas for the sauce with my handy immersion blender

This recipe is nice because it is rich and creamy but doesn’t leave you feeling heavy – the greek yogurt is creamy but light and is filled with protein and calcium so is actually good for you. I also learned that I really need to buy or acquire a larger pot! Making 500g of pasta at once is tricky! I couldn’t find anything labeled conchiglie at Safeway, so I used Barilla big shells. They were large though and I had to cook the pasta in two batches. I also could not find Turkish chile so I just used regular red pepper flakes, and I used less feta because 8 oz seemed like a ton of feta for me! The sauteed pine nuts and chile really made the dish for me. It was really great to get that extra flavor and crunch. In the future I would probably use 1-2 cloves of garlic instead of 4, and I might add spinach or more peas to give it a bit higher vegetable to sauce ratio. My picture of course did not come out as lovely as in the book, but we enjoyed it nonetheless :) The recipe saved well and gave me several lunches throughout the week!