Foodie thoughts. A friend who does the "Jewish Digest" show on the community Radio-Centre ville station received a sumptuous gift of THREE books on Sephardic cuisines. They each cost about $40 US, so out of range for us... Knowing my fondness for Mediterranean cuisines, he lent me these: Cucina ebraica, about Italy, Sephardic flavors (US spelling, sic), and Saffron Shores (about the Maghreb and other Arab lands, all by Joyce Goldstein. I liked these little chicken meatballs - there are chicken meatballs in all 3 books but the spices in these appealed to me most, and they are poached, not fried, so it is lighter than most meatball recipes. A Moroccan friend in Paris (of Berber background) made similar tiny meatballs from lamb, also cooked in diluted tomato sauce. I disagree with the author of this recipe, Joyce Goldstein, that these are just for a "weeknight" recipe, as such tiny meatballs are fussy to make and if you do use real saffron, it isn't cheap (will cost almost as much as the ground chicken...). I love this type of tagine, alongside various chopped-vegetable salads.

These books have a lot of good vegetarian recipes too, and I'll certainly post one eventually as soon as I've made it myself.

Dar Laarch,ou
Boulettes de poulet de la mariée

The Bride's Chicken Meatballs

Chicken meatballs can be a wonderful weeknight supper, served with rice or couscous. In Tunisia, Daisy Taieb's family served chicken meatballs served with crushed dried rose petsl to break the fast after Yom Kippur. If you can't find dried rose petals, the chicken balls will still be delicious

Serves 6 to 8

for the meatballs:

2 lbs ground chicken
4 small onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
6 tbsps chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 1-inch-thick slices country bread, soaked in water and squeezed dry
3 tsp crushed dried unsprayed rose petals (optional)
freshly grated nutmeg to taste
good pinch of ground turmeric or saffron threads, crushed
2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 eggs

for the sauce:

2 tbsp olive oil
4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, or 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed

To make the meatballs, in a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and knead the mixture until it holds together. Form one meatball and poach it in lightly salted water to test the seasoning. Adjust as necessary. Form the mixture into walnut-sized balls.

I've been on a roti kick lately. Vegetable-filled rotis, with spinach, chick peas, and potatoes. But they're way too expensive to buy regularly, and I don't know how to make them!

Mohamad Khan gave me a cursory "recipe" which he had double-checked with his mom, and that sounds about right to me. But I'm one of those people who learns much better by watching and doing when it comes to cooking. So this weekend, while visiting Kingston, I'm going to go to see whether a Jamaican-Canadian friend of mine can show me how. She says she hasn't done it in years, but I'm going to bribe her with homemade jarred mango-scotch-pepper sauce from the roti shop around the corner.

In the meantime, I'm boiling a chopped potato as I type, in order to make some kind of a spinach-tomato-potato-onion stirfry to put on arepas - which a Venezuelan friend taught me how to make years ago, and which I haven't had the nerve to try making myself until three weeks ago. (They turned out perfectly.)

You know, impromptu "peasant food" is really great when you're cooking for one. You can make a small amount of it. But even if I only use one of each type of vegetable when I'm doing something like this, I still always have leftovers. Luckily I'm not the type of person who hates to have the same thing twice in a row.

[ 20 June 2003: Message edited by: Michelle ]

The only expensive thing in the recipe I posted is the saffron, and a little packet of saffron does do for a few recipes. I love saffron - I have friends from Morocco who use it a lot - but it is expensive. Obviously it is common in Persian food as well...

I wanted to start up a new foodie thread with fresh smells and taste of late spring/early summer, but the weather hasn't been co-operating much . But on the other hand, everything is nice and green.

[ 21 June 2003: Message edited by: Zoot Capri ]

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I've been on a roti kick lately. Vegetable-filled rotis, with spinach, chick peas, and potatoes. But they're way too expensive to buy regularly, and I don't know how to make them!

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Are you living in Toronto now? There used to be a little roti and Carribean food "joint" on Dundas just beside the Eaton Centre, before that area got bulldozed, and they made a huge spinach roti that was yours for about $3. Of course it's not spinach in there, it's callaloo or some other leafy green, but all the same it's fantastic, no? They also made good potato balls (2 for a buck) and would give you a huge container of rice and peas, with the "gravy" of your choice slather on for a dollar. I'm a bit of a knife-and-fork artist, so if I can get full for a couple of bucks, I'm a fan!

I believe the place migrated west on Dundas & is still serving up cheap rotis, including an even cheaper (but not smaller) potato-only, for about $2.50 (Coconut Grove 183 Dundas W Toronto)

I stopped peeling everything years ago -- I figure that peel is at least good fibre, and in the case of potatoes, the most nourishing part of the veggie. I realize that many fruits and veggies may have awful things on their peels, so I scrub -- so maybe that's not good enough, but then, if the chemicals have penetrated the peels, they've gone even farther, so why worry?

Ingredients for Dahl Filling:
1 cup yellow split peas
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp curry powder
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 tbs vegetable oil
2 cups water
salt

Ingredients for Roti:

1.5 kg plain flour
6 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt500g butter
500 ml waterVegetable
oil as needed

Preparation Method for Dahl filling: Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Add cumin seed and garlic. Cook until garlic is golden brown.Add water with salt to taste, and bring to a boilAdd curry powder, and stir well.Add yellow split peas, and allow to simmer until completely soft.Drain water from peas. Allow to cool, then mash completely with a fork.

Preparation Method for Roti: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.Add butter, and crumble into mixture.Add water slowly, and mix to form a dough.Knead, and let stand for 30 minutes.Knead again, and then divide into 12 small balls. Make a deep hole in the ball through the middle and place some of the dhal mixture inside. Close the opening of the hole by pinching the top.Roll the ball in flour.On a floured board, roll out each ball, as thinly as possible using a rolling pin. Spread some vegetable oil with a brush onto a a large flat griddle, or frying pan, heat on a medium until hot.Place each individual roti on the pan, and cook for about one and a half minutes on each side, coating each side with a little vegetable oil as it cooks.Remove and drain on paper towels

[ 21 June 2003: Message edited by: rasmus_raven ]

For the Roti you will need:

3 cups flour
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cups boiled water
Salted butter for frying

Mix ingredients in a large bowl until soft. Knead the dough and add flour or water if hard. With hands, form into balls the size of a small fist. Roll flat with a pin until ¼-inch thick. The desired appearance should be like pizza dough.

For the Dhal Puri you will need:

1 ½ cups boiled split peas
1-2 tbsp cumin seed
3 tbsp minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp salt
Small piece of saffron

Soak the peas overnight and boil with saffron until soft. Toast the cumin seeds in a pan and combine with the onion, garlic, salt, and peas in a large bowl. Grind well until combined.

Rasmus, I don't see any chickpea or other pea flour in your recipe. Once again, easy to find in South Asian, Middle Eastern and other Mediterranean shops (Italians and Niçois also make a galette like pizza from chickpea flour - it is high in protein). I'd think even a big supermarket (like Loblaws etc) that has an "ethnic" clientele would carry chickpea flour nowadays.

I grew up thinking that sole was the desired whitefish, but honestly ... so boring ... We don't get very good haddock here, but Scottish haddock is superb.

Imagine my shock when I discovered that "scampi" in Britain just meant prawns or shrimp. The langoustines that I remember were somewhere halfway between a lobster and a prawn -- not as big as the lobster, but with that flavour ... Och, heaven. And nothing to do with boring shrimps.

So in 1998, there I was, in Brittany, in a fishing village, watching the boats come in, watching our hoteliers buying their supplies for the night, and thinking, Yum Yum!

And it was on the menu. Something with langoustines. And d'ye know what that meant??? It meant that we had a few slices of langoustines interspersed among other stuff ... I mean, it was so sad.

Brittany used to be one of the great harvesting grounds for langoustines, but they are almost all gone now, which is why you get only slices in the villages there, and none at all in Toronto.

I understand that there are still some populations off the north coast of South America ...

But only 25 years ago ...

I wanna, now.

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Am I right in thinking that ghee is clarified butter?

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I bribed my friend with hot sauce, but we just didn't have enough visiting time for her to make rotis with me. Oh well. I'll have to experiment with internet recipes and the recipes that are posted in this thread.

Thai street noodles are only served at lunch and it is amazing. In a fish/seafood based fresh broth you have your choice of either egg or rice noodle or a combo of both. The huge bowl is then filled with strips of chiken breast, fish quennelles, fish balls and a gently wrapped seafood of some kind that is scrumptious(white fish, shrimp and crab I think),loaded with bean sprouts,...and then you can add the following condiments, sugar, crushed peanuts, fish oil, red pepper and hot green and red peppers.

In any case, I'm wrong... West Indian roti can be made with a plain bread as opposed to "dhal puri" --

Potato Roti

more potato roti

Yet more potato roti:

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Roti

4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
water to mix
oil
Instructions:
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add enough water to make a soft dough. Let rest for 15 mins., covered with a damp cloth. Form into small balls of about the size of an eqq. Roll each ball flat and rub with oil. Make a slit to the center of the circle, then start to roll dough from one cut end to another, to form a ball. Cover with a damp cloth so that the top does not get hard. Continue until all the dough is rolled. Heat frying pan. Roll ball flat and put on frying pan. After 12 seconds turn the roti over, rub the top with oil. Turn it over again and rub with oil. Turn it over again until brown on both sides. Take the roti off the pan and clap between your hands to separate the layers. Continue until all the dough is cooked. Serve with curyr chicken, beef, shrimp...

Alu Roti (Potatoe Roti)

4 cups flour
1 1/2 lb. potatoes
1 tsp. geera
1/4 onion
2 tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
oil
Instructions:
Make the dough for the roti. Boil the potatoes, peel and then mash. Heat the 2 tbsp. oil with geera. Add to potatoes. Add the ground onion, salt and pepper, mix well. Making sure there are no lumps. Make the dough into small balls and flatten in the palm of your hand. Put a ball of potatoes inside and bring up the edges. Twist closed to form a ball, which totally enveloped the potatoes. Heat frying pan. Gently roll the ball flat and fairly thin, making sure none of the filling comes out. Put roti on the pan for 3o seconds, turn and rub with oil. Then turn again and rub with oil. When brown on boht sided remove and serve

Dhal Puri Roti

4 cups flour
1 cup split peas
1 tsp. baking powder
1 clove garlic
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. geera
water
oil
Instructions:
Boil peas in water until soft. Drain, put in a blender and grind until it forms a powder like consistency. Add geera, 1 tsp. salt, and ground onions. In another bowl mix flour, 1 tsp. salt and baking powder. Add enough water to make a soft dough. Let it sit for 15 minutes. Divide dough into balls. Cover with a damp cloth. Take a ball and flatten in the palm of your hand, add some of the pea mixture and bring the sides up to form a ball. Make sure edges are well sealed. Contineu until all the balls are filled with the mixture. Heat frying pan. Roll the filled ball flat making sure the filling does not come out. Put on the frying pan for 30 seconds, turn and rub oil on the puri, turn again and put oil on. Cook until light brown.

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Myself, the places I frequent either use dhal puri bread or use copious amounts of chickpea flour in flouring the rolling surface. Either way, it makes a difference.

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“Saddam Soup” is a very spicy soup, with a mix of chicken chops and vegetables, whose recipe has a, well, European link.

“Saddam Soup is actually a European recipe. It comes complete with cheese and toast, but we have modified the recipe to local tastes,” Moosa told Haveeru.

“It is very hot and spicy,” he added.

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Do you guys really bother to peel and seed your tomatoes when you cook? I mean, why?

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I only peel and seed tomatoes when I'm making gazpacho. Why? Dunno; the recipe called for it and I do find that they puree more easily and you get a better, less watery consistency. Same with cucumbers for different recipes (tsatsiki, for example). Plus, for me the process of making gazpacho is half the fun....I make a very colourful version with different coloured peppers, cucumber, celery as well as tomatoes...whatever I have that's fresh, really.

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So in 1998, there I was, in Brittany, in a fishing village, watching the boats come in, watching our hoteliers buying their supplies for the night, and thinking, Yum Yum!

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If you've been to Bretagne, you must have gone to a créperie and had galettes de blé noir and cidre. Perhaps with a little Chouchen as an apéro? Non? But you must!

Hmm. Breton seafood....

I've seen tables of people devour huge platters of fruits de la mer. It looked like an image from "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom."

I have a good eel story, but I'm saving it...

[ 24 June 2003: Message edited by: al-Qa'bong ]

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It looked like an image from "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom."

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Well, in exchange for access to a table of seafood, I'd gladly let Marlin Perkins shoot me in the ass with a dart!

This isn't so much a recipe but a reminder that linguine or trenette with pesto is GREAT with tiny fresh new green beans, and if you wish, new potatoes. You might find the new potatoes too heavy with the pasta, if so omit them. Of course you could also serve just the green beans and tiny potatoes with the pesto, and screw the pasta.

SERVES 4 TO 6

This recipe combines pasta from Liguria called trenette and pesto with potatoes and green beans, and is a specialty found in Cinque Terre and Portofino. Linguine can be used instead of the homemade trenette. This is perfect now that tiny new beans, new potatoes and basil are all in season.

Sorry for the non-metric measurements - this is not a precise recipe anyway.

* 4 to 6 quarts water 
* 1 tablespoon salt 
* 2 medium-size potatoes, peeled and diced 
* ½ pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch diagonal pieces 
* 1 pound Trenette 
* ½ cup Pesto Sauce 
* Freshly grated Pecorino or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for sprinkling

Bring the water to a boil in a pasta pot. Add the salt, potatoes, and green beans and cook until the vegetables are al dente, tender but still firm, about 4 minutes. Add the pasta, stir it with a pasta fork, cover the pot, and bring the water back to a boil. Uncover the pot and cook the pasta just until al dente, about 3 minutes. Drain the pasta and vegetables into a colander, reserving ½ cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta and vegetables to the pot.

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Originally posted by al-Qa'bong:

If you've been to Bretagne, you must have gone to a créperie and had galettes de blé noir and cidre. Perhaps with a little Chouchen as an apéro? Non? But you must!

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I have had galettes de ble noir and cider, al-Q, but I've never had Chouchen. Interesting -- that sounds like mead, no? Another of those ancient Celtic drinks?

[ 12 July 2003: Message edited by: skdadl ]

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Originally posted by skdadl:

I have had galettes de ble noir and cider, al-Q, but I've never had Chouchen. Interesting -- that sounds like mead, no? Another of those ancient Celtic drinks?

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This is eerie. Mme. Bong made galettes de blé noir for supper tonight...and we had cidre as well. I even looked for chouchen in the LBS the other day, but of course couldn't find it. It's a distilled liqueur made from honey, by the way.

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Hey, what would you do to doctor up a can of plain Habitant pea soup (it's the kind without meat).

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I was also thinking about fried onions as the base, but I was having a hard time thinking past that when I posted, so these ideas are great.

Thinking about this before coming back here, I was pondering the idea of frying onions, finely-diced squash, and corn and adding the soup. Kind of an unorthodox "three sisters" thing.

But I like yours, LTJ. Is this something you've done before, or did you just come up with it now?

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But I like yours, LTJ. Is this something you've done before, or did you just come up with it now?

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Caught again. I've also been known to make 'homemade' leek and mushroom soup using Campbell's cream of mushroom as a base.

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Originally posted by Mr. Magoo:
Are you living in Toronto now? There used to be a little roti and Carribean food "joint" on Dundas just beside the Eaton Centre, before that area got bulldozed, and they made a huge spinach roti that was yours for about $3.

I believe the place migrated west on Dundas & is still serving up cheap rotis

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Place that moved to 183 Dundas was the best Caribbean food I have ever tasted. They were from Guyana, all halal meat. I craved their jerk chicken so much during my last pregnancy that it's no wonder that kid has a bit of spice to her. Unfortunately the place is still there but as of my last visit a few weeks ago, the old owners are now gone... and although the menu hasn't changed the food is not even comparable. If anyone knows where the other people went please let me know!

On the plus side, there is a brand new Lebanese restaurant just a few doors down towards the Eaton Centre, on the second floor. They have hot Lebanese tea (fresh mint, kinda sweet, very tasty) and a whole big steam table of great healthy food. It's all windows so you can sit and listen to CityTV while watching the humanity milling around the intersection below, and have a great fast meal. It's a fun place.

[ 28 September 2008: Message edited by: triciamarie ]

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Originally posted by Lard Tunderin' Jeezus:
Fry a diced med. onion and ham (about 2 slices minced - can be skipped by those adverse to it), in a bit of oil 'til the onion is translucent. Then add a chopped celery stalk and a carrot and a cup of broth (chicken or veg). Bring to a low boil for 5 minutes, then stir in the canned pea soup, and add a good handful of frozen green peas. Simmer another 5 mins. Add white pepper to taste; additional salt is not generally needed as both Habitant and commercial broths have plenty.

Thins it out nicely (Habitant is a bit gluey out of the can), and approximates a more homemade and healthy version of the Canuck classic.

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That sounds good! I'm going to try this tomorrow also throwing in the classic Dutch accoutrement, diced potato.

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Originally posted by Michelle:
Hey, what would you do to doctor up a can of plain Habitant pea soup (it's the kind without meat).

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Come to think of it you could also try adding just fresh (frozen) peas (a lot -- you can squish some of them) and mint. Would taste great with plain yogourt.

BTW let me know if you want me to send you some mint to grow somewhere! I'll mail it to you. You could just plant it wherever there is a little patch of, say, municipal ground that needs improving, and it will thrive with no help or care. Best to put it someplace contained though -- either in a pot dug into the ground or another type of confined bed. For any edible plant, also better to choose a spot a little away from traffic, and out of the reach of dogs.

[ 28 September 2008: Message edited by: triciamarie ]

[ 28 September 2008: Message edited by: triciamarie ]