Carbfest and other starchy sins

The last few years have been witnessed a veritable war on carbs and starches. For someone who grew up eating pasta almost daily and rice on other days when we made traditional Arabic stews, the idea of not being free to eat rice and pasta as I please makes me inexplicably sad. I am serious when I say that I could eat a bowl of pasta for breakfast (left over from yesterday's dinner), lunch and dinner (left overs to be had tomorrow at breakfast). Nothing as deliriously delicious than the moment when I drain those steaming golden threads of spaghetti and throw them into a simple aglio-olio-pomodoro-basilico sugo, dust them generously with freshly grated parmiggiano reggiano and poise my fork to begin twirling.

I revolted against Atkins. Not a single gram of guilt, inspite of a good 120 grams of spaghetti.

I am liberated and ready for the next culinary carbfest. And this morning, I woke up dreaming of a carbfest so magnificent, it would make dieters everywhere convulse with envy and drool with anticipation.

Nothing says carbfest more than the famous, or should I say infamous, Kushari.  This simple, rudimentary dish finds its origins in Egypt, where it is a staple for many, the fast food of the masses, the gastric pacifier of young and old. Every home will make a slighly different version, each unique, each authentic to its origins.

I find it the perfect dish to use up the remains of packets of pasta, those last few grammes that are barely enough for one person, yet thrown together will feed a hungry family. The pasta need not be cooked al dente, in fact, a little overcooking works better here.

The use of brown lentils in this dish is perfection, as not only are they really good for you, they deliver a deep smokey flavour to the rest of the ingredients. As an added bonus they also do not require soaking and can be prepared on the spot.

Enter rice. Yes. Rice. Good old Australian calrose short grain (also known as Egyptian rice) to add yet another dimension to this parade of starches. Of course, if you have any leftover plain rice, this is a great way of using it.

Onions and garlic are a key ingredient to make this dish successful. If you worry that you might have garlic breath, this dish is not for you. I would throw all caution to the wind and indulge with your loved ones. No one will complain.

Finally, kushari without its salsa is like a cupcake without frosting. This tangy, spicy, dressing is essential to bring all these unlikely ingredients together into a beautiful explosion of flavours and textures, satisfying to both palate and
stomach.

Here is my interpretation of Kushari, it will serve about 4-6 people depending on level of hunger and gluttony. Enjoy the carbfest!

Note: most of your time will be spent on preparation of ingredients. Assembly takes minutes and it can be enjoyed warm or cold.



Ingredients:

- 250-300gms cups of cooked pasta (eg. broken spaghetti, maccheroni)
- 1 cup of calrose rice, cooked
- 1 cup of brown lentils, cooked till soft but not mushy
- 3 large brown onions
- 500 ml crushed, strained tomatoes (e.g. Pomi)
- 4-5 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 heaping tsp of Bharat (mixed arabic spices)
- 2 heaping tsps of coriander powder
- 2 tsps of sweet paprika
- Olive oil for dousing as required
- 250ml Chicken stock or vegetable stock (optional, I use Kalo Garlic & Herb bouillon)
- 4-5 tablespoons of Sunflower oil
- salt and black pepper to taste

For the salsa:

- 2 lemons, juiced
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed/grated
- 1 level tbsp cumin powder
- hot sauce/chilli paste to taste
- reserved tomato sauce (prepared in first part of process)

- a large deep serving dish (I used a lasagna dish, but any shape will do)


Method:

- boil the pasta till well done, 2 minutes beyond recommended cooking  time, rinse and drain the pasta, set aside

- boil the rice in 1 1/4 cup of water, bring to the boil for 2 minutes then reduce heat to very low, cover and leave undisturbed on low heat for 20 minutes. The rice should have absorbed all the water and cooked through

- wash and boil the lentils till well done but not mushy, drain and set aside

- reserving half an onion for the sauce, finely slice the onions on a mandolin

- shallow fry the sliced onions till they turn a deep golden brown, transfer to drain on kitchen paper

- finely chop the remainder half onion and set aside


Preparing the tomato sauce:

- Pour the sunflower oil into a saucepan and on medium heat, saute the chopped onions till soft and transluscent and just beginning to brown

- Add the coriander powder and stir till amalgamated, adding the strained tomatoes and stirring through till the mixture is homogenous.

- As it starts to bubble, add the tomato paste followed by about 250 ml of boiling water (you can also dilute the tomato paste and bouillon together in the boiling water before adding)

- Cover and allow to simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes or till reduced and flavours become concentrated

- Sprinkle in the Bharat, a touch of freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste and finally, stir through a couple of tablespoons of olive oil for gloss and flavour.

- Set this sauce aside for assembly of dish later


Preparing the salsa:

- In a glass bowl, mix the lemon juice with the garlic and add the cumin stiring thoroughly

- Add 2-3 of ladles of the tomato sauce prepared earlier to achieve a light, tangy salsa. Taste it and adjust the tomato ratio according to your preference

- Add the chilli paste/hot sauce to taste (I like it quite hot to contrast with the relatively tame ingredients).

- Drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into the salsa for flavour and gloss



 To assemble:

- Pour the pasta into the bottom of the dish and spread out to achieve an even layer and then sprinke one ladle of sauce over this, but just enough to tint the pasta

- Sprinkle with a little olive oil

- Spoon the rice over the pasta and spread out in an even layer and sprinkle with one more ladle of sauce

- Spread the lentils over the rice and cover the entire layer of lentils with the remainder of the sauce. It should cover the dish and be quite generous as this will be responsible for making the dish moist

- Finally, reserving some for individual portions later as an extra treat, sprinkle some fried onions over the last layer of tomato sauce

- Upon serving the kushari, spoon some salsa on the individual portions depending on taste and preference (as it is quite spicy and tangy) and top with more fried onions for crunch.

Enjoy!

Tempus fugit and left over chicken

We had great friends over for a barbecue yesterday. Its been a while since I had the opportunity to be with adult company without my toddler 'mama-ing' me into a stupour. He was tucked away in bed by 7pm courtesy of his father while I wrapped up preparations for dinner.

Best laid plans and all that, the gas cylinder of our 'healthier option' barbecue range ran out minutes into preheating, but soon we had a new cylinder installed and ready to go.

First thing on the barbecue were two 'butterflied' chickens that had been soaking all day in a mediterranean marinade. Spread-eagled inside their grilling baskets they went quietly to their smoky demise. 

The result was juicy, fragrant chicken, with the prominent yet subtle flavour of thyme (from my the garden، dried the week before).

I also made a chargrilled bell pepper salad with...a twist. Before I go further, I must confess that my knowledge of chile peppers was limited when I embarked on this culinary exprience and I wish I had found this visual guide before deciding to use these interesting looking peppers. I just thought they looked pretty and would add some interest to my sweet pepper salad.

The malificent, yet pretty looking scotch bonnet.

It turns out this is a close relative of the habanero, which is described by http://www.missvickie.com/ here in no uncertain terms:

"For the uninitiated even a tiny piece of Habanero would cause intense and prolonged oral suffering."

If ones tastebuds remain intact after sampling them, apparently:

"Underneath the heat is a delicate plum-tomato apple-like flavour."

Hmm. Never got that far. I suffered 2nd degree burns on my fingers and was temporarily partially deaf after taking quite a big mouthful to taste before serving.

But I digress. This blog post was meant to share what I did with the left over chicken. This light dinner sandwich is possibly one of the most delicious by-products of any yesterday's barbecue chicken. It is inspired by a popular Palestinian dish called Musakhan.

Sumac is wonderful in that it lends a tangy, lemony flavour to anything you put it on. In this case, its fabulous deep wine colour also livens up an otherwise pale dish.

To complement this, the caramelized sweet onions balance the sharpness of sumac and add depth, softness and juicyness to the chicken.

Although I have a recipe with ingredients and approximate quantities, this can be adjusted depending on personal taste and the amount of left-over chicken you have! Its not a precise science so enjoy experimenting with these simple ingredients till you find your happy place.


Chicken musakhan and roquette in pita pockets

Ingredients:

- Half a left-over chicken, deboned and sliced or chopped coarsely
- 1 1/2- 2 tbsps Summac powder
- 1 large brown onion or 2-3 small red onions, very finely sliced
- 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp Bharat* (mixed Arabic spices)
- Salt to taste
- A handful of roquette leaves (leaf only, no nasty stems)
- Pita pockets, sliced open to make a sandwich

*these can also be bought ready from specialized stores

Method:

Pour the olive oil into a frying pan and add the onions cold (here we want to gently fry the onions till they are caramelized not burned)

Once the onions are a deep caramel colour, soft and transluscent, add the chicken and stir to amalgamate the two ingredients together.

Add the sumac and the bharat, stir through to coat the mixture evenly.

Add salt to taste.

Line the pita bread pocket with a good bunch of rocket leaves then fill with the chicken mixture.

Tuck in!

It took 40 years to know it

It has taken me all my life to figure that I want to spend the rest of the foreseable future learning to create new things in the kitchen. Its not just that I love food, I think about it all the time. I wake up thinking of breakfast and the crepe I could make, or the scones I could bake, or the croissants I could whip up. I think of how I am going to present them on the plate. I think of which plate.

I am ashamed to say that not long after breakfast, I think of lunch. I go to the market for inspiration and find potbellied zucchine, vibrant sunshine yellow and lush green striped with hints of lime. I pick up a bunch of fresh flat leaf parsely and jewel-like shallots and rush home to commence the symphony of flavours.

With a home to run, a toddler around my ankles and things to do, its not surprising that I am partial to simple dishes made of a few ingredients, mostly available at home or easy to get a hold of. Simple dished with huge flavours are my friend.

Its the produce in the market that speaks to me and in my minds eye, I can almost see and taste the dish before I have made it.

If you want to make this dish, but can't find the round squash like zucchine, the traditional long ones will do just fine.

The zucchine* do not need to be blanched. I like to just wilt the slivers of delicate flesh on a medium heat to maintain the colour and the crunch.

The garlic and dried peperoncino need to go into cold olive oil because you want it to gently flavour the oil, not burn to crisp. You can use fresh red peperoncini too, but bare in mind that their heat is more fierce.

I like to use spaghetti or tagliatelle, but even rigatoni or penne will work nicely. Recently I used a mix of spinach and plain tagliatelle to lend some fun and colour to this dish.

Remember to check the cooking times of spinach/plain tagliatelle, because they normally differ by a couple of minutes, and I stagger the cooking time to get the same texture in both.

Use only the finest extra virgin olive oil as this will gently coat all the lovely strands of pasta and will be the carrier of all the ingredients.

Remember to not throw away the pasta water. You will need it.

A good parmiggiano reggiano, or pecorino if you prefer, are essential to complement this dish. Use generously.

*Note that I use theItalian word 'Zucchine' (not Zucchini), which is the plural of the feminine Zucchina. However, even Italians debate this here.


Tagliatelle alle Zucchine Bicolore

Ingredients
(for 4 persons)

- 4-5 potbellied zucchine (2 green, 2 yellow), sliced into 1cm slivers
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
- 4-5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 3-4 tablespoons Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped semi-finely
- 8-10 large fresh basil leaves, prepared chiffonade style, (a chiffonade looks prettier but torn up is fine too)
- 2-3 dried peperoncini, broken into two to release flavour (optional)
- 3 tablespoons of raw pine nuts
- a half cup of dry white wine (optional)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- more olive oil for drizzling, depending on need/preference
- coarse sea salt for the pasta water
- grated parmiggiano reggiano to taste

Method
- Add a handful of coarse salt to a large pot of water and bring to the boil
- Throw in the tagliatelle (if using two colours make sure you calculate cooking times)
- Add the olive oil to a deep pan frying pan or skillet, on low-medium heat
- Add the sliced garlic and peperoncino and allow to infuse into the oil without sizzling or browning
- Saute gently until the garlic is JUST turning pink
- Add the zucchine and stir gently till they wilt and have absorbed most of the oil
- Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Deglaze the pan by splashing in the white wine and turning up the heat, toss the zucchini till most of the wine has evaporated
- Reducing the heat on medium and add the pine nuts to the zucchine and mix through gently
- In the meantime, check the tagliatelle, which should be very nearly ready.
- Drain the pasta just shy of it being 'al dente' (reserving the water) and before all the water has drained out completely, throw the tagliatelle into the sauce, tossing quickly to coat and infuse the flavours into the tagliatelle
- You may want to add a ladle of pasta water to loosen the sauce
- Keep tossing as you add the basil chiffonade and parsley (reserving a little of both for garnish)
- Add a splash of olive for flavour and gloss
- Garnish with a couple of tablespoons of parmiggiano, a couple of turns of the pepper mill and the rest of the parsley and basil chiffonade

Buon Appetito!