Monday, February 1, 2010 - By Z
My dad (بابا is what I call him) just retired and a bunch of friends and family gathered to celebrate. We had a potluck, which I love, but I think my dad put it especially well; he said that by asking everyone to bring something, it makes them feel like they are a part of the party… and that makes them feel more at home. And, it certainly did. People stayed and ate and danced and laughed together until early into the next morning.
!باز نشستگیت مبارک، بابا جان
Of course, it didn’t hurt that the all of the food was incredibly delicious.
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Filed in Appetizers/Side Dishes, Dinner, Meals
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Tagged beef, blood oranges, cherries, chicken, corn, fire, grilled vegetables, Iran, kabob, pot roast, salad
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Sunday, January 31, 2010 - By Z
Though the title of this post is the lazy cook, it only refers to the amount of cooking that I did… I was far from lazy this weekend. Each day, from Thursday all the way through Sunday has been jam-packed with food, family, friends, and some productivity in between (don’t worry, there won’t be pictures of that).
I should also be called the lazy blogger, because this is just going to be a series of photos.
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Filed in Alcoholic, Appetizers/Side Dishes, Beverages, Dinner, Lunch
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Tagged bacon, beer, chowder, clam, clam chowder, confit, fish, goat cheese, grapes, mussels, oysters, salami, tuna, wine
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Thursday, January 28, 2010 - By Z
Brussels sprouts are not small cabbages and should not be treated as such. I think that a lot of people’s problems with brussels sprouts stem from the fact that they’ve typically had them boiled or steamed or, what’s worse, overcooked. When they’re overcooked, they release a sulfur compound that makes them particularly unappetizing.
So, instead of simply boiling them or steaming them, it’s much better to caramelize them somehow. I made half of the brussels sprout stalk seen in an earlier post by making a caramel sauce (with balsamic vinegar and homemade caramel) and then frying the brussels sprouts in it.
I took care of the other half of the stalk by roasting them.
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Tuesday, January 26, 2010 - By Z
Now, this is an appetizer that is simple and relatively cheap to make, but that looks and tastes pretty impressive. It’s a puff pastry wrapped package of melty Brie goodness. I serve it with sliced apples and water crackers, but you can simply eat it plain if you’d like. While I have only made this with preserves so far, I plan on trying savory versions with roasted garlic and the like.
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Monday, January 25, 2010 - By Z
Waste not, want not. I grew up in a household where my mother always made enough to have leftovers. This served several purposes. First of all, if we ever had any unexpected guests, there was always enough for them (and even if not, we’d find some way to share what we had). Second, it saved time and money. And third, leftovers can be delicious.
In this case, I didn’t have cooked leftovers, but I didn’t feel like making another batch of the Sriracha Chicken Strips, so I needed to do something with the marinated leftover strips. Since an egg scramble is one of the easiest things to make and I had already spent so much time making the chicken strips, I decided to just start chopping some vegetables and beating some eggs.
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