eat, drink and just be!

zeytoun parvardeh: marinated olives

one of my favorite parts of persian meal is having several side dishes which are usually refreshing and make  a great balance with heavy meals. my mom'm family were from north of iran (gilan province) near caspian sea where you have a very humid weather by the sea which is great for some specific herbs. it's very common to add these herbs to fish and sea food and also to vegetables and give them a special flavor. unfortunately i don't have any access to those herbs but i have access to great olives and i decided to make one of my favorite sides which is called zeytoun parvardeh which literally means marinated olives. 

ingredients:

- olives

- fresh pomogranate

- garlic

- fresh pomegranate juice

- walnuts

- herbs

since i haven't had access to gilan's herbs, i used some fresh mint and tarragon instead. peel and chop garlic cloves and walnuts. add them to olives, pomegranate and fill the jar with fresh pomegranate juice. chop the herbs and add them in. cover and refrigerate the marinated olives. the longer you marinate them, they taste better but i only had a couple of days and they tasted good. nousheh jahn!

cactus - mango salsa

my favorite thing about a multicultural city like san francisco is that you can find food and ingredients to make food from all over the world depending on which part of the city you walk to. i had a couple of hours in mission district which reminds me a lot of the chaos in my home town tehran. there are lots of small local markets with mostly mexican and south american products. i thought i should make some thing i have never made before. the cactus leaves looked gorgeous. so i had to pick one of those without even knowing what i could do with them. then i saw some fresh mangoes, fresh limes, and jalapenos. i also saw a couple of spicy salsa cans that looked tempting. so i had to buy them too. also a couple of ripe plantains which we enjoyed cooking them in butter for breakfast today.:-)

the best part was that i had no idea what to do with the cactus and i asked the guy at the cashier in the store and he explained me in a mostly spanish and a couple of words in broken english that i have to clean them very well and then boil them in water for about ten minutes before using them. when i got home i washed the cactus properly by rubbing it with a kitchen scrubber and trimmed it around the edges. then chopped into small pieces and boiled in hot water for ten minutes. then i chopped mangoes, shallots, and jalapenos. added fresh lime juice and olive oil to the mix. let the cactus cool and added it to the mix. tasted and added salt and pepper. the jalapenos i put in were spicy enough that i didn't need to add any pepper. i rubbed that tomato - jalapeno salsa sauce i bought on a bransini fish and baked  it for twenty minutes. also baked some tiny colorful potatoes with some salt pepper and oregano and enjoyed eating them all with this cactus - mango salsa i made. 

another part of mission district that i can't miss is my favorite cup cake store: mission minis. they make these gorgeous and yummy cupcakes that i always have to buy at least a dozen when i go by. nousheh jahn!

yosemite part II and artichoke stew

 

a friend of mine had a spontaneous idea to get a couple of days off in the middle of the week and go to yosemite when no one else is there. the three of us girls decided and the next day left the bay area to go to that direction. first day we stopped at hetch hetchy reservoir where the drink water of san francisco comes from. it was a great hike around the reservoir with several water falls on the way. it was such a hot day that we didn't mind getting soaked under the water falls although the water was freezing cold.

the next day we hiked more inside yosemite national park. comparing to two weeks ago that i was there, it has changed totally. there was not as much snow any more and water falls had tons more water with a lot more pressure in them. since we hiked along side vernal falls we totally got soaked head to toe  again which kept us fresh for the other hikes we did for the rest of the day. i can't wait to go back to yosemite but this time hopefully all roads are open and i can hike up to high country where there are beautiful lakes as well. on the way back to the city the shikamoo(means some one who loves eating in persian) me had to stop at farms on the way near mantecca and got some fresh vegetables and fruits. i got fresh artichokes and onions. the onions still had their stems which makes them more delicious. it's like having red onion and green onion both in one. i came back home and my husband was sick. so i decided to make a stew with those vegetables i bought on the way. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ingredients:

- butter

-  two artichockes

- two onions

- four heirloom tomatoes

- four more tomatoes or diced tomatoes

- one bell pepper

- fresh mint

- dried or fresh tarragon

- salt and pepper

- two limes 

wash and chop all vegetables except the artichokes and saute them for ten minutes with butter. add diced tomatoes and let them cook another ten minutes with the lid of the dutch oven on. then add two cups of water and put the artichokes in the stew that it cooks with the steam of the stew for half hour. turn them around after twenty minutes and let them cook more. saute the chopped fresh mint in some butter and mix it with some fresh pressed lime juice and add it on top of the artichokes before serving the stew. nousheh jahn!

 

 

persian eggplant dip

finally it's summery and warm to sit out side and grill. i finally planted flowers in the balcony and planted herbs and vegetables. let's see what happens to them in the next three months. some fine herbs such as cilantro don't like the windy san francisco, so this year i planted peppermint that can stand the wind. i also tried tomatoes in the last two years, once they turned out great, once they dies because it got cold too soon. let's see what happens to them this year.

one day my friend came over and we made one of my favorite dips which is common in north of iran at the caspian sea. the process of making this dip needs a little patience. first you grill the vegetables and then you make the dip by cooking the grilled veggies which makes the dish two times more time consuming. so i don't suggest it for a mid week quick dinner.

ingredients:

- four small eggplants ( they are more tender than the large ones)

- one garlic

- one onion

- two to four tomatoes

- one egg

- fresh peppermint 

grill the vegetables on medium heat until the skin is dark. peel them after grilling, especially it's necessary for the eggplants that they get that smoky flavor. i also love the flavor of grilled garlic. after peeling, chop them in tiny pieces and saute eggplants, garlic and onions with some olive oil for a good twenty minutes. then add the tomatoes and stir constantly. when the dip is smooth, add an egg sunny side up and let it cook inside the dip for five minutes. saute the fresh peppermints in some butter for a minute. this needs constant stirring too since it can burn very easily. garnish the dip with peppermint and enjoy it with a piece of bread. nousheh jahn!

 

green weekend

happy earth day to you all. in order to have a very green weekend we had a wonderful green meal on friday which was the earth day and then headed to the east to yosemite national park for the weekend. i have been there several times but each time it is very different depending on the weather, season, and colors. we even had some snow by some hikes and we had tons of rains but we stayed dry in our tents at night.

 

here i share my very green soup recipe with you. i tried to add most of the greens i had in the fridge mostly fresh from farm.

ingredients:

- one onion

- three cloves of garlic

- one bunch of asparagus

- one bunch of broccoli

- one bunch of parsley

- one bunch of cilantro 

- butter

- one cup half and half or heavy cream

- salt and pepper

- two limes

 

 

i sauteed onion and garlic in butter in a dutch oven. then added broccoli and a cup of water to steam it about ten minutes. in a food processor i mixed a cup of half and half with raw asparagus, parsley, and cilantro till they get creamy. added the mix from dutch oven to the mixer and made the whole mix creamy. poured every thing back to the dutch oven but this time only on very low just to make them warm. i intended not to cook asparagus, and herbs at all to keep their fresh taste and their minerals. add salt, pepper, and lime to taste. i also made a couple of cheesy toasties with lavash bread, goat cheese and asparagus by putting them in the oven for five minutes which made a great addition to the soup. nousheh jahn and happy earth week! 

nowrouz preparations

in harmony with nature, persians celebrate the rebirth of the earth on the first two weeks of spring. on the day which may occur on march 20th or 21th the sun crosses the celestial equator. nowrouz ceremonies consist of series of symbolic rituals dating back to ancient persia (about 18th century BCE.) a  few weeks before nowrouz iranians do spring cleaning and rearrange their homes, bake pastries, and germinate seeds as symbol of renewal. i started with germinating mung beans, wheat, and lentils. mung beans and lentils grow much faster than wheat. so next year i have to start wheat earlier. i'll keep you updated on how my experiment is doing every couple of days. as you can see on the picture i first soaked them in water for a couple of days and changed the water daily that it doesn't smell. then removed the water and spread the seeds on big plates. first covered them for a couple of days with a wet towel for another two days. the moisture of the towel and the darkness helps the sprouts come out faster. then remove the towel and leave them in a warm and bright place, preferably sunny. water them daily, but not too much, only sprinkle with water till they grow. i know keeping these greens for so long is only a tradition for persians but also the sprouts are tasty and you don't have to wait long if you like to enjoy eating them or adding them in to salad. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i'm also going to talk about haft seen(literally seven dishes setting, each one beginning with the persian letter seen) in a couple of days but before that i still have to talk about another ingredient i prepared for nowrouz. on the same table as haft seen, people place seven special sweets, because according to 3000 year old legend, king jamshid discovered sugar on the day of nowrouz. (even the word candy comes from the persian word for sugar, qand.) i made one of these seven sweets which is almost the persian version of marzipan. we call it tut, which literally means white mulberries.  

ingredients:

- two cups almond
- one teaspoon ground cardamom
- one cup sugar
- half a cup rosewater
- one tablespoon orange-blossom water
- one cup confectioners' sugar
- two tablespoon slivered pistachios or almonds 

in order to get the fresh taste i soak the almonds for a couple of hours in water and then peel them. then mix them with cardamom and sugar in a mixer. slowly blend in the rosewater and orange blossom water. stir until you get a soft dough. add more almonds if the dough doesn't stick together. take a small spoonfuls of dough and shape into white mulberries. roll each in sugar and insert a sliver of almond or pistachio as a stem. i also colored some of the dough with some green food coloring to make it look more springy. you could also enjoy it on st. patrick's day.:-) arrange on a serving platter and enjoy it with a cup of cardamom tea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

persian barley soup

this is one of my favorite wintery soups. i loved it specially after a long day of skiing in the cold. ingredients:

- one onion

- two cloves of garlic

- one cup of barley

- two carrots

- half a celery root

- one lime

- one lemon

- salt and pepper

- one cup of chopped fresh parsley

- two tablespoons sour cream

- zest of lime to garnish

in a dutch oven brown the onion and garlic in some olive oil, then add the barley, salt and pepper and saute for a few minutes. if you want it to cook faster leave the barley in water over night.  add four cups of water and bring it to boil. add the celery root. cover and reduce heat and simmer for an hour, stirr every fifteen minutes. turn the stove off and then add carrots and sour cream. stir and add lime and lemon juice, parsley, and lemon zest to garnish. taste, add more salt and pepper or lime juice. nousheh jahn!

 

stuffed vegetables part III

couscous stuffed mushrooms

usually i see stuffed mushrooms as appetizers and made with small mushrooms. but i wanted to make a full meal out of it and took bigger mushrooms such as portobello mushrooms. it could be even tastier with porchinis since they have a stronger taste.

ingredients:

- four portobello mushrooms

- one cup couscous

- 1/4 cup walnuts

- six dates

- two teaspoons ricotta cheese

- one bunch fresh parsley

- one cup chopped celeray

- two carrots

- one teaspoon saffron

- one teaspoon dried mint

trim the stems of mushrooms. chop the stems, carrots, and celery and saute them about ten minutes in a in butter or olive oil. add salt and pepper and slowly add some water in. while the water is boiling add saffron that it dissolves in water. add a cup of water and couscous. let every thing cook together for ten minutes. take the seeds of dates off and chop them into small pieces. add ricotta, walnuts and dates. turn the heat off. chop parsley and add it to the mix. grease a dutch oven or baking pan with olive oil and mint. fill the mushrooms with the mix and let them bake together for ten minutes. nousheh jahn!

 

 

stuffed vegetables part II

blue cheese stuffed potatoes

as i wrote in the previous posts, i'm going to explore baking different filled vegetable recipes. today i made a side dish with baked potatoes. ingredients:

- six potatoes, i choose two of each color

- 50g roquefort blue cheese

- a bunch of parsley and chives

- enough olive oil and sea salt

 

 

preheat the oven to 400f. wash the potatoes and dip them in olive oil and sea salt. then spread them on a baking tray and bake them 50 mins. in the meanwhile put the cream into a small bowl, chop the chives and parsley leaves and add them to into the bowl. crumble the blue cheese and add into the mix. cut a cross in the top of each cooked potato and fill them with a dollop of the blue cheese mixture. leave it back in the oven with the filling another five minutes that the cheese melts. i put wild salmon marinated with oregano and dill 20 mins before the potatoes were done.

 

since roquefort cheese is very rich and aromatic, i pair it with a wine that either complements or contrasts its nature. so as a contrast to its strong saltiness i paired it with a riesling. nousheh jahn!

10 mins salads

i'm sure many of you have had loosing weight or eating healthier in your 2011 plans. since i don't like diets, i rather try to eat healthy all year long. it's also important not to starve yourself and eat small portions every couple of hours. that's why i like having first and second breakfast, a small lunch, a small snack in the afternoon, and then a small dinner. if healthy food is made by fresh and tasty ingredients, there's no need to diet. a salad i make very often for lunch or dinner is a combination of mixed green salad or endives, or any other greens i have, fruits (i use watermelon, pomegranate, apples, pears, grapefruit, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, or any other fruit that is in season), nuts(walnuts, pistachios, or cashews), lean meat( smoked salmon or roastbeef), a little cheese( usually the ones with less fat such as feta, but i also some times like the salad with blue cheese if i don't add any meat) and i always garnish my salad with fresh lime and olive oil. the main point is to keep the proportions right. i rather have more greens in my salad. check out some of my older posts(pomegranate salad, fennel salad) for more salad recipes.