Pickles

In some way this is a historic post. partially because I ment to write it a long time ago but mostly because the pickles in the pictures are long gone by now. It’s quite ironic, since the idea of pickling is to preserve the vegetables for longer time but the better they come out the quicker they are eaten.

This recipe is for the spicy mixed variety we love so much. I make them when the season is right and the vegetables are cheep. You can pickle almost any kind of vegetable (and some fruits too), I usually use cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage and red peppers.

The recipe is the following, just adjust the quantities to however much you are making:

2-3 kg. Vegetables -

cucumbers, peppers, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, shallot onions, etc…

Cut the vegetables into pieces small enough though that they can be eaten in a single bite.  Fill a pot with salt water, one teaspoon of salt for every cup of water, and bring to boil. Add the vegetables to the water for a very short time then strain and put in an empty jar.  The cooking should be very short so that the vegetables don’t get soft. The books say to cook each kind separately but I just put them all in, starting with the harder ones like carrots and then the softer kinds ending with the cabbage, then I take them out right away.  When putting the vegetables in the jar I add garlic cloves (4-5 per jar) and spices:

2-3 Bay leafs

5-6 All Spice

½ tsp. Black Pepper corns

1 tsp. Chili Peppers or Paprikash

1 tsp. Coriander seeds

1 tsp. Mustard seeds

¼ tsp. Curry powder

Once everything is jammed into the jar mix vinegar and water at a ratio of 1 cup water for every two of vinegar. Add a teaspoon of salt for every cup of water and mix well. Pour the liquid into the jar right up to the very top and close the lid tightly.

You can start tasting the pickles after a day or two but it usually takes a week before they are ready. The jar should be kept in a dark cool place and after it was opened it should be refrigerated.

I think it’s all about the bite. When you first bite into the pickle it should be crunchy and then it should bite back with that sharp spicy taste we’re so addicted to.

 

Enjoy!

Fillets with Greenbeans & Mustard sauce

Long overdue, this is a recipe I made several weeks ago and never got around to writing up. It all started one day while I was doing some shopping. They had a special on fresh fish, and remembering I saw a recipe for fish fillets, I got some fresh green beans and headed home to look the recipe up. I think the reason this recipe caught my attention was the mustard. I love mustard, and the sauce on this fish was a great blend. The other reason was, visualizing the food in my mind, that it would look good in the pictures. But when I read the recipe I realized it was supposed to be baked in a pan covered with a mixture of bread crumbs. I was somewhat disappointed to miss out on all the colors and textures, so I set aside some for the pictures and put the rest in the pan.

In the end I think the fish is better this way. I like the dish to be simple and fresh; and baked with the bread crumbs and all, it’s a completely different story. It had a different taste and I guess it was just a little too much–too many stages in preparation, too many tastes in the plate–for my own liking.

So there you have it: a colorful and impressive dish to serve with a great sauce. Some might want to add the bread crumbs and baking; others might like it as is. Definitely worthwhile trying this one out.

RECIPES INDEX>Fish>Fillets>FILLETS WITH GREENBEANS & MUSTARD SAUCE

Kitchen Talk

Recently, I’ve started asking family members and friends to take part in this blog by commenting, sharing thoughts and memories of Archie, and even cooking. I’m adding this new kind of posts, labeled- Kitchen Talk (KT) and I hope many of you will join in and share your stories with us. This first post is from Beverly Manne, Archie’s cousin, in Houston, Texas, USA.

Reading this blog reminded me of that period of time when Archie, my husband’s cousin, was working to organize his vast collection of recipes. I was not sure at the time whether it was serious or just an attempt to keep himself busy and feeling connected.  Archie was an incredible cook and a definite showman.  He would have been far better than most of these TV chefs on today, and he had a wonderful international background for his collection.  He could spin travel tales while preparing the recipes. I loved having him visit us in Houston and take over the kitchen on occasion. A when we visited him and his wife Joy in Toronto, he would set the table to reflect the specific country of origin of the food he served.   What a guy.  (But he probably also drove Joy crazy!)  He was multi-talented.  I observed him in action also as a fabulous fisherman.  He would catch a fish and then move to the other side of the pier, saying in a whisper…”now watch all the other guys move to the side where I caught the fish”.  And they did.  Also, once he took down a small outside door to our storage area and repaired it fantastically!

more to come…

Tomato sauce

Tomato sauce- this is going to be a basic one. Nothing fancy, special, or unique; just a good old recipe for the most used sauce in the world. Good tomato sauce is an essential ingredient in many recipes, mostly Italian ones. It goes with pasta, in lasagna or on pizza, but also with chicken and other dishes. The bought stuff is never as good and, since it is so easy to make, there are no excuses.  I usually make double the quantity and freeze some; it keeps well that way.

The biggest secret is in the seasoning; not in the “what?” but in the “how much?”, where “a lot” is the definite answer.  Every time I make a new batch I try to over-season it, because in the end it just turns out better. The sauce should be very concentrated in taste. It can always be diluted later.

1 onion, finely chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, sliced

¼ cup olive oil (try to use the fruity green kind)

1 can crushed tomatoes (~800 g)

100 gr. tomato puree

oregano, basil, thyme, parsley

1 tbsp sugar

salt and pepper

1-2 bay leafs

4-5 allspice

Chop the onion and garlic, and fry in olive oil until it starts to brown. I don’t mind if it burns a little because I like the smokey taste. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, some water, and the sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to boil, then chop the fresh herbs and add in; don’t forget to add lots of oregano and basil.  The sauce doesn’t need too much cooking since the seasoning is better that way.  So let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, then remove from the flame. Use a hand blender (stick blender) to quickly puree the sauce until it is more or less smooth, then add the bay leaf and all spice.

Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes

Our second “guest” last week was Ohad, our seven year old son.School vacation has started and he was home, so I suggested he help us. “Ohad, would you like to help us in the kitchen?….would you like to make a chocolate cake?”

“YES! can I have some?!….may I taste the chocolate?….I need to taste it ….If there’s any left, can I have it?….Yummy! CHOCOLATE!!!!…”

So, after twisting his arm (…), he came to help.  And it was great fun for all of us.

The recipe was easy to follow, and once we read it out for him, Ohad could easily do almost all of it by himself. Although it is for mini cakes, we ended up making one big one. It made it easier for Ohad to make, but more difficult for us to serve. The crust comes out a little hard to cut but it didn’t stop anyone from trying. The cake itself was great: the combination of chocolate and cheese was divine and made us wish we could keep on eating. But we couldn’t. Did I mention this cake was rich? Well, it is. Very… With more than a pound of chocolate and almost two of cream cheese, this is not some low-calorie recipe.

But as richness goes, just a little goes a long way…….

RECIPES INDEX>Cakes, Cookies, Sweet Tarts, Tips>CAKES>Cheesecakes>MINI CHOCOLATE CHEESE CAKES

Eggplant Parmigiano Wendy

We have a guest on the blog! Thursday morning, my mom came over to our house to join in on the cooking. I even made her bring along her camera so that she could take pictures to accompany her post. So, without any more delay, I’m proud to introduce: Gila Levy’s guest post:

Edit: ….a week later…

Who am I kidding?  She’ll never write this…she thinks it all came out terribly wrong… although it didn’t really.

I chose a few recipes out of the CD, and went shopping. Eggplants are in season now and out of two parmigiano recipes we chose this one. Mostly because it said Wendy in the title.

This recipe is a good one but my mom is too critical of her own work. Admittedly, a few things could have been better, but this is our first try and it still came out quite nice. Some of the eggplant was still slightly bitter, but the seasoning was refreshingly different and I liked it very much.

We will try this again sometime soon, and then update this post. I’m quite sure this recipe will prove itself to be just great.

RECIPES INDEX>Vegetables>Eggplant>EGGPLAND PARMIGIANO WENDY

Cheese and Chive Soufflé

Never made a soufflé before. Always found it to be a little too complicated and pompous. I mean, really–all that trouble for girls food? Where’s the meat?!

Yes,I know; silly and childish. I too realized that, so when I saw this recipe, I decided to give it a shot.
It looked easy enough in theory. Few simple stages…chop, mix, beat, bake… and that should be it. Only thing is I don’t know if it came out the way it’s supposed to be.

I know soufflés are supposed to be very airy and delicate, and it was at first; but as it cooled it started sinking. I guess I should read through the tips and tricks to see if there is anything I missed.

Nevertheless, it tasted great and all the people who tasted it liked it. Not that there were many of those, since it was finished very quickly.

RECIPES INDEX>Eggs, Dairy Souffles & Crepes>Souffles>CHEESE  & CHIVE SOUFFLE