Shrimp Chowder

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In the United States, the cost of food is continuously rising. It has become very difficult to manage the cost of food within the household budget. I have made it a habit to check out the store weekly newsletters’ sales items to make my shopping list. By planning around meats, vegetables or fruits on sale that week, it is possible to make a nice meal for half the current usual cost. This week, our market had fresh beautiful shrimps for half price. I had to think of a meal made with these beautiful shrimps. Weather being on a cool side, comforting chowder for dinner seemed desirable.

Chocolate Cake

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Over three decades ago, a very good friend served me one of the tastiest chocolate cakes of my then young life. Of course, I asked her for the recipe. She handed me a Hershey’s cocoa box, which had the recipe right there on the back of the box.

Don’t be surprised… I rarely eat chocolates. Not all chocolates are tasty to me. If I eat any,  it has to be a top quality milk chocolate. Dark chocolate has too strong of a taste for me, even if it is used to make the most decadent desserts.

Japanese Potato Salad • ポテトサラダ

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Do you remember my post, the story about my childhood Japanese school lunches? One favorite, savory entrée of our school lunch was the  Japanese style potato salad.  For those of you who are familiar with Japanese bento boxes served at Japanese restaurants, you have seen and tasted the Japanese potato salad served in one of the bento compartments. This potato salad tastes quite different from American potato salad or Salad Olivier.  Japanese potato salad has a hint of sweet’n’sour and with crunchy uncooked vegetables such as thinly sliced cucumber, onion, and in some cases, thinly julienned, uncooked carrots and/or apples. Japanese mayonnaise and karashi mustard used tastes quite different than the ones commonly used in the USA. It is the combination of all these ingredients that make this salad’s unique taste and texture. Without any hesitation, Japanese potato salad is my most favorite of all potato salads.

Victoria Sponge Cake

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The Victoria Sponge, also known as the Victoria Sandwich or Victorian Cake, was named after Queen Victoria (1819~1901), who was known to enjoy a slice of the sponge cake with her afternoon tea. A typical Victoria sponge cake is in two layers, filled with raspberry jam and whipped cream.
The cake is not iced or decorated but dusted with icing/caster sugar.

I was so intrigued by this cake that I added it to my list of things to bake. Now that I finally baked it, it is every bit as good as I imagined.  It’s easy to remember its recipe ingredient quantities, and very easy to make.

The recipe is a weight ratio rather than volume. Same gram volume for flour, sugar, butter, matched to the weight of the eggs. If 4 large eggs with shell  228 grams/8 oz  are used, also, 228 grams each of flour (8 oz/1¾ cup), sugar (8 oz/1 cup+2 Tbsp) and butter (8 oz/2 sticks) are used. Twice as much in ounces of the flour, sugar and butter as the number of eggs. If you are using 3 large eggs, 6 oz each of flour, sugar and butter and so on.

Galatopita • Ruffled Milk Pie

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Many historians will site that the origin of filo (or phyllo, Greek for ‘leaf’)  is not definitive but rather the dough has been an evolution over the various ages between many cultures and peoples. Stretching raw dough into paper-thin sheets of filo likely originated in the kitchens of the Topkapı Palace (in current Istanbul, Turkey) toward the end on Romano-Byzantine period,  by masters of mills and machinery techniques. Most probably, Baklava (probably also developed in the imperial kitchens of the Topkapı Palace) is the earliest dessert used  filo, first documented in the 13th century.

Greece is one of the nearby countries which developed many recipes using filo, both savory and sweet.

Sekanjabin • سکنجبین • Vinegar-Mint Syrup • Persian Picnic Recipe Round-Up!

Sharbat’e Sekanjabin

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In the 12th century Persian ten volume encyclopedia of medical sciences,  Zakhireye Kharazmshahi, or Gorgani, a physician, describes many different health benefits of Persian sharbat/syrup drinks, which may include,  anar (pomegranate),  albalu (sour cherries),  beh (quince),  rivas (rhubarb), narenj (orange),  ablimu (lime),  ghoureh (unripe-grapes),  golab (rosewater),  sekanjebin (sugar-vinegar-mint), and more.

Lentil Salad with Apple, Pumpkin Seeds & Cilantro

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High source of lean protein, potassium, calcium, zinc, niacin, vitamin K, folate, iron, and particularly rich in dietary fiber, lentils are desired more than ever.  Not only by vegetarians and vegans, but by diet and taste-buds conscious alike.  There are as many varieties of lentil salads as you can imagine. Ones simply tossed with just diced tomatoes, to ones with a touch of decadence added with crumbled feta cheese and walnuts/pecans. But mostly I think, the dressing makes the difference between a good lentil salad and a great lentil salad.  This particular version is one of a very flavorful dressing which also enhances the flavor of the ingredients.

Of all the lentil varieties, green lentils  are ideal for salads, which hold their shape. Generally taking the longest to cook, there is little chance of overcooking for them to fall apart. They keep a firm texture even after cooking, which is desired.  Look for the packaging labeled, fancy green lentils, French green lentils or  Lentilles du Puy.

Keftedes • Greek Meatballs

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No Greek celebration or party is complete without keftedes.  Because they are SO GOOD!
Keftedes are also served as an appetizer or side dish for an elaborate meal. Usually, meatballs are fried, but for this recipe, I have grilled them. Kababed Keftedes!  Fried or grilled, these juicy meatballs sandwiched in a folded Greek fluffy flat bread, with slices of tomato, and a couple dollops of tzatziki sauce, are absolutely fabulous!

Apple Cake With Magic

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Busted!  In fact, this is the same recipe as my  Blueberry Coffee Cake  I posted almost 4 years ago.
I adjusted the quantity of the ingredients for a taller cake, mixed in diced apples, and a new sprinkled magic!  This cake is very flavorful, the butter content is low, replaced by thick yogurt,   a~n~d
the  cardamom-sugar mix  sprinkled on top takes it to a whole new taste-buds experience!
Its texture has the oomph needed for a coffee/tea cake.  Highly recommended!

Kuku Bademjan • کوکو بادمجان • Eggplant Kuku

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By now, many of you are familiar with kuku, a Persian/Iranian dish similar to fritatta (kuku has far less egg to main ingredients ratio).  Here are some of the previously introduced kukus:
kuku sabzi/herbs,   kuku kadu-sabz/zucchini   and   kuku sibzamini/potato.   As promised to some eggplant loving readers, today, I am introducing  kuku bademjan/eggplants.  Obviously, eggplants play the starring role of this dish, which is bound with eggs. However, side-kick ingredients may be added, as long as they don’t take the thunder away from the eggplants. I have added caramelized onion and tomatoes, which are quite common, but also, a very unusual ingredient, yellow split-peas!