The Cookery - life’s ingredients

When we dine in New York City, there are usually a few good reasons to make the hour’s drive from home. Last night, our parents sent us out to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I persuaded my husband to mark our occasion at La Kabbr, 683 9th Avenue.  Farouk, the owner and chef, delivers. For a Middle Eastern dinner laced with love from his native Iraq, Farouk put all our worries aside so that the food could dominate the evening.  If you check out La Kabbr, order the Maza.  It’s not too much for two people.  We proved this.  And the Quzi, roasted tender lamb shanks with rice, was perfectly prepared.  If you’re looking for starched linens, look elsewhere.  But if you’re game for some real food in a family atmosphere where everyone is your uncle, go home to Farouk’s. 

This little gift arrived with some of our brunch guests.  I hated to open it, it was wrapped so beautifully.  As Keats wrote, “A thing of beauty is like a joy forever.”

A request just came in for this recipe.  Here’s the vinaigrette dressing that lightly enhances the greens.

Vinaigrette Dressing

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 ½  teaspoons balsamic vinegar

½ tablespoon chopped fresh basil

¼ teaspoon sugar

Whisk ingredients together and toss with your favorite greens.  Serve immediately.

My falafel goes under cover with chilled jajik.  This recipe is worth doing time in the cookery. 

Jajik (cucumber/yogurt sauce)

1 medium cucumber

dash of salt

2 cloves fresh garlic

1 cup plain lowfat yogurt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon fresh dill weed

Peel cucumber, quarter lengthwise, dice and sprinkle with salt.  Chill.  Dice garlic and combine with yogurt, lemon juice and pepper.  Drain cucumber and gently fold into yogurt mixture.  Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and garnish with dill weed.  Splash this over the falafel. 

Not exactly the musical scale  . . . but the Middle East met the Hudson Valley for dinner last night.  Anchored with a cumin-seasoned sirloin and couscous dish, I served falafal sandwiches here in the Hudson Valley.  Stuffed into whole wheat salad pockets, we smothered them with our cucumber yogurt sauce.  The kids love falafel.  Know the sandwiches?  I’ll be bringing them back around the rotation again soon.  Do you have a worthy falafel recipe to share?  Shukran! 

We baked the cake and my Wolf Scout attempted to add blue lettering.  Even he had trouble reading it . . . Wolf Cubs!  This was a vanilla cake variation that I adapted from a recipe on my bookshelf.  

A couple of days ago, I started prepping a crab quiche early in the morning while my sons were still home, eating breakfast before school.  My little guy asked me if the quiche was for me.  Who could claim an entire quiche all to herself?  I planned to share the quiche . . . and I did  . . . with a few tough critics.  Here’s to the tasters who requested that I pass on this recipe.

Crab Quiche

1 large sweet red pepper, chopped

1/2 small onion, chopped

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 package ( reduced fat crescent rolls (look for these in the refrigerated section)

4 medium eggs, beaten

10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup Asiago or Ramano cheese

6-8 ounces shredded white crab meat (fresh or canned)

1/4 cup lowfat milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

twist of fresh ground pepper

1.  In small skillet, cook sweet peppers and onion in extra virgin olive oil over medium heat until crisp.  Drain.

 2. Separate low-fat crescent rolls and press into 9-inch quiche dish.  Press dough firmly together and crimp edges.

 3.  Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl.  Pour mixture into quiche dish lined with crescent roll crust.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until top sets.  Cut into 10 wedges.  Serve warm.      

The results of the Alice Waters Baked Goat Cheese and Lettuce Salad were no less than perfect.  Mind you, this is a bit of a luxury around this cookery, but I can’t believe it took me so long to finally try this recipe.  It’s out there . . . in cookbooks, for sale on Web sites, maybe even on your own bookshelf.  And now, it’s on file in my memory banks.  Search and rescue and you will be satisfied. 

 My friend, Dawn, said her mother-in-law has been making the salad for years.  Now that I’m out from under a rock, I’ll be keeping this warm goat cheese sensation in the rotation when the budget allows.

 Let me brag about this bag.  Paper Nor Plastic!  Why recommend them?  They’re stout and sturdy.  The old cloth bags I’d been toting back and forth to do my shopping are no match for these.  Not only do I minimize the use of plastic bags when I restock the cookery with groceries, I carry one for my books, snacks and kid gear when I’m on the go.  How did I find them?  I didn’t.  “Green bags” were on my personal wish list.  The bags found me.  My bag pal discovered these great carry-alls at papernorplastic.com.  They’ve earned my five-apple rating!   

Eight degrees yesterday morning.  Today:  14.  Cinnamon, let me in.  It just sounded warm . . . in my steamy fireside stew.  (I’m  imagining the hearth.  That would have been picture perfect.)  I laced this pot of stew with cinnamon, orange, garlic and ginger.  Tonight’s version might just rotate around our table again next week.

Check out your vegetable supply.  Do you have any root vegetables on hand?  Carrots?  Potatoes?  Surely an onion.  I splurged on a loaf of Challah and a wedge of Havarti.  This meal sustained us beyond my expectations.