Afghan National Dish

When I worked in Sunnyvale, California, there was a fabulous restaurant that we used to frequent for lunch. It was called Kabul, and it served delicious Afghan food full of lamb and sweet spices that still makes me salivate just thinking about it. In reading The Kite Runner, I was reminded of those dishes and felt a certain connection with Hussain as he described enjoying the same rich stews and rice dishes I remembered enjoying. I often wonder about the restaurant owners and staff of Kabul and whether their history is close to those of the families in the book.

In last month's issue of Saveur, Jennifer Bourguignon traveled to Afghanistan and found among the people a longing for the familiar foods of their childhood to reconnect them with their heritage and the national pride that had been thwarted during decades of strife and oppression first by the Soviet Union and then under the Taliban. Many families who had fled Afghanistan returned to their homeland after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, and they, like most of us, find that sharing a meal of simple, but delicious comfort foods gives them the sense of togetherness they crave. I am going to make the Quabili Pilau this week and share it with my own family.

poached apricot

1 cup dried apricots
1 cup warm water
1 1-inch piece vanilla bean, sliced in half lengthwise (I used a bit more)
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degreees. Cover the apricots with the warm water and let them stand for 15 minutes if they are already plump and soft, 30 minutes if they are hard to begin with. Drain and reserve the water.

Put the water and vanilla bean in a baking dish - an 8-inch pie plate is just right. Scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean with the tip of a knife and break them up in the water. Add the apricots, sprinkle them with the sugar, cover with foil, and bake until the water is nearly absorbed, about 1 hour. Turn each of the apricots over in the syrup, then cover and refrigerate. Serve chilled.

Serving Suggestions: If you can get Greek yogurt (available at Giant), the chilled apricots are delicious with it - or with any thick yogurt, or fresh ricotta. For a fancier treatment, try the apricots with Coeur a la Creme, minus the raspberry sauce. The apricots are just as tasty for breakfast as for dessert, especially with yogurt.

apricots, salsa and steak

No, not together. Ever since my friend, Beth, served lightly poached apricots with vanilla yogurt at our book club meeting, I've been craving them. Even bought a package of dried apricots and a quart of vanilla yogurt. I guess it's as easy as it sounds - simple syrup with vanilla. I found this recipe which I may try if I don't hear back from Beth.

What the twins want for dinner this week is Salsa and chips (Katie) and Steak (Johnny) of course. I may make that black bean, corn, tomato salsa with lime chips one night as an appetizer and grill steaks on the side. Then both my vegetarian and my carnivore are happy. Elizabeth will be happy to eat both, as will the rest of us.

What else? Wednesday night I'll do a casserole for both my family and Mary's. Maybe chicken and stuffing. Maybe chili rellenos casserole. More thoughts on this later.

Tying a roast

Just got back from church, Staples, and lacrosse sign ups. Here it is early January, and the weather is an unseasonably warm 57 degrees. Is this global warming or what? Anyway, being Sunday, I need to plan the week's eats, so I went to Epicurious.com. Not sure what I was looking at, although the oven fries recipe looks very tempting, when I saw this tutorial for tying a roast. I tied the fillet roast on Christmas Eve, but this is a more professional way to do it all at once.

Chicken pot pie

Talk about comfort food! Elizabeth just loves chicken pot pie, and I've not loved any that I've made in the past. My old flame, Paul, had a sister who made a magnificent chicken pie. It took all day to put together - starting with poaching an entire chicken, making a pie crust from scratch, cooking the vegetables to just the right doneness, then putting it all together with a rich creamy sauce. Oh yeah, it was to die for, and it was her ultimate demonstration of love. I remember she made it for the first guy she ever slept with. He didn't even show up the next day for dinner. His loss. Anyway, I think she used a recipe from the McCall's cookbook, but this one looks pretty close. It's from the King Arthur's Flour catalog.

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie may be made the "old-fashioned" way, beginning with boiling the chicken, and peeling, chopping and blanching the vegetables; or the "short-cut way," beginning with boneless chicken breast and thighs, and using thawed frozen vegetables and cream of chicken soup as the sauce. Use any or all "convenience" products to cut one or more of the steps out of the process.

Chicken one 5-pound roasting chicken, or 5 pounds of chicken parts, including light and dark meat 1 large onion, cut in chunks 2 large carrots, cut in chunks 5 sprigs fresh parsley 1/2 teaspoon thyme 1 teaspoon salt 1 quart (32 ounces) water Filling 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) chicken fat (reserved from poaching liquid, above) 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter 6 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups (20 ounces) chicken stock (prepared from poaching liquid, above) 11/2-2 cups sliced carrots, (blanched until tender—or just use thawed frozen carrots) 11/2 cup peas, (we used frozen, thawed) 1 1/2 cup small white onions (we used 1 10 ounce bag of frozen onions)

Chicken: Place the chicken (or chicken parts), onion, carrots, parsley, thyme and salt in a deep stock pot. Add the water; it should almost cover the chicken (if it doesn't, add more). Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Simmer the chicken and vegetables for about 1 1/4 hours (for a whole chicken) or 45 minutes to 1 hour (for chicken parts), till chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and vegetables, discarding the vegetables and spreading the chicken on a platter to cool. Boil the stock till it's reduced to 2 1/2 cups; this will take about 45 minutes. If after 45 minutes there's more than 2 1/2 cups of stock, simply measure out 2 1/2 cups, and save (or discard, or pour on your dog's food) the rest. Alternatively, you can use 20 ounces of canned chicken broth, about 1 1/2 cans. Filling: Skim the fat off the top of the stock, reserving 3 tablespoons and discarding the rest. Place the 3 tablespoons of fat in a saucepan with 3 tablespoons of butter, and heat over medium heat till butter is melted. Add 6 tablespoons of flour, and stir to combine. Gradually pour in the 2 1/2 cups stock, whisking constantly. Cook and stir the sauce over medium heat till it comes to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer it for 5 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, remove the skin and bones from the chicken, and tear it into 1-inch pieces. When the sauce is ready, stir in the chicken and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add ground black pepper, additional salt to taste, and the blanched or thawed vegetables Spoon the filling into an 8 x 12-inch (or similar size) 2- to 3-quart casserole dish; it should be wide rather than deep, in order for the crust to fit on top. Prepare your favorite single-crust pie crust recipe or; the one that follows. Feel free to use all butter (rather than a butter-shortening mixture) if you prefer, but using some vegetable shortening helps make a flakier crust that's also a little easier to handle. All-butter crusts tend to have a mealy rather than flaky texture. Crust 1 1/2 cups (6 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Mellow Pastry Blend or Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1 tablespoon (1/8 ounce) buttermilk powder (optional; it'll make the crust tenderer) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 cup (2 ounces, 1/2 stick) butter 1/4 cup (1 1/2 ounces) vegetable shortening 1 teaspoon white or cider vinegar 3 to 5 tablespoons cold water In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, buttermilk powder (if you're using it), salt and baking powder. Using a pastry fork, pastry blender, your fingers or a mixer, cut in the butter and vegetable shortening, leaving some baby pea-sized lumps. Mix the vinegar with 3 tablespoons of the water. Sprinkle this mixture over the flour and fat. Squeeze the dough together; if it's not cohesive, add an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons water (just enough to make the dough stick together). Seeing as flour is at its driest in the winter, you'll probably have to use the greatest amount of water. Shape the dough into a flattened disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 30 minutes or longer. Roll the crust out slightly larger than the dish. Place it on top of the filling; cut several vent holes, and use any scraps of dough to decorate the top crust. Bake the pie in a preheated 375?F oven for 50 to 60 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Yield: about 8 servings. SHORT-CUT METHOD Use leftover cooked turkey or chicken; you'll need 1 3/4 to 2 pounds of boneless, skinless meat, which is between 6 and 7 cups of meat. Or use 2 to 2 1/2 pounds of boneless skinless breast or thighs, cut into pieces and saut?ed until cooked through. Use 2 cans of undiluted cream of chicken soup for the sauce, and stir in the thawed frozen vegetables. Pour into a lightly greased casserole dish, and top with pie crust (prepared, or your own). Cut vents in the crust, and bake in a preheated 375?F oven for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown on top and bubbly underneath.

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Elizabeth's Birthday

So, what is her favorite meal? Steak? Pizza? Spaghetti? Homestyle brown rice? Maybe a nice steak would be nice--with baked potatoes. Christmas Eve is just a week away, and we always have a tenderloin roast and roasted potatoes, so is it too close? Maybe not. Hamburgers! That's it!

Chili Wednesday
Macaroni and cheese Thursday
Friday - why pizza of course!

December 10th

With it being this close to Christmas, and only three days needing meals this week my shopping trip was light. So how is it that I end up spending $100???? It was a late day - the girls wanted to do some Christmas shopping after Elizabeth's violin rehearsal, so they went to Target while I went to Giant. Wanted something warm and hearty, casual and quick, so I stopped by the deli counter for corned beef and swiss - picked up a package of sauerkraut, a loaf of rye, and a bottle of thousand island dressing and voila, ruebens! Who doesn't love that?

Monday - grilled chicken, corn casserole, green salad with nuts (requested by Elizabeth)
Tuesday - going out for Thai
Wednesday - chili verde - gotta make that today
Thursday - macaroni and cheese - nice and light...uh...not
Friday-Elizabeth's birthday dinner with friends at Brasserie Beck - the coolest dinner spot in the City!
Sunday - maybe shrimp