After a perfect morning of farmers market shopping I took the great items I had bought and made the potatoes, mushrooms, fresh thyme, and green garlic. I also found the lemon oil at the market… it’s a great addition to pasta, veggies, and fish or chicken. There is nothing better for cooking inspiration than a trip to the market.
Most American dinner tables accompany a meal with a starch… usually potatoes of some kind. The staple side dish in our home was pilaf. We had pilaf with our “lamb burgers” not fries! It is quick, easy and delicious. I always have these ingredients in my pantry for a side dish. The bread is an Armenian flat bread. My grandmother would make this, stacking flat rounds of bread a foot high each in the pantry. I purchase the bread from “Valley Bakery” in Fresno, CA. They call the bread Valley Lahvosh, original Armenian Sesame Seed Cracker Bread. This is the closest bread I have found to my Grandmother’s. You wet the bread with a spray of water and then wrap it in a clean dish towel. As kids we had our sandwiches on this softened bread. I was always slightly embarrassed by my Persian cucumbers and nontraditional sandwich bread, but it was so good. It also comes in a whole wheat version. You can order a case and it lasts a while… but in my house it doesn’t last too long!
RECIPE: Armenian Pilaf
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 cup of egg noodles
• 6 tablespoons of butter
• Dash of kosher salt
• 2 cups of Uncle Bens white rice.
• 4 cups of chicken broth
DIRECTIONS:
• In a medium sauce pan Sauté egg noodles in butter till brown.
• Then add the chicken broth and rice… bring to a boil then turn to low heat and cook until rice is fluffy approx. 25 minutes. Keep a close watch. When you lower the heat keep pan covered.
A night out with good friends, all great cooks, is always the best way to spend an evening. My dear friend invited us over for a casual meal and basketball games! As usual our small group seemed to keep growing which just makes the evening all the better. A group effort, the menu started with steamed artichokes, hummus and veggies. The crock pot barbecue beer chicken sliders were accompanied by sweet potato fries, kale salad and fruit salad. I have to note that martini’s, wine and vodka were another side special. We finished with two different brownie recipes, one a deep chocolate cake-like brownie, oozing with melted morsels, and my best ever Alice Medrich’s chocolate, almost caramel like fudgy, classic brownies.
RECIPE: Sweet Potato Fries
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Slice and cut three large sweet potatoes into fries.
• Place on cookie sheet, do not overlap fries.
• Drizzle with canola or olive oil and kosher salt.
• Bake for 15 minutes, then toss fries to get all sides crisp… when they look cooked on all sides remove from oven.
RECIPE: Kale Salad (Click to Read)
RECIPE: Best Brownies Ever (Click to Read)
RECIPE: Crockpot BBQ Beer Chicken (Click to Read)
