Old Clothes and Photography

Ever since I started this blog, I have been fighting with myself over what my intentions are. There are so many wonderful food blogs out there, and I doubt if I have read one-tenth of them! Some read like wonderful short stories, some have you drooling over the dishes that they describe, and most of them have fantastic photography.

Once upon a time, I loved taking pictures. I even thought that I would not make a half-bad photographer. But somewhere along the way I seem to have misplaced that particular talent. Some of this is for lack of trying, I didn't pick up a camera for years. And now that I started this blog, I am forgetting to take pictures of every step of the cooking process. Sometimes even forgetting to take pictures of the final product! I have been getting very frustrated with both the lighting in this house, and the cameras that I am using. I would love to lay the blame on them, but perhaps it could just be user error.

My intention is to write at least once a week. A recipe that I want to share with everyone, with beautiful pictures and intelligent writing. I haven't been living up to that intention, but I am going to try harder.

This particular dish is a prime example of my forgetfulness. I made this last night, and did not even once think of taking a picture. I know that Ropa vieja, or "old clothes" does not make a pretty picture, especially if you are taking it the next day without much fuss. But it is a wonderful dish. This version is not a traditional Cuban recipe, but it is one that I came up with one day when I didn't want to go to the store. My onions had gone bad, and I had no bell peppers, but I did have a beef brisket in the freezer, lots of spices and some rice. I know it takes a long time to cook, but it is something you can put on the stove and almost forget about. I try to make this a few times a year and stash some in the freezer for quick meals. I usually serve at least a few servings over rice. It is terrific in just about any Mexican or Cuban dish, nachos, quesadillas, burritos or tacos. It is also fantastic added to scrambled eggs for a hearty breakfast.

Ropa vieja or Shredded Beef over Rice

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 4 pound boneless top chuck roast, trimmed of all visible fat
salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato puree
2 cups water
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon celery salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

rice, for serving

Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy dutch oven over medium high heat. Season the roast generously with salt and pepper, and place carefully in the hot oil. Brown all sides of the roast.
Combine all remaining ingredients, except rice and pour over the meat. Cover and reduce heat to low. Check the liquid occasionally and turn the roast to get all sides in the liquid. Cook for 4 hours or until the meat is tender. Remove roast from the liquid and shred meat. Return the meat to the juices and increase the heat to reduce the sauce, if needed. Season to taste, and serve over rice.

Finally, a dish to share with you

We've been having some computer issues, but I think all is well now. For a while there I thought I would finally be getting the Mac that I have always wanted - but alas, Patrick was able to fix our laptop. Although I do want a Mac, I think it's a good thing because I wasn't ready for the expense of a new computer quite yet.

Honestly, I haven't had a lot to write about anyway. It's not that I haven't been cooking, but none of the dishes that I have made have been good enough to tell you about. It's not that anything was horrible, but nothing I've made had a big "Wow!" factor. There has been a perfectly fine roasted chicken, a grilled chicken and roasted red pepper sandwich that needs some work, a decent spaghetti all'arrabbiata, and an edible spicy Thai chicken pasta dish. As I'm sure you can tell, I'm not in love with any of these dishes. I needed to cook something that I just had to tell you about.

And I hadn't cooked anything that good until last night. I have been thinking about making Kofta for a long time. They are a very highly spiced Middle Eastern style meatball, normally made of lamb. When I was young, I practically lived at my friend Shazi's house. Her house is where I first tasted Indian/Pakistani cooking, and where I started to learn to cook. My mom was not a very good cook, and it was such a wonderful change to go there and taste such highly spiced and good food. Shazi's mom cooked spicy - some would say too spicy (and they were her Indian friends!). The first time I tried dhal, I thought my mouth was on fire. It was so hot. It didn't take me too long to get used to hot food, and now I can't do without it. She would cook all the time, but like most people she would cook even more so during the holidays. Shazi's mom would spend days in the kitchen cooking, and Kofta were always part of those meals.

Over the years, I have tried to re-create many of the dishes that I used to eat at their house, dhal, spinach, spicy meat and potatoes - but I had never tried to make Kofta. Last night I finally tried to replicate them, and for my first try, I think they turned out quite well. I don't remember if Shazi's mom used rice in her Kofta (it has been more than 14 years since I've had her meals), but after looking at several recipes, this seemed to be the closest to my memory. I adapted the meatball recipe from "Everyday Asian" by Patricia Yeo and Tom Steele. I served them with a Yogurt and Tahini sauce from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison. This recipe makes a large batch, which is great to have in the freezer for additional meals. I served them on top of a basic rice pilaf, but they would be wonderful in pita bread with sliced tomato, cucumber and romaine lettuce.

Middle Eastern Spiced Meatballs

Adapted from the recipe Meatballs and Yogurt Sauce in "Everyday Asian" by Patricia Yeo and Tom Steele

1 pound ground beef

1/2 pound ground veal

1/2 pound ground pork

2 eggs

2 cups cooled steamed rice

1 cup caramelized finely chopped onion

1 tablespoon toasted ground coriander seeds

1 tablespoon toasted ground cumin seeds

1 tablespoon toasted ground cardamom pods

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground cayenne

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons canola oil

Mix together the beef, veal, pork, eggs, onion, spices, salt and pepper with your hands. Preheat the oven to 350F. Form the mixture into 3/4 inch balls. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, sear and brown the meatballs in the canola oil in batches to avoid crowding. Transfer the browned meatballs to an oven safe dish and roast in the oven until they are fully cooked, approximately 15 minutes. Serve with Yogurt Tahini Sauce.

Yogurt Tahini Sauce

From "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison

1 clove garlic, finely minced

salt

1 cup yogurt

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and the grated zest of lemon

Make a garlic paste by sprinkling the minced garlic with 1/4 teaspoon salt and press the flat of the knife blade into the garlic to form a paste. Place in a bowl and stir in the tahini. Gradually add the yogurt and the lemon zest. Season to taste with lemon juice and salt.

Missing Seattle - Part 2 - It's for my Grandfather

The trip to Seattle was hard for many reasons - not only because we miss it so. We went to Seattle to lay my grandfather's ashes to rest. He passed away in August, but because many of the family were not in Seattle, we decided to wait a while to have any kind of ceremony. We layed his ashes to rest in the Puget Sound right under the cliff of his home on Whidbey Island. It was the same location that we layed Nana's ashes to rest almost 10 years ago.

When I began this blog not quite a month ago, I had no idea why I was starting it. I even thought of cancelling the whole thing, I mean who would want to read my random thoughts and recipes? But last week, while I was thinking of my grandfather it came to me. See, my grandfather and I had a lot in common. We both love fountain pens, books, reading and good food. And we both wanted to be writers. In his life he worked as an editor, a teacher and as a speech writer for McDonnell Douglas Corporation. I know as a young man he wrote poems, but I have no knowledge of anything else he wrote.

Ever since I can remember he would send me packages of newspaper and magazine clippings. Things he was saving for me that he thought I would be interested in. Invariably, he would send me the food articles from the Whidbey Island newspaper. He used to think I should start my own column on food. He wanted me to write a column for the Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper. He thought that my experiences and love of food would make for good reading. I never looked into writing an article for the Stars and Stripes because I don't have my degree in Journalism and I wasn't in the military, and I think you need one or the other to write for that particular publication!

I'm not sure when the idea that I could write a blog came about. I have been reading blogs for a while now, and don't know if I can do as good as some of my favorites. But, I am trying, for him. I didn't get a chance to cook for my grandfather as much as I would have liked because I was never in Seattle. I did get a chance to cook for him a few times, and my grandfather loves soup as much as I do! I remember making a huge batch of this stew, and filling his freezer so that he wouldn't have to cook.

(Originally posted January 20, 2009 - see my mistake)

Beef and Barley Stew

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 lb beef stew meat, cubed
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 can (14 1/2 oz) whole tomatoes, chopped and juices reserved
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon each dried basil, marjoram and thyme
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes (optional)
5 1/2 cups beef broth
1 cup water
4 potatoes, cubed
1 cup each chopped celery and carrot
3/4 cup barley salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add beef and cook until brown, stirring occasionally. Add onion and garlic and saute until onion is tender. Stir in all remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for an hour and a half. Remove bay leaves and adjust seasoning before serving.