Kim chi (Korean Pickles)

We got stuck with a large amount of cucumbers and after many weeks of making simple pickles we had enough. It was time to find a spicy alternative. Enter kim chi, spicy Korean pickles! We had tried and loved kim chi on our last trip to Korea and were determined to have a try at making our own. They turned out spectacular, extremely spicy and addictive. They're great as a condiment, added to soup or served as a side order like regular pickles.

Adapted from  Dr. Ben Kim's recipe.

Ingredients:

15-20 small cucumbers cut into bite-size pieces
2 tbs salt
1 tbs minces garlic
1/2 cup green onions, roughly chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
2 tbs red chili powder
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tbs honey

The Recipe:
Toss the cucumbers with salt and let sit overnight.
Combine the cucumbers with the rest of the ingredients, and mix well.
Transfer to glass jars with just a little bit of brine and let ferment for 48 hours at room temperature. Place the jars in the refrigerator for safe keeping.

Quick Rice Wraps

Great as a starter or as a quick lunch this light and flavorful Thai dish might get you addicted. Adapted from Doi Kham Cookbook.

Rice Paper Wraps

Ingredients
package of rice sheets
2 eggs
2 tbs. fish sauce
vegetable oil
5 shitake mushrooms
2 scallions, chopped
a small bunch of sweet basil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
salt and pepper to taste


The Recipe
Make the egg sheets: beet the eggs and season with the fish sauce, pour a thin layer into a frying pan, remove when cooked and set aside. This should yield 4/5 sheets.
Prepare the shitake: heat a bit of oil in a frying pan, add the chopped garlic and then the shitake mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and saute for a few minutes. Be careful not to let the mushroom turn too soft. Set aside.
Prepare the rice paper: (follow the instructions on the package) soak in lukewarm water for one minute, 2 sheets at a time (they tend to tear otherwise). Spread the sheets on a flat surface, top with an egg sheet, some shitake, scallions and chopped basil. Roll tightly and slice into bite size pieces. Delish!

Red/Green Tahini (Techina) Spread

Tahini (or techina as it is called in Hebrew) is a basic ingredient in the Israeli kitchen. It is eaten everywhere and by everyone; smeared with a pita, spread on a sandwich, as a salad dressing or in our kitchen, on soba noddles. Tahini cookies are favorite sin of mine too. The core to a good tahini recipe is a good raw tahini paste (or techina golmit). You can find very good options in Israeli grocery stores, but the best raw tahini paste we found was in the Machane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem.

For the Red (Roasted Pepper) Tahini Spread
Ingredients
1/2 cup raw tahini paste (i like to use Harduf Organic Tahini from whole sesame, but any good tahini paste, like Yona or Gamal will do)
10 roasted and peeled red peppers
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 piece ginger, the size of a garlic clove, peeled
1 chopped red chili (use half if you don't love spicy)
salt and pepper to taste

The Recipe
Blend all the ingredients in a food processor. Add salt and pepper to taste. The spread can easily be turned into a salad dressing by thinning it out with a little bit of water.

For the Green (Herb) Tahini Spread
Ingredients
1/2 cup raw tahini paste
1 bunch of parsley
1 bunch of coriander
10 basil leaves
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 piece ginger, the size of a garlic clove, peeled
1 chopped red chili (use half if you don't love spicy)
salt and pepper to taste

The Recipe
Blend all the ingredients in a food processor. Add salt and pepper to taste. The spread can easily be turned into a salad dressing by thinning it out with a little bit of water.

Open Face Tahini and Roasted Veggie Sandwich

When faced with a serious brunch dilemma, we decided to make an Open Face Tahini and Roasted Veggie Sandwich. After a couple of days of intensive cooking we tired out and opted to piece together a sandwich made from the week's leftovers. Bread+ homemade tehini + leftover roasted vegetables, made for a very yummy brunch.

Some Changes

In an effort to consolidate our blogs we started posting our recipes on our lifestyle blog The Royal Excursion. Hope you continue to check in to see what we are cooking! Lately we have made homemade granola, an open face tahini and veggie sandwich and baked split banana.

The Royals

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

Banana muffins are great for breakfast or a snack on the run. We like to always have some ready for guests who stop by to visit. These muffins are adapted from Dorie Greenspan's wonderful column Baking with Dorie on Serious Eats. Lately we have been eating a lot of whole grains and have emitted butter from our diet (summer is officially on its way). Here we substituted whole wheat flour for regular flour, vegetable oil for butter, brown sugar for white sugar, almond milk for yogurt and added chopped mixed nuts instead of chocolate. So... having once made Dorie's delicious muffins, these muffins are completely different, but we think just as delicious. They are also a healthier version.

 Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup almond milk (you can alternatively use sour cream or plain yogurt)
3 ounces chopped mixed nuts, optional (I used a combination of Brazilian nuts, hazel nuts, walnuts and almonds)

The Recipe
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray 12 regular-size muffin cups.
Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together well.
Add the sugar to the oil, beat at medium speed for around two minutes. Beat in the vanilla, then the egg, beating for about 1 minute. Mix in the bananas. Then, mix in half the dry ingredients, all the almond milk and then the rest of the flour mixture. Stir in the chopped nuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
Bake for 10 to 20 minutes (pay attention since every oven is different, we burned ours a little-oops), or until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Transfer the muffin tin to a rack, cool for 3 minutes, then gently turn the muffins out of the tin. Cool to room temperature on a rack.

Egyptain Cauliflower Salad

This is a simple cauliflower salad adapted from My Egyptian Grandmother's Kitchen by Magda Mehdawy.
The Ingredients
1 small cauliflower
1 tbs. olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tbs lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs chopped parsley

The Recipe
Separate the cauliflower into medium sized pieces and steam in a steamer (if you don't have a steamer you can boil the cauliflower whole in water and then cut it into pieces). Place in a bowl. Mix the olive oil, cumin, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Pour over the cauliflower and mix. Garnish with parsley.

Julia Child's Baked Cucumbers

The other night, tucked under a blanket, we watched "Julie & Julia" on DVD. Why? We're not sure. The movie itself was pretty boring, but it left us wondering about baked cucumbers... We had to try them. The next day, and one cucumber delivery later, we had cucumbers baking in our oven. We were initially skeptical, but  they turned out truly AMAZING. This dish is simple and quick to make and the result is surprisingly delicious. Baked cucumbers, who would have thought?

Baked Cucumbers / Concombres au beure: adapted from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child.

Ingredients (makes 2 servings)
6 medium cucumbers (about 15 cm long)
2 tbs white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp sugar
1 tbs melted butter (the original calls for 3 - your choice...)
1/2 tsp chopped fresh dill
4 tbs chopped green onions
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

The Recipe
Peel the cucumbers, cut lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Then cut into strips of about 1 cm wide and 5 cm long. Toss the cucumbers with the vinegar, salt and sugar. Let sit for at least 30 minutes. Drain and pat dry in a towel. (This process is extremely important. It creates the delicate tenderness of the cucumbers once they are baked, by extracting the liquids out.)
Heat the oven to 200 C.
In a baking dish, toss the cucumbers with the butter, dill, green onions and pepper. Place uncovered in the middle of the oven for about one hour, tossing 2 - 3 times until cumbers are tender but still have a bit of of crispness and texture.
Serve warm.

 

Healthy Low-Fat Cornbread

We have been experimenting with cornbread for a while, trying to create a healthy recipe (butter free and not overly sweet). After many trials we think we found it.

Ingredients:
1 cup of cornmeal
1 cup of whole wheat flour
3 tbs. brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup almond milk (you can use soy milk or regular milk)
1/3 cup vegetable oil

The recipe:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F). Lightly grease a 9 inch round spring-form pan.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Pour into the pan and bake for 20 minutes. It's ready when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

A Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast

We don't like eating a sugary breakfast and this delicious whole oatmeal is a healthy alternative.

Ingredients:
6 tbs. raw whole oats (not Quaker)
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup almond milk (you can also use soy, rice or regular milk)

for the topping:
1 banana. sliced
1tbs. raisins
1tbs. pumpkin seeds (not salted, we like to use organic)
1tbs. sunflower seeds (not salted)
1tbs. almonds

The Recipe:
Cook the oatmeal and liquids in a small pot over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. When done, remove from heat and top with bananas, seeds, nuts and raisins.

Egyptian Black Lentil Soup

In our everlasting attempt to expand our cookbook collection we traveled to Egypt and picked up a copy of My Egyptian Grandmother's Kitchen by Magda Mehdawy (on our way we managed to see the major sites and taste some local specialties). Our first recipe trial was very successful, resulting in a hearty lentil soup, excellent for any time of year. For a nicer look and a lighter consistency, you should use yellow lentils.

Ingredients:

500 gr black lentils

1 tomato, quartered

1 carrot, quartered

1 tsp salt

1 large onion

1 tbs veg oil

1 cup water

1/4 cup lime juice

1 tsp cumin

chopped parsley

The Recipe:

Wash the lentils well. Transfer to a large pot, add the tomato, carrot and salt and cover with water.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and puree in a blender.

Chop the onion and fry it with the oil in a large pot until golden brown. Add the pureed lentils, water, lime juice and cumin. You may add more water as needed. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Transfer to serving bowls, garnish with chopped parsely and serve. The soup will taste even better tomorrow. When reheating you might want to add some water since it tends to thicken in the refrigerator.

Carrot Tomato Soup

We were looking through old photos of dishes we made and discovered these great photos of a carrot and tomato soup recipe we threw together not so long ago.

The Ingredients
1 tbs. butter
6 carrots, cubed
1 sweet potato, cubed
3 tomatoes, cubed
1 round zucchini, cubed
1 small red chili pepper, chopped (if you don't like it too spicy, add the chili whole)
1 tbs. brown sugar
1tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
juice from 1/2 lemon


The Recipe
In a soup pot, saute the carrots and sweet potato in the butter until they begin to soften, add the tomatoes and zucchini and continue to cook for 3 minutes. Add enough water to the pot to completely cover the vegetables. Add the chili pepper, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Puree soup in blender (or with a hand held blender). Add lemon juice and salt to taste.

You can top each serving with a pinch of lemon zest. It makes a big difference.

Tofu Stuffed Peppers

Lately we've been getting a weekly delivery of veggies from an organic farm. Even though it's nice to receive fresh organic produce to our doorstep, we don't have control over it. It's all about seasonal cooking. Though some would find it intimidating, we see it as a challenge. 

Last week we got a bunch of beautiful long red peppers, and with a bit of creativity we made up a delicious tofu stuffing to go inside them. It's very quick to make, and the result is tasty and surprising.

We also tried to stuff tomatoes with the same stuffing. It turned ok, but we found that with the red peppers it worked much better.

Ingredients:

4 long red peppers

for the stuffing:

1 cup cooked white rice

1 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup roughly chopped coriander

1/4 cup roughly chopped parsley

300 gr tofu, cubed

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 to 1 tbs vanilla extract (to taste)

1/4 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup peeled walnuts

olive oil

The Recipe:

In a food processor, grind together the onion, garlic, coriander, parsley, tofu, cumin, salt and pepper. Transfer into a bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients. 

Now cut open the peppers lengthwise. Remove the seeds with your hands.

Arrange the peppers on a baking dish with covered with baking paper, drizzle olive oil  on top and bake in the oven at 180 C for 30 minutes. After baking let the peppers cool for a few minutes, and serve warm.