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!

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

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.

 

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.

Borscht with Shrimp

This week our pile of root vegetables continued to grow, amounting from our weekly organic vegetable delivery. So, we asked ourselves: What can we make with carrots, sweet potato, beets and zucchini? We hadn't made soup in a while and decided to try our luck and make something up. This experiment resulted in a very tasty (and slightly spicy) borscht soup. Our twist on a Russian classic.

Ingredients:
1 tbs. butter
3 carrots, cubed
1 sweet potato, cubed
2 small beets, cubed
1 round zucchini, cubed
1 cup white cabbage, shredded
3 tbs. hot pepper relish (Adzhika) or 1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
1/2 cup of coriander, chopped
10 peeled shrimp
salt and pepper to taste

The Recipe:
Saute the carrots, sweet potato and beets in butter in a large pot until slightly softened, about ten minutes. Add the zucchini and cabbage (which cook faster) and saute for another 5 minutes. Add water to the pot until it almost covers the vegetables and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the flame and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the hot pepper relish or chili, cinnamon and fresh coriander and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then add the shrimp, watching them closely and as soon as they turn pink, about 2 to 3 minutes, turn off the heat and serve.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Caramelized Tofu with Rice Noodles

We had quite the bizarre weather here in Tel Aviv today. Despite it being January, warm and dusty air filled the city and we decided to stay home in bed. Around mid-afternoon we started to get hungry and cooked up this light summery (and weather appropriate) dish of tofu and rice noodles. This delicate sweet-sour-spicy dish also makes a great "take it to the office" lunch.

Ingredients (makes 2-3 portions):

For the caramelized tofu:

300 gr tofu

4 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs sugar

For the noodles:

250 gr cooked rice noodles

2 tbs vegetable oil

1 tbs finely chopped garlic

1/2 tsp finely chopped red chili

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/4 cup chopped coriander

The Recipe:

Prepare the tofu. In a large bowl, mix the soy sauce with the sugar. Slice the tofu into 1cm slices and add to the bowl. Mix well, making sure the tofu slices are completely covered in thee soy sauce mixture.

Place a grill plate over very high heat and wait until it is very hot. Place the tofu slices on the hot grill plate and grill for a 5 minutes on each side. Lower the heat and let grill until the tofu browns. Set aside and let cool. When the tofu cools, slice into 1cm slices.

For the sauce, fry the garlic and chili in the vegetable oil for a couple of minutes in a small pan. Add soy sauce, lemon juice and sesame oil and let cook for another 2 minutes.

Throw the chopped coriander, tofu and cooked noodles into a large bowl. Add the sauce and mix well.

Serve in personal bowls with a slice of lemon.

Tortilla Espanola, Potato Omelette

A Spanish omelette, Tortilla Espanola, is a very tasty and comforting dish. The simple mix of eggs onions and potatoes becomes a thick savory-sweet treat. The recipe is a bit tricky though, as it calls for some acrobatic abilities involving a flipping of the dish. All you need really is a large frying pan, a lid and a little practice.

We adapted the recipe from "Party Food"  by The Joy of Cooking cookbook series.

The Ingredients:

500 gr red-skinned potatoes, peeled and cut into 3mm thick slices

1 large onion, sliced into 3mm thick slices

6 eggs, lightly beaten

olive oil

salt

ground black pepper

The recipe:

First fry the onion with 2 tbs olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. When soft (about 15 minutes) remove to a large bowl.
In the same frying pan over high heat fry the potatoes with 1/5 cup olive oil. Cook until they become golden brown, and make sure to toss them while they cook. This is to prevent them from sticking together as much as possible. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels but keep the pan and oil for later use.

Now mix together the eggs, fried onion, 1/2 tsp salt and some black pepper. Add the potatoes and mix well.

Back to the frying pan, re-heat the oil. Pour the mixture into the pan and immediately reduce the heat to low. DO NOT Touch the omelet. Let it comfortably cook until it is 3/4 ready, only shaking the pan from time to time to make sure it doesn't stick to the pan.

Now comes the tricky part. Slide a metal spatula under the omelet, making sure to free it completely from the pan. Place a lightly oiled plate or a lid on top of the pan, big enough to cover all of it. Now, with both hands, quickly flip the pan so that the omelet transfers to the lid part. Put the pan back on the stove and slide the omelet in. Cook for another few minutes until ready. (You are now a flipping master)

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Lobios Chorba, Georgian Red Bean Soup

A few weeks ago we promised I and Y to treat them to a birthday dinner whenever they choose. Last Friday they took us up on the offer and we delivered a mezze feast consisting of no less than 15(!!) different dishes. It also gave us the opportunity to try out a large variety of new recipes.

The Lobios Chorba, is a hearty bean soup that is a bit tangy and is very good for a cold evening. Since we had many more courses to go, we served it in small coffee cups (not in the pictures).

We adapted this recipe from "The Georgian Feast" by  Darra Goldstein:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups dried red beans
8 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 carrot. peeled and chopped
2 leeks, sliced thinly
3 tbsp butter
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 small minced hot pepper
ground black pepper
6 sprigs each of parsley, coriander and dill, minced
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

The recipe:
Simmer the beans with water, bay leaf and 1 tsp salt on low heat until tender (about 2 hours).
Meanwhile, saute the onions, carrot and leeks in the butter until soft.
In a mortar and pestle pound the garlic with the remaining salt.
When the beans are soft add the sauteed vegetables, garlic, hot pepper and black pepper. Simmer for 15 more minutes, then stir in the minced herbs and vinegar and serve.

Warm Salad of Salmon and Beets

A invited himself and G over one evening for an intimate Friday get-together. We dauntlessly addressed the issue by re-trying a recipe we had invented a few days before. The original version had tofu as its main ingredient but for A and G we tried something more elaborate, salmon. The result was even better.

(For 2 people)

Ingredients:

500 gr salmon fillet, cut into 1 inch cubes, fresh preferred...

1 beet root sliced into small cubes (about 1/2 inch)

1 medium onion, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp finely chopped ginger

dried chili (as much as you can handle)

1 tbsp finely sliced lemon grass (optional)

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

3-4 tbsp lemon juice

black pepper

vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander

1/2 cup chopped fresh green onion

The recipe:

To prepare the fish, fry it in a pan for a few minutes on each side with 1 tbsp oil, salt and pepper. Put aside for later.

In a shallow frying pan saute the onion, garlic, ginger, lemon grass and chili in 1-2 tbsp oil until the onion is clear. Careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the beets and let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add black pepper, sugar and soy sauce. Stir well and cover.

Cook on low heat and continue to stir once in a while until the beets are soft (but not too mushy). Add the salmon and lemon juice, mix carefully not to break the salmon apart. Let cook for another 5 minutes and remove from heat.

Finally toss in your fresh herbs, again mixing carefully.

That's it! We served it with brown rice cooked with almonds and a salad on the side.