Extra Schmaltz!

I sort of invented this salad tonight, but I feel like I may have had something very similar before. It's very refreshing and light. All ingredients below are approximate and should be adjusted to taste. I gave the measurements for the dressing just for an idea of proportions. Combine: Carrots, grated Raisins, blanched and cooled (Optional) walnuts, crushed slightly Add dressing: 1 lemon 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar 2 tbsp salad oil or light olive oil a bit of pomegranate molasses (or balsamic vinegar and some brown sugar) a very tiny pinch of ground cloves salt a small amount of pepper Enjoy!

So I was making omelets the other day, and I was thinking it might be fun to have a list of interesting omelet fillings, for those days when you want to try something new. Since I can't figure out how to let us all edit this post, we should add more ideas in the comments. Tomatoes with Browned Garlic, Mozzarella, Parmesan and Basil: Dice tomatoes, garlic, and optionally green onions. Brown garlic in olive oil, add green onions briefly, then add tomatoes - remove from heat, but keep stirring. Add the mix to the omelets with mozzarella, Parmesan and fresh basil leaves. Mushrooms in Wine, with Basil and Rosemary: Cut mushrooms into small chunks (I liked to leave them a little chunky). Brown in lots of butter (again, optional green onions), salt, add white wine. Cook down. Add basil and rosemary to the eggs. You could do this with or without cheese. I think I used Parmesan, cause that's what I had. Za3tar: Mix za3tar spice mix with olive oil until it makes a liquidy paste, then ad...

This is a recipe for the basic bread used in Morocco in the same way flatbread is used in the eastern Mediterranean, i.e. to pick up food items, especially from very liquid dishes such as tajines. It's a somewhat trickier technique - you want to get larger pieces that are flatter than the loaf as a whole, so I generally take a piece from the top or bottom. It's also traditional to score it with a cross on the top so it can be easily torn into 4 pieces. This recipe is based mostly on the one from here This recipe calls for a bit of wheat flour, but you can make it only with white if you want: Ingredients: * 2 cups whole wheat flour (I think it would be better to use less of this, so it's not a 1-2 ratio) * 2 cups white flour * 2 teaspoons salt * 1 tablespoon yeast * 2 tablespoons vegetable oil * 1 or 2 tablespoons honey * 1 1/4 cup warm water * additional flour for kneading * Optional: 2 tsp. anise seeds * Optional: 2 tsp sesame seeds...

Bastilla or Pastilla (pronounced "ba-still-a" in Arabic) is sort of the national dish of Morocco. It's a sweet-savory pastry - some people are put off by the idea of powdered sugar on a savory pastry, but it's much much more delicious than it sounds. This is a complicated recipe, but it's good if you want something fancy for a party that's sure to impress. One thing that you MUST remember is to thaw the phyllo dough before you do this. There should be instructions on how to do so on the package. We had some success using a short trip to the nuke, but it's better to think ahead. Ingredients: Phyllo dough 1 small chicken (4# or so) 5 medium onions, diced Oil Butter, melted for the phyllo dough. Cinnamon Saffron Dried Safflower for color (or a small amount of turmeric) 1 bunch parsley, minced (I recommend a food processor for that) 8 eggs (+ 1 yolk) 1# blanched peeled almonds Lots of powdered sugar Rosewater (optional if you really don't like it - you can...

This recipe is for 6 chicken breast halves, which will make good planned-overs, but you can scale it back for 2-4 breasts. 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves Stuffing: 1 large onion, minced 2 ribs celery, minced 2 medium carrots, minced 3 c. cooked wild rice 10 mushrooms, chopped (optional) 1/4 c. roasted sunflower seeds (optional) 4 Tbsp. butter 1 Tbsp. salt 1 tsp. pepper 1 tsp. thyme 1 tsp. rosemary 1/2 tsp. sage 2 Tbsp. chopped parsley additional salt and pepper Gravy: 1 can Cream of Something soup 1 can milk or water 1/4 c. dry sherry or vermouth Pat the breasts dry with paper towels. Preheat the oven to 350. In a skillet, cook the onions, celery, and carrots in 2 Tbsp. butter until the onions are translucent and begin to brown. If you are using mushrooms, add them and cook them until tender. Add the seasonings and cook 1 minute. Stir in the wild rice and sunflower seeds (if using) until it is well combined with the other ingredients. Check the seasonings and then allow the...

While I was trying new things with new ingredients I figured I'd go for what is often mentioned amongst foodies in a hushed, reverent whisper: pig cheeks, especially smoked. So, pig face #2, rather than being rolled up with seasonings, was butchered into its constituent parts. I only have a humble Weber sphere grill, so smoking means placing a big pan of boiling water underneath the meat and continually feeding wood chips to the fire which is off to the side. Here is a pretty good setup which is far more sophisticated than what I used, using only tinfoil. I will not attempt here to give a thorough overview of smoking meat on a grill, when so many already exist online. Long story short, pig cheeks are not unlike a very fatty bacon in their composition, and are delicious. Dip them in BBQ sauce and enjoy.

Continued from here After curing the face overnight, cooking time arrived. I rolled the face up, resulting in this somewhat grim device:

A standard of Tex-Mex cuisine, migas are a great way to use up old, stale corn tortillas. The ingredients are mostly up to you, but this is sort of the standard: Old corn tortillas, cut into squares Onion, minced Bell peppers, diced (this is optional, but I like it) Jalapenos (if you don't like this too hot, use pickled jalapenos, they're not normally too hot) Tomatoes or chunky salsa Cilantro Eggs Cheese (cheddar, pepper jack,whatever) Saute tortillas in some oil until they get a bit more transparent (they're gonna get cooked a lot more, so don't overdo it too much), then add onions and cook until halfway to transparent, then add peppers. I like to add some of the cilantro here. When everything's pretty well cooked, add tomatoes or salsa, cook for a bit. Eggs should be beaten with s&p, cilantro and some milk if possible. Pour eggs over everything, stir, and towards then end add cheese. I like to brown the whole mass a bit. Serve with lots of salsa on top. Tradi...