Lahmacun - Turkish Flatbread with Sauce

This man is selling Turkish Lahmacun. (Turkish images by Babazar.)

It is enjoyed as an afternoon snack in outdoor eateries.

Lahmacun is a thin Turkish flatbread roasted with meat (usually lamb), a few vegetables, and seasonings - similar to our pizza, but without any embellishment - I made these yesterday.

The topping is mashed very thin on the flatbread, giving only a hint of substance.
Once baked, they are rolled around crisp vegetables drenched with fresh lemon and a spicy tomato sauce, then sprinkled with sumac.

Pomegranate Salad - Walnuts, Olives, Green Seeds

Just finished reading Michael Pollan's "In Defence of Food", in which he counsels, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

How do we make good choices with the plethora of options at the market? Most of what he covered I already know - that real food is whole, doesn't come in a package; and people should cook and have a garden. Back to the basics. Oh, and he advocates foraging for wild edibles. I liked that - cattails and chickweed are abundant in this area.

Over the holiday I purchased "Turquoise - a chef's travels in Turkey" by Greg and Lucy Malouf. Pomegranate salad was featured. I made some changes to the recipe, and added chopped spinach, red pepper, and leek sprouts - nothing goes to waste in my kitchen. This cookbook is quite elegant, but it is the writing that appeals to me - personal travel notes, and lots of photos of Turkey. Recipes are modified by the author, who cooks regional cuisine with his own improvisations.

Little Ones Make the Holiday Sweet

The food was great, but what really made this year special was baby Charlie and Daniel, who is now walking. Daniel found a way to wear his Christmas gift - he's a baby in a box.

Annie and Daniel - Baking Cookies Together

Noticed this as a profile photo of Annie, on Facebook. Just had to post it.

Amaryllis, Seymour Conservatory

Only a few days remain to enjoy the poinsettas, paperwhites, orchids, and amaryllis before the staff at the Conservatory begin the arrangements for January.

I stepped inside, and just listened to the quiet. Fish swam along the edge of a pool, near a little waterfall. The colors were very intense, with a stack of poinsettas shaped into a tree. Somebody sure has a great job, imagining these exhibits, then sharing the abundance.

Black Bean and Lentil Sambar With Grilled Pita

East Indian and Turkish elements are combined to make a spicy filling - garam masala, hot peppers, pomegranate juice, golden raisins and prunes. Served with a yogurt-based coleslaw and a cornmeal-wheat germ muffin.

Moonscape: Artesan Bread - Spinach-Feta-Olive

A baking stone was necessary, for bread and rolls. I gave the second rising only 20 minutes - because my yeast was hyperactive with the first. I reduced the amount of salt to compensate for the green and black olives. My feta-type cheese was seasoned with fennel and caraway. I also added a little Muesli Mix, a whole grain cereal with sliced almonds, barley, rye, and oatmeal.

Child's Play: My Cooking Workbook

It is a work in progress. Every time I cook something, I document what I've learned, post a photograph of it, or show something about the culture featuring the meal. It is like a sketchbook, whimsical, playful. Each page is a collage, pieced together with recipes, photos of family, friends - and Flickr photos that I want to remember.

This was a page for White Fungus Soup. Shamrocks and Cilantro.

Worst Hike Ever: Mima Falls in the Capitol Forest

I saw a warning sign at the trailhead saying, "Warning: Wear Hunters Orange During Hunting Season." George didn't take too many photos, we were too busy high-tailing it outta there! Now, in all fairness, we were adjacent to a shooting range, and I figured we wouldn't get shot, but we got outta there fast.

We drove through the Sherman Valley, where we discovered a campground we thought about using next summer for a family picnic. Then I realized Daniel would be walking then; and the swift streams would be too hazardous. Water was very high, just raging. I had the most uncomfortable feelings, like danger was everywhere, life is unpredictable - and people and Nature are not friendly.

Our local paper had an article today, on "a year of living and dying dangerously", a year of unprecedented natural disasters, the deadliest year in more than a generation. In addition to landslides, droughts, earthquakes, heat-waves, super typhoons, and blizzards, man-made global warming is changing our climate, impacting all over the world. Every choice we make shows either that we care, or that we are indifferent. People had strewn beer bottles around the Sherman Creek Campground. A folded baby diaper was dumped on the ground. People didn't care, I felt uncomfortable. When we arrived home I told George I was sure glad to be home.

Couscous with Nuts, Cranberries

Spinach Salad with Home-made Cheese

This soft cheese was rolled in fennel seeds, then added to the salad.

Broiled: Kebab-spiced Meat on a Stick

Kebabs were broiled, then served with the couscous and rice pilaf.

Of Interventions: Culinary and Therapeutic

Well, I had to laugh, I got an e-mail asking how two people could eat so much food!

Indeed, I prepare so much food, and it gets eaten too quickly! That requires that I prepare more... (Oh, for goodness sake; rubbing hands together; paging through cookbooks!). But, why can't food just remain, and look pretty in the refrigerator or on my table. Instead, meals vanish. It is like dusting the house. Once that is done, I wish things would stay dusted for a year, without my having to intervene on a weekly basis.

George packs most of this food in his lunches. Sometimes he packs so much, I've wondered if he is feeding staff at work. Co-workers ask him, "What IS that you are eating? It smells heavenly!" He'll stare at Moroccan tagine, pull up a cinnamon stick, and say, "Something my wife cooked last night." He won't know what to call it.

Sometimes he'll take an entire casserole to work right after I've prepared it, three days' worth of food I could have enjoyed too! Now, I write, "Do not take" on the plastic wrap over a meal - I'd like to eat also.

Some mornings he'll grab things in a hurry for breakfast and eat them cold, on the way to work. Like salmon. Who wants to hold cold, left-over salmon while negotiating traffic?

Yesterday he was just about to do this, and I insisted that if he wanted the salmon he should put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes, with lemon juice, finely chopped parsley, paprika and pepper. I got busy chopping, rolling up the sleeves of my bathrobe. Then I showed him how to grill Greek pita, how to season the top with a spice blend.

Of course, once the salmon was grilled and the pita was wrapped around it, he didn't move over to the table and sit down. He stood over the stove, over the hot fry pan, with all the juices sliding out of his meal. They collected in a sizzling puddle in the fry pan.

"Oh, that is going to make a good sauce. Mop it up with your bread!" Now I was completely absorbed in not letting a good thing go to waste!

As I might intervene in the kitchen to maximize outcomes, George does the same at work, with children. He teaches them how to manage emotional states. It is about caring, creating optimal outcomes, like trust, with what is at hand in the environment. Basically, he creates magic in the everyday.

This week, one of his clients held a light-stick in the dark, waved it around, then sat on the floor to build a castle. Conversation was held in the dark, while George held the light-stick. Another time, they built a fort out of empty storage boxes, and pulled butcher paper over the top. The child crawled inside and grinned. Staff came to see the fort, validating the efforts of the child. What a great moment!

I think we love the play, of creating wondrous outcomes. That yam poriyal I prepared yesterday? I got one serving, before he took the entire casserole to a meeting this morning. He said, "It's potluck."

Double Baked: Sour Cream Stuffed Potatoes

Large russets are filled with parsley, onion, garlic, and sour cream. Then the potatoes are baked again.

Breakfast: Cauliflower and White Bean Soup

Frost was covering our leeks this morning. I picked a few and added them to my cauliflower soup. Light, substantial.

Yam Poriyal: A Dry Curry With Paneer and Spices

Serve with basmati rice, chicken kebabs, and tomato chutney.

Lunch: Stuffed Squash with Wheatberry Pilaf

Black matpe beans and wheatberries were combined with stir-fried garlic and onion, dried cranberries, and sunflower seeds.

Phyllo with Cream Cheese and Lemon Filling

An experiment with a big name: Galaktoboureko. I served it warm, with candlelight and conversation, to three nice gentlemen.

Snack Time: Carrots and Celery Sticks

Celery with home-made cream cheese, chopped black olives and walnuts; carrots, coconut, and currants in orange sauce.

My Passion: Rasam

Rasam has been cooked in India for over 800 years. It took 50 attempts for me to get it right. This rasam broth has been my finest to date: Deep red color, full bodied flavor, potent and spicy.

I lit a candle, and got out my magnifying glass. Little bubbles with orange edges had floated to the top, waiting for my inspection.

Clementine Bread

Baked in a small bundt pan and served with White Chai Tea.

Found on my Windowsill: Old Seeds

These seeds were in a leaf on my windowsill, too late to be planted. We've finished hauling leaves, and now the garden is dormant.

Pinwheel Crepe Cookie

I was reading The Maya Textile Tradition when I was inspired to roll left-over crepes into a log which I then sliced into little wheels.

As I layered the crepes I spread a mixture of sweetened sour cream and powdered sugar on top of each crepe, then I rolled all of it together, like making cinnamon rolls. Then they were baked at 300 degrees for 25 minutes, to pull the moisture out.

The result was a crispy wheel, cinnamony and sweet. Some of the sour cream had melted down onto the bottom of the baking pan, so I flipped the pinwheels over to crisp this syrup. We enjoyed them with Persian tea, given to us by a friend stopping by for a study class. In Iran the tea is served in small decorative glasses with this sugar, which looks like wedding rice. The sugar, which is flavored with almond and orange, is held between the teeth when drinking the tea .

French Scalloped Potatoes - the Best!

Half 'n' half and cream are baked with thin sliced potatoes, resulting in a natural au gratin, a cheese resulting from evaporation. I served these scalloped potatoes Saturday afternoon with brussel sprouts, curried vegetables, and warm peach crepes with yogurt, peach syrup, and roasted slivered almonds.

Malloraddus Soup with Cheddar

The Sardinian pasta, malloraddus, can be made weeks ahead and frozen; they take only three minutes to cook once they're added to the soup. Soft, chewey, nothing like them!

Cinnamon Sticks and Sweet Sour Cream

After Feast I intended to spend the afternoon reading about artisan breads, but saw one photograph and got side-tracked. The craftsman had used tiny scissors to clip a pattern into a bread stick. I wanted to try that!

I made a sweet dough, using left-over sour cream, eggs, flour, cinnamon, sugar, and salt. Kneaded the dough, rolled it into long sticks, then dusted them with cinnamon and sugar.

It was easy, cutting the patterns, but I cut only two, as I wasn't sure if the sweet dough would hold up during baking.

As it turned out, the cut dough held, the flavor was delightful, and I now have a bunch of sticks standing in a drinking glass. These are dipped into sweetened sour cream.

A Warm Refuge - Feast of Masa'il

It was a mini-adventure driving to Feast at the Kloby's. Torrents of rain ran along the roadsides, puddling along the street. Road crews were pumping excess water so cars could get through. An arc of muddy brown spray shot up from the wheels of the van. The hillsides, trees and shrubs were brimming with moisture.

We were grateful to arrive at our location, to get warm, stay dry.

We played music, recited prayers, discussed community events.

The friends signed a bereavement card for an old acquaintance.

Memorable: A potluck, enjoyable conversation, and slides of the Kloby's cruise to Turkey, Greece, Italy, Egypt and Israel.

Debbie showed me a beautiful plate she purchased in Turkey, showing the colors of the Mediterranean. The deep blue, aquamarine, indigo, turquoise, none of which adequately describe the intense blues of this region, were incorporated into the lovely glaze.

Potato Heads - by Liam

Of Spawning Salmon and Djaje Belimoune

This little collection of lichen, moss and fir is sitting in a dish of water on the table in my den. It is my single expression of celebration that began with a walk on the weekend through the Swan Creek Nature Preserve in Puyullap.

We've done this hike before, with members of the family. This time it was just George and myself hiking up the trail through the woods and along the creek. I often walk ahead of George, to slow him down. There are details that catch my attention.

However, he was the first to say, "Look at the salmon! They're heading upstream to spawn!" Well, I tore off in a rush, walking along the pebbled beach, wading through the shallow water, trying to keep up with salmon wiggling and thrashing their way upstream.

As the creekbed became more shallow, salmon rested along the shore. I squatted down to run my finger along the back of one of the dying fish. It just lay there breathing its last, its gills pumping, the jaw rigid. It had only moments left. Although the outside of the salmon was compromised, the inside flesh was probably still edible, and I would have appreciated seeing what it looked like. This is a protected area, and the salmon complete the cycle of spawning, then add nutrients to the water when they decompose .

We ended our day attending a wonderful dinner, hosted by the Baha'is, featuring east Indian food. There were poriyals, vegetable curry, Persian rice, chicken curry, pappadams and desserts. The cooking was northern punjab, not as spicy and flavorful as southern Indian recipes, which (in my opinion) are more complex.

Just as there are variations on how to cook potatoes, there are many ways to prepare pappadam, which I'd served for breakfast that morning with a curry of my own. These pappadam can be seasoned with cumin, garlic and asafoetida, or left plain. They can be rolled very thin, or served thick like a crepe. Depending on how they are created, they can be used to hold food, crushed and placed into sambar like a cracker, or roasted thin and brittle like a potato chip. I served them Saturday morning, dried and warm, with curried vegetables, rice, and fried paneer (look like meatballs).

This Moroccan tagine was served on Sunday at our study circle. It simmered for hours, a rich fragrant blend of beef, vegetables, apricots and prunes, served with fresh-baked naan.

Djaje Belimoune is Marrakesh Chicken with Orange Sauce, an intense ambrosial experience. After the meal I continued simmering the broth until it was thick, like a curry, very strong and full-bodied. Then I added basmati rice that I'd fried in olive oil before steaming it, to crisp the outside. I mixed everything together, then added bread crumbs, walnuts and cilantro. It reminded me of Thanksgiving turkey and dressing, with a twist. (Sorry, no photo, too hungry! And, I wanted to experiment with left-overs.)
I blended both the Moroccan meal and the Djaje Belimounde together, making an extravagant 'Rice 'n' Beans, using all left-overs. The oranges and apricots were complimentary; the hominy and rice perfect. This was packed in George's lunch for two days. I called it a 'Fusion Succotash' when posting it in my workbook.

Mixed Vegetable Poriyal, a blend of green bean, hominy, red pepper, onion and garlic. I prepared a reduction sauce to intensify the flavors, and added roasted almonds and coconut. (Most poriyals are cooked in such a way that they are a dry curry, without sauce.) I could make this one course my meal, it was so good.