Not Derby Pie

In the interest of diversifying this blog beyond my standard “photo with recipe” formula, I’m instituting a new feature called Friday Freakout. No explanation needed, right?

Having recently returned from Israel, falafel is on the mind more than usual. Walk down the streets of Jerusalem with me for a moment: you won’t make it a block without passing at least one falafel/hummus/shawarma joint — more likely 2. Some are truly falafel stands, where all orders are to go, salad bar is DIY or done in a jiffy by the man behind the counter (trust me, you’ve never seen hands move so quickly). Others are hummusiot — hummus is what’s for dinner, served on its own or with any number of topings, ranging from tehina and chickpeas to sauteed mushrooms or even meat. Lastly, you’ve got the do-it-all places that have shawarma, falafel in pita or laffa (the big peasant-bread wraps), and hummus platters. And like I said, they’re everywhere.

So why is it that there’s no really, really good middle eastern food spot within walking distance of my house? To sharpen the gripe: there are three hummus/falafel/shawarma places within two blocks of my pad. The two best ones (Amsterdam Falafel and Old City Cafe) are decent, the third one (Shawarma spot) is really horrible — like, effervescent hummus and bug-in-plate horrible. AmFal and OCC are fine, and they do the trick in a pinch: their falafel is crispy and pretty flavorful, their salatin (salads) are varied and some are pretty ok, but nothing out of this world — and their hummus simply isn’t so good. Last time I checked, hummus makes or breaks the whole sandwich.

The real joke here is that considering how many options are around me, I’m relatively lucky: outside of Adams Morgan, the hummus-falafel-shawarma food group is pretty endangered.

And that’s not to mention the severe lack of other middle eastern food in the area: labneh (tangy, thick yogurt with a hint of salt), kubbeh hamousta (sour Yemenite soup with zucchini, sorel, and meat-filled dumplings) and good, not-overly-sweet baklavah are nowhere in sight. grr.

That concludes this installment of Friday Freakout. Do you live in DC and know of good ME food joints? Are you brewing over the lack of this food in another city? Comments, people, comments.

Now that the mood is off my chest, happy Friday and a wonderful weekend to all!

Winter has no better antidote than a hearty bowl of soup. On nights when all I want to do is cuddle under a blanket with tea, I often fill a bowl with soup and slurp it instead of chai. The choice there is easy: soup warms your insides and double-serves as dinner.

I’ve been intently focused on perfecting my soup technique. As you can probably tell, I’ve been eating a mostly vegetarian diet lately, and when you don’t have meat or poultry broth to work with, building layers of flavor becomes much more important. I’ve found that my best soups are the ones where I really think hard about flavor combinations before starting, and where I ensure that every layer of flavor gets substantial attention, so that it can make as full a contribution to the overall flavor as possible.
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It’s hard to believe that I’ve been on 3 continents in the past week. 7 days is too short for a proper vacation, especially when it involves places as wonderful as Israel and Paris. There’s so, so much I wish I could have done that I just didn’t get a chance to do — so many friends I’d have liked to see, hikes I want to repeat, hummus joints I crave — but with only three days in Israel and just over a day in Paris, it’s going to have to wait for next time.

After sleeping off some of my jet lag, I returned to my home kitchen with the tastes and smells of the Israeli shuk and the Parisian boulangerie still on my mind. Nothing rivals those deep, pungent aromas of spicy hawayej (a yemenite spice rub), fresh hummus, and still-piping hot pita by the stack. And those baguettes, those baguettes! Not to mention macarons, those delightful little gems of cookies that come in every imaginable color, flavor, and texture. I’m still dreaming of those macarons. (If you’re curious, D’s favorite of the 20 or so we bought was Rose flavored; I was partial to the pure vanilla, with its shockingly pronounced flavor and flawlessly creamy innards. We also both adored the caramel.)
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Hello from vacationland! We’re in Israel for the next few days and beyond thrilled to be back. It’s been way, way too long — almost two years since I lived here. I’ve missed every bit of it. Yesterday, I spent the most lovely afternoon at the shuk (market) with my dear dear friend S. We met up in my favorite corner of the shuk… A little cafe tucked in the back portion that’s locals only and serves up a mean cup of coffee. After lots of hugs, kisses and catch up, we ran around to the different vendors so that I could grab my favorite spices (more on those in a future post…) And met up with her mom, where I freshened up on my slightly-rough but actually not-too-bad Hebrew. We spent the past 24 hours hanging out with family and friends, relaxing and eating copious amounts of food. Tonight we’re planning on hitting up another of my favorite restaurants, Tmol Shilshom. There’s something at once familiar and refreshing about being in a place I used to call home; it’s wonderful to be back.

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Readers Dearest,
In a few short hours, I will be heading off for an all-too-short but nonetheless-exciting week-long vacation. While this means awesomeness for me, you’re probably not as excited. Here’s something to perk up your day: the post below is about a recipe that’s delicious and easy to make, best combo ever. Also, I’ve done my best to stick a couple posts in the wings, so as to keep you entertained and sated in my absence. Keep reading — more importantly, keep cooking — and I’ll be back in no time.

You can stop reading now if you’re an onion hater. Clearly, this isn’t for you. Where were we? Ah yes, pearl onions. They’re baby onions, basically. They’re a bit larger than pearls — at least, any pearls I can afford — but they’re certainly elegant. They come in red, yellow, and white — just like large onions — and you can get all three colors mixed together at Trader Joe’s.
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D and I host Friday night dinner pretty regularly. Being the slight lunatic that I am, prep usually starts on Tuesday, if not earlier. I start thinking about themes, poking around online and in my cookbooks for possible main courses, and trying to decide what vibe I want to create. Is this an apps and wine crowd, or more of a straight-to-the-table kind of meal? Are we going meat or dairy? (Usually we do dairy; I simply can’t part with butter for dessert.) Is it cold enough for soup or even a one-pot-meal? Etc.

This past weekend, D and I were so pooped from the long week that we decided to do just the two of us for dinner. Our friends Kira and Dina also wanted something low key, so we decided to combine forces. K and D would bring salad and a vegetable side, I’d make soup, some sort of tart, and dessert. We had challah in the freezer and plenty of wine on the rack.
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I’m definitely a bag-luncher. While I enjoy the occasional salad-bar salad or panini, I find that bringing my lunch to work is often healthier and more cost-efficient than the alternative. Especially since I work in Georgetown, where lunch joints are pretty high-end, and (as you all surely know) I’m not the biggest fan of Subway, bag lunches are my speed.

As someone who routinely brings my lunch to work, and I’m always on the lookout for recipes that are simple to make, easy to nuke or tasty at room temperature, and pack in servings of carbs, vegetables, and protein. Needless to say, there are plenty of these recipes floating around the blogosphere, which has given me ample opportunity to experiment.
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