foodie-isms

Tahdig is a speciality of Iranian cuisine. Tahdig is cooked Basmati rice that consists of a crunchy layer of rice that is formed on the bottom of the pan during the cooking process. The rice is later inverted onto a serving plate and the crunchy layer of rice is presented on top. The name comes from a Persian word meaning “bottom of the pot”.

4 cups of Basmati rice
water
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Instructions:

Rinse rice repeatedly in cold water and then soak rice in cool water for a few hours.

When ready to prepare the rice, drain the water completely. Add rice to a non-stick skillet with just enough water to cover the rice and then add an additional cup of water. Add salt, olive oil and bring to a boil. Let this mixture simmer without a lid for about 7 minutes. Test the rice by biting on a grain of rice – it should still be uncooked but soft enough to bite through.

Once the rice is undercooked but soft enough to bite through – remove from heat and drain the water completely. Remove the rice from pan and add some oil to the pan. Add the rice back to the pan ( but do not add any water).

Adjust heat from med-low to low and place the lid on the pan (adjust lid to allow for steam to escape). Continue to cook for 30-45 minutes. Once the bottom of the rice is browned you can flip the rice out onto a platter.

Serves: 6-8

My grandmother turns ninety-five today and in honor of her birthday I wanted to share one of her recipes.

My grandmother is from Berne, Switzerland and she loved to bake. She would use the smallest cookie cutters to make these molasses cookies. I recall spending hours in her kitchen helping to cutout each of these little cookies.

MAKES A LOT

1 bottle of dark Molasses
1 bottle of light molasses
1/2 pound butter
2 eggs
1/2 pound brown sugar
1 teaspoon cardamom (I use more)
3 pounds flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix molasses (both bottles), butter, eggs, brown sugar, and cardamom. Then stir in the flour and baking soda. Cover and put in refrigerator for 3 days.

When you are ready to start baking (after the third day) roll out the dough onto a floured surface. Keep unused dough chilled until ready to roll. Use cookie cutters to form your cookies.

Bake at 375 for 7 minutes for very small cookies. Larger cookies will take a bit longer to bake.

Happy Birthday, grandma!

Muriel shares a classic French tart of the Riviera in France. The Chard tart (Tourte de Blettes) is a local specialty from Nice, in regional dialect, it is called:” Torta de Blea” and it can be served as a dessert or like an appetizer but it’s essentially a sweet dish.

You can eat this Tart lukewarm or cold and drink with this delicious dessert a sweet wine but of course as we say in French:” A consommer avec modération!”

Amitié from Paris dear Stephanie!!

Pastry:
300g flour
1 packet of yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
20cl warm water
10cl olive oil

Filling:
a bunch of green chard (only use the green parts of the chards), chopped
2 eggs
a pinch of salt
150g brown sugar
150g raisins
an apple, cut into small pieces and soaked in 100 gr of rum
100g pine nuts
Parmesan cheese
Powdered sugar for decoration

Preparation of The Dough

Mix flour, sugar, and yeast.

Make an emulsion with olive oil and warm water. Add the flour mixture gradually to the emulsion until it forms thick dough. Let stand for 2 hours.

Roll out the dough on a floured work surface. Separate dough and form into two circles (1 larger for the bottom and 1 small for the top). Grease a pie pan and pour enough flour to coat the pan and then shake off the excess flour. Place the larger circle on the bottom of the pie pan and let the dough hang over the sides.

Preparing The Filling

Blanch the chard in boiling water for 10 minutes, drain well and squeeze to remove excess water. Mix the chard with the eggs, salt, brown sugar, raisins and apples (drained), nuts pine, and shredded cheese.

Spread the mixture over the pie dough and cover with the small circle and close by welding the edges. Brush top of dough with egg white.

Bake in a preheated 450 degree? oven for 10 minutes and then lower the heat to 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

When removed from oven sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy warm or cold.

Muriel Chuong- Perrey was born in Toulon in the South of France and her family is a native of Nice in the Riviera. Her regional cooking is based on scented herbs, garlic and Nice olive oil. Some of her specialties include: Pissaladiére, a tart with onions, caillettes (small olives of Nice) and anchovy, Socca (galette made with chick pea flour), the Niçoise Salad, Petits Farcis Niçois (vegetables with ground meat), the Daube (beef stew with carrots), the Pan Bagnat that means ” wet bread” by olive oil (sandwich with tuna, anchovy, olive oil and raw vegetables), les Gnocchis de pommes de terre (small potatoball) and this famous Tourte de Blettes. Bon Appétit!

The key ingredient in this cocktails is Chambord. Chambord is made in France from black raspberries, honey, vanilla and some herbs. Chambord has been around more than 300 years, since 1685.

French Martini

3 ounces vodka
1 ounce pineapple juice
2 teaspoons Chambord

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Fill a martini glass with strained cocktail.

TIP: Garnish the rim of martini glasses in advance. Combine sugar with a hint of food coloring. Wet the rim of each glass and dip into colored sugar. Allow to dry for several hours.