Monday, September 14, 2009
Recently, I’ve become a huge fan of Jaime Oliver. His relaxed charm is hard to resist and his cookbooks are not only a filled with mouth-watering photos of the dishes featured, they are also a pleasure to read. His style of writing is witty and personal, lacking the condescension that can at times be detected in other star chefs. His cookbooks reflect an approach to food that focuses on fresh seasonal ingredients and stresses creativity rather than technique. So, his cookbooks possess impressive photography and engaging words. But those alone do not make great cookbooks. What about the recipes, you may ask? Well, the recipes do not disappoint either. I’ve only sampled one or two of his recipes (one from Jaime’s Italy and one from Jaime at home), however I was so satisfied with the results I feel nothing but optimism and eagerness to continue to try out more of his recipes. The one I want to share today was our dinner last Thursday as well as Friday. That in itself indicates how impressed we were with the recipe as we don’t usually eat the same thing two days in a row.
Here's the dish: It's a mediterranean beef kebab seasoned with thyme, cayenne pepper, lemon zest and juice and roughly ground walnuts. I must admit to straying from the original recipe quite a bit. Jamie made it with lamb and instead of the walnuts and lemon, he used pistacchio and sumac. However, the result was fantastic. This dish is definitely worthy of being added into my growing repertoire of go-to recipes!
This is a pickled salad of parsley and red onions in lemon juice and generous sea salt. It was so yummy and a perfect complement to the kebabs.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
After a long week filled with the everyday stresses of work and life, I like to have my Sundays free from social obligations and open to relaxation! Weekends are usually the time when I feel most inspired to cook and on any given Sunday, you can find Mike and I busy in the kitchen. So much of our lives revolve around cooking, enjoying and searching for good food that it's so nice to share that part of lives with the other. However, lately our schedules have been so so hectic, we haven't had the opportunity to cook much in the weekend. (T_T) This past weekend was particularly draining and feeling hazy and completely exhausted after a long night out, we felt at a loss at what to do to appease our growingly grumbling, demanding stomachs. I was scrambling around the kitchen encouraging my quickly failing brain to kick in and save Mike and I from our hunger when it dawned on me. Wrap! I love the ease of wraps and their charm lies in that anything goes!! So, I did just that threw a bunch of ingredients together and finished product was surprisingly yummy and oh so simple! ^.^
So, that was our dinner…. A simple but deeply satisfying wrap made of ground beef seasoned with thyme, lemon and cayenne pepper with potatoes and scrambled eggs. It was very good served with a side of greek yogurt and sprinkled with creamy goat cheese.
I hate when recipes don’t include pictures so please don’t hate me now. I didn’t think it would be as good as it turned out so I didn’t think ahead and took pictures. I will be sure to upload one soon though!
Mediterranean wraps
Ingredients
8 in. flour tortillas
1 lb ground beef
5 small red potatoes, diced into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp. thyme
3 tbsps. of lemon juice or as desired
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced or finely chopped
cayenne pepper or paprika
kosher salt
2 eggs, scrambled and seasoned with salt black pepper
greek yogurt
goat cheese for sprinkling
Boil potatoes until almost cooked but still slightly firm, depending on the size of the chopped potatoes that should range between 5-7 minutes. While the potatoes are cooking, heat a large skillet and add olive oil. Sauté onions for a few minutes then add the garlic. Cook until onions are translucent and garlic has softened, around 3 minutes. Raise the temperature to medium high and brown the ground beef. At this time, drain the potatoes and add into the skillet. Season with thyme, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper/ paprika and sprinkle in lemon juice. Lower temperature to medium and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add scrambled eggs and cook until just set and well combined with other ingredients. Sprinkle a little more cayenne pepper/ paprika for added smokiness and pop of color. Serve over warmed tortillas with a side of green yogurt and a bowl of goat cheese for sprinkling as desired.
^.^*
