Chez Panisse & Fedora

Here are two Café -Restaurants introduced to me first by my sweet friend, Aaron. I went to both and I am a fan now. Unfortunately for me one of the places is far away in California; but fortunately the other one is just 10 min drive from my house.

If you live around San Francisco bay area you have probably heard of Chez Panisse restaurant and café. The café was founded by Alice Waters & her partners in 1971 and named after a character called Panisse in the trilogy play-movie of Marius, Fanny and Cesar. Chez Panisse is famous for its seasonal menu that changes every day and varies based on the availability of ingredients on that season. It has a Café for lunch and a Restaurant for dinner. It is very hard to find a spot for dinner without reservation and you should reserve it way a head of time. For lunch the space is more available but it never hurts to reserve your table. I was there on November 30th; Persimmon’s touch made that day’s menu very colorful. Chez Panisse is pricey, but it’s worth trying.

If you live around Princeton and enjoy café atmosphere, Fedora Café welcomes you. Fedora is a small magically decorated café and very family friendly. Its Harry Pottery look – when I said magically decorated I meant it – makes you hungry. For working though, if you like to work in coffee shops as I do, is not that good. You can read a novel and enjoy your lunch but I’ve never seen anyone working there especially with a laptop. Fedora is located at 2633 Main Street, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. You can call them at (609-895-0844) they are very responsive. you can read another review for Fedora here.

Hold the Season in Your Hands !
Fig Leaf, Chez Panisse, November 2007

Meatloaf with Hard-Boiled Eggs

Meatloaf with Hard-Boiled Eggs



4 servings

Preparation & cooking time: 55 minutes on 350ºF
Ingredients:

1 ½ pound Ground Turkey: depending on what I have at home, sometimes I use ground beef, but I prefer turkey.
1½ cup Breadcrumbs
½ cup Milk or Water: I use nonfat milk. Feel free to use water instead. I have used it and I didn’t feel any particular change in the taste. So it has been tested!
¼ cup Fresh Parsley: chopped.
2 average size hard-boiled eggs: For how to boil the eggs take a look at the Tips!

Spices:

1tsp. Dried Thyme
1tsp. Dried Oregano
1tsp. Dried Rosemary
2tsp. Black pepper
1½ tsp. Salt
No Oil is needed!

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven on 350ºF

2- Soak the breadcrumbs in the Milk or Water. Let it stand for about 1 minute: The idea of using breadcrumbs is to add extra moisture to the meat especially if we are using turkey. If we do not mix it with water or milk the crumbs start to absorb the moister already in the meat and the result is an uneven and dry meatloaf.

3- In a mixing-bowl mix the ground turkey, the soaked breadcrumbs, chopped parsley and spices. Mix well!


4- Peel the hard boiled eggs. Split the meat to two almost equal halves. Put the first half in the oven dish. Shape it like the bottom of the dish or in a small rectangle. Place the boiled eggs on it and add the other half of the meat. After shaping the meatloaf you can add some black pepper and thyme to the top.



5- Place the dish in the oven and cook for 40 minutes.

نوش جان

(Noushe Jan)
Bon Appetit!

Tips:
1- It is better to use a baking loaf dish. If you don't have the dish feel free to shape the meatloaf by hand and place it directly on the oven rack.
2- Put the eggs on a saucepan with cold water – water should cover the eggs. Put the stove on high heat. Bring the water to boil and then bring the heat down and let it cook for 12 minutes. The whole process is 15 minutes. Drain, let the eggs cool down, then peal.

Shirazi Salad with Green Pepper and Apple:

This recipe is inspired by my friend, Paiyz, and her creatively appetizing salads. Shirazi Salad with green pepper & apple is a great lunch. Serve it with Pita bread, hummus or feta cheese.

Shirazi means from Shiraz: a city located in southwest Iran, where, among many of its attractions, Shiraz wine is originated. Depending on where one is from, I guess, Shirazi Salad changes its name to Israeli Salad. Also there is a Greek version of this salad. The trick for a good Shirazi salad is in its finely chopped vegetables. But for this recipe I like to chop the greens a little bit larger than usual.




(4-6 Servings)

Ingredients:

1 Green Apple: chopped. To prevent discoloring: put the chopped apples in a plastic bag and add some lemon juice to it. Mix well and let it stay for about 1 min. (I like green apple for this salad because of its sourness. But you can use any kind you like.) Do Not Peel the apple!
3 Cucumbers: average size or 1 and a half if it is large: peeled and chopped. (If I use organic cucumber, I either don’t peal or I peel the cucumber in stripes.)
3 Tomatoes: average size, chopped the juicier the tomato is the better the salad becomes.
1 Green Pepper: chopped
½ Onion: average size, finely chopped (optional)

Spices:

1 tbs. Olive Oil
1 tbs. Lemon Juice
½ tsp. Lime Juice: (optional)
1 to 2 tbs. Dried Mint: (you can replace it with 2 tbs. of finely chopped fresh mint)
A dash of Salt and Black Pepper

Directions:

1- Mix the chopped vegetables: Apple, Tomato, Cucumber and Green pepper. Note: if you don’t want discolored apples use the lemon juice trick. Let the mixture stay for about 15 minutes; the tomato’s juice can get into the other ingredients. After that you can add the onion.

2- Add the spices before serving and mix well.

نوش جان
(Noushe Jan)
Bon Appetit!

Coffee Shops Across America:

While riding our Honda Fit, Fandough (Hazelnut), across the country, from Princeton NJ to Berkeley CA, we stopped at many different coffee shops in different cities just to caffeinate ourselves with hot tea and sometimes coffee.

Here are three of those memorable coffee shops. Some are already known and some are isolated, but all three have a good tea collection and a nice ambiance to work. Keep them in mind when you pass these cities, especially if you are in the habit of working in coffee shops as I am.

Grounded Specialty Coffee
308, Main St. La Crosse, WI

Their Dark Chocolate Muffins are great. Add to it their nice owners, I guess a husband and wife and an ultra clean restroom (crucial factor for me!) They are famous for their double-shot espressos.

Trout River Coffee Bar
211 W. Front St. Downtown Missoula, MT

Everything is great in Trout River; especially it is a very good place to work. Not too cold, not too warm enough light and no loud music.

Michelangelo’s Coffee House
114 State St. Madison, WI

They make a great coffee and cappuccino. The owner is a warm and intelligent Lebanese-Mexican and obviously an admirer of Michelangelo.

Michelangelo's Coffee House, Madison, 2007

Fresh Pear Cake

Fresh Pear Cake

Baking time: 1-hour10 minutes
10” Bund Cake pan
Oven temperature: 325º F













Ingredients

4cup pealed, cored & chopped fresh Pears
2cup white sugar
2/3cup Oil (Canola) (use nonstick cooking spray for greasing your pan)

2 eggs ( I use two whole eggs but you can use 4 egg white)

3cup all-purpose flour
1tsp salt
1½ tsp baking soda
1tsp ground nutmeg
1tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves

1cup chopped walnut (Only if you like nuts, I don’t)

Directions:

1- Preheat the oven to325º F and spray the pan


2- Mix chopped pears and sugar and let it stay for about 1 hour. At the end of the hour you will have a juicy mixture.





3- Beat the eggs and add oil and the pear mix to it (you can add walnuts in this stage if you like or wait and add them at the end of the mixing process).



4- Stir flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves separately and then add them to the pear mix. (Add the nuts if you want)

5- Put the batter in the oven. Your Fresh Pear Cake is ready after 70 minutes. Use a toothpick to be sure the cake is evenly baked.

نوش جان
(Noushe Jan)Bon Appetit!

General Tips for Baking Cakes:

Tips for Baking Cakes:

1- Prepare all the ingredients you need for a recipe: You can add new things to a recipe or eliminate something you do not like: I usually eliminate nuts if there are any in the recipe and for that I bare Alpez’s harsh disapproval: If you like nuts you can always add them to the batter.

2- I usually measure the ingredients (based on the recipe) a head of time and put them in small bowls so I can add them to the batter when I need them.

3- Always preheat the oven to the required temperature. Turn on the oven 10-15 minutes before you plan to use it. Make sure the oven’s rack is in the center.

4- Have all the ingredients at room temperature.

5- To avoid lumps and swellings try to mix and sift dry ingredients (Flour, Baking soda, Baking powder, and spices) together and separately mix non-dry ingredients (Oil, Egg, Milk, Sugar, butter). Note that Sugar is considered non-dry. At the end add the two mixtures together.

6- While mixing use your spatula to scrape sides and the bottom of the mixing bowl.

7- Add nuts and other dried fruits at the end to your batter.

8- Grease your baking pan with vegetable oil (I spray Canola Oil). For most cakes Olive oil is a big NO. Use a brush for greasing the pan evenly unless you are using a spray.

9- To make sure that your cake is done use a toothpick or a thin wooden stick and insert it in the middle of the cake if it comes out clean. You are done. If not let the cake be for some more time.

10- After the baking is done and before removing your cake from the pan let the cake to stay in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Then with a spatula loosen the edge and turn the pan over. Also wait for the cake to cool down before serving.

10+1- This one only applies to me: Don’t bother with Tiramisu. You will always ruin it as you did in the past.

Bonaparte Breads, A French bakery in Baltimore, 2006

Mini Pan-Kebab & Rice

Preparation and Cooking: 40 min
4 Servings

Ingredients:

Mini Pan-Kebab:

1 lb Ground Beef, Chicken or Turkey: (Use about 1lb if you are not mixing it with breadcrumbs. I do mix the meat with breadcrumbs and milk. So I use less than 1 pound of meat. I often use turkey because it has less fat and because of that it is dryer. The dryness is the main reason for using milk-soaked breadcrumbs)
1Cup Breadcrumbs
1/3 Cup Milk: (we will mix the milk with breadcrumbs to add more moisture to our meat feel free to use the same amount of water if you have any dietary restriction or simply if you are out of milk)
2 average size Tomatoes: Slice them.
1tbs Canola Oil
Spices:

½ tsp Salt
1tsp Black Pepper
½ tsp dried Thyme or Rosemary (optional)
½ tsp dried Parsley (optional)
A dash of Garlic powder
A dash of Onion Powder (optional)
Rice:

2 Cup Rice: (I use basmati)
3 cup Water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp Canola Oil

Directions:

1- Rinse Rice and put it in a small nonstick pot or rice-cooker. Add 3 cups of water, add salt and stir. (I just use a dash of salt but you can go as much as any amount less than 1 tbs.)
Add oil; don’t stir the oil, later it will absorb on its own. If you are using rice-cooker turn on the rice cooker and your rice should be done in about 35 min. If not: put your pot on the stove on high heat; when boiled, bring the heat down to medium or low (depending on your stove) and put the lid half on. The rice will be cooked in about 20 minutes after you put the lid.





2- Soak breadcrumbs in milk or water. Let them soak for 1 min. then add this to your ground meat. Mix it. Add the spices and mix well. Form/shape the beef mixture with your hands: first make a small meatball then flatten the meatball.



3- Heat the pan for 1 min then add oil and after some seconds start putting your Mini Kebabs in the pan. The heat level is on high.

The Kebabs should not overlapped, place them neatly in the pan. After the pan is full bring the heat down to medium. Turn the Kebabs over and let it be for about 4 min on medium heat. (You can also close the lead, if your pan has any) After the both sides of the Mini Kebabs are cooked empty half of the pan and add the sliced tomatoes to the pan. Do not add any more oil. Let tomato juice soak the kebabs. You are done depending on how cooked you like your tomatoes!

Noshe Jan (نوش جان)!
Bon Appétit !

Philly & Boston I

Last weekend I was in Boston; so I visited Mike’s Pastry on 300 Hanover Street. I could have spent the whole day there wondering around. Not only the outside’s chill invites people inside but also the sweet smell of apple, cinnamon and vanilla call out for you. Though Mike’s Pastry is famous for its small sweets, I liked its piles of pies.

If you go there during weekend, you find Mike's very crowded.

Also the weekend before this, we went to Philadelphia to taste the famous Philly Cheese-stake. We went to Geno’s Steaks, one of the two popular Philly Cheese-stake shops; the other is right across the street from Geno’s. Apart from the clear sign that orders you: Speak English You are in America and the fact that the management reserves the right to refuse service, the onion topped Cheese-steak is absolutely delicious.


Another amazing thing is that despite the long and crowded line, there is not much waiting and Geno's is open all night long. I couldn’t have a whole portion but no worries on that part, my company took care of that.

This is Pat's King of Steaks, across the street.

Chicken Burrito with Turmeric, Lemon Juice & Saffron:

This is not as hard as it looks, we have this food very often. The credit for this delicious dish goes to our lovely friends Pat & Jennifer. I only changed it a bit.

Preparation and Cooking Time: 45 minutes
4 servings

Ingredients:

1 large (or 2 small) size Onion(s) (leave aside ¼ of one for Guacamole)
1 lb (½ Kilo) Chicken Brest or Boneless Thigh
1 ½ cup Rice
About 3 tbs. Canola Oil (one tablespoon for Rice two for Chicken)
1 or 2 average size Garlic cloves (If you use fresh garlic cloves and chop them up, you will get a strong garlic taste, which I love but Alpez doesn’t, unless it is used in Seafood. If your taste is closer to Alpez you can just put the 2 garlic cloves as a whole in the chicken pot and then later bring them out or simply use a dash of Garlic Powder.)

Although it is not common to say the amount of water needed for a recipe, I will assume you are as neophyte as I was in cooking so:

About ½ cup Water (for Chicken)
About 2½ cup Water (for Rice)

1 can of cooked Black Bean
Tortilla bread (At least 4 large size Tortillas; I get pack of 12)
Sour Cream (serve with the meal)
Mild or hot Salsa (serve with the meal)

Guacamole

1 average size ripe Avocado
1 or 2 average size Tomato(s)
¼ of an average size Onion
½ cup chopped Cilantro

Spices:

A dash of Garlic powder (for cooking the chicken)
½ tsp Turmeric
2 tbs Hot Sauce (for Chicken and also when the meal is served)
1 tsp Chili powder (for Chicken)
1tbs Lemon Juice (for Chicken)
¼ tsp Saffron (can be grounded or not) (of course Persian Saffron is the best but you can take it easy and use average quality Spanish Saffron) (for Chicken)
Lime zest, Salt (for rice and ½ tbs. for Chicken) & Black Pepper (for chicken and black Beans)


Direction:

First we cook Rice and Chicken; at the same time we will prepare Guacamole and the last step is warming/cooking the Tortilla.

1- Rinse Rice, put it in a small nonstick pot, add about 2½ cup water, add salt and stir. (I just use a dash of salt but you can go as much as any amount less than 1 tbs.) Add oil; don’t stir the oil, later it will absorb on its own. Then put it on the stove on high heat; when boiled, bring the heat down to medium or low (depending on your stove) and put the lid half on. The rice will be cooked in about 20 minutes after you put the lid.


2- Chop the Chicken Brest in small cubes (almost 1 by 1 inch), chop the Onion (leave ¼ of it aside for Guacamole), fry the chopped Onion in Canola oil until they are soft (about 3 min.) and then add Turmeric. Let it stay for another minute. (Don’t let the onion to become golden, it is not needed for this dish). Then add the Chicken to the pot and mix with the onion-mix. Add fresh garlic. You don’t want to fry them; we just need the taste. Let it be for 3 more minutes before adding other spices. You can close the lid. Then stir and add Chili Powder, Garlic Powder (if not using fresh garlic), hot sauce and black pepper. Add ½ cup water to the pot, close the lid and let it be for 15 minute.
Caution: DO NOT add Salt, Lemon Juice, Lime zest and Saffron now; Salt and lemon’s acidity makes the chicken hard and slows the cooking process)


Occasionally check it to see if it needs stirring or more water. After 15 minutes taste your chicken and then if cooked (no Pink part) add lemon juice, lime zest, salt and saffron. Chicken in done after 2 to 3 min.










3- Guacamole: I like it this way with no salt or pepper:

Chop onion, Cilantro, and tomato thinly, then cut Avocado in half, take out the large stone in the middle with the help of your knife (Once I tried to dry the seed: after couple of days the beautiful brownish skin of the core dried out and felt apart leaving me with a colorless thing!) scoop the green flesh of avocado out with a spoon then smash it with the back of the spoon in a bowl, then add the chopped onion, tomato and cilantro.


4- Rinse black bean so it is clean of the black liquid of the can , add a little black pepper to it put it in a microwave, until it is hot ( 2 minutes with my micro on high)

5- heat a nonstick pan (no oil) put one tortilla at a time warm/cook both sides, wait for each side to puff then it is ready.

6- Put a tortilla your plate help yourself with rice, chicken, beans, sour cream, guacamole Salsa and hot sauce then wrap tortilla and Noshe Jan (نوش جان) ; Bon Appetit!

Chicken Burrito with Turmeric, Lemon Juice & Saffron

Some General Tips and Info:

Here allow me to introduce two honorary members of Tameshk In Kitchen, comments of both will occasionally find their way here.

The first is, My lovely husband, a poor mathematician who has to put up with my cooking and who thinks that all of my cooking products need more salt and all of my baking products need more sugar, which I disagree (of course).

Then there is our Food Critic: Alpez, a friend of mine, still single in his mid 40’s, who once could simply enjoy eating, but after he started his new job as a food critic in one of New York’s most famous magazines, he can’t enjoy any food or drink before ruining the reputation of the cook, the restaurant and many times the poor bartender, especially if the bartender is a young attractive female. (Of course Alpez is not his real name but the name that we agreed on, in a cold December morning while commuting from Princeton to New York City via NJ Transit. Also I am not allowed to reveal the name of the magazine in which he writes.)


General Tips:

I wash everything, which is washable before slicing them. Do not forget your hands and I try not to slice them but sometimes it happens.

Don’t worry if you burn things; it happens! Just wash the burned pan after it cools down, but don’t let it stay for a day or two; it becomes harder to clean.

Never Ever use burned oil, simply throw it out. (First pour it in a none-plastic bowl; then after it cools down, dispose it. Do Not pour it into the Sink)

Heat level varies from stove to stove and you will become an expert about yours if you start using it. [I have a gas stove now, but I have used electric stoves and I believe their high temperature is higher than that of gas stoves.]

Tameshk In Kitchen: Manifesto

Tameshk In Kitchen is the cooking version of Tameshk, my other blog. Tameshk means raspberry in my native language, Farsi or Persian. I consider myself a fruit lover and usually I never dislike anything that can be picked from a tree or any plant for that matter. But it is Tameshk that I adore among all other fruits.

Tameshk In Kitchen is a cooking blog for beginners, college students or people who have never cooked until their late twenties, people like myself who have been fed before by their educated parents but they want to or have to start feeding themselves. Tameshk In Kitchen is for people who, like myself four years ago, couldn’t even bring water to boil and it is for people, more like the current version of myself, who can bring water to boil but still don’t know many things about food preparation.

In a regular day I spend about 2 hours in our small kitchen, doing things that are not even related to that area of the house; that makes at least 730 hours of my life every year. So I figured I should do something with it; the result is Tameshk In Kitchen.

It is my experiences with food and my appetite, mostly in my small kitchen, that will find their way here in this blog. It includes experiences of eating, drinking, cooking, baking and a lot more. Tameshk In Kitchen is flavored with Persian spices, although it is not a Persian Cooking blog.

Tameshk In Kitchen won’t be functional for you if you are a parent of any sort, since then you already know more than what is offered here; however Tameshk In Kitchen will love to have you as an observer and a Kitchen Consulter. If you are a Cook - professional or amateur- Tameshk In Kitchen is good to laugh at, but at the same time Tameshk will be happy to have your comments, thoughts and if you don’t mind your magical tricks.

There will be four posts every month in four categories: Recipes, Tips, Tricks and Food Shopping. Also I reserve the right to change these categories anytime I feel they get boring.