Sunday, September 14, 2014

JERUSALEM: A COOKBOOK by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

Maybe world peace can happen if an Israeli and Palestinian can bring a wonderful cookbook to us!   Our dinner, hosted by Sharon and Suki, was an adventure in new spices, combinations, ingredients and tastes.

No one volunteered to make an appetizer so Sharon, being a gracious host, decided to fill in some gaps in the menu and made homemade Hummus that I really loved.  TBH, I’ve never eaten freshly made hummus and thought it was supposed to taste like the kind I’ve purchased at gourmet grocery stores, that I’ve never liked!  Sharon said it is so simple to make that she never eats store-bought hummus.   She just soaks the chickpeas overnight and then boils and purees them, add some tahini, lemon juice, garlic, a little cumin and water.  Drizzle some olive oil over it and serve.  Voila!  Creamy, super smooth hummus!

She also made some Labneh that uses 3 different types of yogurt:  goat, cow and sheep yogurt that was wonderful as well.   She served these two creamy appetizers with spicy pita chips and sliced flatbread.   She served two condiments on the side.  Pickled Lemons that only take a week to make vs the months it takes to make salted lemons and it had a very different taste…not salty and, actually not vinegary either.  It’s hard to describe what it tastes like other than lemony, tart goodness!   The other side was a collection of nuts and seeds and spices….crunchy, spicy, addictive collection that we could sprinkle on anything to add a punch to the dish.  Bill selected a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin nv Champagne  Brut  from France for us to drink while waiting for everyone to arrive and to go with the appetizers.   Jeffrey offered a magnum from his cellar as a general contribution and we had some of his 10-year old Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Chardonnay, aged to a wonderful golden color, to go with Sharon’s hummus and Labneh.
 
I must add here that Sharon also made two dishes that we did not have on the menu but could take home to try later.  Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Onion with Tahini and Za’atar and an Herb Pie.   This woman was cooking up a storm for several days!!   The squash dish was very simple and complex at the same time, I think because of the Za’atar spice.  We experimented with Za’atar and Sumac a lot with this cookbook.  Two spices that I don’t normally use.   Her Herb Pie used filo pastry for the crust and was filled with  mint, dill, parsley, arugula, celery, onion, swiss chard, green onions, cheddar, and feta and other than S&P, no additional spices!   A tasty and very pretty presentation.  Thank you, Sharon!

Our first course for the evening was an Arab dish called Na’Ama’s Fattoush that Sandi made that, as you can see from the photograph, is a plateful of radishes, cucumbers, mint, parsley, tomatoes, garlic, yogurt and lemon juice, mixed with torn  flatbread or naan.  It was a very tart and creamy salad that was a wonderful mixture of textures and very memorable.  The recipe said to wait 10 min. before serving but Sandi thought that the naan would dissolve after 10 minute so she served it within minutes of being added to the salad.   It was very soft but still kept it’s shape so I think she made a good call.  Another good call was the Sauvignon Blanc from the 2005 Murrieta's Well Vineyard of the Tesoros Winery in Livermore.  This was a very dry Sauvignon Blanc that complemented the tartness of the salad.

We then moved to a seafood dish that Jeffrey prepared.  Prawns, Scallops and Clams with Tomato and Feta.  The tomato was very subtle in this dish.  From just looking at the title of the dish, I thought it was going to be a very tomato-y sauce but it just has a few pieces of diced tomatoes floating in watery broth that allowed the delicate seafood flavors to shine through.  What we all noticed about this cookbook’s recipes is that they are all pretty easy to prepare, once the spices were purchased.  It is a collection of home-cooking recipes that they remember from their childhoods or have embellished with new ingredients or flavors.   Our Eveready Cook, Sharon, prepared a simple couscous to go with the dish so we could soak up the leftover juices on our plates. . . slurp!   Bill selected a Domaine de la Madone  2009  Beaujolais  Jean Bererd  from France to go with this dish.  I think it was a wonderful Beaujolais that was both fruity and dry.   Some people continued to drink the Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay that also went well with the shellfish.

Janis, our supreme salad and vegetable queen, made Spinach Salad.  Now, to see the title of this dish, you could imagine a very simple salad that we’ve all seen at potluck lunches.  NOT so!  This Spinach Salad had chopped dates, our intrepid spice--Sumac, red onions, torn pita bread, unsalted almonds and chili flakes.   Oh yes, and spinach!   It used a very simple dressing of red wine vinegar, lemon juice, butter and olive oil, but the combination of ingredients created a very sublime salad  that had tart, sweet, earthy, crunchy, and leafy tastes and textures.  I don’t know how she does it but she always chooses the right salad or vegetable dish that just knocks my socks off!   What also made this dish “over the top” was the Sori' Del Re  2007  Moscato D'Asti  Degiorgis Sergio from Italy that Bill served from his cellar.  Who would have guessed that a Moscato would be the perfect wine for spinach salad but it was absolutely the best pairing for the course.

I made the Mejadra dish that Sandy P was going to bring.  I thought it was going to be very similar to a rice and lentil with caramelized onions dish that we made from the Zov cookbook, one of our very early cookbooks from 8 years ago.   This Mejadra was very, very spicy and I think, had too many lentils in ratio to the rice.  It also came out very dry.   It could be that I made it on Friday and reheated it for our dinner because I spent the day at Stanford tailgating and watched us lose to USC (boo-o-o!) and just barely made it to our dinner.   I added water to the dish before nuking it to warm it up but it didn’t help with the dryness so it maybe that if I make this again, I’ll add more water to the dish initially.   It was too spicy for me and I actually prefer the Zov version that is simpler and allows the tastes of the rice, lentil and caramelized onions show through.  This dish fries the onions before adding it to the rice.  I may have also over-fried the onions too so how it turned out could have been “operator error.”

I also prepared the Clementine Chicken with Arak.  I loved this dish when I first made it and knew that it was the one I wanted to share with my fellow cooks.  I did learn from my first attempt to double the marinade because I didn’t think there was enough sauce and I think that made the dish even more delicious.  Another simple dish that just requires chicken, Clementine oranges, fennel, thyme and fennel seeds.  It also used grainy mustard, orange & lemon juice for the marinade/sauce.  All are ingredients in most pantries.  I used Pernod instead of Arak since it only called for a few tablespoons of it and I didn’t want to buy a whole bottle just for a few tablespoons.  I could have also used Ouzo but Pernod was in our liquor cabinet.  I hope everyone enjoyed this dish as much as I did.   I made a simple Basmati Rice dish to complement the chicken.  The orange/fennel combination was a surprise and my tastebuds just exploded when I tasted it.   We enjoyed a Merry Edwards  2004  Pinot Noir Klopp Ranch in the Russian River Valley of  Sonoma County.   All in all, this was probably one of our most difficult dinners to pair wine with and Bill did tons of online research to determine what wines might go best with the various spices and tastes.  We all agreed that he did a yeoman’s job!!  Thank you, Bill, for your generosity and knowledgeable selections.

We were all pretty full at this point so the two dishes that Sharon was thinking of serving (the squash and herb pie) went into take-home containers. 

Our two desserts were also made by Sharon and were actually her original choices for the dinner.   She made a Clementine Almond Cake and Spice Cookies.   Her cake was made using ground almonds, and sweetened with simple syrup flavored with Clementine zest and juice is poured over the cake while still warm so it soaks up the syrup that not only moistens the cake but adds another layer of citrusy flavor to it.   Bill ingeniously selected a very old Sutter Home NV Triple Crème Aperitif wine from the 1970’s to go with both this cake and the Spice Cookies.   What a spectacular pairing for the desserts.  The Triple Crème enhanced the citrus tones of the cake and stood up to the spicy cookies.   The cookies were to be topped with candied fruits and a sugar glaze but Sharon couldn’t find any candied fruits that are typically only available during the holidays so she topped the cookies with candied ginger.  Very clever substitution, Sharon!

I think we all staggered home from this meal, fully sated and filled with wonderful memories of yet another feast prepared by a group of gourmet cooks!

Our next event, our 9th Annual Holiday Buffet, will be held at Annie & George’s home on Saturday, December 13.   Please mark your calendars!  Time TBA so stay tuned!

Cook on!





No comments: