Rambodoc at large

Jam made of many fruits is a common denominator in my breakfast meals in the Middle East. Generally, it is used to add sweetness and a preferred flavor to that taste. Making jam is also a reasonable way to deal with the large product that can not be preserved for a long time.


That was the situation in my small backyard when suddenly I had to deal with large amount of juicy, black figs (fig 1). There is only so much you can give to friends and relatives!
Here is what I need to do to make fresh, home-made fig jam in my kitchen.

Materials:
Ripe figs. In this case I used a total of six cups of chopped figs.
Four cups of sugar.
Four tablespoons of fresh lemon juice.



Recipe:

Chop the figs into 4 pieces each.
Place the chopped figs in a large container.

Add the sugar to the figs. Distribute the sugar all over (fig 2).
Leave some 60-90 minutes until the sugar is all wet and mostly dissolved.


Add the lemon juice and mix well (fig 3).



Add the whole mixture into a pot and place over a fire (fig 4).

Start with high temperature until the mixture start boiling, and then take the temperature down half-way.
Until the mixture is boiling, you must stir the mixture gently and continuously to prevent sticking of the mixture to the pot.

Once it is boiling, then you can stir the mixture less frequently.


The jam should be ready whenever you see no more vapors coming out of the mixture!
Let it cool and then place in cans or bottles as required (fig 5).

Serve (after keeping for some time in the refrigerator) on bread and butter, cream cheese, or cheese!
Yummy, Yummy, Yummy.

Greek food: you realise there is something to it when you see how fit these chaps and chapnis are, compared to the rest of us Indians.
Even the local Indians look fit and trim.
Medically speaking, there is a bulk
provided by complex carbs (like the mandatory salad and whole grain breads), proteins (as in meats and fish), and fats (in the olive oil, desserts and cheeses).
As the meal is leisurely and proceeds in stages, from the mezes (starters, usually with the wine or the local ouzo), the salads (with Feta cheese) and by the time you wait for the main course (all the while chomping hard bread soaked in olive oil and balsamic vinegar), you are no longer able to wolf down obscene amounts of meat and rice.
In the pictures on the left, you see a typical Greek salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, olives, lettuce and feta cheese on top), and the second picture below that is the delicious Santorini salad (small, lobulated Santorini tomatoes, caper leaves, and the rest is the same as the Greek).

A disappointing but highly touted starter (meze) was 'Santorini pancakes' ( in the picture), which I ordered in a nice restaurant in Fira called Archipelagos. It turned out to be a flatter cousin of our own South Indian bondas which were never a favorite of mine, unless stuffed with spicy potatoes (the Mumbai batata vada or aloo bonda).

A dessert will effectively kill your hunger for around 12 hours: not for them the lightness of sandesh and rasgullas. The baclava or the Ekmek are favorites here, and, by the time you finish it all, your stomach is ready to disown you and migrate to India. If you can see, the Ekmek has a very smooth and heavy sweet cream stuffing inside the pastry, and will take you close to the Devil himself. Many tavernas have fresh seafood on display (as seen in the picture here), and mussels, swordfish, salmon and octopus are favorites in most island menus. Oh, another new dish I tried was a pie with date stuffing (see picture). Rather surprisingly, this is called a halwa.
All in all, magnificent. Indian food, of course, is far more diverse and rich, but if you talk of overall balance and nutrition, Mediterranean food is way up there!

My friends Samir and Layla Johna are on a roll with the celebrated Turkish dish Dolma. I hope you have read their previous post on dolma here. They have again made the dish and left us poor folks staring psychotically at the photographs. Angered and agitated at this lack of consideration, I decide to write about his pictures and his dish and share it with you.

According to a Wikipedia article on the dish, the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma, which is more precisely called yaprak dolma or sarma. Common vegetables to stuff include tomatoes and peppers.

The stuffing may include meat or not. Meat dolma are generally served warm, often with sauce; meatless ones are generally served cold. Both can be eaten along with yoghurt. The filling may be minced meat, rice or grain. In either case, the filling includes lemon juice, onion, parsley, herbs and spices. Meatless fillings are cooked with olive oil and include dried grapes, nuts or pulses.


Dolma cooked with olive oil without minced meat is sometimes called yalancı which literally means "liar", "false" or "fake" in Turkish. The reason for which it is described "false" is that it does not contain meat.
I realise now that this dish is very similar conceptually to the Bengali dish Potoler Dorma. This is essentially a fried pointed gourd that is stuffed with a fish like rohu or prawn. The whole dish is cooked in pungent mustard gravy. I personally chicken out of all fishy dishes, as I have said before, but love the vegetarian option, where the dorma is stuffed with coconut, nuts and raisins, and each piece of pointed gourd sits in absolute unity with its neighbor, bonded by the mustard. For a recipe of potoler dorma, click here.

Fish is widely used as a source of proteins particularly for those who do not eat red meat or chicken. We prepare this dish from Trout fish that I usually catch at lakes here in Southern California. Since the fish is fresh, we skip marination. We will describe the way we marinate our fish for those of you who are not as lucky and have to fish at your local grocery stores! This dish should be served fresh and hot at lunch or dinner time. Wine is optional. This dish is by no means the traditional and the national Iraqi dish of Masgouf! We will talk about this on another day.

Materials:

· Trout fish
· Basmati rice
· Chopped Italian parsley, ½ cup
· Chopped garlic, one clove
· Chopped small onion and a few chopped green onion leaves (optional)
· Two chopped tomatoes
· One teaspoon of tomato paste
· One squeezed lemon juice
· Salt
· Black and red pepper
· Curry (optional)

Marination Materials (if needed):

· Water
· Vinegar
· A touch of nutmeg
· Salt

Marination:

Since the majority of you do not catch your own fish, we recommend marinating the fish. This will eliminate the unwelcome odor of the fish, particularly during cooking (smells fishy!!!). You can cook your fish outdoors on the BBQ, thus keeping your spouse or daughter (as is the case in my household) off your back!
Clean the fish if you caught them by slicing the belly from the distal ventral orifice all the way to the gills. Detach the gills from the backbone and pull everything towards the tail. Usually this maneuver guts the fish. Cut through the back bone to display the fish flat. Wash with water and place in a deep container. Add a cup of vinegar and water until the fish is covered. Add some salt and nutmeg and cover for about an hour.


Prepare the toppings:

Chop the tomatoes, onions, and parsley into small pieces. You can use a food processor if you wish. I prefer hand cutting for best visual presentation. Mix with small amount of tomato paste and then add the salt, black and red peppers to your liking. Finally, add the lemon juice and mix. The toppings are now ready.

Baking the Fish:

Wash the fish after marination and drain. Place on foil in a flat pan. Apply the curry to the ventral sides of the fish, followed by the toppings to cover all white meat. Place in a preheated BBQ (350 degrees). Cover the fish with another piece of foil to seal. You can apply some Pam Oil spray on the foil to prevent the fish sticking to it. Leave the fish in place some 20-30 minutes. While waiting, prepare your Basmati rice and your green salad (optional). Serve the dish when ready! Enjoy!

This is one of the main dishes in the Middle East. It can be served hot for lunch or dinner as the main entrée. Grape leaves can be served cold in small numbers as appetizers prior to the main entrée or as snacks while drinking hard liquor. I personally consume them both ways. In fact, I enjoy some wine even when it is my main entrée!. In Iraq, the term Dolma encompasses various stuffed vegetables in addition to grape leaves. In our kitchen, we also stuff 2-3 small zucchinis, eggplants, tomatoes, onion skins, and bell peppers. It is in fact the most targeted meal at our house hold when some friends are invited. We do not have to worry about what is left. The left over is usually packed to go! The left over can be kept in the refrigerator for later times and can be heated in microwave.
Dolma can be modified in several ways, for meat eaters! You can add ground beef or ground lamb to the stuffing, and the grape leaves can be replaced with chard or cabbage. Some times a mixture of all can be prepared in the same pot.

Makes 60 Pieces

70 fresh or preserved grape leaves
¼ cup lemon juice
1 ½ cup water
¼ cup olive oil

Stuffing:

1 cup rice, washed and drained
¼ cup oil olive
1 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finally chopped
1 large tomato, finely chopped or 1 small can of tomato paste
50 grams of Tamarind (turned into molasses)
Some salt and pepper as required

Preparing:

In a large bowl, add all stuffing ingredients and mix well.
If leaves are fresh, wash and leave in boiling water for 3 minutes, rinse with cold water, and then drain well. If the leaves are preserved, rinse with cold water, and then drain well.
Spread a leaf, shiny side down, on a cutting board, place a tablespoon of stuffing towards the stem end. Fold the edges of the leaf in towards the center. Fold the top down tightly until it reaches the leaf point. Repeat with remaining leaves.
Line the base of a heavy pan with grape leaves, place filled grape leaves seam side down, in closely packed rows. Cover with remaining grape leaves.
Pour water, lemon juice, salt and pepper as required into the pot, place a heavy plate on top to keep the filled grape leaves from moving during cooking.
Bring to boil, cover and cook over low heat for 20-30 minutes or until done.

Samir and Layla Johna

Here is a really cool blog of a foodie.
The visual layout at Grab Your Fork is outstanding, and I envy the owner for being able to provide such visual honey. As for me, word-heavy and picture-poor, life goes on. Sigh!
PS- I am learning, as you can see now!

Alcohol is both tonic and poison. For long years the medical literature has been saying one thing or the other on the impact of alcohol in the body. A recent article has now assessed the health effects of beer, making some interesting observations. "In conclusion, short-term beer consumption ............ positively affects plasma lipid levels, plasma antioxidant and anticoagulant activities." Here is an easy-to-grasp overview of the health risks and benefits of alcohol. In brief, one can, first, say that red wine (which contains resveratrol, is good for you. Second, drinking benefits are inversely proportional to the volume of alcohol consumed. Third, daily alcohol consumption (in moderation, of course) is better than once or twice-a-week drinking. Four, folic acid may offset the detrimental effects of alcohol by reducing the level of homocysteine in the blood. Homocysteine is now known to be bad for the heart. According to some references, beer, being a source of vitamins, has benefits as part of a balanced diet (I know, laugh your beer-belly out at this one!), dieting (100 calories in a can of light beer), and halts the decline in mental functions with age. I know of some urologists who advise beer drinking to flush out small stones in the ureter. These folks also advise female patients to drink cranberry juice for preventing urinary infections, but I digress.
As to the esthetics of the palate, I am not qualified to comment. Most beers have tasted to me like the urine of a pregnant, jaundiced cow, and I have never dared waste precious foreign currency in fair lands by buying the ale in lieu of wine or spirits.
So, should a teetotaler start drinking to enjoy a better heart? This would be akin to a normal man taking Viagra to have better sex, or smoking cigars to save himself from Alzheimer's disease. I personally think that in order to live longer one should eat very little food, drink good wines, lead a boring life, laugh a lot, and have long walks, or long bouts of sex, whichever is cheaper and more easily available!!

Stan Kegel sends us this one: this is so apt! Thanks, Stan!

And God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so man would live a long and healthy life.

But Satan created McDonald's. And McDonald's brought forth the double cheeseburger.

And McDonald's said to man, "You want fries with that?"

And man said "Supersize them" and man gained pounds.

And God said, "Try my fresh salad."

But Satan created ice cream.

And man gained pounds.
And God said, "I have sent thee heart-healthy vegetables and olive oil with which to cook them."

But Satan created steak so big that it needs its own platter.

And man gained pounds and his bad cholesterol went through the roof.

And God brought forth running shoes and man resolved to lose those extra pounds.

But Satan created cable TV with remote control so man would not have to toil to change channels.

So man watched others exercise and man gained pounds.

And God brought forth the potato, a vegetable low in fat and brimming with nutrition.

But Satan created deep fried potatoes called potato chips (crisps) and dips in which to plunge them.

And man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips swaddled in fat and cholesterol,

It tasted good, but man went into cardiac arrest.

And God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.

But Satan controlled the health care system.

Insalata di Cipolle con le Sarde -- Onion Salad with Salted Sardines
"A most rustic preparation that has almost vanished," writes Ada Boni," is onion with sardines: it's anything but refined and requires a determined stomach. Slice abundant onions, lay them out on a plate, and add to them salted sardines that you have beheaded, split, and boned. Sardines are sold by delicatessens and come preserved in barrels, like anchovies. The only difference when anchovies are used instead is that their heads are left on, and therefore Romans call them Alici co' lermo, helmeted anchovies. You should season this dish with olive oil, oil, vinegar, a pinch of salt and abundant pepper."
Kyle Phillips says, "Despite Ada Boni's assertion that the dish has vanished I have encountered it in simple fish restaurants, albeit with much less onion than she suggests. It works very well as an antipasto."
'Pedvey' is the Indian name for sardines. I don't know the Indian name for anchovies.
There is a very nice Indian site run by Varshna Shahane that carries an article on Indian fish and fish names.
The article also deals with the celebrated Bombay Duck. This ugly fish is called 'Shootkie' by the Fish-crazy Bongs in the Bengal-Bangladesh region. The origin of the term "Bombay duck" is uncertain. Some authors advance the theory that, during the British Raj, the fish was often transported by rail after drying. The story goes that the train compartments of the Bombay Dak (in English, the Bombay Mail) would smell of the fish, consequently leading the British to euphemistically refer to the peculiar smell as the "Bombay Dak".
In case any of you want to repay me for writing this article and treating me to dinner with the finest fish, please accept my thanks, but I will have a headache that evening. I don't eat fish, and hate the stink that gourmets find 'strong and characteristically salty'. Whatever. Bleah!!
Oh, to reduce the stinky smell of this fishy article, here is a fishing joke:

Why fishing is better than making love:

* When you go fishing and you catch something, that's good.
If you're making love and you catch something, that's bad.

* Fish don't compare you to other fishermen neither.
And don't want to know how many other fish you caught.

* In fishing you lie about the one that got away.
In loving you lie about the one you caught.

* You can catch and release a fish, you don't have to lie, and promise to
still be friends after you let it go.

* You don't necessarily have to change your line to keep catching fish.

* You can catch a fish on a 20-cent frozen squid.
If you want to catch a woman you're talking dinner and a movie minimum.

* Fish don't mind if you fall asleep in the middle of fishing.

This is one salad to live for. Fresh, hard tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, goat cheese or Mozzarella, basil, salt and pepper, go into this awesome Italian salad. You can learn more here.
You can add just a couple of Spanish capers, pimentos or olives, and I definitely love the taste of toasted cucumber seeds on this. Simply superb!

I suggest you try this sometime. It comes out quite interesting to the tongue, though, if your family does not dig Italian food like you do, you are going to have to eat all the leftovers! I found this recipe at this site.
My take on this dish: very nice! If you don't have rigatoni, do with fusilli. I don't think it matters.



INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces uncooked rigatoni
pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
2 skinless, boneless chicken
breast halves - cubed
1 onion, sliced and separated
into rings
1 green bell pepper, cut into
thin strips
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger,
minced
1 mango - peeled, seeded and
chopped
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
cheese
4 sprigs fresh parsley, for
garnish
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add rigatoni pasta, cook for 8 minutes, until almost done, and drain.
2.
Heat 1/2 the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken in the skillet, and cook 10 minutes, or until juices run clear. Remove from heat, and set aside.
3.
Heat the remaining olive oil in the skillet, and cook the onion and green pepper until tender. Mix in the garlic, ginger, and mango, and continue to cook and stir 5 minutes, or until mango is soft. Gradually mix the heavy cream into the skillet, and cook 5 minutes, until thickened.
4.
Return the chicken to the skillet. Stir in the partially cooked pasta, and season with salt and pepper. Cook and stir 2 minutes, until ingredients are well blended and pasta is al dente. Mix in the cheese. Garnish with parsley to serve.

Link

Want to try a low cal tasty dish? I found this corn-and-avocado salsa recipe here.