Zaalouk

You’re probably thinking to yourself “what the heck is zaalouk?” Zaalouk is a traditional Moroccan salad made of eggplant and tomatoes, cooked to a puree. My first time eating zaalouk was about six years ago when Toph and I (my boyfriend at the time) went to a fantastic Moroccan restaurant in Costa Mesa, CA called Marrakesh. I had never been to a Moroccan restaurant before and I wasn’t sure what to expect. The moment we walked inside we felt like we were dinning in Morocco for the evening. Beautifully draped fabric throughout the restaurant and traditional Moroccan music playing in the background, really made you feel like you were about to dine inside a fabulous tent that was in the desert of Morocco.
We sat at our lowered table and they poured water over our hands so we could wash them. After they served us some amazing bread, they brought out a try with an array of food on it, basically tapas style. I noticed a small serving of zaalouk but at the time I didn’t know what it was called or what it was for that matter. All I thought was that it looked weird. “What is that?” I asked Toph. “I don’t know, try it,” was his reply. So I went for it and I practically ate the whole thing before Toph stopped me and reminded me that he hardly had any yet. Oops, sorry! I forgot the concept of this restaurant was that you share your food with the people at your table. Curious to find out what I just stuffed my face with, Toph asked one of the servers what that reddish/purple stuff was we just ate. “Zaalouk,” was the reply.

So after eating about 4 different courses at this place, yes, they feed you that much! I came to the conclusion that not only did I love this restaurant, but that I was in love with Moroccan food!

We still go to Marrakesh as often as we can but it’s usually just for special occasions. It wasn’t until one particular visit that I insisted I learn how to make zaalouk myself because I wanted to take a “mini break” from the place because I was embarrassed after a certain visit. Keep reading, you’ll know why shortly……

So Toph and I were getting pretty serious in our relationship and we had been dating for a little over a year. His parents flew out to California to visit and we decided it was time for our parents to meet. *Cue in loud thunder music here* Yes, it was scary and nerve wracking! So we thought, let’s take them to a place that has amazing food but somewhere none of them would typically go. Marrakesh! Perfect!
So we all go to Marrakesh, my brother included; we sit down and start ordering drinks immediately. Everyone was nervous and we all needed something to take the edge off. I straight away order a very alcoholic drink they serve, called the Belly Dancer. Next thing you know it, everyone is ordering Belly Dancers! Then I had a moment of “OMG” in my head. I totally forgot, there’s a belly dancer that comes by the table at least once during your meal and she’s usually shaking what her mama gave her and jingling those little tambourine things in her hands. She usually picks a few tables to stop at and grabs a man or a woman to get up and dance with her as she wraps a scarf around their waist. This is the ONLY thing I do not like about Marrakesh. I don’t mind watching her dance, but to feel the anxiety that she might pick YOU is a bit overwhelming. And she usually has dollar bills dangling on the sides of her hips from the tips that she gets (not very classy in my eyes but, whatever, who am I to judge). So at this point, all I can think about in my mind was when this belly dancer was going to come out and grace us with her presence. I’m only really worried for two different reasons.

1) If she picks Toph’s Dad to dance with, he is going to be absolutely mortified and will probably turn 6 shades of red. Both of Toph’s parents are very reserved and conservative.

2) If she picks my Dad, all bets are off because I don’t know what kind of crazy antics he would pull. My Dad is a loose cannon and very unpredictable depending on the kind of mood he is in.

I was secretly wishing she would just pass our table all together but I knew that wasn’t an option because we had a lot of people and I just knew she’d be coming for us (not to mention the copious orders of Belly Dancer drinks coming to our table). So shortly after all these thoughts were running through my head a million times, I hear in the far off distance, those tiny little tambourines starting to chime. OH DEAR LORD! Here we go….. Of course, the moment she saw our table she came straight to us. She didn’t even hesitate to stop at another table first! She tried to grab my brother to dance and he just smiled and politely said “no, thank you” and tried not to make eye contact incase she asked again. Then she went to my Dad and tried to get him to dance with her, but he shockingly declined to my surprise. But never to disappoint, he already had a dollar bill waiting in his hand and then attempted to put it down the middle of the sparkly bra top she was wearing as if we were at some strip joint! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!! DID HE REALLY JUST DO THAT??!! Please, somebody wake me up from this nightmare because I’m traumatized and mortified from what I just witnessed!! The belly dancer just laughed and went along with it. I was thinking in my head, “please, don’t encourage him!” Once she realized my Dad still wasn’t going to dance with her, she then moved on to Toph’s Dad. He just laughed and smiled but he didn’t dance either. So no one was dancing, THANK GOD! And then she finally moved on to the next table. I was still so embarrassed from my what my Dad did but everyone was laughing and having a good time that I just had to pretend it didn’t happen and laugh and smile too, even though I was having my own personal freak out session in my head! Oh my dear Pappy! I love him dearly, but sometimes I just have to shake my head….. ;-)

Ingredients:

1-1pound eggplant, peel and cut into small cubes1 large tomato or 2 small, skinned and cut into small pieces1 tsp tomato paste2 garlic cloves, minced3-4 tbs olive oil2 tsp paprika2 tsp cumin or to your tastesalt\pepper to taste2-3 tbs Italian parsley, chopped1 lemonHarissa, Moroccan hot sauce, Optional
In a medium pot fill 3\4 of the way with water and a little salt, place on medium heat. Skin the eggplant and cut into small pieces. Once the water starts to boil add the eggplant. Boil until tender, like you would if you wanted to make mashed potatoes. In the meantime, skin the tomato and chop into small pieces, also, chop the parsley fine. Once the eggplant has cooked, drain and set aside. Next, take a skillet and add the oil, then add all of the ingredients. While cooking, mash the mixture with a spoon to get the consistency of chunky salsa. This will take about 15-20 minutes to cook. Final touch, cut your lemon in half and squeeze the juice on top. To give it a little kick add some Moroccan Harissa. Enjoy!

Source: http://www.untilmorocco.com/2010/04/moroccan-zaalouk-or-eggplant-and-tomato.html

Grilled Caramel Balsamic Chicken Salad

It was a Wednesday night, and my husband was on Winter break from school for only a few more days before he had to return to the daily grind. One of his old childhood friends Zandy aka Zanballer invited him up to his place in Santa Barbara for epic evening of video games and to consume large amounts of alcohol. How could he pass up this fabulous opportunity? Hahaha! I would be utterly shocked if he did! Still, very considerate and a respectful husband, instead of telling me he was going up there, he kindly asked me if it was ok he go visit Zandy for the evening. Of course I was going to say yes; our daughter was down for the night and some of my favorite Wednesday night shows were about to start on TV. I had only about 30 minutes before my first show was about to start and although I take full advantage of our DVR to avoid commercials, I was going to have two things recording at once and I was anxious to just hurry up and make something quick to eat so I could sit down and relax the rest of my evening.

I was definitely in a “salad mood” and knew I wanted to get chicken involved somehow. I turned on the oven to 450 degrees, grabbed my cast iron skillet and turned on a burner just below medium/high heat. While my skillet was heating up, I grabbed a chicken breast out of the fridge and quickly seasoned it with salt, pepper and a dash of nutmeg. As I was putting the nutmeg back in my pantry, I saw the balsamic vinegar towards the far back left side and saw a brand new unopened container of Hershey’s Caramel sauce right next to it. Double yes, I’ll use both! I drizzled balsamic vinegar on both sides of the chicken then drizzled the caramel sauce on top giving it a nice little coat. The skillet wasn’t fully warmed up yet so I moved on to the next thing because the clock was ticking. I had a package of baby heirloom tomatoes in the fridge so I grabbed a handful of those, rinsed them off and sliced them in half. Oh, I have celery in my bottom refrigerator door too? Awesome, let’s add one stalk of that as well. This was the conversation I was having with myself in my head. I saw on the top shelf that I had a little bit of red onion leftover from last night’s dinner. I grabbed that and gave that a few chops and tossed it in the bowl with everything else. Beep, beep, beep! The oven was ready and my skilled was ready to rock n roll! I threw on my chicken and placed the bowl of chopped up veggies back into the fridge. I grilled the chicken on one side for a few minutes (enough to leave the grill marks on it) then I flipped it and popped it in the oven to bake for the rest of the time.

In all honestly, this was practically perfect timing because my show was just about to start. I sat down and watched for about 10-15 minutes then I paused it to check on my chicken. It was ready! I pulled my chicken out and placed it on a cutting board to let it cool down. While it was cooling, I pulled out my bowl of chopped veggies and grabbed my favorite salad mix called Organics Herb salad. I rinsed off the salad and tossed it in the bowl with the rest of the cut up veggies. I cut the chicken into small chunks and threw that in the bowl, added feta cheese and pumpkin seeds I had randomly bought on a whim one day. Drizzled some light balsamic vinaigrette on top with a little bit of ground pepper then tossed everything together. Phew! Finally I was done!

I can’t deny I was actually impressed with how fast I got everything done because typically I tend to be a bit of a slow-poke in the kitchen because I consider cooking to be very therapeutic. Am I crazy???

Two summers ago one of my best friends Dave Bernardi aka Zesty D, had his girlfriend in town visiting from Michigan. After a glorious day at one of my favorite beaches (Tablerock in Laguna Beach, CA) we decided to go back to his place and BBQ. His girlfriend Lindsay made an interesting suggestion and said we should make s’mores. Really? S’mores? It sounded delicious but it’s something I would have never thought of because I guess I always just associated it with camping which is something I’ve only done twice in my life. I was pregnant at the time and since I couldn’t enjoy the refreshing taste of an ice cold beer, why not treat myself to a warm, chocolaty, gooey s’more? “Yes, that’s a great idea! Let’s do it!” After our bbq’ing extravaganza, we busted out the marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers and turned up the grill. As Dave was taking orders on how crispy we wanted our roasted marshmallows, Lindsay yelled out “double up the chocolate!” Another glorious idea! I already knew this girl was a keeper and I was a bit sad she lived in Michigan and not in California with us. After he made our s’mores we all partook in the grub fest and watched each other struggle to keep our faces and fingers clean as the melted chocolate and marshmallow came pouring out of the sides.  Oh my! Why am I not eating more s’mores in my life?? From that point forward, I knew I needed to keep s’mores in my yearly rotation of sinful treats I should enjoy every so often. I’m proud to say I have since then!

There are a few different ways to make s’mores but traditionally, you take a large marshmallow and toast it over a camp fire. Since my camping days are far and few between, I substituted a camp fire for a kitchen torch and used small marshmallows instead of one large marshmallow.

 S'Mores

• 2 graham crackers
• 12 small marshmallows
• ½ Hershey bar

Directions:

• Break off 1 square of graham cracker
• Add 3 small pieces of Hershey chocolate bar
• Add small marshmallows
• Use kitchen torch to crisp the marshmallows and melt the chocolate
• Grab another graham cracker square and place 3 small pieces of Hershey chocolate bar on top and use the kitchen torch to melt the chocolate.
• Place the second graham cracker with chocolate face down, on top of the other graham cracker with marshmallow on it.
• Press together and enjoy!  

Cheesecake stuffed strawberries

I don’t know what it is about these bites of delight but I find them to be extremely sensual and sexy! Over the holidays I was back in Michigan visiting my husband’s side of the family for Christmas and his Aunt Anne introduced me to one of the most exciting things ever, Pinterest!  I was amazed to see what Pinterest actually was and all the creative ideas it had to offer. As we were playing around and discovering new things on the site, out of the corner of my eye I saw a picture of these amazing strawberries with the tops covered in graham crackers and I was instantly intrigued. “Click on that picture” is what immediately came out of my mouth and I didn’t even say “Please” first. Whoops, how rude of me! All I was concerned about was finding out what the heck these strawberries were and how I could make them. This was before I even found out they were filled with cheesecake! She clicked on the picture and it redirected us to a site for the recipe for Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries. Whaaaaat?! There’s cheesecake inside the strawberries? SOLD!! That’s all it took, I signed up on the spot to be a member of Pinterest. Once we returned to California my invite request to Pinterest was still pending. Too anxious to wait any longer, I Googled cheesecake stuffed strawberries and found a recipe on nutmegnanny.com that offered a simple and straight forward recipe. I made them right away and shortly after I dipped my last strawberry in graham cracker crumbs, my husband and I devoured them immediately! Ooooooh so good!! I have made them several times and for guests that come to my house and they are always a crowd pleaser! One thing I discovered when making these is that they are at their best when served immediately. One time I took them to a Super Bowl party and let them chill in the refrigerator 2 hours prior and I noticed that they lost their “Wow factor” and the strawberries turned soft. Definitely serve them immediately and you won’t even have to worry about putting them back in the refrigerator because they will disappear before your eyes! Yes, they are that good!

 Cheesecake stuffed strawberries

1 lb strawberries

8oz package of softened cream cheese (I used Philadelphia 1/3 less fat cream cheese)

4 tablespoons of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

Rinse strawberries thoroughly and cut the tops off.  With a paring knife, hollow out the strawberries and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat crème cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Remove cream cheese and place it into a ziplock bag and cut a small corner off for piping. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture.

In a separate bowl, crush about 4 graham crackers into crumbs. Dip the top of the strawberries into graham cracker crumbs. I highly suggest serving immediately because they do not taste as good once they have been in the refrigerator longer than 30 minutes. 

Coconut Creme Brulee

A tropical twist on a classic dessert! Many countries claim to have invented this caramelized creamy treat, but it’s most popular in France and is a standard dessert served in French restaurants. My first experience with coconut crème brulee was not in a French restaurant or a place you would expect to serve it.  I had it at a sushi restaurant in Huntington Beach, CA called RA when my Mother in-law and Father in-law were visiting us last year to spend time with their granddaughter. Hungry and aimlessly walking up and down the streets of Huntington Beach trying to find a place open past 9pm, we heard faint music in the distance and saw a red sign saying RA Sushi off our beaten path and decided to go for it. Not expecting extremely loud music or a large crowd when we walked in, we threw out our “kid friendly” restaurant standards and started pounding sushi immediately.  After we were done and our bellies were full, my in-laws decided to take a look at the dessert menu and my Father in-law was sold on the idea that the coconut crème brulee was going to be an interesting choice that we would enjoy.  Not really remembering what crème brulee tasted like and always mistaking it for tiramisu, I went along with the idea that it was going to be great because in my mind I was only planning on having a bite anyways because I was still so full from dinner. My Father in-law briefly excused himself from the table and during that time our server brought out the coconut crème brulee.  I grabbed my spoon, took my first bite and Oh My Gosh! I was in love! One bite turned into two, three, four, five bites and then next thing you know it there was just a little corner left in the dish and my Mother in-law kindly reminded us that my Father in-law had not had any yet. Shoot! Why didn’t we order two?? I patiently sat there staring at it waiting for my Father in-law to return and doing everything in my power to stop myself from picking up my spoon one more time and having just a tiny bit more.  It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to recreate this dish so that I could enjoy it as often as I wanted.  

¾ cup of sugar

6 large egg yolks

1 large egg

1 ¾ cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 can (14 ounce) unsweetened canned coconut milk*

2 tablespoons coconut rum

Whisk sugar, egg and vanilla in a large bowl and set aside.

Mix cream and coconut milk in medium sauce pan. Bring just to a simmer over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into yolk mixture, add coconut rum and stir together.  Pour custard into ramekins or custard cups.

Place ramekins in large roasting pan. Fill pan with enough hot water to come half way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake 40-50 minutes, until edges are set but centers move slightly when dishes are shaken. (If you have to bake them longer, you’ll need to add more water to the baking dish if it’s running low).

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar over each custard. Using kitchen torch, heat sugar until melted and deep amber. (Alternatively, preheat broiler. Place ramekins on rimmed baking sheet and broil until sugar melts and turns deep amber, 1 to 2 minutes.) Chill until sugar hardens, about 15 minutes. 

Baklava

I absolutely love baklava! Warm, sticky, sweet, gooey little treats that are such a delight and leave you wanting more. Always enjoying it at a restaurant but never making it myself, I decided to take the plunge one day and throw on my baker's hat. Considering my previous baking experience consisted of helping my Mom make Christmas and chocolate chip cookies growing up, and showcasing a few batches of those box cake mixes from the grocery store pretending in my mind that, "I totally baked that," and in reality all I did was add an egg & water to the mix and throw it in the oven. I'm not really sure where my confidence came from that I could actually finesse this rich dessert, but I didn't stop to question myself. I went on the internet and found a recipe on allrecipes.com and then the wheels started turning. I thought the recipe was a great place to start and did have high reviews, but I wanted to customized it and make it my own. I wanted to take it to the next level and have it go from "Mmmmm" to "Holy crap this is good!"

The history of baklava reveals it came from the Far East. I also found out that several countries offer tasty variations of it. I decided I wanted to take the Armenian approach and spice mine with cinnamon and cloves. Typically it's made with walnuts or pistachio but since I was going for the "Wow" factor, I added some chopped pecans for an extra punch of rich, buttery deliciousness. Now something I totally believe is worth the extra effort, is toasting whole walnuts on a skillet prior to chopping and mixing with the spices. It releases an aroma and enhances the nutty flavor. 

So I have the spices I want to use, my nuts are toasted, chopped and ready to go, my sauce is already made and cooling in the fridge, and now all I have to do is unwrap the phyllo dough and start layering. This shouldn't be that hard, right? Hummmm, well that all depends.... Let me tell you, if you have not worked with phyllo dough before you might end up throwing a couple of the sheets away and yelling out a few curse words here and there; but it does get easier once you get the hang of it. I was ripping it, it was drying out, it wasn't lying right in the pan, I had all sort of issues going on! Just like they say in Hollywood; "Fake it till you make it!" That's pretty much what I had to do as I was stacking my layers trying to remember if I was on layer 4, 5 or 6? Once I ran out of dough (some of it made its way into the trash not by choice), I covered my last layer with nuts and popped it in the oven. Bake, bake, bake, wait, wait, wait, drizzle sauce on top and Wah-lah! Warm fresh baklava at your finger tips. Literally!

Baklava

·         1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough

·         3 ½ cups of chopped walnuts (toasted)

·         ½ cup of chopped pecans

·         ¾ cup butter

·         1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         ½ teaspoon of ground cloves

·         1 ½ cup water

·         1 ½ cup white sugar

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         1 cup honey (100% Natural)

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.

2.    Stovetop: Cook whole walnuts in a skillet at medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Note: Walnuts can be toasted dry or with a dash of oil.

3.    Once nuts are toasted, chop the walnuts, add the chopped pecans and toss with ground cinnamon & ground cloves. Set aside.

4.    Make sauce prior to baking the baklava. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Let pan cool, cover and place in the fridge.

5.    Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth or paper towel to keep from drying out as you work.

6.    Place two sheets of dough in pan, brush melted butter on using a bbq brush but do not saturate the dough. Wrinkles in the dough are good. It will make it flakey. Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top of dough. Repeat dough, butter and nuts until you have 6-8 layers.

7.    Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes a little more than half way through the dish. Do not cut all the way to the bottom. Bake for about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Baklava should be golden and crisp.

8.    Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Cut all the way through and serve in cupcake papers.