maher

Lior, the picture is of chard (selek), but its not of lsayne. i cant read hebrew but if thats what the text claims it is, then its not accurate.

it seems some bright light has decided to target people who are so worried about everything they cant even enjoy a burger. As i understand it, these people make a barbeque grill that circulates COLD WATER inside the grill bars to make sure you dont get a single bit of carcinogenic char (or flavor) in your food. http://gizmodo.com/5016463/water+cooled-gr...t-from-charring its a sad sad day when people take a simple, wholesome, family activity like a backyard barbeque, and eviserate it of any form of flavor in the interest of safety. why not just boil your burgers instead? or better yet, dont eat ground beef, e coli and all that... just have the lettuce and tomato on a bun.... wait, isnt there a salmonella scare in tomatoes? scrap the tomato.. whit bread is bad for you too, and those condiments are full of preservatives and sugar. next time you have a backyard barbeque, just pass around some lettuce leaves, that way you can be sure your guests are safe.

the lambs quarters are great stuffed... in the same manner that you would stuff cabbage or vine leaves... they have a little sourness that really lifts the dish. they can be a bit fiddly to work with when they are small, but they are well worth the effort.

the lungs on a lamb that small are quite a bit more tender than older sheep which may be what the chefs were talking about. traditionally when a lamb that young is slaughtered the kidneys, heart, lungs and liver are cut into one inch dice, salted and peppered, and grilled on skewers over a hot fire. on a young animal they are tender and delicious that way, and are normally served with a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil the lungs are not the most tender of the offal, but i think you will find them perfectly good in this way. a liver that clean off a young animal is much more likely to be served cut into half inch dice and eaten raw, with salt, pepper, allspice, paprika and crushed coriander seed on the side for each diner to season to his/her taste. they are eaten with pita bread and a nice glass of araq to wash it down. i guess you would have to be pretty adventurous to try that, but i thought it might make for some interesting information anyway.

Cool online test: http://home.aol.com/decorating/photo-galle...514164509990001 it pains me to admit i only got 9 of 20.

ive cooked whole NY strips more than once with great results. i sear it well on the grill, then rake the coals to both sides and roast it covered till the center is about 110 degrees, but i like my beef quite rare. I slice it very thin for sandwiches, and it makes great party food good luck

i feel like one of those Taliskers myself, and im reading this first thing in the morning... i didnt think the skill-sets involved in sausage making and those PB&Js could be combined in one man! on behalf of all of us who are genuflecting in awe.... bravo! you are scaring away many aspiring bloggers with the amazing food, projects, photography, and enthusiasm.

smear it round a beef filet before wrapping the whole thing in puff pastry and baking for a superlative beef wellington

they freeze really well. many households in the middle east make them in batches and bake them from frozen or near frozen.

its no longer easy to get, i think it runs counter to EU health codes. i had it once several years ago. if you get past fighting the maggots for your bits of cheese, its not bad at all. it had pretty good mouthfeel, and a fairly pleasant texture, if not an outstanding flavor profile. for a fairly close approximation, try stinking bishop cheese in the UK. For my money id take the stinking bishop any day/

im sure the chicken finger came earlier, but one of its earliest mass market forms has to be burger kings response to mcdonalds chicken mcnuggets. as soon as they got popular, burger king countered with something called chicken tenders. they advertised them as being a higher quality product, made of strips of chicken breast instead of mcdonalds processed nuggets.

i use one for stock quite a bit. as you point out clarification is the biggest issue, but the flavor is fantastic. i strain the stock then reheat and clarify, which is a bit of a pain, but i feel the speed and more importantly the flavor of the stock is well worth it.

pita bread and onions...

i agree with much of what you said. i think the issue is more one of" less rather than no" meat or fish or whatever. i think we have much to learn in this case from poorer more frugal cultures... vietnamese pho is a great example of having meat, but probably no more than a couple of ounces in a soup with noodles and veg. ... filling, nutiricious, low fat and meaty without being a 16oz steak. the examples of this are endless.. most indian and thai curries, chinese stir fries, arabian stews are ways of stretching a small amount of the main protein into a family meal, and the same can be said of most traditional mexican food as well. the frugality (in the best possible way) with which precious resources were treated is one we need to look to and learn from. while in this case many of us dont need to be frugal for financial reasons since protein is so cheap, i truly believe we need to be frugal for environmental reasons, to say nothing of our own health.

In the last month, the whole issue of filling in some of the shades of grey in the morality of meat eating has been in the news. First, we had Hugh Fearingly-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver lecturing at us that not all chicken eating is the same, and that we should pay more attention to the humane nature in which the birds are raised prior to being killed for our consumption. In case that wasnt enough, today Mark Bittman in the NY Times Magazine, brings up this chestnut: " ... if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius. Similarly, a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days." i could get past the idea of humanely treating animals prior to slaughter, but this is a new one... im trying to be as environmentally conscious as i can be... does this mean no more steak?? full article link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinre...r=1&oref=slogin

there are tons of herbal infusions in the middle east that are drunk more or less like tea. the bitterness is compensated for by tons of sugar... sage, zaatar, mint, dried edible flowers, ... you name it its in the tea. i find a lot of these herbs are nicer in tea rather than as a standalone drink. depending how strong your oregano water is, use some of it with water to brew tea, and sweeten it a bit more than your normal custom, and it tastes quite nice... id still rather use the fresh herb, but in the middle of winter the water will do.

this post could easily go on the 'you know you're on egullet when...."you see a post where someone freely admits to grabbing raw beef from the fridge and eating it, a female member yet, and no one even thinks twice of it. thanks Rebecca, this hit close to home since i do the same, (and far worse, or far better as the case may be... ive been known to sample right at the butchers) its something that bugs my family and friends, and im glad to know im not alone!!!

thanks for a mightily entertaining blog, to say nothing of a totally educational one... im on my new year diet also, and i have more food ideas as a result of this rather than less.. thanks Sandy for sharing the brunch blowout!!!

http://handpresso.com/ since this thing uses water rather than steam, its not espresso, but is it any good? is it palatable, has anyone used it? i would love a portable espresso maker for hikes, but im guessing my little campfire moka is still a better choice than this thing... any thoughts?

the hottest oven you can get will help a lot. most commercial pita ovens in the Middle East run well over 600 degrees.

for a low sodium diet drink thats not carbonated, im totally hooked on sugar free iced tea/tea concentrates. Davinci makes a good one that is only 5mg sodium per serving, and i find that i rarely use as much concentrate as they recommend, so im getting less than 2-3mg sodium per drink. I used it mostly as a flavoring for water, and its a regular part of my hydration strategy. Ive even taken to making the concentrates myself with high quality tea, and that lasts at least a couple of weeks in the fridge.

at least half of all restaurant meals out for me are in the average/mediocre category. whats the news in that though? by the time i get home ive forgotten most of the meal anyway and couldnt share info about it if i tried. for mediocre, read forgettable... and forgettable for good reason.

since our gracious host is no doubt asleep, ill take a stab at this one, hummus bi tahini is just what most people know as hummus, since in Arabic, hummus is chickpeas, hummus bi tahini is chickpeas with tahini which is the hummus dip. fettat hummus is dish which is made mostly with hummus, but it starts with shredded pita bread, normally fried, then hummus, garlic, and pine nuts are added as well as whole chickpeas and ghee or olive oil on top. it makes for a pretty delicious and filling dish. Verjuice, thanks for an amazing blog, your boundless energy is an inspiration!

Belotta is expensive anywhere you go, its from a specific breed of slow growing pig (pata negra, or black foot), it is only produced in the Jabugo region, and the top grade is primarily fed on acorns and roams free range (hence belotta, or acorns in the name). Finally, it is aged for 12-24 months which adds to the cost. The cost is even higher in the us because one producer went through the onerous FDA approval process, which due to the aging involved took over two years. they therefore have an effective monopoly on the us market and have a lot more demand than they can supply. Having said all this, i agree with Marya that its expensive due to the deliciousness... why would there be all this demand otherwise!!

long dry aging (6-8 weeks) is critical to the taste of a good steak in my book... it improves a good prime steak immeasurably, and does amazing things for a choice steak as well. in fact id take a choice dry aged steak over a prime wet aged one any day. almost all aging in the uk is dry aging (or hanging, as its called there). ive never seen cryovaced wet aging meat in the uk. it doesnt mean its totally not don, but i believe you are more likely to find unaged steaks than wet aged ones.