shain

Once again, sirene cheese, pesto, roasted bell pepper, Moroccan olives and black pepper. All served warm inside a toasted bun.

Take away hummus, from my favorite place, and my favorite pita breads. With fava beans, chickpeas and zchug. Also plenty of cumin. Hummus is best eaten as an early dinner, which is fine, as the usual time for dinner here in Israel is around noon. It's also interesting to note, that every hummus has an ideal serving temperature, some are best served at room temp and other should be served very warm. I find it quite remarkable how much the flavor is effected by it.

Iv'e opened the pickles can from April: Cauliflower, sliced baked beets, onion, garlic, caraway, mustard seeds, black pepper. It's good, but I think that last year's batch was better.

Biscuit cake with sour cream and fromage blanc filling. Topped with a firm (and quite crisp),dark chocolate sour cream ganache.

My favorite summer pasta: Penna with cherry tomato rosé sauce, light on the cream. Grated pecorino Romano, with some Parmesan, and loads of chives to finish. Roasted vegetables as a side. I find it best to use two sheet pans and high heat, so that everything stays crisp, yet browned. Lightly spiced with oregano and thyme. A touch of balsamic vinegar to finish.

My tomatoes are doing OK. Some are heaving some hard time with the heat. This is the biggest of my plants, it sprouted by itself, and now trying to climb onto the roof (that's about 2.5 meters). I should probably thank my tomato loving cat for planting and fertilizing it... This picture doesn't do it justice, since there is another branch of similar size to the right of the picture. I'm not sure why it grow so much bigger then the rest, but I believe it's because of the shade from the wall behind it. And some smaller plants. I need to be on the look for those caterpillars. It's always best to get them before they hatch. I have much dislike for ants, since they farm aphids all over the place (it's amazing how many different types they manage to co-exist with!); but for tomatoes ants are a friend, since they pick the eggs and larva. Also, first harvest of prickly pears. Iv'e picked a bucketful last Sunday. Plentiful yield this year, but only so many thorns (Iv'e just now learned they should be called glochids) I'm willing to remove.

Crunchy (I assume fried) fava beans, with a sweet-salty mildly garlicky flavored coating. Also some really nice Japanese ale brewed with red rice by Hitachino Nest (I haven't noticed rice driven flavor, but it's a good ale).

Iv'e mentioned picking up figs from a nearby tree. So I went to pick some more - totally worth getting through those pesky burr bushes. As you can see, they are not as pretty as the the ones on the market, at least until you slice them, but they sure are tasty. Those figs has a firmer and drier texture, not watery like commercially grown varieties tend to be. The cavity between the seeds is filled with a juice, perfectly clear and as thick as honey, but only gently sweet with a flowery flavor. This plant i quite a finding, it was probably untouched for years... I was also surprised by having zero bugs in the fruits I picked, as figs are quite notorious in that aspect.

Thai green curry (although I couldn't get galangal), with stir fried soft pressed tofu, eggplant, sliced chilli and a little sliced onion. Cilantro and basil. I decided to serve it over rice noodles. We ate it over the newly constructed picnic table, taking advantage over the short break from last week's heat.

Pasta bake with mozzarella, tomatoes (not cooked), basil, plenty of garlic and very little cream. I really like the crunchy pasta on top. I made a large amount and bakes it in two batches over a couple of days. Chopped salad on the side.

Some stuff: Although my sub-par treatment, a few of the black eyed peas I scattered around has managed to grow some (as in 3...) pods. It might suffice for a couple of servings, don't you think? Also, the dill plants has gone to seed. I've never cooked with dill seeds, it tastes a little like caraway, but with distinctive dill note. This is just a sample from a single plant. There are so many left, I think I have enough to sew a field. Iv'e also collected some figs from a tiny park, near my house. We already ate most of them before Iv'e thought of taking a picture. There are two varieties, as it seems, the wide purple one is sweet and juicy, the lean green ones are somewhat dried, but more flavorful. I should pick more this week. It seems no one around knows about those trees or care enough to pick the fruits, people are missing quite a lot when not exploring and enjoying the nature around them.

I guess you are lucky to have had the female plant. The male trees can have quite an unpleasant scent when in bloom. Also no fruits from them.

We had a work meeting lunch, didn't felt right to take pictures, so those are from their facebook page. Each of us had a "Hummushuka" which is a shakshuka served over a plate of hummus. Eaten with fresh and tasty pita breads. We also shared a nice salad of cherry plum tomatoes with crumbled feta, sliced green chili, toasted pine nuts, and olive oil; with a touch of zaatar dusted labaneh on the side. Quite tasty and very fairly priced but service is somewhat poor, though friendly and well-meaning.

Also make sure to keep an eye open for carob syrup - it's seriously good.

I live in the mid-north coastal area of Israel. Carob trees grow wild in some places nearby, but this grove was planted.

Lazy late launch. I'd wouldn't usually share it if not for some interesting anecdotes. Hummus that I bought about a week ago and froze.Leftover ratatouille, a little toasted bread and some not-pictured pita bread which I charred over gas flame. Some, cumin, zchug and some sriracha. So what Iv'e learned: - Ratatouille with hummus is quite nice. I quite enjoy both shakshuka (which is tomato based) and roasted eggplants when served along hummus, so it make sense that ratatouille will work as well. - Hummus with sriracha is also quite nice. - Eating almost a teaspoon worth of ground cumin is not fun (I should look better what stuck to my spoon before putting it in my mouth... ) - The last thing is known to me already, but some may find it interesting, and this is that you can freeze hummus quite well. The crucial thing is to re-warm it very gently and not over-heat it. A bain-marie works best, but a few short microwave zaps works to if you make sure to stir it well. And @blue_dolphin & @liamsaunt, those sandwiches looks gorgeous!

@blue_dolphin My grandparents had a small orchard of those back then, just by where my house is now. Most were removed, but a single tree still stands. I'll agree about lack of water causing small fruits, but your tree looks quite healthy. Valencias are strong. They also make a very "classic" tasting juice. Every tree is different, but they do seem a little paler then I'm used to. Perhaps if you'll give them some more time they will get sweeter, it's a late season orange, and can hang a long time on the tree unharmed. You can juice them, then cut the peel to strips and candy those. Seeds shouldn't be a problem in this method. I'm a fan of candied orange strips coated with dark chocolate. If juiced before cutting, it will also be easy to be made into marmalade. And they can probably make some really nice liqueur. You can also dry them if you find ornamental use in those.

Not from my garden, but rather a nearby grove. Those are some of the first carob beans of the season. Those are quite sweet and tasty. One can tell they are ripe by the appearance of cow pies around the trees... Iv'e been told by a friend that horses also enjoy those.

Svekolnik - a cold soup of beet and buttermilk. Dill weed, scallions, cumbers, all thinly sliced. Lots of blackpepper, a little dill blossoms and aniseed. Served over ice cubes, with not-quite-hard boiled eggs and sour cream.

@Okanagancook Nice concept! My dinner was cornmeal muffins, with added corn kernels and scallion greens. A gentle touch of chili and smoked paprika. The muffins are more savory, with a touch of honey for gentle sweetness. The mixture is mostly cornmeal, part of it cooked into a roux of sorts with butter and milk. Some wheat flour for lightness. Sour cream for flavor and a moist crumb. Served with leftover ratatouille. I'm in the "best on fresh made camp" when it comes to ratatouille, but some of my family are on the "best the next day" camp.

@ProfessionalHobbit Green beans in tomatoes sure are amazing. The important thing is to cook them just to the right point, so that they are soft yet firm. I actually made some this weekend. I flavor mine with garlic, cumin, paprika, a touch of aniseed and finish them with parsley, cilantro and a drizzle of lemony tahini.

A small serving of one of my favortie sandwiches: Sirene cheese, roasted bell peppers, pesto, oil cured olives and plenty of black pepper. All warmed up in a well toasted bun. I keep both peppers and pesto in the freezer for such times of need. Watermelon with sirene cheese and mint. Exactly what I needed on this hot afternoon.

Thank you very much. It's ratatouille peak season I'm traumatized by my workplace's cafeteria "ratatouille" - a bunch of over cooked, 2 inch large, chunks of eggplants, onions, zucchini and peppers, swimming in a watery soup of tomatoes and oil, flavored with an indistinguishable mash of semi-random spices. I just had to compensate for this sad experience.

Cooked up a big pot full of ratatouille. Eggplants, bell peppers, zucchini (pre-salted) and onion, all chopped and sauteed over high heat individually until nicely browned yet firm (except the eggplant, it should definitely not be served firm). Then I chopped up tomatoes and briefly cooked them with garlic, thyme and oregano. All vegetables were stirred in, then flavored with parsley, tarragon, basil and black pepper, then a glug of balsamic vinegar. Served warm with toasted baguette. I was gifted with some funky looking eggplants, which made their way into it.

@HungryChris Funny how your breakfast is so similar to my lunch. My breakfast, was a single ugly toast with peanut butter and home made grape conserve.