shain

Mujadara - bulgur and lentils with caramelized onions, baharat, allspice, cinnamon, sumac and few more spices. Served with mint yogurt. Stir fried zucchini in lightly cooked tomatoes, garlic, lemon zest and juice, zaatar, chilies, herbs. Served with labaneh. Veggies and torshi pickles.

Thanks. I always use vacuum packed beets for this, because I find the quality of beetroots I can get at this time of year to be quite bad. Also, vacuum packed beets are really convenient and consistently tasty.

Chlodnik - cold beet soup with buttermilk, with cucumbers, scallions. Flavored with dill, dill seed, fennel seeds, tarragon, pepper, apple cider vinegar. Served with semi-soft boiled eggs, sour cream, chives, warm toasted rye bread, onions marinated in vinegar and dill, horseradish.

Wheat berries, nectarine, dried apricots (I bought some really nice one, they taste almost marzipani) , spring onions, a little sirene cheese, almonds, olive oil, apple cider vinegar.

A dinner from a last week. I made a double batch of pasta sauce with smoked roasted eggplants, mushrooms pan fried in butter, tomatoes, Pecorino Romano, toasted sesame, sage, garlic, chili. The first time I served it with bucatini. This time I used fresh hand cut pappardelle. I also made some extra pasta for the following day, to make a snack I often used to have as a kid. Pasta with cream cheese, formage blanc, cinnamon, dark brown sugar. As good as I remember As a kid though, it was made with only formage blanc, no cream cheese, and with dry pasta or egg noodles. It's important to add the sugar while eating, and not ahead of time, so that it retains some crunchiness.

Panama berries. Tasty little things, sweet, juicy and caramely.

Omelette with tarragon, chives, and a little cheese. Grilled cheese with Gauda and garlic(the other half is keeping warm).

Baby eggplants, over maftoul and chickpeas, flavored with caramelized onion, bahart, cinnamon, cumin, fresh zaatar, tomatoes, garlic, lemon. Salad of tomatoes, chili peppers, sirene cheese, spring onions. Olive oil, lemon, toasted pine nuts, over some flavorful labanah, some zaatar and sumac. Torshi style pickled cauliflower and carrots.

@Nicolai Any chance you recall the name of the village or restaurant? Looks superb.

Cake with plums and nectarines, marzipan, prunes, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, almond extract, Greek yogurt, butter.

Never seen those around. We do get stink bugs of various colors which are happy to fly into one's head and spary you. Though they prefer other fruits. Only beetle I'm worried about are those nightmares. They're bigger than my palm and will happily kill all fig and mango trees if left unchecked.

@jevenhui recipes seem pretty simple. Here are the few I have pinned down (I like video recipes for stuff like that because it let's me asses the outcome). Also https://www.kodafarms.com/blue-star-mochiko-sweet-rice-flour-serving-suggestions/

They are a delight. Season is just starting. We get to kinds: the bigger, juicy and sweet commercial ones; and the old-timey "baladi" that is grown in fields and gardens (spread by birds), which is small, pale, has a great bite to it, and is mildly sweet, with a honey like syrup at its core. I used the former for the muesli.

Would you describe it as tasting different than cinnamon powder? And when will you choose it over powder in baked goods? Or do you use both together? Thanks!

I don't eat much sweet cereal, but I do have a soft spot for cinnamon toast crunch (or at least our local version of it) - I like eating it as tiny cookies on rare occasions. Anyway, it definitely doesn't taste like it has only real cinnamon (of any kind) to me. I find it a little fruity, with flavors I associate with esters (artificial banana, clove, bubble gum), which makes me assume it contains ethyl cinnamate. Does anyone here have experience with using cinnamon extract? If so, do you think that it has the fruity, slightly artificial in a good way, flavor I'm after?

I'm also seeking this chewy, rather than underbaked brownie. I never had a boxed brownie to compare to (I don't think we have those here). For my next attempt I plan on trying mochi brownies.

Kurumi soba. Cold soba noodles with walnut dipping sauce (toasted walnuts, dark sugar, miso and black rice vinegar) also sesame-miso sauce; soy-vinegar sauce and wasabi. Edamame. It's terribly hot this week, 32C with 70% humidity 🥵

Over night muesli. Perfect for such a boiling hot day. Toasted oats, yogurt, grated apple, a little cinnamon, hint of cocoa and a couple drops of almond extract. Fresh fruits and toasted nuts.

Bucatini with smoked roasted eggplants, mushrooms pan fried in butter, tomatoes, Pecorino Romano, toasted sesame, sage, garlic, chili.

Omelette flavored with toasted sesame and cumin, garlic, chili, sesame oil, dark soy sauce, spring onions, a touch of MSG. Served with rice. Really good.

That's a unique flavor combination, I particularly love the idea of apples with Thai salad flavors.

Khaman dhokla (chickpea flour savory steamed "cake") flavored with curry leaves, turmeric, chilies and some other spices. Topped with sesame, mustard, hing, cumin, coconut flakes fried in coconut oil, lemon juice. Flavored paneer skewers - Some with tandoori spices, ginger, garlic. Some with toasted sesame and nigella seeds. Roasted potatoes with coriander seeds, cumin, mustard, peanuts. Raita of yogurt, tamarind, date molasses, coconut, tadka of cumin, mustard and some fennel fried in butter. Pudina (mint) chutney with green chili, cilantro, fenugreek, hing and a few other spices, coconut, lemon, a little sugar.

Thanks!

Also in the business of peaches. Tart with hazelnut frangipane and peaches.

Thai green curry (commercial paste spiced up with fresh chilies, garlic, ginger, some spices, a little shrimp paste, kaffir lime, lemon zest, anise seed) with eggplant, green beans, tofu, onion. Coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, a little sugar, finished with basil. Sweet corn salad with green beans, onion, tomato, fish sauce, chilies, lime juice, lime zest, garlic, coconut oil, peanuts, basil.