eG Food Blog: Lior (2011)

[Lior]

Daihatsu Applause car... maybe you dont get them by you? Thanks for your kind words!

[Lior]

Yesterday's lunch, for my daughter mainly as only the two of us are at home for lunchtime during the week and neither of us eat meat... so it was steamed broccoli, a baked potato and green "fool", which I believe are broad beans, but not dried ones, not big ones,I think they are young ones. I sprinkle the broccoli with olive oil,salt, and some combination of spices, including paprika and powdered garlic. I cook the fool till soft, with a slice of lemon in the water, drain off the water, and add lemon juice, salt, and cumin. My daughter and Ilove them this way. They are fun to eat because it is finger food. We eat them one by one, sliding the skins off as we pop them into our mouths. You can eat the skin, but we don't.

add spices and lemon juice after draining off water

discarded skins

Edited December 20, 2011 by Lior (log)

[Lior]

Dinner at our house is almost always the same! I always wait for my husband to come home, which is usually late-around 8:30 in the evening. SO the kids always eat earlier and this became the tradition many years ago. Dinner is a light meal here, as I mentioned earlier, lunch is the main meal. Since I am the "multi-tasked" parent, my husband quickly acquired the job of making our dinner, or go hungry! After around 9pm we get ready for dinner.

Let's begin with the salad, the central part of dinner!

Now onto to the Tehina and etc.

[Lior]

We use Tehina, humous, cottage cheese, mashed eggplant that was burned whole over the flame (messy), Tsfatit cheese, which is a solid but soft white cheese, and either a fried egg or a boiled egg-usually boiled eggs.

The Tehina gets made by adding water in increments and mixing till just right.

SO we take out some Tehina paste

Add some water and start mixing. It takes 2 minutes and there is no need to make a huge amount for a few days.

We usually add cilantro or parsley to our sald and sometimes to the Tehina, chopped finely,of course. We were out of both yesterday... I prefer parsley and my husband prefers cilantro.

[Lior]

We set the table, and finally at 9:30 or so pm we sit down together for dinner and chatting.

Cottage cheese. We only use this brand now as ever since the social strikes (tent city)many people refuse to buy the other more popular brand as they are responsible for the price hikes of cottage cheese. Cottage is a basic here, there is almost no home without a few containers of it. It comes in 1/2%, 3%,5% and 9%. Guess which tastes best?

Homemade humous. This I do make in large quantities because it takes time so I cannot make it every night.

The Tsfatit cheese

Dinner is ready at last

Hubby loves extra peppers and red onion...

Edited December 20, 2011 by Lior (log)

[Lior]

Daughter's breakfast today

Why do they never come when it is still hot??

[Lior]

Schools here have a break at around 9:50, for about 20 minutes. Kids eat a mid morning sandwich at this time. Then at around 2 hours later they have a 10 minute break and they eat another sandwich. SO here is my daughter's school sandwiches for today

mid morning snack

noon snack

packed up

I got some yummy sufganiyot pictures which I will post later.

[Lior]

Well I not only bought delcious looking sufganiyot for this evening, I got lots of photos of them!! I will soon be making levivot (latkes in Yiddish), potato pancakes kind of, although they are not doughy!

At Kinnamonim bakery:

a table with all kinds of sufganiyot

jam filled- a very common type

chocolate filled

Dulce de Leche filled

patisserie cream filled, white and chocolate

Edited December 20, 2011 by Lior (log)

[Lior]

One of the jam ones was a bit smeared and the owner of the bakery asked me why I took a picture of it (it was with all of the jam ones...) so I told him "so if it is ugly why are you selling it?" He understood I was teasing him and we both laughed. I explained to him that we all like to see it, the way it really is (I do for sure!).

Some more-Patisserie cream filled

My choices

[Lior]

At the supermarket bakery, checkin' out their sufganiot. The women behind the counter were very excited about the sufganiot being photographed for an "international food forum" ("Our sufganiot? But surely America has better! They have donut- Dunking donut! " WHat do they want to see sufganiot for? I have a relative in Manhattan and she said they have big donut!" SO I told them they also want to see who made them... lots of laughing!!

The women holding the mini sufganiot

The most common species of sufganiot

A close up of the mini ones

Edited December 20, 2011 by Lior (log)

[heidih]

The freshness of your meals and the incorporation of lovely vegetables is very appealing. I am curious about your comment that hummus takes time. Are you starting with dried chickpeas? Can you give us an outline of your recipe?

Edited to correct typo: dried not fried chickpeas!

[Lior]

I start with dried Hummous beans (garbanzo/chick pea). If I remember I let them soak overnight, but usually I forget so I simply cook them for about 2 and a half to three hours. I change the water once in the middle- save the water at the end though! Blenderize garlic to taste- 1-3 cloves,salt and black pepper.Then you need to blenderize/process with the beans! For around 2 and a half cups of beans you need around 2-3 cups of liquid- I use the cooking water from the humous. You may want to save a few whole beans to decorate at the end. I add the liquid as needed to allow it to be processed and to get the right consistency-according to taste. Last time mine was too thick for some reason. Add about a cup of Tehina paste. Add lemon juice to taste- upto about half a cup. You can add cumin and/or paprika, a bit of olive oil, and parsley either in or after. Serve with olive oil, za'atar etc.

[Lior]

For lunch today I made a quick cous cous-vegetarian one. I almost always make it this way as this is how the kids like it. I didn't have pumpkin, but that is okay.

I simply make a veryquick tomato base-not thin but not as thick as sauce. I use whatever I have around-tomato paste, spaghetti sauce and crushed tomatoes is what I used today. I added a bit of water and mixed up and put on med flame

Then I chop vegies into chunks

broccoli stem from yesterday... (waste not want not...)

[Lior]

Of course, as I cut up the vegetables I add them in

[Lior]

I cook this until the vegetable are just done-not mushy!! While this is cooking, I make the cous cous which is the quick way, forgive me Morrocan grandmas out there!!!

I pour the couscous into a bowl and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil

Then I add a teaspoon of a very concentrated soup broth/paste I made in large quantites a while back as it lasts for months in the fridge.

\

\

Mix as much as poss and then add boiling water and mix well.

cover with lid and let steam for 5 minutes

After about 5 minutes take the lid off and just leave it for another 5 minutes

then rub it between your palms so that all the grains get separated

[Lior]

My son's lunch

Fussy people like to pick and choose

B'tayavon (Bon Appetit!)

Edited December 20, 2011 by Lior (log)

[Hassouni]

I'm rather amused: in the US there's a product called "Israeli coucscous" where each grain is about 3-5mm in diameter. What you have there would just be conventional couscous stateside

[Anna N]

....

Then I add a teaspoon of a very concentrated soup broth/paste I made in large quantites a while back as it lasts for months in the fridge.

Can you elaborate on the concentrated soup broth/paste, please?

[Pam R]

Chag sameach! Thanks for the sufganiyot tour -- could you possibly overnight one of each to me? Thanks.

Cottage cheese. We only use this brand now as ever since the social strikes (tent city)many people refuse to buy the other more popular brand as they are responsible for the price hikes of cottage cheese. Cottage is a basic here, there is almost no home without a few containers of it. It comes in 1/2%, 3%,5% and 9%. Guess which tastes best?

Can you tell us which brand that was? I saw things posted about the cottage cheese wars but wasn't sure. I can only get one brand here and think it's the big, bad brand. Do you only eat plain or do you like cottage with olives or other additions?

[heidih]

....

Then I add a teaspoon of a very concentrated soup broth/paste I made in large quantites a while back as it lasts for months in the fridge.

Can you elaborate on the concentrated soup broth/paste, please?

Yes - please! Maybe I can toss my Maggi chicken powder (and guilt) and start using your paste.

[heidih]

I am also a big fan of the disposable aluminum pans and I have the same glass salad bowl.

[Lior]

Hello . here I am with a tummy that is too full-of levivot-latkes whatever you call them! Israeli couscous is what we call P'titim- it is not regular or real couscous but rather toasted pasta in the shape of a big huge grain of couscous. It is also almost a staple here-especially among kids. You lightly fry it and then in the pan add water or broth. Then you can serve as is or add lightly fried vegetables, meat or whatever.

We now use Tara cottage cheese-the container looks like a cow-white and black. The bug bad brand is Tnuva-with the house on the container. The cottage war spread and went wild all summer... other products and inthe end it was a social justice war that began with someone who started a cottage strike on facebook. Over 4000 people marched and protested...It was completely non violent. Oh, and we always eat it plain!! Sometimes on sandwiches the kids ask for cut up green olives with their cottage.

SOup paste- yes-

I learned it from my thermomix - there is one with meat and one without.

[Lior]

Soup paste

50g grated parmesan or even chunks

200g celery stalks

250 g carrots

100 g onions

100 g tomatoes

150 g zucchini

1 garlic clove

50 g mushrooms

1 bay leaf

a few 5-10 leaves/sticks of parsley, and/ cilantro/and/or sage or roemary or all of them-whatever

120 g coarse salt-sea salt is good

30 g white wine

1 Tablespoon of olive oil

Process parmesan to a paste and take out. Add vegetables cut into pieces and herbs and also process into a mush. Add salt, wine and oil. Cook and mix occasionally till thick, cooked and reduced. Add parmesan back in and process everything again. It should be a thick paste and very salty. Keep in airtight jars (I like a few small jars). It keeps in the fridge for a good few months. Use 1-2 teaspoons per 500g water for a veggie stock.

*You can add any other vegetables you want or remove any you don’t want

Chicken broth Paste

300g chicken-no skin or bone and sinew-cut into pieces

200 g mixed vegetables-any like in the veggie broth)

herbs like in the veggie broth

150 g coarse salt/sea salt crystals

100 g white wine

5 coriander seeds

Mince chicken in processor and put aside

Process all vegetables and then add salt, chicken wine, herbs and everything you want. Cook till all soft and reduced. Blend again till thick and smooth. Same instructions as above.

[Lior]

I always use the aluminum ones-a small sin,no?

[Lior]

I promised pictures of the gianduja cups.

dipped and decorated in dark

some got dipped in milk

pull it out and use surface tension

these are a bit messy-oops