My husband once visited Saudi Arabia with a group of people from South Dakota and asked if they could visit a Bedouin camp.  There are Bedouins throughout the Middle East, but Saudi Arabia is perhaps the most prominent home for these desert wanderers.  The group was driven outside the capital city for several miles until they came  upon a Bedouin family living in two tents with a huge dump truck parked nearby for shade.  The leader of the family almost was overjoyed to have visitors.  He ran to a small herd of sheep and brought back a bowl of fresh milk to offer his guests.

Then he brought out a tray of dates and dried yogurt for them.  He apologized for not having killed a sheep to offer the group, saying if he had been given a little more notice, he gladly would have done so.

That anecdote demonstrates desert hospitality perfectly.  It also came to mind when I recently saw a movie titled “The Story of The Weeping Camel.” It was a movie made in Mongolia, in the Gobi Desert, about a family of Mongolian Bedouins who, like their counterparts in Saudi Arabia, lived in tents and offered fres milk to their guests, as well as dried yogurt.

Living in a desert without modern refrigeration, these people have learned how to store dairy products that are essential to their health.

For example, fresh milk is mixed with yogurt starter, and  when the yogurt is made, some of the liquid is removed, mixed with salt for preserving and made into small balls.  It is similar to cream cheese without the sugar.  That product is allowed to dry in the sun, covered with a thin cloth, until it becomes a hard consistency.  It can be stored for a year without refrigeration and is carried with the people as they move around the desert  to find grazing and watering areas for their animals.

When a mensef (rice cooked with clarified butter, raisins and nuts, stuffed inside a lamb, then roasted in its entirety) is served, the dried yogurt is mixed with water, making a sort of soup that is served with the mensef.

Another way of preserving dairy is Kishek which is soured yogurt mixed with bulgur wheat that becomes almost like dough.  It is made into small balls and allowed to dry in the sun.  Kishek is used in many different ways.  It can be reconstituted as a stew with meat and tomatoes or ground into flour and baked on top of bread, similar to a pizza topping.  It also can be used as a soup stock.

The genius of this method of storing dairy products is that it provides protein, fiber (from the bulgur wheat), minerals and vitamins.

In Tibet and Mongolia, yak or sheep milk is churned, which allows the resulting butter to float to the top and be collected in leather bag.  The remaining milk is boiled until the protein solidifies and then is collected and made into cheese.  The butter is used as candle fuel or as a gift to honored guests or to priests.

In Syria, milk is made into a cheese called shankleesh and stored in olive oil.  It can be kept for long periods of time.  It is a strong cheese, highly prized by Syrian in the coastal areas.

Shankleesh is made by boiling yogurt with lemon juice.  Just as it starts to boil, the protein becomes solid, at which time the mixture is taken off the stove and drained.  Then it is mixed with salt and pepper, made into 2-inch balls and, after it dries, put into a clay pot, completely sealed and allowed to age.  After two months, it is removed, the mold washed off (if you do not pass out from the smell); then it is rolled rolled in dried oregano and stored in olive oil.

When I was in school in Washington, D.C., my father came from Syria to visit my brother and me.  He brought shankleesh with him, and, at the customs gate, he had checked “yes” and “no” when asked if he was bringing food into the country.  A customs officer asked what he meant-either he had food, or he didn’t have food.  As my father was trying to answer with his broken English that he didn’t know whether shankleeh was food or not, he opened the jar.  The smell over powered the customs officer, who ordered him to close the jar and move out of the area.

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This a low fat version of this popular dish.  I do not fry the eggplant slices which cut down on the amount of fat in this dish and make it more enjoyable.

serves 4-6

3        large eggplants

2        large onions, julienne

1        red bell pepper, cut into thin slices

4       tablespoons olive oil

1        32-ounces can diced tomatoes

1        clove garlic, sliced

1/2   teaspoon thyme

salt and pepper to taste

4        tablespoons crumbled feta, optional

-Cut two 1/2-inch thick slices from top of each eggplant and place on cookie sheet.  Cut the rest of eggplants, lengthwise, into 1/2-inch thick slices and place on the cookie sheet.  Brush each slice with olive oil on both sides. Place the cookie sheet under broiler and broil until golden brown.  Remove from the oven  and set aside.  Take the round slices and set aside for decoration.

-In heavy pot, heat the olive oil and saute the onion for 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and the thyme, stir and cook for couple of minutes.  Add the diced tomatoes, the salt and the pepper.  Bring to a boil and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

-Spoon half of the tomato sauce into baking dish, place the broiled long eggplant slices on top of the sauce.  Spoon the rest of the sauce on top of the eggplants.  Cut the eggplant round in half and arrange them with the cut pepper on top of the sauce.  Cover with foil and bake in 395 degree F. oven for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven, remove the foil, sprinkle with feta cheese and serve. YOU CAN SKIP THE FETA CHEESE TO MAKE VEGAN DISH.

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While considering writing about New Year’s resolutions for weight loss, I learned about a “scam” of sorts in women’s clothing manufacturing.  By scam, I mean the way manufacturers have begun changing the sizes of women’s clothing to play up to their continuing struggle to lose weight.

For Example, the other day I went shopping at the mall.  I tried on a skirt that fit me perfectly, and, being happy with it, I looked at the size.  It was size 4.  Never in my life have I been able to wear size 4, not even when I was in the fourth grade.  I also knew I wasn’t losing weight-after all, the holiday eating binge had just ended.

I bought the skirt, brought it home and measured it against a size 8 skirt hanging in my closet.  It was exactly the same size.

It is the same principle used by the food industry  super-sizing everything.  Chain restaurant make “make one serving” a larger size, almost equal to what four servings were in the past.

The best part of this “size creep” is what my husband has done to his clothes, I don’t want to come right out and say he has gained wight, but what I can do is quote him.  “This has shrunk,” he has said to me time and time again.  It makes no difference what fabric he’s talking about, it is not him expanding but the clothing shrinking.  What he wants now is for the men’s clothing industry to do the same as the women’s industry.  He wants his size 48 jacket to become a size 18.

But no matter what size we can fit into, it is true America’s waistlines, as well as the rest of their bodies, are expanding. Theater and restaurant seats have been made bigger to accommodate his larger torso.  It seems to have happened everywhere except in the airline industry, where seats are smaller to cam more people int those metal tubes we fly in.

It is obvious all the weight-loss fads that have come and gone in the past several years are not working.  If we think of our body as an investment in the future, it’s easier to protect it.  It amounts to cutting out junk foods, eating more healthy and doing some sort of exercise to keep our pump working better. It is a long-term deal, one that cannot be solved by a fad diet but by becoming more aware of what and of how much we are eating.

Like a long-term investment in stocks and bonds, this will give us all the best result.

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This is an easy dessert to make and it looks very beautiful if you use class serving cup. It is better to let this dessert rest for 8 hours in the refrigerate before serving it.  You can replace the orange juice with strawberry juice or mango.

For the milk pudding:

4      tablespoons cornstarch

4      cups milk

4      tablespoons sugar

1      tablespoons orange blossom water

For the orange pudding:

2      cups orange juice

2      tablespoons cornstarch

2      tablespoons sugar

1/2  teaspoons orange blossom water

For topping, optional

1/4  cup chopped unsalted pistachio nuts

-For the milk pudding, dissolve the cornstarch in cold water.  Pour the milk, the cornstarch mixture and the sugar into heavy pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon.  When you feel a slight resistance while stirring, and the mixture coats the back of the spoon, it has thickened sufficiently.  Add orange blossom water, stir and cook for 1 minute.  Remove from the pan from the heat.  Allow to cool slightly, then pour the pudding into ice cream dishes.  Leave at least a 1 inch space at the top to make room for the orange pudding.  Place the dishes in the refrigerator while you are making the orange pudding.

-For the orange pudding: Follow the same steps as milk pudding, replacing the milk with the orange juice.  When the orange juice thicken.  Remove from the heat,  allow it to cool slightly.  Take the milk pudding from the refrigerator and spoon the orange pudding on top the milk pudding making sure it cover the top.  Chill until ready to serve.

-To serve: Sprinkle with the pistachio and enjoy.

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Several members of my restaurant staff are from Mexico. I learned from them a novel way of celebrating the New Year. As the New Year approached and we were busy preparing for our lunch rush, I noticed my staff exchanging bags and handfuls of lentils. I had to ask what it was all about. I was told that in Mexico a person should wear something yellow which would bring him or her good luck in the New Year. They also recommended that I put lentils in my pocket which would bring in more money in the New Year. Another staff member told me that, because I love to travel, I should pull large suitcase all around my house at midnight. As I was discussing these rituals with the staff, one of my customers, who was listening in, said that if I would eat 12 grapes at midnight while at the same time making a wish for every month in the year, the wishes would come true. I then remembered that my mom would cook something white for the New Year–yogurt sauce–and make us eat it on New Year’s day to ward off sorrow during the coming year.
I decided to cover all my bases. I went to a New Year’s party wearing a nice classy black dress a yellow scarf on my head. I had lentils in my purse–not exactly in my closed hand, but hoping it would nevertheless count. When midnight arrived and while everyone at the party was hugging and kissing, I ran outside the house with a suitcase I had retrieved from my car, and ran around the house. The temperature was -15 degrees Fahrenheit, which caused me to run and scream, trying to stay warm. The neighbors must have thought that I was a victim of excessive drinking. But I was merely fulfilling my New Year’s destiny. I came inside the house drank milk and ate grapes. My hosts, who know I do not drink alcohol, must have concluded that the freezing temperature had affected my brain.

Happy New Year to All.

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I think dark chocolate is the world’s greatest comfort food.  But in freezing temperatures, hot soup comes in second.  Even before tasting he soup, just holding a hot cup in my hand and smelling the garlic and spice aroma spreads warmth through my system.

Long time ago, when I lived in Washington D.C. I worked in the Watergate office building.  As you probably know, or at least, as you probably suspect, a snow of an inch or so in Washington, D.C., nearly shuts down the city.  The result of such weather is that everyone in the office building eats in the Greek-owned deli on the ground floor, crating a huge crowd.  When I worked in the building, the deli served the best twice-baked potato and the best lentil soup in Washington, D.C.

During one such snow storm, I was in line for lunch at eh deli.  I ordered lentil sop, which was served to me in a Styrofoam bowl.  As I turned to leave, I spilled the entire bowl on the Swedish consular, who was standing behind me.  He was so polite that he insisted that I get back in line ahead of him to get a new bowl of soup.  I did, and immediately spilled the second bowl all over the floor.  Because most of those in line were diplomats, they didn’t say a word as my face and ears turned totally red, and the deli personnel came around the counter to clean up the mess I had made.  The third helping of the lentil soup was given to me in a bowl, placed in the center of a large tray so any spill would be caught in the tray and not by the Swedish consular.

All cultures have great soups. Some soups are light and make good starter and some make a meal on their own. Lentil soups are still my favorite.

Lentil Lemon Soup with Cilantro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krty6C34I2E

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Serves 8

12         ounces lite tofu

6           cloves garlic

1            cup chopped fresh basil

4            tablespoons olive oil

1/8       teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger

zest of one lemon

salt and pepper to taste

1           pound angel hair pasta

3          tablespoons bread crumbs

-In a food processor, puree tofu, garlic, basil, olive oil, lemon zest, ginger, salt and pepper.  Puree until you have smooth paste.  Spoon into large bowl.

-In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil.  Drop the pasta, stir and cook until al-dente.

-Drain the pasta and add to the basil paste while it is hot and mix well until the pasta is well coated.

-Spray a bundet cake pan with olive oil spray and sprinkle with the bread crumbs.  Spoon the pasta into the cake pan and press very firmly.

-Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.

-Place large flat plate over the pan and turn the pan cake up-side down.  Slice and serve with tomato salad.

Filed under: Main Dishes, Sauces, Vegan, Vegetarian, cooking | No Comments »