Cafe Liz

Here in the Levant we like to stuff things. It’s a habit picked up by all the places that used to be part of the Ottoman empire and its neighbors. Because rice is never so good as when it’s cooked packed inside a vegetable, and picks up its flavors and aroma during cooking. Since stuffing isn’t limited only to peppers, which are born hollow and ready to be stuffed, there are special tools to help with the job. Previously I [...]

Here I am, making zhug, even though I’ve never really been a big fan. Not liking something has never kept me from trying to make it myself. Plus, I find something intrinsically interesting about making condiments. Things like mustard and mayonnaise, they’re usually considered ingredients in their own right, something you get ready-made. But that doesn’t mean you need to take them as a given; they, too, can be made. Zhug (סחוג), also written skhug or schug, is a Yemenite [...]

Most recipes for rhubarb involve turning it into mush, without taking advantage of the beautiful, red stalks’ appearance. Thai food often involves a mix of tart, lemony flavors. Hmm, I know! I’ll use the rhubarb in a stir-fry, with Thai seasonings! I was inspired to make a savory rhubarb recipe by the New York Times, which put the vegetable into an Indian-inspired curry. Meanwhile, as I was planning dinner, I had this idea of making rice noodles in a coconut [...]

A while ago, while we were eating out at a restaurant that shall remain unnamed, we ordered a soup that was listed on the menu as carrot soup with ginger, cilantro, coconut and peanuts. What we got was carrots pureed with instant soup powder, topped with a token peanut and a cilantro leaf. This was disappointing not only because we’d paid 30-plus shekels for a bowl of baby food, but also because the combination of ingredients promised by the menu [...]

Purple food week continues: This is the sister dish to yesterday’s post. Another simple, easy-to-make salad, this time with tomatoes and red-hot — or should I say purple-hot — pepper from the ornamental pepper plant outside our kitchen window.

Purple food week continues: Tonight I made a light salad out of vitelotte potatoes, with a gentle dressing of olive oil and lemon.

This Hanukkah, we wound up making more than 7 kilos of latkes. Indeed, the holiday isn't even over yet, but I think I've had enough fried food for oh, say, the next year. Anyway, in the course of these 7+ kilos, we quite refined our latke-making technique, and came out with some pretty good results. I've edited the recipes in the last post to reflect our fine-tuning, and I'm adding a few more here: Sweet potato latkes with Chinese spices, [...]