Cafe Liz

Blood orange jam

Blood oranges aren’t so common, although I’m not sure why not. They have a relatively discreet exterior — only a hint of a blush that tells you that no, this is not a normal orange; inside lies a shockingly red jewel of a fruit.

This year, I’ve found only one person selling blood oranges at the Carmel Market — the guy near the bottom of the shook, who also sells steamed corn and fruit juices. Coincidentally, he’s across from the one person at the shook who had limes several months ago.

What is it with the scarcity of interesting citrus this year? In any case, I decided to preserve some blood oranges for posterity, or at the very least for the next few months. Because what would make a marmalade more beautiful than a ruby red sheen? Continue reading Blood orange jam…

Pasta with fresh peas and pistachios

Legume season is on us with a vengeance, and prices are rapidly plummeting — a kilo of peas may have cost upwards of 20 shekels a month ago, if you could even find them, and now they’re closer to 10. Fava beans are 6.

How could a person resist fresh sweet peas, especially given how sweet they are? And they’re a bright, springtime green. Eitan suggested feeding them to children as candy.

They’re certainly fodder for adults as well, if a little more labor intensive than frozen peas. But they taste so much better. Certainly better than dried peas. And canned. *Shudder*

This pasta dish is a springtime green, too, due to not only the peas but some lovely pink and green pistachios, and a light hint of fresh herbs. Only minimal cooking involved. Continue reading Pasta with fresh peas and pistachios…

Greens of the season: What’s in your yard, what’s in the market — and what’s off-limits

The winter rains bring with them an explosion of green growth, much of which filters its way into our markets -- well, some of them, at least. For whatever reason -- wealth? -- many of the wild greens do not play a role in most people's diets. And it's a pity, because native plants are an excellent way to embrace the land, eating local at its best.

However, you can still find them. A few of them may be in your yard, or growing alongside parking lots, or next to roads. Well, any of them could be there -- these are wild plants, after all. But you can save yourself the trouble (and potential danger) of identifying them yourself by buying them after someone else did the foraging -- Arab and interracial locales, as well as less well-off places, are a good bet for this.

There's a potential catch, though. Some plants that have been part of the culinary tradition for hundreds of years are now protected by law due to overpicking, but they're still being sold in the markets. Most likely it's a matter of ignorance. However, there's a reason they're protected -- they've become endangered by the harvesting habits, which in many cases prevent them from reproducing.

Here's a list of what's what -- the plants I've identified around my house (mallow, sorrel, nettle), the delights in various markets (wild beet, chicory, mustard, and Jerusalem sage) a few that were there but shouldn't be (cyclamen, tumbleweed). Last but not least -- some simple recipes that highlight the vibrant freshness of the season.

But before we begin, a warning: If you're not 100 percent sure you know what you're picking, don't eat it. People have died over misidentifications. At the very least, this guide will give you the satisfaction of knowing what's in your yard. Knowing how to identify the urban flora makes your environment a little bit more familiar -- especially when you see your friend the mallow bush peeking out at every opportunity.

Now, let's go. Continue reading Greens of the season: What’s in your yard, what’s in the market — and what’s off-limits...

Eggplants stuffed with herbs and rice

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 used a paring knife, but inspired by Sarah and Miriam’s posts on Nazareth, I picked up a special hollowing tool, for seven shekels (Photo after the jump). I got it from a little store on Jaffa’s Jerusalem boulevard, where the shopkeeper showed me an Egyptian pound someone had passed off as 10-shekel coin earlier that day — both have a bronze disc surrounded by a silver border, except the pound has a picture of a pharaoh and is worth, um, about 1/20th of a 10-shekel coin. Continue reading Eggplants stuffed with herbs and rice…

Cabbage salad with soy sauce and raisins

This cabbage salad is simple, quick and generally popular — as are most sweet, salty things. As the cabbage absorbs the soy sauce and vinegar, it wilts and softens. As a bonus, this is one salad that can be left in the fridge for a few days, to no ill effects. It’s supposed to be wilted, after all. Continue reading Cabbage salad with soy sauce and raisins…

Black bean soup with citrus

It’s a simple black bean soup, but with a citrus tang — from oranges, kumquats or both. I first encountered a similar recipe about 10 years ago, and while I’ve long since forgotten which cookbook it was in, the mix of flavors has etched itself a place in my mind.

Most such recipes call for orange juice, but I see no reason not to throw in the whole fruit — the zest goes in during the cooking stage, then I remove the white pith, and blend the flesh into the cooked soup. It’s like juice, but with extra fiber.

Kumquats also make an excellent addition, as the sweet little balls of zest are in season, too. I added a few sliced up as garnishes to the finished soup, kind of like fruity croutons, but you could substitute them for the oranges entirely, if you want. Continue reading Black bean soup with citrus…

Noodles with doodles

These swirly, patterned ribbons would look quite nice hung on my wall. Were they not made of pasta dough, that is.

Back story: We are now the proud new owners of a pasta maker. I know everyone says you can make perfectly good pasta by hand, too, but frankly, there's no comparison. We've never been able to roll our pasta thin enough. Plus, the machine is extremely useful when it comes to kneading.

Once you have a machine to do your rolling, kneading and cutting, the options are pretty endless. I whipped up a few different kinds of dough, including a fuchsia-colored beet dough and some whole wheat. These made for some excellent combinations.

Getting the scribbled pattern effect that I achieved is quite easy -- easier than making tidy stripes. Basically, I made thin spaghetti out of the beet dough, let it dry a bit, and then pressed it randomly into the neutral-colored whole wheat dough. Voila, instant art, with a major wow! factor. Continue reading Noodles with doodles...

Cherry tomato jam

Lately, I’ve been buying a big 1-kilogram carton of cherry tomatoes every week. And every week, I go through the entire thing, minus 20 little tomatoes or so. And since week-old tomatoes don’t compare to fresh ones, I’ve been accumulating little cups of wrinkling cherry tomatoes in my fridge.

What to do? I turned them into a jam. While the concept of tomato jam may sound a bit strange, since most jams are made with fruit, it’s actually quite good when done correctly. Some of my favorite breakfast places, including LovEat, serve cherry tomato jam. Plus, tomatoes are indeed fruit.

This jam is great warm, and quick to make — I made it while preparing an omelet for brunch. The whole cherry tomatoes come out wonderfully spreadable. Continue reading Cherry tomato jam…

Happiness is stuffed vegetables when it’s raining

Nothing like a cold, rainy day to make me want to turn on the oven and whip up a massive tray of stuffed vegetables of all shapes and sizes. It takes about an hour to bake, and you’ll find me here, huddled next to the oven door the entire time.

You can stuff way more than just peppers — I started with six peppers, then moved on to two zucchini and four tomatoes. You could give onions the same treatment; I just wasn’t in the mood. Baking all these vegetables together in the pan adds flavor to the entire dish, though.

There they are, hot out of the oven and overflowing with rice Continue reading Happiness is stuffed vegetables when it’s raining…

Braised hijiki salad, and a Japanese-Israeli picnic

I had the honor of being invited to the semi-annual picnic of the rather small Japanese-Israeli community this week. Aside from the dozens of interesting people and oodles of adorable children were plate after plate of fabulous food — several kinds of tamago, various onigiris and sushi rolls, iced roasted rice tea and uncountable stir-fries. In fact, this was probably the first picnic I’d been to in Israel where only one person brought pitas and hummus (guilty as charged).

Good Japanese food is rather hard to find in Israel, let alone Japanese home cooking — the majority of the restaurants paint themselves as upscale, with prices to match. I think the large majority of the country’s Japanese home cooks were present in the park that afternoon.

Who attends a Japanese-Israeli picnic? Aside from our little group, everyone there was intermarried couples and their children. Needless to say, most people were fluent in both languages and cultures. As one 12-year-old girl explained to us, she was born in Israel, and is completely Israeli, except that she’s Japanese.

So, what does Japanese Israeli picnic food look like? Continue reading Braised hijiki salad, and a Japanese-Israeli picnic…