Tag: Recipe

Guest Post: Carrot Cake Oatmeal

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Carrot Cake OatmealI am so excited for today’s post! While I just got back from Istanbul (what an incredible city – more on that later), my sister is now visiting us in Israel for the week. I couldn’t be more excited to show her around the country that I call home. To give me more time with her Kiran from the amazing blog Kiran Tarun graciously agreed to do a guest post for me. If you don’t know Kiran you must hop over to her blog. Her photography is stunning, her recipes incredible, and her writing witty. And she picked one of my all time favorite foods to write about today: oatmeal!! Read on for her awesome twist on steel cut oats:

Hello! While Katherine is away on vacation, I’m officially honored to hoard her space with my affection for anything and everything oatmeal.

 

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Strawberry Shortcake and a Strawberry Blog Hop

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Is it strawberry season where you live? Here in Israel it’s my favorite time of year. Strawberries, artichokes, fresh almonds, and gorgeous fresh garlic are all in season and in abundance. I love it!!! It’s actually nearing the end of strawberry season, which is when they are cheapest and at they’re best. What better use for glorious fresh strawberries than strawberry shortcake?! Perhaps one of my favorite desserts of all time, this simple dessert is the best way I know to welcome in spring.

Strawberry Shortcake

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Sweet and Sour Meatballs for World on a Plate

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I am excited about this post for so many reasons! First of all I get to share with you what may be the world’s greatest recipe: my mother-in-law’s sweet and sour meatballs. Second of all, I am part of a wonderful new blogging group called World on a Plate! Started by Pola from Italian in the Midwest, World on a Plate is a purposefully small group that is all about cultural exchange. Each month we will have a theme (this month’s theme is meatballs!) and will post a recipe from our “home country” that fits the theme. We are currently eight bloggers who represent Germany, India, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sweden, and the United States (that’s me!). If you are interested in joining and see that your home country is not represented, give Pola a shout!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

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Blood Orange Panna Cotta and a Citrus Blog Hop

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Is there anything as beautiful as a blood orange? Their gorgeous tart flavor and vibrant red color make them irresistible to me. So irresistible, in fact, that I dragged two kilos home from Tel Aviv (an hour and a half away) just so I could have my way with these seductive fruits. I drank blood orange juice and put it in cocktails. And I made this: blood orange panna cotta. It was so good, and so easy! Bursting with bright citrus flavor, the blood orange dyes the dessert a beautiful shade of pink. It’s the ultimate palate cleanser, and a wonderful end to any meal.

Blood Orange Panna Cotta Recipe

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Red Onion and Bacon

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe

There isn’t much that I love more than Brussels sprouts. Ok, that may be exaggerating, but only a little. These adorable little veggies have gotten quite the PR treatment in recent years, shooting from America’s most hated vegetable to veggie darling of the foodie community. I always knew that Brussels sprouts resembled baby cabbages, but it wasn’t until recently that I learned that they are actually related (I always figured it was a corn/baby corn type scenario). As part of the brassica family, Brussels sprouts are also kin to broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and turnip. “Ooooohhhh,” replied my husband when I read him the Wikipedia entry. You see, a light had just gone off: these are all his favorite foods.

 

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Irish Beef Stew Recipe and a St. Patrick’s Day Blog Hop

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Irish Beef Stew with Daikon Radish Puree

In case you couldn’t tell from my last name, I’m not Irish. But growing up in New York City, come St. Patrick’s Day everyone is Irish. It’s fun and festive, rowdy and chaotic. I know that drinking lots of beer is a St. Patrick’s Day tradition (an entirely made up one, by the way – but who’s to argue?!), but this weekend why not save some of that brew for your stew (watch out, I may break out into limericks at any moment…). Enter Irish Beef Stew, sometimes called Guiness Beef Stew, a hearty and delicious way to celebrate the luck of the Irish.

 

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Arugula Salad with Fresh Mozzarella, Tomato, and Basil Vinaigrette

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Arugula Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

It’s starting to warm up here in Israel. The rains are over (and what rains they were this year!), we had a proper sandstorm (not fun), and the temperature is rising every day. As soon as I get my first taste of spring I start to crave light, bright, fresh foods. That’s where this salad comes in. I got a beautiful bunch of fresh basil from my local produce market and the intoxicating smell followed me all the way home, planting the idea of this vinaigrette in my head. Continue reading "Arugula Salad with Fresh Mozzarella, Tomato, and Basil Vinaigrette" →

Ropa Vieja with Fried Plantains

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Ropa Vieja

Spotting plantains with Liz and Beth in Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market was one of our most exciting, unexpected finds of the year. Plantains, which are indigenous to South Asia but popular throughout Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America, don’t come up much in Israeli and Middle Eastern cuisine. And, while you can find Libyan, Yemeni, and Iraqi food galore throughout the country, Cuban restaurants aren’t exactly commonplace. Excited to purchase the plantains I bought two (yes, only two – what was I thinking?!) with no distinct plan but thoughts of frying them. Beth made some super awesome plantain chips with hers. Continue reading “Ropa Vieja with Fried Plantains” →

Eggplant with Tahina and an Eggplant Blog Hop

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Eggplant with Tahina and Pomegranate Seeds

In the Middle East there’s a saying that a woman is not ready to wed until she can cook an eggplant (i.e. aubergine) 1,000 ways. Before you start huffing and puffing about the gendered implications of this adage, I think the New York Times explained it well: “The saying is less about preparing women for marriage, though, than it is about the amazing versatility of the eggplant.” Indeed, living in Israel my appreciation for these humble, purple-skinned vegetables has skyrocketed. On a single dinner table they can appear in countless forms. Usually it begins with flame roasted eggplants, but after that they can be pureed with tahina for baba ghanouj, mayo for an entirely different dip, or lemon juice and olive oil for eggplant “caviar.” Israelis make a convincing vegetarian chopped liver (devised in the 1940s when times were tough and meat was rare) using fried eggplant and hard boiled eggs. Continue reading “Eggplant with Tahina and an Eggplant Blog Hop” →

Parmesan-Stuffed Dates and Whisky Pairing

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Parmesan-Stuffed DatesA few weeks ago one of my best friends sent me an email with the subject “Fun question for you” and I knew I would be in for a treat. From thousands of miles away Julia told me about a whisky tasting club that she and her boyfriend have been participating in. This month they have the honor of hosting, and Julia asked for some appetizer suggestions to go with the Finger Lakes whisk(e)y they would be sampling. Julia knows me well, and rightly predicted that this would indeed excite me. Continue reading “Parmesan-Stuffed Dates and Whisky Pairing” →