Seriously!

Iranian cooks and chefs, like most others who have a deep cultural and culinary history, take cooking and eating very seriously. That is why I would never claim to be able to cook Iranian food or Iranian dishes. I make my own "version" of what little I know about this cuisine, which yes I know, is a huge insult (I'm sorry, okay?!).

A post that I read on the Facebook page, "Must See Iran," really set my position in stone though. Don't even TRY to claim you can make a certain cultural dish-- you will be set straight! A video about the dish Mirza Ghasemi made by Aashpazi was met with A LOT of negative passion. The funniest part is that Aashpazi's channel is what I've often used to cook up Iranian meals (or so I thought). Just take a look at these comments (including mine). Now if you follow my Instagram food account (omae.omae) you might think from the edited photos that I can cook Persian food---I can not and will never claim I can!

Please remove this video !! What on earth did this person make ? Vegan mirzaghasemi?? Where is the eggs and garlic etc ??? Do your self a favour and delete this silly video because this food does not represent Iran or mirzaghasemi

BS!!
Not the real thing. 
Big errors!!

U better remove the video after these many comments protesting ur cooking u just started cooking! Learn first how to cook a dish! Chefs put video to teach, not u!

Ignorance! ignorance! ignorance!

And check out this video from the Iranian show, "The Chef." Haha, that's about right.

So there you go, amateurs be warned. 

As for me, let's leave it at this: 

Bye for now! Stay tuned for my next post entitled, "Midnight Train to Mashad."

Fesenjoon in July

Fesenjoon, also spelled Fesenjan, is one of the best national dishes in Iran. If you see walnuts, pomegranate syrup, saffron steeping in hot water, and poultry (duck or chicken) in an Iranian kitchen, you can be sure that Fesenjoon is on the menu. 

Here is an exact recipe and more details about this wholesome stew from Persian Mama : 

Khoresh Fesenjan

I used boneless chicken breasts, although I think bone-in thighs and legs might create more flavor. Also, most Iranian food is mild when it comes to that spicy mouth-on-fire taste that I love since I grew up on very spicy Pakistani and Texan food, so I'd add some form chili peppers to taste. 

Still, the tangy sour taste from the pomegranate is delicious. 

So first, I ground up some walnuts in a food processor (toast them first to be exact). 

Then brown some onions.

Then brown the chicken in the same pan.

Add the walnuts to the browned chicken and onions in a big pot. 

Add a few cups of boiling water.

Then add the pomegranate paste.

Add 

Tomato paste (not common, but sometimes used for depth of flavor and color).

Turmeric

Salt

Saffron water

The color should develop into a deep tawny coffee hazel tint 

I also toasted and tossed a few whole walnuts with salt and pomegranate syrup.

Serve with saffron rice, cucumbers, and yogurt. 

Here is another take on Fesenjoon:

 

And another!

And here's a more flexible and easier approach (my kinda thing!):

Recipe details from Aashpazi HERE.

And if you ever get the chance to watch Season 12 Episode 10 of Beat Bobby Flay,

enjoy as he and Chef Amanda Freitag battle it out in making Fesenjoon!

ENJOY!

Bademjan: Eggplant! Bread and Sugar.

So I had some eggplants (BADEMJAN) and looked up some recipes. Now, this is how I felt after realizing I didn't have many necessary ingredients for most of the recipes: 

This happens a lot. For example, I found a recipe for Pakistani style eggplant. Here's what I needed:

But here's what I actually had on hand:

So, instead of waiting around for my husband to go to the grocery store where he may or may not find all the ingredients, I just use what I have and make my own versions.

If you want to make Iranian eggplant, look up kashke bademjan and khoresh bademjan.

In the above pic you can see a type of bread called LAVASH: 

"Lavash is made with flour, water, and salt. The thickness of the bread varies depending on how thin it was rolled out. Toasted sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds are sometimes sprinkled on before baking...Traditionally the dough is rolled out flat and slapped against the hot walls of a clay oven. While quite flexible when fresh, lavash dries out quickly and becomes brittle and hard."

Now in the bottom photo is SANGAK:

"The bread is baked on a bed of small river stones in an oven. There are, normally, two varieties of this bread offered at Iranian bakeries: the generic one which has no toppings; and the more expensive variety which is seed bread (this is, topped with poppy seeds and/or sesame seeds). Sangak bread was traditionally the bread of the Persian army. It is mentioned for the first time in the 11th century. Each soldier carried a small quantity of pebbles which at camp were brought together with the "sangak oven" and used to cook the bread for the entire army."

In other random food notes: Here's my favorite Iranian cookie:

Some Iranians drink their tea with sugar cubes, putting one in their mouth and then sipping their tea until it dissolves. I don't enjoy the texture of this method, but it's fun for some! 

Another thing I noticed is that folks here may eat their french fries with a fork and put ketchup on their pizza (which usually has no tomato sauce on it!). 

That's it for now, Bye!

Settled

Several things have happened since I last updated this blog.

Trump was actually inaugurated as the President in the United States and has caused pain to millions around the world with his ugly rhetoric and executive orders. I'll only say that America needs a Mockingjay to inspire its people in seeing that The Capitol is run by The Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. 

Now...on to more simple matters.

My eldest daughter turned 12. My second eldest daughter turned 11. I had a birthday party for them and invited several friends with their children to our apartment. It was the first time in a long time that I hosted a party at my own place with new friends. In Texas, I had a party for the kids every year. It was a nice way to focus on crafting decorations and gathering friends and family together. The party went well! I had hoped to cook some classic Iranian food, but due to lack of time and ingredients, I made a few simple meals. Turns out I live a lot farther away then my guests realized. They are all living in Qom, while I am in a nearby town. Still, it was a nice time!

A couple of weeks later, my whole family were invited to a friend's house for lunch. It was interesting to visit another apartment building in Iran. It was slightly different from ours of course, but also had some similarities. Their apartment had a lovely view of Qom and mountains from their balcony! 

I wish I could go out and explore Iran more, but for now, the kids and I stay close to home. You can follow my INSTAGRAM to see the photos I don't publish here on the blog.

I can say that we are definitely settled now. The first week I arrived, some people would casually ask if I'd gotten settled yet. I don't know if there are different definitions of settled, but I know for sure I didn't feel that way for the first few months. It's been 5 months now and thankfully, we are settled nicely! We have a routine. Our furniture and household items have a place and function that work (That is, do cardboard boxes as side tables count as furniture?). My husband bought a study desk, we put up a privacy curtain, a handful of shelves, bought a huge round plastic bucket and fashioned it into a bathtub, and even got a mobile Western style commode to place over the eastern toilet (ha)!  

Our internet and devices are on a stable schedule and easily accessed, so that helps our daily living a lot! We've had no major problems with electricity, plumbing, water, or heat thankfully. At first I really hated the way the shower room (it also has an installed Western toilet and sink) was so small and how the water goes all over the floor, but again, it's something that I've gotten used to now, and doesn't bother me AS MUCH (though it's still annoying of course). 

Another issue that has been resolved is our need for English entertainment. Although I was glad to watch familiar Western shows and movies here in Farsi, nothing beats being able to enjoy a show in your own language. A friend of ours mentioned that he has an extensive collection of popular English films and shows we could use. I was very relieved to be able to watch these during our free time. Since then, we've watched Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Hunger Games--all movies that I wouldn't have even wanted to watch in the U.S. since I was content with my cooking and design shows there (which they don't really have in Farsi either). But I'm glad to now be able to see what all the fuss about such films was about. It's the little things that make life comfortable, you know. 

Speaking of The Hunger Games (haha), the kids daily meals have become established as well. In America, frozen waffles, frozen pizza, pasta with sauce, etc. were quick and easy to give to them. Now in Iran, I spend a lot of time making things from (semi) scratch: pancakes, pizza (without a stove!), pasta sauce, and even popcorn the old fashioned way. We are more easily able to purchase and cook halal meat here so I am cooking with those more often now. We've found some snacks to be as "good as in America," such as "Ramen" noodles, pickles, chocolates--but my children are still very discerning when it comes to other things such as popsicles and pasta sauce. And the cakes here are good, but they all seem to contain nuts inside which my kids don't like. It's true, America has an easier line up of tasty treats! But that's only because it was what we were used to for so long. I personally was sad at first that the chocolate here was not the same as it was in the States, but have found some here that's equally enjoyable. You can find it all here in Iran, you just have to be patient enough to look around since there's not a big box store like Walmart that has everything under one roof. Oh, there're loads of ice cream and sweet shops here though!

One of my younger brothers is set to arrive here in Iran to study soon. I am glad to be able to have another familiar person here! Since he's coming from America, we've asked him to bring a few things along for us. If you're ever traveling to Iran from America, we expats will always appreciate some of the "good stuff" that your bring for us. It saves us the time and effort in having to seek similar things out here. And of course, there is something comforting about a familiar product that comes from the land where you were raised. 

We've been to the Holy shrine of Lady Masumeh (p) a couple more times.  Also, I bought a chador to wear. I feel like a sort of superhero while wearing it, as if putting on armor--yet still feminine. In this bottom photo, I am wearing it while facing toward a mihrab (prayer niche) in the wall of the shrine's courtyard.

It's always a great privilege to be able to visit the shrine and its surrounding courtyards, and I hope to spend more time there just sitting and contemplating the meaning of life.

Until next time, thanks for reading. 

KuKu Sabzi

I had only some eggs and sabzi so I searched for a Persian recipe and found the perfect one! It's called Kuku Sabzi. Turns out there are several variations of it, but it always includes eggs and herbs. Here's what I found on the internet about this dish:

So I used the recipe found here, on My Persian Kitchen. 

Of course I had to adapt the recipe to go with what ingredients I had or didn't have. Also, I only have a stainless steel pan so I have to be extra careful about the heat so as not to burn everything. Here is how it looked after I'd separated the first side into four slices, before I flipped them over:

After flipping the first side over:

The final product looked similar to the one on My Persian Kitchen, so I called that a success! The taste was nice, just similar to an omelet or frittata with the spice of the herbs I used. It would taste great with hot sauce, sour cream, plain yogurt, or even ketchup! I served mine on top of some rice just because I had some leftover rice, haha! 

So go get kookoo for Kuku, ya'll!

http://www.mypersiankitchen.com/kuku-sabzi-persian-frittata-with-fresh-herbs/

Khuda Hafiz (Good-bye, Go with God) for now! Thanks for reading.

Kabab Time

Chelow means steamed rice in Farsi, and Kabab means, well, it means Grilled Meat, often coøked on a skewer. And it's the "national dish" here in Iran.

However, since I do not own a grill or any skewers, I searched for another kabab recipe and found it on YouTube, on the Aashpazi channel. It's called Kabab Tabei and it's a lot easier to make than the traditional grilled kababs.

Here is the recipe, with ingredients and directions. Of course I didn't follow them exactly, but I tried! 

From the video:

And voila! My version of Kabab Tabei!

I roughly chopped the onions rather than grate them due to lack of a grater or food processor and to my burning, crying eyes!

Had several herbs and radish for color (not in the recipe, but, hey, why not?)

Must make the dishes look pretty!

Radishes, Green Onions, Leeks, Basil, Water Cress. and Mint.

I don't know how to rotate this photo. But here you see the herbs that I sautéed along with some corn (totally not in the recipe).

Sabzi (Herbs!)

I tried to fry some onions for garnish but they did not get as crispy as I hoped. Still, tasted very yum.

Some marinated, spicy cucumbers with radish and herbs.

So, there you have it. My version of Kabab Tabei. Try it out for yourselves! Thanks for reading...