Lebanese Mutabal – Baba Ghanoush

Aug 18th, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 3 Comments

Remember the  Baba Ghanoush I made last week? Well, what I’m posting about is what the west considers as Baba Ghanoush. In Lebanon, we call it Mutabal. Just wanted to be clear on the two. I don’t care what you call either, because they are both YUMMY!

Now, you prepare the eggplant like I did in the baba ghanouj post. I still prefer grilling the eggplant if possible to give a smoky taste, but its good to just pop em in the oven and make a bunch for a big batch. You can easily freeze the rest too.

What you need for the Mutabal:

• 1 eggplant
• 1 clove garlic
• 4  Tb tahini
• 1 lemon
• olive oil

And thats it! Can you believe something so yummy is so simple.

Add the garlic and lemon.

I decided to use an immersion blender. Most people use a blender.

Add the tahini.

and blend blend blend. Salt to taste, and also add more tahini or lemon as you like. Its very forgiving.

You drizzle olive oil on top, and garnish with paprika and parsley.

Now, try making that and tell me you don’t love me.

Dale & Thomas Popcorn – Purple Spoon Ice Cream

Aug 6th, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 4 Comments

Last Royal Oak visit, we decided to get some Popcorn at Dale & Thomas. Purple spoon has opened in the same space and I guess its a knock off of pinkberry. I’ve never had the latter so I can’t compare the two. 

I really loved the signs, design and feel for the place. There was a huge image of a corn field that was lit and it set a light and happy tone for the location. 

Many popcorn flavors like you see below, from BBQ to cheddar-chipotle. We tend to be sweet salty luvin kinda ppl so we went for… 

…The chocolate Chunk Caramel. We ate it for 2 days, and it was divine. The cookies n creme would be interesting to try next time. 

Very cute decor, very bad acting on my part. 

I loved how they presented the popcorn, in the farmers wood buckets. 

In the back the popcorn was popping away, the smell wafting beautifully thru the room. 

They had a turning urn thing that you add the flavor to and it keeps rotating to cover all the popcorn. 

They made the chocolate caramel by drizzling it all over a pan of popcorn, and letting set. 

It was crunchy, fresh, sweet, salty and perfect. I loved that there were big chunks of chocolate here and there. It was a really good treat. 

As for the Purple Spoon part of it, the decor is a bit more modern and minimalistic. It’s theme doesn’t mesh 100% with the farmers theme of the popcorn part, but it’s not too bad. Also, if you buy the popcorn first, they will give you a coupon (1$ off) of the icecream. 

Positives is the low calorie. Negatives are that flavors are limited, but they cycle them. I had the original tart. It was good. Not great, but good.  

You can add toppings for 75 cents each. I’m not a toppings fan in general, but if I were going to try something it would be the fruit or candy. I would skip the cereal. 

The frozen yogurt was good, but I don’t see myself ever craving it. I’m a bit of an ice cream snob i guess.

As for the popcorn, I loved it, and my glass ball says there is more salty sweet popcorniness in my future.

always uncut.

Pacman eats Baba Ghanoush

Aug 4th, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 3 Comments

Little arabic lesson, Baba Ganoush, really pronounced “Ghannouj”, is literally translated as ”father cute”. Don’t ask. I have no idea why.lol.

I have one issue with the western adaptation of this dish. Baba Ghanoush and Mutabal are often mixed up and interchanged. They are very similar dishes, but are distinctly different. Baba Ghanough contains no tahini whatsoever, while Mutabal does. It is frequently Mutabal that is refered to as “baba ghanoush” in the west.

SO, I decided to introduce you to the REAL Baba Ghanoush. Very simple recipe. Completely vegetarian/vegan, healthy, and quick. Best part is it holds up well in the fridge and you can enjoy it for several days…mine is usually gone before it even cools

It is best served cold. And I think the eggplant is one of the least utilized veggies, so here it is, an ode to you my aubergine friend!

First, you start by repeatedly stabbing ur eggplant friend…all over…way to start off a friend ship 

Next, place in preheated oven at 350F for about an hour or till tender. Don’t cover it or put any oil or anything. Simply pop them in after stabbing em.

Now the traditional way calls for burning over an open flame on the stove, but this is far too messy for me, as it requires you to put it directly on the stove top flame. If you have a maid (i don’t), then go for it.lol. Otherwise, into the oven they go. The only negative is you don’t get the smoky flavor.

Pull em out when they are as wrinkly as your grandmothers buttocks. Sorry, too much?

Then, carefuly peel off the skin(after it cooled), keeping the flesh intact. If you have cooked this enough, then it should be fairly easy.   

I like to take out the seeds, just simply pull out the ’sacks’. 

Now this is VERY important. Grab the eggplant between your plams and squeeze. SQUEEEZE. You will be surprised how much water comes out. Keep doing it till barely any comes out. If you don’t you will end up with a soggy mess.

After, just roughly dice it all up. I like it chunky. 

Other ingredients you need:

• 1 tomatoe
• 1/2 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 lemon
• olive oil
• salt 

Crush garlic, and squeeze the lemon into the eggplant. Add salt. Mix. It should be really lemony to be good. 

Top with the tomatoe, then the onion. Then drizzle with olive oil. You can add mint or parsely.  

Then guess what happened? PACMAN decided to join. 

Sorry, i’m a nerd. I couldn’t help it.

So basically this is delicious and I ate it all then licked the plate. Your turn to eat real Baba Ghanoush.Ok? Ready, set, GO!

SKW3VCG2CBH5

Mexican Banana Icecream

Jun 22nd, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 7 Comments

If any of you watch Jeff Dunham, you know of Jose, the Jalapenjo on a stick. His voice is stuck in my head as I make these. “kh-ellloo…I am kh-0se, kh-alapenjo…on a stick” If you don’t, you HAVE to click here to watch. You just have to see it. I said you have to.

 If you don’t I will find you and tickle you with a feather till you pee, or die, whichever comes first.

So…basically… when your mother in-law comes over and launches a bunch of bananas on your counter do u make A) smoothies B) bananas foster C) Banana Icecream (please pretend you didn’t read the title of this post…haha). If you know me, you know I love any frozen yummy wummy thing. This is easy peezy breezy, fast, very healthy and yummy alternative to  icecream. It’s lactose free, gluten free (if u dont include the tortilla chips), and very low in calories. Totally guilt free(but I never feel guilty about eating.lol).

Use some bamboo skewers and run it carefully thru the banana.

Now at this step, you can either  freeze the bananas first (at least an hour, but not too long because they become really hard), and then move on to the next step (chocolate), or, you can do the next step and then freeze. I like to freeze first then dip in chocolate (so you can actually taste the chocolate).

This is a case where double dipping is not only allowed, but encouraged!

Melt and temper some chocolate and add some chilipowder, some cinnamon, some nutmeg, some black pepper and some smoked paprika. Sweet and spicy!

I LOVE eating these straight off the stick, but that day, i had company coming, and wanted to serve in a plate, so I improvised a way to keep the chocolate from going everywhere before I slipped the banana off into a plate.

The final touch, some cruched tortilla chips. Perfect touch of salt and crunch!

They were gobbled up too fast for me to take a final pic, but believe me, this is a crowd pleaser, and totally kid friendly, and easy for them to make.

Bananas freeze amazingly well and end up having a texture like icecream. You HAVE to try this!

Sangria Tapas Cafe – Royal Oak

Apr 16th, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 7 Comments

Ever since I heard about Sangria I’ve been wanting to go there! They are in Royal Oak, Michigan, and just off main street. The interior was very colorful and I fell in love with the flamenco painting. They actually have flamenco dancers that come every thursday night for entertainment, and a bit of research online showed they have salsa lessons a couple times a week in their Sky Club which is club in and of itself. Next time I want to try to make it to some of the entertainment. It sounds like a blast. Has anyone been? Anyways, we went during the day since my hubby finished his work early, and we enjoy walking around in Royal Oak. Much to my surprise tapas are 1/2 off at happy hour, didn’t feel like paella, and I love lots of little things…So, I may have over ordered just a bit!

We started off with a splitting a salad.

Ensalda de Gambas – $10.95 – the pineapple vinaigrette is really fantastic. It was a pleasant surprise how good it was. I even don’t care if there was no shrimp. It was just that good.

Soon, our plates came out. We ordered a combo of hot and cold tapas. The waiter put them in pyramid fashion, no clue why,lol, but he was a sweetheart and very attentive.

This was my favorite, Salmón Ahumado – $6.95

Now, its salt cured, so it is on the salty side, but it was amazing. So was the tangy dill sauce with it. But you have to be a salmon fan to really enjoy this. My hubby wouldn’t touch it, which I didn’t mind at all! lol..more for me!

Gambas al Ajillo – $6.95 – shrimp sauteed in garlic and peppers. Did not like this. Too much liquid. Didn’t taste like much. However, they normally cook it in wine, but we don’t do alcohol so we asked for a sub. So, in there defense, I have no idea what the original tastes like, but this just felt like boiled shrimp. This was the only thing we both really didn’t like.

Tortilla de Patatas – $4.95 – traditional spanish omlette with potatoes and onions. This was on the “cold” menu, but it was luke warm and I actually would not have even minded if it was hotter. It was something I will definitely order again. I loved it. There was something very comforting about it.

Pasteles del Pez Blancos – $6.95 – this my hubby went gaga for! Fish cakes atop a mound of caramelized onions and granny smith apples. He wouldn’t even touch the onions & apples. He just loved the cakes. They were really good, moist and well seasoned. I liked the onions and apples, but there was too much cinnamon and it was a bit overpowering.

Champiñones Rellenos – $6.95 – mushrooms filled with shrimp stuffing and in garlic butter. Believe it or not, we both ate the mushrooms sans stuffing and thought it tasted much better. It was still good, but the mushrooms alone were great.

Frituras de Queso Azul- $5.95 – Deep fried blue cheese fritters. They weren’t kidding when they said blue cheese. It had a cheese punch! The flavor is enhanced on heating. It was really good, but more than one just felt like too much because of the strong flavor. I wish it was cut down with another cheese so that I could’ve enjoied it more.

Patatas Bravas – $4.95 – Fried potatoes in tomatoe sauce. Was what it sounded like. Nothing more. I wish the sauce was somehow spicier or more interesting. You will notice we didn’t get any meat dishes since my hubby eats “hallal” only, which is kinda like kosher. So, we pretty much ordered the things we could have. You should check their menu for all the other yummy stuff they serve.

Overall, it was a really good experience, and all the entertainment stuff sounds like fun. I want to make it to the flamenco dances one day. There are things I would definitely eat again like the salmon, and the fish cakes. The price depends on what you order, but like I said, it was a happy surprise we made it at happy hour. I give it a definite thumbs up and will definitely be back. Royal oak is also a great spot because of it being party central.lol. Next time, before you hit the scene, give Sangria a try. You won’t regret it.

Have you been? Do you like any other tapas restaurants in your area?

always uncut,

++MIRA++

Salt baked Fish + GIVEAWAY

Feb 2nd, 2010 by ++Mira++ | Comment

I have never made this before. I’ve seen it once and funnily enough bobby flay made it this week on iron chef, though in a slightly different way

So, what i used was lemons, red snapper (1 lb each), salt,lots of salt,lol, and bay leaf and seasoning.

i cant live without lemons, i looooove them…yum

i ended up using 3 salt boxes/cans, i think u can get away with 2

i filled the bottom of a pan with it, NOTE, wet the salt and make it stick to each other

red snapper is one of my favorite fish, its sooo delicious and easy to eat

I actually like my fish whole, i just get it gutted and de-scaled, however NOTE that i read that its better to leave the scales on the fish, so the skin peels off easier with the salt. If i had read tehis before i wouldve tried each fish one way

in tony montana voice: say hello to my little friend…

stuff with lemon, seasoning and bay leaf

wet the salt with water

so its this consistancy, dont mind the writing on my hand, thats my to do list.lol. if i write it on paper i lose the to do list so i forget what i have to do.lol

mound the salt around the fish. NOTE bobby flay and martha stewart both add a couple egg whites to the salt instead of water and bobby also put some parchment paper over the fish before covering with salt. I would reccomend this because if you are not careful preparing this parts of the fish exposed to the salt can be too salty

i baked at 350 for 30 min, its really 15 min per pound according to martha.

I struggled a bit with “uncracking” this and revealing it, and salt flew everywhere! haha..so be careful.

Ta dahhhhh!

also, u need to peel the skin right off

So here it is! sorry for the plating but my camera was running outa battery so i had to hurry lol

It was really cooked perfect inside, just make sure you get all the salt off before plating it(because i made the mistake of not wetting all the salt)…hehe..so enjoy..if u make this let me know of any tips!

also, this is a great book: Martha Stewart’s Cooking School and they have this recipe in it so i’m giving a new copy away!

To enter you must be a US resident, You can either tweet an entry @MiraUncut, RT to your followers, or comment here, or do all and it counts as 3 entries!

====> to enter just tell me what your favorite cook book is!

this giveaway will end on friday by 5 pm ET and i’ll announce on saturday. good luck!

UPDATED TO ADD: the winner is KATE from thisamericanwife.net! yay!!