Road 9

Road 9 is a street in Maadi that is as close to downtown as you can get out here in "the burbs" (I am laughing as I type that, I know there are people here who think that Maadi is the burbs but it's just not I'm sorry) It's a couple of miles from here, usually ok to walk there but if you make purchases it's a little too far to lug everything and it's only a 5 pound cab ride back. Anyway, I met Gordana there this morning. She and Mark are having a party tomorrow and she needed a few things. I haven't spent nearly enough time on Road 9 so I was happy to join her. We started out kind of wandering. I got another headband, I've been wearing my other two out as you may have noticed in all the pictures from the last 5 months! Especially Turkey, you can tell I just got them before we left and still had a crush on them. I found some hooks for the bathroom, a great find and something we've needed for a while. And a muffin pan. We took a break for a little lunch at Cilantro. I had a blue cheese, walnut, and cucumber sanwich on brown bread and a lime soda. Then we chatted over lattes for a while. The produce stand was super awesome, cherry tomatoes, concord grapes, red lettuce, bibb lettuce, and the sweetest fresh mint all for about 4 dollars. But the best find was the glasses. Ira found these great handblown glasses for like a dollar each while he was still here and I was in the states. They are this great colbalt blue color. So, cut to us being back for a week and we're down 2 glasses. Apparently the "dishwasher" didn't realize how "fragile" they are. Ahem. I set out to replace them. I asked him where the shop was and he said that "I wouldn't be able to find it unless I was looking for it" Wrong! While it did take us a few times up and down the street but we found it! I found 2 to replace them, they are a lighter blue but I love them. Another great day in Maadi!

Food

I promised some recipes a few days ago, so here it goes. The first one has been the staple snack in the Dworkin household for a few weeks now. The last time we went to Carrefour (Egyptian wal-mart, as you may recall), I bought some popcorn kernels. I could see the skepticism on Ira's face. "What are you going to do with those?" he was thinking. That night I made my first attempt at the spicy popcorn to which we are now addicted. It was pretty good, a little burnt and I overshot the spices a little bit. I made it again a few nights later and this time it was a little too salty. The night of my birthday party (or the morning after my birthday party, depending on how you look at it) I made some for the lingering guests. It was very popular. The next time Amanda came over for knitting night, I made some for her, and the Ira and I had some last night while we watched "Burn After Reading". It's so simple and it tastes so good, it really makes me wonder why we ever made popcorn in the microwave...
Cajun Popcorn
first, you need a medium sized pot with a tight fitting lid
about 3 tbs. olive oil
about 1/2 cup kernels
1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
salt
coat the bottom of the pan with the oil. Sprinkle the Old Bay on top. Dump the kernels in the pan. Over med-high heat, let them do their thing! It only takes about 3 or 4 minutes. I shake the pan every minute or so to make sure they're all getting a turn. You can experiment with different spices and herbs. This just happens to be the one that we like the best. After you hear the popping slow down, take it off the heat and place in a big bowl, salt to taste. However, a good movie or some bad reality TV are required to make this recipe taste its best.
And speaking of TV, one of good things about Egyptian TV is, well, European TV. I love watching all the British fashion shows and the BBC news, of course. But the cooking shows are by far the best. I know that the food network in the states has both Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver, but over here they each have like 5 shows. So the other day I was watching Nigella and she was making something with glass noodles (rice noodles or vermicelli) and shrimp. I thought to myself "I know I can find both glass noodles AND shrimp at the market!" So off I went. Not only did I find those two ingredients, but I found basil for the first time. I bought two bunches because I couldn't resist. Cleaning the prawns was a huge (and smelly) pain, but the resulting meal was delicious, and there was a enough for leftovers which almost never happens around here. While at the market, there weren't any veggies that looked exciting to me, you could add some snap peas or green beans and I'm sure it would be great.
Super Fragrant Noodles with Shrimp
one package vermicelli noodles
1 lb. shrimp (preferably fresh)
big handful chopped basil
big handful chopped cilantro
for the sauce:
1 tbs. minced garlic
1 tbs. minced ginger
2 tbs. minced scallions
2 tbs. peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup sesame oil (plus a little more to saute the shrimp)
one sliced chili pepper for garnish
Because you have a few things going at once here, I would make the sauce first. Place the garlic, ginger, scallions, peanut butter, soy sauce, and oil in a bowl and whisk together. This is the ratio that tasted good to me, but you can adjust it if you need to. Set the sauce aside. Next, boil the water for the noodles. While that's heating up, clean the shrimp (or have the dude at the store do it, which is what I should have done!) Saute with the sesame oil over medium heat until pink. Remove from the heat. Once the water has come to a boil, turn off the heat and drop in the noodles. Only leave them in for a minute or two and then drain. Toss together the shrimp, noodles, basil, and cilantro. Place in bowls and top with sauce and chili peppers. It's also good cold the next day!