Corn

We were told when we moved here that the corn wasn't good. It didn't really matter since we could never find any anyway. Until now. I saw some in the market about a week ago and it looked really good. I couldn't resist. So I bought some, brought it home, and cooked it. I was awesome! Just as good as any of the corn I eat at home during peak season. Although it's better on the grill at my mom's house...but I digress. So I went back to the market and there wasn't any corn! I was bummed. But then. A few days later. There was more. So I bought it again and made a big meal for Ira and me. You would think that would be enough. But I went back again. This time with the intention of freezing it, which is my new plan for preserving all the yummy fruits and veggies here. So I brought it home, boiled it and it took all my will power not to eat it before I cut it off the cob and put it in the freezer! Last night I went to the market because I knew that corn was waiting in the freezer (so much for saving it!) and I knew I could make corn chowder with a few more ingredients. But who wants to eat corn chowder when it's 100 degrees?? And then, I saw it. More corn! Hmm...I could save the corn in the freezer and buy some fresh corn and make something ELSE! So that's what I did. And here is the fruit of my obsession...

Summer Orzo Salad

You could really use any combination of veggies in this and I've made a similar Greek version. This is what looked good and fresh yesterday...

1 box Orzo, boiled and drained
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped (although I prefer a few small pickling cucumbers)
1 cup sliced olives
2 ears of corn, boiled, sliced off the cob
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp. olive oil

Prepare the orzo and set aside. Toss together the veggies with the orzo, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature (if you can wait that long), or refrigerate overnight for a cold salad.

More food...

In addition to making that salad yesterday, I had an urge to make something banana as well. It was actually less of an "urge" and more of a need to get rid of the rotting bananas on the counter! There is a, ahem, banana overbuying problem in this house. Someone gets excited when they go to the fruit stand and the guy cuts them off the stem for him. Anyway, I guess if it results in banana muffins it's not all bad...
I adapted this recipe from Martha, but I put marscapone in it which I think is super fun. I almost put some peaches in them, but that would have meant I wouldn't have been be able to eat the peaches all by themselves and that was not an option.

Makes 12 Muffins or 36 Minimuffins

• 4 (1 1/2 to 2 pounds) ripe bananas, plus 1 for garnish (more if making mini muffins)
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup marscapone cheese
  
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan, regular or mini, with paper liners.
2. Peel four bananas, and place them in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until mashed, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar, oil, and egg; beat until smooth. Reduce speed to low. Add flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla; beat until combined.
3. Fill muffin liners three-quarters full. Slice remaining banana into 1/8-inch-thick rounds; place a slice on each muffin. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes for regular muffins and 20 for mini, rotating pan halfway through. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Store, covered, at room temperature.

Summer Salad

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe and if you people want these posts to be about anything other than my lack of sleep (although it went better last night!) you are probably going to see more of these in the next month...
So those of you who have eaten with me in restaurants know that if there is a beet salad on the menu, I am there. In fact, if there's a choice, I would rather eat a beet salad and some yummy dessert than an entree. Anyway, I love beets. I know a lot of people hate beets. But I think that most of those judgments are made on pickled beets. I love those too, don't get me wrong! But they do have a strong taste and beets when they're naked and very mild and even sweet. I took a beet salad to a New Year's party this year and I had 3 beet converts! So if it's been a while since you've had beets, try them again, I bet you'll love them.

Beet and Orange Salad with Mint and Goat Cheese
2 small oranges, cut into one inch segments
3 medium cooked beets, diced
1/2 cup goat cheese (or half a "log"), crumbled. You could probably substitute feta as well.
2 tbs. chopped fresh mint
sea salt to taste

Cut the oranges and place them in a bowl. Chop the mint and toss with the oranges. Dice the beets and toss with oranges and mint. Crumble the goat cheese and lightly toss. Sprinkle with salt if desired.
*if you are preparing this salad ahead of time, but it's going to be couple of hours before you serve it, or if you are traveling with it, you may want to wait to assemble it until just before serving.

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!