Hummus and Baba Ghanoush

Foreword:
Happy new year everyone! I hope you all had a nice time surrounded by people you love during the holidays. : ) I don't normally make NY resolutions because I don't like succumbing to the pressures of making resolutions just at the beginning of a year. I prefer making resolutions throughout the year which, in my experience, results in a higher success rate. But I found myself at the brink of the new year with a lot of blogging to catch up on. There is still the last leg of my October trip I'd like to finish documenting. So i resolved to stop slacking and start posting more often!

So here I go, my first post for 2007. I decided to start with a food post, particularly food which I included in the feast my sister and I prepared for us to enjoy as we ushered in the new year.

After I graduated from university, I went on an extended vacation to the US and Canada. I had never had more than a 2 month vacation since I became a kindergartener at the age of 4, so I was really looking forward to this hiatus. Since I finished with a double degree, wasn't it only fair that I also got a double vacation? Of course! So I went away for 4 fabulous months! I stayed in the Bay Area for a little over a month, with side trips to LA & Lake Tahoe, before making my way north to Vancouver, BC where I visited my sister and her family for the remaining 3 months. Needless to say, these were some of the best months of my life and when began my little romance with this beautiful city.

My sister is a stay-at-home mom so we spent a great deal of time together. Much of this time was enjoyed in her kitchen as she prepared dinner for her family. I tried to watch and learn from her while I balanced her then 7 month old son on my hip or painted and colored with her 3 year old daughter on the breakfast table. Because I didn't write anything down, I forgot most of what I learned.

Except for these two dishes...hummus (creamy chickpea dip) and baba ghanoush (creamy eggplant dip). I don't remember if I tried them for the first time that time, but I vividly remember happily eating either one at least twice a week either as an appetizer or as a side, and even sometimes as our main meal and always with some pita bread.

I've only bought hummus once, from a supermarket in London. Blech. That was the last time I had store-bought hummus. No matter how lazy or tired you are or, what's that? You're a kitchen-virgin? Have no fear! Not only are these delicious and healthy, they're unbelievably easy to make. I make hummus quite often at home, sometimes eating little else for a week.

There are countless variations to hummus, in fact I probably don't make it the same each time. I just throw everything into the blender and add a little of this and a little of that to taste. Every country in the Middle East, Northern Africa and along the Mediterranean has their own version of this ancient dish as well.

I prefer to use roasted garlic instead of raw garlic because the taste is nuttier and sweeter. However, when I'm in a rush or making it at someone else's place, I just use raw garlic which makes it delicious nonetheless. And since I'm a garlic fiend, I put lots of it. So for starters, you can use this recipe and tweak it as you please. The kitchen is your playground, and this hummus is your ummm, oyster!

Basic Hummus

1 can garbanzos (chickpeas, canned or cooked - I buy Molinera)
2-3 tbsp. Tahini (sesame seed paste)
6 cloves of crushed garlic (preferably roasted)
juice of 1 lemon
4-5 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt or to taste
1/4 cup water (optional, if you like a smoother and more liquid consistency, though I usually just add more olive oil and lemon juice to achieve the consistency I want)
fresh parsley or olives
paprika

Mix everything (except parsley and paprika) in a blender. Pour in a bowl, drizzle with some olive oil then sprinkle with parika and garnish with either olives or parsley. This is best eaten scooped up with warmed pita bread but you may also spread them on melba toast, crackers or french bread. It is also excellent as a vegetable dip.

For some variety, I like to substitute the garbanzos with black beans or fava beans and adding some chili powder or cayenne for a little kick. This will produce a dip similar to ful medames or simply ful, one of Egypt's national dishes. You may also add peeled roasted red peppers or kalamata olives to the basic recipe for a more Mediterranean or Greek flavor.

To make Baba Ghanoush, use the same ingredients as the recipe for hummus above but substitute the garbanzos with 4-5 small (or 2 large) eggplants. What you do is, first pierce the skin of the eggplants and broil them until they're black on all sides. Place them under cold running water while you peel the skin off, then mash the flesh before combining it with all the other ingredients. Serve in a bowl drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, paprika and garnish with parsley or an olive.

The definitive banana bread

I have a confession to make: I am a banana bread snob. There aren't many I've tried that I genuinely like. In my opinion, all banana bread/loaf/cake/muffins can be found at either one of the two extremes on the flavor pole: dry & bland or moist & delicious. Even if they are ok, yet don't measure up to those in the moist & delicious camp, they might as well be banished to the other end of the pole because I won't waste my calorie count on them (IF I was counting calories heh).

My sister used to make banana bread that was the bomb! I haven't had it in years because she moved to Canada 15 years ago. (mental note: bug her for her recipe!). A few years ago at a cooking and recipe forum I used to be active in, someone had posted this recipe and a promise that all other banana bread recipes would pale in comparison. The reaction for months after was nothing short of a craze. Everyone who had tried the recipe gushed about it, prompting its inclusion to the forum's recipe hall of fame.

All of this, I discovered happily later, was well-deserved. It became the definitive banana bread to which I have since compared every other one to. I have had this recipe for over 4 years now I think, but I regret not taking down the name of the lady who originally shared it with us so I can give her credit it now.

I prefer my loaf to have a streusel topping because I love the added crunch so that part is my own addition. You may choose to omit this, of course.

Banana Bread

2 cups flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 cup melted butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cup very ripe bananas, mashed (about 6, depending on the size)
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°.

Grease and flour loaf pan (or muffin pan). Stir & toss together flour, salt, baking soda then set it aside. In a large bowl combine butter, sugar, eggs and bananas. Add the combined dry ingredients until batter is thoroughly blended. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle with the streusel topping.

Baking time:
banana bread loaf: about 1 hour.
muffins: 15 mins.

Check center for doneness with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it's ready. Remove from oven then let cool for 5 minutes before inverting.

Streusel Nut Topping: (from BHG Cookbook)

1/2 C packed brown sugar
6 T all-purpose flour.
4 T butter
2/3 C chopped walnuts

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and flour. Then using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the walnuts. Sprinkle this on top of the loaves or muffins before baking.

My wishes for you this Christmas

(I received this from a friend and thought it was too beautiful not to pass on to you.)

If father Christmas himself were to burst through my door and offer to grant me some spectacular power for this day, I know what I'd ask for the power to wish you...not a tree full of partridges and pears, not a collapsible sauna bath nor a day of feasting and surprise....but six moments.

I'd wish you a moment of peacefulness...a deep down flowing through your toes and fingers calmess. A stillness at your center that soothes all the hurts and heals the weariness.

I'd wish you a kind of resting in God that enables you to feel the texture of Christmas...the softness and the toughness and the radiant reality. And the knowledge that inner peace is always within your grasp.

I'd wish you a moment of merriment...a soul-skipping, heart-dancing kind of freedom from all that keeps you earth-bound and drudge-blinded.

I'd wish you the capacity to forgive and to let go of old resentments and past bitterness and horrid feelings so that you are set free to really live.

I'd wish you a moment of courage...the courage to do something you've wanted to do for a long time. To tell someone you're sorry or to bridge a chasm or to reach out and touch a person who needs to hear you say, "I love you".

I'd wish you the spunk to look deep down inside yourself and if you find the grounds for it, to say with honest boldness, "I've been wrong. Forgive me".

I'd wish you a moment of gratitude...for all that has been, the good and the bad that has molded you and taught you and made you what you are. I'd wish you the expectation and the eagerness for all that is to come. but most of all, I'd wish you awareness of all that is - right now.

I'd wish you a moment of love...not a selfish, seeking, "give me" kind of love, but such an all-encompassing caring for yourself and others, the world and God who made you, that you'd feel as if you'd touched the star of Bethlehem itself.

I'd wish you a moment of truth...of knowing who you are and what Christmas is. I'd wish you the knowledge that Christmas isnt "out there" somewhere to be found in colored lights and presents and flaming plum pudding. But that Christmas is in you. That God has put it there. And that all you have to do is reach out and touch it.

A magical Father Christmas isn't going to burst through my door to give me some special kind of power, of course. But he doesn't need to. I can wish these things for you without that.

And I do. I tenderly do. But knowing all the time that only you can make them come true.

And thats my last wish.That you will.

May this holiday season be the merriest ever, and may 2007 be filled with blessings of joy, good, health and laughter for you and your family!

A Moroccan Lamb & Apricot Tajine for 45 Years

There's a summer place

Where it may rain or storm

Yet I'm safe and warm

For within that summer place

Your arms reach out to me

And my heart is free from all care

For it knows

There are no gloomy skies

When seen through the eyes

Of those who are blessed with love

And the sweet secret of

A summer place

Is that it's anywhere
Where two people share
All their hopes
All their dreams
All their love

- Theme from a Summer Place; their theme song

Forty-five years ago with God as their witness, they vowed to live the rest of their lives together as one. Now 5 children and 8 grandchildren later, they still dance cheek to cheek to the same theme song. :)

We celebrated their anniversary with home cooked dishes, good wine and adorable performances from the kiddos. The kitchen was abuzz with activity as Julio serenaded us from the porch. Rusty cheekily tried to steal food from the table. It was a picture from my childhood, except this time we were in the kitchen while an entirely new generation chased each other around the house.

My brother and his family were in town over the weekend so we chose to have our dinner on Sunday instead of Thursday.

For starters we brought out some salchichon & cheese with crackers and slices of french bread, while we continued to work in the kitchen. My sister brought mechado (Filipino beef stew) and made an Oriental salad while my mom cooked her delicious fabada and steamed a nice fresh fish. I, on the other hand, was busy with my Moroccan Lamb & Apricot Tajine with couscous.

As you may have noticed, because the decision to have the dinner at home instead of going out to a restaurant was made at the last minute, we didn't coordinate the menu to the detail. We just basically assigned each other (my sister, mom and I) a dish or two each. So the buffet was a hodge-podge of Spanish, Filipino, Oriental and Moroccan, yet somehow everything seemed to come together very well.

I am a big fan of all things Moroccan, especially Moroccan food, and lamb tajine is a favorite. This dish is traditionally cooked in a clay pot also called a tajine (ahem ahem, anyone still looking for my gift, you are welcome to give me a nice tajine, I'll be happy with a Le Creuset. heehee. No I'm kidding! Seriously, it doesnt' have to branded ;) ). It comes in 2 pieces - a shallow clay casserole for the bottom, and a conical lid which fits snugly into the other piece. It's such a wonderful dish because it can go from stove-top to oven to table.

This is adapted from a recipe my friend ripped out of a magazine .

Moroccan Lamb & Apricot Tajine

2 tbsp olive oil
600 g lamb shoulder or neck (3m cubes)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 red chillies
½ tsp cumin
Black pepper
227 g can plum tomatoes (not drained)
300 ml lamb stock (or beef)
400g can chickpeas
100g dried apricots, cut
1 small handful fresh coriander, chopped

Preheat oven to 160 deg C.

Heat the oil in a large casserole dish. Brown the lamb in small batches, set aside.
Fry the onion until soft, then add garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, chilies, cumin, black pepper and rose petals (if available). Fry for another minute. Then add tomatoes and stock.
Bring to the boil and return the lamb to the casserole. Season and bake in the oven with the lid on for 1 hour. Add the chickpeas and apricots and stir. Then cook for another hour until tender.
Remove from the oven and stir through the chopped coriander.

The original recipe calls for 2 tsp dried rose petals but I had to leave this out because I didn't have any. I like to serve it together with the couscous and some apricot jam on the side for those who prefer it a little sweeter.

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!! I love you! :)

My fabulous Vegas birthday

"I'm living on things that excite me, be they pastry, or lobster, or love..."
- Jimmy Buffet

I started my birthday the way I always start my birthday, with a prayer of thanks. This year, I had something extra special to be thankful for: this trip and the gift of spending my birthday with my sister. I truly could not ask for more.

My phone had about 11 unread messages at that point, sweet greetings from friends and family back home. I always feel extra loved on my birthday. :) I was the last one to wake. I was assaulted with kisses and hugs when I walked out of the room. They quickly led me to the breakfast table where they had arranged my presents. Oohh la la! I love presents!

I picked up the big envelope which embraced the prettiest card ever! My niece and my nephew had hand crafted it themselves. I choked back tears as I read their touching messages inside. Janine & Holly got me stuff from the Cinnamon Bun Heaven line of Bath & Body Works which smells as heavenly as it sounds! It's a delicious blend of spicy cinnamon, creamy vanilla icing and warm brown sugar. They also gave me the Wickedly Hot Chocolate tinted lip gloss, also from B&BW, that smells so good you want to squeeze it directly on your tongue.

My pressies!! :)

Then came my sister's presentS, with a capital S! Oh my goodness, the gift bag was HUGE! Like Santa Claus' loot bag. I loved everything! She gave me 2 Baker's Secret cooling racks (not in picture), Baker's Secret 2-pack baking sheet, Trudeau 5 pc. measuring cup set, Trudeau 5 pc. measuring spoon set, 3 pc. Oxo Good Grips mixing bowls, a tub of The Body Shop coconut body butter, Belle de Provence lavender soap, 3 silicone spatulas, a nutmeg grater, a bookmarker and some books. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning, but really I was a squealing and gushing kid on her birthday morning! My sister is really one of the most generous and thoughtful people in the world. :)

Sandra, a friend of mine who lives in Vegas, arrived at the hotel around 10:00. It was her day off so she dedicated her entire day to celebrating with me. Yay! So the first order of the day was brunch at the Round Table Buffet of Excalibur. An all-you-can-eat feast fit for a King for only $12.00! There was a hot food section, cold food section, carving station, Chinese station, dessert station and a self-serve beverage station. While the quality of the food was nothing to write home about, the quantity of it was. The sheer volume of food was crazy!

Round Table Buffet lay-out

If I had eaten a bite more, I would have had to be lifted off with a crane. That was pure gluttony. We walked, some of us waddled, to the Bellagio hotel eager to see their autumn masterpiece. Each season and holiday is celebrated at the Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Gardens with a unique and elaborate creation. The garden was a festive autumn tableau of pumpkins, gourds, topiary ducks, scarecrows, a water mill and a massive banyan tree. My favorite scene was the 3D 'painting' which had ducks flying out of it.

Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden's Autumn masterpiece

As if we hadn't eaten enough, we had some cheesecake and chocolate from the Jean-Philippe Patisserie just around the corner from the conservatory. This patisserie is the realized dream of Pastry Chef Jean-Philippe Maury “Our approach was not to think that we were selling pastries, rather, we approached the space as if we were selling exquisite jewelry." And what an exquisite and tempting display indeed it was! Each petit fours and chocolate is dressed and displayed as lovingly and delicately as a bejeweled engagement ring would be.

There are four rotating shelf-towers with a dazzling display of cakes and chocolate, a gourmet crepe station, sandwich station and the piece-de-resistance: the world's tallest chocolate fountain! Imagine a 27 foot waterfall of milk, dark and white chocolate, cascading in a lyrical descent swirling from one receptacle to the next. It is utterly mesmerizing! I would have given anything to stand in there with my tongue sticking out.

Precious gems at the Jean-Philippe Patisserie, Bellagio
The white chocolate-covered cheesecake (bottom center pic) was to die for!

For my birthday, I had only one request - to have dinner and drinks in Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville at the Flamingo hotel. If you don't already know or have not seen my Jimmy Buffett page in my old website (constructed back in 2001) , I am a self-proclaimed Parrothead. And until I find my own Margaritaville, I am content to live vicariously through Jimmy (yes, we're on first name basis cos we're tight like that ;) ).

Like in most popular Vegas eateries, there was a minimum 2 hour waiting list, so we left our names with the hostess around 5pm after which she handed us a pager. The place was already bursting with fun. (It IS always five o'clock somewhere!). Folks spilled onto the streets, swaying to Jimmy's tunes playing from the outdoor speakers as they sipped their margaritas and pina coladas in take-out cups, parrot shaped balloons bobbing on their heads created for them by pirates on stilts. We went back home to freshen up a bit before returning at 7. I was so psyched! Sandra's husband joined us and so did my 2 aunts and their friends.

Inside was the perfect laid-back party atmosphere. We were seated at the center of the restaurant. Above our table hung a life size replica of Jimmy's seaplane, manatees hovered above the Coral Reefer bar next to the "lost shaker of salt". To the left of that is a tiki hut that serves as the stage for live bands and for Jimmy, of course. The booths are designed to look like the backs of fishing boats complete with fishing rods. I was immediately transported to a tropical beach far far away, I loved it!

Search for the lost shaker of salt on the bottom right picture

Patrons can order their "boat drinks" from 2 other bars, the walk-up Volcano bar outside where you can order your drinks to go and the patio bar on the second level overlooking the Strip. Adjacent to the Volcano Bar is the Margaritaville gift shop. I got such a kick out of all the Buffetisms rendered on all types of things like wooden signs, mini surfboards, bottle huggies, light switch plates, even wooden furniture.

A friendly waiter in a floral shirt, shorts, and flip-flops served us volcano nachos, crab cakes, "cheeseburgers in paradise", and chicken caesar salad. All this washed down with, what else? Margaritas! We ordered 2 of those huge cylinder/dispensers with the spout. They were fab, just the right sourness and kick.

Shortly after we finished eating, the waiter came to the table with a slice of cheesecake and set it in front of me and everyone at the table started to sing. I thought it was so cute that the cake, for the lack of a candle, had instead a makeshift flag made out of a drinking straw and paper with the words "Happy Birthday" on it. Normally, I hate it when people sing to me in a restaurant, but this time maybe because of all the tequila in my system, i didn't mind at all. I even agreed to 'blow' the flag for the camera. Funny!

I had freaked out the day before when I found out Jimmy Buffett was playing live at the MGM on the night of my birthday. I would have given my arm to watch him, but I didn't want to have to drag anyone with me who didn't care for him or his songs. And besides, we had already made plans to meet up with my aunts. But as if my birthday couldn't be any more perfect, they broadcast the concert live at the bar! How cool was that? :)

My niece's pretty doodling

Round Table Buffet
Excalibur Hotel
3850 Las Vegas Blvd. S
1-800-937-7777

Jean-Philippe Patisserie
Bellagio Hotel
3600 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
1-702-693-7111

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville
Flamingo Hotel
3555 Las Vegas Blvd. So.
1-702-733-3302