Everything about Aash-e reshteh
Posted: 2 January 2012 Filed under: Everything about Aash-e reshteh, Uncategorized | Tags: aash-reshteh, booteh-recipes, food_photography, kashk, Persian_noodle_soup, vegeterian 3 CommentsAash-e reshteh, conveniently, if not accurately translated as ‘noodle soup’, is known to all Iranians inside and outside the country despite looking and tasting quite unfamiliar when produced by a bevy of different cooks.
It is so popular that it’s not only made routinely as a family meal, it has also been chosen as the aash to mark more than one special occasion. One would spend a whole day preparing, cooking and distributing aash-e reshteh to ‘send-off’ a family member on a long or important trip. Traditionally, aash-e reshteh is also made and served at a chaharshanbeh soori get-together–the festivity held on the eve of the last Wednesday before the Persian New Year. Nowadays, many Iranian cities have seen aash-e reshteh travel from the home to the street corner, joining the long list of popular street foods served through window slots in disposable bowls. Read the rest of this entry »
Craving kaleh-pache at New Year Party
Posted: 1 January 2012 Filed under: COZY CORNER, Memories & Events, Uncategorized 3 Comments
Photo: Courtesy of Tourism Montreal
Like aash (a thick soup of beans and herbs, with or without meat) and halim (wheat meal with shredded lamb), Kaleh-pacheh is a traditional Iranian breakfast that requires far too much preparation to be included in a daily meal, or to be prepared at home on regular basis. When viewed cross-culturally and from a vegetarian perspective, kaleh-pacheh may not be the most shameful, unethical and aesthetically disgusting animal product that humans choose to eat, but it most certainly makes it onto the list! Meanwhile, if you fancy Scottish haggis (sheep’s liver and lungs boiled in its stomach) or Greek kokoretsi (stuffed sheep’s intestine), or Jewish petcha (calf’s feet), then I’m sure you will love Iranian kaleh-pacheh. The dish is a smorgasbord of the most unlikely animal offal: all parts of the head, feet and tripe of a sheep or lamb cooked together to make a thin soup.
moment photography18
Posted: 30 December 2011 Filed under: COZY CORNER, Photography, Uncategorized | Tags: moment_photography Leave a comment
First snow
A multinational breakfast!
Posted: 26 December 2011 Filed under: Jams, Yogurt and fruit/veg based, KITCHEN, for recipes, Uncategorized | Tags: brunch; breakfast, food_photography 2 CommentsA “multinational”, fancy breakfast, inspired by an advertisement poster, and perfect as Holidays brunch. Mine features baladi cheese cut in a way to allow stuffing (finely chopped tomatoes and parsley), and topped with soaked walnuts; two different types of hard cheese, one with apple jam and the other
with cucumbers; sunflower bread, fresh orange juice, apple and fig – the later mainly for visual effects!
moment photography17
Posted: 22 December 2011 Filed under: COZY CORNER, Photography, Uncategorized | Tags: christmas_tree, freezing_rain, moment_photography Leave a comment
Freezing rain on Christmas tree
Yalda, Winter solstice/شب یلدا
Posted: 20 December 2011 Filed under: COZY CORNER, Memories & Events, Uncategorized | Tags: food_photography, music, special_occassion_food, winter_solistice, yalda 2 CommentsOn the eve of the winter solstice, Iranians gather to celebrate Yalda and bring this longest night of the year to dawn by reciting Hafez or Sa’di poems, or listening to the stories of a wise grandparent. They do this while eating off-season fruits historically believed to invoke the divinities and secure the protection of the winter crop.
I vividly remember celebrating Yalda nights back home, because I felt so well fed on those nights, not on the spiritual foods of the poetry-reciting elders, but on the watermelon and pomegranates we had gone out of our way to find Needless to say, Yalda is well and alive among Iranians in diaspora as another rope to cling on to the far away home and culture. This song below, called “zemestoon” (winter) is one of my most favourite songs of the 70s; it is about bare gardens and trees and a lonely lover in the winter, accompanied by a beautiful clip of old Tehran in winter. Happy Yalda 2011 everyone!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BiJa2HWgso&feature=related 
Tea rules & rituals (Iranian Style)
Posted: 17 December 2011 Filed under: Jams, Yogurt and fruit/veg based, Tea rules & ritual!, Uncategorized | Tags: bevarage, food_photography, Persian_tea, tea 6 CommentsTea is the national beverage in Iran! It is an essential part of the breakfast and any type of gathering. As such, there are certain nonnegotiable rules about the preparation and the drinking of tea.
Here are some: 1. Real tea is black tea. Green, white, yellow and oolong teas are to be experimented with, but must never replace black tea. 2. Preparing tea involves the steeping and simmering (dam kardan or steaming) of loose, processed tea leaves. Teabags are quick fixes, and good only when you are feeling too down to treat yourself properly, or when you are obligated to serve an unwanted visitor. 3. One should sip tea from small, delicate glasses called estekan that allow one to see its translucent mahogany color while relishing its flavor. Read the rest of this entry »
Massaged Kale Salad
Posted: 16 December 2011 Filed under: Massaged Kale Salad, Uncategorized | Tags: dairy free, food-photography, gluten free, Healthy_foods, kale, mango, salad 4 CommentsMassaged Kale Salad, a nutritious magical and delicious salad with many verity of recipes. Here is the one I prefer over the others.
Ingredients: (for a small bowl like the one shown in the picture) half a bunch of Kale, or about 6-7 leaves, washed, drained, and torn into small sized pieces. Yellow mango, 1 medium to large, skinned and diced. Sunflower seeds, 2 tbsp. Olive oil, 1 tbsp. Honey, 1 tbsp. Lime juice, 1 tbsp. Salt 1 tea spoon. Read the rest of this entry »
Homemade pizza
Posted: 6 December 2011 Filed under: Homemade pizza, KITCHEN, for recipes, Uncategorized | Tags: baked_food, booteh_recipes, bread_dough, food_photography, homemade_pizza, main_dish, thin_crust 2 CommentsI use the recipe for barbari bread to bake thin crust pizza at home, without having the professional equipment such as pizza stone. It turns pretty decent and does not take much time.
Ingredients for Pizza dough: Bread Flour: 3+1/4 cups. Water: 1.5 cups. Active Dry Yeast: 1 pouch or 2+1/4 tsp. Baking Powder: 1 tsp. Salt: 2 tsp. Sugar: a pinch. Whole wheat flour: 1/2 cup. Read the rest of this entry »
Hot whisky
Posted: 3 December 2011 Filed under: Hot whisky, KITCHEN, for recipes, Uncategorized | Tags: cold_remedy, food_photography, hot_whisky 6 CommentsHot whisky made as follows, does wonders relieving the symptoms of common cold , as it is a mixture of pain killing (from cloves), calming (from alcohol), soothing (hot water and honey) and a bit of vitamin C (from lemon) substances.
Ingredients: Any brand of whisky, ¼ cup. Hot water, ¼ cup. Lime or lemon, 1 slice. Cloves, 6-7. Sugar, or honey, 2 tea spoon. Read the rest of this entry »
My Caldron 