A Trip to the Middle East -- In the West

Where do you go when you are looking for a great Persian meal? Well, Abilene, Texas of course! "What!" you may exclaim, "Abilene, Texas???" If you don't believe me go try it for yourself. No, never mind, believe me or not, go try it!!! 
Mike and I were in good old Abilene, Texas for the West Texas Rehab Telethon that I work every year. The family always joins me since Mike is from Abilene and the kids just love it there. Friday night is our one night to go out to dinner, so on our way into town I was checking out the Urban Spoon app on my phone. Shaking through the options I came across one titled Middle East. Intrigued, I checked out the reviews. With 93% liking it out of 213 votes, Mike and I were all about trying it out. 
We found our way to the Middle East Restaurant located in an older strip mall. The parking lot was full, always a good sign, so we parked and made our way inside. We were instantly greeted at the door by the owner, Mr. Hammoodi, who showed us to a table. The journey was a short one seeing as there are only a handful of tables inside the small restaurant. On one wall there was a poster sized picture that was taken from a news paper. It was a grinning Mr. Hammoodi with three American soldiers in Iraq holding a newspaper that announced Saddam Hussein's capture. You can tell this incredibly friendly man is happy to be here in America, but still proud of his Middle Eastern roots. 
The size of the restaurant may diminutive, but the menu was not. Oh what joy! So many wonderful choices, but so little room in my stomach. We decide right away that we will split an entree so we may also try an appetizer platter consisting of hummus, tabouleh, dollma, and peayas (this I had never heard of, and it seemed like a type of potato salad with onions), and we also ordered a plate of falafel. We go ahead and order our entrees at the same time. Mike and I decide to split a combo kabob plate with chicken, lamb, and beef kifta (#25 the Meat Combo Platter). Liam opted for the Beef Kabobs, and Remy chose the Grilled Chicken breast. All entrees came with a salad and jasmine rice. When we ordered we let Mr. Hammoodi know that we were from Fort Worth, found out about his restaurant from Urban Spoon, and that we loved Persian food. He proceeded to explain that we were about to have the best Middle Eastern food that we could ever find. All the food made was cooked by his family from home. He said that there was not a stranger cooking in his kitchen. (I perk up, because to me this means that the most important ingredient in successful cooking would be present in every dish... and that ingredient is love.) He guaranteed that we would leave the place 100% satisfied. Little did we know that we were in for a culinary adventure. 
Mr. Hammoodi informs us about a soup appetizer available for everyone. It is a lentil soup, and there is a spicy option next to it. Mike served me the lentil soup and he took the spicy one. They were both delicious-- off to a good start. Then our appetizers start coming out. 

Our falafel arrives first and is served with a garlic sauce. Without a doubt, it is the best falafel I have ever had. It had a lightly fried crust with a moist center. We quickly cleaned that plate. 

Next Mr. Hammoodi started bring out our appetizer platter, but he didn't stop there. In addition to what we ordered he brought out a sample of fava bean type hummus, baba ganoush, tzatziki sauce, and an extra serving of hummus. He provided this all on the house to make his point that this would be the best Middle Eastern meal we had ever tasted. I pretty much kept the baba ganoush (similar to hummus but made with eggplant)  and the tzatziki sauce (for those not familiar, it is a cucumber yogurt sauce with dill and lemon juice) to myself. I LOVED THEM! It was the best baba ganoush I have ever had, and tzatziki sauce is always my favorite part of a Persian meal. The tabouleh was perfect- it had lots of lemon juice to complement the parsley. Even the dollma, which I am usually not of fan of, was delicious. All of this was served with warm pita bread. Ok, so by this point my stomach is getting pretty full, but we still have our entree coming. I take a deep breath and decide to take a break until our meal arrives. 

Liam's meal comes out first. We take a look at it and laugh. They definitely have a sense of humor. The kids loved the smiley faces. Liam was bursting with excitement to start eating, but he must wait until everyone's food arrives. 

Our food arrives next and it smells delicious. You can see the lamb on the left, the chicken at the top, and the beef on the right. 

Remy's chicken arrives and looks and smells fabulous. 
At this point I have come to the conclusion that I am a big fan of sumac. It was sprinkled all over our appetizers, and Remy's chicken was seasoned with it. My extra plate arrives and we dig in. I love beef kifta. It is my favorite. It is a ground beef seasoned with onions and spices and wrapped around a stick and grilled. Wow. It is mouth watering good. Did I mention I love tzatziki? I usually put it all over my food, but I didn't want to take away from the flavor of the kifta. Remy's chicken was my second favorite. I will be buying some sumac and attempting this chicken at home. 
I sample everything, but don't stuff myself, because at the beginning of the meal I mentioned I might try some baklava and a coffee for dessert. Mr. Hammoodi excitedly told me he had just made it two hours ago and it will be the best baklava I have ever had in my life, and that I will never have better. Dude, seriously?? I am not passing up the chance to try a dish that was described with such passion. He told me the turkish coffee was perfect with the baklava, so I placed an order. 

Mr. Hammoodi brings out the coffee cup and saucer then he comes back quickly with a piping hot Turkish coffee pot. You can hear the coffee sizzling as he pours it into my cup. 
The baklava was divine and the Turkish coffee was the best I have ever had. He added a spice, and I'm not sure if it was cardamom or just something similar, but it was fabulous. He was spot on in pairing the two together. The baklava was buttery, flaky, nutty, and not too sweet. I would make the 2 1/2 hour trip just for the two. 
As we leave the Middle East Restaurant Liam raves over the beef kabobs. He keeps thanking Mr. Hammoodi over and over. Liam is my pickiest eater and rarely likes food that is different in any way, so this is saying a lot. 
We were treated to a home cooked meal that just happened to be served in a restaurant. The amazing part, is this is how all their guests are treated. There was another family who raved just as much as we did, and they were local. We didn't receive special treatment because we were from out of town, we received special treatment because that is how Mr. Hammoodi treats all his guest. My only disappointment in this whole culinary adventure is knowing that in order to experience it again I have to drive 2 1/2 hours. Don't be surprised when I do.

Starting Off the New Year with Saddlebags

New Years morning Mike and I knew we would need a good after party breakfast. We decided to go for it and make a dish we learned about... where else, but Man vs. Food. In this episode Adam was visiting Boulder, Co and discovered a dish called Saddlebags. It consists of a fluffy pancake with a breakfast meat cooked in it and with an over easy egg placed on top. Liam's philosophy is that adding egg yolk to anything makes it better, so off we went to test the theory. Since I was the chef in this case, I chose to go a little bit healthier with the breakfast meat, so I used turkey sausage links and turkey bacon. Andi joined us for this breakfast, so I put her to work dicing up the meat I just cooked while I whipped up the pancakes. I used a buttermilk pancake recipe that my brother in law Mark taught me. It makes the most delicious pancakes-- light and fluffy. You pour the batter in to a greased pan and while the pancake starts cooking you add the breakfast meat of choice to it. Flip it, and it is ready to go. I placed them in the oven to keep warm while I finished the batch and moved on to the eggs. Mike supplied the syrup (it is my opinion to use a good one free of high fructose corn syrup and preservatives, but use what you prefer), and once the eggs were fried we were ready to go.

And the results... brilliant! The person who created this breakfast item is genius. It is the perfect balance of sweet and salty. I loved the egg yolks soaking in to the pancake and the sausage.
This is a winner and we will definitely be making them again... perhaps it will become our New Year tradition. =-)

Traditional Czech Goose-- in the Netherlands.

I was graciously welcomed into my Uncle Ata and Aunt Heiny's house the first two weeks of December, and I was treated to a traditional Czech goose. I was so excited since I have never had goose.  Along with the goose we had bread dumpling (Houskove knedliky) and potato dumpling (Bramrove knedliky) sweet and sour red cabbage and for dessert maglajz. What the heck is maglajz I'm sure you are asking. When pronounced it sounds like mug-lice (at least to my ears) so it doesn't sound so appetizing, but having been served this wonderful dish by my beautiful late Babicka, I knew I was in for a wonderful treat. It is a layered dish that consists of spiced rum soaked lady fingers, hot pudding, apricots, toasted almonds, and topped with fresh whipped cream. I would treat you with a picture, but we were also drinking wine, so by the time we reached dessert I was done taking pictures. =-) Yeah, I had a great time... I will let my pictures tell the story.

First, let me set the stage. Can you imagine a cozier setting?

It is a winter wonderland outside. A cast iron wood burning oven heating the whole house, and the smells of roasting bird wafting through the air.
Aunt Heiny began by rubbing the 10 pound goose with salt and caraway seeds, stuffed 2 sliced apples inside and then placed it in the oven in a high sided roasting pan with 2 inches of water to cook for several hours.

Next she began the process of making the dumplings.

This is the base of the bread dumpling. She will add the cubed bread and proceed to form it into cylinder shaped dumplings. Then they will boil about 20 minutes a piece.

Now, the potato dumplings. She pressed the boiled potatoes through a  press. Next she will mix in corn starch,  2 eggs, cream of wheat, salt, and Wondra flour and also form into cylinders.

These will also be boiled about 20 minutes, but must cool a few minutes before slicing to avoid  crumbling.

Now on to the cabbage. The cabbage is shredded, mixed with diced red onion, diced apple, caraway seeds, white vinegar, sugar, and vegetable bullion.

I was slow on the draw when it came to taking a picture of the goose whole, but here it is presented with goose drippings to pour over the dumplings.

Can you say yum?!!!

Uncle Ata and Patrick as the meal begins.

I am now a fan of big goose. It is so rich and tasty. I even braved a piece of the stomach and it was good as well, maybe not the best piece, but good. It was a delicious meal, and I am so grateful to my family. I am blessed to have such a wonderful family. This was only a small portion of the trip. Let me remind you I was in the Netherlands, so we had a plethora of Dutch cheeses, beers, hot chocolate, french fries with their special mayonnaise, curry burgers, my Babicka's spaghetti (nothing like Italian spaghetti), kwark, stir fry, and all the clementine cuties my kids could eat. It was a foodie's dream. Every one-- GO TO THE NETHERLANDS! What a wonderful place, and what a wonderful trip!
Love you Kubalek Family, Vander Reest/ De Jong Family, and Overeem Family!
 .

The special mayonnaise used for french fries.

Now That's a Pizza -- Big Lou's

Ok, I know this is a little late in coming, but to my defense, I started this post at the end of November. My lovely son decided to get on the computer (I had to step away) and totally deleted what I was writing. So, here I am again, ready to tell you all about Big Lou's. =-)
First of all, Big Lou himself. He is not big. He is a  very friendly man with a great sense of humor. With this great sense of humor comes a pizza whose toppings weigh in at over 30 pounds. Yes, that's right- 30 pounds. This pizza is not for the faint of heart, and really, it is not for the impatient. You walk up to a sign warning you that it may take up to 2 hours to get your pizza. Luckily, we arrived before the crowd and it only took 45 minutes. It is also the most expensive pizza I've ever ordered at $70, but seeing how there were 11 of us, it was totally reasonable. So you may ask, 11 people, did you walk away hungry? At 42 inches, this pizza was more than 11 of us could handle... and that included 2 teenage boys. In fact, one slice was more than I could handle.

What you see in the picture to the right filled an extra large to go box... the to go box was bigger than any pizza I had ever ordered. I mean, whoa.
So let me tell you about the pizza itself. We ordered a four topping pizza, but we split the toppings with half pepperoni and half green olive, onion, and canadian bacon. Was it the best pizza I have ever had, no, but it was a good pizza.  Most things that come extra large tend to not be delicious, but this really was yummy.
Big Lou recommended his meatballs (with a straight face) and his alfrado, but the pizza was our mission.
Mission accomplished.

Traveling Down I35.

Well, here it is, Thanksgiving week, and we are spending it with Mike's brother and sister-in-law in San Antonio, Texas. Liam has been so excited about this trip for many reasons, but his initial excitement was for the drive down I35... he had a few detours in mind. 
First stop- Czech Stop in West, Texas. This stop, more than anything, is just tradition. I have been going there with my parents since I was a little girl. My Mom is Czech, and back in the day, the only way we could get kolaches that she didn't have to make was to stop in West. (Now, my Momma makes fabulous kolaches, but it was still a treat to all of us when we stopped and had one someone else made.) Since I have been with Mike, we have ventured into trying fare other than just kolaches. Today, we decided to go for sandwiches. Now, I am usually whole heartedly against gas station food, and even more so prepackaged sandwiches, but all the rules fly out the window at the Czech Stop. They have fresh baked goods of all kinds, and their sandwiches are handmade on fresh baked bread. Mike's favorite is the tuna sandwich, but today I decided to try the turkey pastrami on rye bread with swiss. The first bite was met with a WOW. This would not be my wow, it was Mike's as he had unwrapped my sandwich and tasted it. Luckily, he only kept the half and let me have the other. =-) I was totally impressed. This is a tasty sandwich. The sandwich is stuffed with the turkey pastrami, a layer of yellow mustard, and a layer of swiss- combine that with the caraway seeds sprinkled through the rye bread and you have a winner! But this was just our first culinary destination. Next stop, Round Rock, Texas. 
Liam is a huge fan of Man vs. Food and insisted stop to try the Texas Size donut from Round Rock Donuts. He actually counted down the minutes until we pulled into the parking lot. I have to admit, I was skeptical about how such a huge donut would taste. I could only imagine a heavy slopping mess, but I understand Liam's desire to try such a culinary wonder, so off we went. 

 I was worried when we walked in that they might be sold out of the Texas size donuts. There was a bit of a line, and I didn't see any in the display case, but we stepped up to order and were told that yes there were a few left. Whew, no disappointed kids. We chose the glazed Texas sized donut instead of the chocolate. We are on a road trip, and I was trying to keep the kids on the side of messy instead of filthy. My name was called, so I picked up our order an headed to the outside tables. 

Liam was already bouncing off the wall in excitement. We opened up the box and to our delight found a warm, fluffy and not too sweet or messy donut. I really was surprised at just how delicious it was. As you can see, it was truly Texas size! We had a lot of donut left over, but it was totally worth stopping to try. It is not your typical glazed donut. If you are driving down I35, I highly recommend stopping it and trying it for yourself! 
Next stop on Liam's plan... Big Lou's in San Antonio to try the 42 inch pizza! 

Does It Get Any Better??? Grilled Veggie Sandwich

Ok, so sometimes I randomly buy veggies without really thinking about what I am going to do with them. Dinner time was rolling around, and my kids wanted sandwiches. I had just bought some yummy rustic wheat bread, so I was all for a great sandwich, but turkey just wasn't calling my name. I went to the refrigerator and saw that I had some portobello mushrooms, zucchini, red bell peppers, and an avocado. Aha! Off to the grill I go. I sliced the zucchini lengthwise and then coated the mushrooms, zucchini, and red bell peppers in a good extra virgin olive oil and Angelo's Gourmet Seasoning--
this was a gift from the lovely Joni Shaw Smith whose family owns Angelo's Barbeque in Fort Worth (can I just say-- awesome!!!). Follow this link to see where you can acquire some for yourself http://www.angelosbbq.com/seasonings.html --
and I threw the them on the grill. I let the skin on the pepper blister and pulled it off-- by the time it was blistered the other veggies were ready to be pulled off as well. While I let the veggies cool down I whipped together a tbs of the extra virgin olive oil, a tbs of lemon juice, a pinch of salt and a dash of cayene pepper. I used a pastry brush and spread this on each slice of bread. Once the veggies cooled enough to handle, I peeled the pepper and then sliced it and the portobello mushroom on a bias. Now it's time to build the sandwich. I started by placing a layer of thinly sliced avocado. This adds a creaminess to the sandwich, let's you skip mayo or any other creamy condiment, and really, avocado just rocks. Next I layered the zucchini, bell pepper, and mushrooms. This may all sound simple, but you are building flavors.  The dressing that I brushed on the bread really enhances the flavors of the veggies and adds another layer of flavor. Take a bite... hmmmm. 
Wow. 
Now that's a sandwich.

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins

I enjoy creating new recipes and years ago I had an abundance of pumpkin so I began to experiment. This next recipe turned out to be a fan favorite, and it is my most requested baked good. In fact, all the muffins disappeared (and not by my consumption) before I could take a picture. I use fresh pureed pumpkin in this recipe, but you can easily substitute canned pumpkin.

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups pumpkin

Cream Cheese Filling

8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 -12 cup muffin tins. 

In a small bowl beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together until fluffy. Set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

In seperate bowl mix the sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ones. Once fully incorporated, fold in the pumpkin. Place one spoonful of muffin mixture in each tin (enough to completely cover the bottom). Add a dollop of cream cheese to each muffin and fill with the remaining mix. Bake about 35 minutes. Let them cool about a minute and then place on a cooling rack until cool enough to eat. Caution.... the cream cheese filling will burn your lips if you don't wait at LEAST 5 minutes before you try one... but it is really hard to wait! =-)