Sunday, August 19, 2012
Pizza on a Pita
You need:
5 pieces of Pita bread
(Best pita is is the Indian Nunn or Naan bread that has some oil and won't come apart during cooking
Naan in Farsi is the word for bread)
4 tablespoon on tomato paste
Pinch on dried basil or 15 leave of fresh basil chopped
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
Mozzarella cheese (sliced from the block or shredded)
How to make it:
Add water to the tomato paste enough to make it as thick as yogurt or ketchup
Add garlic powder, dried or fresh basils
Spread the above sauce mixture evenly on the pita bread
Cover with the cheese
Add toppings: Peperoni, ham, bell-pepper, mushroom, onions, olives, feta cheese... Etc.
(make meat and vegetable pizzas separately and make one combination)
Add more cheese on the top
Preheat oven on 400 f
bake pizza for 8-10 minutes until cheese start bubbling
Take the pizza out and let stand for 2 minutes
Cut and slice according to your serving style and place on a plate
Enjoy!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Persian Pickled Vegetables (Torshi)
Ingredients:
(Makes about 10 jars, about 10-15 pounds)
1 stack of celary
1 head of cauliflower
6-8 medium carrots
4 large onions
2 whole eggplants
2 green bell pepper
2 red bell pepper
10-15 cloves of garlic
1 bunch parsley washed and dried
1 bunch cilantro
1 fistful of dried savory leaves
2 tablespoon dried mint
1 gallon of red wine vinegar
5-6 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon of Persian hog weed (angelica) powder
1 tablespoon of black sesame seeds (optional)
1 teaspoon of red hot crushed pepper
How to make it:
Chop all vegetables into small pieces
Chop the parsley and cilantro leaves
In a large pot pure the vinegar and add salt and let boil
Cut the eggplants with the skin on into small pieces
Add the eggplants to the vinegar in the pot
In a large bucket mix all chopped vegetables adding all the rest of the ingredients
When the eggplants get soft in the vinegar remove the pot from the heat and pure the whole thing (eggplants and the liquid) into the vegetable bucket
Mix well with a long wooden spoon
Pure into jars before the mixture gets cold. Put the lid on the jars tightly
Leave the jars in room temperature for an hour or so
Transfer the jars to the refrigerator (This will make your Torshi Pasteurized!)
After one day you may store the jars in room temperature for the Torshi gets ready faster. You can store in a refrigerator if you don't want to eat the Torshi before 2-3 weeks
This can be aged for as many as 2 or 3 years for a stronger flavor
Use as pickle or condiments on the side of your favorite food
Enjoy!