Mar 21 2011

Chopan Kabob House – Afghan Cuisine

A few months back during one of my co-op cooking classes, a few people at my table mentioned that there were some great Afghan restaurants in Elk Grove. I scribbled down the name of one and then forgot all about it until a colleague invited me to lunch this past Friday. He asked if I’d be up for trying Afghan food. I’m always up for an adventure, so I happily accepted.

I met my friend Chris at Chopan Kabob House. It’s a family owned restaurant that has been around for years. We were the only guests in the restaurant, so it was a nice opportunity to meet the owners, embrace my inner food blogger and relax with great food and conversation.

I opened the menu and pretty much let Chris pick what we were going to eat since he was familiar with the food.

My concern was that I am pretty light weight when it comes to spicy food. The smells coming from the kitchen made me think the food was going to be too spicy, but Chris assured me that it was not.

The restaurant is pretty small with less than 15 tables. They have a small raised area so you can dine on the floor with pillows – we opted for a window table so I could have decent lighting. I think it would be fun to sit in the raised area next time.

We started off with a basket of warm naan with a coriander and vinegar dipping sauce – I’m sure there were other things in the sauce, I just failed to ask.

I honestly could have eaten several baskets of naan as my meal. Next up was the Pikowra – mixed vegetables tossed in a flour based batter and fried to perfection. Vegetable fritters = YUM!

I probably should have asked what was in the sauce, but I just went for it. I tasted cilantro and vinaigrette, but not sure what other spices were used. It had some heat with a little zing!

We ordered the Shami Kabob – Ground beef and mixed spices cooked over an open fire.

We also ordered the Chicken Kabob so we could split both (Cubes of chicken marinated and charbroiled to perfection.)

Both came with salad and rice. The dressing was yogurt based with cucumber, mint and spices.

The chicken was really moist and flavorful. I had an entire “to go” box of leftovers for lunch the next day. Yelp people/reviews complained about the prices, but I honestly felt that they were pretty fair for what you got. Lunch specials would be nice, but the $10.99 price was comparable to the cost of a sushi lunch or soup and salad at other restaurants.

Next time I’d like to try the Qabuli (Basmati brown rice cooked with chicken, topped with cooked carrots and sweet onions), Mantoo (Dumplings stuffed with ground beef and onions, topped with mixed vegetables, tomato sauce and yogurt), and Mashawa soup (Lentils, beans, meatballs, spices and yogurt.)

I will be adding this restaurant to my rotation of non-chain restaurants for sure. Chris also recommended a Moroccan restaurant for our next adventure – looking forward to that.

Are you a fan of Afghan Cuisine?

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=3928

Mar 17 2011

Happy St. Patrick’s Day + Some Grubbin’

I grew up with my Mom making corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. I get that it is an American tradition and that there are Irish people laughing at us on this day… but it was my family tradition and I loved it. Dan is not a fan of corned beef. No biggie, I decided to create my own tradition several years back. Corned beef sandwiches – he gets turkey. This year I switched it up a bit.

I was looking online for turkey panini recipes andI found a couple for corned beef – mostly on rye bread with a Reuben flare. I did not want to be buying two kinds of bread, etc. and I’m not a fan of sauerkraut or Swiss cheese.  I found a recipe a few years back for a corned beef sandwich and then this year I found another online for a Corned Beef, Apple, Brie Panini with Whisky Glazed Onion Mayo – SIGN ME UP!  Again, the recipe called for a different kind of bread. I decided to follow the recipe, but used the baguettes I already had and better whisky ;).

The Panini Ingredients:
1 Baguette
1/4 Pound Deli Sliced Corned Beef
Sliced Brie Cheese – they suggested goat brie, I only had regular brie
1/2 Granny Smith Apple – thinly sliced – some for the sandwich, some eaten as a snack while making the sandwich

Whisky Glazed Onion Mayo Ingredients:
1.5 Cups Yellow Onion – thinly sliced into half moon shapes
1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
1 Teaspoon Brown Sugar – I used a heaping teaspoon
1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/8 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Ounce Maker’s Mark Whisky – they used 2 ounces of Jack Daniels
1 Cup Good Quality Mayo – I just used good ol’ Best Foods.

Whisky Glazed Onion Mayo Directions:
Preheat pan to medium/high heat. Melt butter and then add onions, brown sugar, salt and pepper.

Cook onions until they shrink to half their size. When the pan is almost dry…

… add the whisky and reduce heat to low. Cook onions, stirring frequently, until golden brown, and most of the liquid has evaporated. Let me just say that I will be making these onions for everything – burgers, steaks…OMG, they were screamin’ good!

Once the onions have cooled a bit – rough chop and then add them to the mayo.

The recipe said you could store the mayo in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Panini Prep:

Thinly slice your granny smith apple and brie cheese.

Slice your baguette and start building your sandwich.

I put the brie on one side and the whisky glazed mayo on the other side of the bread. I then layered my apples and corned beef on the mayo side. I ground some pepper on top of everything, closed it up and then cooked it on my wannabe panini press…

My George Foreman Grill came through like a champ. I set it for 5 minutes, but the sandwich was done in 4. Just apply slight pressure, if you push too hard, everything will ooze out the sides and you will have melted cheese everywhere. Been there, done that.

Is that not the most beautiful sandwich? Perfectly crisped/grilled and ready to eat. If you don’t eat meat, this sandwich would taste good as a gourmet grilled cheese – just leave out the corned beef. The cheese, apple, whisky onion combo would be excellent by itself.

I liked it so much, I will be having it AGAIN tonight – on St. Patrick’s Day. This would be the perfect meal for leftover corned beef. If you’ve got your crock-pot going today, make sure you set some corned beef aside to give this a try. I picked up some purple and green cabbage, I plan on making a slaw for tonight as well.

I could not stop at the sandwich alone… had to make a festive dessert as well.

Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes (box mix) with a mint frosting (regular butter cream recipe with mint extract and food coloring added)

The plan is to bring them to work… that is if they make it out of the house.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the Foodiddy household… What are your plans for today/tonight? Any St. Patrick’s Day traditions in your family?

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=3898

Mar 15 2011

I’d like the pearled couscous please…

Cooking has definitely been about “quick and easy” the past couple of weeks. Weekends have been filled with house stuff and it has left me little to no time for meal prep, cooking, and blogging. I’m hoping this weekend will lend itself to getting caught up in the kitchen and on the blog. I did make a little progress… I sat on the couch last night with a stack of cooking magazines and cookbooks and planned some weekly meal options.

I did manage to cook up a pantry/freezer inspired couscous dish for lunches this week.

The Ingredients:
1 Box Near East Pearled Couscous – Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil flavor
Trader Joe’s Balsamic Glazed Grilled Sweet Onions – from the freezer section
1 Cup Red Grape Tomatoes – I had frozen a huge gallon Ziploc bag full
1 Can Reese Quartered Artichoke Hearts – I prefer TJ’s frozen, but I had the can on hand
Juice and Zest from 1/2 Lemon
Fresh Thyme – 5-6 sprigs – removed from stems
Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley – a handful – chopped
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3-4 Shakes Garlic Gold Nuggets
Sea Salt and Ground Pepper to taste

Directions:

Follow the instructions on the box of couscous – add one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and couscous to water and bring to a boil.

I started on my mix-ins while my pot of couscous came to a rapid boil.

This was my first time using the Trader Joe’s frozen balsamic glazed grilled sweet onions (say that 10 x’s) and I was a little disappointed in the inconsistency with the size of the onions. There were HUGE chunks mixed in with tiny pieces – I threw a handful into the pan to heat them up, then I had to chop them into more uniform sizes.

I left them rather chunky – next time, I will just cook my own red onions. I then added the tomatoes in with the onions. I had some of the tomatoes mush into a sauce consistency after heating, guessing that was due to too much liquid, but I was happy with the end results.

My couscous progressed to the point of adding the spice packet – I did that and then let things simmer on medium heat for another 5-6 minutes.

I added the artichoke hearts – I ended up using about 3/4 of the can – I stored the rest in the fridge for salads. I then added the fresh thyme and flat leaf parsley and continued cooking things over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes.

I created a drizzle sauce of 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, the juice and zest from 1/2 a lemon, a pinch of sea salt, ground pepper and several shakes of my beloved garlic gold nuggets.

I drizzled the lemon and olive oil over the top of my dish and then added more freshly grated lemon zest.

I loved the dish. Pretty cool to quickly create something from pantry and freezer items. Next time I might make this as a side dish to grilled chicken or shrimp. I think it would also taste great as a chilled salad for summer months.

Question: Have you tried any good couscous combinations? What are your thoughts on pearled vs. regular couscous?

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=3859