The Kitchen of Belis

Okra is one of my family's favorite summertime vegetables. Having home-made Okra Stew has always been something that I would look forward to after spending the day on the beach by our summer house. Somehow, I associate okra with those days.

Luckily, okra is available all year around. I particularly like dried okra (see the picture below). Frozen ones work well too. Fresh would be the best of course, but I do not like the enormous ones grown here in the US.

Okra had a huge presence in the history of "Ottoman cuisine" or "palace dishes". Stuffed Okra especially was most prominent in ancient Ottoman cuisine.

Ingredients

2 handful of okra (I use dried okra)
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup of safflower oil
1 spoon full of tomato paste
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 table spoon pomegranate sour (grenadine syrup)
1 cup of boiled garbanzo beans
Juice of one lemon
Salt and paprika to taste

If you are using dried okra boil for 20 minutes and then drain (but keep the water). Saute onions in oil until tender. Add tomato paste and stir. Add chopped tomatoes and garlic and cook for five minutes. Add okra and garbanzo beans. Add boiling water till it covers the top of the mixture. Taste with salt and pomegranate sour. Cook for 30 to 45 minutes. Later, add lemon juice and cover the top and let it rest for 15minutes.

Goes well with rice.

Quesadillas... I was having a quesadilla craving. However, I have been so bored with predictable restaurant-style, cheese filled grease bags you get in most places. Don't the Mexican restaurant cooks know that one doesn't need to be limited with creativity when it comes to making quesadilla? Enough is enough and I decided to make my own :)





Ingredients

15-20 pieces of medium size shiitake mushrooms
15-20 pearl onions in halves (you can use sliced yellow onions too)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed by using the flat side of your knife and coarsely chopped
2 Anaheim peppers seeded, chopped
1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped (TJ's Roasted Bell Peppers work just fine)
Your choice of shredded cheese (mine is Mexican-style soy cheese)
1 TBS tomato paste
2 TBS safflower oil
1/2 TBS of Mexican seasoning of your choice
Salt and pepper to taste
Water to moisten, about 1/4 of a cup
Whole wheat tortilla wraps

Heat the oil in a medium-size pan, on medium heat. Add onions. When onions start turning pink, add garlic and cook for about a minute. Add mushrooms and cook an additional three minutes. Then add anaheim bell peppers. Add your seasoning. Once you feel like you need to add more oil, add your water. Water in this case is a great substitute to oil and keeps the dish healthier. Mix in the tomato paste. Add salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add roasted red peppers. This will be your filling.

Warm the press grill. Warm up the tortilla wraps. Cover one wrap with the filling add cheese and place another one on top. Press cook for about three minutes until the wraps start to blister.

Cut in fours and serve warm.

If you do not have a press grill, that's OK. You can use a tortilla wrap size pan and press with a heat resistant plate.

I was admiring my spice collection today. I've got so many different types of spices, lined up in alphabetical order, waiting to be useful. When I say useful, it is from the perspective of not only adding flavor to our food, but also in aiding our metabolism. So, I wanted to put my spices to work in a curry dish.

Curry Spice Mix:

• 1 TSP ground cumin (stimulant - increases awareness and alertness, carminative - protects intestines, antimicrobial - kills microbes in the body!!)



• 1 TSP ground coriander (protects us from anxiety, acts as a digestive aid)
  


• 1/2 TSP turmeric (acts as an antibacterial agent and contains fluoride which is good for our teeth)



• 1/8 TSP cayenne (relieves pain)



• 1/8 TSP ground cinnamon (cures colds and digestive system problems)



• 1/8 TSP ground cloves (carminative)
  

So, home-made curry can only do you good! Here is what you need to do to make this into a delicious meal:

In a large skillet, heat coconut oil and add the chopped onions and minced garlic. Once the onions are pink and tender add tomatos, v-stock, curry mixture and salt. Bring to boil and then add your veggies. After veggies are about to be cooked, add raisins. Then, when the veggies are done add the lemon juice.

You do not have to use vegetables for this dish. You can also make this with a leg of lamb. Dress the lamb with the curry seasoning and start cooking the mixture. Then, add garlic and onions, the v-stock and raisins. This will give the dish a Moroccan style flavoring. It will be awesome.