Around the World Part II!

I sense that May will not be a good food month. We have so many social obligations and dates out that my poor kitchen might get dusty! Plus I'm trying to extra be healthy when we are home so there are lots of salads! For example after our eat-fest last weekend in Syracuse we came home and had dinner out with friends Sunday to celebrate our engagement. Monday I wanted to detox and I made a huge salad and served it with Grandma's homemade applesauce. Tuesday Mr. Lawyer took me out to Rose Tattoo for an early anniversary dinner, Wednesday Amanda came over and we made mussels, tonight is Brad's graduation dinner, Friday will probably be a salad night, and then Saturday is a baseball game and Sunday is Mother Day's Brunch. Yikes!

I told them to smile and this is what I get. *sighs*

Do you remember when Amanda and I started doing our "Eating Around the World?" It seems we're much better about eating out than cooking it ourselves! Plus with both of our busy schedules planning a meal has been a disaster. Last night we finally got back on track! Way back in November we did Zorba's and made some greek food. A little bit ago we went to the Belgium Cafe (one of our favorite places!) and had some delicious mussels. Last night we finally got to make some! Mr. Lawyer and I had made these once in Syracuse with our friend Dave and they were super simple. Plus mussels are surprisingly cheap. This recipe highlights the mussels and is not as intricate as the Belgium Cafe's mussels. They have some crazy and amazing flavor combinations. One of my favorites is their Bloody Mary Mussels which you can only get for brunch. Next up: Thai! Because we already went out for it!

Mariniere Mussel Pot

(From Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded (make sure to pick out any broken or open ones!)
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup dry white wine, or Belgian beer
1 bay leaf, preferably fresh
1 small Spanish onion, thinly sliced
1 rib celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Directions:
1. Place mussels in a large pot. Add 1 1/2 cups water. Cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. With water boiling, steam for 3 minutes. 

2. Add wine and bay leaf. Steam for 3 minutes longer. 

3. Add onion and celery, and steam until all the mussels open, about 1 minute longer. Remove from heat, and add butter; toss until butter melts. Transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve immediately.

Around the World!

Amanda and I have started a new adventure, we're going to start eating and cooking our way around the world! Each month we are going to pick a different country/culture/region and find a restaurant that specializes in that food. After eating at the restaurant we schedule a second date to attempt make a dish inspired by our restaurant visit. The only rule is if we have eaten that type of food before, we have to try a new dish. For example: when we go to a Thai restaurant I am not allowed to order Pad Thai because it's my favorite and I've had it a bazillion times.
For November we decided on Greek and went to Zorba's in Fairmount.  We got a sampler platter of various dips (delicious!), a sampler of charcoal grilled meats (mostly good, not a huge lamb fan), and a stuffed eggplant dish (yummy!). We decided to recreate the eggplant dish, called Imam Bayildi on our own. We did not do a very good job. Our dish was fine but it felt like it was lacking a certain layer of flavors. The feta cheese was a life saver and added a nice pop of flavor. Oh well, in the very least Mr. Lawyer and I have had many veggies this week! We've had two vegetarian dishes, eggs and veggies, and veggies with fish. Oh so healthy!

Imam Bayildi

Ingredients:
2 medium to large eggplants
1 large onion (white or yellow)
4 garlic cloves
Olive oil (for sautéing)
5-6 tomatoes
Juice of 1 lemon
1-2 tablespoons white sugar
1 can of pureed tomatoes
1-2 T tomato paste (to thicken sauce if needed)
Salt/Pepper to taste
Feta for sprinkling
Directions:
1. Chop onion and sauté in large pan until transluscent. Add garlic to pan for an additional minute or so. Remove onion and garlic from pan and add to bowl of chopped tomatoes.
2. Take both eggplants and slice down middle, scoop out a little of the flesh to make them easier to stuff.
3. In a bowl mix tomato puree, lemon juice and sugar.
4. Put eggplants skin down back into large sauté pan. Stuff with tomato, onions and garlic. Pour the tomato puree/lemon/sugar mixture on top.
5. Cover pan w/ lid and simmer on top of stove for 45 minutes.
6. After 45 minutes, remove lid and let simmer for an additional 15 minutes until eggplant is extremely tender. Add tomato paste if you’d like sauce to be thicker.
7. Before serving, sprinkle with feta!

Holy Moley! That's a lot of eggplant.