Sahlab Breakfast

Sahlab comes from the Turkish word Salep which translates to Orchis Mascula. It is an extract of the roots of orchids and has a distinct flavour that is difficult to describe. This is added to milk, sugar and cornstarch and cooked until it becomes a very light pudding (or thickened milk). It is served hot, sprinkled with cinnamon and sipped like steamed milk.

Sahlab today was served with Foul - fava beans mixed in an olive oil-lemon-garlic sauce. A breakfast that is not for everyone given distinct flavours and textures, but definitely one of my favourites. If you are in the somerville neighbourhood one weekend morning and feeling adventurous, drop by; I can have this breakfast ready in 30 minutes.





 

In Stepho's With No Line Up

Almost all Vancouverites have seen the line ups to get into Stepho's on Davie Street. I have been seeing them since I moved to the city in 1992!

But there is a trick to beat those line ups - show up on a rainy weekday at 11:30 am and you are in with a choice of tables, including a window one.

Platters are huge and cheap. It may not be the best tasting Greek food in town, but definitely worth the money and the experience.

Lunch included their famous baked leg of lamb and fried fish. We may have fared better with the souvlakis. 

P.S. You can also beat lining up by calling in for pick up!

Stepho's Greek Taverna

1124 Davie Street

Vancouver, BC

Fancy Midwest Dinner in St. Louis

This is by far my luckiest eating on the road week. After yesterday's Sun in San Fran lunch, my body had a system shock with St. Louis' -10 degrees temperatures. There was no way to venture out of the hotel in my Vancouver style attire, so room service was the only option.  I chose the meal based on the fancy dish names; who knew they would also look and taste so fancy...

Charlotte's House Salad

Baby field greens, granny smith apples, fresh raspberries (they tasted fresh), crumbled blue cheese, roasted walnuts and a freshly made raspberry vinaigrette.

Chicken Fricassee

Sauteed chicken breasts pieces with mushrooms, asparagus, pearl onions, spatzle and sage cream gravy. What a great combo, I should try replicating one day.

 

Sun in San Fran

Once in a while, eating on the road can be fun and I am glad this week was one of those times.

As most of the continent was covered in snow and living in below freezing temperatures, including Vancouver, I was taking a lunch break in the sun at the il Cafe in the vibrant San Francisco Union Square. 



Lunch was a toasted prosciutto and brie baguette with olive oil instead of butter and a delicious freshly squeezed orange juice.

And everyone knows I cannot resist a fancy sweet - a Svedese, described on the menu as preserve cookie with almond paste and apricot filling. It sure preserved my sanity on a long business trip.

Emporio Rulli - il Cafe at Union Square

255 Stockton Street (on top of the Square)

San Francisco, California

 

Hello 2011 Winners, One More Prize Waiting...

Congratulations to the first two winners of the Hello 2011 contest - two most interesting individuals who became both public followers of somerville kitchen blog and friends of somerville kitchen on Facebook. The sweetest part of this contest is that the two winners, who today live 1199.60 KM apart, are best friends since they were six years old. Pictures of these winners at age 10 are on my somerville kitchen Facebook wall.

Each won two bags of Shaktea teas of their choice, which included (from left to right in picture):
- Sliver Needles White Tea
- Jasmine Pearls Green Scented Tea
- Phoenix Mountain Oolong
- Five O'clock Blend Black Tea

More on the teas at www.shaktea.ca

All other readers, there is still one prize in this contest waiting for the first person who becomes both a friend of somerville kitchen on Facebook and a public follower of this blog. If you are currently one or the other, all you have to do is be on both. Teas for the winner can be shipped anywhere in the world. More details at Hello 2011 entry.

The World In Your Kitchen - January

I found this calendar at The Travel Bug on Broadway Street in Vancouver. It includes a vegetarian recipe from a different country each month. I will be trying each monthly and featuring the recipes here throughout the year.

 The Travel Bug

3065 West Broadway

Vancouver, BC

www.travelbugbooks.ca

January's recipe is Gallo Pinto from Nicaragua. These are rice and beans tortillas that are eaten daily in Nicaragua either at home or as street fare. Gallo Pinto means speckled rooster given resemblance of the look of the dish.


The recipe is easy to make and here it is, directly from the calendar. Enjoy.

Melange de Mehshi

The word Mehshi means stuffed in Arabic. In food context, Mehshi refers mainly to stuffed vine leaves and/or zucchini (please see Mehshi Warak, Sheikh el Mehshi, and Mehshi in Yogurt). Tonight was yet another variation on Mehshi.

Specifically, rather than stuffing all the vine leaves with meat and rice, some were made vegetarian style with rice, pine nuts, onions and tomatoes (parsley would have been a good addition too but the jardin parsley was all frozen tonight). In others, I replaced pine nuts with chick peas.

Zucchinis were added to the mix, stuffed with meat and rice. But rather than being cooked in tomato or yogurt sauce, they were cooked in lemon sauce along with the vine leaves.

The insides of those zucchinis were not wasted but cooked on low heat with chopped onions, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil - makes for a delicious appetizer.

The outcome was lots of Mehshi (I should have had a contest with the winner joining for dinner!).