Kusherie: Egyptian Street Fare

Kusherie, a dish popular in Egypt, is probably one of my favourite things to eat.

I was introduced to it several years back at a little restaurant in Toronto.

I always promised myself I wouldn't try to make it at home so it would still feel special to eat it when we went out.

That promise was broken today. 

My friend, Laurie, got me onto this cookbook called More with Less; such a good cookbook.

It's a Mennonite cookbook that emphasizes eating more grains and vegetables, less sugar and all for less money.

Carolyn Yoder from Egypt  offers this recipe for Kushari and when I saw it I resisted the urge to make it no longer.(This is terrible, but it never occurred to me that there might be Mennonites in Cairo?)

It was exactly right and just how I hoped it would taste.

A flavourful bed of rice and lentils that's topped with a spicy-sweet tomato sauce and caramelized onions.

Perfect.

I throw a couple meatballs on top of the kids kusherie in place of the caramelized onions.

A big green salad with house dressing goes well with kushari.

This tomato herb salad dressing is beautiful with the main course.

*No meal prep would be quite complete without my right hand man and mini-chef, Jimmy*

Kusherie (Kusharee)

adapted from More with Less Cookbook 

2 Tbsp oil

1 1/4 C brown lentils, rinsed

4 C stock, hot

1 tsp salt

dash pepper

1 1/2 C rice (I used white basmati)

3 small tins tomato paste

3 C tomato juice, pureed tomato, or tomato sauce (I used 2 cans of V8)

1 green pepper, chopped small

1 handful celery leaves, chopped

1 T honey, sugar or maple syrup

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

big pinch chili flakes

2Tbsp oil

3 onions, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

Heat oil over med heat in a large sauce pan and add lentils and cook 5 minutes.

Stir often.

Add 3 C stock, salt and pepper.

Cook uncovered 10 minutes.

Stir in rice and remaining 1 C stock.

Bring to a boil and cover simmering until cooked, about 10-15 minutes.

In a medium sauce pan, heat tomato paste, V8, green pepper, celery leaves, honey, salt, cumin and chili flakes.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 20-30 mins.

In a small skillet heat oil and add onions, garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper and sautee on med-low  until brown.

To serve, put rice-lentil mixture on a plate, top with tomato sauce and finish with the caramelized onions.

House Dressing

1/3 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/3 C Red Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp honey or brown sugar

1 Tbsp tomato paste (I used the Kusharee tomato sauce) 

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp each basil and oregano, dried

1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

pinch pepper

pinch salt

 Shake all ingredients together in a mason jar.

Roasted Tomato Meatball Soup

Every Wednesday I make soup.

We have soup because Wednesday nights are busy, soup is fast and it having a 'soup night' takes some of the guess work out of what to make for dinner.

This past Wednesday's soup was particularly good.
It is an oven roasted tomato and red pepper puree with tons of mini meatballs thrown in.

Pretty simple but really different than most of the other soups I make.

I added about a cup of cooked rice and balsamic vinegar right at the end.

It's a most filling soup. I served it with naan and some of Shaida's delicious yogurt.

Roasted Tomato Meatball Soup 
(Eat Shrink and Be Merry Cookbook)

2 Cans San Marzano Tomatoes, drained (I kept the juice and cooked it down for tomato paste) or 8 roma tomatoes chopped
2 large red bell peppers, coarsely chopped
1 large red onion, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme

 2 cups beef broth
1 can V8 juice
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped or (2 tsp dried)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 C cooked rice, optional
salt, pepper- to taste

 Meatballs:

1lb extra-lean ground beef
1 chopped green onion
1/4 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/2 tsp each thyme and oregano
salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 450.

Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper and, on it, toss together tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, oil and herbs.
Roast in a single layer for 15 minutes. 
Stir and turn oven onto broiler. Broil veggies for another 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, prepare the meatballs. Combine all meatball ingredients and mix well. Form 48 mini meatballs. 
Remove veg from oven. Transfer the veg to a soup pot, add stock and blend with an immersion blender until well pureed. (or puree in a blender half at a time with 1 C stock each time) Add the rest of the soup ingredients.

Bring soup to a boil. Add meatballs. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until meatballs are cooked through - from 5 to 10 minutes.

Wild Leek Stir-fry

A few years ago, my sister Julia moved to Bancroft and started telling me about wild leeks.

Wild leeks, though technically not poisonous when eaten raw, make you smell so bad that the stench actually comes through your pores.

Wild leeks cooked, on the other hand, are sweet and delicious; especially when stir fried with some peppers, ginger and chicken.

I didn't have a scrap of this left over, everyone devoured it!

Wild Leek Stir Fry with Peppers and Chicken
(adapted from Canadian Living Magazine; May 2009)
Serves 4


1/4 C sodium-reduced soy sauce
1 tbsp  cornstarch
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp grated gingerroot
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb ground chicken
4 oz  wild leeks (about 30)
2 bell peppers, I used red and yellow, sliced into strips
2 Tbsp oil
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 tsp (5 mL) sesame oil

In bowl, whisk together soy sauce, cornstarch, vinegar, garlic, ginger and pepper. Set aside.

Meanwhile, separate green and white parts of leeks; halve white parts lengthwise and cut leaves in half diagonally. Set green and white parts aside separately.

In large frying pan, heat oil over high heat; stir-fry chicken.  Sprinkle in some pepper flakes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Over high heat; stir-fry white parts of leeks and the peppers.  Return chicken and green parts of leeks to wok; stir-fry for 1 minute. Add sauce and a few Tbsp of  water or chicken stalk.
Stir until greens are limp.

Serve over rice with additional soy sauce if you want it.

"We love vile leaves." ~Jibs

Curried Shrimp

We love shimp.

I thought Ina's Garlic Shrimp Scampi was my favourite way to eat it until I tried this.

This curry is so easy and, because shrimp cooks so quickly, it's ready in no time.

I know I've said it before, but in a recipe like this it will really pay to use a nice curry powder. I used Arvinda's here.

So to make this, you totally throw everything in a big frying pan, cook and finish with a huge squeeze of lime and a swirl of plain yogurt. Done.

Serve it over rice.

I threw some finely sliced green beans in at the end, but small green peas would be even better.

Curried Shrimp

(adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food Cookbook)

Serves at least 4

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 large onion finely chopped, or thinly sliced

pinch cayenne

Coarse Salt

2 Tbsp Tomato paste

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained

2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp heaped, ground ginger

Fresh pepper

1 1/2 C fish or vegetable stock

1.5 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 C chopped green beans or frozen peas

1/4 C plain yogurt (or sour cream)

1 lime, juiced (plus extra wedges for the table)

Cooked basmati or jasmine rice

1. Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add onion 1/2 tsp salt and pinch of cayenne.

Cook 3-5 mins or until onion is soft. Add tomato paste, curry powder, ginger and a few times round with the pepper mill. Cook breaking up the tomato paste and stirring around the spices until fragrant, about 1 minute.

2. Add tomatoes and stock. Cook 5 minutes. Add shrimp, cook until pink and opaque. Remove from heat. Add peas.

3. Squeeze the lime over the top and add the yogurt. Stir again. Serve over rice with extra wedges of lime for the citrus fiends like me.

Vegetable Fried Rice

Perfect fried rice. We all love it.

We couldn't keep out of it tonight. The fresh and slightly crisp vegetables sit on top of perfectly flavoured rice. Eventually Jib ate the dinner by the fist full.

I wanted to keep it simple and vegetarian tonight but chicken, beef, pork or shrimp would be easy to add and a welcome addition.

Vegetable Fried Rice

(adapted from Real Simple magazine)

1 1/2 cups brown or white rice

3/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar, honey or agave

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

1 tbsp canola oil

2 carrots, matchstick-size strips

2 cups snow peas, cut into thirds

2 cups bean sprouts

4 scallions, thinly sliced

4 large eggs, beaten

Cook the rice.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, honey, vinegar, and ginger.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add the snow peas, bean sprouts, and 3 tablespoons of the soy sauce mixture.

Cook, stirring, until slightly tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Return the skillet to medium heat. Add the cooked rice, scallions, and the remaining soy sauce mixture.

Cook until just heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Push the rice toward the side and pour the eggs into the center.

Scramble with a spatula until set then stir in the rice.

Top with the vegetables and serve.