Za'tar

Good Morning:

I think fall is finally upon us with the cool breeze here today. My computer faces a window and the cool breeze and bright sunshine facing me promises today is going to be a gorgeous day in the Big Apple today.

I am letting you guys in on one of the secrets of my new spice blends. Global Tastes & Travels' Middle Eastern Gourmet Spice Blend is a gourmet mix of all those flavors that we associate with Middle Eastern food like garlic, cumin, parlsey and many other herbs and spices, but I am letting you in on the secret ingredient that gives it that special umph - Za'tar. Za'tar is used all over the Middle East from Lebanon and Turkey to Palestine and Israel. Although individual country recipes vary, the basics in them all is thyme, sumac, parlsey and sesame seeds.

The addition of Za'tar gives an almost lemony taste to food it is seasoned with, plus all of the other herbs adds zest to your food.

As with all my spice blends, they are 100% sodium free so they are a great way to season food for individuals on restricted diets.


Chef Mireille
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Ode to Chile

After that really serious blog post, I had to follow up with something lighter

If you can make it, try not to miss the The 15th Annual Chile Pepper Fiesta - It should be a day of fun on Sunday, 12pm-6pm at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

There wiill be music (including a Caribbean steel pan band), cooking demos, food tastings, workshops, movie screenings and more!

A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!!!

You might see me there!


Chef Mireille
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How Things Change, How They Stay the Same

Good Afternoon Everyone:

Although I do not usually blog about socio-political issues, they seem to be coming at me from all angles and since I have now become a blogger, I feel the need to write about them.

I may be opening a bag of worms by starting this discussion expecially with me launching a new business, but I also think it is important to speak what you believe. Some may agree and some may disagree, but at least you know I stand by my convictions.

Depending who you ask, you will get very different answers about whether racisim still exists here in America. Well, I am a person of color and it does. Now, I am not one of those ultra-sensitive individuals who believe everything is about race - from job promotions, to dates, to college admissions to service in stores. Many times it is, but sometimes it is not.

I had a somwhat sheltered childhood due to two very loving parents so racism was not an issue I had to deal with on a regular basis when I was a child. The only thing I did notice was that whenever we went to a Broadway show and many of the restaurants and cultural activities my parents took us to, we were the only people of color most of the time. Whether people thought we belonged there or not, I'll never know. New York, being up North, and open racisim not being socially accepted here, I never felt as though I did not belong at any of these activities.
Racisim has to be very open and pretty much punching me in the face for me to be aware of it. Some may say that is a very bad thing, but since I do not notice it, I also do not spend time and energy getting upset about the ignorance of people whose minds I probably could never change. I just live my life and work hard to try to be successful doing the work I love to do and forming meaningful personal relationships with the people in my life by being a caring friend.

Open racism seems to be everywhere now. I think for a long time many people thought we were moving beyond racisim and only a small minority still held these colonial views. Now, with the press being so open and more moderate people of color being in the political arena as well as media, people have again felt the freedom to express their opinions. Also, there are so many more platforms to express opinions today - from radio and tv, to websites and blogs - we, as a a nation, are expressing our opinions on everything from the most mundane to the future of our country.

Now there is the Jena 6 and Bill O'Reilly's complete and utter amazement that a black run dining establishment, Sylvia's in Harlem, operated no differently than a white eating establishment. What did he expect? I am very aware of these issues at the moment because I happen to be reading Steve Biko's biography. For those of you who might not have heard of him, he is a Black Consciousness freedom fighter who lost his life in the struggle to end apartheid in his country of South Africa, long before Nelson Mandela was released from Robben Island.
And let's not forget Don Imus.

What do we have to do to end the indoctrinated racism that still exists in our country and many parts of the world today? Even variations of skin color within the same race are not accepted in many societies. My mother just came from China visiting my cousin and his Chinese wife, who has a slight olive complexion and is considered dark and undesirable in Chinese society. Everyone there was carrying umbrellas in the sun, so afraid of getting a little color on their skin and everywhere they went, people stared at them. And the same problem exists in India. All of the Bollywood actresses are light skinned and most of the Indian people in the lower economic strata happen to be dark skinned as well.

I am beginning to lose hope in the dream that one day "we will live in a nation where... will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character". We all are more than happy to accept the day off of work that some of us receive to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. but I think the way to honor his legacy is to contribute in whatever way you can, by helping his dream come to fruition and ending racisim.


Chef Mireille
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Global Tastes & Travels Inc. Preview

Greetings:

To all of my customers - Here is a preview of International gourmet spices and blended teas available to you at an introductory price. Do not miss this new product line!

It is here!Global Tastes & Travels Inc. is here and we plan to grow in many areas to provide you with culinary tools and travels to enhance your culinary experiences.

Our first endeavor is providing you with quality, gourmet International spice blends and blended teas.The official website and launch will take place on October 12th. Until then, I am giving you all the opportunity to order in advance at an introductory price WITH NO SALES TAX and FREE samples.

For more details, please visit the temporary website at globaltastes.mysite.comI will be giving you all detailed information about the different products in this blog. So please check this blog daily or SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss the detailed product descriptions, until the official website launches on the 12th!


Chef Mireille
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Figs Everywhere

Yesterday as I was walking around Manhattan, I was noticing figs everywhere. All of the Indian fruit vendors have them on their stands. Figs have become the "en vogue" fruit. With the popularity of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food at an all time high, the fig has landed with reckless abandon everywhere - even in my local Shoprite supermarket in Brooklyn. I no longer have to schlep all over town to some super expensive gourmet supermarket to find a fig - now they are everywhere and I am loving it.

For the Caribbeans out there, I am not referring to the baby bananas that West Indians call fig or more appropriately spelled figue. The fig is the fruit that is used in Fig Newtons. Now I know everyone knows what a fig newton is. But fig newtons use dried figs and in years past, dried figs were all you were able to find. This rampant availability of the fresh fig is a new phenomenon. If you have not tried a fresh fig, you must go out and buy one NOW. They are not the seedy, grainy dried fig that you may not like. A fresh fig is a refreshing, sweet fruit that is delicious on a warm sunny day, like the Indian summer we are having today in NY. They are one of the most popular fruits eaten in the Middle Eastern desert countries. They are light and refreshing with a high amount of potassium to give you the energy to cope with the heat.

The fig is native to Western Asia, but was transported successfully to the Mediterranean. The fig is a very sturdy plant, able to grow in dry as well as sub tropical climates. In addition to Western Asia and the Mediterranean, figs are grown almost all over the world - from California to Columbia to China to India.

Although some people prefer to peel the fruit, I enjoy it as is. I bite into it as though I am biting into a perfectly ripe peach. Another great condiment now readily available in many supermarkets in fig spread. I first discovered fig spread several years back when I was working at Whole Foods. We used to make a pizza with fig spread, arugula and parmesan. It was one of our most popular pizzas - absolutely delicious! It is great on crostini with some cheese on top - like firm goat cheese or machego!

So go out there and buy those fresh figs and embrace the increasing globalization of the world that is enabling us to have access to all the produce the world has to offer!!


Chef Mireille
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The Art of Spaghetti

I have heard so many myths about the art of perfect pasta that does not stick. To salt or not to salt before - oil or no oil in water.

I am demystifing the art of perfect pasta for you.

First of all, pasta should not be crowded into a small pot. It should be cooked in a large pot, preferable a tall pot, like a stockpot, especially if you are cooking long pasta like spaghetti or linquine. Lots of water should be brought to a rolling boil. Pasta should only be added to the pot AFTER the water is boiling. Plenty of salt should be added to the water at this point. If you wait until after it is cooked to add salt, it simply coats the outside of the pasta, but the seasoning does not get into the pores of the pasta grain. For flavorful pasta that does not even need sauce, salt the water first.

NO OIL. Once you drain the pasta, if the pasta sits it will still stick. The key is to add some olive oil AFTER the pasta has been cooked and drained. This is to only way to keep each piece seperate.

Cook pasta according to package instructions, not a minute more, for perfect al dente pasta and enjoy!


Chef Mireille
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Cheap Eats - Vietnamese

This is my first restaurant recommendation of this blog. As I find good places to eat, I will be letting you know. Please try this restaurant and I appreciate any feedback. Thanks

I had lunch today at a Vietnamese restaurant that you all must try. It is so inexpensive and so delicious. For under $5, you can get huge bowls of rice noodle soup. They have about 25 different varieties with different meats and veg. I had the one with curry chicken. The soup was a spicy curry broth with chicken, potatoes, scallion and cilantro.I also ordered a side order of pork meatballs, which I could not finish because I was so stuffed at that point. If I had know the soup was going to be such a huge portion, I would not have ordered the meatballs.They also have a large number of vegetarian options, so this is a great option for vegetarians.

The place is called Pho Tu Do, at 119 Bowery


Chef Mireille
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Vanilla Roast Braten

What a beautiful sunny day we have today. This weekend I went to a culinary event which I co-hosted featuring the food of Austria.
I have to say I must give credit where it is due and I had underestimated the taste value of Austrian food.

I am not really a sour cream fan. When I go out to eat at Mexican restaurants, I think I am the only person that says please hold the sour cream and guacamole (I don't like avocados either, although I do make a really good guac sauce). When I had seen the menu, I had no intention of trying the sour cream soup, but everyone else was oohing and aahing over it and besides I am a chef - we should be adventurous!. Boy, was I really surprised. It was very mellow without the sharpness of sour cream. The balance of cream and onion and caraway was absolutely delicious.

The next highlight of the evening was Vanilla Roast Braten - no vanilla in it at all. In Austria, garlic is called vanilla. Thin slices of sirloin rubbed with garlic cloves and then pan fried with more garlic and cirspy fried onion rings. Garlic lovers must try this Austrian version of Roast Braten.

This weekend I am going to try some more Austrain food at Cafe Steinhof. I will let you all know how that compares to what I had this past weekend, which was home cooking from an Austrian, but not a trained cook/chef.


Chef Mireille
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Quick Chinese Fish

Good Morning:
I was just watching Ming Na cook homestyle Chinese food on one of Rachel Ray's shows on the Food Network.
Even though I am a trained culinary professional, I am always looking for new ideas and the best way to learn different cuisines is from people who are native to the cuisine. I think you will learn more from any home cook, than you will from a cookbook.

Chinese cooking is great - because it is usually fast and reasonably health when done in authentic ways and not the fast food Chinese we get here in the take out restaurants. My mom is going to China on Monday and I am going to tell her to write down all the cooking tips she notices. My cousin's wife is Chinese and so she will be visiting their family and see how they cook at home.

Back to Ming Na, this is the easiest fish recipe that looked delicious. I can't wait to try it. She took a whole fish. She used striped bass, but any white flesh fish will do. Slice some ginger and place it on top of the fish and then steam the fish for 8 minutes. It should be cooked through by then. Remove the fish from the steamer. In a saucepan, put a little bit of oil and heat it until it boils.
Place the fish only on a plate. Discard the ginger. Drizzle soy sauce and sprinkle a little salt. Add finely chopped scallions on top of the fish and then pour the hot oil. The hot oil will sear the scallions to the fish.

Please try this recipe and let me know how it came out!!!!


Chef Mireille
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More on Mountain Chicken

(Leptodactylus fallax), better known in Dominica as "The Crapaud" or "Mountain Chicken". By adaptation this frog has become unique in the class of Amphybia to which it belongs, animals of this class usually go through a stage where they live in water and breathe by gills before they develop lungs to breathe on land.
Unlike other frogs the tadpole stage of the Crapaud takes place in the egg, this adaptation may be a result of the condition of its natural environment where freshwater wetlands are not in abundance.
Crapauds in Dominica are found mostly on the west coast at elevations under 2000 feet, the frogs which are nocturnal are used extensively for food.


Chef Mireille
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Going to Dominica

Well, I am on my way to Dominica! - Thanks to cheapoair.com and buying the ticket on a Wednesday. Just in case you did not know, purchasing your ticket in the middle of the week as well as departing in the middle of the week will always get you the cheapest fare.
My ticket was $514 the Sunday before I purchased my ticket and went down to $288 by Wednesday.
Back to Dominica, the Nature island of the Caribbean.
No, IT IS NOT THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. And it is is pronounced DOM-I-NEE-KA, not DO-MI-NI-CA .
These are my two pet peeves. Even news journalists pronounce it incorrectly! I wanted to scream everytime I heard a CNN reported mispronounce it during the coverage of Hurricane Dean. You would think CNN could afford to do a little research into the matter!
My grandmother was born in Dominica, in the small fishing village of Pointe Michel. However, this will be my first time visiting Dominica, the nature island of the Caribbean with waterfalls, hot springs, volcanoes and the rainforest. Not to mention the only island that still has about 3000 full blooded Carib Indians. Columbus killed them off in all the other Caribbean islands by bringing over diseases like small pox.
I will be meeting cousins of my grandmother I have never met before. I am so glad to get this opportunity because they are all quite elderly and are not going to be around for much longer.
One of the main reasons I am going is to cover the World Crele Music Festival, an annual event for the last 10 years, showcasing musicians from the Caribbean and Africa. And to top it all off, I will get to experience the Independence Day celebrations on November 3, for the first time.
Now for the interesting part - FOOD - I have heard about Mountain Chicken, Dominica’s national dish. Now I will get to eat it. Mountain Chicken is actually crapaud, a kind of frog native to Dominica. If I like it, I am going to see if I can have some frozen and sneak it into the country. I’ll invite some friends over and we’ll have a Mountain Chicken cookout!
And market day in Roseau, the capital, I have heard is a sight to bestow. All the fresh fruits and vegetables available on one of the most undisturbed islands of the Caribbean, where people still live much the way they have for generations.
Trivia: - Carambola is the name for Starfruit in Dominica.


Chef Mireille
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Recipe to Start With

Hello Everyone:
I started this blog last week on another server and have had problems ever since, so I have now switched to google. The first few posts you see here - I am copying and pasting from that blog before I delete the account.
I started off my blog with this gret Middle Eastern recipe I came up with to complement on article being published next month in South Brooklyn Reader. Here you are getting the recipe, with my complements.
Please try it and let me know what you think. If you can't find any of the ingredients, send me an email and I will help you:


Pistachio Chicken in Fruit Sauce with Green Wheat Pilaf
Serves 4
Chicken1 pound boneless and skinless chicken thighs
Juice of 2 lemons
¼ cup pistachios
¼ cup roasted chickpea flour
1 tablespoon Za’tar (Middle Eastern seasoning mix of thyme, sesame seeds, and other spices)
¼ cup olive oil
¾ cup white wine vinegar
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons Lebne
3 tablespoons honey
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
12 dates, coarsely chopped
10 natural dried apricots, coarsely chopped
Green Wheat
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup onion, chopped
1 cup green wheat (aka frick)
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped

Directions:
Rinse chicken with lemon juice and trim excess fat. For a leaner meal, you can also use chicken breasts.
Using a food processor, chop pistachios for about 2 minutes, until almost completely ground. Add chickpea flour and Za’atar and process until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Empty contents onto a plate.
In a large skillet, heat ¼ cup of the olive oil on high heat. Place each chicken piece in pistachio flour mix and coat evenly on both sides. Place in hot oil and sauté on each side until golden brown. Remove from skillet and set aside.
Reduce the flame to low and slowly pour white wine vinegar into pan. It will boil immediately. Using a whisk, stir in Lebne, honey, ¼ cup water and pomegranate molasses until everything has dissolved into a sauce. Add dried fruits and put sautéed chicken pieces back into pan. Raise the flame to high again and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover the pan and reduce the flame to low. Simmer until chicken pieces are cooked thoroughly, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on high heat. Add chopped onions and sauté until translucent. Add green wheat and stir until wheat is coated with the oil. Add water and salt and bring to a boil.
Once it is boiling, cover and reduce the flame to low. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until all the liquid has been absorbed by the wheat.
Toss in chopped parsley and serve with chicken.


Chef Mireille
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