Deezy - Traditional Iranian Dish

This past Friday (yes, my post is extremely late...it's already Wednesday) was the 6th anniversary of knowing my husband - August 16th was the first day we met :) I remember that day for so many reasons and 6 years later, it still feels like yesterday. We had a short (I say short because we both got home at 8:30 that night) dinner date and got one of my favorite foods ever at this new joint (Hen House Grill) that opened up near our house. Actually it's been there for over a year now and we just never got around to going, haha! But oh my gosh, the food is fabulous. There is this one dish that we used to get during the summers when I was small and visiting Iran, called deezy. It's basically a stew of potatoes meat and beans, cooked in individual portions. You separate out the juice from the stew and eat it like soup and mash up the meat, beans and potatoes and eat that with bread. It may not sound that appetizing with the way I'm describing it, but believe me, something about the way it's prepared and cooked is so good (and I normally don't like stew) that I crave it and have been craving it for some time now.  Craving it in this style...it's a dish that most can make at home, but not this way! I think for me, deezy is somewhat nostalgic, reminding me of my summers with my family back in Iran sitting by a fountain or river having deezy with handfuls of freshly baked bread, laughing and telling stories late into the night. 

Don't mind the pony clamps, its so one could handle the metal pots. 

So, I had flashbacks of summers ago and enjoyed the deezy so much. I was hoping that I would get a chance to have it for the first time with my hubby in Iran, but this is good enough :) 6 years and counting!

Here's a link I found that talks about deezy (also known as ab-goosht) for those interested: Deezy explained.

I'm hungry...this totally beats the PB&J sandwich I had today!!!

Banana Bread Avec Chocolate Chunks

I love banana bread and zucchini bread and pumpkin bread and sigh...all kinds of bread. I could never go on a low or even no carb diet. I came across this recipe and it was a twist on the regular banana bread that I am used to making. I decided to try it, even though I'm cautious about adding chocolate to anything but cookies and brownies, but it came out delicious!!!! It's a very moist and dense cake filled with flavor.

Here's the recipe!! The only thing I changed was not adding Bourbon - no alcohol in this Muslim household.  For every tablespoon of Bourbon I added 1 part vanilla extract and 2 parts water.

Recipe by Joy the Baker posted at A Cup of Jo.

Ingredients: 
Makes 1 loaf


2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (from about 3 bananas)
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp water + 1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Almost 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks



Directions:

• Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8x4-inch or 9x5-inch loaf pan. Set aside. 
• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. 
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. 
• Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition. Stop the mixer, scrape down sides of the bowl, and add bananas, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Beat until well incorporated.
• Turn the mixer to low and add the flour mixture all at once. Beat until almost incorporated. Stop the mixer and remove the bowl. Add the walnuts and chocolate chips and incorporate the last of the ingredients with a spatula.
• Batter will be thick. Spoon the mixture into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and allow loaf to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. 
• Serve with milk or tea or coffee and enjoy!

I used very very ripe bananas that had an almost brown skin and really mashed them well. Actually let me take this time to give credit where credit is due, the hubby actually mashed them :D 

Bon Appétit! :)

Cabinet Organization

I really got tired of the mess that had become my pyrex and tupperware cabinet. Every time I wanted to get something, things would get moved around, I had to remove all the pyrex to get to the bottom one...and the complaints go on. So, I figured I needed a better way to get things. I use a wire rack to organize my platters and I figured it would work for holding pyrex  well, why not use a wire rack (similar to this) to organize the pyrex and a basket to organize the miscellaneous items that have become annoying to manage.

Voila...things are now easily accessible.
 

After

 Before

 

Ya I know, the mess isn't that bad, but it was enough to annoy me when I needed to get something out quickly.

:) It's more manageable now and it makes me happy. Yay!

Time-lapse of San Francisco - Adrift

I came across this amazing time-lapse film by Simon Christen of photos taken in San Francisco amist the wonderful fog that really makes the city what it is. It made me miss home so much...I almost started to cry (get it together, you're at work and your boss just walked in). This has been a crazy month for some many reasons (hence the absence) and Ramadan is also almost over and I feel as though I am missing it already. Sadness overload today.

 

 I wish I was sitting in my favorite spot with my favorite people overlooking the bay right now.