tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66390956900946016722024-03-15T08:14:43.013-07:00Bint Rhoda's KitchenJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-29912561146717042052017-06-27T11:57:00.001-07:002017-06-29T04:18:03.206-07:00Palestine: The Gift of Going Home
Friends, I went home.
And it was such a gift.
It was waking up every morning to that white bright sunlight of Palestine, and not being able to believe that I was actually here. The smell of toasting Arabic bread and frying white cheese, the rhythmic pounding of stone masons outside, the slanting rays of the morning white sunlight, smooth tile under my sandals -- all of these welcomed Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-63920943851818451052017-05-05T12:46:00.002-07:002017-05-05T12:46:30.232-07:00Going Back to Palestine: What we Gain, What we LoseThis months marks ten years (!) since I last went home to Palestine.
I remember a time when I promised myself that I would never go years and years and years without going home. I remember that my aunts and uncles and cousins who lived in America would come and visit my family in Jerusalem, sleeping on mattresses on the floor, spending long weeks with us, making hummus in our kitchen, Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-4474036284425545302016-09-28T13:41:00.001-07:002016-09-29T10:21:53.859-07:00Bomb Scares, and a Recipe for Fear and AbsurdityLast week, an unattended box caused fear and panic at a gas station in Marshalls Creek, PA, according to this account and this account.
With the New York and New Jersey bombings still fresh, and the tri-state area recently on high alert, someone spotted an unattended box with Arabic print at a Gulf gas station and called the police.
The police were called. The bomb squad came. The Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-53422980460674660812016-09-21T11:05:00.004-07:002016-09-21T11:05:58.467-07:00Fried Curried Eggplant with Pomegranate MolassesSummer is slipping into fall around here, and I couldn't let it slip quite away before I shared with you a simple-as-summer recipe. I keep finding myself standing in front of my stove, frying up cubes of eggplant, because as often as I make it, I never seem to get enough of it.
My blog has been quiet, as it usually is over the summer months, because my home has been full of Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-37889580387903017192016-05-26T09:49:00.000-07:002016-05-29T05:01:11.673-07:00 Baked Apricots with Honey and Orange Blossom Water, and a Language Lesson.
Aywa, aywa, fil mishmish, I would hear the adults say, with a grin and a shrug, when discussing a time frame for when the city would fix the road, when the plumber would fix the toilet, when peace would come to Jerusalem.
Yes, yes, in the apricot? I could translate the phrase literally. I knew what the word mishmish meant: apricots. It was an Arabic word Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-80343048398690139462016-04-06T11:41:00.004-07:002016-04-07T09:33:16.655-07:00Sticky Pomegranate Drumsticks + Tahini-Lemon Brussels Sprouts
Yesterday's flavors, today's food.
That has been on my mind the last few months, as I've been pondering what to do next on this blog. Since I don't always have the time to cook traditional recipes, but my kitchen is always stocked with the basics of a Middle Eastern pantry, when it's time to cook dinner, I often find myself staring at cuts of meat, and a whole lot of blank slate.
That's Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-53967254364407489172016-03-15T10:28:00.000-07:002016-03-16T08:59:31.949-07:00100th Post {!}: Reflection on the JourneyOne hundred posts, three years of researching, writing, cooking, photographing, eating, remembering and learning, and I have gained so much. I am stronger than ever before, both in my sense of cultural self and in my confidence in the kitchen. I am so grateful.
Today, I am pausing to reflect on this blog, this little experiment of mine. When I started this blog, as a wayJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-8963636133688991292016-02-23T17:17:00.001-08:002016-03-13T04:39:21.419-07:00Palestinian Rice Stuffing, or As My Mother Calls It . . . It's been quite a journey that I have been on, these past few years.
I decided that I was going to become my mother's pupil, and learn how to cook all of the Palestinian dishes that my mother had prepared for our family when I was growing up in Jerusalem. Though there were some places where I could find similar recipes, it was important to me that I learned how to make our particular Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-89733826677783528802015-12-07T12:22:00.000-08:002015-12-07T12:22:25.492-08:00Salad in Winter: Citrus Spinach Salad with Pomegranate ArilsThe season of tomatoes is over.
I feel quite lost.
I miss our simple tomato-cucumber salads of the summer. I grew up eating salads almost every night (my father was the salad and dressing maker), but they almost always had a little chopped tomato in them: cabbage salad with tomato, lettuce salad with tomato, cucumber, carrots, or a basic chopped tomato and cucumber salad.
When I firstJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-50627254989897005552015-11-24T05:15:00.000-08:002015-12-07T17:06:03.428-08:00Bone Broth: My Two Secrets for Making Beautiful, Abundant and Affordable Bone Broth
So, in my last post, I confessed my bone broth craze.
I've put into baby's cups. I make soups and stews with my homemade broths all winter long. I cook it into my rices and my noodles, I cook it into rice porridge. Bone broth is a staple in my kitchen.
Here in the United States, Thanksgiving is around the corner and everyone is comparing notes on their turkeysJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-46205363719191272202015-11-22T09:40:00.000-08:002015-11-22T09:40:55.492-08:00 Bone Broth: Why I Turned My Kitchen into a Bone Broth FactoryI wanted to share with my readers something that I am passionate about.
It isn't beautiful.
It isn't a shows-stopper.
But it is a game-changer in the kitchen, and for your health.
I'm talking about broth.
Broth?
Yes, broth. Bone broth, that magical stuff, nourishment in a bowl, made from nothing but bones and water. If you have never made your own broth, this kitchen Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-34977196727111212312015-11-04T18:45:00.001-08:002015-11-05T10:22:18.607-08:00Twenty Years Later, I Remember: Rabin's AssassinationI don't have a recipe for you today. I hope you don't mind.
Just a little story.
It's about a day that feels so far away.
It was twenty years ago, today. Twenty years ago, I was a teenager, a high school senior, worried about things like SAT scores, college applications, friendships, boys, and whether my clothes were right.
I also lived in Jerusalem.
I went to an Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-12323019084427825492015-10-22T10:59:00.000-07:002015-10-22T12:20:20.800-07:00Lamb Kefta Meatballs in Tahini Gravy
If you are looking for a rich, savory, satisfying meal, I have one for you today. Spiced lamb meatballs, browned up in a skillet, and then served with a simple tahini and lemon gravy, has all of the classic flavors of the Levant, and all of the comfort of a traditional meatball. Just as in other cuisines, the same seasoned ground meats can become meatloaf or meatballs, kefta can becomeJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-71806592456840025752015-10-02T08:50:00.000-07:002015-10-22T12:21:04.188-07:00 Red Lentil Soup with Sourdough Sumac CroutonsThis ancient soup is the stuff of stories.
Maybe you've heard this one before:
A long time ago, a woman carries two babies inside of her belly. They wrestle in her womb, each longing to be first-born, until her labor pains come and one baby boy emerges, ruddy-fleshed and with a full head of hair. The second is longer, leaner, and grasping the heel of his now older brother.
The Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-18309856346206905852015-05-21T12:18:00.001-07:002015-05-21T12:24:03.229-07:00Chicken, Sumac and Onion Flatbread, or Musakhan
I have been sitting on this recipe for a little while. I wanted to get it just right.
After all, musakhan is as important to Palestinians as deep-dish pizza is to Chicagoans. A girl has to tread lightly here. I have to hit all the right notes: the soft, pillowy bread doused in broth, and then broiled crisp, the tangy sumac-spiced sauteed onions, toasted pine nuts Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-61679289730185319922015-05-05T08:24:00.003-07:002015-05-05T08:24:58.956-07:00Middle Eastern Lemon Herb Potato Salad
Many years ago, I had a summer job in a grocery store deli in the rural Wisconsin. It wasn't a glamorous job. I rode my bike to the grocery store, pulled on my hair net (ugh), and disappeared into the kitchen. When I wasn't on frying chicken duty, I was on potato salad duty. On those days, I would spend the day making my actual body weight in potato salad. I washed and peeled buckets of Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-54601483073483197842015-04-28T08:05:00.002-07:002015-04-28T08:08:19.981-07:00Everybody Cooks Rice Not long ago, I shared an article on Indian food with my Facebook friends. What ensued was a lively discussion about Indian and Middle Eastern food - which spices are used, why they are so delicious. There may have been just a teensy little bit of good-natured rivalry between me and a dear college friend, who hails from India. In the end, there was only one way to end the discussion: Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-46982994449700317902015-04-09T08:14:00.001-07:002015-04-11T02:28:19.839-07:00Passing Oranges in the Park (and other Distressing Cultural Encounters)I sat in a park this week, my two older children digging wildly in the sand, and the baby in my lap, cooing and twisting my necklace. It was a brightly sunny morning, with whipped clouds, and the northern Virginia park, often desolate on a Monday morning, was filled with children running free on spring break.
I found a shady spot and sat on the cool, damp ground and nursed my baby. A little girlJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-7815005489422270702015-04-07T08:10:00.000-07:002015-04-08T18:22:33.704-07:00Baked Kibbeh, or Kibbeh bi Saniyeh
In the Middle East, meat is sacred food, feasting food, celebratory food. And while every day dishes are often vegetarian or feature vegetables, when it is time to celebrate, it is time to slaughter the fattened lamb.
So get ready: we're serving meat today. And by that I mean that meat stuffed with more meat.
On the outside, a glorious, buttery, crispy crust, laced with Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-6047282540298853362015-03-10T12:35:00.000-07:002015-03-11T17:37:11.619-07:00 How to Fry Eggs like an Arab: Crispy Fried Eggs in Olive Oil
Smooth or Crispy?
As a young newlywed, my husband's Pennsylvania-Dutch father taught me: heat the pan gently, melt a pat of butter, crack the egg and wait. Flip once, if you like. Slide out of the pan.
I was amazed. I had never had a fried egg like that. The whites were tender, with a homogeneous texture, and the yolks were smooth, smooth, smooth, with Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-31294477140126801962015-02-19T08:17:00.001-08:002015-02-19T08:33:26.402-08:00Middle Eastern Breakfast Bowl: Za'atar Skillet Potato Hash with Fried Egg
It's February now, the dreariest month of the year, in my book. Too cold to go out much, and the sniffles and coughs are passed around in my house, from preschooler to baby to mommy, and we begin to feel just a little bit, well, crazed. Know what I mean?
My Palestinian great-grandmother used to say: If all of the old women in the village make it through February, they will live to see Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-7045587273292891132015-02-12T08:47:00.002-08:002015-02-12T08:48:19.710-08:00How to Stock a Middle Eastern Pantry
Food shopping was (and is?) a laborious affair in the Middle East, with many stops to make and many heavy bags to carry home, but the enticing smell of spice and coffee, or a chance to nibble on fresh "pita" bread in the backseat of my father's marroon Opal Ascona, always brought me around.
Spice shops down winding, stone-flagged streets of the Old City of Jerusalem offered up bins of Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-64828968001561626452015-01-29T09:57:00.001-08:002015-01-29T10:31:20.599-08:00Making "Fawaffles": An Experiment with Arab and American Cultural Identity
Last week, I ran across this post from the blog Food Republic, describing a collision of two of my favorite foods: waffles and falafels.
Enter the fawaffle.
*Groan*
Really? Fawaffle? Make falafels in your waffle iron?
I jumped right up on my soapbox, and began to mentally enumerate all of the ways that this dish was just. plain. Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-38723374285544614812015-01-22T08:38:00.001-08:002015-01-29T09:58:36.857-08:00Blackstrap Molasses Milk Steamer {Naturally-Sweetened, Kid-Approved}On the first nippy fall day every year, my children begin clamoring for hot cocoa. And once the snow falls in earnest, they come in, icy cold from their romps, with snow-whipped rosy cheeks, peel off their wet, frozen clothes, and plonk down at the kitchen table to wait for a hot beverage.
And I can't help but think, as I heat up the milk, how much my Palestinian grandmother would approve.  Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6639095690094601672.post-37831711869697788452014-12-04T08:11:00.000-08:002014-12-04T08:30:06.703-08:00How to Stock a Kitchen for Healthful Eating in a Busy SeasonThere are times in life when you just can't spend much time in the kitchen.
Right now I have a sweet little baby who, added into an already full day of caring for a family and a home, makes kitchen prep time pretty limited. But there are other reasons we find ourselves in survival mode. Maybe you are packing up a home and moving (we've done this many times), or in an intense school Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02916044722897124422noreply@blogger.com4