Back with a Dinner Party﻿

Back with a Dinner Party

2/7/2016

Clearly, the time has gotten away from me.

It's been TWO MONTHS since my last update! What happened?! The holidays came and went in a blur, and a very-definitely-full-time-job that had me traveling about once a month.

I missed cooking and blogging.

So what better way to kick-off the "back to cooking with a vengeance" than with a full-blown Superbowl dinner party. I went with Mediterranean/Israeli. I also cooked for about twice as many people as actually showed up, but this is what it means to cook Hawaii-style.

Here's what we ate during Superbowl 50.

Chicken Shawarma
Steve's Lamb Chops
Pita and Hummus from the Falafel Stop
Greek Salad
Brownies and matcha mochi (thank you friends)
Chips and clam dip (thank you friends!)

Vegetables definitely took center stage this time.

Chard with Tahini Sauce

The first-time chard eaters did not revolt and even took leftovers home.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Onions, with Za'atar and Tahini

Za'atar is like Israeli furikake. You can sprinkle it on pretty much anything (including white rice) and it makes it better.

Definitely need to add this recipe, which is adapted from Tamimi and Ottolenghi.

Looking forward to getting back to cooking and blogging! Thank you all for hanging through the radio silence!

4 Comments

Doug Ing

2/9/2016 12:12:09 am

I sometimes buy obscure spices at a Spice store, where they allow you to buy a small amount. I bought Nigella spice for an African recipe I wanted to try and it sat unused for a year. I found the best ever Mango Chutney recipe and it called for the spice which made a difference. My 96 year old friend said my chutney was way better than Punahou Carnival, you can taste the mangos. I also began using cardamom a lot. Next time you're in Honolulu and you check a suitcase, I'll send you home with mango chutney. I used to have your belief of spices but these two recent occurrences has led me to search and cook with obscure spices. I have to bring these hard to find spices back from Seattle.

FeedingMyOhana link

2/9/2016 03:29:09 pm

Good idea on trying to find a spice store--was Nigella what made the mango chutney? I've been using cardamom a lot more lately too. For chai ice cream, and we also tried a chai infused cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.

Susan Tao

2/9/2016 01:59:49 pm

I am definitely trying the chard dish because I have really, really tried to like Chard and Kale. Definitely would like to try Butternut squash dish.

FeedingMyOhana link

2/9/2016 03:26:52 pm

Chard has a less strong flavor and texture than kale, it's really more like spinach.

That said, my kids really love kale chips and kale salad. Somehow, lemon juice has a way of really mellowing out the kale. Good luck and let me know how it goes!

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