IL FORNELLO

Toronto PATH

... more of my favourite things!

Food is such an amazing journey, and lately I've been experimenting and discovering many new things in the kitchen! 

Last night I made my first rack of lamb, I was terrified but kept it simple and boy was it such a hit! All I remember hearing chef Ramsay's voice in my head and trying to avoid those mistakes that I've seen too many times on Hell's kitchen. The picture of him grabbing a flimsy lamb chop and throwing it around or asking "Come here! What is this?"  was playing over and over in my mind.   

Lately another favourite food of mine is Lebnah,with all that leftover yogurt in my fridge from Ramadan I whipped up a huge batch!  During ramadan yogurt was on sale and in the flyer almost every week so I stocked up and would prepare a yogurt drink of creamy plain balkan style yogurt mixed with water and seasoned with a sprinkling of salt.  This was the perfect drink to enjoy with a delicious date at sunset when we break the fast. 

If you want to prepare your own lebneh then head over to my other posts on the subject, here 

The perfect accompaniment with lebneh is a nice generous drizzle of good olive oil and every day of this week I've used a different (plain) olive oil from Olive That! ... Tunisian, Spanish, Mission... What an amazing canvas to showcase the olive oils.  All you need is a sweet mint tea, a piece of fresh bread for dipping and some nice juicy watermelon.  This is is my ideal breakfast and it reminds me of my childhood back in the Middle East.

A couple of weekends ago I also got lucky and found myself a frozen free range organic turkey at the most amazing price! Being the impulsive person I can be I put my money down and walked out of the store with a box of two huge frozen turkeys... one I've thawed immediately for the weekend and the other I stashed in my freezer for the coming Eid celebration which falls practically around the same time as this year's Canadian Thanksgiving!

First time I've grilled an entire turkey on the BBQ but it was delicious, I really love the taste of turkey and these organic ones are not dry at all, especially if you brine them beforehand. 

A couple of stuffed zucchinis I made back in Ramadan.  These zucchini boats were stuffed with a spiced ground beef (you could do lamb) and then smothered in a creamy bechamel sauce with a bit of cheese.  Baked to perfection! 

Balsamic fruits are another easy dessert idea, and if you're in Ontario I highly recommend heading over to Olive That not only their selection of fabulous and fresh olive oils but also their flavoured balsamics.  I picked up a big bottle of 18 year old balsamic vinegar and love adding it to fruit. Strawberries and cherries roasted in the oven with a splash of balsamic is so perfect to have around when you want to top ice cream or  pretty much any dessert!

Black Eye Pea Salad سلطة اللوبية

Black eye peas are some of my favourite legumes! They have such a unique and delicious taste and are perfect for both winter and summer preperations.  I love a good black eye pea stew in the fall or winter but today I've got a delicious and easy summer salad that is perfect for a picnic, a nice change for the regular bean salads.

3 cups dry black eye peas (rinse and soak in plenty of water overnight) 

3 ripe summer tomatoes

3 persian cucumbers

1/2 red onion

Juice of 1 lemon

Black pepper (no salt here as the beans will be salty enough after cooking) 

 A big drizzle of good olive oil (I used a Spanish olive oil from Olive That!) 

- After soaking your black eye peas the night before drain the water and add them to a large pot, cover with plenty more fresh water and bring to a low boil.  Simmer on medium low until beans are almost tender.  Add more water if necessary to top off the pot and add salt in the last 30-40 minutes of cooking.

Once tender (they shouldn't be mushy or falling apart)  drain and set aside (they should taste great and not overly salty, if they are just rinse a bit)

Bring a kettle of water to a boil.

With a sharp paring knife make an X in the bottom of each tomato and set them in a strainer in the sink.
When the kettle water is boiled slowly pour the water over all the tomatoes. 

Wait a couple of seconds and at this point the tomato peels would be easy to peel.  Peel and core the tomatoes and remove the inside (seedy parts and discard) 

Chop the tomato in small cubes and set in the salad bowl.

Chop the cucumbers into similar dice as the tomatoes and add into the bowl.
Chop the red onion finely and add.

Add the beans to the bowl and season with black pepper.
Squeeze the lemon juice over and drizzle with olive oil.

Serve and enjoy!