Salatim: Aubergine And Others

Salatim is Israeli cuisine's answer to tapas or antepasta. You serve a selection of Middle-Eastern dips and small salads with pita and olives for an interesting hors d'ouvres. Add some stuffed vine leaves, a big salad and some cheese et voila - lunch for a summer's day.

I usually have a mammoth cooking fest on a Thursday night because it suits me to have a full fridge for the weekend and leftovers for as long as they last. Most salatim will last the week in the fridge if necessary, but it never happens. I eat them as dips with crackers or crispy things, spread on toast, as dressings for salads, or sauces for pasta. 

The most ubiquitous salatim are humus and tehina. For Salat Tehina, just take the humus recipe and add more tehini paste instead of chickpeas. It makes a lighter, more runny sort of dip with a distinct sesame taste.

The next most popular ingredient for salatim is aubergine:
Salat Aubergine (also known as Baba Ganoush)

1 aubergine

lots of garlic

lemon juice
chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Prick an aubergine and place it in a hot oven until the peel is crisp and cracked. Cut it in half and scoop out the flesh into a sieve. When it is drained put all the ingredients into a food processor and mix to a loose paste. NB: start with small amounts of the seasonings and add to taste.

A variation is to mix the aubergine with mayonaise instead of lemon juice - for a creamier salat.

Salat Aubergine Piquanti

1 aubergine sliced and cut into small cubes

1 pepper (whatever colour you like)

6 tomatoes (peeled and chopped - save the juice)

lots of chopped garlic

ground cumin and coriander

salty and pepper

canola or sunflower oil (no point wasting good virgin olive oil for cooking)

Lemon juice

Saute the aubergine and garlic in a pan. Add all the other ingredients and simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Leave to cool. Many people add tomato puree for a deeper red appearance but I'm on a back-to-basics quest so I try to eliminate things in packaging.

And here's one for free as we've practically made it already:

Moroccan Carrot Salad

Par-boil slices of carrot. Saute chopped garlic in a pan. Add the carrots, lemon juice, ground cumin and coriander, salt and pepper. Simmer until the carrots are soft and any liquid has been absorbed. Serve cool.

This post is linked to the Saturday Recipe Swap at LakesSingleMum. The theme this week is summer dishes for picnics and BBQs. Check it out.

I've also linked to Recipeshed's Salad Week. Loads of interesting and unusual salads so pop over and take a look.

The Demise Of Death As We Knew It

On Saturday evening, on hearng about the death of Amy Winehouse, I turned to facebook and twitter. I don't know why Amy's death hit me so hard, I didn't even listen to her music particularly although, when it came on the radio I was impressed by her amazing talent. Maybe because she was a young Jewish woman from NW London who could have been any of my friends' daughters. Maybe because I had some insight into her upbringing and family background and it was close to home. Who knows.

This was my first national tragedy shared on social networking sites as I've only been on fb/twitter since January. Having enjoyed the comraderie and hilarity of the Royal Wedding with friends across the globe, I thought there would be a similar coming together (for those interested at all) to share the love and support, though obviously of a different nature.

On twitter there was shock about the news and an outpouring of RIP tweets. And something else. People genuinely angry about the insensitive comments (and jokes even) that some people feel compelled to post. As if there is no real person behind the celebrity character, as if she left no grieving family. I didn't get any of these tweets of extremely bad taste in my timeline as I follow fewer than 100 people and all of them are very nice. However, those I follow were switching off in anger and only returning to unfollow the insensitive, unfeeling and generally misguided.

On facebook an even more surprising thing happened. I read at least four posts declaring, in the opinion of the authors, the follow sentiments:
1. The circumstances of Amy's death meant she did not deserve such sorrow.
2. How dare I be upset when other major tragedies had occurred the same weekend and that these had not affected me in the same way showed me to be lacking in... I don't know what. Compassion?
3. Amy willfully brought about her demise because addiction is a choice.

To answer 1. and 2. - If I share my feelings on facebook it is because this is how I feel. I do not appreciate being told how appropriate my feelings are (or aren't). I do not expect my feelings to be graded on a sliding scale according to other concurrent events. As my friend E pointed out, Mother Theresa died the same week as Princess Diana. I cried for Princess Diana - deal with it.

The arguments around point 3. swiftly slipped into a war of words and symantics. What does choice mean? Did she want to die? I don't think so - which for me is the bottom line. Or maybe she did and if so, was this her choice or was it also the mental desease taking control? I am not a mental health expert and neither are most of my fb friends who joined the discussion.

My overall impression is that, whereas death has always been carefully tip-toed around in order to respect the dead and and not cause added distress to the grieving families, facebook has turned us all into Op-Ed authorities with our own private following. I have been to funerals of suspected suicides where any hushed murmerings were quickly silenced. I have been to funerals where wrong choices may have been made and things could have turned out differently. Non of these occasions were times to be judgemental and those with opinions kept them to themselves.

Social networking sites are a wonderful thing. My world has expanded incredibly since joining facebook and twitter. But something happens when you write to the world from your kitchen table. Unlike at a dinner party when a forceful opinion can be retracted, modified or at least explained less forcefully in accordance with the immediate reactions, a post on fb/twitter is there in writing. You can remove it without trace only if you get there before the comments start coming in or you can try to explain or expand your point of view, again in writing. I express my opinion here on my blog which has a similar effect. As I said, the posts on fb/twitter surprised me although I still agree that everyone is entitled to their opinion. But, at the time of writing, death to me is still sacred. It still commands respect and hushed tones - especially in the case of an untimely and tragic death.

Potato Kugel and Ratatouille

My current Friday night dinner from the weekly menu plan (yes the same one still - but I'm speeding up the recipes so that I can change it soon. Promise) is vegetable streudel, potato kugel and ratatouille. That's Austria, Germany and France on one vegetarian plate (which is ironic as these cuisines are not known for their vegetarian selections). As I've already given a recipe for the streudel and I wanted to do the kugel today, I thought I'd also include the ratatouille and voila  - dinner!

Potato kugel (potato cake) is an Ashkenazi Jewish traditional dish from the kitchens of Eastern Europe. It is basically a big savoury potato bake - like a large hash-brown with fried onions. There are many variations but here is a simple version which you can doctor by adding grated carrots or other vegetables to taste.

Potato Kugel

Finely chop a large onion and fry it until golden.

Pulse 4 potatoes in the food processor and put them in a bowl.

Mix in the fried onion, 2 eggs, I tbsp flour, 1/4 cup cooking oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Put an oiled baking dish into the hot oven until the oil is hot. Pour in the potato mixture and bake for about an hour or more. Don't get scared if the top goes a deep brown - it's supposed to. The finished kugel should be crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.

Ratatouille

Fry a large onion and chopped garlic in a pot until they are soft. Add sliced courgettes, green pepper, peeled and chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until all the vegetables are soft in a light tomato sauce. I usually spice it up a bit with some soy sauce, tumeric, or even a vegetarian stock cube.

This post is linked to Meal Planning Monday at At Home With Mrs M. You can click on the link for more weekly meal plans.

Tipsy Tart

Tipsy Tart is really a rich, dark pudding cake with a brandy flavoured syrup poured over when it's still hot. It's one of my favourite desserts. It's very popular in South Africa and all my SA friends make it - with various recipes. Actually it's a matter of taste, proven by the fact that I found tens of recipes when I googled it - necessary thanks to some secretive and protective cooks. Some make it with nuts (pecans or walnuts) and some recipes include bananas and dates. I am not a cake person - I don't see the point of cake except to hold the cream and icing together. I think one of my aversions stems from the fact that most of my friends bake with margerine instead of butter so that they can serve the dish with or after a meal that includes meat (kosher restraints). When I started keeping a meat-free kitchen I discovered that baking with butter really makes a big difference! However I still like my cake moist and chewy so I went for a banana/dates version.

Tipsy Tart

A. Combine the following ingredients and leave to cool:
1 cup sultana raisins
1 cup dates finely chopped
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp instant coffee
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water

B. Cream together 1/4 cup butter and 1 cup demarera sugar. Then  mix in 3 large eggs.

C. Combine 2 cups self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt.

D. Mash 4 bananas.

E. Fold A and C into B and then mix in D. Pour into a buttered baking dish and bake for about 30 mins in a hot oven - until you have a moist sticky pudding rather than a dry cake.

F. Prick all over with a tooth-pick and pour the syrup over the top. For the syrup bring the following ingredients to the boil, add 1/3 cup brandy and bring to the boil again.
1 cup demerara sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1/4 tsp vanilla

Serve warm with cream or vanilla ice-cream. A dark, rich, helping of Heaven in a dish....

This post is linked the Saturday Recipe Swap at Lakes Sinlge Mum. Go and check it out - it's cake week!

IVF: Too Many Too Fast

Before starting this post I took a quick look at my list of tags. This is the 16th post in my IVF journey. 16 posts and I'm still faffing around with dreams of effective IUI! I'm irritated that I didn't take the advice given and move on faster to the real treatment. I'm bored with how long it took quite frankly. I suppose at the time I didn't realize how long the journey would be (four years in total). If I had I would have been devastated. So, because I cannot bear to go through it all agan so slowly, I am gong to speed up the telling.

I had been  prescribed Cetrotide (stops early ovulation thereby allowing the eggs to mature longer), Gonel F (to stimulate the growth of more eggs) and Ovitrelle (stimulates the final maturization of the eggs and releases them from the ovaries). On day five of my cycle I went to the IVF unit at Haddassah, Mt Scopus. Blood test done, ultrasound approved and the nurse took me into a private room to show me how to inject myself with the Gonel F.

I was nervous but I know diabetics who have to inject several times a day for their whole lives. I could certainly do it for a short time in order to have a baby. The Gonel comes in a pen. You set the dial for the doseage, screw in a very fine needle, and pull out the end (it comes out according to the set doseage). You swab your stomach with an antiseptic wipe, push in the needle and squeeze down the end of the pen. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. My hands were shaking just handling the needle, let alone jabbing it into my stomach. I held my breathe and....surprise! It didn't hurt at all. The needle was so thin it was like acupuncture (I imagine :-) ). Then I squeezed the liquid medicine into my flesh where there wasn't a space for it and it killed - OWCH!

I was told to take 225 units a day and come back four days later. At this point I want to say something about the Cetrotide. I honestly don't remember taking it. I don't even remember what it looked like. I do remember having something left over which I never used and this could be it. On googling Cetrotide I found out that it is usually taken between days five and seven. By this time all the medicines have probably changed anyway so let's just move on.

On day nine I had about six or seven eggs big enough to measure on both sides. And there were more little ones visible. The nurse showed my chart to the Prof. "You're shooting too many too fast," he said. "You're producing them like a 22 year old. We'll have to slow you down!" He certainly knows how to give a compliment that Professor.

My doseage of Gonel F went down to 150 units and then 75 units per day. And one day I went into the clinic to be greeted with the news that I would not be having IUI but instead would be undergoping IVF. There were simply too many eggs for IUI. It would be irresponsible as I could end up with a multiple pregnancy. As they didn't want to waste all those fabulously large eggs, they had arranged it all with my health fund and I would probably have the operation in two days time.

I was stunned. Stunned and excited. I was to take 37.5  units of Gonel F this afternoon, have the Ovitrelle injected into my bottom at 9pm tonight, not eat or drink from 10pm tomorrow as I would be having general anaesthetic, and turn up at 8am on Thursday morning. Sometimes it's best when desicions are taken out of your hands.

Happy Half Birthday To Me

Today marks six months since I started blogging. On the same day that I wrote my first post, The First Question About Daddy, I also signed up with FB and Twitter. On the one hand half a year has gone by very quickly, but on the other hand, I cannot now imagine a time without blogging, FB and Twitter and, of course, all the lovely people that I am now in contact with daily. Below are a few things that I have been reflecting on recently.

My Name. Midlife Singlemum may have been a mistake - I can't decide. I chose it to include words that would show up on searches and firmly establish my niche. In that respect it hasn't disappointed (although I have branched a little into expatland). However, I am a bit tired of having people greet me in the street with a, "hello Midlife!" It's beginning to sound more middle-aged than I like to feel. Other jokes include Midlife Crisis and Midwife. I tried to think of a way to shorten or change it without losing my place in the blopgosphere (Like MTJAM for example) but MLSM sounds like a text message or, worse, a hospital superbug. Any suggestions gratefully recieved.

Blogger. I love my blog. I love the layout and that I can put a picture behind the page. The template designs are a bit limited in what they can let me do, but it's fine for now. The only big question I have is what is the story with the All time stats? My top story has been my first post for the entire six months. The All time stats for this post show between 207 and 209 views (yes it  goes down as well #illogical). However, the very same post receives more views regularly. I have tried to ask Blogger but so far no reply. Which is why I wonder, should I switch to another host before I try to grow any bigger? Is it worth paying for the security of technical support and back-up facilities. Again, I would be happy for the advice of more experienced bloggers.

How to Monetize. I have an unusual situation whereby, although I have many readers in Israel where I live, I find myself writing more for readers in the UK. This excludes me from most promotions, competitions, and advertising. On the other hand, I am putting so many hours into blogging it's a shame not to be able to make money out of it. I'll have to think more about this one.

Traffic. In the beginning I was thrilled when I averaged 50 views a day. Then I started to join other sites and clubs - Tots 100, Netmums, Britmums, Expat Blog, Go Overseas. I participated in memes, carnivals and linkies - Silent Sunday, MUMenTUM, Meal Planning Monday, Blow Your Own Blog Horn and Tracks of my Years. Suddenly it seemed to take on a life of its own and I can have up to 250 views a day (on a good day). I know I'm still among the small fry compared to the big fish out there, but it still fascinates me to see the unlikely traffic sources on my stats page. And you can't aim higher if you don't know where you are now.

Klout. What can I say? There seems to be no rhyme or reason. In a week that I decided to socially engage with a vengeance on FB and twitter in order to up my Klout score, I initiated some long FB threads and in the same week I picked up two new followers on the blog, several on twitter, new friends on FB and got more pageviews than ever before, my Klout score went down. To be fair, it bounced back a bit after two days. This leads me to think that they may have a 48hr delay in filtering data. Who knows? However, it all adds to the fun and I do love the number games.

SEOs. In case you are wondering why I have linked to so many sites on a post that is essentially about me. This is something I learned from Jax at Making It Up. As my current techno-guru she advised that linking up increases your search potential and leads to more traffic on the blog. So I do link up at every opportunity. It's a win-win situation.

And that's it. Not the initial lessons about starting a blog that I learned and listed in A Blogging Marvelous Month, five months ago, this is I think a slightly more sophisticated set of ponders befitting a half-year veteran. Let's see what the next six months has to offer...

Cheese Burekas And Vegetable Streudel

When I planned my weekly menus I knew that I wasn't going to find the time to cook every evening. I also like to do one larger shop every couple of weeks (with top-ups before the weekend) rather than shop daily. As I am trying to buy fresh produce rather than many processed foods (for health aswell as budgetary reasons) I do have to make the time to cook before the vegetables start to soften and the cheese begins to fur. What works for me is to cook and freeze on a Thursday evening night.

The first week I was in the kitchen for hours as I wanted to prepare every cooked dish for the week and freeze the things for later in the week. Obviously I don't cook pasta ahead of time and there is always a salad to chop, but the sauces and anything else that will freeze only requires taking out. I make double quantities (or more). This isn't hard when your're only dishing up for two and one of you is a toddler. My most useful kitchen utensils are really small plastic containers - think butter dish size.

On subsequent Thursdays I found I only needed to make half the number of dishes as I had some things in the freezer from the week before. My homemade humus needs making every week, as do the egg salad and potato salad as these don't freeze. This week I made enough cheese burekas and vegetable streudel for the next three weeks (i.e. 20 burekas and 3 streudels).

A note about burekas. Burekas are a national dish in Israel. Basically they are parcels (or rolls) of flakey pastry filled with anything you like. Popular fillings in the shops are cheese (any kind), mushroom, spinach, and mashed potato. DD likes cheese so mine tend to be cheese burekas. Btw, one of these pastries is a burekas and the plural should be burekasim, however Anglos in Israel have long referred to some burekas or one bureka.

Cheese Burekas And Vegetable Streudel.

Roll out some flakey pastry. I buy mine frozen. Spread with cheese, several kinds if you like. Or fry up some mushrooms, or mix cooked spinach with cheese, or use mashed potato. You can pretty much add anything savoury - olives, spring onions, capers. Roll up the pastry like a swiss roll and cut into sectons about 4cm wide. Place on a baking tray and cook in a hot oven until they are golden brown.

For the streudel, instead of spreading the mixture lay it in a sausage shape at one end of the rolled pastry and roll it up. My favourite fillings at the moment are either pre-sauteed mushrooms and onions, or pre-sauteed spinach with pine nuts and camembert cheese (add a pinch of nutmeg to this). Some people brush the rolled pastry with oil/butter and sprinke it with breadcrumbs before adding the filling. This does make the pastry crispier but I like mine more doughy so I don't bother. Again, hot oven until golden brown.

This post has been linked to the Saturday Recipe Swap at Lakes Single Mum and Meal Planning Monday over at At Home with Mrs M.