Jeffrey Saad's Passion For Food » cook locally eat globally

Egg Tuesday – Three incredible egg preparations and my Egg BLT breakfast sandwich inspired by Laduree in Paris.

Jeffrey Saad — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:00:16 +0000

We are back in Paris and flying home in a few days. After eating so many different foods all I can think about is some simple comfort food. Nothing is more comforting to me than the incredible egg! Being in Paris I decided I should go to the “Egg Temple” – Laduree. As you can see from the pictures they put the egg on a pedestal: literally. What I love about the egg is it finds its home in the simplest homes on a budget all the way to the finest establishments in Paris. Its versatility and incredible flavor make it everyone’s favorite. I wont even get started on the incredible array of pastries, cakes and tarts they make. My scrambled eggs were like nothing I have seen before. They looked like a bowl of polenta as you can see yet each pearl sized curd was as tender and light as the most perfectly scrambled eggs I have ever had. I am fairly confident they are using the authentic French method of whisking the eggs with milk or cream over a baine marie (fancy words for pot of boiling water with a bowl on top). Using this indirect heat they are able to whisk/stir the eggs until the become firm yet without drying them. The omelet was thick and without cheese (tender but not so flavorful). The fried eggs were deliciously unique. They fried them in a very small skillet so that the egg would set up very thick. They cook them on a higher heat. As a result the bottom ends up crispy and rich from the sizzling butter, the whites in the middle are tender and perfectly set and the yolks on top are soft and luscious. If you have a very small skillet try it. What excited me the most was a lunch item they had on the menu. A club sandwich with the addition of sliced hard-cooked egg. So simple but I have never done it. (Fried egg, yes). When I get home here is what I am going to try:

Yield: Two breakfast sandwiches

4 slices white bread or bread of choice toasted or grilled

2 large hard-cooked eggs sliced

4 slices bacon cooked as you like

4 large slices of ripe tomato

4 leaves of your favorite lettuce (enough to cover the bread in one layer)

Paprika pickle mayo

Paprika pickle mayo recipe

4 TB mayo or your favorite sandwich spread

1 med size pickle or 6 cornichons (the jarred baby pickles) chopped very small.

2 tsp smoked paprika

Pinch of salt

Mix all together.

Spread the mayo evenly across the four slices of toast.

On two of the slices layer and divide evenly the egg, bacon, lettuce, tomato

Place the other two slices of bread on top and press down. Cut in half and serve.

Feed the hungry by making a pledge (no cost) to eat good. Do good every day. America’s egg farmers are donating up to one million eggs to feed the hungry.

San Sebastian – when sand meets umami!!

Jeffrey Saad — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:23:25 +0000

The saltiness of manmade brined green olives with the natural sea salt of perfectly fresh anchovies skewered together with a sliver of slightly spicy local green chile was the most incredible first bite of Pintxos (Tapas in the Basque region) (pronounced “Peen Shows”). I literally had to close my eyes to take in every bit of the pleasure. These three ingredients came together to create a new flavor that was unbelievable. The anchovy was mild (un-like the cured ones you may be used to)but tasted fully of the sea. It melted into the olive and was ignited by the chile creating an incredible sauce in my mouth. We went on from there to try dozens of Pintxos. Each bar has 80% of the same thing but then the other 20% is their own unique twist or their signature Tapas. One of my other favorites was a salt cod crostini with thinly fried onions and chiles! The salt cod (bacaloa) is actually not salty at all. The texture is almost creamy with a mild sweet fish flavor. The chiles and onions gave it a touch of richness, the perfect crunch and a cleansing chile bite. Don’t even get me started on the jamon Serrano!! Next blog…

The kids and I finished the day by swimming way out into the bay to mount a floating dock with a high-dive diving board. Watching my kids laugh and fly through the air was as much as I could ask for. Staring back at the crescent-shaped perfectly tan-colored sandy beach was almost visual overload. The Neo-classical, Baroque and Gothic architecture wrapping around the promenade and climbing up to two bookend mountains was a stunning site. Amazing place, amazing food, awesome family. I am so grateful. Enjoy the ones you love and eat something tasty!

Eat well, Enjoy life, Be happy

Egg Tuesday in Paris!

Jeffrey Saad — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:00:21 +0000

I hope this finds you eating something delicious, dreaming about your next meal or sitting back savoring something you just finished enjoying!

The egg always feel like the all-American breakfast but when you travel you realize it is a beloved staple all over the world! Every country seems to have their egg classics.

France is no exception. From the decadent Croque Madame (Griddled ham and cheese with béchamel sauce) to the poached egg, lardon (cubes of bacon) and frisee salad to my favorite – The quiche! This is no ordinary quiche. Check out the video and have a tasty day! Take care and thanks for reading!

Feed the hungry by making a pledge (no cost) to eat good. Do good every day. America’s egg farmers are donating up to one million eggs to feed the hungry.

Eat well, Enjoy life, Be happy

Egg Tuesday – Grilled Eggs

Jeffrey Saad — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:00:42 +0000

Not exactly grilled although I would love to find a way to do that! Can you imagine beautiful grill marks across the tender egg white? It is summer and the grill is the focus of my cooking. Breakfast is no exception. This is a light, flavorful healthy dish I call Eggs Pomodoro.

Grilled zucchini, ripe tomato bruschetta and of course the farm fresh beautiful egg! You can even put your pan directly on the grill for the eggs so you can do the whole thing outside. (Or on your inside grill as I have).

Feed the hungry by making a pledge (no cost) to eat good. Do good every day. America’s egg farmers are donating up to one million eggs to feed the hungry.

Eat well, Enjoy life, Be happy

Egg Tuesday – The incredible edible egg.

Jeffrey Saad — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:00:19 +0000

After spending time on a farm in Washington this weekend I couldn’t help but to start thinking more about the “farm to table” movement. There I was eating the most flavorful, clean tasting wonderful cheese that was less than 48 hours old. I was eating it while staring out the window at a lush pasture of sheep and goats that produced the milk that made the cheese.

Although the “farm to table” phrase may be starting to sound cliché it really does represent a change in the way we think about our food. What could make more sense than having food that is natural, healthful and delivered with the minimal amount of manipulation. Because I am a huge fan of the egg I couldn’t help but to think about the fact that the egg could not be more symbolic of this movement. An oval gift, the perfect food; and most importantly as a chef so incredibly tasty!!

I had a simple fried egg this morning with a slice of whole wheat toast. The egg white was perfectly tender and mildly seasoned with salt to bring out the best of its natural flavor. The yolk stood tall and was perfectly set. The toast was crispy on the outside but just chewy and porous enough on the inside to act as the perfect culinary sponge to mop up every bit of that scrumptious, naturally delicious egg yolk.

I am so happy to see the flood of research hitting showing that the egg’s cholesterol does not appear to have any substantial effect on the cholesterol level in the blood. Check out the articles below. My farm to table poster child can stand more proud than ever and so can I working with America’s Egg Farmers. Enjoy your eggs, enjoy your day.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/health/la-he-pharmacy-20100412-pic2,0,6937503.photo

http://www.pembrokexpress.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2728:south-shore-gourmet-the-incredible-egg&catid=1:pembroke-news&Itemid=29

Feed the hungry by making a pledge (no cost) to eat good. Do good everyday. America’s egg farmers are donating up to one million eggs to feed the hungry.

Eat well, Enjoy life, Be happy

Walla Walla trip: Wine and food pairing, fromagerie, killer cocktails and truly great people.

Jeffrey Saad — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:02:27 +0000

I am in the air right now flying back from Walla Walla in Washington. I was hired by Click Wine group (amazing people) to do a wine and food pairing presentation to a few hundred wine bloggers from all of the country. First and foremost “cheers!” to all of you amazing wine bloggers that I met. You are passionate, fun, people who are helping the world enjoy wine like never before. Thank you! What a trip! I got off the plane and we went straight to the most incredible fromagerie called Monteilllet. Joan, the owner is the greatest combination of farmer, entertainer and mentor. Within moments of meeting her she makes you feel like you are best friends. Her farm is out in the middle of a sea of green and brown. There are wheat fields as far as the eye can see. After petting the goats and meandering through the farm we had the most incredible cheese tasting. Fresh cheeses that were less than 48 hours old as well

as grape ash (imported from France where her husband is from) cheeses, feta style cheese, and marinated cheeses (pink peppercorn). We had a huge lunch under the newly constructed outdoor kitchen/dining room. We then headed into the next town called Waitsburg. A one street “wild west” looking town that is over 100 years old. There is a hardware store that looks like it has been there since the beginning. The centerpiece is a bar that you would think would be in a big city based on the complexity and brilliance of its owner and bartender Jim German. I had a killer cocktail of Rye Whiskey, Cappellano chinato (a red grape based bitter with a hint of dark chocolate), and Cynar. Sounds funky but totally tasty and perfectly balanced. The day ended at Saffron restaurant where we had an incredible meal. From lamb tartar that was sweet, mild and fresh to an incredible harissa flatbread. The dessert was strawberry flat bread with an Aleppo red chile ice cream. The flatbread was crispy yet chewy, the strawberries were sweet and then the best part was the red chile ice cream.

I would normally raise an eyebrow to such a combination but it was brilliant. The ice cream was not too sweet and filled your mouth with cool cream. As the ice cream melted you were left with the mild heat of the red chile. Truly well balanced and brilliant. Chef Bear (and his awesome house-grown micro greens)at the hotel where I did the presentation was brilliant. He created ten scrumptious dishes to pair with ten different wines. My favorite was the duck empanada with mole sauce paired with a Malbec. The huge blueberry cream and blackberry fruit of the wine dissolved into the mole sauce to marry with the fruit and chile. Fantastic!!

If you are up for a quick lesson on how to pair food and wine check out my presentation below. I hope this finds you well.

Pairing wine and food

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is what I said the first time I experienced the true “ah ha” of what a perfect wine and food match can do. It was 1990 in a little French restaurant in San Francisco. The kind I always spent my entire nights tips on as a waiter in my endless search for culinary pleasure. It was foie gras and sauterne – not unique, but truly symbolic of what it means to match food and wine. A little table, sip of this newly discovered dessert wine made honey sweet but with perfect acidity due to this magical mold called botrytis. The wine lacquered my tongue with a blanket of honey, and then came a bite of the seared custard like foie gras, cut through the crispy golden top, mild gamey/meaty flavor dissolved into a bone marrow like richness with that unmistakable savory custard-like texture. Another sip of wine and wow!!!! I have caramel and butterscotch in my mouth! Where did that come from? Foie gras politically correct? Sorry, the story is the story.

Tertiary – the biggest word I know and don’t ask me to spell it! If I were smart I wouldn’t be in the restaurant business! It is what happens when everything comes together with the right food and wine match and a third; new flavor is created that is better than the food and wine on their own.

Leaving bliss aside for a moment often times the goal is to just not mess up the food or the wine with a bad match right?

I am here in front of you not as an “expert” but as someone who has spent their life as a cook, a restaurateur and all around wine geek enjoying food, wine and the combination of the two. That is what it is all about. You know what tastes good and what doesn’t, right? That should be your guide. Add that to what we are going to cover today and you are equipped to take your enjoyment to the next level.

My goal today is to start by:

1^st setting us up by what it means to pair wine and food

2^nd talk about some basic “rules” or guidelines that will help you increase the odds of pleasing your palate! We will also talk about the top three “safe bet” wines that are all around heroes. And three “must try” wine/food matches.

Lastly, most importantly, see what questions you have.

Ok, before we get started let’s clarify what Tools are needed: nose, tongue, and love for filling your mouth with brilliant flavor combinations! You must first please the tongue/the gatekeeper with the necessary balance of acid/sweet/salty/alcohol /fat and spice before the nose (the place we really “taste” everything can enjoy the true depth of the wine and food match.

The fist step is to change the way you approach your plate and glass. Approach your food and wine the same way you approach your relationships (the good ones J) Stop and “listen” to your food and wine. Really pay attention to what is in front of you and give the first couple bites/sips your full attention. When you do this you start to notice things. Have you ever finished a meal and not even realized what you ate or drank? Sometimes that makes sense but to get the most enjoyment you want to really pay attention to your food and wine. Lock the tastes and smells into your “flavor database” so that you will be able to recall them in the future. Lose yourself in the dish and the glass for a moment (just make sure to re-surface before your friends think you have issues (it’s already too late for me).

Thanks to Josh Wesson’s book (“Red wine with fish”) most of us have moved far beyond the “red wine with meat and white wine with fish” rule. You probably know that the cooking technique, the sauce, the weather and even your mood are all more important that the protein.

Remember the most important thing about food and wine matches is to trust your mouth. See what is going on inside your mouth as you eat and drink. If it is pleasant you have found a good match. If either the food or the wine taste worse together than they did on their own you know you have discovered a pair that doesn’t work.

I always suggest first taking a sip of the wine and then following it with a bite of food and then one more sip. Repeat until you find the perfect match or are so happy that it doesn’t matter.

In addition to that remember that personal taste is king. Nobody can tell you what to like or dislike (even though there are some waiters out there who would disagree).

I. Pizza and milk anyone?

Who would drink milk with pizza? Of course not. How about an ice-cold coke? That seems obvious because we have all had this combination a million times. There are two lessons here.

Repetition is key. The more you try a certain type of food with a certain type of beverage the more you will learn what works and what doesn’t. To do your homework is to eat and drink as often as possible.Think about why pizza and coke work. Pizza – rich from the cheese. Acidic in from the tomato sauce and a touch of spice. Coke – Slightly bitter/tannic, which offsets the richness of the cheese. Also acidic which balances the acid in the sauce bringing the tomato and topping flavors forward. The underlying raisinated fruit/sweetness in the coke tames any spice in the sauce.

Ketchup and French Fries – Think of wine as an additional “condiment” you are adding to the meal. Ketchup is not so lovely on its own but it is great with fries due to the balance that is created. The sweet of the ketchup balances the salt of the fries. The acidity of the ketchup cleanses the fat of the fries = harmony.

Try to apply those same simple criteria to your food and wine matches. What elements does each contain? Will they play nicely together?

II. The general “rules”

First choose to match or contrast the elements in the food and in the wine.

Contrasting can be riskier due to imbalances.

When “matching,” remember that whatever the food has you want the wine to have a little more of that. I.e. sweet dessert then you want a wine that is at LEAST as sweet or sweeter.

We must first master the non-sexy elements of pairing (acid, fat, sweet, salt, alcohol, tannin and spice) before you can enjoy the sexy, deep elements of wine (earthiness, layers of fruit, flowers, leather, tobacco, tar, the list goes on!). If you get the base elements right you are 85% of the way there!

In the food In the wine The result

Match

Acid Acid Acid softens and fruit comes forward

Acid is the “safety net” the “equalizer” in

Food/wine parings. Yogurt brings almost

any match together.

Contrast

Fat Acid Like lemon on fish the fat is cleansed and

the flavors of the food and the wine come come forward

Contrast

Rich protein Tannin Tannin is softened in wine and fruit

(animal fat) comes forward. Think milk in coffee.

Tannin cuts the protein/fat in steak the same way lemon cuts fish oil.

Match

Sweet Sweet Sweetness is tamed and flavors of food

and wine are accentuated. Sweet food

spanks the fruit right out of a dry wine.

Contrast

Salty High alcohol exaggerates the alcohol in the wine. Drink

lower alcohol white wines – champagne

or off dry white wine.

Spicy tannin tannin accelerated. No good. Sweet or

Fruity white :Gwertz/Riesling is safe.

Or red with acidity, barbera with spicy meatballs!! Riskier but amazing when it works.

Nuts tannin tannin is accelerated. No good.

Hazelnut crusted, butter basted fish with a fat Chard!

Cheese – a category in itself. Remember sweet or off dry is safe with almost all cheese. Riesling, Sauterne (amazing with strong cheese), Chenin Blanc.

Creamy Will wipe out tannin in red and leave

wine flat. Drink a sweet white or a white

with firm acidity – sauvignon blanc.

Salty Sweet wine will offset salt. Tannic red

will battle saltines of cheese.

Acidic (goat) Battles tannin in reds. Drink with sweet

Aged Red wine. Age softens acidity in cheese

and brings out nuttiness in cheese which

Accentuates the fruit in the red wine.

Stinky cheese will kill red.

Some of the “tricky” ingredients that can be a challenge with wine. Artichoke, Asparagus, Cilantro. Remember, like everything in life it is about balance. If the ingredient is an element in the dish but not the main ingredient you can find a great match. Think funky with funky – Gruner Veltliner with artichoke is great. Off dry Riesling with Asian cilantro pad Thai. Arneis (crisp white from Italy) or an herbaceous Sauvignon Blanc.

The top three food friendly wines – your “wine to the rescue” when you are not sure.

Barbera – although red it has a lot of firm acid and bright fruit that will go with a huge range of food.
Rose – a dry or off dry rose will go well with almost anything. There is enough acid to match the acid in a salad. There is enough fruit to off set a spicy food; there is just enough tannin from the minimal skin contact to stand up to most protein. And it looks so pretty!
Champagne! As long as it is not overly yeasty the low alcohol, high acidity and mild yeast marry with a huge range of food. You can do different Champagnes to match ever course of a meal from rose, to white to full yeast to bright fruit.

The top three unforgettable classic wine/food matches. Try them!
1. Foie gras and sauterne.
2. Sherry (oloroso)and Marcona almonds.
3. A rib-eye and malbec.

More matching info.
1. When in doubt go local! IF you are eating Italian, stick with Italian wines. “What grows together goes together”.
2. Think about matching the weight of the food with the weight of the wine. Is the food light, medium or heavy based on cooking technique, protein and sauce? If light go with a lighter wine (watery in weight like Muscadet for white or a light Beaujolais for red), if medium go with a wine with more body (milk-like in weight like Viognier for white or Pinto Noir for red), if heavy go with a heavier bodied wine (creamy in weight like Chardonnay for white or Carmenere for red).

Remember, these are the basics that will set you up for success. Just like discovering your own great restaurants off the beaten path on a vacation you will need to eat, drink and experiment with wine and food matches to find your own “off the beaten path” wine and food match.

Enjoy the journey!!

Eat well, Enjoy life, Be happy

Egg Tuesday – Egg Parmigiana

Jeffrey Saad — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:00:41 +0000

Happy Tuesday! I hope you are off to a great day. We are settled in our new home in San Francisco and ready for our first egg dish. Check out the attached video for a quick, tasty egg dish recipe.

Feed the hungry by making a pledge (no cost) to eat good. Do good everyday. America’s egg farmers are donating up to one million eggs to feed the hungry.

Eat Well, Enjoy life, Be happy

Pan Y Tomate – bread and tomato, simple yet delicious!

Jeffrey Saad — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:00:48 +0000

We are moving to San Francisco in less than a week! The family is very excited for the next chapter of our lives. This will be the last video you see in our current kitchen. I am enjoying the true “mystery basket” daily cooking challenge of trying to empty out the refrigerator and cabinets. I had some ripe tomatoes, some rustic bread, my favorite smoked paprika

and of course the always ready, willing and able incredible egg! I fell in love with pan y tomate on the first trip to Spain. Like the Tortilla Espanol (scroll a few blogs down on my blog)it is a Tapas bar staple and for good reason. It tastes great with everything, it is inexpensive and super easy to make. I decided to take it up a notch and turn it into breakfast. Check out the video and enjoy!

Feed the hungry by making a pledge (no cost) to eat good. Do good everyday. America’s egg farmers are donating up to one million eggs to feed the hungry.

Eat Well, Enjoy life, Be happy

Caviar served on moving boxes and Pad Thai noodles at 1:00am…

Jeffrey Saad — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:40:32 +0000

What a great night. We had a party to say goodbye to a decades worth of great friends in Los Angeles as we prepare to move back to San Francisco next week.

It was not about the atmosphere as we have moving boxes lining the walls and everything but the bare minimum packed. But it is always about the food! I took a recipe idea that I created for the Incredible Egg Facebook and turned it into a crostini appetizer – chunks of thick cut golden bacon roasted with green onions, deglazed with oyster sauce and mixed with soft fried eggs served on small peanut oil crisped toasts. I made a curried pea soup with a bag of frozen peas, the last of my homemade chicken stock, and some Indian spices. As the night progressed the hunger came back. I had still had some crostini left but the crowd needed something new. What shall I put on it? My rock star mother in law brought us a huge tin of caviar from the Caspian Sea when she returned from Iran last week! A little butter and the caviar, heaven! One of the many perks of a lovely Persian mother-in-law!

1:00 AM, down to six of us and still hungry. I had a bag of frozen shrimp shells (I always buy shell on shrimp, clean them and freeze the shells to use in stock and sauces)in the freezer, some thin dried egg noodles, Chinese sausage, the remainder of the egg mixture from the crostini and some more green onions……Pad Thai it is! I sautéed some shallots, added the shrimp shells and made a ten minute intense shrimp stock by boiling it down and reducing 3 cups of water to less than one. Just enough intense broth to absorb into the egg noodles and give the Pad Thai that creamy texture. (You want Pad Thai to be moist and a touch sticky but not saucy)In my new Hong Kong wok that I am still breaking in I blackened some garlic and chile arbol (aka chile flakes) in peanut oil and then tossed them (infuses the oil with a deep flavor of garlic and toasted chile) I added the finely chopped Chinese sausage, and green onions. After just 45 seconds the green onions had softened and the fat in the dried sausage came back to life giving off a nice shine and flavoring the oil and onions with its sweet spice. I added the egg noodles (which I had boiled for just a couple of minutes to soften), the shrimp broth, and the remainder of the oyster egg mixture and a splash of soy sauce. (The key to wok cooking is to first flavor the oil, then sear the meat and veggies in stages to add flavor to the pan and to allow each ingredient to cook correctly, then add your sauce, then your noodles allowing the noodles to absorb the sauce and become flavor sponges!) I let the noodles simmer for just a few moments to take in all the flavor of the broth. A garnish of chopped cilantro and that was it. The refrigerator was practically empty, we were all eating, laughing and enjoying the Pad Thai with the remainder of a great off-dry Sauvignon/Semillon white wine from Washington.

I am grateful for an incredible decade in Los Angeles, the friends we have made and the incredible times my family has had. On to the next chapter to create more great memories, meet more great people and do my best to bring joy to the world one dish at a time! Enjoy

Eat Well, Enjoy life, Be happy

Lebanon meets Italy; and I am not talking about the world cup

Jeffrey Saad — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:34:35 +0000

I grew up eating Tabbooleh and loved it. As I went to culinary school and worked in restaurants I had an epiphany that my childhood salad was actually one big garnish (the parsley). It made me appreciate how tasty something as simple as parsley can be when spiced properly. As I dove deeper into classic French cooking and then Italian and Mexican I started to fade from the Lebanese cuisine I grew up with. I am now enjoying coming up with my own “without borders” versions of the Lebanese classics. I made a cardamom bread salad and topped it with a sumac spiced Tabbooleh. It was such a delicious combination. I have always loved the Italian bread salad. Cubes of partially stale bread soaked with olive oil, vinegar, tomato and herbs. It is a natural to bring Tabbooleh into the mix. I sautéed cubes of rustic country bread with green cardamom (I broke five pods open and ground the seeds) and olive oil. The bread got a touch golden on the outside and had the hay-like, warming cologne-like smell of cardamom. I love when bread is chewy and crispy at the same time. For the Tabbooleh I mixed a small amount of soaked bulghar (1/8 C.) to 2 C. of halved, ripe, sweet cherry tomatoes, 1 C. chopped green onion, ½ C. shredded endive (I love the slightly bitter edge it brings as well as some firm texture) 2 TB shredded mint and of course 2 ½ C. Italian parsley. The key is to pull off the parsley leaves and create a pile. I then held the leaves as if I was grasping an apple and then with a very sharp knife sliced the pile into thin shreds. You can of course use a food processor but there is nothing like the clean, fresh firm strips of parsley to give the Tabbooleh a “chopped salad” texture that has body and holds the dressing well. My dressing was 2 oz. fresh lemon juice, 2 oz. evoo, 1 tsp sumac (a beautiful red powder made from ground berries. It has a bright red fruit citrus note to it and is often used in the Middle East), a ½ tsp white pepper and of course salt. I let the dressing sit separately to bring the flavors together. I then added the dressing to the parsley salad and let it marinade for an hour in the refrigerator. I spooned the tabbooleh over the bread and drizzled the whole plate with a touch more olive oil. I took a bite and the bread acted like a sponge absorbing the dressing of the tabbooleh and then filling my mouth with the lemon/scented sumac dressed parsley. The cardamom came in at the end and created a bridge between the bread and the tabbooleh. The bread was a little rich and crispy from the olive oil, which was balanced perfectly by the light, fresh chill of the tomatoes. Give sumac a try anytime you want to add acidity (think lemon juice) but with a dried berry spice. Great with artichokes and ricotta cheese or just to wake up vegetables like zucchini. I also love to stir it into yogurt and use it to top kabobs.

Eat Well, Enjoy life, Be happy