I landed at Raleigh-Durham to find a brand spanking new terminal, so new that some of the stores haven't yet opened.
Given the delays for our flight, I was very much in the mood for lunch. I headed to Neomonde, located in the middle of a lively neighborhood of Middle Eastern restaurants and stores.
I ordered the lasagne, which has no pasta. It was made of layers of sliced eggplant and potato, along with cheese and tomato sauce It was delicious and hearty. The baba ganouch was excellent, always a treat that I used to fill the puffed breads. The chick pea salad included a nice kick of parsley and was possibly my favorite of the meal.
Of course, I had to try one of their pastries. It was superb: thin layers of pastry, nuts, just the right amount of honey.
After I finished my meal, I took a minute to look around the grocery section. It was full of temptations: chocolate covered dates, spices, olive oil.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...




Comments
Post a Comment