Sunday, April 15, 2007

middle (f)east

A true rivalry is brewing. My Calgary Flames are facing my brother's Detroit Red Wings in round 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Since my brother's a big hockey fan and even bigger fan of a hearty meal, we thought it would fun to have him and his wife over for lunch to catch the game on the big screen and root for our respective teams.

We decided to put together a middle eastern menu consisting of shish taouk, fattouche salad, hummus (with pita bread), couscous with sautéed vegetables, and roasted garlic potatoes.

The boneless chicken breast was sliced in long strips and marinated a day in advance in plenty of minced garlic, plain yogurt, lemon juice, shallots, salt & pepper. About 10 minutes on the grill and it was ready to eat.

The salad included diced tomatoes, sliced cucumber, onions, chopped parsley and shards of toasted pita. The dressing was simply 1/3 extra virgin olive oil, 2/3 lemon juice, sumac, and salt & pepper.

The couscous was prepared just as simply, with caramelized onions and yellow peppers.

The roasted potatoes were cubed and tossed in vegetable oil, garlic powder, sweet paprika, and salt & pepper.

The verdict: Detroit is up 2-0 in the series. I'm not sure if Kenny was more thrilled with the meal or with his team's victory. But the smile on his face was worth the Calgary loss (but only a little bit).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You know what, my smile was for the happiness I have when i spend time with my brother and sister. It would have been worth even if detroit lost the series.

Love the food and the company.