It was one of those weeks where only the classic, well loved dishes could get us through. I wasn’t feeling at my best and I guess that reflected itself in my food.
I was in no mood to innovate or try things out. Quite simply, I just wanted to eat. I didn’t even cook half of the week. So the menu ended up looking like something that came out of my childhood. And I thought my food habits changed the older I got- clearly not.
It wasn’t even the healthiest of menus that I have put together. But at least it provided comfort and familiarity.
Proving that I should have stayed out of the kitchen this week, I nearly burned the rice for the kabse- a dish we love because we grew up in the Gulf. The rice ended up being a lot crisper than I would have like it to be. I guess that’s what I get for depending on my cast iron pot to do the work for me.
I couldn’t even get the escalope right! Who messes up chicken escalope, especially when all they essentially have to do is fry them! I do. I had to throw away some bites because they were unevenly cooked- for this I blame Lebanese butchers who do not understand that an escalope needs to thin and flat. Not a whole chicken breast breaded as is.
And when I made the grilled chicken, the whole house smelled like we had a BBQ going on. Ahmad came home to find the kitchen and I all engulfed in smoke. I had hardly even noticed! The food turned out great and I served it with quinoa.
The only upside is my take on tacos- I laughed so hard when I wrote that name on our board. We didn’t have any tortilla bread so I toasted some regular sliced bread, topped them with some lettuce and the minced meat and veggies mixture. They came out as open-faced tacos which we devoured.
And because it wouldn’t be a lazy week without everyone’s favorite: pizza Saturday!
Beyond Beirut 