I made these for a family dinner this weekend - we had Ameir’s mom and Ameir’s stepfather over for dinner (and Mom gave me this phenomenal floral blooming tea set that I can’t wait to try. And yes, there will be pictures). The whole dinner, attempting to be mostly low carb, was: this stuffed chicken - spaghetti squash with garlic cherry tomato sauce - grilled asparagus garnished with grilled lemon - grilled eggplant rolled with ricotta, carrots, and olive tamponade - couscous with corn (oop, not low carb) - potatoes (ouch, sorry) and bruschetta with garlic-sundried tomato-herb butter (ouch again). I said mostly low carb.

These were very tender and a fresh change from my usual, heavy, creamy mushroom stuffed chicken. I’m glad that the chicken was still super moist without having to stuff it with bread cubes.

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Another extraordinary part of the Sara-TQ Asian dinner extravaganza. The flavor in this meat was so incredible because of the soy sauce and red curry paste. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Make sure you let your mouse scroll over the pictures for the caption!

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Okay, alright, so it doesn’t *look* that good. But this is comfort food. It tastes awesome, I promise. Don’t let the weird picture stop you from making this chicken.

This chicken is one of the first things I learned to make after Ameir and I got engaged. It’s stuffed with a creamy spinach stuffing that keeps the chicken incredibly moist while baking, and then smothered with a mushroom gravy. It’s based on this recipe from Kraft Foods, which I used to browse compulsively for something that didn’t look too hard. Over time, I’ve adjusted and enhanced it for my taste and it’s something I even make for company, to everyone’s great enjoyment.

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What? No picture? I know, I know, I’m sorry. I’ve failed you. But I was making this for a party so I forgot to take step-by-step pictures and the final product, while it is deliciously savory and yummy, just doesn’t photograph well. But this was so good, I couldn’t wait to share it with you until I had made this dish again for pictures. I’ll try to make up for it by adding a lot of links to this post.

This is a traditional Syrian dish of zucchini hollowed out and stuffed with cooked ground beef, then baked with a tomato sauce. The filling I used here is the same thing I used for making kibbe, and it really turned out well.

Kousa Mahshi

1 to 1/2 lb ground beef (whatever one package is)
2 onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced or minced
1/4 or 1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 to 1 tsp cumin
Salt, pepper
Dry or fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1 16 oz can tomato sauce
1 or 2 cups of broth (i don’t like to mix chicken broth with beef, so I used veggie broth)
7 green zucchini

1. Slice the zucchini lengthwise into two boats. Score the center and scoop out the flesh, leaving a rim around the edge. Try to get the ones with the bigger brown, round spot on the butt - these have more flesh, and you can use the zucchini you scoop out for other yummy things (or, you could make this feta stuffed zucchini by Veggie Venture)

2. Saute one onion and three cloves of garlic until soft. Add the ground beef and break it up so it cooks evenly. Add the walnuts, parsley, allspice, cumin, salt, and pepper. Mix in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce. (I also added a good chunk of garlic-herb butter I had in the freezer. Shh….don’t tell).

3. Remove all that from the pan. Sautee one sliced onion and three cloves of garlic and add the rest of the tomato sauce. Let it simmer to flavor. Add the broth so it’s more liquidy, enough to pour into the pan and kind of braise the zucchini.

4. In two large 13×9 pans, divide the tomato sauce evenly. Lay the zucchini boats in the pan (I cut them in half so it was four little half-boats per zucchini - easier to serve).

5. Put about 1 tablespoon of filling into each boat (each full boat). If there is extra ground beef, let it fall into the sauce.

6. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until zucchini is tender. To serve, put a few piece of stuffed zucchini into a plate and spoon the tomato sauce on top.

My new cast iron pan. Like all beautiful things, it has a story. I’ve wanted a cast iron pan for a long time. Every day for the past few weeks, I used to walk past Brown’s Paint-Hardware on Franklin Street on my way to work at the Center for Civil Rights. And, after stopping at The Bookshop to admire the cute little kitties who sleep in the window book display, I’d stop at the Brown’s shop window, with my hands and face pressed against the glass, salivating at the cast iron pans and Dutch ovens hanging in the window.

Okay, maybe not that bad, but I used to stop and look every day. Unfortunately, it was always closed in the morning when I walked by.

So one day last week, I left work early and went in. Lights flashed, a breeze blew through my hijab luxuriously…..okay, again, exaggerating. But it was a big moment for me, I’m allowed to romanticize it. I got a beautiful, 10-inch pre-seasoned cast iron pan for $18.95 + tax. Can you believe it? Here, compare prices.

Oh, it was beautiful. I picked it out, went to the cash register, and this little old guy who owns the shop said “That be all, Ma’am?” I nodded happily. “Yes thank you I’ve been passing by here every day for so many days but youre always closed at that time and i saw the pans in the window and ive always wanted a pan and now i have one and thank you so much!” I stopped for a breath and looked at him. “Well I’m sorry you had to wait so long,” he said as he handed me my new shiny pan. I walked out grinning from ear to ear and promptly called Ayesha to share my excitement.

Today, I took my friend Angela there because she mentioned she wanted a Dutch oven for all the awesome soups she makes, and of course, I had to take her back there. The guy said, “Hey, I remember you!” I was quite pleased.

This evening, I made steak in my cast iron pan. I won’t tell you how, because I’m not sure how I made it. I horribly undercooked it at first (It could be because Ameir was standing behind me going “dontovercookit, dontovercookit!” So after I let it rest and sliced it, I saw that it was *barely* rare. I put it back in the pan, and then it got slightly overcooked, but still pretty good to fulfill the steak craving I’ve been having for a week.

I served the steak with buttermilk-spinach mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms with garlic, quick-sauteed tomatoes, and caramelized onions (the best part). I’ll keep practicing and trying again, because I really enjoyed the process and I hope to get it perfect soon.

And I love my cast iron pan.