Now it's Time to Eat

During the past few months I have gradually canned so much food that the pantry is FULL. So full that I have started to stack flats of jars in the space next to the fridge, displacing all the random stuff that was stored there and eliminating the kids' favorite hiding spot. Time to start using all this food...

Last night we had a friend over for dinner whom we rarely see, as he lives in Europe and, well, we don't. I pondered what I could prepare which would be different, and hit upon a Persian-themed dinner. Truly, I spent all day in the kitchen, but it was worth it! Khoresh bademjan, polo with potato tadiq, boorani (spinach and yogurt) and toorshi as side dishes, plus roasted pumpkin (which isn't really Persian, but I've had it in an Afghani restaurant and thought it might go with the rest of the dishes). The toorshi was much spicier this time, certainly not overpowering, but the extra peppers were noticeable. For the khoresh bademjan, which is beef stew with eggplant, I peeled and sliced an eggplant, salted the slices and set them aside for 30 minutes. Then they were rinsed, dried, and fried in olive oil until soft. The eggplant was set aside until 15 minutes before it was time to eat. The stew itself was 2.5 lbs of sirloin tips, cut up and browned with 3 onions, chopped. To this I added 1 pint of the tomato sauce with Persian spices, 1 c. of water, and a handful of dried parsley. This simmered for several hours, and then the eggplant got added at the last minute. All of this was served over rice (polo).

For dessert, I made an apple pie. Now that I actually know how to make them successfully, it's become really fun and no longer stressful to make them. And this was the best one yet - it got baked for almost 90 minutes, and the apples were super soft.

This dinner also showcased the farm share, as the potatoes in the tadiq, the apples in the pie, and the pumpkin were all from the share.

And the leftovers are just as good!