Mike and I divvy the household chores pretty evenly based on what each of us is good at. I do all the cooking, except on occasions few and far between. On the rare off night that I don’t feel like cooking or going out, I ask Mike to cook. He typically responds that me asking him to cook is like him asking me to engineer a computer network. Since there’s truth to that, I let it go and those are typically the nights we order in or eat eggs....
Valentine’s Day Menu: Blush Pasta & Individual Beef Roulades
Here’s the next part of our Valentine’s Day meal, the blush pasta and individual beef roulades. (For the full recipe, see my post here.) To finish off our Valentine’s menu, soon I’ll posting my recipe for dark chocolate mousse! :)...
Beef & Bean Vegetable Soup & An Announcement
This might look like some ordinary soup, but let me tell you that it is anything but. When paired with a grilled cheese sandwich and a dreary day, this soup becomes a panacea for the winter blues. This recipe is based on my mother’s phenomenal go-to cabbage soup recipe. Any type of beans will work here; I use a 16 bean mix because I like the variety. If you don’t have dried beans you can use canned beans, just be sure to add them to the soup at the end when all the veggies are done cooking. For the chance to win some Larabars, check […]...
Beef Biryani Stuffed Inside Basmati Rice
Not long after we married, my husband introduced me to pilaf-style biryani, one of his favorite rice dishes that has meat and veggies cooked together with the rice; topped with toasted almonds or other nuts, it is really delicious. For the longest time that’s the only form of biryani we ever made. Then one evening at a Pakistani restaurant we ordered biryani and the rice came out in a dome-like shape, with the actual biryani nowhere to be found. Once we dug into the rice we saw that it was stuffed with the biryani. This dish was so beautiful and impressive, I immediately knew I wanted to recreate it […]...
Jew’s Mallow Soup (Molokhia)
If you’re not familiar with this dish, you might think that I went a little crazy. (Scroll down and take a look…you’re probably thinking, is that swamp water she’s cooking?) This green soup is a traditional Egyptian dish called Jew’s Mallow, Jute Mallow, or Nalta in English (it’s called Molokhia in Arabic). It’s said that the word Molokhia was derived from Molokia, which means “for royalty” and rightly so because it’s so delicious. The consistency of this soup is something that must be surmounted if you’re going to eat it, since Molokhia has a very mucous-like feel (similar to cooked okra). Although Molokhia is […]...
Arabic Stuffed Zucchini (Kousa Mahshi)
I learned to make this dish while visiting my mother-in-law in Syria. She is a truly amazing woman; she excels at whatever she puts her hands to, and of course she is a fantastic cook! Since I’m a beginner at speaking Arabic and she’s a beginner at speaking English, our time together in the kitchen involved a lot of pointing, gesturing, nodding, and excitement when the other person finally understood what was being communicated. But that just made it all the more memorable. In Syria, the zucchini is a lot smaller than the zucchini typically found here (a 6” zucchini there is pretty big!), so […]...
Spaghetti with Homemade Meat Sauce
I think everyone has a favorite go-to tomato sauce for their pasta. This sauce is my variation on spaghetti and meatballs. If you’ve never made your own sauce, don’t be intimidated! It doesn’t take more than a couple of hours to make (and it takes less than an hour if you use ground beef instead of cubed meat), and it’s so much better than jarred sauces! This sauce gets real depth of flavor and a touch of sweetness (to balance out the tomatoes’ acidity) from the almost-caramelized onions. Spaghetti with Homemade Meat Sauce (Yield: ~14 servings) 1 ¾ lb beef, trimmed of […]...
Moroccan Stew
This stew has a lot of flavors going on, with the sweet golden raisins and spicy-hot chilies, not to mention the spices and other savory flavors galore. I know it might sound weird to put raisins in a stew, but for me they really make the dish! Moroccan Stew (Yield: 6-8 servings) ½ lb beef, cubed 1 TB olive oil 2 medium-large onions, diced 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 small chilies, minced (optional) 1 tsp coriander 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp paprika ½ tsp cinnamon ½ tsp curry ¼ tsp black pepper 2 bouillon cubes 1 bay leaf 5 c water 1 […]...
Making a Restaurant-Quality Meal For Any Occasion
The Dilemma: I think many people out there suffer from the same quandary that I did – no new ideas for Mother’s Day gifts. Of course there are the usual stand-bys (such as flowers, chocolates, gift certificates, etc.), but they get old fast. The Start of Something Good: For Mother’s Day 2006 I wanted to come up with a unique way of showing my mom just how special she is to me, so I decided to make a restaurant quality meal and serve it in a restaurant quality atmosphere, at home. Now I have to tell you I’m no chef at all. I have no […]...
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 