Recipes With... Miss Israel!

Here we go again with another 'Recipes With...' blog instalment, this time I took things to the Middle East to meet Miss Israel! Now, I must admit that I had no idea at first but after some research I found that Israeli food blends with other Eurasian cuisines. I had my food shopping game on to find those ingredients, Miss Israel might well be 2022's final post! Don't tempt me! 

With May being 'Eurovision Month', I wanted to find a country that served a certain Middle East flare whilst still holding the right to perform in the contest. Israel came to mind, along with my accompanying blog feature 'My Eurovision Song Celebration... Israel' I wanted to keep that 'Miss Israel' energy surging and more! Beginning with 'Shakshuka' had to be done, ideally a brunch or breakfast meal I chose neither occasions for my first Israeli injection of food culture. A tomato based meal with eggs shallowed fried on the top, I ensured that those tomatoes were not those miniscule overpriced vine tomatoes! My local 'fruit & veg' centre served up some thick 'beef tomato' style vine options, you already know those bad boys would become the base to my Miss Israel 'Shakshuka' dish. After adding those favourably sized tomatoes to that sizzling situation, I then added my onions, garlic and coriander to the pan. I added lashings of spice with chilli, paprika and other additions had my Israeli one pot dish cooking with enough flavour! Oy Vey!!! 

I'm not one to follow recipes, throwing the rules out of the window I added my four eggs to the bubbling 'Shakshuka' with no intention of getting salmonella because ain't nobody got time for that! Allowing the eggs a little longer than those 'YouTube' tutorials had made it look so easy, I wasn't mad when I saw that those eggs had fully cooked themselves solid! Pouring an ice cold glass of mango juice had to be done, I didn't have any access to Kosher products so ASDA's finest had to suffice! Toasting my sliced 'tiger bread' baguette had me sitting pretty with my healthy portion of 'Shakshuka' that May evening. Nothing tasted spicy but the sauce most certainly had a kick with the chilli that had been added, what's life without a little bit of spice? Miss Israel had me spicing up my life for certain, my own version of 'Shakshuka' tasted fine for me. The feta cheese and black olives gave the dish a wonderful finish, it was all delicious! Discovering what possibilities Israeli food held in store for me, I had my eyes set on a royal task for meal two! Oh!

Falafel and hummus? Yes! I had no idea how long winded this dish would turn out, honestly the experience had me shelling overnight soaked chickpeas for the whole of the United Kingdom! Honestly, I had no motivation to cook once they had been shelled so I ordered a McDonald's delivery because the shelling took me about three to four hours to complete! With the chickpeas shelled to a satisfactory level, I moved onto my Israeli style salad with not much time spent on that accompaniment. Black olives, cucumber, onions, tomatoes and an orange pepper had my own homemade salad ready in a few moments, it was much fresher than any shop-bought purchase! The pittas were definitely shop-bought but I wasn't mad about that because every other element had been homemade! Adding some sliced garlic, water and olive oil to my shelled chickpeas kickstarted my homemade hummus crusade, blending it all together was easy enough! For flavour I added some cumin and chilli flakes to the hummus mix, lifting the flavour! Crazy! 

To drink I squeezed four lemons into a container, adding a generous amount of fresh mint had to be done with a few sachets of sugar to add that sweetness. I was hoping to make an ice cold 'Limonana' soft drink, a variation of a lemonade but with a minty twist. My chilled drink could be simply placed in the fridge, just wait for the time I went absolutely 'Meshuggah!' 'Meshuggah' is Yiddish for 'crazy!' Of course not, I had everything under control! Did I really, though? No! Using what felt like a mountain of cornflour to soak up the whizzed 'Falafel' mix, it was just really wet! Needing things to be less watery, I managed to kneed together the mixture into a burger-like shape. Honestly, as they fried in the pan I thought to myself 'Nisht Geferlekh!' That 'Nisht' phrase Yiddish translates into English to 'I've seen worse!' Fixing my 'Falafel' plate felt like such a relief, the minty lemonade tasted great and with a little extra cornflour and chilli powder for the 'hummus' had me content. The meal tasted amazing! 'Geshmak!' Yes, 'the bomb!' 

Miss Israel saw me put in some extra work, the third feature of this blog had me transported back to Turkey! Based on a kebab like moment, I tried making my very own 'Shawarma' plate with rice and salad. Utilising my salad from the previous day, I set that aside for this third meal. Going down a slightly different track with my rice, I fried off an onion and some sliced garlic in my usual frying pan. From the onions and garlic, I added some water then the rice. Whilst cooking onion and garlic, I added a generous amount of cumin and turmeric to the pan. Once the rice had started to absorb the water in the pan, then the 'canary yellow' shade had my 'Shawarma' plate almost cinched! With the rice and salad done and did, I placed my marinated chicken thigh fillets into the oven for a whole thirty minutes because I could! No, Miss Israel would not be taking me on any further rides! Sizzling away like a bad one, I had my meal sorted! Having nothing to 'Kvetch' about, I made sure everything but the meat had been plated. Done?

After turning my marinated chicken onto the other side, I took my already made 'Ayran' yoghurt drink from the fridge. I am not sure what they call 'Ayran' in Israel but I wanted something fresh to drink with my 'Shawarma' meal. What had I marinated my chicken with? I had used chilli powder, ground paprika, cumin, a spoonful of yoghurt with a generous splash of garlic paste, from there I covered the bowl and placed it into the fridge to marinate for about two hours. My 'Shawarma' meal was complete, plated to my full satisfaction I enjoyed every single piece of food on that place and then some! My yoghurt drink went down a treat, all the flavours complimented each other without any doubt! No need for any 'Schlepping' because chickpeas weren't present, I decided the third element needed to be somewhat easier! 'Schlepping?' No, I didn't want to go taking any unnecessary steps! Not for me! Miss Israel had my stomach feeling like I was in love with that food, truly the extra steps and prep were worth it! 'Meshuggah' situations for nobody!

Looking for a sweet ending to this meeting with Miss Israel, I had toyed with making a certain Middle Eastern baked dessert but I don't bake! With all of those extra steps that involved the first three elements of this series, I decided a shop-bought baked treat would suffice for Miss Israel! She'd have no choice in the matter! Nisht! Nothing! No! I had already bought some dates ahead of my meeting with Miss Israel, with the 'Ma'amoul' not going to be I changed the gear, consulting my own inspiration. Ending up with a simple yet very tasty arrangement, I placed my dates in three lines with the sliced walnut cake nestled between those lines. Drizzling a little honey over the sweet plate, I didn't want to overkill that sugary fourth and final Miss Israel meal. Morrisons did good, my walnut cake was sweet and when mixed with the dates the taste was like a party in my mouth! I didn't need to reassure myself, that dessert choice was mine! Simply assembled, hand on heart it was much better to keep it simple for that final segment. Delicious! 

Standing by my sweetened choices, I consulted the internet to see if Israeli cuisine possessed a warm milky drink? I wanted to know! No questions required, only answers needed! Referencing to 'Hanukkah', I found a 'spiced hot chocolate' suggestion had been thrown my way! Going back to basics, I heated some milk in a saucepan along with a favourable amount of Cadbury's drinking chocolate cocoa then allowed those settings to infuse. Liberally adding incalculable amounts of ground nutmeg and sweet cinnamon to the mixture, a splash of vanilla essence would set me right! The secret ingredient was what? 'Gelt!' Yes, 'money!' As per the 'Hanukkah' tradition, I added some milk chocolate to the bubbling pot of milky chocolatey deliciousness! Sitting down to enjoy my sweet treats had me saying a fond farewell to Miss Israel, no bitterness was felt because that special hot chocolate had me feeling content! From my 'Shakshuka' to my homemade 'Falafel', Miss Israel has educated me! 'Shawarma' and 'Gelt' spirited me away! ISR!

Cooking Is My 'Schtick!' 

Desperately Seeking Adventure