Kofta b'siniyah

I am having a very busy week and my plan to post earlier this week did not happen. Still, I do want to post because my promise to myself this year is that I will post once a week. I made this dish weeks ago when I borrowed Jerusalem from the library. It is a beautiful cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. The book has since been returned to the library and these meatballs are long gone but I still crave for it. I am thinking about purchasing the book. Though currently I am doing a low-fat-vegetarian-diet, but I do crave meat every now and then. If you like middle eastern dish, you should check this out. It has a range of recipes from appetizer, salad, soup, meat, and dessert.

Gravlak

Another winner from Jam It, Pickle it, Cure It book by Karen Solomon. I borrowed this book from the library last month and made the Lemon Curd. I have bought a copy of it and marked off all the recipes I want to make from it.

Gravlak is a Nordic dish made of raw salmon, cured in salt, sugar, and dill. I have never heard of this before. The only form of cured salmon I know is smoked salmon. I love smoked salmon but it is a bit pricey and often too salty, so it is not something I get to enjoy often.

Gravlak is not exactly the same as smoked salmon. But you do get the same salty salmon taste and similar texture. It is cheaper and less salty so is a winner in my book.

Fresh Figs with Bacon and Goat Cheese

Would you believe me if I told you I bought a handful of figs to take pictures of them?

It's all because of Helene's post. That 2nd picture of the figs on the wooden pedestal looked so good that it stayed in my brain for days.

And then I borrowed David Tanis' book from the library, titled "A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes." As the title indicated, there is a picture of figs on the book cover.

My next trip to the grocery store, I saw figs by the entrance.

On sale.

That did it.

I bought a pound of them.

And so begin, the photo session.