mary eats

It’s taken me a while to get back into my culinary swing. It is cold here, there’s snow all around, and while I had hopes of a fully stocked kitchen with a gleaming six burner gas range and shiny stainless steel accessories, I find myself, yet again working with the minimal: a toaster over, a single burner, and a microwave. No oven.

Things are improving. We have an espresso machine, but using more than one appliance at once causes a power outage in the kitchen. Ok, so it isn’t my dream kitchen, and you won’t find it in the pages of Architectural Digest, but the view of Lake Sammamish is the trade off.

Photo by Erin Wigger.

Rusks, for dipping in your morning coffee, South African style.

Nonetheless, I’ve been inspired by my South African haul. In my suitcase I schlepped back jars of Moroccan harissa paste, dukkah, Cadbury chocolates, rusks and dodging custom bullets, dried meats and sausage. The bounty, sequestered to a far corner of the cupboard cried out the evening I made a roasted parsnip soup.

Begging for a kick, we spooned thick tomato and cumin ladden harissa paste into the soup. Rich macadamia nuts, plump raisins, and that earthy and hypnotic combination of dried coriander and cumin elevated the lowly newspaper recipe to winter staple.

Later, for a trip to the movies, we topped microwave popcorn with tamari, and dukkah. Dukkah is traditionally, well you can almost read it in the photograph, but I’ll tell you anyway, a blend of dried coriander, cumin, sesame seeds, sugar, salt, and ground almonds and hazelnuts. Your can use it as a dip, in accompaniment with olive oil, for crudites or bread. Here is a dukkah recipe if you can’t get your hands on a jar.

Finally, while hosting a reception for a smashing NY Times photographer (alright, the reception was just me and Kevin), we topped a log of Trader Joe’s goat cheese with a piquant Orange, Ginger, and Maple chutney.

It was decadently delicious.

This is perhaps the easiest entertaining trick I know. Chutney, an spicy Indian relish, a fresh condiment chalk full of chilies, ginger, and mint, has undergone a culinary makeover. Now shi-shi food shops like Whole Foods in the States, and Woolworths in South Africa, push fruit blends (Apple is a popular chutney in the PNW) in well designed packaging. You can save a bit by wandering down to your local Indian market and picking up a jar of mango chutney.

I still have a jar of mango atchar to put to use. Any ideas?