Rhubarb Jam

Rhubarb is a vegetable.  A court in the United States declared in 1947 that for the purposes of government regulations and duties rhubarb would be considered a fruit because it is used as a fruit in this country.  Weird.

The Chinese have used rhubarb for medicinal purposes for thousands of years.  It was used as a laxative.  

Butternut Squash and Tahini Spread

This recipe came from the same cookbook as the sweet and sour marinated fish.  Unfortunately, I'm super lazy and still haven't googled the name of the book.

As I mentioned before, I didn't buy the book.  I checked it out at the library.  I found several interesting recipes and photocopied them before returning the book.  In my haste to avoid a late fee, I didn't write the titled of the book down. It's a shame because the book had such beautiful pictures.  The author shared pictures of people and places as well as delicious food. 

Hummus

In Arabic, Hummus means chickpea. Unsurprisingly, the main components of hummus are mashed chickpeas and tahini.

A town in Lebanon set a world record for the largest dish of hummus ever made in 2010. They made roughly 23,000 pounds of hummus. When I read this on Wikipedia, I thought, “Why is this a record we are preserving for future generations?”   

This is a pretty basic hummus recipe. I made a couple of alterations to a recipe from allrecipes by adding cumin and paprika.

Baba Ganoush

A few weeks ago I ate at a Middle Eastern restaurant named Tash with some friends. In the past, I rarely ordered appetizers, but I have gotten in the habit. We ordered some baba ganoush to share. I’m glad we did. I’m not sure I had ever eaten it before. It was so delicious, creamy, and savory. My entrée was a lamb shank stew. It was incredible. I’m definitely going back

What is baba ganoush? It is an Arabic word that mean “father of pestle.” While searching for information about baba ganoush, I learned the work Levant. This dish originates in the Levant, an area comprising Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Israel, and southern Turkey.

Ginger Lemon Curd

A British tour guide recently asked me if Americans eat lemon curd.  I said, "on occasion," and she replied, "I love lemon curd." So, here is to you British lady.  I have to admit that lemon curd is delightful; it is a refreshing summer spread.  I used a recipe from Ina Garten, but I added ginger, which was inspired.

According to Wikipedia, fruit curds are spreads made with egg yokes, fruit zest, fruit juice, and sugar.  Ina used the whole egg in her recipe, which I am happy about because what are you supposed to do with egg whites?  Beginning in the 1800s, the English ate lemon curd with scones and bread for afternoon tea.  I have seen a few mango curd recipes online, which sound delectable.

I used 1 1/2 cups sugar, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup butter, zest of 3 lemons, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1 heaping tablespoon ginger.

I have moved up in the world; I now own a microplane.  I removed the zest from the lemons and grated the ginger into the sugar.  Avoid the pith!