Friday, July 23, 2010

Berry Desert- Kisel

You an use any berry that you like the most

2 cup of blackberry
2 liters of water
About 3 table spoons of potato starch
About 2 cups of sugar or to taste

Let’s take 2 cups of berries and press them through the metal sieve. Set the juice a side and add the left over pulp to the pot and add 2 litters of water. Bring to boil and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Strain the liquid and discard the berry leftovers. Set about 1 cup of liquid aside and put the rest back in the pot and bring to boil. Then lower the heat. Add sugar and mix. Take the cup of liquid that was set a side once it cooled down and mix with potato starch. Make sure that the mix is smooth and there are no lumps of starch.

Add the juice that was reserved and the starch mix. Let simmer for a minute or too for the liquid to thicken.

Garbanzo Beans in Spicy Gravy

1 cup of garbanzo beans soaked for about 2 hours
3 cups of vegetable stock

1 table spoon of olive oil
About 2 cups of multi color bell pepper
2 tea spoons of harissa
2 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses
3 garlic cloves
1/2 tea spoon ground cumin
1/2 tea spoon ground coriander

Place soaked beans in the heavy pot. Add vegetable stock, cover with the lid and cook for about 1 hour or until beans are very soft on a small fire. Alternatively you could use a pressure cooker. In that case reduce the amount of stock to 2 cups and cook for 15 minutes once the pressure builds. Allow the pot to cool down till the pressure gets released.

In a separate pot heat olive oil and add cumin, coriander, harissa and garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add bell peppers and sauté until you can sense pepper aroma in the air. Add pomegranate molasses and beans with the liquid. Bring to boil and simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes for flavors to melt into each other.

Enjoy with some steamed rice and a cup of green tea.