Iran

So here we are. My kids have convinced me to start cooking around the world again. We've decided to start with Iran, because I don't remember what I did last time. I do have the pictures though and they tell quite the story.

The rice was supposed to be crunchy on the bottom, Kevin melted his skewers, and I set a towel on fire. Oh, and Katie came to visit! 

But that was then. This time, we're in Colorado! And we've decided to be ambitious. Three full Iranian recipes, because we have the manpower.

Iran is a country in the Middle East between Iraq and Pakistan. It is over 1.6 million square kilometers, making it the 18th largest country in the world. It is still slightly smaller than Alaska. Almost 82 million people live there, making it the 17th most populous country. The capital is Tehran. (I had actually written this paragraph back 6 or so years ago. Finally get to use it...woo!)

I may also look at moving to WordPress where I can format things a little nicer, but we'll see. For now, no fancy embedded recipes you can jump to. Sorry.

First recipe! Kabab Koobideh - Iranian Skewers. I was in charge of the prep, Kevin was in charge of the grilling. Here is my summary of the steps with absolutely no editorializing. Nope. None at all.

Step One: Grate onions. Yes, grate them, not chop. Make the fumes and liquid fly into the air. Normally really good about not crying with chopping onions? Great! It will not help you here.

Step Two: Squeeze all of the liquid out of the grated onions. Mix with other ingredients and then let rest. (We used beef, not lamb. Also turmeric, not saffron. We're on a budget here.)

Step Three: After it has rested for at least two hours, mold it onto a skewer.

Step Four: Start trying to grill it directly on the heat. Wonder how it is going to hold together. Watch it all fall off of the skewers onto the bottom of the grill.

Yep, that's some of the meat down there...

 

 Step Five: Have a slight moment of panic. Decide to change course and make grilled meatballs instead. Ta-da!

 

 

While this...ummm...cluster of a grilling session was going on, my mother-in-law was making Noon Barbari - or Iranian Naan as we were calling it. It was a very very sticky dough.

 

There was also a lot of debate and experimentation with the Parchment Paper. First attempt was done as written. Second attempt was done by trying to move it to the Parchment Paper after shaping it. That was not good because it was so sticky. Third attempt was done without Parchment Paper. That one ended up being the winner because the paper stuck to the bottom of the bread!

I was also making Salad Shirazi, which is a Persian Cucumber Salad. Compared to everything else it was relatively easy. If you (or your husband, *cough cough*) accidentally buys regular cucumbers instead of English or Persian ones, make sure you de-seed it.

 

 

Instead of meat skewers we ended up with meatballs, but everything else at least looked fairly accurate.

 

It all went over really well.

The bread really picked up the subtle flavor of the sesame seeds. The meat, while I'm sure an abomination to Iranians, was quite yummy. The cucumber salad was probably my least-favorite part, but it certainly wasn't bad. My sister-in-law asked me to send her the recipe, so that's a good sign.

All in all a good return to cooking around the world. I probably will not be as ambitious in the future, but who knows? Maybe I can get my kids chopping for all of the sides!