Jean's Cuisine and other thoughts

Wow, it's been a year since I opened my blog site. Well, I am enthusiastic to start a blog about cooking as it is my passion. I saw the trailers to the new movie "Julie and Julia" and had to get the book. I am half way through this book and a quarter of the way through "My Life in France", written by Paul Child's grandnephew. Both books remind me to follow my passion and that there will be LOTS of obstacles in the way.
I am not going to set myself up for a challenge like Julie did in cooking her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Rather I will just share my daily cooking experiences whether successful or failures along with random reflections on life in Egypt.
This will be my third year of living in Cairo. I will be honest and say that I am not enamored with life in Egypt but I am trying to find within myself the will to find joy in living here.
Food is my passion. I enjoy the wide variety of food preparation from many cultures worldwide. I especially like Indian food. I am not fond of Egyptian food although my sister inlaw is the best cook here in Egypt in my opinion.
Today I decided to make a brisket of beef using a recipe from Tyler Florence (Food Network 911). Rather than print the recipe with all instructions I just scribbled down the ingredients trusting my own sense of how to proceed with the recipe. BTW I have made this before today. I picked some rosemary branches from my plant on my balcony and put them into the food processor with 2 large cloves of garlic, salt and EVOO (thank you Rachael Ray). Rather than mush them according to the recipe I just whirled them together in the food processor. I browned the brisket in a hot pan with olive oil (not teflon please). After searing the beef on all sides I put it into the glass casserole pan. Add roughly chopped celery (miniature here, I miss a good crispy celery), carrots, onion, parsley, chopped tomatoes (canned) and 2 cups of red wine. Rub the garlic mixture over the brisket. Cover casserole with foil. Bake 325 for 3-4 hours or until beef is tender. Spoon juices over meat every 15-30 minutes.
Wow, does this every make a great beef dish. The meat is tender but more delicious with the juices of wine and veggies spooned over it. This dish is a short version of the Daube recipe my mom and I made from Peter Mayle's "Provence A-Z". The Daube recipe takes 4 days to complete and is worth every day. The flavors in the Daube are complex, the meat so tender it melts in your mouth. There is a God in heaven for this recipe to be conceived.
I also tend to collect recipes from friends and restaurants. So I also made salmon (Tom's recipe from St Paul, MN) marinated with lemon, S/P, fresh dill and chives. I wrapped it in EVOO lined foil and baked for 45 min in the same oven as the brisket. The result is a subtly flavored skin-on piece of salmon that will melt in your mouth. I did add more lemon after cooking as I like a lot of lemon.
I am a rice enthusiast. My favorite is Jasmine. Here in Egypt the locals use a short-grain local rice for most dishes (additions include vermicelli sauted in butter and tumeric). Refer to "Rice-a-Roni" and you will be surprised to find it is actually the Egyptian method of cooking rice (flavored with various bouillon, pasta and other items for flavor).
For fish the rice is sauted in oil or butter until it is brown, then add nuts or small shrimps before adding water. This is known as "fish rice" or "brown rice". Imagine my surprise the first year I visited and was offered brown rice with my fish. I thought, wow, Egyptians know about brown rice. Just depends on how you define "brown" or "browned" rice................
Tonight I decided to begin by cooking chopped onion in EVOO. I added the jasmine rice, stirred it in the oil/onion then added a splash of white wine. A pinch of saffron then water, a bag of mixed frozen veggies, bring to a boil then cover and simmer 15 min. I like to drizzle more EVOO on my rice on my plate for more flavor. My version of rice pilaf.
I like simplicity but am not put off by more challenging recipes. My idea of a great day is to start cooking around 6:30 a.m. until about 6 p.m.
Tomorrow I think I will make buttermilk waffles from the "New Basics Cookbook" by Russo. I use only 100% maple syrup and salted butter on my waffles. Just an old midwestern girl that is not shy about eating salted butter and full fat dairy. Belgian or regular waffle iron??? Either suits me fine. Yum.