The Little Sailor in Najma
This is a story of good advertising and good luck. In a recent Peninsula magazine was a full page ad for a new restaurant, the Little Sailor. It looked clean, and interesting, so we decided to seek it out for a seafood dinner.
We are so glad we did. The Little Sailor is located on a not-that-easy to reach street – either you are coming from Airport Road on C-Ring and you turn right, I think at the third right turn from the light, or you go down Najma, from C-ring, turning right at the small roundabout just past the Commercial Bank on your right, go to the end of the road, turn right, go a short distance to the end of that road, turn left and then turn left again on the next street and you will see the Little Sailor on your left.
It’s small, but they are doing a steady and continuous business. At one point, every table was taken, people coming in and placing to-go orders. They don’t have a printed menu yet, which always makes me nervous, but we plunged in, hoping we had enough to cover the bill. π
We started with the seafood soup, which was delicious – it tasted like good health as soon as we started eating, and was full of fish chunks. It is hearty and filling. They have two versions, a cream version and a clear version. We went with the clear version; we loved it.
I chose Fish and Chips for my entree, and AdventureMan chose grilled shrimp. We had more than enough, the portions were generous:
The batter on the fish was light and airy, like tempura batter. It allowed the flavor of the fish to shine!
As he was talking with the manager, AM learned that The Little Sailor is associated with the same company as Al Maharah, in the Suq al Waqif hotel. No wonder everything tastes so fresh and so delicious!
When our bill came, we got a happy surprise:
QR 104 comes to around $29. for this feast of fresh seafood. π
Corn Chowder
This used to be a recipe sent to me by Allrecipes.com, but I changed so much of it they probably wouldn’t recognize it. AdventureMan and I loved it! It’s great for winter days when the nights are getting longer, and the temperatures are dropping into the 80’s. Brrrrrrrrrr! π
Corn Chowder
Ingredients
β’ 1/2 cup diced bacon
β’ 4 medium potatoes, chopped into small cubes, maybe 1/2 – 3/4 inches
β’ 1 medium onion, chopped finely
β’ 2 cups water
β’ 3 cups frozen corn
β’ 1 teaspoon salt
β’ coarsely ground black pepper
β’ 2 cups light cream
1. Slice bacon across the top, so that you have lots of little bacon pieces, fry until cooked through. Save the grease (there is only like a tablespoon).
2. Mix potatoes and onion into the pot with the crumbled bacon and reserved drippings. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Pour in the water, and stir in corn. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover pot. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until potatoes are tender.
(You can prepare earlier in the day to this point, then add cream and heat just before serving)
3. Warm cream in a small saucepan until it bubbles. Remove from heat before it boils, and mix into the chowder just before serving.
Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran
I saw a mention of this book in an Amazon.com referral as a book I might like, and was almost set to order it when something said “go check the stack of books Little Diamond left for you” and sure enough, I already had the book.
I use books as an incentive to get me through life’s inevitable tasks I don’t like – like “if I finish this project on time, I get to read this book as a reward.” It works for me.
When I first started reading Marsha Mehran’s book about three Persian sisters starting up a cafe in a small Irish town after fleeing Iran, I found it sour. The author has a critical point of view, and generally speaking, I don’t like hanging around with people who criticize others and judge them harshly. At the beginning of the book, Mehran introduces a lot of people, many of whom we are not meant to like.
Even the sisters are not all that sympathetic – at the beginning. But also, near the beginning, she discusses Persian cooking, the idea of balance in a meal, hot and cold, spicy and bland, so you kind of get the idea that if there is sour, then there will also be sweet. In addition, at the end of each chapter there is a wonderful recipe, a wonderful, fairly easy-to-follow recipe, and she included one, Fesanjan, that is my all-time favorite Iranian dish and now, I know how to make it, Wooo HOOOO!
Three sisters, orphaned by fate, held together by love and duty, start a cafe, which, against all odds, becomes a raging success. Raging success does not heal all the old wounds, however, nor the hearts that bear them, and we learn through the book what the sisters have borne and overcome.
It turns out to be a sweet book, one well worth reading. And oh! the recipes! In each chapter, there are also hints that make them even better, so you can’t just copy out the recipes and use them, you really have to read the book. π
It’s a pity that two of the most wonderful countries in the world – Syria and Iran – are off limits. We’ve been back to Syria, and it was everything we remembered (see the Walking Old Damascus blog entries) but oh, how we would love to explore Iran. Sigh. The world turns, and we can only hope to be able to get there in our lifetime. Stranger things have happened.
Fruit Crisps – Desserts (English: Crumbles)
There are two reasons to make fruit crisps. One, there is no better way to let ripe fruit star, take center stage, just when it hits its peak. Second – oh, it is SO easy.
Here is the original recipe I use:
Apple Crisp
From Mary Cullenβs Northwest Cook Book, 1946
Crisps are wonderful when made with fresh fruit, and not so much trouble as a pie requiring crusts. Here, the topping is delicious, and easy.
5 cups apples
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg
Peel, core and slice apples and place in a greased baking dish or cassarole. Using a pastry blender, work together the butter, sugar, salt, flour and spices. Pack closely around apples. Bake in 425 degree oven for 45 – 50 minutes. Serve with whipped cream.
Berry Crisp
Substitute berries for apples. If berries are very tart, sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1/2 cup flour before covering with crumb mixture.
Rhubarb Crisp
Use diced rhubarb in place of apples. Mix 1/2 to 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour with rhubarb before placing in baking dish.
This time I made peach crisp:
You put the fruit in a buttered pie / tart plate:
You sprinkle the topping on, pat it down, and bake. Yes, it is that easy.
No, no end photo, sorry. It disappeared too quickly!
(In the Pacific Northwest, these are called Crisps. My English friend tells me that in England, they are called Crumbles.) So Easy.
Crab Cakes in Doha
We wanted to have a light dinner at home to welcome our house guests, and then take them on a night-tour of Doha. I remembered the wonderful Crab Cakes my friend and her daughter made in Seattle, and I was determined to have . . . well, I knew it wouldn’t be the same, but something LIKE those crab cakes.
So I found the best crab I could buy in Doha, and made up the crab cakes. Wrong crab. Wrong breading – I couldn’t find any panko (I know there is panko in Doha, I just know it, but I couldn’t find it when I was looking for it!) so I whirled up some lime Tostito chips in the food processor and used those.
They were actually pretty good, when I first made them. Not the same, not Pacific Northwest Dungeness Crab, but not bad.
This is four cans of crab meat – you can find the recipe for Crab Cakes by clicking on the blue type; I already printed it back in August or September.
The crushed tostitos weren’t bad for breading, but you only use a little, on the outside, to help them firm up for cooking:
I served them with Plum Sauce, which also wasn’t as good as the fresh home-made plum sauce my friend’s daughter made:
They were OK. If I didn’t know what Pacific Northwest Crab tasted like, fresh out of the ocean and steamed right away, I probably would have thought they were pretty good. I’m not going to make them again here.
Boiled Cole Slaw Dressing
We really do love cole slaw, but we find that there are some cole slaws we love more than others. Neither AdventureMan nor I are big into mayonaiss-y cole slaws, we find we like vinegary cole slaws better. Probably we like vinegary ones better because many many years ago a wonderful friend gave us this recipe for cole slaw dressing, and it is our hands down favorite.
When I first came to Qatar and wanted to make this dressing, I looked everywhere for poppy seeds, only to be told that they are ILLEGAL in Qatar, I guess they think we are all going to get high on poppy seeds or something. I was told poppy seeds are legal in Kuwait, but as hard as I looked, I never found any. I will admit, from time to time I have to bring some back with me, just so I can make this Cole Slaw Dressing.
It is sweet – and tart. I also use it on cucumbers, and I like it even better!
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup oil
1 Tablespoon poppy seed
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon onion juice (I use grated onion)
Bring all to a boil. Cool before using. Enough for one medium large head of cabbage. (Slice cabbage into thin shreds.) I also don’t let the dressing get too cool; I like the way it wilts the cabbage a little.
Mexican Rouladen, Recipe and Photos
I had my menu all set, and then, when I went to the butcher, he said “No madam, we never do this. You will not find this in all of Doha.
If I had the time, I would go to “all of Doha” and prove him wrong. And oh-by-the-way, what is wrong with saying “we can do this for you and have it ready for you tomorrow morning at 0900?” something like that?? No, just “you will never see this in Doha.”
So I can spend my time grinding my teeth in anger, or running all over Doha to see if I can find what I need (flank steak) or . . . I can see what is available and do what I can with what is available. Fortunately, I see a familiar cut of meat, and I can work with it.
When I get around a group of people, I can’t concentrate. I am so focused on the conversation and the people, that if I have houseguests, for example, which I did this weekend, I can’t talk and get dinner on the table at the same time (even with help!)
My solution is to do everything possible ahead of time, and make lists, including what dishes I plan to use for serving, what times this needs to happen, and then that, and sequences. That way, the fact that my thinking process goes on hold means I am not facing total disaster.
I needed to have a lot of variety, so that if someone didn’t like something, there would be something else they might like.
I took an old faithful recipe, Rouladen, and reworked it for a Mexican theme dinner. The secret to successful rouladen is long, slow pre-cooking. It can be entirely cooked the day before and then re-warmed to serve when you need it. It takes what might be a tough cut of beef and renders it fork-friendly. You don’t even need a knife; it cuts easily with a fork and melts in your mouth.
You pound the meat, especially on the edges, to flatten it and to tenderize it.
You have the filler ingredients ready to go:
Actually, I forgot to put the jalepenos inside, so I chopped up a few very finely and added them to the sauce – it turned out to be just the right thing. I like to start with just a teaspoon of Pesto, just to give it a little pop, and some already-cooked and crumbled bacon (this is turkey bacon, but any bacon will do.)
You sprinkle the other ingredients lightly over the length of the roll, leaving about an inch all around for rolling and folding:
When they are rolled, you put them closely together in a pot:
This is key – you make up an acidic sauce – tomatoes, for example, are acidic. I use tomato paste, and tomatoes, and then you can add broth, or wine, or lemon juice – something to make it more liquid. You also add spices, in this case, chili and cumin for the Mexican flavor, plus, as I mentioned above, some very finely chopped jalepenos.
Then, you pop it into a slow oven – 350Β°F/180Β°C – and slow cook it three or four hours. That’s why you want it very liquid-y, so that the sauce won’t disappear during the long cooking, it will concentrate. Yummm!
No, I don’t have any photos of the finished dish. I was pretty busy. π The roulades shrink, and brown over the top, but remain fork-tender for eating when you heat them up (30 minutes at 350Β°F/180Β°C, until hot!)
This is what one roulade on a plate looks like. They are much prettier when a bunch are all cooked up in the pan together, and I serve them right out of one of my Damascus copper cooking pots:
The Pancake Haus in Edmonds
In my little home town, Edmonds, north of Seattle, there is a place you wouldn’t look at twice, but if you want to eat there on a Sunday morning, be prepared to stand in line. The Pancake Haus is no well kept secret among long-time Edmonds residents, and especially on Sunday morning, when the entire community shows up, drifting into the restaurant in bunches, as the different church services finish. If you want a booth just for two, you may not have to wait as long as those waiting for a table for eight (families love to come here) or twelve or more (church groups).
When I lived here, I think I tried almost every single thing on the menu, even the oatmeal, but not biscuits and gravy. One time AdventureMan ordered biscuits and gravy and it cured me of ever wanting to try them. In my mind it looks like dough and glue, but everyone insists it tastes great. I’ll take their word for it.
So when Mom looks outside and groans at all the rain coming down and says “Want to go to the Pancake Haus?” I knew the right answer was yes. I don’t think it’s her favorite place, but she knows it is one of mine. We were lucky, we got out during a lull in the rain, and there was a tiny booth for two people waiting for us.
The Pancake Haus is not fast food. It is slow food, and it doesn’t matter because all your friends are there and you need to say hello and you have time, while the rain comes down, just to sip a little coffee (ummm, no, everyone just drinks coffee in this place, maybe a little sugar and cream, or maybe some sweetener, but none of the la-di-da Starbucks drinks). The owners know just about everybody, and have half their family, children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews – all working the tables, even cooking to make sure the food gets to you in a reasonable time.
Mom was debating . . . potato pancakes? pecan pancakes? I suggested maybe the Iowa corncakes, but she said no . . . maybe blueberry pancakes? They have all the regular suspects here, eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, etc. but they have some really amazing pancakes.
I know what I want – I want a half order of the Raspberry Roll-ups. That makes up her mind for her, she orders the Swedish Pancakes with lingonberry sauce.
Aha! This time I remembered!
Swedish pancakes with lingonberry sauce:
Raspberry Roll-ups:
Here’s a tip – when you order the roll-ups, order the whipped cream on the side. Otherwise it will be ON the pancakes, and you will end up eating it all. No! No! You really don’t want to do that, this is REAL whipped cream, delicious, totally fat whipped cream. Honest, a little dab’ll do ya.
Even a half order was a lot of pancake and we had to roll ourselves out of the Pancake Haus. Next door is a family-owned grocery store (Yes! they still exist!) and I ran in and got a few supplies, even though we weren’t hungry, we knew the pancakes would wear off and we didn’t want to have to go out in the rain again.
With all this rain, it is a good day to practice-pack, see if I am going to be able to get everything in my suitcases (nope) and to pack a box to send ahead to Doha.
Lunch at Ivar’s in Mukilteo
Mom and I are heading out to the coast tomorrow for some time at the beach. On the Washington/Oregon beaches, you never know what the weather is going to be. It doesn’t matter how old you get, you know how Mamma’s are? Like she keeps asking me if I have a sweatshirt? Do I have a raincoat? Have I packed my toothbrush? (no, I made that last one up! π )
So today we were running errands, like go to the bank so we have enough cash, like pick up a few groceries, because the places we stay have a kitchen (more important, they have a view of the OCEAN!), pick up a junky beach-book or two, and some Sudoku, and then, let’s go have lunch!
Mom LOVES Alaska fried clams, and Ivar’s does them the BEST, so we drive north to Mukilteo, but it takes forever because they are doing some road repairs on the back roads we usually take, and our “short-cuts” take a lot of time.
“Promise to remind me to take photos this time.” I ask her, but she won’t promise.
A few bites in, I remember. I’m getting better. π
Here are Mom’s Alaska Fried Clams:
Even thought lunch portions are smaller, it was still a lot of clam, and very very rich, breaded and then sauteed in butter. Mom says her green beans were also really good.
Here is my grilled Alaska salmon, on a bed of spinach and orzo salad vinaigrette:
I’m like Popeye, I love SPINACH! This whole meal was delicious, and, once again, we were happy to see the restaurant had a good clientele eating lunch. Even Seattle is begining to feel the economic crunch.
Casper’s A Taste of the South
We had decided on one restaurant, an Italian restaurant we both like, and were on our way, when Mom thought of another restaurant we might like to try, but it was on the way, so we could look at it and decide whether we wanted to eat there or go on to the Italian one.
This is very normal for our family. Our son used to call it “bait and switch” because we would say “Hey! Do you want to go to Tortilla Gonzales?” and he would say “Yeah!” and we would all jump in the car and then on the causeway, AdventureMan would say “You know I really have a taste for Chinese . . . would anyone prefer Chinese?” and I would jump in and say “We’re really close to that sushi place we all love!” and then our son would have to rein us in “NO! You said we were going to Tortilla Gonzales!”
Once he went away to college, we switched all the time. Later, we learned that now he and his wife do the old switch-a-roo, too – family culture is a hard thing to shake.
So we are en route and Mom suddenly shouts “RIBS!” and I say “What??” and she said “We just passed a rib place!” We were at a stop light. “Mom,” I asked, “Do you want to go to that rib place?”
Silence.
Silence.
I pull into the U-turn lane and complain “You’ve got to start dealing with me directly; if you want to go to the rib place, you have to say so!” The complete irony being that I was already making the U-turn, which is what she wanted me to do. . . . Family culture being a hard thing to shake . . .
But as we pulled into the already crowded parking lot, the smell was absolutely divine. There was already a line. Good thing, too, it gave us time to read the menu and decide what we wanted.
We both ordered ribs. We are both forbidden to eat ribs. I eat ribs maybe one time each year, like once, at a buffet, I ate one small rib. It is so rare that I allow myself to eat a rib that I can remember even that one tiny rib. But this time, I ordered ribs, because my Mom did. She ordered Sweet Potato Fries and Cole Slaw and I ordered Hush Puppies and Cole Slaw.
You are going to be so so proud of me. I took pictures before we ate the food this time, well, except for one tiny bite I took out of the hushpuppies, but that was to show you what they look like on the inside. (My Mom has NEVER had a hushpuppy in her life before having one of mine.)
We sat down in the large outside sitting place – I can’t help but wonder what they do in the winter time, because it can get really really cold and damp in Seattle, but I am guessing that they do a huge take-out business.
They have a map that they want people to put push-pins in to say where they are from:
I made a little addition:
And, as I promised, here is the food. Actually, they gave Mom this HUGE portion, about double my portion, but since I got four ribs and only ate two, Mom took home a huge box of leftover ribs to package up and freeze and have a little at a time.
Did you know sweet potatoes are really really healthy for you?
(I think sweet potatoes are healthier for you when they have a lower surface/interior ratio and have absorbed less fat, but these are totally, incredibly delicious. That’s sugar on the sweet potato fries, not salt.) Mom took leftover sweet potato fries home, too.
I can’t even pretend that there is anything healthy about deep fried cornbread. I ate them all, except the one Mom ate. They . . . they were really really good. Yes, I am so ashamed, but I would do it again.
And no, I didn’t take a photo of the sweet potato pie, generously seasoned with fresh nutmeg, it was divine, or the key lime pie we couldn’t eat and Mom took that home, too.
Oh, this food was good. As we left, the line stretched way out to door and into the parking lot.
Casper’s Taste of the South
15030 Bothell Way
Lake Forest Park, WA
(206)268-0202
Their slogan is:
Put a Little South in Your Mouth. LLLOOOLLLL!
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