Moroccan meatballs with couscous

Excerpt from Delicious! Newsletter - 29/01/08

If the weather-man is to believed then by this time tomorrow Jerusalem will be blanketed by powdery snow. This will obviously benefit Jerusalem residents who will get to enjoy the picturesque sight of the Old City draped in winter-white but us unfortunate folks in the Sharon region will only experience the icy rain and wind forecast for the next few days.

Warm your family from the inside with these flavorful and easy-to-prepare Moroccan Meatballs and winter could very well become your favorite season!

MOROCCAN MEATBALLS WITH COUSCOUS

MEATBALLS
500 grams beef mince
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
½ cup water
2 small red chillies, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and black pepper to taste
¾ cup beef stock

TOMATO SAUCE
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion,chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 large tin crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons sugar or to taste
salt and ground black pepper

COUSCOUS
2 cups water
2 teaspoons olive oil
pinch of salt
2 cups couscous
½ cup chopped coriander/cilantro leaves


1: Fry the olive oil, onion and garlic in a medium size pot over low heat for 12 minutes till soft and translucent.
2: Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste and sugar, bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer 25-30 minutes till thick.
3: Season with salt and pepper and add a little extra sugar if necessary.

1: Mix mince, breadcrumbs, water, chilies and cumin in a bowl, season with salt and pepper then roll into small walnut sized balls.
2: Mix tomato sauce and stock in a large frying pan, bring to the boil then reduce heat and add meatballs.
3: Cover and simmer, turning meatballs occasionally till they are cooked through or try the alternative method detailed below.
4: Prepare the couscous by combining water and olive oil in a medium size pot and bringing to the boil. Remove from heat, add the salt and then the couscous while stirring with a fork. Cover and stand for 3 minutes till the water has been absorbed then stir with a fork again till the grains are separated.
5: Gently stir the chopped coriander through the meatball mixture, season to taste and serve over couscous.

COOK'S NOTES: Make your own breadcrumbs by crumbling a few slices of fresh bread, add less chilli for reduced heat and replace coriander with parsley if you absolutely have to. If you're worried that your meatballs may fall apart when cooking - giving you Moroccan mince instead - then try a trick learned from a caterer friend and line a baking tray with paper and spray over oil. Place balls on tray - make sure they don't touch - and bake at 180 C for 12 to 15 minutes till lightly colored then add the cooked balls to the simmering tomato sauce for a few minutes before serving.

Egg-xciting stuff!

Hosting a breakfast or brunch?

Incorporate your theme into your floral centrepiece by placing seedlings - I used pansies - in a egg tray alternating with real eggs.

If you're feeling energetic then 'plant' each seedling in a full egg shell.

(Just knock off the top, empty the egg out and wash out the shell.)

This idea works wonderfully when you place the floral eggs in egg cups and you then position a single seedling at each setting with a note thanking your guests for joining you for an egg-xciting morning and urging them to take their their egg in its holder home as a momento.

Alternatively you can simply pop your seedlings out of the plastic seedling tray and position them in the cardboard egg box as I've done here.

Quick ' easy 'n so effective!

Heaven...chocolate...heaven!

(Excerpt from Delicous! Newsletter - 20/01/2008)

A childhood friend now living in Perth aptly compared immigrating to entering a Witness Protection Program as you arrive in a new country with no identity and no sense of history and have to recreate a life for yourself all over again. My friends in Israel always tease me about being the Poster Girl for aliyah - and it's true that not a day goes by that I am not grateful to have realised a long-held dream of moving here - but I have to admit that I still find supermarket shopping traumatic and I long for the familiar brands and tastes I left behind.

Specialty stores like Meatland in Raanana cater especially for nostalgic Anglos like us but they can't possibly stock everything we're looking for. It's for this reason that the South African readers amongst you will be especially glad to hear that you can easily produce Romany Creams in your own kitchen and offer your children and friends the chance to experience a taste of your growing-up years.

Note to the uninitiated:

Romany Creams are to South Africans what Oreos are to Americans and their distinctive chocolate-coconut flavor is sure to be enjoyed by everyone. Forward this recipe to any South African you know and you're guaranteed of earning yourself loads of brownie point or - more accurately - Romany Cream points!

MAKING MEMORIES ROMANY CREAMS

250g butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 cups cake flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
100 g desiccated coconut

3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup cream
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup powdered sugar
50g dark chocolate

1. Beat the butter and sugar till light and creamy then add egg and beat again.
2: Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt, add the coconut and mix well with butter mixture.
3: Roll dough into small balls, place on baking paper and flatten each ball lightly with prongs of a fork.
4: Bake in preheated oven at 180 C for approximately 12 minutes then allow to cool.

1: Heat the sugar for the filling with the butter in a saucepan over medium heat till sugar has dissolved.
2: Add the cream and milk and mix to combine then add vanilla, chocolate and powdered sugar.
3: Mix till chocolate has melted - break in pieces first to speed things up - and then remove from heat.
4: Sandwich cookies together in 2's with the chocolate filling between.

COOK'S NOTES: Adapt this recipe to make a dessert by making cookies substantially bigger and sandwiching them together with a thick layer of vanilla, chocolate or mint ice-cream. Store in freezer till ready to serve. You may sandwich cookies together with just the ice-cream or you can throw calorie-counting to the breeze and first coat the bottom of each cookie with melted chocolate.

I can feel my thighs spreading just typing this up!

Enjoy!

Welcome to Delicious! Cookery School

Tu Bishvat - the Festival Of The Trees - will be celebrated in Israel shortly and it's customary on this occasion to decorate dining tables using fruit and greenery.

The main streets of Hod Hasharon are lined with citrus trees that are currently laden with kumquats and so I put these to use in this easy-make fruit 'n floral arrangement.

Place a large jar in a wide-mouthed vase - I used an empty bottle of Nescafe - and fill the space between the jar and the edge of the vase with kumquats.

Fill the jar with water and place co-ordinating flowers inside.

This versatile idea can be adapted to suit a variety of different table settings.

Try beach sand, starfish and a few shells with white blooms for a beach theme.

Fill your vase with sunflower seeds in their shells and place sunflowers in the jar for a breakfast setting.

Go with red chillis and full blown red roses for a red-hot Valentine's display.

Break the budget and fill your vase with brightly coloured jellybeans then add assorted gerberas for a kid's party with panache.

You're limited only by your imagination!

RECIPES AND MORE COMING SOON!

I intend to update this blog spot regularly with Delicious! recipes, tablesetting and craft ideas and hope to include step-by-step pictures where possible.

I will also publish my weekly Delicious! newsletter here.

Be sure to keep dropping by to keep up with the changes!

Shalom Bayit

Friends and family wisely avoid shopping with me as I dither forever over every purchase and frequently spend hours out only to return home with just one or two items to show for my trouble.

My sister-in-love and I once spent at least 40 minutes marching up and down the local branch of Ackermans modelling their range of fluffy slippers for one another as we couldn't decide between the flowers...or the hearts...or perhaps the frogs...only to settle on the first pair we'd tried.

I can even spend ages deliberating between two seemingly identical teddybears as the stitching gives each one a slightly different facial expression and I want to be sure of choosinghe friendliest looking bear.

Why am I telling you this?

To illustrate to you just how out of character it was for me to step through the door of a showhouse in Green Park, Hod Hasharon and instantly know that this should be my home.

Situated in the middle of a quiet cul-du-sac that leads to a large park and lush farm lands,I am perfectly placed just 300 metres from the local shopping mall and the country club and have family and friends living within just a few houses of mine. My children walk to school and cycle to friends and extra-murals and the thrill I get every time I turn into my road more than makes up for the hard work of cleaning a double storey house and tending a garden on my own.

The kettle is always on and you're welcome to stop by any time...provided you wash your dirty coffee cup before you leave!

Creative ways to fight crime

The Raanana List - an online forum comprising of over 5 000 English speakers who exchange ideas, ask advice and buy and sell goods to list members - has certainly played a vital role in helping me settle in a new country.

I've used this list to launch my cookery school, to buy a car, furniture, concert tickets and more. Subscribers to this free forum are only too happy to share information and opinions and I've also received valuable feedback on recommended doctors and hairdressers, gift ideas for batmitvahs, weekend travel tips, advice on where to locate recipe ingredients and more.

I have to admit that the list has also provided me with many a laugh as I shake my head in wonder at the requests and opinions posted hereand I intend publishing some of these gems on this blog shortly.

Someone recently asked Raanana List members for ideas on how to combat crime - not even Israel is safe from petty crime as youngsters climb through open windows and over balconies to steal cellphones, laptops and wallets - and I thought you may enjoy the suggested ideas.

Think these will work in South Africa....?

SAID JOAN

"I keep my TV on and a pair of VERY large men's shoes outside my front door. If a would-be thief comes to my place, this makes him think twice: Why take a chance on finding someone home when it's safer for him to go next door where there's no noise and no shoes?"

SUGGESTED ELANA

"How about keeping a very large dog's feeding bowl outside the front door? Or better yet, a very large leash which shows that the dog inside is loose."

MERRILL GOT SMART AND RESPONDED

"Even better still, why don't you keep a very large dog?!?!

Or an attack cat is also a good option...."

FINALLY NAOMI CONCLUDED

"One of my neighbours told me what she does, and even though I disagree with her, here goes:

The burglars are opportunists. All they really want is money and car keys.They are not interested in harming you. So she leaves keys and 100 shekels on the kitchen table every night."

Think Selebi would have kept his job if he tried these tactics???

Going green in Hod Hasharon

Hod Hasharon is not the first city English speakers think of when immigrating to Israel but I wouldn't choose to live anywhere else.

Built on what was once 4 large farms, you can't walk more than a few steps without being reminded of this lush suburb's rural roots. Citrus groves and sprawling strawberry fields abound, vivid green and ruby red lettuces form a carpet of colour against an aquamarine sky, a donkey grazes amongst olive trees just metres from my front door and all the trees that line Hod Hasharon's main streets are currently laden with ripe grapefruit, lemons and zingy kumquat.

More than one third of Hod Hasharon's population is under the age of 18 and so the municipality allocates more a third of the city budget to children's recreational facilities and schooling.

There are no less than 5 enormous parks within 1 km of my house - and constuction of a giant sports field with rollerblading rink, cycle paths and basketball courts is currently underway just a street away from my home - and there is no need to join a gym as the municipality has demarcated special walking routes with state-of-the-art exercise equipment along the way.

This gallery of pictures of my neighbourhood will help but I am always available to give visitors a personal tour!

Stop by and see me sometime soon.