Sunday, July 11, 2010

Middle Eastern Chickpea Platter

Before I got married I lived in New Haven. My studio apartment was so cute! You could only use 2 burners on the stove as it was located next to the wall and it seemed to be a bit of a fire hazard.
I did not start cooking in the apartment until I met Chris. And that was because I thought I should try to impress him with my cooking abilities. (The first meal I made him was so bad… Chicken Lake Cumo… it is a wonder he did not run away). Up to that point I had gotten all my food from one of the many restaurants in the area or from my mom. My mom made the best care packages.
As for the restaurants... Across the street was Pizza House. Excellent Greek pizza. At the other corner was a Chinese take out place, Ming Garden. Around the corner for that was Rudy's Bar and Grill. Then there was the Elm City Dinner. Wonderful soups and sandwiches. But less than a half a block from my apartment was Mamoun's.
Tonight's recipe reminded me of Mamoun's. I found the recipe at eatingwell.com. It was like combining Baba Ghanouj and Hummus. I did make a small change to the recipe. I added the Chickpeas to the pan with the Eggplant and let them fry up a bit. I think this could be one of my comfort foods.

This past week we lost a family member. My brother-in-law Jay passed away unexpectedly. He was a wonderful man, a great friend and a loving father of 2 beautiful girls and he will be sorely missed.


May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.
...
May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

1 comment:

Velva said...

Who needed to cook with all those great local restaurants just across the street and care packages from your mom. Sounds awesome to me but, I understand the need to make your own creations. This platter looks really good!

I am sorry to hear about your family's loss. You will be in my thoughts.