Working on new material

Hi everyone! I just want to let you know that I am working on new material to post and that I have been a busy bee brainstorming...My goal is to bring more recipes with stories to inspire you!
xoxo,
Mahfam

My Mom (Part I)

My mom! (photo taken by my mother-in-law Gema (another story to add later, she's a photographer/artist)

I have been thinking about dedicating some posts to my mom--my number 1 mentor in Persian baking/cooking.  Yet, every time I would sit down in front of the computer I would find myself aimlessly searching the web for distractions.  I have been putting off this post for several months, most likely because I have wanted it to come out perfect.  Perfect in the sense of being able to capture who my mom is in one of my all time favorite Persian dishes.

"Ghormeh Sabzi" is THE dish that every Iranian kid/adult identifies their mom (and sometimes dad) with.  It's the comfort food, the celebration dish, and the dish that sits on the stove for hours until all the flavors are settled in together.  Ghormeh Sabzi for me (and my sisters) is the dish we identify our mom with.  It's the dish we ask her to make when she visits us from Arkansas.  It's also the dish she's given us the recipe to a thousand times; it's the dish that we've carefully watched her several times in the process of washing, cutting, sautéing, and stewing the herbs; and it's the dish we've been her little helpers to chopping, stirring, and tasting. Yet every time we crave it, and she's not around to make it for us, we almost always fail at making it the Perfect way she makes it.   

I will never make my "Ghormeh Sabzi" as perfect and delicious as hers, because when my mom cooks she adds her love for her family, her love for the ingredients, and her love for her culture into the simmering pot.  That is her special touch that has made us who we are today.

Ghormeh Sabzi is not the the prettiest Persian dish out there if you ask me.  It's green and it looks like grass shavings.  When I was little I would accompany my mom to the grocery store in search of all the ingredients to prepare for dinner.  During check out, the cashier ALWAYS asked my mom "what are ya gonna do with all this parsley, cilantro, fenugreek and spinach?" After my mom explained in detail the dish she was preparing, the cashier was even more confused and probably grossed out; and I, being a kid, was always a little embarrassed. Growing up Persian in Arkansas was hard enough, but trying to explain to your friends why your house smells of fenugreek, parsley, and cilantro would be even more embarrassing so my parents tried their best to not make certain dishes when our friends were over for dinner.  

*Honestly, to this day my mom still gets asked what she's preparing with all the ingredients she piles onto the cashier's table.

Ghormeh Sabzi... a Persian herb stew that is not as hard to make as it is to say.

Ingredients:

10 large bunches of parsley (if you ever see a woman destroying the neatly arranged pile of parsley and other herbs in search of large bunches, know that it is my mom or some other Iranian woman about to make ghormeh sabzi.)

2 large bunches of cilantro

1/3 - 1 pound of baby spinach

1 bunch scallions

2 tblsp. dried fenugreek or 1/4 cup fresh (fresh is hard to come by)

1 medium onion

1 pound of cubed beef (or lamb, or both--we used just beef)

4 cans of dark red kidney beans (check ingredients, make sure there's nothing artificial in the ingredients, should just be beans, salt and water!)

2 tblsp. turmeric

2 tblsp. dried lime or lemon powder (found in specialty stores or middle eastern stores, substitute juice of 3-4 lemons, but the dried powder stuff is what gives it a punch)

3 tblsp. oil

S/P to taste

First remove the thick stems from the parsley and cilantro (the bottom 2 inches) 

Then triple wash all of the parsley, cilantro and scallions.  My mom insisted I take a picture of the second rinsing of the herbs since she claims most people just run their herbs under running water.  Triple washing consists of soaking, draining, rinsing, and soaking x 3.  This method insures that all the grit is gone.

Then chop all of your green ingredients.  Not too fine and and not to course.  This process puts you in zen mode I think.  A big pile of herbs gives you time to wander off in daydream land.

My mom is ambidextrous.  She writes with her right hand-- chops and paints with her left.

Once all the "greens" are chopped, saute them in batches in a tablespoon of oil.

This day, Rumi was our little "stir" helper.

We had to give him his own pot to stir and Caspian, my mom's teacup Yorkie, managed to snag a few sauteed herbs.

Saute until the fresh green color turns dark.

Meanwhile cut the meat into small cubes.  In Persian cooking, especially stews, meat is not the main attraction, it is used as a method to add flavor and body to the stew.  It can be omitted all together, but if you do so, be sure to use vegetable stock so the stew is still flavorful.  This can make a great vegan dish.

In a large stock pot, saute the beef in a little oil with the onions, pepper and turmeric.

Add all of the sauteed herbs, including the fenugreek, dried lime powder, and cover with water (about 4 cups). Put a lid on it, bring to a 10 minute boil and slowly simmer.  Stir every 30-45 minutes just to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.  If you feel it is, lower the simmering temperature.

Meanwhile, go about your business.  My mom is an artist and she is almost always making time for her art.  In Arizona, she has made herself a makeshift studio in the third garage where she spends hours creating works of art to be sold in galleries.

She reuses every type of plastic container from our recycling pile so she can store and mix paint.

After 2 1/2 hours of simmering, add the cans of kidney beans and simmer for another 1/2 hour.  Also at this point add salt.  My mom waits till the last minute because the salt from the canned kidney beans can sometimes make it too salty if you add salt in the beginning.  When all the flavors have settled, it should look like the picture above: dark green on the outer edges.

Serve it on top or on the side of basmati rice with radishes and more scallions on the side.  That's the way it is eaten in the Persian home.