Fresh Salsa

We can start this post with a little ode to Mexican food: "Mexican food, YUM!".  Mexican food was one of the first things I had to figure out how to make from scratch here in Tunisia.  I'm from the West Coast of the USA and we eat Mexican food a lot (or at least our American version of it...although during my time in Los Angeles I hope I got something close to the real thing).  This recipe is for fresh salsa.  It's super easy to make!  Here's how it goes:

You need a simple list of fresh ingredients: coriander (cilantro), onions, garlic, lemons (if I were in the US I would be using limes but we don't have them in Tunisia...do lemons get the job done, definitely), a hot pepper or two and 2 cans of tomatoes. 

Here are the spices you'll be needing: a few of your garlic cloves, some salt, paprika, and cumin.  At this point in the photo shoot I was hijacked by a future food stylist: 6 year old girlie suddenly put her riff on this picture.

"Now Mom it looks totally gorgeous!".  White walrus stuffed animal couple plugging salsa recipe, why didn't I think of that??

Now around our house we like our salsa on the hot side, so I tend to just chuck the hot pepper in the food processor.  If you don't like spicy you could seed the pepper (carefully protecting your hands by holding the pepper with plastic wrap) or you could just throw in a wee bit of the pepper, it's up to you.

Blend, blend, blend.

Adding the 2 cans of tomatoes, spices, lemon juice.

Voila! This is going to be really yummy on our taco salads tonight!

Walrus couple forms circle of love around salsa, but don't take their word for it, try it!

Here's the recipe:

Fresh Salsa

1 bunch cilantro (coriander)

2-3 garlic cloves

1 onion

1-2 hot peppers

1 lemon juiced (or lime if you're in the West).

2 cans of tomatoes

1 t cumin

1 t paprika

1/2 t salt

1. Wash all your veg.  Put cilantro, garlic cloves, onion and hot pepper (as much as you desire for mild or spicy salsa) in food processor.  Pulse for 1-2 minutes until everything is finely chopped.  Add the canned tomato, lemon juice, and spices.  Pulse again for 1 minute until everything is well blended.   Serve up!

A note on coriander in Tunisia: I love cooking with coriander (cilantro if you're American...if you need to find it in the market in Tunis you'll be looking for the French "coriandre"). Unfortunately it is definitely not one of staple items that you can find in the market everywhere.  You can find it though, places I buy coriander are Carrefour, the La Marsa market, the central market in Tunis, the market near Bab El Khadre in Tunis, and sometimes Monoprix.  It's not something I can find 100 percent of the time, usually the fresh outdoor markets such as the central market and Bab el Khadre are more likely to have it than the grocery stores.  So, I don't plan an important dinner around it...but if I do run into it guarantee we'll be making fresh salsa or Indian food in the next 2 days :).  

Strawberry ricotta pizza with reduced balsamic and basil

So I decided to make cooking a regular feature on this blog: more specifically I decided to share recipes that we've come to know and love as a family which can be made in Tunisia.  The deal is that I've heard a ton of stress coming from some of my friends and acquaintances who are new here to Tunisia and from abroad: it is like they are suddenly thrown into the cooking deep-end with no warning or preparation.  To make matters worse, when you google something like "chocolate cake recipes" it seems that the vast majority liste "chocolate cake mix" in the ingredient list.   In Tunisia produce is seasonal and there is almost nothing pre-fab.  Now, this is stressful for us Americans initially but in the end think of it as joining the slow-foods movement stress-free.  You don't have to fight against the current of junkfood, out-of-season forced food, or chain fastfood.  That said, it certainly does increase the time spent at the market or in the kitchen.  Personally, it's not a change I'm sad about.  I once heard a foreigner say that Tunisia was for the rest of her life her "Arab mother" and in many ways I totally agree.  Cooking something my time in Tunisia has taught me.  It will forever now be an interest and hobby to enjoy fresh and creative foods.  So, know that if I share a recipe on this site and you happen to be reading this in Tunisia you will find nothing on the ingredient list that you will see and say "dang, we can't get that here."  If you're joining us from elsewhere of course you will be able to make this, but might I add "neener neener neener...our produce is fresher than yours."  Sorry, just had to gloat for a wee second.  So without further delay, today we enjoyed a strawberry ricotta pizza with reduced balsamic and fresh basil.  Please, please, please stay with me.  Do not freak out about the idea of fruit on pizza...just try this once with me (or try it later on in the season with peaches or nectarines) and you really, really won't be sorry.

Here's a photo representation of what you need (if you're in Tunis that is) minus the basil and random cheese:

The recipe:
Strawberry Ricotta Pizza with Reduced Balsamic and Basil

For the dough: tried and true pizza dough without stress
1 2/3 cup warm water
2 t sugar or honey
1 pack yeast
2 t salt
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 T olive oil

1.  In a small bowl put the warm water, sugar, and yeast...mix them together and then let them sit for about 5 minutes until the mixture is a bit foamy.
2.  In a large bowl mix the flours and the salt.  Note here, you can play with the mix of whole wheat and white flours.  This is a mixture I like, sometimes I use all whole wheat but the texture of the pizza crust isn't quite as good.  Of course you can use all white if you want to.
3.  Mix in the water yeast mixture, now add the olive oil.  Start mixing this with your hands.  You may need to add a bit more flour or a bit more olive oil until you get a nice dough consistency.  This is where most dough recipes would tell you to knead the dough for 10 minutes, I find this isn't necessary. Try to need it for a few minutes until you feel the dough is holding together but beyond that, don't bother.
4.  Cover your dough with plastic wrap or a cloth and let sit.  Ideally you're planning dinner a bit ahead of time and so you can let it sit for 1 hour...on the fly you can cook it right away or even after sitting for 15-20 minutes, of course it's better with the rise time.  Also, supposed to rise in a warm place...see cooking in Tunisia is easy.

The pizza topping:
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup mixed grated cheeses: I used fresh mozzarella, gruyere, and a smoked cheese.  This is a good way to use up various cheese in your fridge.  PLEASE NOTE: the pre-grated cheese you buy in Tunisia is...well...I'm not sure it's real cheese and it certainly doesn't melt.  If you don't actually have a block of real cheese to grate better to stick to the ricotta and call it good.  The pizza will only be as good as its cheese.
20 strawberries
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
a few leaves of fresh basil

note: this is enough topping for about two 12 inch pizzas...the dough makes enough dough for 3.  If you're like me the 3rd pizza has tomato sauce and plain cheese on it because there is no way that kiddo is going to try something like this.

1.  After letting dough rise divide it into 3 portions.  Preheat your oven to 400 F or 220 C (oven quality and cook time will vary, please monitor cook time the first time you bake pizzas).
2.  On a sheet of parchment roll out one section of pizza dough very thin till it's about 1/8-1/4 inch thick and 12 inches circumference.
3.  Mix your cheese together and spread 1/2 of the mixture over the dough.  Wash and slice your strawberries and place all over the pizza about 1 inch apart.
4.  Bake for 10-15 minutes until you see the cheese and crust are brown.
5.  In the final 2 minutes of bake time, place the balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan on the stove on medium high heat and begin to cook...about 3-5 minutes until the vinegar reduces (becomes slightly thick).  Please watch your vinegar closely and whisk it around as it goes from runny to reduced to burnt in a matter of 30 seconds.  Remove from heat.
6.  Take your pizza out of the oven.  Drizzle with the reduced vinegar.
7.  Take a few fresh basil leaves, mince them and sprinkle them on top.  Voila!  You're a gourmet!

Victory over the pigeon...aka I was rescued by a woman stronger than myself

So yesterday I had the problem of the pigeon body staring at me from my fridge.  I really thought I was going to have to man-up and gut the pigeon, not looking forward to it because I'm a bit weak in the stomach.  And then this morning inspiration struck...oh yes...Thursday mornings are when our amazing house cleaner Kalthoum is with us.  Kalthoum is a country girl and heart and she LOVES cooking...could it be I was rescued?  Kalthoum arrived and with her usual chipper demeanor asked, "So, what should we cook today?" "Well"...I hesitated..."Do you know what to do with this?" "OOOOOoooooh...pigeon!!!"  She was thrilled, you see Kalthoum really looks out for our daughter Ahlem and she likes to do things that she considers spoiling her.  "I can make the most delicious stuff for Ahlem with this..I can roast it, grill it, or fry it...or make a pasta sauce."  The list just kept getting longer of things you can do with a pigeon.  My rescue had arrived, I was not going to have to gut the pigeon.  

Until this morning I had somehow forgotten one of the keys to successful cross-cultural living which is this: when in doubt, ask for help.  People are more than willing to show you how to do things their way.  In my experience, living cross-culturally is an act of becoming like a child again; it takes humility and letting go to really do it well.  I remember during my initial time in Tunisia one of my friends said, "Learning a new language is like re-learning the whole universe!"  And it is, really.  And it's also relearning how the universe works; cultures exist because we need constructs and rules with which to order our world.  Stepping out of my own construct and coming to another I have to make a choice: will I become an enfant in this culture to learn again or will I exist here but keep operating with my old construct.  I feel like in my case I still move in and out of taking on the humility necessary to do things a new way or just barricading myself in with my own rights.  The beautiful part is seeing myself grow up into a new kind of person, a person who takes on some of both and is forever changed. Anyway, so for today I had to become like a child and let another adult cut up my meat for me.  I'm really glad I did because not only did I learn what to do with a pigeon (if you fry it like we did you need lemon, cumin, garlic and salt to make it tasty), I also got this reaction when little girlie got home from school.