COnfessions of a MAD Antique Dealer

I will continue this days blog, but doing it in sections because AOL knocks me off often at home, not in the store, becuase I have cable

Daily recipe: Stuff things, mideastern style: You can stuff Squach,eggplant,zuchini,tomatoes,onions,potoates, green peppers, (we will leave cabbage and grape leaves out of this one)  Clean each veggie, and scoop out. Remove seeds. Save contents of tomatoe,& other veggies, but not potaote or pepper.   Take 2 pounds of ground lamb or beef. Mix in have cup or more of dry rice, at two eggs, half cup chopped parsely, one large tomatoe chopped, onelarge onion chopped, sauted in oil and drained, two tablespoons dill(optional)two teaspoons of cinnamon(another two of allspice-optional) salt and pepper to taste.Add a few tablespoons of water, and mix all together.  For the sauce to cook it in take one large can of tomatoe puree, add   half cup lemon juice, one teaspoon sugar, two teaspoons cinnamon, half cup chopped parsely(cilantro is good but give a differnt taste completely)one onion ground very fine, 4 cloves of garlice put thru a press, salt and pepper to taste. Mix all ingreidents. Put stuff veggies in a baking dish and cover with sauce. Cover with foil and bake slowly in 300 degree oven till veggies are soft. About an hour. For a large party, cook all of one veggie in one dish. Eggplants will take longer than tomatoes or squash.....  Serve on plain white boring rice or a nice Persian Pilaf.  For pilaf you can ad all or some of the following: Chopped apricots,raisin,or dates, pre soaked and cooked till soft, chopped pistaccios, almond,walnuts, halzenuts, candied orange or tangerine rind (cook scraped rind in sugar till soft, cut into pieces) onions that have be freind black and crisp, parsley,dried currents or cranberries presoaked) After adding what every you like, spice it up with some cinnamon,slat and pepper. You might color it with saffron or spanish "achiote" The Persians, after all is mixed togethr steam it for a half an hour to fluff it up)  Serve the stuffed Veggies and Rice pilaf, with a yourgurt salad.  Slice up cucumbers very thin. Add fresh garlice put thru a press, thin sliced onion, ...parsely, put all in fresh yourgurt..and top with fresh chopped mint leaves.  Serve with hot tea or arabic coffee. and pita bread.. Simple but incredible.

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