Food Porn: The Little Things

Can't quite recall why was it that I stopped doing compilation posts, but here's a comeback!

A digest of various meals, dishes and stories.

Descriptions below each image, just like I used to do.

Hope you like it, drop a line if you do, drop a line even if you don't, I've been getting mostly spam comments for several weeks now, it's quite disappointing to find bot generated nonsense each time I expect something real, don't people have opinions anymore?

Come on, ask me something, it's getting lonely here!

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people from Kurdistan and with Kurd genes can't eat green fava beans cos they lack the G6PD enzyme so they can die

Just some of my home cooking.

Fresh green fava beans, cooked in crushed tomatoes, with cumin, paprika, garlic, black pepper, date syrup and mustard seeds.

The rice has some garam masala in it, and sumac too. And also some mustard seeds, I was adding them to everything that evening. It was delicious.

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mushroom pizza with sriracha

I had several horrible experiences with Pizza Seret and was glad to see they returned to their marvelous norm. All it took was a bite from this slice with mushrooms and a bit of sriracha, I was in pizza heaven again.

It's bad when good places turn wrong, but it's great when they relapse.

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pizza flavored bourekas with a hard-boiled egg, crushed tomatoes, pickles, tahini and a hot chilli pepper paste

Pizza bourekas with the works. I had the exact same post a while ago, but it wasn't the same bourekas.

This was after an early Halloween party this Friday, it was also a housewarming party for a couple of friends.

We walked the streets, slightly drunk, looking craving for a pizza. Mama's Bourekas was the only thing open in the immediate area. It was pretty good. 

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soft smelly cheese

Lately I've started purchasing funky cheeses. I mean moldy, smelly, pungent, soft, covered in weird colors, the kinds that make your fridge and pee smell weird.

They're delicious.

Here's me enjoying them on a walnut rye. Good times.

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eggplant and tahini ciabatta

Ciabatta, with a big chunk of eggplant baked into its top, and lovely thick tahini hiding beneath the layer of eggplant. A touch of coriander was the garnish added to it by the baker, I added some coarse salt when I got home and ate it like a madman, not stopping for a second, completely disregarding my surroundings.

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pickled cabbage

Hummus Asaf which is my favorite hummus got their pickled cabbage recipe back. Their last few batches were unlike the amazing sweet and savory cabbage strings I used to devour, but like I said, they recreated the original recipe after a few mediocre months.

It's worth a visit even if you hate hummus, just order anything, you'll get the cabbage anyhow.

Forget that, just walk in and ask for a tiny bowl to go, they're good people.

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chicken selects, McDonalds

A two image feature.

Lunch at McDonald's, indeed one of the simple joys. I don't eat burgers, prefer to avoid ground meat and generally dislike what McDonald's represent and do, but every once in a long while I eat a chicken meal.

The ultimate junk food, but still, I'm lovin' it (and feeling guilty about it).

McDonalds: fries, ketchup, BBQ sauce, sweet n sour sauce

And that's it for now.
Don't forget to write!
Also, if and when you do, please add an animal that starts with a C, just for fun.

Another day, another salad.

It was last night, the g/f complained about sudden hunger.

Salad time!
Sprouted legumes, alfalfa sprouts, yam shavings, shimeji mushrooms, cranberries, two types of aged cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, coarse sea salt, black pepper.

epic salad time

Moments later complaints were registered, the alfalfa sprouts taste like grass she said, so I took 'em out.

Placed the majority of the sprouts and some of the other stuff between slices of walnut rye, with all the juices of from the salad and a few chunks of smelly cheese. Fucking epic.

alfalfa sprouts, walnut rye, cheese

Moments later I was told that the cheese was too pungent (which was rather true). So I warmed up some leftover rice and vegetarian cutlets and ate the rest of the salad myself.

It was supposed to be just a part of a larger meal, but after the whole bowl and the sandwiches - I had no more stomach space.

G'day.

Vegetarian Lunch: just baking stuff

It's Saturday and I'm awfully hungry. That's the essence of this post. I need a snack, to stay on the healthy side (if you've followed my previous posts you'll know what I need to balance the other stuff I eat).

My solution? Baked goods: Broccoli, zucchinis, mushrooms, vegetarian hotdogs, just a drizzle of sunflower oil, some freshly ground black pepper. That's it.

I was going to make a tahini sauce and experiment with adding some ginger and coconut flakes to it, but I succumbed to my hunger - the smells just overpowered me.
I ate the veggies and dogs with a bit of mustard, sriracha and sweet chilli sauce. It was delicious.

Later I think I'm gonna try making a new variation on a lasagna, should be interesting - I'll even  keep you posted if it turns out good.

A gallery of local pizza (I ate)

 I don't always  take pictures of pizzas I eat - well, that's a lie, I tend to take pictures of most stuff I eat but my point was that when I bother with picking out the good ones and uploading - then I also love sharing (i.e. making people jealous).

Don't be shy, drool away!

Pepperoni with BBQ sauce on the right, eggplants on the left

Super thin crust pizza, topped with green olives

Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, basil leafs, fresh rustic mozzarella

Two slices of pizza with olives, one with mushrooms, lots of dry galic powder

Huge olds chool slice, incredibly rich with sauce and cheese

This pizza was amazing while it was how, but then all of a sudded it went bad on us

Mushrooms and NY hot pastrami

Corn, pineapple and eggplants are all great pizza toppings

A slice of Sbarro is a slice of life

A thin crust pizza with arugula as a topping and then more cheese over the arugula

Pepperoni Dominos, a true classic when delivered properly 

Two slices of USA pizza, one of the true old timers in this area, amazing taste

Portabello mushrooms make an excellent pizza topping and a good sustitute for meat

All pepperoni and half corn with extra cheese - It's hard to say no to free toppings

A non triangular pizza but it was the biggest slice on the tray so I took it

MOAR pepperoni with BBQ sauce, cos it's just that good

Cherry tomatoes, green olives and mushrooms

Double cheese pepperoni with corn again, cos when I'm offered more - I accept

Mushrooms, tons of garlic, middle of the night

 Dominos pepperoni pizza from the fridge I took to another level with double pepperoni & triple cheese & Sriracha on top

Hope you enjoyed this little pizza gallery, I sure did.

All of the images and pizzas originate in Israel, mostly in Tel-Aviv (but not all), if you're traveling the area and in need for some pizza or just random food tips - you can contact me via the comments.

Anyhow, I'm off to grab a bite, all these pics made me a tad peckish.

Worth mentioning:

The last slice, the one I personally upgraded - the second layer of pepperoni was veal with a black & white pepper crust, and the other cheese was goat gouda.

Also, I really love how Sriracha sauce loses some of the bite when it's heated and goes kinda smoky and sweet even.

Stir fried vegetables on white rice

Check out this yummy goodness:

What you see is white rice, but above that rice is a pile of amazing flavors, string at me, waiting to be eaten, and all I do is take pictures while I drool.

Zucchinis, mushrooms, shavings of ginger, carrots, bits of red bell peppers, stir fried with freshly ground black pepper and whole cloves of garlic, with some mustard grains and grainy mustard, and then stir fried further with date syrup for that extra sweetness and a touch caramel flavor \ color.

I sometimes add various curry pastes to the mix, every paste has a different flavor and behaves differently upon frying so it's always interesting to experiment taste and explore.

This is a great side dish but is also good enough for a vegetarian main course (also vegan if you use the right ingredients). 

Porcini and cheese tortellini with caponata sauce

I had lunch at this place not far from my work, it's called "Laboratorio di Pasta".
There were many interesting types and shapes of pasta but the sauces offered weren't that amazing.
The place itself is designed in an interesting manner bordering between rustic and modern.

The pasta is cooked upon ordering (if I'm not mistaken it's precooked and frozen), dropped into boiling water as soon as your order is typed.
There are several large pots, constantly heated, containing the sauces. As I've mentioned, I tried three sauces and they were just okay.

My personal scale for measuring pasta sauces is based on the flavor and my ability to recreate a similar product at my home, with basic ingredients and not much effort.
Sadly the sauces were not fancy enough nor were they extremely special in flavor.
That said, the cheese and porcini tortellini was amazing.

The service was on the slow side, one of our orders wasn't processed, I personally saw my food sitting there  while the person behind the counter just did nothing. The value for money wasn't that great either, but damn, that tortellini was so good!

One last complaint: the vegetables in the caponata sauce were too thinly diced and hardly felt.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich w. Mushrooms and Sriracha

Yesterday I fancied some mushrooms.

I'm not sure how does one get that specific craving, but on my way home back from work I stopped for that purpose only. 

I bought a basket of champignon mushrooms and continued my way home - thinking about what to prepare.

Making grilled cheese sandwiches was a sudden decision, influenced by a smell in the building as I made my way up the stairs. I suddenly wanted cheese, grilled cheese, stringy and crispy and fun.

Since I was already set on cooking with musrhooms - I chose to use sriracha alone. The cheese and the smoky spicy sauce combined with mushrooms are enough flavors for one simple sandwich.

Cooks often ignore the stipes and use only the caps. I like to use the whole mushroom, but this time I had to save space due to the toasters limitations so I just ate the stipes and some whole mushrooms too while I was at it. I'm not sure what it is about the taste of fresh mushrooms, but I really love it, the earthiness, the nutty flavors, the meat like texture.

Now all I had to do was squeezing the bread together gently with my hand into a sandwich form, just applying some pressure to make a sandwich form.

The moistness of the mushrooms and sauce started to show on the bread.

On to the toaster.

The above mentioned moistness and the actual fluids from within the mushrooms caramelized inside the toaster, creating a lovely golden \ rusty color and a crunchy bite.

I allowed my creation to cool down for a bit - inside the shut down toaster, thus it was still how but not as humid as it would be on a cold plate. 

While everything was cooling down I prepared a cold glass of club soda.

I also ate all the mushrooms that were left. 

The grilled cheese was awesome. A great thing about sriracha is that becomes sweet after it's been heated, thus making it spicy, sweet, smoky, this made the whole meal taste like wonderfulness in my mouth.

Several hour later I got a bit hungry again.

Being fresh out of mushrooms I went trough the fridge looking for something that I could turn into a quick snack. I found a jar of homemade chimichurri that my girlfriend's mom gave me on the weekend.

Turned out great :)