Ta3meya!!!!

While at the local market last weekend, my husband and I found fresh fava beans and so I decided to get some to make falafel for us!  We usually end up using the boxed falafel mix that we get from the Middle Eastern grocery store and then adding our own spice mixes to it.  To be honest, it's never me that makes it, but usually my dad!  He's great at it and they always turn out great.  My mom always makes the tahini sauce to dip them in.  But today, I decided to give it a shot myself!  A few years back, my sister made them from scratch and gave me the recipe her mother in law gave her.  I used that recipe along with a Pinterest one I found as a guide.  Another thing that I discovered while looking up recipes and talking to my sister, was that falafel and ta3meya are NOT the same thing!  I always thought they were and usually just used the term falafel with my North American friends because I knew they would understand that.  But, I came to find out, that they are NOT the same.  Falafel is actually just made with chick peas, but the traditional dish made by Egyptians, is made only with fava beans.  Many cultures actually mix both fava beans and chickpeas to make theirs!  Who knew?!?!?!?

My husband gave today's breakfast a rating of 11 out of 10 today!  He was VERY happy with how the ta3meya turned out!

Here is the Pinterest recipe I used as a guide:
http://www.mamaslebanesekitchen.com/mezza/falafel-from-scratch/#sthash.fSSfauoS.dpbs

Now, I thought 2 tablespoons of salt was waaaaayyyy too much and so I put in 2 teaspoons of salt.  Unfortunately, this was still waaaaayyyy too much for us and so I ended up adding a canned of pureed chickpeas to the pureed fava bean mixture to even out the salt.  This worked perfectly, but I would have preferred to make this the traditional way without the chickpeas. The tahini recipe was what I followed, but I also added some olive oil, a little water, and some parsley to it!

My sister's mother in law's recipe also called for adding an egg to help bind the balls and so I did go ahead and add that too.  I found the mixture to be a little soft and had to add more flour in order to form the balls and found that flouring my hands also helped to form the balls.

To go with the Ta3meya, I made a traditional Middle Eastern salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions, and of course, got some pita bread!

Here are some pics of my recipe today:

Completed dish for breakfast this morning!

Ta3meya fresh out of the fryer

Rolled mixture on a floured plate

Going into the deep fryer

Tahini dressing

 After mixing and adding pureed chickpeas

Herb and spice mixture over the fava bean mixture

Pureed fava beans

My little one helping me shell the fava beans!

Tomato Soup

I want to start this by saying I'm NOT a soup person!  I think I've written about this before, however, there are a few types of soups I truly enjoy!  One of them happens to be Tomato Soup - but I'm VERY picky!!!!  I absolutely LOVE the way the restaurant The Smith in NYC makes their tomato soup and since I can't get that here in Jacksonville, the next best thing for me is Panera's.

I've never made tomato soup before and decided to give it a shot today!  I didn't use one specific recipe, but instead, blended a few different ones.  It turned out great, but.....not The Smith's.  As I've also stated previously, I don't really go grocery shopping to get ingredients for a recipe and sort of work with what I have at home instead.  This may be why the soup didn't turn out exactly like The Smith's! LOL!  Next time, I'll try to get the right ingredients.  First of all, I didn't have canned, peeled tomatoes. I decided to use some crushed tomatoes I had and broil 3 of my regular tomatoes, remove the skin, and add them to the soup.  I also didn't have half and half and instead used the whole milk I had in the fridge.  One recipe said to use a parmesan rind (which I DID happen to have) and another said to add a bay leaf....I did both of these things!  I also added a bouillon cube for flavor as well as some garlic and onion powder.

Here are the three recipes I went back and forth with while making it today:
http://www.thriftydiydiva.com/copycat-panera-bread-creamy-tomato-bisque-soup-recipe/

http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/creamy-tomato-soup/11926/

http://citycookin.com/roasted-tomato-soupthe-smith/
I found this recipe after I had already started making it the other two ways....next time I might just give this one way a shot!

Here are some pics of the soup:

After pureeing and putting back in the pot with some milk

Placing in the Vitamix

Grated parmesan for garnish

Placing the roasted tomatoes in the stew with the parmesan rind

Crushed tomatoes, onions, garlic, and chicken broth

Tomatoes fresh out from under the broiler

Leave out the tomato skin!!!

Mediterranean Flavors!

After living the island life for the last two weeks and being lucky enough to have others cook for me or eat out, it's time to get back on track and back to cooking!  I'm not one of those people that looks at recipes first and then buys those ingredients when I go to the grocery store.  I usually stock up on the basics and lots of fruits and veggies when I go to the grocery store and THEN find recipes to match the ingredients I have on hand.  While searching through Pinterest today, I came across this recipe for eggplant and a mediterranean salad that looked great!  I decided to give it a try today!

Here's the Pinterest recipe I used:

http://www.themediterraneandish.com/mediterranean-chickpea-salad-with-zaatar-fried-eggplant/

Here's how it turned out!