The New Persian Kitchen

I am very attracted to persian food, but I have never made it myself. I picked The New Persian Kitchen by Louisa Shafi based off of Food52’s most legendary cookbooks of the last decade. When I started this blog, I thought, “psh, yeah, I can handle anything” but then I got this book and realized “oh shit, this is like…real shit.” SO join me, as I try to find something in this book for infants who you would trust around a gas flame.

the introduction

This book has three introductions. THE introduction, an overview of the history of Persian food, and a guide to Persian ingredients. Now that I am officially reading introductions, I am understanding the basic parts of a cookbook intro. It usually starts with the writers upbringing, has a story about something specific from their past, and then delves into what makes their recipes different. In this case Louisa begins the intro with a guided meditation. “Imagine that you are in a vast desert with the hot sun searing your back. A high stone wall with an elaborate gate appears, and you walk through it. Suddenly you feel cool air on your skin and hear the soft melody of water.” and so on a so forth.

Louisa grew up in Philly in the 70’s. Her mom is an American Ashkenazi Jew and her dad is Iranian. She talked about having delicious dinners with her father’s family and how it imprinted on her. Can I just pause for a moment and say that this intro is written perfectly? The way she talks about pillowy flatbread and fluffy saffron rice is making me drool. Also, her stories are well intermingled with the idea of the book, and it’s a pleasure to read something that makes sense. (sorry Nigella) Anywho, Louisa explains that her spin on Persian cuisine has a health conscious twist. She says the recipes in the book have whole grains, gluten-free flours, and use minimal oil and fat and call for alternatives to white sugar. This gives me a pang of fear. Am I going to have to buy weird crap that I will use only once for this book? Maybe I can consolidate the weird crap by picking things that have the same weird crap? Am I going to spend $25 on saffron? Probably!

the food

There are quite a few categories in here. Starters and Snacks, Soups, Salads, Vegetable and Egg Entrees, Meat and Fish Entrees, Main Dish Stews and Casseroles, Rice and Grains, Sweets, Beverages, Pickles and Preserves.

I’m looking through the book and…what the heck?! Someone wrote in it in pencil. C’mon man.

Here is what I think I’ll make: Stuffed Tomatoes With Pistachio Pesto (yeah I know, I just made pistachio pesto. So sue me),Chicken Kebabs in Yogurt Marinade with Saffron Rice, and No Bake Persimmon and Goat Cheese Cheesecake. I’m not sure I will be able to find is persimmon, so I may substitute it with something else persian-y. Some stuff I am making does not come with a photo, so be prepared for my amazingly deft photography.

No-Bake Persimmon and Goat Cheese Cheesecake: I didn’t look very hard for persimmons. I decided to make a raspberry sauce, because I have seen that on a cheesecake before. This recipe gave me “healthy” vibes because there was no butter, only coconut oil. I really struggled getting the coconut oil out of the jar, I got it all over myself. The crust of this cake was graham crackers, pistachios, and cinnamon and cardamom. The crust had a lot of flavor, but it was a little on the crumbly side. The cheesecake part of the cake was really nice and goat-y, but light due to whipped cream being folded in. This is the only recipe that I made that had a corresponding picture, so enjoy.

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Do it taste good? YES! Well the cheesecake was really good. My raspberry sauce was unnecessary and thin.

Stuffed Tomatoes With Pistachio Pesto: I have been on the lookout for stuffed tomato recipes recently. I really enjoy a baked tomato, and the prospect of having a nice vegetarian option appealed to me. This recipe has all of the tropes of a healthy well rounded meal. Quinoa, beans, goat cheese, pistachios, and herbs. By the way, for this meal I bought more pistachios, goat cheese, and lemons than I ever had. I actually had to go back to the store to get another bag of pistachios, and I was very nervous about my lemon supply.

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Do it taste good? Yas! I liked this a lot and I think I may keep this in my back pocket as healthy thing to bring to parties.

Chicken Kebabs in Yogurt Marinade: I love a yogurt marinade. I think it makes things juicier. I marinated the chicken for over 24 hours, and I poked them onto skewers with some cherry tomatoes. Sean (my very VERY fortunate husband) did the actual grilling, and I slightly micromanaged. The instructions for this involved basting the meat with a lemon, olive oil, and saffron mixture.

Saffron Rice: This recipe is fairly straightforward, but within this recipe was a second recipe for Tahdig. Tahdig involved cooking the rice long and slow to the point that at the end of the process the bottom of the pot has a substantial crust of rice that can be broken up and eaten like a chip. I really wanted to try this, but in the end decided that it was a little too difficult to pull off with company over. Not to mention the fact that when she suggests to try making Tahdig she ends it with “good luck!”. I wasn’t feeling lucky.

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Do it taste good? Chicken: Tangy, charred, garlic-y, yellow. I liked it a lot! It dried out a bit on our grill, but I think with the right tools, this could be my go to marinade for chicken. Rice: I messed it up. It was over cooked! I am used to working with Jasmine rice which I guess might be a little more forgiving? I had rice cooking down to an art, and I ignored my instincts. It was fine, it’s still rice, but it was not the “fluffy pillow of rice” that I had been dreaming of.

Final Thots

This book was a perfect meld of health food and persian cuisine. After I ate this meal, I felt like could run a (30) minute mile. All in all, I think I may save all of these recipes for the next time I want to impress someone.

I would like to thank my tuesday night yoga and tex-mex group Chicks, Chats, Chaturangas, and Chimichangas and their respective partners, for being my guinea pigs.