Chelow kabab

In case you didn't know, it was Persian New Year back on March 21. To celebrate, I decided to cook up some Persian dishes that I grew up loving. Here I profile chelow kabab, the national dish of Iran. It's incredibly delicious but also very easy to make if you have a BBQ grill (or a George Foreman-esque grill like me) and some metal skewers. Preferably you would use these special skewers, but really almost any type of skewer will do.

If it's just you and maybe two other people, these proportions will work fine. Multiply or divide accordingly.

Start with 500 g of lean ground beef, 1 egg, 1 small-medium onion (diced), 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, a clove or two of garlic, and maybe throw in some bread crumbs and parlsey for good measure. Throw this all in a bowl and MASH with your hands. Get them all mixed together.

Next, thinly shape the meat around the skewers, no more than a 1 cm radius. They should look either like flat hot dogs if you're using the special skewers or like thin hot dogs if you're using regular skewers. This part may be difficult because you want to wrap it firmly enough so it stays intact but if you press too hard it may fall apart. What I wrote probably doesn't make sense but you'll get the hang of it when you start shaping it.

Place on the grill and cook like you would a burger, preferably on medium high heat and flipping once!

Delicious!

Two macaroni and cheese curveballs-- CAULIFLOWER AND SPINACH

I love it when I have random ingredients in my fridge that need consuming.

I had originally bought a head of cauliflower in hopes of trying to make a mashed cauliflower one of these days hearing it's a pretty awesome substitute for mashed potatoes (credit: Courtney). I never got around to it. I also bought too much spinach at Costco recently. On an unrelated note, I saw one of the other residents eating mac and cheese for lunch the other day, so I had some hunger pangs for that.

Figure 1. Galaxies colliding

BOOM, galaxies collide and behold, a new creation!

Normally, I'd go with my go-to mac and cheese recipe but this variation is doable if you have a pack of instant mac and cheese lying around, preferably the white cheddar variety. Simply throw in some cauliflower when you're boiling the pasta, and do everything else the same. Bleach some spinach too and just throw it into the pasta/cauliflower mixture when you're combining it with the cheese. I grated some medium-old cheddar into it for good measure.


MMM, at least this comfort food has some nutrition in it now.

Friday night jazz -

I have a weakness for jazz. I'm not sure where it came from, or why it sticks. I just love it. Add the fact that it's a cold night, I've got my warm clothes on, it's quiet, it's Friday night and I'm cooking. Perfection.

With that said, I'm still relatively a greenhorn when it comes to the jazz world. So outside of the legendary Miles Davis, I often tune into to jazz on the radio and let the professionals decide on what to play. Tonight on my way home I was listening to the program Tonic on CBC Radio 2, and this gem came on. Well played, Tim Tamashiro.

The end of the TO chapter

It was actually pretty sad leaving Toronto in that last week. Mostly because living with Q and Court had gone so well. Not that I was expecting any problems, but it was almost being back in med school where we could casually hang out together, shoot the breeze, walk home together, and so forth. Near the end of the week I realized there was a variety of things I wanted to do when in town but never had the chance. I also struggled to understand where the time went. Sadface emoji.

The ICU elective itself was great. I felt I really hit my stride in the last couple weeks and got a decent amount of exposure (and success!) to procedures I was looking to get practice on while I was there, put myself out there a few times in management plans and juggling multiple issues in some of the more sick patients. In reality, it was an introductory exposure to critical care since I'm only a PGY-1 so I hope it sets me up for more comfort and preparedness for it next year.

Anyways, here are a couple highlights:

If it looks like we're sitting around, looking at that empty chair,
it's because we are. We Skype'd in James in Newfoundland who
has been banished there. He seems to be enjoying it though. 

Being artsy on the drive back from a brief weekend stay in Kingston.
It's too bad I don't have instagram anymore. 

Wandering around Kensington Market I came across a gem of a
seafood market, Hooked. Other similar shops in the area were cheaper, but
just smelled awful so I decided to take a gamble here. I think it
paid off. I just had a brief conversation with one of the ladies behind
the counter but I could tell she knew her stuff. I think it's incredibly
responsible that they knew exactly where they get their fish,  and the
environment where they reside. I look forward to reading more about
this industry and where I can find a similarly responsible seafood
market in Ottawa.

Favourite vegetarian chili recipe to date

I've tried a number of vegetarian chili recipes with countless permutations, combinations, etc. I've had some success and some struggles, but this recipe at epicurious is my favourite one so far. I'm not sure what it is exactly... maybe it's just the right amount of earthiness in the coffee grounds, but it just tastes like a chili should with an ideal KICK of spice.

Of course, tweak the proportions as you see fit. When I made it, I halved everything, but also added a can of red kidney beans and some corn too. I'd also recommend adding some jalapeños.

Anyways, give it a shot! Here it is again.