#104 - Great Expectations

Beanless Chili
Finally a sighting of my chili!  It's been a bit like the search for Bigfoot or a Yeti - this is the first time a sighting has been made (less the fresh jalepenos, cilantro/coriander and spring onions/green onions).  My ever reliable food chronicler sent this one through a couple of days after I left.

See post #103 for more about the chili - and my sister sent me a message tonight saying it still tops the list of things she wants when I come home, followed closely by the veggies below.

Passover
I have been invited to a Passover Seder on Tuesday night.  See this link for more information about the seder - http://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1751/jewish/The-Seder-in-a-Nutshell.htm.

Zucchini "spaghetti"

No pressure, but my invitation to seder made a point of challenging my cooking skills in requesting a vegetarian side dish which complied with requirements to be Kosher for Passover.  Surprisingly enough, the thing that took the longest amount of time was the tomato sauce - especially since I had to look up the recipe because I forgot it and had left out the garlic and tomato paste.  It took forever to pass it through a sieve because I don't have a chinois here.  It was easier to make everything from scratch than to have to doctor something from the correct Kosher section or to check I didn't breach any rules (except the tomato paste, which I ran past my hosts).

Vegetarian "spring" roll - named by my sister

I can't get people to choose between the variations but hopefully some tasting by independent third parties will tell me if one of them is better than another.

The vegetarian "spring roll" and the veggie stack are both wrapped in savoy cabbage leaves, which were surprisingly hard to get in Hawaii for the family Christmas dinner and a previous attempt at something like this.

Veggie stack (aka vegetarian stuffed cabbage)

The veggie stack will somehow need to be changed slightly because it's meant to serve 26 people.  So far the Mise-en-place consists of 9 red bell peppers, 8 tomatoes,8 shallots, 2 bouque garni, I'm not sure how many zucchini, 1 savoy cabbage and...I think I forgot something.

Everything needs to be cooked just a bit more but I think it may just be a matter of getting the balance of the different vegetables and the sauce right.  There may not be enough sauce for the zucchini spaghetti so that may or may not make it to the dinner.

So until next time, happy Easter / Passover and food in good company.