Zeytoon Parvardeh, comes from Northern Iran and it is sometimes called ‘Caspian Olives’ since its origin (Gilan Province) lies close to the sea. This topping is a magical marinated combo of pitted green olives, pomegranate molasses, pomegranate seeds, garlic, walnuts, mint, parsley and dill.

It really hits all the right notes: nutty, salty, meaty, fleshy, sweet, tart, sour and herb-a-licious too. Used as a garnish it’s delicious with any fish; Sturgeon being the obvious choice, considering its origin.

I used mint in my recipe but the original herb that it replaces is: chuchagh which is hard to find here in the Bay Area. Traditionally the mint and garlic are chopped and mashed up together and the walnut is grated or pulverized in a cuisinart but I’ve opted for a rough chop here instead. Feel free to make it yours and add a little cilantro too if desired.

I use this garnish to top hummus appetizers also, so keep this little salsa of sorts in your rolodex of interesting and delicious toppings. Or forget about chopping the green olives – and serve it up as an appetizer in its original whole form alongside some frosty martinis.

Roasting a whole salmon side could not be easier and it’s so pretty for a party. Obviously I’m thinking Easter and Passover here, but it’s festive enough for any feed-a-crowd occasion.

Some pointers for roasting whole salmon sides…

Have your fish monger take out the pin bones, or do it yourself by gently pulling out the thin bones with fish tweezers the direction they are pointing – do not pull against the flesh or it will tear. Run your fingers along the flesh to feel the bones.

Also, skin your side and remove all of the grey fat from the underside, this part tends to get a little fishy smelling as it rests, so it’s best to remove before baking.

After skinning and removing the pin bones, I place my salmon side on a parchment lined baking sheet. Use two pieces of parchment overlapping by more than half. This way, when ready to transfer the fish, you can grab the ends of the paper (without it breaking because of the double layer underneath) and quickly move it to the serving platter. Once on the plate, pull the parchment out on either side.

Season the salmon with sea salt, ground cumin and ground sundried lime, drizzle with a little olive oil and bake in a slow oven around 325F until medium rare.

Test for doneness by inserting a metal toothpick (I’ve even used a paperclip or the tip of a thin knife), into the thickest part of the flesh and leave it for 10 seconds. Press the metal toothpick tester just to the bottom of your bottom lip (almost underneath it, so as not to burn your lip). It if feels just barely warm – your fish is still on the rare side of medium rare but making progress. If it feels nicely warm, then the fish is medium rare! If it feels a little hotter than warm – you’ve hit medium. If it feels burning hot – your fish is overcooked, take it out immediately!!!! If it feels cold, it’s not cooked at all, stick it back in the oven….

While this salmon dish is delicious on it’s own, I think it’s EVEN BETTER served alongside my Harissa Roasted Carrot dish or at the very least with the Labneh-Tahini-Honey mixture that accompanies it (included below). Without this creamy sauce, I feel the dish is not quite complete, For the perfect bite, make sure you add this creamy counterpoint!

The post Slow Roasted Salmon Side with Pomegranate and Green Olive first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

How good is it? Well, remember that episode of Seinfield – the one with the Soup Nazi? Of course you do. Remember the curmudgeon Chef who yelled at his clientele and if he didn’t like the looks of you or if you didn’t follow instructions you were sent away after waiting hours in line, without soup? Well, that character was based on a very real Chef in Manhattan who happens to be Persian. And guess what folks, urban legend has it that Ash Reshteh is the soup that put him ((Chef Ali Yeganeh) on the map and the soup that his customers felt was worth the wait and the abuse!

Chef Yeganeh might have popularized Persian Noodle Soup in Manhattan but he didn’t create the recipe. This soup has history and its roots can be traced back to 500AD. Ash Reshteh is associated with Spring and Nowruz (Persian New Years) and specifically Charshanbe Suri, also known as the Festival of Fire, where this soup is made to share with family and friends. The ‘reshteh’ or noodles, symbolize good fortune and luck. The bright green herbs braised in this soup symbolize Spring! You do not have to wait until the Spring Equinox to enjoy this soup though, it can and should be eaten often.

So, why is this soup so good one might ask? For me, it’s about the layering of flavors – the rich caramelized onions with turmeric, the braised bright green herbs, the combination of hearty lentils and beans, the tantric toppings of kashk (fermented whey) and turmeric fried onions with cool dried mint oil. Persian food often uses braised herbs in quantity (think ghormeh sabzi) and most dishes have a wonderful sour flavor profile. If kashk is not available, you can substitute yogurt – but don’t leave this sour element out because there is a holy trifecta going on here between soup base, kashk, and cool mint fried turmeric onions.

I have my own little story about Ash Reshteh. When I was Exec. Chef for Faz and his six Persian inspired Mediterranean restaurants we had a restaurant in Pleasanton with many traditional Persian dishes on the menu. The business clientele was not Iranian for the most part but, they really loved all the khoreshts (stews), the braised meats and of course, the foot long kabobs. I asked the Chef de Cuisine at this location to add Ash Reshteh to the menu because soup & salad was a popular request. He reluctantly agreed because all the choppy-chop that goes into this soup is time consuming. It’s an easy soup, don’t get me wrong, but the ingredient list is long. Guess what, it sold out within the first half hour. Ash Reshteh was permanently added to the menu after that and it sold out every single day. True story!

So don’t take it from me, don’t take it from Chef Ali and all of Manhattan, don’t take it from 3000 years of Persian tradition – try it for yourself and then tell me: IS THIS THE BEST SOUP ON EARTH OR WHAT!?!?!

Cooking Notes: I use a canned bean combo in this recipe and I don’t use dry beans in order to save time, to preserve flavor overall, and also because my family is stomach sensitive! I do use dry lentils. I like kashk, but I often sub yogurt if I don’t have time to hit up the Middle Eastern Market. If you can’t find ‘reshteh’ noodles, which are long flat wheat noodles, you can sub linguine. In these pictures I am using real reshteh, I find that they do hold up a little better than linguine but taste wise they are similar. Lastly, I use a few tablespoons of dry fenugreek in place of fresh, because I can never find fresh – don’t add too much or your soup will have a slightly bitter taste, but don’t leave it out either.

The post Persian Noodle Soup (Ash Reshteh) first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Chahr-Shanbeh Suri, the beginning of the New Years celebration, collided with the ten year anniversary of the day Ramin and I met, so we’re making up for lost time. Tonight we’ll be jumping over fire (to take our sickliness away — be gone bad, bad year!) and eating Ash Reshteh soup and tomorrow we’ll cook a big New Year’s dinner.

This Persian herb frittata, KooKoo Sabzi (Kuku Sabzi), is a signature dish for Nowruz. It’s healthy, easy, spring green and super delicious.

As you can see, it’s more herb than egg and it’s an antioxidant powerhouse made with chopped scallions, chives, parsley, dill and cilantro. I add a little Aleppo red pepper for heat (you can sub a few dashes of Tabasco), chopped walnuts and tangy barberries.

Wishing you a wonderful New Year filled with health, happiness and prosperity!

The post Kookoo Sabzi first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

I didn’t want to leave you hanging with that last saffron cherry rice dish (albaloo polo). I know you were like: What do we serve with it lady?!?

Our fav is saffron chicken kabobs. As Layla’s Mama Bozorg (Grandma) always says, “you can never have enough saffron!” Whether cooking thigh meat or breast over a charcoal barbecue (preferably), jujeh kabobs are a staple in Persian cooking.

What makes jujeh kabobs so special and so incredibly delicious? The magical vibrant look and taste of saffron for one, but also the simple onion marinade and the onion juice that is brushed over towards the end of cooking. And there’s just something extra macho-feeling about cooking two-foot long kabobs!

Persians like variety. In our family, we rarely serve just one type of kabob. Normally we’ll serve koubideh alongside our jujeh kabobs. And there’s a reason for this. Koubideh kabob is made of ground beef, sometimes mixed with lamb too, and grated onion that has been wrung out in cheesecloth to remove the juice. The juice from the onion can be used for the chicken kabobs and the pulp for the beef kabobs. Making koubideh is an art form in itself and I’ll tackle that mountain soon – it’s not easy to get the meat onto the actual stakes correctly.

There are two types of jujeh kabob recipes. One is with yogurt (which is the way my Mother-in-Law makes them) or without yogurt which is how we make them at Faz’s restaurants. In the yogurt version the saffron is mixed in with the yogurt marinade, in the Faz version, saffron-onion juice is brushed over the kabob while cooking and not added to the marinade. I will put both versions down below for you to choose from. They are both delicious, I really don’t have a preference. The yogurt marinade does make the chicken a little more tender.

Saffron. Yeah, that little plastic jar that contains 3 threads is cute. That’s not going to cut it Persian cooking. Do not buy your saffron from a normal super market. It’s a rip off. Go online or go to a Persian or Middle Eastern market for saffron. They will sell it in a big package so you can use it properly. The best way to make use of it, is to grind it all up in a burr grinder and keep it in an air tight container.

Here’s a funny little trick on how to “bloom” saffron before mixing it into marinades or adding it to rice that my Mother-in-Law uses: sprinkle the saffron over ice cubes and let it melt to room temperature. Don’t use hot water. The reason? You don’t want to dilute the flavor or aroma or “cook” it twice. It also preserves the beautiful orange-yellow color.

What to serve with Saffron Chicken Kabobs? Saffron rice of course! Or Saffron Sour Cherry rice. We normally pair them with grilled Tomatoes, Shirazi salad and I could never eat kabobs without mast-o-khiar which is a lebneh cucumber dip.

The post Persian Saffron Chicken Kabobs: Jujeh Kabobs first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Mast-o-khiar or cucumber-labneh-dip can be served on its own and accompanied with flatbread and veggies, but it’s also a necessary side to any roasted meat. We don’t eat kabobs or leg of lamb at home without it.

So what makes this simple dip so special you might ask? First off, I use labneh instead of yogurt. It’s similar to Greek yogurt and the later can be substituted, but if you can find fresh labneh I think it makes a difference. What exactly is labneh, right? Well, it’s thicker than Greek yogurt, ultra strained, slightly salty and cultured with a different strain of healthy bacteria. It is a probiotic powerhouse and it will last longer than yogurt in your fridge. It’s consistency is more like cream cheese. Beware, some types of labneh are impossibly thick because they have added gelatin – this is not the kind I prefer to use. It should be cultured naturally without thickeners.

Secondly, the dill and mint added are dry and intense. If you buy these herbs dried from a Middle Eastern store, they will mostly likely come in a big packet as opposed to a small little spice jar, which is handy for this recipe. Lastly, the garlic I add (not a lot, but it is essential), I mash with sea salt and the flat of my chef’s knife, working it back and forth until the salt has drawn out the juice and the blade has pulverized the clove into mush. Making the dip hours, or even the night before, allows the garlic to mellow in the lactic acid of the labneh.

And lastly, I use Persian cucumbers which are not quite as juicy as the English hothouse variety and they hold their shape without getting mushy. If I can’t find the Persian type then I use normal hothouse cukes but, I scrape out the seeds so the dip doesn’t get watery.

To garnish, we use dried food grade rose petals and sometimes some fresh mint and dill. The rose petals don’t really add flavor, but they do add beauty, and sometimes they have a slight aroma as well….

Serve with Lamb Shawarma or kabobs or any roasted meat for that matter. Or simply scoop it up with some flat bread and feel healthy about devouring something so ridiculously tasty!

The post Cucumber Labneh Dip: Mast-o-Khiar first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Yes, it helps if you have a rotisserie at home but if not, you can simply roast a leg of lamb in the oven with minimal effort. I make my own flatbread, but toasted/grilled lavash or even naan can be substituted. And french fries are definitely a must. Don’t ask me why. I just need french fries with this sandwich. In Paris they roll the french fries into the shawarma for a really delicious hearty bite. Yum.

I like to add Persian Mast o’ Khiar and I’ll post the full recipe in the next post. It’s a super tasty yogurt-dill-cucumber dip that goes great with meat but, it can also be scooped up with flat bread and eaten all on it’s own.

The post Rotisserie Leg of Lamb Shawarma first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Neither my Husband or my daughter, Layla, like chicken. My husband might be tempted if it’s slowly stewed in a thick sauce of pomegranate and ground walnuts or marinated in saffron and onion juice and cooked on long skewers over a charcoal fire, but neither daughter or hubby get excited about a roasted chicken or a baked breast. I can’t really blame them actually, once you’ve tasted Fesenjoon or Jujeh kabob, it’s hard to go back. But fried chicken, on the other hand,  disappears quickly.

I originally created this spice rub for Faz Restaurasnt for our Persian popcorn chicken appetizer. It flew out the door to say the least. The spices are a mixture of Persian sun dried lime, toasted cumin, tumeric, smoked paprika and salt. Sun dried limes (dried whole Persian Bearss limes) give an awesome sour kick. These limes are mostly used in stews like Gormeh Sabzi (meat stew with sun dried limes and braised green fresh herbs) where they are added whole and simmered slowly with other ingredients. But here, for this spice blend, I just toss them into the Vitamix along with the other spices and whirr away.

Sumac is another interesting spice that adds a pleasing sour pucker. My husband likes to spoon sumac over his saffron rice and on top of meat too. I find here, that it gives ripe, sweet peaches a little extra zing. Sumac is not a spice-y spice in terms of heat. It’s quite mild and, like sundried lime, is on the tart side.

Sabzi means ‘greens’ in farsi and refers to green herbs in recipes. No Persian meal is truly complete without a sabzi platter consisting of lemon basil, tarragon (the kind with fat leaves), mint and scallions. It’s a healthy antioxidant mixture often served alongside peeled walnuts and feta. The sabzi mixture gets rolled up in barbari bread or lavash with feta and eaten as an appetizer or added alongside the other various dishes being served for the meal.

Oh and Persians love raw onions! My husband would eat them like apples if I let him – which I don’t – for the obvious reasons! He shoves whole scallions in sandwiches along with all the other sabzi herbs and munches happily away. Me, not so much. My daughter, she likes onions too. Must be in the genes!

I just can’t seem to plate a protein without some sort of swoop these days. This one is an easy saffron aioli! You can cheat and add ground saffron to your mayo if you’re in a hurry. I won’t tell anyone. And, if I wasn’t mostly-gluten-free this whole meal would really be great as a sandwich on a brioche bun.

Salamati!

The post Persian Fried Chicken, Sumac Peaches, Sabzi Salad first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Grilled Branzini stuffed with mint, parsley and lemon

Branzini is the plural form of  branzino, did you know that?  After all these years of cooking and I just found that out! I thought they were just different spellings of the same fish. Yup, that’s my ah-ha moment for the day.

Grilled Branzino with Spicy Mint Sauce

Grilling whole fish: if you’ve had limited success grilling fillets that break or stick on the grates, then grilling whole Branzino will be cake. Start with fresh fish, make sure the eyes are clear and the fish smells like the ocean – not ammoniated – if the scent of windex wafts up your nostrils move on to the meat counter. Have the fish monger gut and descale it – or do it yourself. I often just let the fish monger do it, simply because I don’t need fish scales flying around my home kitchen, those things get stuck everywhere.

Pat the fish dry inside and out. Cut a few diagonal slices into each filet if desired. Season the fish inside and out with Kosher salt, a little sumac and smoked paprika and a pinch of cayenne. Stuff the cavity with herbs and sliced citrus. I don’t tie the fish up unless it’s over 1 pound – it’s just not necessary and it cooks better when heat can circulate inside. I find untying the fish can destroy the crispy skin. I also don’t truss chickens either for the same reason. It will still be juicy because all those little cartilage bones are going to give it some extra flavor.

stuffed grilled branzino

How To: fire up the grill on high heat. After five minutes get out the brush and clean the grates. Lightly oil a kitchen towel and quickly clean and season the grates with the oiled the rag. Let the grates heat up once again for at least a minute. Lightly oil the outside of the branzino – super light. Too much oil will smoke over the heat and that gives an unpleasant taste, so go easy on the grease. If your grill is well seasoned don’t even bother with extra oil.

Lay the fish down gently diagonally across the grates, turn down the heat to medium and let it ride for 4 minutes. Do NOT move it. If it hasn’t seared properly on that side, or the grates weren’t hot enough to begin with, it’s going to stick. Using a spatula and your other hand to steady it, gently flip the fish to the other side and cook for another 4 minutes.

I figure one fish per person. Serve with the green harissa sauce, rice and grilled tomatoes!

The post Grilled Branzino with Green Harissa first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Chef Faz calls me on a busy morning at our Oakland location to let me know (with effervescent excitement) that he has sourced a farm in the South Bay completely dedicated to growing this melon and, more importantly, that it has arrived. I immediately drive down to our Pleasanton restaurant after lunch service to see what all the fuss is about…

Hami Melon!

Although this melon is Chinese in origin, it is extremely popular in Iran. The taste of home is by far the sweetest nectar and Chef  Faz fondly remembers farming this melon and the pleasure of cutting one of the leash and carving into it for a refreshing slice of  warm, sweet, edible rehydration. These memories are crisp from youth…

Upon my arrival in our Pleasanton corporate office, Chef beckons me to the large hotel kitchen bustling with cooks preparing banquets and corporate events, not to mention line cooks fiercely whipping up late lunches for hotel guests and poolside snacks, to proudly show me his trophy.

Chef Faz with Hami Melon

And what a trophy it is! A gorgeous oversized heavy football, yellow and green with tan webbing. He politely pushes over the pantry cook to borrow his knife & cutting board and quickly slices the melon for us to taste. He doles our samples to the line cooks who are overheated from the mesquite woodfire open pit that is so outrageously hot my face turns a dark shade of crimson every time I walk in front of it. Smiles radiate from the cooks and nods of ‘this-is-soooo-good’ abound. This sweet melon is a breath of fresh air, a respite in the middle of organized chaos. Chef leaves the melon with the pantry cook and declares that we want melon for lunch and nothing else! Who am I to argue?

Like the other two great Chefs I’ve had the pleasure of working with, Chef Faz is passionate about the purity of the ingredient – the excitement of simplicity and rustic perfection in it’s natural form. I have a lot of respect for this no-fuss sort of attitude. There are some things in life that just don’t need improvement.

I have served this melon in a few different forms from this first initial encounter. Sometimes I slice it for an appetizer with proscuitto and burrata, or chop it up into a grilled and marinated calamari seafood salad with cucumber and red onion. Or serve it with a simple wild arugula, shaved fennel, cucumber and mint salad with a white balsamic vinaigrette – very refreshing.

The post Hami Melon & Avocado Salad first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Chef Faz with Persian Hami melon at our Pleasanton location

My writing time has been cut slightly in favor of ending the 12-hour work day with a glass of wine in front of the tele completely vegged out – if not comatose – and yes, my bucolic days of whipping up farm-to-table dinners along the coast are simmering on the back burner but not yet completely put out to pasture. I still have events and workshops to choppy-chop my way through before the farm season comes to a close. Quite a different world to be back in high volume restaurants from the fields I’ve luxuriously lounged in over the last four years.

And you know what, I couldn’t be happier, I have the best of both worlds!

I never thought that by marrying a Persian man that I would end up cooking for one of America’s most notable Persian Chefs. But there I was at Faz restaurant in Danville over a year ago, holding my wedding reception (a year after marriage – we eloped) with 200 Persian relatives and friends dancing, drinking, throwing our hands up in the air, feasting on Persian cuisine and, well, that’s where it all started…

I didn’t meet Faz that glorious evening although he saw us take over the patio in style from the comfort of the restaurant that surrounds the outdoor patio. Yes, I suppose we were quite the spectacle for all the other non-wedding guests and I’m pretty sure many of them ended up on our dance floor towards the end of the evening attempting to learn some of the hip rolling and wrist writhing movements from my in-laws. Persians know how to party and by culture are a warm and generous people who make everyone feel welcome.

Saffron and lemon chicken kabob cooked over a mesquite open grill

Fontina, housemade sausage, red onion pizza cooked in our wood burning pizza oven

Ruby grapefruit, persian cucumber, fennel, and avocado salad with cilantro and citrus vinaigrette

Baklava! This is a much more difficult dessert to make than one would think but it is so delicious when made correctly.

It wasn’t until this Easter, when my inlaws invited us to Faz in Danville again for brunch that I met the legendary Chef Faz Poursohi. He came to our table to meet n’ greet and my mother-in-law introduced us in Farci. It was one of those conversations where you don’t understand what’s going on until you hear….. “blah, blah, blah, blah, CHEF, blah, blah, blah”…

I turned a deep shade of crimson considering I was nursing my second mimosa and totally unprepared for the intro and the interview which proceeded. But Faz, turned his attention to me and immediately demanded my credentials, resume, blog and email address. And to be honest, I just felt like the whole word sort of melted away and I was already back in the saddle with the: yes Chef, no Chef, of course Chef, It would be a pleasure Chef…

Let me honest here, Chef Faz is very impressive. He is Persian, tall, handsome, always outfitted in a freshly pressed chef’s jacket, and direct yet warm with effusive positive energy. His passion for food, people and the hospitality business is contagious. He is very much like the other two impressive Chefs I have worked for: Guy Savoy and Eric Ripert although his style and philosophy are worlds apart but his tireless work ethic, love of beautiful seasonal products, and 30 years plus of success are the same.

Always learning something new with Chef Faz

I wasn’t really expecting this little introduction to go anywhere but to my surprise it did. Over several lunches, in which Chef Faz brought me to his various locations, fed me, and talked with me about food, style and vision did I realize that this could actually be my dream job. To work as Chef Faz’s right hand and help to execute a new menu vision across the board is incredible.

Not to mention creating our product line, opening new restaurants and being part of the design process, as well as training and hiring staff and working with executive Chefs to create standards – oh and redesigning the wines as well. Oh, and working on our cookbook that is basically an anthology of Persian cooking. Yeah, kind of exciting.

Our new Faz Restaurant location next to the brand new Santa Clara Football stadium! 181 Tasman

I’ll save my “Lunches with Faz” for another post because these meetings were filled with restaurant stories and growing up in Iran and I found myself inhaling food and scribbling down notes all at the same.

The excitement of all these fun things can seem almost impossible in reality. Restaurants are constantly evolving and some are more successful than others and different kitchen cultures present different problems and I’m a few years out of the loop but I have missed this so much and I couldn’t be more excited to be back behind the line creating and teaching and doing what I do best.

I’m lovin’ it, and I have so many amazing recipes and stories to share… stay tunned for the Wonderful World of Faz!

The post Cooking with the Legendary Chef Faz first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.