Read Online The New Persian Kitchen by Louisa Shafia - Free Book Online

squeezed lime juice
    3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    1 tablespoon honey
    Sea salt
    1 large celery root
    Seeds of 2 pomegranates (see How to Open a Pomegranate )
    Freshly ground black pepper
    In a large salad bowl, whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, honey, and 1 teaspoon of salt.
    Rinse the celery root and slice off the rough outside layer. Using the large holes on a box grater, or the grater attachment of a food processor, grate the celery root and add it to the dressing. Add the pomegranate seeds and toss until they’re well coated with the dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

roasted peach and corn salad in tamarind vinaigrette
    Corn and peaches are among my favorite summer flavors, and I like combining them in both desserts and savory dishes, like this one. Roasting fruits and vegetables brings out their natural sugars, and that sweetness is perfectly complemented by the tart taste of tamarind. For a deliciously smoky taste, grill the corn and peaches instead of roasting them. Nectarines, apricots, and plums are all good stand-ins for the peaches.
    serves 4 to 6
    3 sweet, ripe peaches
    3 large ears corn (2 to 3 cups kernels)
    3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
    Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
    1 shallot, minced
    3 tablespoons Thai tamarind concentrate , strained to remove grit
    1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
    2 small heads of butter lettuce, torn
    Preheat the oven to 425°F.
    Peel the peaches and cut the flesh into coarse chunks. Slice the kernels from the corncobs, and combine them with the peaches in a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper, and toss well. Spread the peaches and corn on a baking sheet, and bake, stirring every 10 minutes, for 20 to 30 minutes, until the corn begins to brown and the peaches are very soft. Cool slightly.
    While the peaches and corn roast, make the dressing. In a serving bowl, combine the shallot, tamarind, vinegar, and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with 1 teaspoon salt, and marinate until the corn and peaches are done.
    Add the lettuce to the dressing, followed by the warm peaches and corn, and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then serve.
     
    How to Open a Pomegranate
    If you buy a pomegranate, buy one whose ripeness has caused it to be cleft open with a seed-revealing smile. Its laughter is a blessing, for through its wide-open mouth it shows its heart …
    —Rumi, Mathnawi 1 , translated by Kabir Helminski and Ahmad Rezwani
    The sensuous pomegranate is an ancient Persian ingredient and an iconic part of its cuisine. One of my favorite things about teaching Persian cooking classes is giving people their first taste of a pomegranate. There’s a look of puzzled delight when they bite down on the tart, juicy arils (seeds) and hit the pith at the center. I’m frequently asked, “Do I eat the whole thing or spit it out?” My answer is always, “Eat the whole thing!”
    Before eating the pomegranate, though, you have to get it open and extract the seeds from the lacy white pith in which they’re embedded. Ideally, you’d like to do this without spraying yourself and your entire kitchen with the pomegranate’s sticky red juice, which is known to stain clothes. The successful accomplishment of this operation is a topic shrouded in mystery and confusion, but here are a few tried-and-true methods.
    Fruit Platter Method
    My cousin Ali, who is an excellent—and very technical—cook, showed me this method of preparing pomegranate sections for a fruit platter. Using a very sharp or a serrated knife, slice off both the crown and stem ends of the pomegranate, then cut off the rind the way you would peel the skin from an apple, starting at the top and working your way around and down. Now, at the top of the pomegranate you can see six seams that separate the pomegranate into six sections. Starting at a seam, make a shallow incision with your knife and drag it all the way downto the