Recipes for the study abroad student who only has access to a microwave, a stovetop, one skillet, and a very limited selection of groceries:
Saudi bread pizza:
1 panatha bread, frozen
½ cup mozzarella cheese
1 medium tomato, sliced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp Italian spices (basil, oregano)
Steps:
1) take frozen panatha bread and heat it in warm skillet for two to three minutes (turning it over when appropriate)
2) when properly cooked, place on a plate and brush olive oil onto bread
3) top with mozzarella and tomato slices
4) sprinkle Italian spices and garlic powder
5) place in microwave for 30-40 seconds until cheese is melted.
Steps:
1) take frozen panatha bread and heat it in warm skillet for two to three minutes (turning it over when appropriate)
2) when properly cooked, place on a plate and brush olive oil onto bread
3) top with mozzarella and tomato slices
4) sprinkle Italian spices and garlic powder
5) place in microwave for 30-40 seconds until cheese is melted.
2 tbsp olive oil (to fry in pan) + Italian spices (garlic, oregano, basil)
1-1/2 tbsp mayonnaise (to spread on sandwich)
1 small Italian bread
Side of chips
Steps:
1) In pan, fry eggplant in olive oil (meanwhile adding Italian spices while it cooks) for 4-5 minutes
2) When tender, place eggplant slices in Italian bread slices (either put mayo in before eggplant or after, it's up to you)
3) add side of chips
Italian Egg sandwich: 
3 eggs
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp Italian spices (basil, oregano, garlic)
1 Italian bread
Steps:
1) Stir eggs in a small bowl
2) Add pepper and Italian spices in bowl
3) Pour bowl of eggs into a frying pan (heat stove on medium)
4) Scramble eggs and add more pepper and garlic
5) When cooked, place in Italian bread
Steps:
1) Stir eggs in a small bowl
2) Add pepper and Italian spices in bowl
3) Pour bowl of eggs into a frying pan (heat stove on medium)
4) Scramble eggs and add more pepper and garlic
5) When cooked, place in Italian bread
Side dish:
Breaded and lightly fried eggplant
Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant cut into ¼ inch slices
1 egg (stirred in a bowl)
½ cup breadcrumbs (if possible, Italian breadcrumbs . . . if not add a generous helping of basil, oregano, garlic) on a plate
Steps:
1) Dip eggplant slices in egg
2) Place "egged" eggplant slices in bread crumbs
3) Heat olive oil in a skillet, and proceed to place breaded eggplant slices into skillet
4) Cook for 4-5 minutes, turning over slices every minute or so
1) Dip eggplant slices in egg
2) Place "egged" eggplant slices in bread crumbs
3) Heat olive oil in a skillet, and proceed to place breaded eggplant slices into skillet
4) Cook for 4-5 minutes, turning over slices every minute or so
What else do I eat?:
A little bit of this
A little bit of that
It's better than Nutella
And a lot of this:
What a great way to cook simple meals and also rely on heritage. Remember that our Italian people survived poverty all those years on just such meals! Yay for having Coca-Cola and Nutella in Egypt. Does your budget leave you enough for street/restaurant food and Egyptian sweets, at least occassionally?
ReplyDeleteI'd kill for some mulokhiya soup.. the grass is always greener, as they say. Except in Egypt I know that the grass is definitely browner
Well, the Saudi pizza looks good. I remember thinking that there were a lot of good Thai curry mixes in the grocery store. But the diet is definitely limited. I'm not sure I could handle the bare eggplant sandwich. I also made burritos, but I struggled a long time with the difference between their refried beans and Mexican style. So burritos never quite came out right.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'm still smiling at the "ostrichization" catch from your last post. That made my week.
Is olive oil a big Egyptian thing? They talk about anointing oil/ sacred oil in the "Tale of Sinuhe" and a few other ancient Egyptian texts and I remember wondering whether it was olive.
ReplyDelete@ Martyn Smith: I haven't seen ANY Thai curries here. I feel like that would be a sacrilege, and I will wait until I return to the U.S. of A. to eat my favorites: Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese.
ReplyDeleteOstrichization made my week too. Thank the AUC students for that.
@ Mark: street food=death. I wouldn't dare try it unless I built up my immune system for a year while living here.
Olive oil is a big thing in most Mediterranean locals.
This is brilliant! Very resourceful. I think you have the beginnings of a great cookbook here!
ReplyDelete