Lisa's Charm

Lisa has a great cafe but it's the slow season which is good for me. I don't want to be around the crowds and the prices quadruple. It still expensive to be eating out every night so Lisa said I could cook dinner at her restaurant. I could cook at my apt. also but it could be fun to cook with Lisa.



In the morning we went down to the fishing docks and I bought a couple of sea breams that were still kicking. I then went to market and bought some mint and fava beans. I love fava beans and my friend Elizabeth had written me that she was going through the long labor of preparing them. Why do I seem to especially like things that are difficult? I love eating crab and preparing labor intensive vegetables like artichokes and fava beans.



I'm giving you this really delicious recipe: First you have to take the beans out of these thick pods. Then you blanc the beans in boiling water for about five seconds, then you have to push the nice soft part out of their tough skins. You start with a pound and a half of these pods and then hopefully end up with a cup.



If you have a food processor the next part is easy but Lisa only had a mortar and pistil, so I had to smash the beans with a clove a garlic, a few mint leaves, some lemons juice and olive oil. at home I mix it with about a quarter cup of parmesan cheese but this time I used goat cheese. It should be a spread but it was a little chunky using this method. You grill some good bread and spread this on top like a crostini. You have to try it!



Lisa is an ex-pat Austrailan but she is of Chinese descent from East Timor. I'm picky about my preparation of rice and hers is perfect. Each grain is an individual. With the fish she cut a couple of onions and layed them on top with lemon juice and olive oil. That's all. The juices from the pan favored the rice.



The the salad as I've said before is lettuce mixed with mint, dill and parsley. This is really the best meal I've had here and I wish I had taken a picture of it.



You're probably wondering why I'm still in Bozcaada. I can't leave.