podcasts

Episode 251

by Sara
ANAPHORA & MUHAMMARA

The Back Porch

  • Rift by Jaqueline Cieslak in Green Mountain Spinnery Cotton Comfort

  • sock darning (woven patch technique) by Bristol Ivy from Making Magazine No. 5  COLOR

#powerpantry

Muhammara  from Arabic meaning “something red” 

Special thanks to Selma for introducing me to this dish and sharing her recipe.

  • Joumana Accad of Taste of Beirut shares her Lebanese version of the dish in this VIDEO, which I initially watched to get a handle on the pronunciation
  • Ottolenghi’s recipe, which uses breadcrumbs instead of walnuts
  • Healthy Nibble’s recipe gave me the idea to use a spoon of ketchup in my version to boost the sweetness and umami

Muhammara (#powerpantry version)

Makes about 2 cups

  • 2 red (orange or yellow) bell peppers (seeds and stems removed), roasted and peeled
  • 1/2 c. sunflower seeds, toasted in a cast iron skillet
  • 1/4 c. walnuts, toasted in a cast iron skillet
  • 1 clove garlic
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tblsp. molasses / balsamic vinegar / sorghum syrup
  • 1 tblsp. organic ketchup
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
  • salt to taste
  • olive oil

Add all ingredients to a food processor, and blend to desired consistency, adding olive oil if needed.

I coat my peppers with salt and olive oil before roasting, so I found I added very little olive oil when blending.

Soaking sunflower seeds overnight may help improve the texture, but then I think it would be difficult to toast them.

This dip keeps nicely for up to  a week in the refrigerator.

Off the Shelf

When I read Walker’s poem ,”For My People,” on the Poetry Foundation website, and saw the image of POETRY magazine’s November 1937 issue in the margin, I though it must be a mistake.  Walker’s language, and her choices concerning punctuation, the driving urgency of the stanzas as they build — all result in a poem that seems as though it has been recently composed.  I think it is a remark about the current era of protests and demands for reform that a poem written in 1937 could resonate still-relevant themes concerning brutality, incarceration, inequality, and iniquity.

  • “For My People” by Margaret Walker, first published in the November 1937 issue of POETRY magazine
  • Poetry Foundation biography of Margaret Walker
  • I Remember by Joe Brainard

Mudlarking by Lara Maiklem