Iranian Cuisine - The Hungry Nomad

Courtyard Grill-Uptown (New Orleans, USA)

Courtyard Grill is the only place in New Orleans where you can feast on Iranian and Turkish cuisine. It is located on Magazine street and offers both indoor and outdoor seating. The Turkish chef blends his cuisine with the traditional Iranian recipes leading to a menu full of delicious dishes.

The meal started off with a refreshing doogh beverage. Doogh is a yogurt drink blended with water and sprinkled with dried mint. It is a very popular drink in Iran and is always served with the traditional kabob and rice dish.

We were also served with a basket of bread and a side of spicy tomato sauce. It tasted like a Turkish version of Salsa. The bread was perfect. It was chewy and crispy on the outside. The best I have had in New Orleans.

For our main entrees, I chose the boneless chicken kabob served with a side of basmati rice, onions, grilled tomatoes, pickled cabbage and yogurt. The serving was just perfect. Not too much and not too little. The chicken kabob was marinated in saffron and was juicy and tender. The basmati rice was just as it should be: cooked perfectly so that it was not too soft and not too hard. The pickled cabbage and sliced onions were a great touch to the meal.

The next entree was the Koobideh kabob. Koobideh is your Iranian version of a hamburger but while a hamburger is served on a bun the koobideh is served with rice. The koobideh was also tender and juicy and not overcooked. Always sprinkle your kabobs with a Persian spice called sumagh. It adds flavor and helps break up the fat.

Overall, if you are hungry and want a perfect and delicious meal then you should definitely try the Courtyard Grill. The owners are wonderful people and the service is great. You can’t go wrong with any of your choices since all are delicious and fresh.

Recipe: Khoresh Kangar and Karafs (Artichoke and Celery Stew)

October 26, 2011 No Comments

I discovered this wonderful creative dish through one of my favourite bloggers: My Persian Kitchen– and so I immediately set out on a quest to make it. This is a combination of one of my favorite Persian stews (Celery Stew) with the addition of artichokes. Now artichokes is not a vegetable (or is it a fruit?) that is found in Iran or anywhere in the middle east so you will not see it used in middle eastern dishes. But given our globalized world its so easy to take original recipes and make them better. That is exactly what My Persian Kitchen has done with this dish.

It is a pretty easy and simple khoresht to make unless you choose to use fresh artichokes and remove the outer leaves yourself. I chose to use canned artichokes (which are also delicious but obviously not a fresh choice).

Ingredients

1 lb stewing meat

2 12oz bags of frozen artichoke hearts, fresh artichokes or canned artichokes

1 large onion

1 tsp turmeric

4 cups parsley, packed

2 cups mint, packed

2-3 tbsp brewed saffron

3 tbsp lemon juice

oil

salt & pepper

Mint, Parsley, Canned Artichokes, Celery, Onions, Beef Stew Meat, Turmeric powder

Saute the celery with some olive oil. Separately chop the herbs and saute slightly then add to the celery. [if you are using fresh artichokes, cook separately and add to celery]

In a separate pan, saute onions until golden, add meat and saute until no longer pink, add turmeric and water and cook for 30-45 minutes on medium heat

Once meat is cooked add the celery and herbs and the canned artichokes with a teaspoon of diluted saffron and let simmer for another 30 minutes. If you like a bit of citrusy flavor add a spoon of lime juice or several Persian dried lime (limoo amanee) [although limoo amanee must be added earlier in the process to allow the flavors to mix

Enjoy with a side of Basmati.