Missing a Good Friend

Not often does erasing a contact from my phone/laptop/business card rolex make me pause and reflect. About two months ago I lost one of my great older friends and fellow travelers to a well fought battle with cancer. Unfortunately the cancer won in the end, but not before he made that evil disease fight tooth and nail to win. He was a fighter and will be missed.

I met my friend Alan Rainey on a study abroad trip to Egypt (the first of many trips for myself) and one of our favorite places to eat was this little restaurant in down town Cairo which several other famous food authors and television hosts have visited (cough, Mr Bourdain, cough). This two story building served only one thing, but it was perfection: Kushari (sounds more like Coshari), a rice & lentil & macaroni dish served with a fantastic tomato sauce and topped with fried onions, chili oil, and/or lemon oil. I learned this recipe the last time I was in Old Cairo visiting some friends that I have there.

Kushari

Tools:

2 pots (one for the carbs, the other for the sauce)

1 frying pan

cutting board

knife

heavy serving dish which holds heat in

Ingredients

1 cup of cooked lentils (drained)

1 cup of rice

1/2 lb of macaroni (try to get either elbow or vermicelli for best results)

2 tbsp oil

2 cups of tomato sauce (see recipe after this one)

Condiments:

fried onions

chili oil

lemon oil

salt

Cook the lentils in one of the pots, drain and set aside. Cook both the rice and macaroni, and place both into the heavy serving dish when completed.

In the skillet add the oil to the pan and raise to medium. Chop the onions and fry them in the oil until golden brown (take your time, you don't want to burn them). Place the onions when done on a plate covered in a paper towel to wick off excess oil, and then add the cooked lentils to the oil and fry for 5-7 minutes on medium. Remove from heat and add the lentils to the serving dish.

While this is all cooking, you will need to make the tomato sauce. The longer this sauce cooks on low, the better it becomes.

Kushari Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cups tomato juice (NOT V8, it isn't pure tomato juice)

2 onions, chopped finely

5-7 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp white vinegar

cooking oil

salt and pepper

In the pot, take the chopped onions and saute them in enough oil to coat them until they are translucent (aka, falling apart). Throw the garlic in and fry to a golden brown with the onion. Pour the juice and vinegar into the pot, cover, and cook for at least 20 minutes on low. If you are going to cook it longer, have some extra tomato juice so you can keep the liquid level up. Salt and pepper to taste.

In each bowl add the carbs and top with the sauce and the onions and any of the other condiments and enjoy!

Alan, we will miss you, and thanks for taking the journey before the rest of us.

Bien Camino.