Viva la Revolution!

What is really going on in the Middle East? Waves of protestors throng in the streets of Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt demanding a new government. Tunisia has fallen to revolution and protests for better living standards have filled the streets across the Arab world all the way to Yemen. The government of Lebanon has changed hands.  Jordon and Yemen has voted to increase the pay of civil servants and cut the price of commodities. Kuwait is throwing money at its citizens at the tune of $3500 each month and free food to buy off any unrest.

The ruling elite and their socialist monarchies are crumbling like sand castles as wave after wave of disinterested citizens spit on the seeds of doubt cast down on them by this hastily assembled gang of political pundits hired as its front line. Facebook and Twitter, google, web news, smart phones, laptops… it’s all too much for the old blood stuck in the rigidity of their posturing. Sides are taken, lines are drawn in the sand and history will be the judge as to on which side you stand. The whole world watches frightened of a reduction in the flow of oil from the region and the price of gasoline skyrocketing.

As Mubarak’s government thugs pelt demonstrators with Molotov cocktails from behind protective cover and both sides clash at the perimeter of this battleground, a thriving marketplace has begun to emerge. Free thinking human beings intent on their purpose and nailed to their principals are hunkering down for the long haul and the supplies lines are developing to support this. Food is coming in and so is the money to buy it.

Ungoverned people always find a way through free market principals where values of quality rise to the surface while cheaters and thugs are quickly identified and disabled with their lies of law and order exposed to the light of everyday interaction. Any organized violence is quickly dissolved under the watchful eye of community vigilance. The only kind of such organized violence too powerful for community resistance could only be government sponsored violence which could not exist if constitutionally prohibited as illegal initiatory force.

So, as we zoom into Tahrir Square with our imaginary remote controlled webcam-copter we can view people making music in drum circles, bartering with commercial goods brought in from stores, fast food, Egyptian flags… and traditional Egyptian fare like falafel, baklava, dates, figs, hummus, tabouli, kebabs can be found as vendors run it in fresh and hot. It is by no means, a feast or festival as there is still much opposition to the free flow of supplies by government police forces.

A typical finger food found in marketplaces in Egypt is the Kofta. This is a spiced ground beef that is molded around a skewer and then grilled in an open fire. It’s tasty, high protein and people buy it to eat it on the run. In this post I’ll replicate that idea by rendering it vegan. This recipe has all the great flavor and ethnic ambiance as the goat (or whatever) it is intended to resemble. So grill up some of these bad boys(recipe below) up and sit down to Aljazeera English Live, with a side of Tabouli (recipe below) and your downloaded and printed Egyptian flag (use photo included), which you have affixed to an extra kofta skewer,  and you’ll feel like you’re right here in Tahrir Square raising your fist of change with the great Egyptian people.

Vegan Kofta

6 oz             Gimme Lean Vegan Ground Beef (or Sausage)

2 Tbsp          Parsley, minced

2 Tbsp          onion, minced

1 tsp            black pepper

¼ tsp           sea salt

2 Tbsp          extra virgin olive oil ( with extra for basting)

Tabouli

2 cups         parsley leaves, washed

3 Tbsp         red onion, minced

¼ cup          cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

¼ cup          tomato, diced

½ cup          bulgar wheat, cooked

Juice            half a lemon or more to taste

¼ cup          extra virgin olive oil

To Taste       sea salt

Equipment

You will need a couple of wooden skewers, mixing bowls, a chef’s knife, food processor, rubber spatula, cutting board, grill or grill pan and a basting brush.

Kofta

Instructions

If you are using a grill pan then cut the skewers to fit the pan. Next, take the skewers and put them in a tall glass with warm water or lay them flat in a tray and pour warm water over them. Let them soak for several minutes while you are preparing the rest of this recipe.

Make the sausage first. Take half a package of Gimme Lean vegan sausage meat or ground beef (about 6 ounces) and put it in a mixing bowl. Wash the parsley well, you will need about two small bunches or one large for this recipe. Pull off the leaves from each stem, or if you don’t want to spend the time, use your chef’s knife to slice off the leafy portion of the stalk. Discard the stalk.

Take half a small onion and mince it on the cutting board. Now take a handful of the parsley and mince it together with the onion. The effect will be that the onion is minced finer and the parsley minced easier. Next, take minced combination and put it in the mixing bowl with the Gimme Lean. Add the salt, pepper and olive oil and mash this all together well. This is our Kofta mix.

Divide the kofta into four equal parts. Take one part in your hand and mold it over a skewer. Stretch and mold it until it is about an inch thick and six inches long on the skewer. Preheat the grill pan or char grill. Oil the grill surface and baste the kofta with the extra olive oil. Allow the kofta to make contact with the hot surface for several minutes before turning it to another position. Baste occasionally while grilling.

Koftas will be finished in 10-15 minutes. Serve hot with tabouli.

Tabouli

Instructions

Take half a cup of uncooked bulgar wheat and put it in a pot with a cup of water. Bring this to a boil and turn it off. Let it stand, covered for ten minutes or more.

Take the parsley that is washed and in the other mixing bowl and put this in the food processor with half the olive oil. Pulse this until well minced. Put this back in the bowl.

Mince up the vegetables and add them to the parsley in the mixing bowl. Add in half a cup of bulgar wheat (or more if you like it because you will have extra) then the rest of the olive oil, juice of lemon and salt to taste. Mix well and chill before serving.

 

                                                       Bon Appetite    (heiroglyphs below)