There are many reasons why I love J which can be categorized in many levels: his kindness, silliness, geekiness 
, dorkiness , and his culinary skills. I must admit that I feel very lucky that he likes Persian food and seems to not mind my neurotic rants about celebrating and not wanting to let go of my Persian traditions and tries to participate. I love love loooove it when he likes the Persian dishes that I introduce him to. He has become a frequent flier at the local Persian store. I won’t even get into the amused (or perhaps judgmental) looks that we get when they see us together, ya know the Persian girl and the white boy couple. Anyway, he has a bunch of favorite stuff that he likes to buy and make. It is very cool and cute!
The other day J made Khoresht Karafs (celery) all by himself. It was simply delicious, even better than I would have made it, honest to God! He got the recipe from our New Food of Life cookbook, however, he changed it a little bit. Here is his way of making the Khoresht:
2 large onions
1 bunch of green onions
1 lb of lamb
1/2 tea spoon of turmeric
1 head of celery
1 bunch of parsley
2 tbls of dried mint
4 whole dried Persian limes
salt & pepper to taste
Slice onions and green onions and sauté in oil until brown. Add lamb, turmeric, 2 cups of water, salt and pepper; cover and cook for about 45 minutes. In a non-stick pan sauté chopped celery for 10 minutes, then add herbs and cook for about 10 minutes longer. Add celery and herb mixture to the meat, add more water if necessary, cover and cook for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Taste the khoresht for seasoning while it cooks.
J was running late and had to leave while cooking. He actually put the khoresht in the oven at 375 degrees. He set our oven’s timer to shut off after one hour. The result was fantastic and DELICIOUS!
