"Mediterranean food" news and stories

• Go beyond hamantaschen this Purim: Prepare a menu fit for a queen. Queen Esther, that is.
• Wine journalist James Suckling is making quite the name for himself.
• Jasmine Mediterranean in Anaheim "deserves your complete attention."
• Jonesing for mushroom barley soup? Of course you are.

Grilled cheese? Sure, it's American cheese between two slices of buttered Wonder white, "grilled" in a frying pan, right? Not if you're Heidi from 101 Cookbooks, who grilled cheese, literally.

The cheese is called halloumi and originates from the island of Cyprus. Traditionally made from both goat's and sheep's milk, Heidi's find in San Francisco is all sheep's milk. She grilled the slices of cheese, which unlike regular cheeses, can somehow stand up to very high heats, then used the slices as a base for a green bean salad.

Back when I roasted cauliflower with curry, I thought that Indian raita, a minty cucumber yogurt sauce, would have been a nice accompaniment.

Raita is made by wrapping 1 seeded, grated cucumber in cheesecloth and squeezing out all the moisture. In a bowl, whisk together 1c. whole milk yogurt, 1/2 tsp. cumin, a pinch of cayenne. Add the cucumber, as well as 2-3 Tbsp. finely grated carrots, and 1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro or mint.

Raita is very similar to Greek tzatziki which is yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, and a lot of minced garlic. I have to say that even though the raita sounds like it matches better with a roasted curried cauliflower, I'd rather have the garlicky tzatziki.

Stuffed grape leaves are a typical Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food. Depending on which cultural cuisine, they are called by slightly different names: "dolma" in Turkey, "dolmade" in Greece, and "dolme" in Iran. The grape leaves are filled with anything from rice, different types of nuts, and meat, usually lamb.

Though I call my stuffed grape leaves "dolma," and they include rice and pine nuts, they are nowhere near traditional because I leave out typical herbs like mint (I don't love mint), and cook the rice before wrapping in the grape leaves.