Le Creuset, Tava, and Arm and Hammer

As you know, Marash Girl swears by her Le Creuset pots . . . ever since Marash Martha called her attention to them (Marash Martha has since moved on, but Marash Girl is still swearing by her Le Creuset pots!)

So there she is, down at her daughter's house, making one of her daughter's favorite meals with all the fresh vegetables that have just arrived from her CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm share. . . .  Let's see -- what to make with fresh onions, eggplant, peppers, zucchini (green and yellow), green beans, juicy ripe red tomatoes, onions, garlic (yes, freshly dug-up garlic) . . . Can any of you guess?  Well, if you've been reading Marash Girl for years, or if you know Marash Girl, you may know the answer!  Tava!

And so Marash Girl fried up some peeled and chopped onions in olive oil while she (with the help of Enila and Iffar) washed and chopped the other vegetables.  

After rinsing the string beans in cool water,  Enila removes the tips, while Iffar breaks the beans in half.

With the fried onion and garlic mixture in the bottom of the largest le creuset pot available, Marash Girl added all of the vegetables, (including those beautiful beans) and very slowly brought the mixture to a simmer, allowing the lava to simmer for one hour.  At the end of the hour, Marash Girl gently stirred the vegetables while adding ground  Marash Red Pepper, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  The tava (a favorite meal often prepared by Marash Boy's mother who was born in Marash and Marash Girl's mother whose family was from Aintab) is always better the next day, but Marash Girl had prepared it in the morning and would serve it that evening.  She had made enough so that her daughter would have plenty stashed away in the freezer to take to work for lunch.

That evening, however, after serving the tava and emptying the pot, there in the center at the bottom of the leCreuset was a big black circle of burned vegetables.  Had Marash Girl destroyed her daughter's biggest and most expensive le Creuset pot?  Yikes.

But her daughter was clever.  Took one look at the burned heap at the bottom of the pot, added a dollop of baking soda and a good amount of water, and simmered the mixture for an hour, leaving it to sit over night.  Next morning, the pot was like new.  Thank you, Arm and Hammer, thank you, Le Creuset, Thank you,  daughter, for remembering what Marash Girl taught you all those many years ago!