baghali polo - favas, dill & rice

I had dill to use up and plentiful favas and came upon baghali polo recipe.  Seems there are many ways to make it.

Here's what I did, which was ok.  It would definitely be better with basmati rice; I used short-grain brown because that's what I had on hand.  I'm sure it's much better when made by someone Persian. 

https://www.themediterraneandish.com/baghali-polo-persian-dill-rice-with-fava-beans/ 

 https://food52.com/recipes/41908-rice-with-favas-and-dill-baghali-polo

https://www.aheadofthyme.com/baghali-polo-persian-dill-rice-with-fava-beans/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdT4KdsVnpk 

• 1.5 cup rice 
• 2 cups favas shelled and peeled as necessary 
• dill bunches (add dry as necessary), chopped 
• salt
• oil
• butter
• saffron  

Parboil the rice.  I did 15 minutes and probably should have done 30. 

Saute the favas and dill with oil and butter.  

Put a pinch of saffron in 1 cup hot water with more butter if desired. 

Layer 1/3 of rice on bottom, half favas & dill, alternate for rice on top.  Put three holes into the rice with handle of spoon, pour saffron water in and turn on heat.

Once steaming, turn down very low, put towel under lid, and cook about 50 minutes.   

tahini cake with chocolate

 This cake was quite good.  I adjusted it a lot and it still turned out good.  It rose a lot which surprised me.  I went short on oil because it was the end of the bottle, and a bit more tahini to finish that jar.  I used one large duck egg instead of the egg + yolk, and I used whole wheat flour and dark chocolate.  Next time I would skip the topping and just mix everything in.  Most of it got frozen; not sure it will stay good for long because I cut the sugar so much.  

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons oil 
• ⅔ cup/170 grams tahini, well-stirred
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• ¾ cup/177 milliliters whole milk
• ¾ cup/150 grams plus 2 tablespoons sugar (I reduced to 1/4 cup + 1 T; no need for sugar on top)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups/192 grams all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup/115 grams coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate
• ¼ cup sesame seeds, toasted (recipe called for some to be on top but it made it messy) 

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 350. Line 9-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. 
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and tahini. Add the egg, egg yolk and milk and whisk until completely smooth. Whisk in sugar and the vanilla. 
3. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and fold in with a rubber spatula. Fold in chocolate and sesame seeds. 
4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake until the cake is puffed and set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean with a few moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in the pan, then lift the cake out of the pan using the parchment overhang and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 
5. To serve, cut the cooled cake into 16 pieces. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw uncovered at room temperature before serving.