Fish fillet in orange sauce
Don’t they say that the best things happen by accident? Well this was a last-minute inspiration, thrown together with available ingredients, and turned-out fabulous! I could not wait to make it again and again. The combination of fresh orange juice and kammouneh (that Southern Lebanese spice mix based on cumin)...
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Lentil Tabbouleh (Tabboolet adass)
Enjoy this tabbouleh salad while relaxing on your Fourth of July weekend. This one has the advantage of lentils as one of the components, making it filling as well (if you add a lot of lentils as I did). Today in Lebanon, it is National Tabbouleh Day. INGREDIENTS: 1...
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Citrus muffins (Nammoura)
This is one of the most popular Ramadan pastries. I was always critical of the ones sold in stores as being too cloyingly sweet and too dense. Instead, I devised some nammoura bars and a batch of nammoura muffins. The nammouras are still sweet, but with a soft tender texture...
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Green Walnut Preserves
I noticed a bunch of walnut trees bearing these green fruits in our mountain town of Deir el-Qamar. I picked a few as I was walking and almost immediately a lady walking behind me asked if I was going to cook them. We ended-up striking a conversation (found out she was...
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Carob juice
The Holy Month of Ramadan is just around the corner. Normally during that time, stores in Beirut ( Middle-Eastern ones in the US and Canada) fill-up with traditional juices, such as tamarind, jellab, amardeen (apricot), all known to be hearty and nutritious. There were a couple of carob trees in...
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Potato kibbeh (vegan)
For those of us who are squeamish about eating animal meat (and I am one of them), here is an alternative to the last post made with cooked potatoes, bulgur and herbs. To be perfectly honest, the dish could easily be served with some grilled sausage or kebabs. INGREDIENTS:...
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Kibbeh Tartare, Lebanese-style (Frakeh)
I can pinpoint the exact time when I first heard of frakeh. I was having dinner in Beirut with my childhood friend Youssef, telling him about my plans to write a Lebanese cookbook; he asked me if frakeh was going to be included. I was puzzled. What? frakeh (fra-keh)? “Yes”...
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Dubai
I have just spent a couple of days in Dubai (my first time there) and thought I’d post some pictures and impressions on this vibrant city. When I saw one of the malls with an aquarium housing hundreds of fishes, SHARKS, huge stingrays, all seemingly in harmony (I...
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Fat-free coffee cake
I created this cake based on my tried and true biscotti recipe. Only eggs, sugar and flour (and a bit of liquid ). In fact, this fat-free cake can easily be converted into biscottis, by slicing it thin and re-baking the individual slices in a slow oven till dry. It is a...
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