Peas and radish greens soup
In my (mountain) home town of Deir el-Qamar, radishes are huge. Apparently, these are winter radishes; in the Summer, they switch back to their normal size. Radish greens are purported to be super nutritious; there are many ways they can be used (I have made pasta with them, salads,...
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Shrimps in pumpkin (Camarao na moranga)
I mentioned before that millions of Lebanese have immigrated to Brazil; this dish is a specialty of Bahia and reminds me of a childhood friend, Fabienne, who went to Brazil on vacation and decided to settle in Bahia instead of coming back. My daughter came back from college one...
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Chestnut/chocolate brownie
It is chestnut season! Street cart vendors are roasting them and in our mountain orchard they are all over the ground (unfortunately the kind we have are not edible!). In Beirut, chocolate shops are now offering a big treat this time of year, marrons glacés (glazed chestnuts). Did you...
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Three cheese quiche
There is a fancy deli in Beirut called Aziz (they’ve been around forever) and they carry all the French cheeses, American chips and salsa, Italian pastas, Thai curries your little heart could desire; I was in a big hurry and got some Comté and some Beaufort (never tried it...
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Green wheat and rice pilaf (Tatbeekah)
One of Lebanon’s prominent chefs, cookbook author and cooking instructor is Marlene Mattar and her latest cookbook features the cuisine of Aleppo in Syria (Maedat Marlene min Halab). This dish caught my eye: It is a pilaf of white rice with roasted green wheat aka freekeh as well as ground...
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Pear cake (Joêl Robuchon)
This cake is from Les Dimanches de Joêl Robuchon which presumably contain a few of the celebrated chef’s favorite recipes. We had a glut of pears this year and to be honest, they were not that great. I’d feel forlorn looking at them day after day, as some would...
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Custard apple (Ashta)
Greengrocer’s stalls are filled with these custard apples, called ashta in Lebanon and grown locally in coastal areas. Best to buy them still firm and let them ripen at home; their flesh will yield to gentle pressure and the fruit is the sweetest and creamiest you have ever tasted....
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Spinach and mozzarella pie (Tiella di spinaci)
I was not aware of the existence of tiellas until I struck up a Facebook friendship with Nicola Tarallo, a native of Gaeta, Italy; apparently tiellas are a specialty of Gaeta, a picturesque fisherman’s town close to Naples. Nicola himself has lived in the US here and there (including a...
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Broccoli and cheese soup
It was exciting to see ambarees, that country-style goat cheese made in the Chouf mountains, at the village grocer. Broccoli is growing now and a nice change from cabbage and more cabbage every single week. This soup is popular and so easy to prepare. Purée it with this great...
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