Fattet al-betenjane (eggplant casserole)
I am surprised that this dish (and its many variations) is not more popular in the US and abroad; I consider it the signature dish of all Middle-Eastern cooking. It apparently goes back centuries to the Abbassid period. Well, never mind, today I am presenting fatteh, in the eggplant...
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Pastato
I saw chef Adèle Hugot cook pasta this way (and call it pastato), I thought “it really is not that much different from what we have been doing with vermicelli and rice in the Lebanese kitchen”. She coats the pasta in olive oil in a wok, then adds the...
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Labneh and herb dip
A fresh dip of labneh, our daily ritual growing up in Beirut. This labneh though is modified: instead of serving it with tomatoes and herbs separately, I am combining them: one scoop with a pita triangle and you will get it all! INGREDIENTS: 12 ounces of full or low-fat...
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Mastic
I was stunned yesterday; I was at the Middle-Eastern store and I was buying a bunch of mastic bags; the young man at the cash register said: ” Excuse me ma’am, but can you tell me what this is for?”. So, I spent a FEW MINUTES explaining what the...
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Rice pudding parcels
This is a recipe inspired by the Far East; I was discussing making muhallabiyeh with some Filippino ladies in Beirut and suggested giving it an Asian twist; two flavors were immediately mentioned: mango and coconut. So this is what I figured I would do: Make a rice pudding with...
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Jumbo french fries (and muhammara)
NOTE: A big thank you and hug to all of you who have reassured me in the previous post: Thanks Khalil, Arthur, Domi, Hegui, Gaininja, Diane, Fiona, and Murasaki for setting me straight! I can now eat the rest of the box of these baby eels. (They do look...
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Silverfish salad (Goi Ca Bac Hang)
I will never eat insects. (Or so I thought). I just had a big bowl of insects, fixed by yours truly! Unwittingly, of course. Do you know what silverfish is? I did not. I simply grabbed a package of frozen silverfish at the Asian store (Vietnamese) thinking ” I...
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Chicken steamed in arak
These days I have zero time to cook; so I am concentrating on dishes that take less than 10 minutes of prep time; this one is borrowed from the Japanese cuisine, where chicken is steamed in sake. Found it on a great site, the japanese food report. I am...
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Toasted semolina pudding with cheese (Mamounieh)
Asma, a Kurdish lady we love and admire, made this one fine morning in Beirut. After one bite, I was enraptured. Mamounieh is a breakfast dish and a specialty from Aleppo. It is semolina, toasted in clarified butter on the stove till its nutty flavor is released, then cooked...
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