Shredded wheat and pistachio cookies (taaj al-malek)

HAPPY NOWRUZ!!!

I decided it was high time I made these myself, instead of waiting to be in Beirut to enjoy them at a pastry shop or buying them at the middle-eastern grocer in a box,  wondering how many months they had been sitting in that box. These pastries are called king’s crown or taaj al-malek. I made them extra small  because I am wanting to only indulge a tiny bit.

The pastries are easy to make and can be made over several steps:

A. Prepare the crown  of  shredded wheat.

B. Prepare the clarified butter or use oil or both.

C. Prepare the syrup.

D. Assemble.

Time frame: If you divide it in steps, it will take 15 to 30 minutes for each step.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 box of frozen kataifi dough (this is the shredded wheat and this can be found in middle-eastern stores and some upscale American supermarkets that carry exotic foods). Use half the quantity and make another recipe with the rest.
  • 1 cup of clarified butter or a mixture of butter and canola or other vegetable oil or oil.
  • 1 pound of pistachios already shelled (for this it is best to try a middle-eastern store, as they will carry the nuts shelled in a sealed bag)
  • 1 cup of syrup made with 2 cups of sugar, a squeeze of lemon juice, orange blossom water and rose water.

METHOD:

A. PREPARE THE CROWN OF SHREDDED WHEAT:

  1. Take the kadaifi dough out of the wrapper and untangle it a bit. Place small mounds of it in mini-muffin cups or regular muffin cups. Repeat the operation in another pan until you have used the quantity you desire. Now place each pan on top of the other and place a heavy pan on top in order to keep the pans tightly sealed. Place the pans in a cupboard or turned off oven for one day or two, in order to dry out the shells as much as possible.

B. PREPARE THE CLARIFIED BUTTER:

  1. The day before (if you like to prepare things in advance) melt 4 sticks of butter slowly on the stove. When the butter is melted, collect the clear liquid in a measuring bowl and let the milky residue stay in the pot. Can be used right away or a few days or a month later. You can also use half the quantity of butter and mix half with some canola oil (or other oil, just not olive oil!)

C. PREPARE THE SYRUP:

  1. The syrup can be prepared up to two weeks or longer ahead. Simply place 2 cups of sugar and one cup of water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring it to a boil and then add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice ( about 1/2 tablespoon); when it has simmered for about 10 minutes and started to thicken slightly, add the orange blossom and rose water, about one teaspoon of each. At this point the syrup should be thick but not too thick.

ASSEMBLY:

  1. After drying out for a day or more the pastries are now ready to be baked; first, make sure the clarified butter or oil is liquid and warm and douse each pastry with it generously; place in a preheated 375F oven for about 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden throughout. Remove from the oven and cool.
  2. Place the pastries on paper towels to blot out the excess oil or butter.
  3. Heat the syrup and bring to a simmer; add the pistachios and cook for a few minutes, making sure you don’t get the syrup to change color or it will cook too much. Remove from the heat and with a spoon, dole out some syrupy pistachios on each  cookie. Cool the cookies and serve.

NOTE: you can replace the pistachios with some other nuts. The syrup should be thick enough that it will hold the nuts together but not so think that it will harden. Cooking time for the syrup  should not exceed 12 minutes or so. If you cooked the syrup too long, and it is too hard, add some water and simmer a bit to make it lighter.

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Smoked salmon with dilled labneh on pita chips

An  elegant appetizer or part of a brunch. I used homemade labneh, because it is a creamy cheese that is healthy (made from yogurt) and easy to make;  just allow  time for the yogurt to drain; dill is a must with salmon and pita chips can be toasted  and require no special effort either.

Make the labneh the day before or even several days before; assembly of this dish takes less than 15  minutes.

To make labneh: Place a strainer over a bowl. Place a coffee filter or paper towel over the strainer. Dump all the yogurt on the strainer lined with the paper towel; let it drain for 24 hours, covered loosely with plastic  or a towel  in a cool place or fridge.

The next day, flip the ball of cheese onto a bowl and season to taste with salt.

INGREDIENTS:  4 servings

  • 8 ounces of wild Alaskan or Norwegian smoked salmon, sliced thin.
  • 1 pound of yogurt
  • 2  tablespoon of chopped fresh dill (or more, to taste)
  • 4 pitas, cut in triangles and toasted
  • lemon quarters, to squeeze on salmon

METHOD:

  1. Using kitchen scissors, cut the pita bread in triangles. Toast for 15 minutes in a 325F oven until golden-brown. Cool
  2. Mix the dill with the labneh, adding a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice if necessary, salt to taste.
  3. Assemble the salmon into a rosette, one slice at a time, by coiling each slice and holding it vertically on the platter. Place the next slice next to it and repeat the operation until a rosette is formed;sprinkle with drops of lemon juice and dill.
  4. Spread the labneh on the pita triangles, leaving the corners bare. Serve on a large platter, as soon as possible.

NOTE: Labneh can be bought ready-made at any middle-eastern store.

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Mushroom soup

First of all, I did not plan on writing a post on mushroom soup; I simply wanted to use a box of mushrooms that my daughter had bought and thrown in the fridge. So while I was doing ten other things, I cooked the mushrooms and made a soup and quite by accident this soup ended up being one of the best and easiest soups I have ever made!

I am not a Williams-Sonoma shopper; I just happened to be there one day and saw this and grabbed it; I am so glad I did! It is wonderful! Add it to your soup or stews and save yourself hours of cooking veal bones and straining stock and messing with the whole operation!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 box of brown mushrooms (8 ounces)
  • 1 large onion
  • olive oil or clarified butter, as needed
  • 1/4 cup of veal stock concentrate (or beef stock)
  • 4 squares of Kiri cheese spread or any cream cheese spread of your choice OR a cup of whipping cream
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch
  • lots of fresh ground black pepper, salt to taste
  • 1 generous cup of white wine (I used Riesling)
  • 2 cups of pita bread fried croutons (optional, but nice!)

METHOD:

  1. Heat some clarified butter or olive oil; fry the sliced onions and  mushrooms till golden. Put in a large pot, add 5 cups of water, the veal stock concentrate and some salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or longer till the stock is fragrant with the mushroom flavor.
  2. Add the wine to the soup and let is simmer for 15 minutes. Add the cream or Kiri cheese and let it melt slowly and simmer a bit longer.
  3. Mix the cornstarch with the milk, add to the simmering soup and stir for a minute or so until the soup thickens a bit.
  4. If you wish, use an immersion blender to cream the soup.
  5. Taste and serve with fried pita bread croutons.

NOTE: Fried pita croutons will keep for days in a tight plastic container. Use on salads, soups and fatteh.

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