Category Archives: rice and couscous and other grains

Tomato and goat cheese risotto

This is a risotto from chef Giovanni Perrone. I think that the idea that one has to cook a risotto in one swoop or else…is a myth. I have made dozens of risottos in two stages, even cooked the rice halfway and finished cooking it the next day and it still turned out fine. I [...]
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The best meal for an upset stomach

    This is what we were served when we’d complain of an upset stomach growing up in Beirut. Some rice and some plain yogurt. I have used this remedy my whole life and don’t plan on modifying it. (It works). What about you? Care to share what you do? P.S: Guess how many hospitals [...]
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Spring rolls

My first years living in the US as a Lebanese immigrant would get people curious about my origin and the country I was from; I would explain that I was from Asia. This would immediately elicit a puzzled look: “Asia? “Yes”, I would continue, “Lebanon is in Asia”. Finally I stopped saying I was from [...]
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Chicken and wheat porridge (Hreessey)

Hreessey (pronounced hur-ee-ssay) is a traditional porridge-like dish with few ingredients. It is the epitome of comfort food in  Lebanese villages, especially when the weather turns cooler. Its main ingredient? Wheat berries, cooked for a long time till popped and silky-soft in a broth of lamb  and (or) chicken. The berries swell up and drink [...]
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Couscous with chick peas and grape molasses

This couscous  is inspired by a country dish I had read about in Chef Ramzi’s Culinary Heritage of Lebanon in which chick peas are cooked in grape molasses and water for hours till tender. To add some depth of flavor, couscous, caramelized onions, a whole head of garlic and a generous pinch of  zaatar or oregano [...]
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