This is a homestyle dish combining  a little pasta and the dairy always  on hand, yogurt! Not the kind of dish likely to figure on the menu of a Lebanese restaurant in Sydney or Washington or Paris, but ours nevertheless and highly ingrained in our culinary habits.

To liven up the yogurt sauce a bit of garlic and (or) cilantro or parsley pesto is added. Garnish is usually fried pine nuts.

Speedy, taking less than 15 minutes to prepare, delicious, healthy, what more can one ask for?

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 ounces of spaghetti (can substitute any other pasta)
• 4 cloves of garlic (more or less depending on taste-I tend to add more), mashed in a mortar with salt
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro, stems discarded and leaves chopped fine (can substitute parsley)
• olive oil, as needed
• 1/4 cup of pine nuts fried in a pat of butter or oil
• 12 to 16  ounces of yogurt (depending on whether you like yours on the dry side or smothered in sauce)

METHOD:

1. To speed things up, mash the garlic with salt, heat some olive oil in a small skillet and fry the garlic and cilantro for thirty seconds, until the fragrance is noticeable. Set aside.
2. Boil the spaghetti till done. Add a bit of olive oil to it to keep it shiny and smooth.
3. Mix the cilantro pesto with the yogurt and add to the spaghetti. Sprinkle with pine nuts. Serve.

Roasted green wheat or freekeh is a wheat berry that has been harvested early and smoked in the fields; it used to be the main cereal for the people of Lebanon, Palestine and Syria before the introduction of rice; it is currently experiencing a revival of sorts amongst the foodie crowd in Lebanon because of its amazing nutritional properties.

I like to go roaming in Asian markets near my house and when I saw this beautiful Kabocha squash, I could not pass it up! It is so sweet, so mellow, so wonderful to eat alone with a pat of butter or with a bowl of freekeh.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Kabocha squash
• 1 cup of roasted green wheat or freekeh (can substitute other whole-grain of your choice)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cups of a cut up peppers (green, red, yellow and orange)
• 1 lemon
• Spices: cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, black or white pepper, paprika, to taste.
• 3 cloves of garlic mashed with a dash of salt (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 3 cups of water or broth

METHOD:

1. Place the squash in a 375F oven for 30 minutes or longer until a knife inserted in its flesh comes out very easily.
2. In the meantime, prepare the freekeh:
3. Rinse the green wheat and let it sit in a bowl of water for a few minutes to dust it off and get rid of any tiny stones or particles.  Pour into a strainer.
4. Heat some olive oil in a big pot and fry the onion and some of the bell peppers for a few minutes; add the freekeh and stir-fry it for a couple of minutes, adding the spices to the mixture.
5. Add three cups of water and the tomato paste, close the lid, let it simmer for 30 minutes or more until the freekeh is thoroughly cooked and soft.
6. When the squash is cool enough, cut it in half lengthwise with a serrated knife. Scoop out the seeds and filaments. Place a pat of butter on the surface and swirl it around to cover the cut surface. Place the freekeh mixture, adjust seasoning, and serve.

NOTES:

• Freekeh is 4 times more nutritious than brown rice.
• You can add the diced peppers raw after cooking the freekeh.
• You can squeeze a lemon quarter on your meal.
• Freekeh needs to be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed before using; place in a bowl and cover with water. Rinse and repeat.

This recipe is based on a classic dish  in Lebanese cuisine called tagen.  Tagen is a fish stew that is composed of fish with  caramelized onions bathing in a tahini and lemon sauce.

I found some frozen artichoke bottoms at the middle-eastern grocer  imported from Egypt. Artichoke bottoms are very popular  in the near-east and are usually covered with minced lamb and pine nuts.

I made  the tagen but used  scallops instead of the traditional seabass (or other mediterranean fish); and whereas the traditional tagen is served in a big platter, I used the artichoke bottoms to hold each individual scallop.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bag of artichoke bottoms or 1 can
• 1 pound of either bay or sea scallops
• 4 ounces of tahini
• 4 ounces of water
• 3 ounces of fresh lemon juice (one large lemon)
• 1 large onion
• a teaspoon or more of turmeric (optional), some black pepper and salt to taste
• olive oil as needed
• chopped parsley as a garnish

METHOD:

1. Cook the artichoke bottoms by boiling them or steaming them; if using canned ones, boil them a few minutes as well. Set aside.

1. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and fry the onion cut in rings until it turns golden-brown. Remove from the skillet with a slotted spoon and place the onion rings evenly all over the artichoke bottoms in an oven-proof plate (like a pie plate for instance).
2. Sprinkle the scallops with turmeric and salt and black pepper. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet for a couple of minutes and when hot drop the scallops and sear on both sides. Remove and set aside.

1. Make the tahini sauce: Juice the lemon; pour the tahini in a bowl, add the lemon and stir; the tahini will curdle then get thick; gradually add the water, stirring constantly until the sauce is smooth and very liquid. Pour the sauce on top of the artichoke bottoms and place in a preheated oven at 375F for about 20 minutes.
2. Place the scallops in the artichoke bottoms the last 5 minutes of baking (or less, depending on how much you cooked them previously).
3. Bake until the sauce has set or looks ready, about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the quantities used. Serve either at room temperature or warm over rice, garnished with chopped parsley.

We used to love these sweet lemons; I still remember the excitement when they would first show up and we’d get a few at home! These look like fat lemons, but have absolutely no acidity whatsoever!

We used to eat them as a snack after school.

I thought they would only be available in Lebanon or Syria and lo and behold, “my” Palestinian grocer is carrying them! I believe  they are produced in California and Arizona.

What does a lemon taste like if it is not acidic? It tastes very  sweet and delicate! Try it and let me know! aka Sweet Limes or Persian Limes.

Commercial kitchens from Milan to Sydney to Singapour to Dallas are serving Panna Cotta these days. I get the impression that most chefs the world over think that Italy is where the mediterranean starts and ends!

I wish they would serve what we call ashtaliyeh. Ashta is the word for cream in Arabic and ashtaliyeh is the pudding derived from it; a bit deceiving, because it does not contain cream!

This is a very creamy pudding, without any cream! It is thickened with cornstarch which avoids the rubberiness that comes from gelatin; it is nearly unsweetened and served with a syrup on the side. Flavorings are traditionally orange blossom and rose water and mastic.

This is a recipe from a Lebanese chef  and restaurant owner in the UK, Hussien Dekmak. It is an extra rich recipe that adds some cream cheese spread such as Kiri to the pudding; optional, since the pudding can just as easily be made with milk alone.

Time to make?  figure on less than 10 minutes; however, it needs to cool and firm up  in the fridge, preferably overnight.

INGREDIENTS :

Ashtaliyeh:

• 1  pint of milk (500ml)
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 3 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 75 g of Kiri (the equivalent of 5 small packages, 1/2 ounce each or 15 g); can substitute any cream cheese spread; OR skip it!
• 3 pebbles of mastic-optional-
• 1 teaspoon of orange blossom water and 1 teaspoon of rose water

For the syrup: (You will most likely have some leftover, which is fine, it will keep for several weeks in the fridge)

• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of water
• a squirt of lemon (about a teaspoon)
• a teaspoon of orange blossom water, a teaspoon of rose water

To garnish the ashtaliyeh:

• A couple of tablespoons of pistachios, ground in a mortar with a pinch of sugar

METHOD:

1. Heat the milk, sugar and cheese (if using) over medium heat, stirring to dissolve both the sugar and cheese. Take the cornstarch and dissolve in 1/4 cup of cold water or milk. As soon as the milk mixture starts steaming, add the cornstarch and keep stirring nonstop for a couple of minutes until the mixture thickens.
2. Add the mastic, the orange blossom and rose water, stir for 30 seconds or so and remove from the stove.
3. Pour the pudding mixture through a strainer into a bowl or measuring cup, pushing it through with a spoon to get it as smooth as possible.
4. Pour into several ramequins. Cool on the counter and then chill in the fridge overnight.

How to use the mastic:

The mastic or miskeh (in Arabic) is sold in middle-eastern groceries; it is imported from Greece. The store where I shop keeps it under lock and in small jars. It comes in tiny pebbles. It needs to be ground up in order to be mixed into the pudding in the last minutes of cooking. My method was to grind it in a tiny marble mortar with a pinch of sugar until powdery and throw the lot into the milk mixture; the problem is that this method leaves a residue of mastic in the mortar.

Another method which was recommended by Peter from kalofagas.ca is to freeze the mastic for a minimum of two hours (I would keep the jar in the freezer); then place the pebbles between two sheets of plastic wrap and pulverize them with a rolling pin. He claims this method uses up every last speck of mastic.

Taro root is a vegetable that is commonly used in Lebanon, especially during Lent. It is cultivated locally and  known as kolkass; I know from my Egyptian friend Phoebe that the Egyptians love it too; in fact, when I stopped by the Palestinian grocer I found bags of Taro root in the freezer imported from Egypt, all cut up with a spice packet included for a paltry $1.40.

According to Wikipedia, it is one of the oldest vegetable known to man; judging by its gnarled and downright repulsive aspect, I have no problem believing that cave-man AKA Fred Flintstone, used to eat it for a snack. Don’t let appearances fool you, however; this is a “good for you” veggie, recommended by all the higher authorities on health. It is sold everywhere, I found it at Target, Asian and Latino markets, mid-eastern grocers, even plain old American supermarkets and health food stores.

Taro is prepared in several ways in Lebanon; its texture is similar to potatoes,  but it has a very pleasant and distinct flavor: so, as I was saying, it is cooked with lentils, or lamb shanks or even with a tahini and Seville orange sauce. You can substitute it with turnips, rutabagas, or  potatoes.

Today, I decided to be lazy all the way, using what is in the kitchen already. I am making a stew with taro, spinach, cilantro pesto and serving it over rice. I made the cilantro pesto fresh, but if you have some stashed away in the freezer, now is the time to dump it into the stew.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bag of frozen cut up Taro root (or one pound of fresh taro, peeled, cut in cubes and dipped in a bowl of water with a squirt of lemon)
• 1 small bag of chopped frozen spinach (about 10 ounces); substitute any greens like swiss chard.
• 1  large onion, chopped
• 1 can of chick peas, rinsed thoroughly.
• 1 rib of celery.
• 1/4 cup (or more) of cilantro pesto (recipe follows)
• 1 small cube of vegetable bouillon diluted in 6 cups of water (optional)
• quartered lemons to squeeze over the stew (optional)

If using fresh taro root, I would recommend using gloves and after peeling it, you should dump it into a bowl filled with water and a squirt of a lemon.

For the vermicelli rice: Optional you can eat it as is! (no rice)

This is the traditional side dish with a stew in Lebanon; you can forego the rice and use bread or any other grain of your choice.

• 1 1/2 cups of Basmati rice
• 1 cup of cut Vermicelli noodles AKA fideos
• 2 tablespoons of oil or butter, a dash of salt

Instructions on making rice: Please refer to the post on lamb shanks with peas & carrots.

METHOD:  Make the cilantro pesto:

1. Grab a bunch of cilantro, wash and dry it and chop off the stems. Chop the cilantro as fine as possible and set aside.
2. Mash the garlic with a dash of salt.
3. Heat some olive oil, add the cilantro and garlic and fry the mixture for one minute or so. Set aside.

Make the taro stew:

1. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil and add the chopped onions. Cover the pan for 5 minutes until the onions are translucent and then uncover the pan and let the onions get some golden color.
2. Add the taro to the pan (frozen or fresh), stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add 6 cups of water (to which a cube of veggie bouillon has been added),the rib of celery,  cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add the spinach, the chick peas, the cilantro pesto and uncover the pan to simmer 10 minutes more until the water has evaporated and the stew has gotten more compact.
4. Season to taste, serve as is or with rice or bread.

Some women like to buy new shoes or earrings; I like to buy cool-looking veggies. I thought these purple and yellow cauliflower would make Dali proud.

In any case, cauliflower in Lebanese cuisine are blanched then fried then served with a tarator sauce. I did not fry them, merely roasted them with a bit of olive oil; the tarator sauce is a dressing made with tahini and fresh lemon juice and spiked with a little mashed garlic.

INGREDIENTS:

1 head of purple cauliflower, 1 head of yellow cauliflower

For the tarator sauce:

• 3 cloves of garlic, mashed with a dash of salt
• juice of a large lemon
• 1/2 cup of tahini
• 1/2 cup of water (or to taste)

METHOD:

First step:

1. Boil or steam the cauliflower, cut into florets, for about 5 minutes until it is tender when pierced with a fork.
2. Drain the cauliflower. Place on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Pour about 1/4 cup of olive oil in a small bowl and brush the olive oil on the florets before roasting them. Roast in a 350f oven for 15 minutes or until they start to show brown specks. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Second Step:

1. Making the tarator sauce: Since this is a dressing, you will rely on your taste for the dosage; I like mine garlicky and lemony, so I will tend to add more lemon and garlic. Your call!
2. Mash the garlic with a dash  of salt; add the juice of a lemon; add the tahini, mixing all along. Add about 1/2 cup of water, keep stirring; the sauce should be smooth and free of lumps; now taste it. If you like it, great, if not, adjust to your taste, adding more of one or the other.

For a nice presentation, you can place all the cauliflower florets in a bowl, flower side facing the curvature of the bowl and let them sit tight for a while; invert onto a serving dish. Serve the tarator on the side or dripping over the cauliflower. This dish is also served as part of a mezze or appetizer.

A Lebanese designer once again at the Oscar night, with Anna Kendrick wearing an Elie Saab couture dress.

One of the most popular dishes in the near-east is  makloubet al-batenjan: It is a casserole of rice and lamb chunks encased in eggplant slices. To die for. I made a lighter dish and it is meatless. No less delicious it was gobbled up in no time. Eggplant, coarse bulgur, tomatoes, onions and chick peas.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 or 2 large eggplants
• olive oil as needed
• 2 large onions
• 4 garlic cloves
• salt, pepper, dash of cinnamon, dash of allspice
• 1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1 can of chick peas, rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups of coarse bulgur (#4)
• 1 cube of vegetable bouillon (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste or red pepper paste (optional)

METHOD:

First Step:

1. Peel the eggplant and slice; sprinkle with salt and let them sit for 30 minutes.
2. Pat dry and fry them in hot oil till limp. Dry with paper towels and set aside till needed. Season a bit.

Second Step:

1. Soak the bulgur in water for 30 minutes while you make the tomato sauce.
2. Chop the onions, dice the tomatoes and heat some olive oil. Fry the onions in the oil till golden, add the tomatoes, season and cover the pan for about 30 minutes.
3. Mash the garlic and add to the tomato sauce. Stir a bit. Add the bulgur and the chick peas, stir, add some water (about 2  to 3 cups) and the paste if using  and close the lid; bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Uncover the pot and check seasoning and if the bulgur is all cooked. If not, cover and cook a few minutes more, adding more water if needed.

Third Step:

1. Line a bowl with plastic wrap. Line the bowl with all the eggplant slices, overlapping them if needed.
2. Fill the bowl with the bulgur mixture. Cover with plastic wrap. when ready to serve, you can either reheat a bit in the microwave or serve at room temperature. Yogurt would be nice with it.
3. Flip the bowl onto a serving platter. Enjoy! Sahteyn!

I was thrilled to find this recipe on Maryline’s blog En Direct d’Athènes. It is listed as a Lent-friendly chocolate cake; it does not contain eggs. It is made with tahini, not butter. Maryline claimed that it was délicieux, so I thought “I will find out for myself!”

Not only is this brownie delicious, but it is also easier to make than pancakes! no need for a mixer, all one needs is a bowl, a wooden spoon and a sifter. I halved the recipe (hers yielded two cakes) and I will only recommend that you line your cake pan with parchment or wax paper.

That brownie is moist in the middle, crispy at the top and will leave you the (intoxicating) aftertaste of halvah in your palate. What more can one ask for?

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Bar of cooking chocolate, such as 60 or 70% bittersweet, 100 g
• 150 g of tahini (don’t forget to stir the jar before pouring)
• 150 g of all-purpose flour
• 1 heaping teaspoon of Baking Powder
• 150 g of powdered sugar
• 150 g of orange juice, freshly squeezed preferably OR a combination of rum and orange juice

METHOD:

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave following directions on the package; it took 1 minute, 15 seconds to melt the bar. You can also melt it in a double-boiler if you prefer.
2. Mix the tahini, orange juice and rum or other liqueur in a large bowl. Add the melted chocolate and the powdered sugar. Mix well.
3. Add the flour and baking powder through a sifter into the mixture. Mix well.
4. Grease an 8 inch baking pan and line with parchment. Pour the batter and spread it as evenly as possible. Heat the oven to 350F and bake the brownies 15 to 20 minutes. Serve.

/www.wikeez.com/en/music/watch-yara-lapidus-video-le-cedre-6213. This is a short clip shot in Lebanon by Yara Lapidus, wife of designer Olivier Lapidus (whose father Ted dressed the Beatles). Yara is a Lebanese-born  musician and this is a song (in French) from her new album.

In the Near East, everybody is crazy about fava beans; it’s my mother’s favorite dish. In our family, fava beans were made in a yogurt-based stew with lamb shanks.  I grabbed a bag of frozen fava beans from the Palestinian grocer; these  are imported from Egypt ( fava beans are a staple food in Egypt).

In Lebanese cuisine, you have three  major types of sauces: yogurt-based sauces,  tomato-based sauces and tahini-based sauces. This stew is yogurt-based and meatless today.

The yogurt is cooked and stabilized with the help of cornstarch and sometimes eggs. Then, a pesto is added to give the yogurt flavor, usually cilantro pesto. Lastly, you  add whatever vegetable or meat that strikes your fancy. Serve  with  rice.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups of Basmati rice, soaked in fresh water 2 hours
• 3 tablespoons of butter or oil
• 2 teaspoons of turmeric and a squirt of ketchup OR a pinch of saffron
• 1 bag of frozen fava beans
• 1 32-oz container of yogurt
• 3 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch
• 1 egg (optional) or 1 egg white, beaten lightly
• Cilantro pesto: 1 heaping tablespoon of chopped cilantro and 1 heaping tablespoon of mashed garlic
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• olive oil as needed
• salt, pepper as needed

METHOD:

A. Make the cilantro pesto:

1. Chop the cilantro leaves as fine as possible. Mash the garlic cloves, cut up, with a little salt.
2. Heat some olive oil in a skillet, add the chopped onion and fry till golden, add the mashed garlic and the chopped cilantro. Stir gently for one or two minutes and remove from the heat.

B. Cook the fava beans:

1. Follow package directions; usually it calls for boiling salted water and dumping the fava beans in the boiling water for 7 minutes. Drain almost completely, reserving one scant cup of cooking water  and mix the fava beans with the cilantro pesto.

C. Cook the yogurt:

1. Dump the yogurt in a heavy-bottomed pot. Mix the cornstarch with the cooking fava bean water till smooth. Heat the yogurt over medium-low heat, start stirring in the same direction,  and add the cornstarch mixture (and beaten egg if using); when the yogurt starts steaming, keep stirring  for one  minute and remove from the heat.
2. Add the fava beans and pesto mixture. Serve with rice or bread if desired.

D. Cook the rice:

1. Drain the rice of its soaking water and place it in a pot; cover with fresh water, at least 2 inches above the surface of the rice.
2. Bring to a boil and boil the rice 7 minutes; taste and if it is cooked but still firm it is ready.
3. Drain the rice and rinse with fresh tap water.
4. In the same pot, melt a few tablespoons of butter (or oil) add some turmeric and ketchup (or saffron), 1/2 cup of water and place the rice. Cover the pot, keep the heat on medium for 10 minutes then lower the heat and steam for 30 minutes.
5. Uncover the pot, taste the rice, add some salt and more butter if needed, fluff it and serve.