A fun appetizer that can be prepared ahead of time but should be cooked on the spot when guests arrive. The shrimps are seasoned with cumin and wrapped in a ribbon of kadaifi dough (available frozen in the US and Canada at some supermarkets and Middle-Eastern grocers and online through various sources including Amazon).

Heat the oil and fry quickly. Serve with a cocktail sauce spiked with pomegranate molasses.

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 jumbo-size shrimps, cooked and frozen
• 2 cups of kadaifi dough
• 3 tsp of cumin
• salt, pepper
• oil to fry the shrimps
• Cocktail sauce: 1/2 cup lite ketchup, 1 tsp of hot sauce, 1 tbsp of pomegranate molasses

METHOD:

1. Defrost the shrimps in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes. Pat the shrimps dry and sprinkle with cumin. Unroll the kadaifi strands and reserve a ribbon of about 6 inches in length. Wrap around the shrimp and tuck in as tight as possible. Leave all the wrapped shrimps on a paper towel to dry while you heat the oil or cover and place in the fridge for an hour or longer. Place a plate on the shrimp to tighten the kadaifi ribbons.
2. Heat the oil to medium-hot and fry the shrimps for one minute, flipping them halfway to cook both sides evenly. Drain and pat dry and serve with the cocktail sauce.
3. To make the sauce, combine all three ingredients.

The recipe for this dip was graciously given to me by Kameel Abu-Hatoum, a great cook and connoisseur of traditional Lebanese cuisine,  from Baakline (Chouf mountains). He coined it mama dall’ou’ah.

A counter to the now world-famous baba ghanouj.

Explanation: Baba is daddy and ghanouj means cuddly ( or someone who likes to spoil and cuddle their baby or loved one).

Mama is mom and dallou’ah means a mamma  who loves to be pampered, cuddled, spoilt and cherished.

INGREDIENTS: 4 servings

• 2 large beets (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
• 2 large lemons, juiced
• 2 cloves of garlic, mashed in a mortar with a dash of salt
• 1/2 cup of   tahini (or more, to taste)
• 1 tbsp of pomegranate molasses (optional)
• 1/4 cup of pomegranate arils to garnish (optional)

METHOD:

1. Roast the beets in a 350F oven for 45 minutes or until tender. Peel and cut into chunks; mash in a processor with the juice of a lemon, garlic and tahini; taste and adjust seasoning, adding more lemon or tahini or garlic. Garnish and serve at room temperature with pita bread or chips.

When in Beirut or any other Middle-Eastern city, making falafels at home seems superfluous; after all, every neighborhood offers at least one great falafel joint. In Dallas, however, one needs to plan a trip to a Middle-Eastern restaurant or make one’s own from scratch; the made-from-scratch version requires some time.

This is a speedy version of the traditional falafel, presented as a bite-size appetizer with some tarator sauce. I used some leftover pesto instead of fiddling with fresh herbs and it worked out just fine.

INGREDIENTS: 50 bite-size falafels

• 350 g. of chickpeas (from one can)
• 1/4 cup of fine bulgur (can substitute another grain), soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and drained well
• 4 tbsps. of pesto (made with fresh mint, basil, garlic and olive oil)
• 1 large egg (optional)
• Spices: 1 tsp of coriander, 1 tsp of cumin, 1  tsp of Aleppo pepper, 1 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp of black pepper
• chopped garlic, to taste
• 1  onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour (or cornstarch)
• 1/2 cup of dry breadcrumbs (more or less as needed)
• 1 cup of sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup of nigella seeds
• oil as needed for frying

For the sauce:

• 1 cup of tahini
• 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 cloves of garlic, mashed with a dash of salt
• 1/4 tsp of Aleppo pepper or paprika

METHOD:

1. Drain the chickpeas. If desired, one can simmer them for thirty minutes in some water and a dash of baking soda, then drain them and rub off the skins. Place the chickpeas in the bowl of a food processor. Add the rest of ingredients and combine into a paste; taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside covered in the fridge till ready to fry.
2. Heat oil in a large and deep skillet (to about 1/4 inch); shape the falafels into balls using a teaspoon or a cookie dough scooper (1/2 inch); drop the falafels in the hot oil and let them sizzle and brown on all sides. Remove and dip into the sesame seeds and nigella seeds if desired. If you fry them with the seeds, the seeds will drop in the oil (I did that).
3. Make the sauce by stirring all ingredients until smooth; taste and adjust seasoning, adding more lemon juice or water if needed to make it smooth and easy to dip into.

A recipe from Eric Bernardin the cerebral and creative blogger (and Bordeaux wine expert). He got it from another site that got it from chef Bruno Verjus.Well, I was not about to let this pass untested; after all, they are fiddling with the eggplant, the most revered  of our Levantine vegetable!

It is simply roasted eggplant combined with a touch of (really good) dark chocolate and some nut oil. That’s it. Served on a crostini or with some grilled meat or whatever.

The recipe called for baking the eggplant first for an hour then charring it on the grill, which I thought was redundant; I simply grilled it (skin on) the way it is done in the Middle-East, then when it was soft and blackened all over, peeled it and drained it of its bitterness. Next I mixed it with a touch of melted chocolate and a few tablespoons of oil and added a dash of chile pepper.

Result:  It was creamy, smooth, with a little smoky flavor and no detectable taste of cocoa. Great to play mystery ingredient with your guests.

I will be making this again. Bravo Bruno.

INGREDIENTS: 2 or 3 servings as an appetizer

• 1 large eggplant (after grilling, the meat would weigh about 170 g. or 7 oz)
• 10 g. of dark chocolate (at 70% or more) (about .4 oz)(about one tablespoon)
• dash of salt
• 2 or 3 tablespoons of nut oil, such as hazelnut, walnut or just a mild olive oil
• dash of cayenne (optional)

METHOD:

1. Place the eggplant on the grill or roast (whole) in the oven till soft; run the broiler at the end to blacken it. Peel the eggplant and scoop out the meat; transfer to a sieve and let the juices drain for an hour.
2. Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds or less; add to the eggplant along with a dash of salt, cayenne (if desired) and oil. Press through the sieve to remove the seeds and transfer to a serving bowl. Serve with chips or pita or as a side to roasted or grilled meats.

Note: I loved it but my daughter did not.

Normally, this dish is made up of thick slices of eggplant, fried in olive oil and smothered in a garlicky yogurt sauce. This version used extra thin slices (I finally got the hang of the mandoline), fried in olive oil then dried up in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute; the microwave crisps them up and the excess oil is blotted out.

The sauce is simply yogurt, with a touch of garlic paste, a mere teaspoon of pomegranate molasses and a generous tablespoon of tahini.

INGREDIENTS: 6 servings

• 4 eggplants or about 1 1/2 pounds
• Olive oil, as needed
• Salt, as needed
• For the sauce: 1 cup of yogurt
• 1 tablespoon of tahini
• 2 cloves of garlic mashed with 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a mortar till pasty
• 1 teaspoon of pomegranate molasses
• 1/4 cup of fresh pomegranates (optional)

METHOD:

1. Peel the eggplants with a potato peeler; slice in very thin slices and sprinkle with salt. Let the salt drain out the bitter juices for at least 30 minutes. Pat them dry and fry in some olive oil (add only as needed, 1/4 cup at a time), on both sides till browned. Pat dry and microwave for 30 seconds, and maybe another 30 seconds if they are not crisp yet. Doing this step in batches is easier.
2. Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients; serve with the sauce as a dip.

So many varieties of squash are out there for us to enjoy; I like the so-called turban or Turkish turban squash for their interesting shape and colorful orange and green hues.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 pound (or 3 pound) squash
• 1/2 cup of tahini
• 1/2 cup of lemon or orange or citrus juice (fresh)
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• Dash of nutmeg (optional)

METHOD:

1. Make horizontal slits in the squash with a knife and set it in the microwave for 10 minutes at full power or until soft.
2. Cool a bit and cut in half, removing seeds and fibrous parts. Cut the squash in chunks and mash as for mashed potatoes.
3. Pound the garlic with the salt in a mortar till pasty. Pour the tahini in a small bowl and stir the lemon or orange juice into the tahini; it will curdle at first. Add enough water to smooth it out, about 1/4 cup, in order to get a loose sauce. Add the garlic and taste to adjust seasoning.
4. Combine the tahini sauce with the squash. Serve with pita chips or triangles at room temperature.

NOTE: Recipe can be prepared with other types of winter squash, such as pumpkin, kabocha, acorn or  butternut.

Hatch chiles are in season now, and some stores will even roast them and seed them to save us the trouble;  I bought a container and set out to make  hummus.

Pick hot or mild chiles depending on your preference. If you have no access to the hatch chiles (produced in the town of Hatch, New Mexico) then any other green chile pepper would be a fine substitute. You can also use canned peppers.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 15-ounce can of garbanzo beans or chickpeas
• 1/3 cup of tahini
• 1 small lemon, juiced (about 3 to 4 tablespoons or to taste)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 3 hatch chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded (or more, to taste); can substitute canned ones.
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1 bag of pita bread
• Olive oil (optional)

METHOD:

1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and if you wish, you can cook them for about 30 minutes with several cups of water and a dash of baking soda, to soften them. This step is optional.
2. Place the chickpeas, hatch chiles, lemon juice and tahini in the bowl of a food processor. Mash the garlic in a mortar with the salt and when it is pasty add it to the other ingredients. Puree the mixture and taste to adjust seasoning. Pour into a serving platter, garnish with a few beans and chiles if desired and a drizzle of olive oil.
3. Serve with pita triangles or chips.

A simple tart in which the flavor of the tomatoes  really pop. The key is to have a buttery and very crisp crust, which contrasts with the soft texture and intensified flavor of the tomatoes. Rub the crust  with a good mustard prior to baking, drizzle the croustade with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with a touch of thyme or oregano (I used zaatar, not the mix, the actual herb).

My mother used to bake this while we lived in France quite often; it is supposed to be an appetizer but we loved it so much we’d make a meal out of it. She would make a pâte brisée or use a store-bought puff pastry.

Highly recommended: Get a pure butter puff pastry.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pâte brisée or puff pastry (quantity for one pie)
• 3 or more tomatoes, ripe but firm
• 2 Tablespoons of good mustard
• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of thyme or oregano

METHOD:

1. Roll the dough out and make it a free-form tart on a piece of parchment paper or fit into a tart pan (in which case, grease and flour the pan); prick the dough all over with a fork. Slather mustard all over the pie; slice the tomatoes thinly and line them all around letting them overlap in a rosace shape. Drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle a bit of oregano or thyme or zaatar on the pie. Bake in a preheated 375F oven till the crust is golden brown and very crisp. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Pâte brisée: Click here for recipe and instructions.

Kadaifi dough, that crispy crunchy angel-hair dough, is traditionally used in Lebanon for pastries; however, these days it is common for chefs across the globe to use it as a crunchy and original wrap in savory foods; I have seen French chefs wrap cheese with it, fish sticks or shrimps.

Grap a handful from a kadaifi bag, crush it a bit, and use it as you would any other breading.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound of halibut (or other white firm-fleshed fish)
• 2 cups of kadaifi dough
• salt, pepper, 1 teaspoon of cumin, to taste
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 lemon, quartered
• Cocktail sauce: 1/2 tablespoon of harissa, 1 cup of labneh or mayo, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Mix all ingredients and taste and adjust seasoning. Harissa can be substituted for any chili sauce.

METHOD:

1. Grab 2 cups of kadaifi dough; if the dough is too long, chop it into smaller pieces with a knife or in the food processor. Place one cup of flour in a small bowl; whisk one large egg in another small bowl.
2. Cut the fish in cubes and sprinkle with cumin and salt and pepper. Dip in the flour, then the egg then the kadaifi.
3. Heat 3 cups of oil to 375F and drop the cubes in the oil, frying them 4 minutes total. Drain on paper towels and serve with a cocktail sauce and some quartered lemons.