This afternoon was earmarked for some shopping in Beirut‘s new and glistening souks, a mall reminiscent of the most upscale ones  in the US. Unfortunately, as soon as we got to the garage, a  surprise was in store for us: a vehicle was parked in front of the  garage door, blocking our car. A derelict-looking thing too, not one of those resplendent BMWs, the #1 preferred car here, the car that says “ I am the King of the Road“.

No, this was a car that could have used a few months of tender loving care  at a body shop and upholsterer.

We looked around, hoping to spot the impudent driver. No one in sight, not even on a balcony. What to do? Go home and hope that in a few hours it will be gone? Alice (daugther) suggested getting in our car and honking nonstop to alert the neighborhood. I said:” Try it if you want, but  we are in Beirut here, nobody pays any attention to honking!

Fifty  feet away, I saw a man loitering about; I called him ” are you the driver of this car?”;  ”no, lady” he yelled back; he moved closer and leaned over the windshield, scrutinizing it ” Look, a phone number!”.

Sure enough, on the driver’s side of the dashboard, I saw a phone  number scribbled on a wrinkled tiny piece of paper in pencil. The man said to me ” See, all you have to do is call that  number  on your cell phone”.

He read the numbers out loud to me with  an Egyptian accent. ” Pfft! “, I thought, ” this guy seems to think it is that easy!”

A minute later, I heard a voice on the other end,  apologizing : ” I will be there in a jiffy, lady, I am in the Sabbagh  building across the street, just give me a minute!”.

Living in Beirut can be maddening, charming, exciting, dangerous, fun and  all of these combined.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of risotto rice
• 1 small onion
• olive oil, as needed
• 1 large heirloom tomato
• a cup of porcini mushrooms, either fresh or dried (if dried, soak in hot water for 30 minutes)
• a few shakes of pink peppercorns and salt to taste
• one jiggle of white wine (optional)
• 1/2 cup of whipping cream
• 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste (optional)
• a handful of pine nuts, sauteed in butter till brown or toasted

METHOD:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot; add the chopped onion. Stir until the onion is translucent (cover the pot to speed up the process).
2. Add the rice and stir for 3 minutes till the rice takes on the color of mother-of-pearl.
3. Add the white wine and let it simmer till it almost evaporates.
4. Add the tomato and the mushrooms and stir. At this point, add a couple  ladles  of water  (about 2 cups) and let it simmer, stirring from time to time.
5. Add some salt, pepper and some cream, let it simmer and meld into the rice.
6. Add the parmesan cheese last, stir and serve the risotto when it is cooked but still firm to the bite and all the rice, when stirred, moves in the same direction. Sprinkle with pine nuts.

Honestly, I don’t get the urge to make pasta from scratch very often; but when the desire wells up, it is irrepressible! Must be my departed  great-nonna, Celeste, a native of Trieste, who is scolding me and I want to please her. Well. I hope she is pleased: this is yummy and very filling.

Swiss chard raviolis:

• 1/2 cup of steamed or boiled swiss chard (remove stalks and keep leaves), chopped
• 2 Large eggs
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Filling:

• 1 Kabocha squash (can replace with butternut or pumpkin)
• 8 ounces of parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs
• salt, pepper, nutmeg
• 1 onion, chopped fine

Sauce:

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 handful of hazelnuts, toasted
• 1  handful of fresh sage leaves
• salt, pepper

METHOD: Make the pasta:

1. Squeeze the swiss chard well, to remove as much water as possible.
2. Place the swiss chard in a food processor with the two eggs; process until the chard is chopped very fine and the mixture is well mixed, about 2 minutes.
3. Add the flour and salt; process for a minute or so, add the oil and keep processing until the mixture forms a ball. Remove and place on a floured cutting board or work surface. Knead briefly, place in a small bowl, cover with plastic and let it rest for 30 minutes or in the fridge overnight.

Make the raviolis:

1. Place the kabocha squash in the oven at 350F for about 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the squash can go in easily. Remove from the oven, cut open and remove the seeds; scrape the flesh and place in a bowl. Fry the onion in a little oil till soft. Add to the squash and season it. Add the parmesan, the eggs and mix well. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

1. Flour a work surface and roll the pasta out; it can be rolled out with a rolling pin or a pasta machine; it needs to be thin and then cut in rectangular shapes; place 1/2 tablespoon of filling placing them one inch apart and cover with more pasta to enclose; press all corners well and cut with a pizza cutter or a ravioli cutter. Place on a piece of foil until ready to boil.

1. Boil some salted water with a teaspoon of oil, drop the raviolis in it and boil for 2 minutes until they come up to the surface; remove with a spoon and drop in a bowl.

1. Heat some butter in a skillet, add the sage leaves, fry for 30 seconds then add the raviolis and mix in with the butter and sage leaves; add the chopped hazelnuts and heat for a couple of minutes. Taste for seasoning and serve.

NOTE: If the pasta is not moist, then use a brush and some water to help the sides stick when cutting the ravioli shapes.

There is a mountain resort village in Lebanon where people go in the wintertime to ski. I was there one summer  as a guest of my dad’s favorite cousin, Tante Marcelle. I owe her my life, in fact, because she is the one who introduced my mom to my dad.

So, Tante Marcelle, who had been raised in Marseille, France, made this spaghetti , with greens  from the garden and Lebanese pine nuts from the pine trees nearby. I still remember the delight I felt when I tasted this dish. It was a hot and dry summer and it was  the perfect thing to eat.

It is hot these days in Dallas, and I wanted this same dish.

Is that what food is about? (to relive memories?)

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 ounces of spaghetti
• 2 ounces of radish greens (can replace with arugula)
• 2 ounces of pine nuts
• 4 ounces of olive oil
• 4 ounces of feta cheese
• 2 ounces of grated parmesan cheese
• salt, to taste
• 2 cloves of garlic, mashed with a pinch of salt

METHOD:

1. Clean the radishes thoroughly; it will take several changes of water for the greens to lose all their dirt; chop the greens coarsely and set aside.
2. In a food processor bowl, place the pine nuts (or almonds) and the mashed garlic; process until the nuts are chopped fine and add the radish greens; process and add the olive oil gradually until the mixture is pasty; add the cheese at the end; taste and adjust seasoning.
3. Cook  the spaghetti and toss with the sauce. Serve.

Recipe for the radish greens pesto adapted from C’est Moi Qui l’ait Fait.

I love Mexican telenovelas! I mean what could be better than watching    Fernando Colunga riding his horse, getting in sword fights and saving his damsel in distress? In Lebanon,  they  are dubbed in Arabic  which spoils the fun, but in the US, you get them in the original version; so,  if you are trying to learn Spanish, park yourself in front of Latino TV; of course, the males in your entourage will pooh-pooh this! (don’t pay attention).

I discovered poblano cream through my Mexican friend Conchis  De la Fuentes; Conchis made a pasta dish with poblano cream: heavenly! One of those things that you taste once and never forget!  Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants in Dallas  do not have dishes with poblano cream  on the menu for some reason, but it is a classic of Mexican cuisine and usually used as a topping for baked chicken.  Here I incorporated the poblano cream in a  risotto, instead of the pasta that Conchis uses; and since in Mexico poblano cream is served with chicken, I made Lebanese chicken wings instead.

What is poblano cream anyway?

Poblanos roasted, seeded and pureed with chicken broth and cream.

The arborio is courtesy of a Texas rice grower and of excellent quality.

INGREDIENTS: 6 servings

• 300 g of arborio rice (1 and 3/4 cups)
• 2 small onions, one for the risotto and one for the poblano  cream
• olive oil
• 3/4 cup of grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup of mascarpone or any creamy white  cheese (I used fromage blanc); you could use a white cheese spread
• chicken broth, as needed
• 1 cup of white wine
• 8 ounces of boneless chicken wings
• 4 large  poblano peppers
• scant cup of whipping cream
• cilantro pesto for the wings (optional): use some garlic, cilantro and olive oil

METHOD:

I made this dish in three steps, over several days, a little bit each time; everything can be done ahead, including the risotto!

First Step: Making the poblano cream (can be made ahead and frozen)

1. Place the poblanos on a foil-lined cookie sheet and broil them, turning them till the skins are totally blistered and black.
2. Immediately drop them in a plastic bag in which you have poured a couple of tablespoons of oil. Close the bag tightly and wrap in a kitchen towel and let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes or so.
3. Open the bag and take each pepper and skin it and deseed it over the sink  and running tap water. Drop the peppers in a blender or food processor.
4. In a small skillet, heat a bit of oil, add an onion cut in quarters and fry till golden. Add the chicken broth and cook for 20 minutes. Add the cream, salt and pepper. Drop the mixture in the blender and puree the poblanos with this mixture. Taste. Add more cream if you like it creamier, adjusting the seasoning as you go.  Cook the poblano sauce in the saucepan for 15 minutes or so; either use right away or freeze.

Second Step: Making the chicken wings:

1. Heat some olive oil, drop the mashed garlic and chopped cilantro, fry for 15 seconds; throw in the wings, brown them a bit and add some chicken broth or water.
2. Cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes on low simmer. Set aside.

Third Step: Making the risotto:

1. Set all the ingredients close by: risotto, onion,white wine, chicken broth, poblano cream, white cheese, parmesan, salt & pepper, olive oil. Heat some olive oil in a pot, add the onion and fry till  light golden; add the risotto and stir-fry till translucent. Add the white wine and cook for a few minutes, stirring till almost evaporated; add the chicken broth one ladle at a time till the risotto is halfway cooked, but still hard in the middle (taste a couple of grains).
2. Add the poblano cream and keep stirring, adding more chicken broth, if needed, until the risotto is compact and cooked through but al dente, still firm.
3. Finally, incorporate the white cheese or mascarpone keeping the risotto on the stove over very low heat, to melt the cheese, and add the parmesan at the end; taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with the chicken wings.

NOTE: How can you tell if the risotto is ready? Take a wooden spoon and stir big waves of risotto in the pot; the rice should pull easily and follow the movement of the spoon; of course, taste it often!

The poblano cream will be fine in the fridge for a couple of days, otherwise, freeze it.

The risotto can be cooked half-way one day and all the way the next day; don’t believe people who say you have to cook it standing on the stove for the entire time: you can cook it 15 minutes, cool it and refrigerate it; the next day, continue the operation till it is done.

This is my menu for Valentine’s day celebration as well as All Through the Year Cheer contest. I got the idea for the vinaigrette from La Cuisine de Mercotte ; when I moved to France in the seventies, the most incredible food I tasted was a passion fruit sorbet. I wanted to find it in the US, to no avail. Finally, supermarkets started to carry passion fruit, in the exotic fruit section. If you buy one, get the crinkled ones and hold them to make sure they are somewhat heavy; otherwise, you will end up with one that has almost no flesh. If you have never tasted passion fruit, you should! I found some frozen passion fruit juice  at Indian groceries.

This meal can be made in a jiffy and yet it is somewhat fancy; with the passion fruit addition, it fits the Valentine theme.

INGREDIENTS: For two servings

• 8 large sea scallops
• olive oil
• 1 bunch of asparagus, green and white or only one type
• 2 or 3  passion fruits (depending on size)
• Spices: salt, pepper, sugar

If you want to make the tuiles, these can be done 2 days before and kept in a tightly closed container. You will use shredded parmesan cheese. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and heat the oven to 375F; position a hear-shaped cookie cutter (metal!) on the parchment paper and fill it with 2 tablespoons of cheese. Bake for about 5 to 8 minutes until the cheese is melted and starting to turn color. Watch it carefully because it will burn rather quickly. Remove from the oven and cool for a minute or so, then tap it gently with a knife to dislodge the tuile. Store or use that day.

METHOD:

1. Start with the vinaigrette:

Grab a serrated knife and cut the passion fruits in two. Scoop out the flesh (including the seeds) into a bowl. Using your taste as a guide, add some sugar, salt, pepper and olive oil and whip to emulsify.

1. Cook the scallops:

Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet. Dry  the scallops with a paper towel, sprinkle with seasoning and pan-fry on both sides, waiting to brown lightly one side and then flipping them to the other side, about 3 minutes per side depending on their size and thickness (they will shrink). Set aside in a warm oven.

1. Cook the asparagus:

While the asparagus are cooking, boil some water or steam the asparagus over boiling water for 5 minutes or so until tender. Remove, drain and place on a serving plate.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:

On each plate, place 3 asparagus stalks of each color, joining them together at the tip in a warm embrace. Add the sizzling scallops on top in a neat row. Drizzle some passion fruit vinaigrette and let it drip, unrestrained, all over the plate. Stick a parmesan tuile in between the asparagus stalks.

I saw these adorable baby artichokes at the store and I could not resist! Here is what a little kitchen management can do. I had some man’ooshe dough in the freezer individually wrapped in a plastic bag, so I pulled it out and proceeded to cook the artichokes for my man’ooshe. Of course, one can easily buy frozen bread dough instead. As soon as the artichokes were done, it was simple to gently stretch the dough and first cover it with slices of cheese and then lay the artichokes on it. Heat up the grill to 600F and bake it for 15 minutes on a large piece of foil. Almost instant gratification!

INGREDIENTS:

• Man’ooshe dough, fresh or frozen, enough for one large (can substitute bread dough)
• 1 pound of baby artichokes (can substitute 1/2 pound of frozen artichoke hearts)
• 1 medium onion
• 8 cloves of garlic
• salt, pepper, a couple tablespoons of fresh oregano or basil
• 1/2 bunch of fresh parsley or cilantro
• 8 oz of akkawi cheese or mozzarella (if using akkawi, soak it in water for a couple hours to desalt it)
• 4 oz of shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 lemon
• some cornmeal  to sprinkle on the foil before baking (or oat bran or wheat bran)

METHOD:

1. Peel the artichokes until only the yellow leaves show. Cut the top third and the bottom stem. Cut in half and rub with the half lemon, or place in a bowl with the juice of the lemon.
2. Chop the onion, mash the garlic with a pinch of salt, chop the parsley or cilantro.
3. Slice the akkawi or mozzarella in thin slices (about 12 slices)
4. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the onion, artichokes and stir for about 15 minutes until the artichokes are tender and golden. It is a good idea to cover the skillet as this will speed the process.
5. Add the garlic and parsley or cilantro to the skillet and mix with the artichokes and fry for a couple of minutes in the mixture. Add the pepper and more salt to taste. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice and turn off the heat and set aside.
6. Heat the grill or the oven to 500F at the minimum.
7. Lay a large piece of foil on the counter. Sprinkle some cornmeal on it. Start stretching the dough with your hands or a rolling pin (I do it by hand) until it is as big as you like.
8. Spread the sliced cheese all over the dough. Add the parmesan. Place the artichokes and onion mixture over the cheese. Sprinkle some oregano on and a couple teaspoons of olive oil.
9. Place the man’ooshe with the foil underneath it on the grill. Make sure you set it on the side that has not been turned on (but is getting all the heat from the other side)
10. Bake for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the dough is puffed up and golden.
11. Sahteyn!

NOTE:

To save time, I keep pesto in the freezer in small one-meal jars. It is usually the cilantro pesto we make in Lebanon. Easy to reach for it and it defrosts in seconds in the microwave and I used it in this dish.