Hummus

The other day when I was about to make some hummus, I search my archive for the recipe and realised I never did get round to adding the good hummus recipe here. Well, this needs correction..

Ingredients:
- 2 'cans' chickpeas ^[1]
- juice ¹/₂ lemon (2 tbsp)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 large clove garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3-4 tbsp tahini
- salt & pepper to taste

The chickpeas were drained and puréed in a blender (I added as little water as the paste is otherwise very thick) in portions. The chickpea paste was transferred to a bowl and the rest of the ingredients were stirred in. Depending on your preferences you might adjust the amounts of tahini and olive oil - although I personally find it hard to believe, I know some people are not fond of tahini. Paprika also adds a nice touch.

^[1] Actually the stores around here have taken to selling various beans in a new paper based container. My guess is this is motivated by environmental concerns. Anyway, these new packages are roughly the same size as the usual can, so that each holds 230 g (8 oz) after draining the liquid.

Sabanekh bel Hummus

I was wondering if it might be an idea make something with spinach and chickpeas - as it turns out it is a good idea, just not a new one. According to Claudia Roden variations on this theme are common through-out the middle east. I decided to base my first attempt off of her recipe (which is supposedly an Egyptian version) but with the addition of onions and chillies.

Ingredients:
- oil
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- generous amount of ground coriander
- salt
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 900 g (2 lbs) frozen spinach (whole-leaf, not chopped)
- 2 jalapeño peppers, chopped
- 3 cans chickpeas, 400 g (14 oz) each
- juice of ¹/₂ lemon

The oil was heated in a large pot, then added crushed garlic, ground coriander and salt - after stirring the spices in the hot oil for about half a minute the chopped onions were added. When the onions were soft, the spinach was added together with chopped jalapeños (seeds included). The pot was covered and left on medium heat until the spinach was thawed. The chickpeas (drained and rinsed) were added and the dish was heated through. Sprinkled with lemon juice just before serving.

I was quite happy with the result - which I served on this occasion with a lamb & potato kheema, brown rice, and an apple-walnut chutney, which I'm going to have to see if I can learn how to make myself..

'Shish Shawarma'

In the past, I resorted to buying my shawarma spice mainly because I couldn't find out exactly what went into the mix. When I recently came across a good recipe it turned out the only ingredient I didn't already have was cloves.

Although perhaps not very authentic, I decided to try out broiling the pieces on bamboo skewers after marinating - making it some kind of 'shish shawarma'.

Ingredients:
- ¹/₄ tsp ground cloves
- 1 ¹/₂ tsp ground allspice
- ¹/₂ tsp ground coriander
- ¹/₄ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground paprika
- ¹/₂ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- juice of ¹/₂ lime
- 350 g (12 oz) strips of beef
- 2 onions, cut in wedges
- 4 potatoes, sliced 6 mm (¹/₄ inch) thick
bulgur:
- 2 dL (⁴/₅ cup) bulgur
- water
- salt
- juice of ¹/₂ lime
- 12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- fresh parsley, chopped

All the ground spices were mixed (this is what I'd consider the shawarma spice mix itself), then added salt, crushed garlic, olive oil and lime juice. The strips of beef and the onion wedges were marinated in this mixture for a little over an over.

Potatoes were peeled and sliced. The marinated beef and onion were put on bamboo skewers together with the raw potato slices and broiled for 12 minutes.


The bulgur was boiled in lightly salted water, then mixed with lime juice and chopped parsley and chopped cherry tomatoes.

The end result might not be conventional: 'shish' is normally as in 'shish kebab', and I don't think I've ever had shawarma or kebab with broiled potato before - but I thought it was quite good.

Sesame crusted köfte & cabbage salad

Many years ago, when I was still a child and my parents were encouraging (strongly) me to help with the cooking at home, I read somewhere about sesame crusted meat balls and was allowed to try to make them - although I seem to remember my parents being very sceptical about the concept. The final result didn't make a lasting impression on me (and the fact that we never made them again also speaks for their having not been received so well), but the concept was still somewhere in my head when recently faced with the challenge of using yet more sesame seeds before the impending (and dreaded) move.. In the end, an advertisement in a food magazine lead me to try out this version.

Ingredients:
yoghurt sauce:
- 3 dL (~ 1 1/4 cup) plain yoghurt
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp sambal oelek
- 1 tbsp orange juice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cardamom
köfte:
- 640 g (~ 1.4 lb) ground lamb
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 20 g (2/3 oz) fresh mint, chopped
- 2 small onions, finely chopped
- 3/4 dL (1/3 cup) bread crumbs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 egg
- 50 g (1.75 oz) white sesame seeds
- 50 g (1.75 oz) black sesame seeds
cabbage salad:
- 1 head red cabbage, finely sliced
- 1 small onion
- 3 tomatoes, diced
- 20 g (2/3 oz) fresh coriander, chopped
- 285 g (10 oz) corn kernels
- 2 raw pepperoncini, finely diced

First yoghurt sauce was made by stirring all the ingredients together. Then it was covered and stored in the fridge while making the rest.

For the köfte all the ingredients except for the sesame seeds were mixed and rolled into balls approximately 2-3 cm (1 inch) in diameter, then coated by dipping them into a mixture of black and white sesame seeds. The coated meat balls were lined up on a baking sheet and baked in the oven at 200 C (400 F) for 18 minutes.

The cabbage salad was made simply by stirring the ingredients together.

Served while the köfte were still hot from the oven.

I liked the result, and I seriously doubt that the meatballs I made in parents kitchen many moons ago were anything near as good.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

I can't claim the idea of adding roasted red peppers to hummus as my own - it was something we used to be able to buy in California. That being said, I'm happy what how this turned out (not least that is was better than my previous attempt at making hummus).

Ingredients:
- 250 g (1/2 lb) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
- water
- salt
- 3 sweet red peppers
- juice of 2 limes
- 4 tbsp tahini
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed

After soaking the chickpeas overnight in cold water they were boiled for 1.5 hours (salt was added when nearly done).

While the chickpeas were boiling the red peppers were cut open, the seeds were removed and the pieces were broiled (skin side up) until the skin blackened in patches.

The boiled chickpeas were separated from the water, but the water wasn't discarded.

The chickpeas and the roasted peppers were puréed together - I found a stick blender to be more convenient for this than a conventional blender because the resulting paste is so thick. Then tahini, garlic, and lime juice was stirred into the mixture, and at last was added portions of the water from the chickpeas until the texture had the right smoothness.

We had some immediately as a side to some köfte and couscous salad, and have we been using the rest as a spread on bread.

Falafel in Geneva

Sad as I was to leave all the lovely little hole-in-the-wall type Mexican eateries and their enticing selection of burritos, tacos, nachos, beans and other goodies behind (somewhat alleviated by the fact that I've been trying my own hand at the craft), I must profess my joy of what I have gotten in stead: loads and loads of lovely little hole-in-the-wall middle eastern eateries (click on the picture above to enlarge .. it's somewhat big) where I can my occasional fix of falafel, something there were depressingly few options for along the stretch of the southern Californian coast where I lived. The typical falafel fix here comes in the shape of a sandwich or a rolled large pancake.

The only downside is that now I have even less incentive to make my own falafel - something I dabbled a little bit into earlier, but never really became comfortable about. Oh, well .. maybe I'll return to it some day after all.

Meze Menu 1

Meze is the middle eastern version of tapas: a selection of smaller snack dishes that served together make up a meal. Without further ado, let's have a look at Meze Menu 1:
- flour tortillas
- tabbouleh
- spanakopitta
- köfte
- grilled eggplant
- hummus

Yes, that is my recipe for (Mexican) flour tortillas but they go just fine in this context as well. The tabbouleh and spanakopitta have been described here very recently. The köfte are a slight variation on my previous recipe, and the hummus was my first attempt at it - it didn't turn out quite right, but I'll get back to that. The funny looking eggplant is called a Sicilian eggplant.

köfte:
- 500 g (about 1 lb) ground beef
- 1 red onion, finely diced
- 4 bird chillies, seeds removed, finely diced
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- fresh basil, chopped
- fresh mint, chopped
- salt
- cayenne pepper
- allspice
- 1 egg

All the ingredients were mixed, and little meat balls formed by hand were fried in a pan using a little oil.

grilled eggplant:
- 1 Sicilian eggplant, sliced thinly

The eggplant slices were grilled under the broiler.

hummus:
- 175 g (6 oz) dried chickpeas
- water
- 4 tbsp tahini
- juice of 1 1/2 lemon
- 2 cloves garlic, mashed

The chickpeas were soaked in cold water overnight, then boiled for about 1.5 hours until very soft. The water was drained off, but not discarded. The chickpeas were blended to a purée and the tahini, lemon juice, and garlic was added. The saved water from boiling them was added in portions until the right creamy texture was attained.

As mentioned the hummus didn't turn out quite right. I think it was perhaps too much lemon juice and/or garlic.

Apart from the hummus, the menu was fantastic.

Update: A better hummus recipe.

Spanakopitta

Strictly speaking, one should make spanakopitta using fillo pastry, but we didn't feel like making it and the store was sold out - so we used puff pastry, which wasn't sold out.

Ingredients:
- 640 g (about 1.5 lbs) puff pastry (cut in 4 pieces)
- 500 g (about 1 lb) frozen spinach
- salt
- 200 g (about 0.5 lb) feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 eggs (+1 egg for brushing)

The frozen spinach was put in a small pot without any water and thawed over medium heat - and excess liquid was drained off. The feta cheese was mixed with 2 eggs using a fork, then stirred into the spinach, and seasoned to taste with salt.

The spinach-cheese mixture was divided in 2 equal portions and each was spread on a piece of puff pastry, leaving some 2-3 cm (1 inch) free along each side. The remaining pieces of puff pastry were used as lids, folding the pastry along the edges to close them. Long diagonal slits were cut in the pastry lids and the pies were brushed with the remaining egg.

The pies were baked in the oven at 175 C (350 F) for 45 minutes, until crisp and golden.

Tabbouleh

To aid us in our quest for cooking more middle eastern food, we bought another book, Claudia Roden's New Book of Middle Eastern Food, to get more inspiration.

As it turns out our copy of the book is flawed by a production error - more specifically the same set of pictures appears twice, leaving us guessing as to which pictures we are missing. Amazon.com wasn't able to tell us whether it was just or copy, or their entire set - so instead they refunded us the value of the book, and let us keep it at the same time. Hooray.

First up in a string of post on the subject is a variation on tabbouleh, one of several bulgur salads.

Ingredients:
- 2 dL (4/5 cup) bulgur
- cold water
- juice of 1 1/2 lemon
- 5 tomatoes, diced
- 2 small onions, finely diced
- fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
- fresh mint, chopped
- salt, pepper
- olive oil

The bulgur was soaked in cold water for 10-15 minutes, then drained and put in a large bowl. The lemon juice and tomatoes were added and the bowl was left for half an hour to let the bulgur absorb the juices and turn tender. [1] The rest of the ingredients were mixed in.

Tabbouleh might be eaten as a stand alone dish (supposedly it is traditional to scoop it up with lettuce leaves), or as a side dish.

[1] At this point the texture of the bulgur still seemed somewhat 'uncooked', which was a little worrisome, but in the end the result was just fine.

Baba Ghanoush

Although I'm a great fan of what I have tried from the Middle Eastern kitchen, I must say I'm not very knowledgeable on the subject. Far less so than, e.g. Mrs. Throat-Erator, who has travelled in the region. For example, I didn't really know what Baba Ghanoush was when she started raving about how delicious it was. I urged her to make me some, and so she did..

Ingredients:
- 500 g (1 lb) eggplants
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- salt
- 2 tbsp tahini
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- paprika

The eggplants were rinsed and broiled until the inside was very soft. The partially charred skin was peeled away and the flesh was collected in a colander where it was mashed and drained. After being transferred to a bowl, the garlic, salt, ground cumin, tahini paste, and lemon juice was stirred in to give a smooth paste. The baba ghanoush was arranged as an atoll with the olive oil in the middle and paprika on the rim.

We had it with some flat breads, tzatziki, couscous salad, and meatballs.

I have to admit it was quite delicious, and we are aiming to practice more foods from this kitchen in the none too distant future.

I guess it's some kind of moussaka...

...but it doesn't really follow any recipe I found anywhere.

Ingredients:
- 24 oz (650-700 g) potatoes
- 3 small zucchinis
- 2 yellow crookneck squash
- 1 red onion
- 1-1.5 lb (500-700 g) ground beef
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt
- black pepper
- dried red pepper
- shawarma spice
- 1 bunch italian parsley (coarsely chopped)
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup grated jack cheese
- olive oil

Start by heating the oil in a large pan, add the coarsely chopped onion and stir till translucent. Then add the ground beef together with all the spices, and stir till browned, cover and let simmer. Dice the potatoes (I used a 1:1 mix of white and purple potatoes), the zucchinis, and the yellow squash - dices should be about 1/2" (1 cm) on each side. Put them in a baking pan, pour over the milk, then the meat, and finally a layer of grated cheese. Goes in the oven at 400 F (200 C) for about 40 minuttes.

NB: The baking pan in the picture is about 9" X 9" (22 cm x 22 cm) and that was for HALF of it.

Update: For a shawarma spice mixture, see this later post.

Fiery Meatball Garlic Pizza

This was an attempt to recreate my favorite pizza from a certain Kurdish pizzeria I used to visit years ago (and 6000 miles from where I'm living right now).

Ingredients:
- 1 pizza dough
- semolina
- 8 oz (200 g) tomato sauce
- 4 oz (100 g) mozzarella
- 10 oz (250 g) ground beef
- salt
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 serrano peppers (finely diced)

First mix the ground meat with 1 clove crushed garlic, salt, and 1 serrano pepper, shape into small meat balls and fry in a pan. While the meat balls get done roll out the pizza dough with semolina. When the appropriate size place in baking pan on baking paper. Spread out the tomato sauce on the pizza, then add the rest of the garlic (crushed) and the other serrano pepper, the meat balls and finally some mozzarella. Bake at 400 F (200 C) for about 15 minutes.

Turned out pretty good - the taste was good, but I might have like the cheese a little more spread out over the whole pizza.

Lamb Shawarma

In the area I'm living right now the places serving shawarma and falafel are few and far between. There's only one place I know of around here, and that has been frustrating for me while living here, so I've been seeking ways to remedy this problem. I've found that the shawarma is the easier of the two, so here goes one way to do it.

Admittedly, I don't set up a giant skewer with tons of meat and roast it rotisserie style, so I guess this isn't shawarma as such - but I do use "shawarma spice", a mixture the composition of which I'm not sure of either. Fortunately, it's not hard to get - I got the stuff I'm using now here.

Ingredients:
- 1 lb (500 g) lamb meat
- shawarma spice
- lettuce
- tomato
- pita breads
- tzatziki

Cut the lamb meat in small pieces, season with a generous amount of shawarma spice and fry in a pan. Serve in freshly warmed pita breads with cut lettuce, diced tomato and tzatziki. Delicious.

Update: For a shawarma spice mixture, see this later post.

Köfte

While still in the kitchen my muse also made köfte, e.g. meatballs of ground lamb with a flavour I'd call middle eastern.

Ingredients:
- 500 g (1 lb) ground lamb
- 1 egg
- 1/2 onion
- chopped fresh parsley
- chopped fresh cilantro
- mint (dried or fresh)
- salt and pepper

Dice the onion relatively finely and mix it with the ground lamb, spices and the egg. Form into meatballs and fry on the pan (or grill on skewers).
Served this time with cabbage couscous salad and a bit of hummus.