Tag Archives: middle eastern food
Salad
The best side dish to serve next rice, kebabs, grilled chicken, Hummus, Maqluba or just as a meal by itself. This middle eastern salad is full of flavor and it is so easy to make its hardly a recipe.
5 large roma tomatoes
2 medium romaine lettuce
3 medium Persian cucumber
2 stocks of celery
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 tablespoon salt or to taste
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3 medium green onions
3 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
5 medium size radishes
Rinse all the vegetable and set a side to dry or use the salad spinner to remove the water.
Dice all the vegetables in to small size, add all in a large bowl.
Add lemon juice, salt and cumin, mix well and serve.
Molokhia
Molokhia
Molokhia is the leave of jute plant, the leaves are minced and cooked with chicken or beef; it is very popular in the Middle East and North African kitchens, it is one of the most famous dishes in Egypt, its cooked with rabbit meat.
The consistency of this dish is not appealing to some people, they call it slimy, but I guarantee you once you taste this delicious dish you will not call it that.
The sautéed-minced garlic in brown butter, adds scrumptious flavor, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and you are on your way to taste the best dish on earth as my hubby calls it.
I remember my mom used to buy the fresh molokhia in huge bundles to feed our large family, we kids used to help her by plucking the leaves off the stems, she used to use the mezzaluna knife to mince it.
It is very hard to find fresh Molokhia leaves in the states, but it is widely sold frozen in individual bags or in dry form at any Middle Eastern markets.
I also found the dry version on line.
Molokhia is one of the easiest dishes to make, let me show you how.
.1 large skinless, boneless chicken breast
.2 bags of frozen mince molikhia 14 oz. each or 6 cups of dry molikhia
.6 cups of water
.1/2 tbsp. salt
.5 cloves mince garlic
.4 tbsp. butter
In a medium size pot, combine chicken breast with water, cover and bring to boil.
Lower heat to medium low and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
Remove the chicken on to a plate and set aside to cool.
Carefully reserve a 1 1/2 cup of the poaching liquid and set aside, cool the rest of the liquid in a container for an hour, pour in to Masson jar with tight fitted lid and store in the refrigerator to use in soups.
For the dry molokhia reserve 2 cups of the poaching liquid.
With paper towel, carefully clean the same pot; on low heat add butter and garlic, sauté the garlic until light golden and making sure not burn it.
With kitchen scissors snip along side of the bag, squeeze the molokhia out and add to the pot, repeat with the second bag.
if you are using the dry molokhia, add all 6 cups at once.
Add the reserved poaching liquid, salt, and stir well, simmer covered for five minutes.
With two forks shred the chicken in to bite size pieces, add to the molokhia and simmer for another five minutes, or ten minutes for the dry version.
For vegetarian version opt the chicken and the poaching liquid , and use vegetable stock instead.
Serve with day old pita bread or rice pilaf, fresh lemon wedges, green bell pepper and jalapeño pepper. Enjoy!
Chicken Kebab
Chicken Kebab
Kebab is any skewered meat or vegetables that grilled in the oven or on an outdoor grill.
I made mine without the hassle of using the skewers, It is easier after a long day at work, it has the spices and the flavor but without spending extra time on skewering the meat.
The chicken was moist and full of flavor, the mixed simple spices were packed with flavor.
.3 lb. cut mixed chicken white and dark meat
.1 tbsp. curry powder
.1 tsp salt
.1/2 tsp black pepper
.1/2 tsp cumin
.1/4 tsp cinnamon
.3 tbsp. olive oil
.3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
.3 tbsp. fresh lime juice
Line up two baking sheets with aluminum foil, spray with non-stick vegetable oil spray, and set aside.
Wash and dry the chicken with paper towel and place in a large bowl.
In a small bowl mix, curry powder, salt, black pepper, cumin and cinnamon, add to the chicken and mix well with clean hands.
Add olive oil and lemon and lime juice, and mix again until the chicken completely coated with the spice mixture.
Cover with plastic wrap and let the chicken set at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 435
Line up the chicken on the prepared baking sheets in single layers, bake for 10-15 minutes.
Serve the chicken with corn-asparagus hot salad and baba ghanoush,
Enjoy!
Pudding – Mahalabia
Pudding-Mahalabia
This delicious mahalabia always served during hot summery nights at any Middle Eastern table.
Cheese sauce
Cheese sauce
and cheesy goodness… And the meat added an extra delicious flavor.
I also used the same sauce to test my homemade Nachos and it turned out as
delicious as the Penne dish.
Also tested this sauce with steamed vegetables and there are no words to
describe the flavor, all I could say that it is absolutely delicious.
I am still in the testing stages with this sauce; I have to try and work on
it few more time, so I won’t post it just yet.
I promise I will once I get it perfect and up to standard to post.
Hummus
Hummus
.1 Can 29 OZ of Garbanzo Beans
.1/2 cup good quality Tahini
.1/2 cup of warm water
.1/4 cup lemon juice
.1/2 tbsp. salt
.1/2 tsps Cumin
Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans in warm water, in food processor add beans and pulse until its course.
Add the rest of the ingredient and mix well for about a minute or two, or until completely smooth.
Add water, as you need if it is too thick. Adjust the salt and lemon to your desired test.
You could add garlic to your hummus, it is completely optional.