For the last dish in our tribute to Arabic dishes I wanted to add “Pizza Lubnaniyya” meaning ( Lebanese pizza) that uses Za’atar a complex and delicious Middle Eastern condiment (see photo below)

What you need:

DOUGH:
For this recipe you will only use 1/2 of basic dough recipe:
(Follow basic dough recipe, but knead the bread with a little oil, let rise only two hours.)

What you need:
1 package of yeast
6 cups of flour
1 table spoon of sugar
2 teaspoons of salt
2 cups of warm water

What you need to do:
1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup warm water. Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a large depression in the center of the flour.
3. Combine remaining flour, water and yeast mixture and pour into the depression.
4. Mix the flour with the mixture and worth into dough. Knead until smooth.
5. Cover the dough with a towel and let rise until the dough doubles in size, approximately 2 – 4 hours.
6. Pull off dough portions the size of an orange and form into balls.
7. cover and let rise for 1/2 hour.
8. Roll into circles about 1/4″ thick and let rise for another 1/2 hour.
9. Place dough on racks in an oven preheated to 475 degrees.
10. When the dough rises into a mound, place under a broiler for a few seconds until it is browned.
11. Let cool and place in plastic bags to refrigerate(if needed)
but instead you will use this as a base for your pizza!

NEXT STEP:

Sauce:
8 medium cloves of Garlic
6 small tomatoes, chopped fine.
salt and pepper to taste.
Za’atar, without sesame seed
mushrooms, chopped
4 tablespoons of ketchup
6 to 8 slices of deli ham
4 to 5 sliced cocktail (or regular sized) hot dogs
1/4 1 pound gruyere cheese, (provolone may be substituted)

A photo of Za'atar - a Middle Eastern condiment

What you need to do:

1. Pound the garlic with salt.
2. Mix the tomatoes, pepper, za’atar, salt and mushrooms.
3. Place risen dough in a greased pan.
4. Spread the tomato mixture on top of the dough.
5. Place in an oven at 350 degrees until the mixture is dried.
6. Remove from the oven and add the rest of the topping ingredients.
7. Place back in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and the dough is golden brown.

After that you are good to go, to enjoy and authentic Lebanese Pizza.

If it works for you, and you enjoy it please let us know!

photo by Sjschen

Tags: basic dough recipe, cloves of garlic, Lubnaniyya, medium cloves, mushrooms, provolone, salt and pepper, sesame seed, table spoon, tomato mixture, yeast mixture, za'atar

Continuing my tribute to Arabic cuisine, I found another deliciously simple recipe for pea stew, also known as BIZZELLA – a typical dish of Iraq.

What you need:

1 pound of frozen peas
1 medium onion
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
4 potatoes, sliced
1 teaspoon of black pepper
2 tablespoons of salt.
1-8 ounce can of unsweetened tomato sauce
2 tablespoons of cooking oil

What you need to do:

Stew the onion, peas, tomatoes, salt and pepper.

Add potatoes, unsweetened tomato sauce with one can of water. Simmer until done and serve with rice.

After you have completed the above steps, please let us know the outcome!
Can’t wait to hear how it came out.

Happy Eating!

Tags: arabic cuisine, bizella, Iraq, pea stew

Every now and then I get an itch for some good ol’ Arabic cuisine. I grew up eating it often as a kid, as my cousins whose house I frequented often, were Syrian. I was always so thankful to get to go to their house and escape the boring cuisine comprised of hot dogs and macaroni at my place, and travel into a new world with my palate at their house.
Stuffed grape leaves and tabouli became childhood comfort foods . One of my favorite dishes has to be falafel – mixed with some hot sauce, pickled turnips and hummus, and I’m set.

Traveling to the sleepy town of Combermere in the Canadian Shield, you can discover the most AMAZING bookstores. Not for the sake of their “oh so current” selection of books, but from the vintage collections they always seem to have for sale.  I love opening a cookbook from “back in the day” and trying it out today.

On this latest trip, we were lucky enough to find an authentically vintage Arabic cookbook coil-bound and printed via typewriter.  It was an exciting find and the Pilgrim Reader’s Bookstore had it on sale for five dollars!   When I opened the pages to see some on my favorite dishes exquisitely verbalized on the page for my creating, I was ecstatic.

So in celebration of this terrific find, I thought I would add a few delicious, and easily made Arabic cuisine recipes for the next few days.  A tribute to cuisine from the Middle East.

Today on the menu, I decided to try the Falafel. It is spelled “Falafil” in this book with a side note saying ( Chick Pea and Fava Bean Patties)

Here’s what you need:

2 lbs. fresh and tender fava beans
1 medium Onion, chopped
3 Cloves of Garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon of allspice
1/2 cup of Oil
1 Teaspoon of Coriander Seed
1 Cup of water
1/3 Cup of Lemon Juice

What you need to do:

1.  Wash the fava beans and shell. then remove the strings from the beans and discard. Cut pods 1″ in length.

2.  Place the pods and beans in water.

3.  Saute’ the garlic, onions , salt, pepper, and allspice in oil until they are light brown. Then add Coriander and saute’ for a few more minutes.

4.  Then add the fava beans and toss thoroughly. Then add 1/2 cup to 1cup of water and cook on medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until almost tender.
Add lemon juice and simmer for 5 minutes.

After that I’m sure you can roll it up into balls or however you serve your falafil. E njoy!

bil-hanā’ wa ash-shifā’

(may you have your meal with gladness and health)

As always, if you have tried this recipe, please comment, and if you have any requests of your own they are always welcome as well.

photo by morbuto

Tags: arabic cookbook, arabic cuisine, cloves of garlic, fava beans, grape leaves, hot dogs, hummus, tabouli, vintage cookbook

With the summer months upon us, I have been desperately trying to eat well, and in moderation.  Tonight I got home and realized, it was a getting a bit late for dinner, and everyone around me was eating fried take out! That is NO way to help my cause but it led me to crave some fried rice.  Who knew you could have that same tasty and fulfilling rice Macro style?

Well my loves, YOU CAN!

Here’s what you need:

1 cup onions, diced

1 cup cabbage, cut into 1-inch chunks

1/2 cup carrots, cut into matchsticks

1-2 tablespoons water

4 cups pressure-cooked brown rice

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Dark sesame oil

Tamari

What to Do:

Heat a small amount of dark sesame oil in a skillet.  Sautee onions over high flame for 3-4 minutes.

Reduce flame to medium-low and layer cabbage, carrots, and rice on top.

Add 1-2 tablespoons of water.

Cover skillet, reduce flame to low. and cook until all vegetables are tender and rice is warm and soft.  Just before vegetables are done, season with a little tamari and add a chopped parsley.

Mix rice with vegetables and continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Now enjoy, as I did.

Better than the real thing I say, you don’t feel guilty and don’t have any trace of post party gut-rot.

~ The Food Diva

photo by hanabi

By Dyfed Lloyd Evans

The loin of pork ranks amongst the tenderest and tastiest cuts on the animal. By far the best way to prepare it is to roast it. But, there are two classic ways to roast a loin of pork. The first of these is the British way, where you roast at high temperatures for a relatively short amount of time. This gives you perfect crackling. The second is the French method where you roast the meat slowly in wine for a long time. This does not crisp the pork skin and you get no crackling, but you do get a very moist and juicy joint of meat.

I present both these roasting techniques below.

Herbed Roast Pork with Crackling

Ingredients:

1 loin of pork, (about 2kg), with the skin scored

small sprigs rosemary

small sprigs thyme

3 or 4 garlic coves, slivered

1 tbsp coarse sea salt

1/2 small onion, chopped

freshly-ground black pepper

Method:

Always make certain that the skin of your pork loin is as dry as possible (otherwise you will never get good crackling). If the skin looks damp, dry it as best you can with kitchen paper and sprinkle with cornflour. Leave for ten minutes then dust-off the cornflour (cornstarch).

Place the meat on a chopping block and score the fat. Insert sprigs of thyme and rosemary along with the garlic into the score marks now rub as much of the salt as you can into the skin. Grind black pepper to season well. Spread the onion on the base of a roasting tin then place the meat either on top of this (or on a metal rack in the roasting tin. Place in the centre of an oven pre-heated to 240°C and roast for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 190°C and cook for a further 110 minutes.

You can, of course make a gravy from the pan juices to serve with your meat.

Roast Loin of Pork with Garlic

This is the classic French method of roasting a joint of pork. Compared with the traditional British method you end-up with juicier and more succulent meat but you do not get a crispy crackling.

Ingredients:

1 loin of pork (about 1.5kg) boned and with rind removed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 tsp freshly chopped sage

generous pinch of ground allspice

1 garlic clove, slivered

150ml dry white wine or water

Method:

Place the meat in a large bowl or dish and liberally rub the salt, pepper, sage and allspice into the joint. Leave in a cool place for several hours or overnight if possible for the flavours to infuse. When ready lay the joint flat and place garlic slivers at regular intervals along the inside of the joint. When done roll the joint up and tie securely with butchers’ string.

Transfer to a roasting pan and add the wine or water. Cover with a lid or foil and place in an oven pre-heated to 150°C. Roast for about 2 1/2 hours, or until the meat is tender and the juices are no longer pink when pierced with a skewer. Check the pan every now and then and if the joint becomes to dry add a little more water.

Take the joint out and place on a warm plate. Cover with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Remove the string at this point and carve into slices. Arrange these on a warm serving platter.

Again you can make a gravy out of the pan juices to serve with the meat if you so wish.

You now have two truly classic and time-honoured methods for roasting pork. Which you chose to base your own recipes upon will depend on personal preference. Though you’re more than welcome to give both recipes a try.

Dyfed Lloyd Evans is the creator of the Celtnet Recipes website, where you can find thousands of recipes. If you would like more pork loin recipes (or just more pork recipes) then take a look at his Pork-based recipes page. Dyfed also runs the Celtnet Recipes Forum where you can find more recipes, share your own recipes or discuss any matters that are recipe-related.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dyfed_Lloyd_Evans

Tags: baking, British, crackling, dishes, French, garlic, intervals, meat, meats, pork loin, recipe, Recipes, roasting, tradition