Cooking
On the rare San Francisco summer days when things really do warm up, I want to cook food that is best suited to the season. While the Asian tradition is to eat hot soup that makes you sweat to cool you down, I prefer food that can be served cold or at room temperature. Middle eastern food is a great choice because unlike some other ethnic cuisines, the ingredients are widely available, especially in the summer. The basic ingredients are fairly simple--cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, lemons, mint, parsley, cumin, pita bread, yogurt, tahini...so many recipes include them. The cuisine seems designed to take advantage of summer bounty and to keep you cool in hot weather. Many of the dishes do not even require using the stove, an added benefit when the kitchen is already too hot.
Last time I was in London I went to my favorite bookstore--Books for Cooks, and bought a slim volume on Lebanese cooking. While it lacks some of the French inspired recipes I recall from eating at Lebanese restaurants, it does contain many classic middle eastern dishes. Most recently I have made hummus, baba ganoush, tahini dip, lamb meatballs, kofta with yogurt sauce, fatoush salad and felafel. All was made from scratch except the felafel. The secret to great felafel is just frying the hell out of it. I have tried low fat and baking it, etc. but to get that really golden crispy exterior, you've simply got to fry. If you shallow fry it in olive oil at relatively high heat, it doesn't get greasy. Happily, the majority of these dishes including the felafel are just as good the second day and keep well in the fridge. Eating leftovers means even less cooking on hot days!
- All About Tahini
I always have a jar of tahini, a Middle Eastern style of sesame paste, in my refrigerator. It used to last for ages because I really only used it in hummus and baba ghanoush. But not anymore. I think it’s probably the Ottolenghi books and a trip to...
- Lamb Meatballs Recipe
Nothing is more disappointing than a soggy french fry. There are lots of things I don’t just like crispy but extra crispy. Toast, onion rings, pizza crust, potato chips, breaded cutlets, pie crust, streusel. I could go on and on. And is there anything...
- Zucchini Salad With Feta Recipe
Everyone I know is looking for a good recipe that uses zucchini. Enormous zucchini appear from behind large green leaves surprising even the most vigilant gardeners. It seems there is always too much of it. No one complains about too many peaches or...
- Lavash Sandwiches: Recipe
On really hot days, when I was growing up, my mother used to make an antipasto plate with dry salami, cheese, cherry tomatoes, olives, celery sticks, and various other things for dinner. We'd sit outside and nibble away until the house cooled down...
- Imbb 11 - Gail's Hummus
The following is my Aunt Gail's contribution to IMBB 11 ... Hi Cathy---just a quick note to send you my "bean" recipe. This was taught to me by my friend Lorraine whose parents were Lebanese and was my first introduction to Middle Eastern cuisine,...
Cooking
Middle Eastern Food
On the rare San Francisco summer days when things really do warm up, I want to cook food that is best suited to the season. While the Asian tradition is to eat hot soup that makes you sweat to cool you down, I prefer food that can be served cold or at room temperature. Middle eastern food is a great choice because unlike some other ethnic cuisines, the ingredients are widely available, especially in the summer. The basic ingredients are fairly simple--cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, lemons, mint, parsley, cumin, pita bread, yogurt, tahini...so many recipes include them. The cuisine seems designed to take advantage of summer bounty and to keep you cool in hot weather. Many of the dishes do not even require using the stove, an added benefit when the kitchen is already too hot.
Last time I was in London I went to my favorite bookstore--Books for Cooks, and bought a slim volume on Lebanese cooking. While it lacks some of the French inspired recipes I recall from eating at Lebanese restaurants, it does contain many classic middle eastern dishes. Most recently I have made hummus, baba ganoush, tahini dip, lamb meatballs, kofta with yogurt sauce, fatoush salad and felafel. All was made from scratch except the felafel. The secret to great felafel is just frying the hell out of it. I have tried low fat and baking it, etc. but to get that really golden crispy exterior, you've simply got to fry. If you shallow fry it in olive oil at relatively high heat, it doesn't get greasy. Happily, the majority of these dishes including the felafel are just as good the second day and keep well in the fridge. Eating leftovers means even less cooking on hot days!
- All About Tahini
I always have a jar of tahini, a Middle Eastern style of sesame paste, in my refrigerator. It used to last for ages because I really only used it in hummus and baba ghanoush. But not anymore. I think it’s probably the Ottolenghi books and a trip to...
- Lamb Meatballs Recipe
Nothing is more disappointing than a soggy french fry. There are lots of things I don’t just like crispy but extra crispy. Toast, onion rings, pizza crust, potato chips, breaded cutlets, pie crust, streusel. I could go on and on. And is there anything...
- Zucchini Salad With Feta Recipe
Everyone I know is looking for a good recipe that uses zucchini. Enormous zucchini appear from behind large green leaves surprising even the most vigilant gardeners. It seems there is always too much of it. No one complains about too many peaches or...
- Lavash Sandwiches: Recipe
On really hot days, when I was growing up, my mother used to make an antipasto plate with dry salami, cheese, cherry tomatoes, olives, celery sticks, and various other things for dinner. We'd sit outside and nibble away until the house cooled down...
- Imbb 11 - Gail's Hummus
The following is my Aunt Gail's contribution to IMBB 11 ... Hi Cathy---just a quick note to send you my "bean" recipe. This was taught to me by my friend Lorraine whose parents were Lebanese and was my first introduction to Middle Eastern cuisine,...