Middle Eastern Sugar Cookies (Ma'moul Abiad)

These cookies are made with clarified butter called ghee that gives them a distinct creamy flavor. You can find it in the refrigerated section with the regular butter at Whole Foods, but comes in a glass jar rather than in stick form. This recipe is kind of a commitment and I almost gave up on getting these right, but the end result was definitely worth the effort!



Ingredients
4 T & 1 tsp. powdered sugar
1/2 c. ghee at room temperature
1 c. & 1.5 T all purpose flour
unsalted pistachios - remove shells

Instructions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Mix powdered sugar and ghee in a large bowl using your hands. It will look like pancake batter (pale yellow & slightly runny). Add the flour and continue mixing by hand until the dough no longer sticks to your fingers. Cover the bowl with plastic and refrigerate briefly (about 10 minutes). Remove from the fridge and knead the dough gently with your fingers. Take a small piece of the dough and form a ball about the size of a ping pong ball. Flatten the ball until it is about 1/4 inch thick and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, and then press one pistachio on the center of the cookie. Do this for all remaining dough - should make about 12 cookies.

Bake at 300 degrees for 8-10 minutes until bottom of cookie becomes lightly golden. Remove pan from oven and allow cookies to cool on the pan for 10-15 more minutes so they can harden before you try to move them.

Note: I used parchment paper on my cookie sheet but that is not required.

Kofte

Serve with pita, spicy olive oil, roasted tomatoes and homemade chips.

Ingredients

Ground beef

Flat-leaf parsley

Salt

Pepper

Grated red onion

Garlic

Instructions

This is pretty simple. Mix ingredients in a bowl. Season as if you are preparing hamburgers, and then add a couple tablespoons of parsley, red onion, and maybe a tablespoon of chopped garlic.

Lightly shape meat around a skewer until it forms what looks like a hot dog. Don't press meat too hard or it will get tough. Now just grill over high heat until done to your likeness.

Ka'yek

There's more to middle eastern bread than pita.

Ingredients

1 pkg yeast

3/4 cup warm water

3/4 cup warm milk

1 T sugar

1/2 T salt + 1 T olive oil

3 1/4 cup flour

egg

Instructions

Dissolve yeast in warm large bowl. Stir in milk, sugar, salt, oil and 3 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto generously floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 7 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 50 minutes. Punch dough down to release the gas, gather again and let it rest for the second time till doubled. Let the dough rest for a couple of hours or even more... divide to 8 equal parts.

You have several options for shaping the dough. You can either shape the dough into large rings or smaller loaves (resembling hamburger buns). To form a ring roll each piece of dough into a long snake several inches wide and press the ends together firmly to create a circle or oval loaf with a whole in the center.

Beat egg and 2 teaspoons water with fork. Brush each ring with egg mixture and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds. Place loaves, sesame seed side up, on parchment paper. Cover loosely; let rise until double, about 30 - 1 hour. Cover with plastic to keep them moist.

Heat oven to 450F . When the oven is ready, lower the heat to 400F . Bake the Ka'yek for 20 to 25 mimutes or until golden brown and puffed.

Pita Bread

Haifa's dad makes the best pita. We left Thanksgiving vowing never to buy them again (except from Pita Inn). This recipe is adapted from thefreshloaf.com.

Ingredients (makes 8 pita)

3 cups white flour

0.5 cup wheat flour

1.5 - 2 teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 packet active dry yeast (or, if from bulk, 2 teaspoons yeast)

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, about 115 degrees fahrenheit

2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Mix the water, sugar and dry yeast. Stir and let sit for about 10 minutes, until it starts to foam a bubble. Mix the yeast mixture with the flour, salt, and olive oil. Work the dough for about 10 minutes in a mixer or with your hands. Lightly coat a bowl with olive oil, place the dough ball inside coating it with some oil, and cover with a damp cloth. Let it rise until doubled in size, roughly 90-120 minutes.

Near the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 500 degrees fahrenheit. This recipe works best with a baking stone. You could also use an inverted cookie sheet. Either way, make sure your baking surface preheats with the oven.

When the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for about 30-60 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it'll be easier to shape.

After the dough has relaxed, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with the other pieces and let rest for another 30 minutes.

Place a few pita on the stone and bake. They should puff up in a couple of minutes. Let them bake 30 - 60 seconds after they have puffed. The steam inside will continue to cook them after you take them out.

Pita can be stored wrapped in a towel inside a plastic bag for several days.

Spicy Chili-Infused Olive Oil

This special middle eastern recipe comes to the blog courtesy of Haifa's dad. Spicy red chilis are drained of their moisture before they release their flavor and heat. The result is an olive oil that enlivens just about everything from hummus to grilled meat.



Ingredients
1 cup fresh red chilis (we used thai chilies, but peperoncini or any very hot variety will do
salt
olive oil



Instructions
Using rubber gloves, remove the stems and puree the chilis in food processor until roughly chopped. Using a spatula, move the chili mixture to a mesh strainer and sprinkle generously with salt (see below).



Put something wide and heavy (e.g., a container filled with water) directly on the chilis, then pace the strainer over a bowl in the refrigerator. Let sit for 2 days to allow any water to drain from the chilis. Move the chilis to a small container and cover with about half an inch or more of extra virgin olive oil. Stir the mixture every so often for a couple of days to let the flavors blend. As you use the oil, be sure to add a bit now and then to prevent mold from forming.

"Distract the Neighbors" Grilled Chicken

This recipe is from The Language of Baklava. The aromas from the rosemary and hardwood charcoal really go well together. We like to pick up the pieces of chicken with torn up pita bread and top them with plain yogurt.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, crushed

juice of 1 lemon

3 teaspoons brown sugar

3 sprigs rosemary, chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

salt and ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast

Instructions

Mix the oil, garlic, lemon, sugar, rosemary, and spices. Cut up the chicken into cubes for skewers and mix with the marinade in a ziploc bag. Refrigerate for 3 hours or longer, turning occasionally.

Skewer the chicken and cook over hot charcoal. Tear the chicken off the skewers with pieces of pita and top with plain yogurt. This would be great with some roasted tomatoes and onions.

Cinnamon Curry Roasted Chicken

The best roasted chicken you'll ever roast.

Ingredients
1 (4-pound) roasting chicken
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
3 green cardamom pods
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 head garlic cloves separated and unpeeled, plus 6 cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 shallots, unpeeled and quartered
3 sticks cinnamon
1 cup chicken broth

Directions
Preheat oven to 450°. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Place on a rack in a small roasting pan or baking dish. Set aside.

In a small frying pan over medium heat, combine cumin seeds, black peppercorns, coriander seeds and cardamom pods. Swirl until lightly toasted and fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly; grind using a mortar and pestle. (To save time, or if you don't have equipment, use preground spices and toast in pan 45 seconds.) Mix with curry powder, cinnamon and red pepper flakes.

Finely chop peeled garlic cloves and combine with olive oil in a small bowl. Rub mixture over entire chicken. Sprinkle with salt. Use your fingers to slightly loosen the chicken skin and rub some of the olive oil and salt directly onto the meat. Then rub the spice mixture onto the meat under the skin. Don't pull the skin completely off the chicken! You should be able to slip the spices underneath and then put skin back in place. Next, place unpeeled garlic, shallots and cinnamon sticks inside chicken cavity. Tie legs together with kitchen string. Roast (breast side up) for 30 minutes before basting with 1/2 cup chicken broth. Roast 20 minutes more, then baste with remaining 1/2 cup broth. The basting is very important to keep chicken moist. Continue cooking until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife and meat is no longer pink, about 1 hour and 15 minutes total. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Serve with rice or naan and plain yogurt.

The Big Z's Famous Baba Ganoush

This baba ganoush recipe was created by my dad. Obviously he would never give out all his secrets - so I've modified it to be as close to his recipe as possible.



Ingredients
1 medium eggplant
garlic
parsley
2 hot peppers
2 lemons
Olive oil
tahini
salt & pepper

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350
Wash eggplant and pat dry. Chop 2 cloves of garlic into small pieces. Chop up some parsley and half a hot pepper.

Make 6-8 slits in eggplant skin and insert 2 cloves chopped garlic, parsley and 1/2 chopped hot pepper into the slots.


If you're having trouble pushing your finger through, then enlarge the slots by wiggling the knife around to widen the holes.

Drizzle outside of eggplant with 1 tbsp olive oil and wrap in foil so there are no holes.

Cook in oven at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes (60 for large eggplant). Remove from oven, unwrap foil, and let cool 20 min.

Cut eggplant in half and scoop into a food processor (without the skin) and process with 1/4 c olive oil, 1 tbsp tanini, juice of 1 lemon, 1 chopped hot pepper, 2-3 garlic cloves, parsley, salt/pepper until smooth.

Spread dip onto a plate. In seperate bowl combine juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1 clove smashed garlic, 1/2 hot pepper finely chopped, finely chopped parsley, salt, pepper. Pour mixture over the top of baba ganoush for garnish. Drizzle it with a little olive oil. Serve with pita bread or veggies for dipping.

Other recipes you may like:
Distract the Neighbors Grilled Chicken
Hickory Smoked Nuts
Cinnamon Curry Roasted Chicken

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