Man’oushe is really the appropriate word used in the Eastern Mediterranean and it is the cornerstone of a Lebanese breakfast. As popular a street food as it is a homemade item, it is topped with a variety of different foods such as cheeses like Kashkaval or Bulgarian, meats with pine nuts, vegetables, pepper pastes and many others. In my house, …
Spiced Chicken and Brown Basmati Rice with nuts
The weather is great and it’s been a very busy two weeks and this post should have gone out about 10 days ago. Phew! I finally get a chance to sit down and share with you this tasty treat. I think I should just call this dish “Nuts with Chicken and Rice”. I love this recipe so much and I …
Grilled Eggplant Salad
Any mention of eggplant conjures up memories of a beige-looking plop on a plate. Often, this was our lunch at school – for what seems an eternity ago- the ‘Saint Famille’ boarding school. For a seven-year-old (me) and a six-year-old (my brother)- two very picky eaters at the time (that fact remains accurate for my brother to this day), it …
Spaghetti Squash Kibbe
It feels like I have been away for so long. I write in my head all the time, but it doesn’t always make it to the blog. I’ve been meaning to share with you a squash Kibbe for a while, and now seems like the perfect time. The other day I found a beautiful Spaghetti Squash at the market which …
Brown Turkey and Conadria Fig Jam
In my kitchen, August has officially been declared “Figstravaganza Month”. If I think of one more use for figs this season, I might actually faint. Luckily, these beautiful fig jams are a very traditional way of using figs back home. Well this and also dehydrating them for use in the snowy winter months. The best snack my grandmother would offer …
Almond Blancmange with Caramelized Figs
The other day, I was reading about some recent research on the formation of memories. It turns out that a special protein, in the “taste center” of the cortex, is actually responsible for this process! Well, I am grateful for producing plenty of the PSD-95 (the name of that protein if you wanted to know). When I was about 7 …
Pistachio Crusted Lamb Chops in Fig Sauce
It’s fig season already. I don’t remember eating figs back home until September, but it’s been too hot here and maybe that sped up the process. My parents-in-law have a few fig trees and every year, we get more figs than we – and our friends and family – can eat. This year, I had about 16 lbs at the …
Grilled Bison Kafta and Hummus Sandwich
Kafta or Kofta (depending where you’re from) is simply minced meat mixed with spices and vegetables. There are so many variations and this “meatloaf” cousin dates back to the Ottoman times. Everyone makes it a different way and there is really no wrong way as long as it’s tasty. On days when I am so busy and time for cooking …
Classic Hummus Dip
Nothing is more Levantine than Hummus. The word literally translates to “chick peas” and I always laugh when I see it used for dips without chick peas such as lentil hummus or bean hummus. It’s very versatile and acts as a plain canvas when it comes to other flavors. Use this recipe as a basis and for variety’s sake, add …
Aromatic Grilled Halloumi and Watermelon Sandwich
It’s been so hot and humid here lately, and I’m craving a refreshing light lunch. Halloumi is probably my favorite Cypriot cheese, and has been adopted by the entire levantine region. It’s a hard, somewhat salty cheese and has a high melting point, which makes it a good grill candidate. During the neon-colored 80’s, my family lived in Limassol, Cyprus. …