Tag Archives: Middle Eastern

Recipe: Tomatillo Rice

Tomatillo Rice was a happy accident. We had tomatillos left over from shish kabab and decided to toss them into a pilaf. The effect is transformative. It’s slightly tart with a very full and well-balanced taste that will complement any … Continue reading

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Foraging sumac

Sumac is an important ingredient in Middle Eastern cooking. And foraging sumac in the wild is not that hard if you live an area where the bushes with their opposing branches and bright red “horns” grow wild. For our recent … Continue reading

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Shish Kabob hacks

Shish kabob by definition is sort of a hack, yes? You take random pieces of meat and veggies, marinate them in some way, then arrange on a stick and grill so the flavors meld. Our prep is pretty traditional with … Continue reading

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The magic of membrillo

We ordered a cheese platter from Whole Foods for our on-the-road Thanksgiving reunion. It came with a nice selection of cheeses and crackers and a little tin of membrillo, or quince paste. Nobody showed much interest in the membrillo so … Continue reading

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Food for thought: Lebanese food blogs

A search for the best way to cook dried chickpeas led us to the Forks and Foliage Lebanese food blog. It’s a fairly new blog with just a few recipes but its author obviously has big plans judging from the … Continue reading

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Recipe: Maghmour (Lebanese Moussaka)

Maghmour (Lebanese Moussaka) is quite different from the Greek moussaka most of us are familiar with. Turns out there are many versions of moussaka through the middle east and the Greek version is a French/Greek hybrid introduced in the 20th … Continue reading

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Recipe: Garlic Spread (Toum)

At Goood Frickin’ Chicken in San Francisco, they provided an addictive garlic spread (called Toum) along with their addictive grilled chicken. The plan was to slather it on everything: pita, chicken, your fingers. Our version is just as good though … Continue reading

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Recipe: Good Frickin’ Chicken

There was a place in San Francisco called Goood Frickin’ Chicken (note the extra O; we’re not stealing anybody’s name here) that served an addictive middle eastern grilled chicken that had been heavily marinated in spices, oil and acid. Sadly, … Continue reading

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Recipe: Sumac Onions

Dominic Colose, who runs an excellent middle eastern restaurant in our town, recently professed his love of sumac onions in a Facebook post. Research revealed that most sumac onion recipes use red onions and lots of parsley, but Dominic’s photo … Continue reading

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Recipe: Syrian Tabbouleh

Syrian Tabbouleh comes from a guest post on the David Lebowitz (yes, he of kouign amann fame) blog by cookbook author Anissa Helou. What makes it Syrian? First, it uses far less bulgur than western recipes (including this one). Also, … Continue reading

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