Good everyday Lebanese recipes
We have enjoyed several of these recipes already. Easy to follow and quite delicious.
The recipes which I tried tasted very authentic and Lebanese
I grew up in a Lebanese household where my mom cooked for the family all the time. The recipes that I tried form this book tasted just as I remember my mom's home cooking. The stuffed grape leaves recipe tasted like the way my grandmother used to make them in the mountain village of Khenchara, Lebanon. I could almost smell the mountain of Lebanon right here in Kansas, USA.
One recipe didn't work for me and that was "Kaak el-eed" or "Easter Galettes" -- the reason might be that I didn't follow the recipe exactly by not letting the semolina and milk mixture soak for an hour and a half as directed which made the dough too sticky to handle. I fixed the problem by adding flour and it worked out, and they came out good.
My wife who lived all of her life in Kansas loves this type of cooking and it is a treat for her and our kids every time I cook Lebanese cuisine. My wife was not too fond of stuffed grape leaves until I cooked it using this book's recipe. She got hooked. I have altered a few recipes here and there but kept the main ingredients and procedures very much the same. I have two other Lebanese cooking books and I use them as a cross refernce, but this book is the one I end up using the most. The thing is that even though Lebanon is a very small country, one will find variations on the same recipe depending on the region of Lebanon.
The recipes are a little wordy, but that might be preferred by some people.
A little hint on the pocket bread "khibz": After rolling the dough into flat disks, let them rest for 20 minutes, covered. Meantime, place a cast iron skillet or griddle (Warning: DO NOT USE TEFLON coated-ware) on the second shelf in the oven. Turn broiler on and preheat skillet (about 10 minutes), then bake the bread disks with the broiler about 1 minute each and watch them puff up fully. It is important not to bake them too long or they will dry up and harden or even burn. As you pull the bread from the oven, let cool down under a towel, then put 8 or 10 loafs in a Ziplock plastic bag and store in the refrigerator. Warm in the microwave for 5-10 seconds before use to soften.
easy to read and varied selections
This was a gift for a friend and arrived very quickly. The recipes were quite varied and easy to read.
Check for more reviews on Amazon.com
Similar Products:
|
