Tag: Lebanese

Baba ganoush

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Smoky, bitter, creamy, sweet, nutty and enormously scoopable. Not altogether authentic, but still very good – and handily avoids the whole Explosion in the Oven scenario, which left me picking bits of auberine out of the fan for an hour last time I tried.

  • 2 aubergines, peeled and diced into 2cm chunks
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled, left whole and squished gently with the flat of a knife
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 100ml olive oil
  • 2 tbsp tahini
  • 1 tsp cumin
  1. Heat oven to 140C fan (160C)
  2. Put the aubergine and garlic in a baking dish, add the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and mix together well
  3. Cover with a tightly fitting lid or foil
  4. Bake for an hour (or more) until everything is squishably soft
  5. Tip the contents of the baking dish into a bowl and add the tahini and cumin
  6. Use a hand blender to whizz it up into a paste (or just squish with a fork for a rougher texture). Taste for seasoning and add more salt or lemon juice if needed
  7. For a looser dip, add another 100 ml olive oil before blending
  8. Try not to eat all of it at once before serving (sprinkled with pomegranate seeds or za’atar) next to a pile of hot toasted pitta strips for the scooping.

Pomegranate lamb

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Slow cooked lamb, deeply flavoured sweet and sour with pomegranate. A brilliant element of a multi-part feast of salads served with plenty of pitta or fluffy Turkish flatbread to mop up the juices.

  • 650g boned lamb shoulder
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 80ml water
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 heaped tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp ground allspice
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Pre-heat oven to 140C fan (160C)
  2. Put the lamb into a small roasting tin
  3. Mix all the other ingredients together and pour over the lamb, rubbing into every crevice
  4. Cover with foil and put in the oven for 2 hours, checking after an hour that it’s not dry
  5. Take the foil off and bake for a further hour
  6. Drain off the cooking juices and oil into a glass jug or bowl, leaving the lamb to rest in the pan
  7. Pour off the oil or use a baster to remove as much of it as possible
  8. Then tip the deep brown cooking juices into a saucepan and bubble over a high heat to reduce to a syrupy glaze before pouring back over the lamb to serve

Serve whole or pre-shredded, either way its double-delicious served with a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds, finely shredded mint leaves and roughly chopped toasted pistachio seeds

Loubyeh b’zeit

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

AKA one of the nicest ways you’ll ever find to eat runner beans. Warm, comforting and wholesome. Feeds 2.

  • 1 heaped tbsp salted butter
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced into half moons
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 250g runner beans
  • 3 ripe tomatoes
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp allspice
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tsbp extra virgin olive oil
  1. Cut little X shapes through the skin on the bottom of your tomatoes and pop them in a bowl. Boil the kettle and pour boiling water over the tomatoes until they’re covered. Leave for 1 minute then drain the hot water and re-fill the bowl with cold water from the tap. After a minute, the skin should peel off the tomatoes easily, without taking any tomato with it. Then just chop them roughly. Careful, they’ll be slippery!
  2. Top the runner beans, remove the strings (weirdly satisfying) and cut them into chunky pieces
  3. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat
  4. Add the onions and garlic, cover and cook for 5-7 mins until translucent but not browned
  5. Add the cut-up beans, cover and cook for 5 mins
  6. Then add 2 tbsp water, the chopped tomatoes, cinnamon and allspice. Season with salt and pepper
  7. Cover and cook over low heat for 20 mins until the sauce is thickened and the beans are cooked through (they should be soft but with a gentle bite)
  8. If there’s any extra liquid, remove the lid and turn up the heat for a minute or so until it has evaporated
  9. Remove from the heat, add the olive oil and stir to combine. Leave to sit for 5 mins with the lid on before consuming hungrily because it has made your kitchen smell so good

Chicken with saffron and yoghurt

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

Sunshine in a chicken dish. Perfect for a summer lunch with friends.

  • 8 chicken thigh fillets
  • 1 onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 green chilli (with or without seeds, your call)
  • 2 tbsp ras el hanout
  • 2 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 pinch saffron strands
  • 200g plain yoghurt
  • 1 whole orange, skin left on and cut into slices
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Whizz up the onion, garlic and chilli. Mix with all the other ingredients except the chicken and orange to make the marinade
  2. Dunk the chicken into the marinade, massage in, then cover and put in the fridge for at least an hour (up to 24)
  3. When ready to cook, pre-heat oven to 200C fan (220C)
  4. Slice the orange and place it on the bottom of a roasting tin as a bed for the chicken thighs
  5. Roast for 20 mins, turning halfway through. Serve with the orange slices and jewelled rice

Alternatively, cook this chicken under the grill or on the barbecue. Chargrill orange wedges to squeeze over when you serve

Muhammara

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

A little bit sweet, savoury, a bit sour, nutty and happily russet red. Such a delicious taste and texture combination. Dip all the pittas in it!

  • 3 red peppers
  • 50g fresh breadcrumbs
  • ½ tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 50g walnuts, lightly toasted and finely chopped
  • 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt

You can use a food processor or pestle and mortar to make this dip, but I quite love the chunkier texture if you chop it by hand.

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C fan (200C)
  2. Put the peppers on a tray and roast for 30-35 mins, turning occasionally, until they are cooked and the skin is blackened
  3. Put the quite-floppy peppers in a bowl, cover with a plate and leave for 15 mins
  4. Once they’re cool enough to handle, peel and discard the skin and seeds
  5. Chop very finely and scrape into a bowl
  6. Add the rest of the ingredients and a large pinch of salt and stir well
  7. Check the seasoning and serve at room temperature, sprinkled with some chopped chives for a beautiful green contrast to the rusty red