Please share Middle Eastern recipes that interest you, or that you recommend, or would like to discuss.
Middle Eastern cuisines includes the cuisines of Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Palestinian Territories of Gaza and the West Bank.
I’m posting some nut-free pastries that are filled with cream or cheese here. This is a tangent from my thoughts on nut-free baklava on the Turkish thread.
These shaabiyat are a cheese - filled pastry from Lebanon that are similar to baklava. They contain no nuts.
Middle Eastern is probably my favourite “foreign” cuisine - mainly the food from the more western countries - Lebanon/Syria/ Palestine. Truth be told, I don’t cook it at home that often - it’s usually easier ( and better quality) to get a home delivery from our nearby Syrian restaurant.
I do make a “cheat’s shawarma” using leftovers from a lamb roast, dusting it in baharat and frying to crisp it and warm it through. If there’s no leftovers, but there is lamb mince, I’ll make koftas flavouring them with grated onion and parsley.
Alongside, I make houmous. I know everyone says using dried chickpeas is the best but I don’t have the will to do that, so settle for second best using a tin of chickpeas.
It needs a salad of course and I find either the Gazan salad or fattoush recipes in Yasmin Khan’s Zaitoun to work well. The fridge always has jars of olives and assorted pickles that I buy from the Turkish supermarket a few minutes drive away.
Speaking of Yasmin Khan and her book, I recently cooked a green beans in olive oil recipe (fasolia by zait). You fry onions till soft, add garlic, a little cumin and allspice, a tin of tomatoes , touch of sugar, s & p. Put a lid on and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Meanwhile, boil the beans till almost soft, drain and mix into the tomato gloop. My notes for this say I reckon it would work alongside any plainly cooked lamb, chicken or fish giving you both a veg and a sauce
