FoodMan

This First Clear Flour is what we are talking about. Right? Elie

It is quiet fortunate that you are with us this week since we recently started discussing Lebanese Mountain or Saj bread, Click Here for the thread. Have you ever tried this bread cooked in this manner? Do you have a formula we can use to produce thin soft Saj bread? Thanks, Elie

Many thanks for the tips. So it is the flour mixture. I will try different combinations of white flour/whole wheat flour and will try to get me some clear flour. Also I will make sure the first rise is significant. I will let you know once I succeed. Elie

What do you mean plating didn't go as you imagined? This looks wonderful. My camera is not very good and gives colors odd shades, that tuna looked red not purple-y . To answer your question about Sake: I am not sure . The sauce has so many strong flavors that I really cannot tell. The end result sure tastes great though and it is one of our favorites with duck breast also. Elie

1. Dry Roasted and unsalted is what I use. The stuff in the can is oily and usually salted, right? I guess it could work, but I've never tried it. 2. Walnuts are perfect as a substitute, and actually regarded as the more luxurious filler compared to peanuts since they are more expensive. However, IMO peanuts have a much better flavor in this preparation. 3. the nuts should be coarsly chopped or crushed, no need to spend too much time on them. I actually crush them in my large Thai mortar and pestle. As for the garlic, parlsey and hot chillies, these need to be fine since it is not too cool to get a huge chunk of garlic in one bite . Keep us updated and I hope you like it. Elie

To quote you, So who takes top honors when it comes to pizza and BBQ in your book? Who makes the best pizza? What is our favorite topping? What city has the best BBQ joint? Pork or Beef? Thanks again, Elie

Mr. Reinhart, it is a pleasure having you as our guest this week. Your "Bread Baker's Apprentice" is my absolute baking bible at home, there is flour smudges on every page and I am determined to go through all "formulas". My latest success was with some Pane Siciliano a couple of days ago. It came out great. The recipe that never worked out for me was Piolane's Miche, it always comes out very dense and with a wierd taste that I can best describe as raw and sour. Now, I've never had the real thing from France but I am assuming it should taste better than that. Do you have any tips that could help me with this? The loaf on the cover looks so good I have to get it right at some point. Thanks for your time, Elie

That is what I did, dried my one trial Shanklish in the oven but I think I did not put enough salt in the mixture so it spoiled instead of ripening. Next time more salt. For dinner last night, I had picked up some very fresh yellow fin tuna. So I marinated for a very short time in a mixture of soy, rice wine vinegar, sake, sugar and sesame oil (aka Teriyaki sauce). I then pressed the steak into sesame seeds and seared it till its rare. I reduced the Teriyaki a little bit and drizzled it over the tuna with some white steamed rice, green onions and homemade pickled ginger. Elie

Daniel, all recipes I've seen for Morrocan preserved lemons and the ones I use do not include oil. Where did you get this recipe from? Is it maybe a middle-eastern version not an African one? Elie

Well, I tried the recipe above and made some very good bread on my upside down wok. It really was much better than I expected but still needs some work. I did get the dough very thin but once it cooked it got a little too thick, so first step is to reduce the amount of yeast and prolong the proofing time for the dough, maybe overnight. The dough really has to be paper thin for it to come out right. This is actually more consistent with the recipe I adapted mine from. The other thing is a matter of taste, I think the wheat flour also needs to be reduced. Maybe use only half of it and replace the rest with white flour. Here are a couple of pictures. That folded half moon bread is actually stuffed with cheese. I also spread some Zaatar on another round but I did not get a chance tot ake a picture of it before it was gone . Elie

oh boy....This is like several topics in one. I would love to see the answer(s) though. mine is simple: Ham is made from pork, and pork is good. Ham hocks with southern greens is fantastic. Ham hocks with beans is even better, smoky lip-smacking fattty goodness. As Emeril would say "Add it (the hock) to a bumper and it would taste good" This leaves the other 95% of the ham to discuss.... Elie

I do not make my own shanklish (aka Arisha) and also I would never buy it since the bought version is usually pretty bad. My grandmother sends me batches of the stuff everytime she makes it. It travels very well and all I have to do is let the Shanklish balls ripen and get a little moldy, then wash, dry and roll in Zaatar. They will last in the fridge like that for a long time (make sure they are in a tight fitting container or it will stink up the fridge ). You are pretty much correct about the Shanklish, it is heated yogurt till curdled, drained, mixed with chili powder and salt, formed into balls and dried in the sun. I tried doing it once as an experiment. It did not go very well . I have not given up though and I will post about it once I have it down. The chilies are indeed a variation on the eggplant makdoos. The difference is you need to parboil the eggplant till slightly soft to the touch but NOT cooked, they should still be crunchy. Then slice a pocket lengthwise in them and rub all over with salt, in and out side. Put them in a colander and put a heavy weight on them so they could drain overnight. Then you are ready to proceed with stuffing and preserving. Those small finger size eggplants are perfect for Makdoos. Elie

Zaelic- I wonder if they were pickled lemon slices, isntead of the Morrocan salt cured ones. Elie

I edited the title of the thread to be more descriptive of the subject matter Also do NOT store the Saj (or Wok for that matter) outside, and keep it dry. This discussion is getting really interesting. Smithy, I am not sure if a pan would work either but it is worth a shot. Just keep in mind that the pan/Saj has to get VERY hot so as to blister and cook the bread very fast. also the bread needs to be really thin, so you would not be able to get the same size "loaves" that you would get when using a Saj or a Wok. Man am I looking forward to trying this tonight, hopefully I will post some pics as well with my crappy camera. Michelle, please do your best to post pics from the festival that would be awsome. Elie

Oh boy this sounds fantastic...I wish I could be there to have some of that. Last time I had some was this past May in Lebanon. Congrats and best wishes on your wedding. Maybe I can have the next best thing by making it at home. So I am determined to try the upside down Wok thing (Since I do have an old wok that I only use to steam or smoke stuff), prompted by this thread. I will give it a try using this recipe, scaled down and adapted from a Lebanese Arabic cookbook: 1 Kg flour (half white, half wheat) 2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp Instant yeast Enough water to make dough, maybe a cup I also --Swisskaese also beat me to this-- have some fresh homemade yogurt that is draining to make Labneh and I always have Zaatar at hand. When the breads are done I will hopefully enjoy them with a nice spread of Labneh, Zaatar and olives. I will report on how it worked out later tonight or this weekend. Elie

I'm no expert but I thought you have to have some flour in your nut crust, how else is it going to hold together? I recently made Fergus Henderson's Treacle tart with a very good nut crust (I think it was almond). This one had flour and I think one egg, I need to go back to the book to make sure though. Elie

Speaking of upside down woks, I think Sonia Uvezian in her book mentions that you can use it as a Saj replacement on the stove top and provides a recipe for "mountain bread"...I do have an extra wok. Maybe I'll give it a try soon. Elie

Ahhh...you guys are talking about a "Saj". Swisskaese is correct, this is used to make a pocketless large, thin bread known as mountian bread or Saj bread. Typically it has a good percentage of wheat flour in it, not just white flour. I do have a couple of recipes in books but I personally never tried it yet. I will post it when I get a chance. Elie

Thanks for posting the link Smithy. However, my question is : what the heck is a pita pan? Elie

Zora- I live in Houston, TX and we get those NM chillies when in season. You can use any chilli you like though as long as they are a good size and meaty. Elie

Houston Press: Best OF.. Best Restaurants in Houston are named. Lafayette Legacy Robb Walsh raves about Denis' Seafood. It seems like it could turn to a new favorite. Houston chronicle Hope Floats Eternal Alison Cook reviews a Houston's wannabe, The Grill at Clear Lake. Elie

Today’s W&D is kind of interesting because of one “whine” by a Mr. Charles K. White. When I read stuff like that it makes me wonder, why did Mona Shoup include this in the column? To fill up space? Or maybe she thought it was amusing. I mean what’s his point? Who benefits from that? Who the hell cares what he thinks is “frou frou”? Elie

Ok, better late than never. Here are pictures taken yesterday. Sorry about the less than stelar quality: Elie edit to fix the image

Fergus Henderson has a recipe for potato stuffed pig trotter in "The Whole Beast". I've been meaning to try it but have not gotten a chance to yet. Anyone else did? Elie

You are most welcome. This really is the best I've ever made. Do let me know how it turned out. Elie