FoodMan

that's so interesting because yours looks like it should (dry and crumbly) whereas mine went all wet and pasty in the mortar. ← I used probably a little less mint than you did. You know with his recipes, a handful of this and dash and knob of that, things can vary. So use a little less mint and you'll be fine. Elie

I ahve to agree with Behemoth, we might not have a codified cuisine but claiming that Arak (which we discussed exhaustivly on another thread) is distilled as a substitute for Absinthe is wrong. My grandfather still distills his own arak and he tells me so did his father and grandfather,....this alone takes us back to before the "Absinthe ban". Now, let us try and keep this thread on track please. Elie

Elie how did you make the mint sugar? I did pineapple with mint sugar a little while ago (I mashed fresh mint and coarse sugar together in a mortar) ← I did exactly that, in a large Thai mortar! Just like you I also got the idea from Jamie Oliver. Elie

Other than the French Grand Cuisine, I cannot think of a cuisine that strictly "codified". Well, maybe what Artuzi tried to dowith Italian cuisine can be considered codification, but nowhere near what the French have. We do not have Escoffier or Artuzi in Lebanese cuisine, and just like most of the North Africa-Middle East area our food is the food of the homecook not the Chef. Like Nadia mentioned, recipes vary but you only change something so much and still call it Tabbouli. Maybe you can call it "Tabbouli" but not Tabbouli . Now what's up with that: That has to be the first time I've seen them refered to as North African.Elie

Moby, that dish is spectacular! Wednesday dinner: A Catalonian-inspired quick fix. hard cooked eggs chopped and mixed with smoked paprika, capers, olive oil and parsley. Put that on top of homemade toasted sourdough and top with roasted piquilo peppers and white anchovies. Tonight: Stuffed small green zucchini braised in a tomato broth. This is a traditional Lebanese preparation even though the stuffing (rice, ground pork, cilantro and Samen) this time was not strictly traditional. This is one of the ultimate comfort foods for me, and I love adding a good dose of Tabasco to my bowl . Dessert: Very simple and delicious. Pineapple with mint sugar, honey creme fraiche and a Paximadia (a biscotti-like Greek cookie). Elie

We will be in Austin with some family this weekend. What are some moderately priced, family friendly places we can eat at? Anything other than Mexican or Tex-Mex is probably fair game (since we will be coming from San Antonio ). We will be staying at the Embassy near the Arboratum. Elie

Adam- beautiful pictures!! what is the square of green in this? Is it sea beans?? ← that is one awsome picture and I believe these are a sea weed called Salicornia. I could be wrong though... Elie

In today's W&D: - Kathy Warren's comments seem very, very familiar.... - Complains about Alison Cook again - Poutine anyone? Elie

The Vin de Noix I am making will be ready to bottle by the end of this month . It's on the other thread. Ok, well I guess the walnuts are going in the trash. Elie

My Nocino, see here for more details, should be mature (40 days) today and I will be straining it and bottling it soon. So, what should I do with the walnuts? I do not want to throw them away. I was thinking maybe use them to infuse some fortified wine to make a type of aperitif. Does that sound reasonable? I also read they can be chopped up to use in desserts. Any thoughts? Elie

Adam- your dishes might not be truely Lebanese, but I am sure if they taste good no one will give a hoot. Elie

I would also say that cooking whole joints of meat or even big chunks is not that popular in Lebanon from my experience. Meat is either cubed and skewered, minced and made into kibbi or kafta, or cut up and added to stewes. Mansaf is probably the only dish that I know of (but never tried) that uses a whole animal or a large joint. Elie

It shopuld not be as salty as a feta but on the salty side. I think you are ok. Anyways we'll wait and see huh? .

Definitly keep us updated! I am very interested to see how it turns out. Did you taste the mixture before forming the balls? It should be on the salty side or the cheese might spoil. Elie

that's an odd thing to accuse Bourdain with, the guy loves other cultures and tries his best to enjoy whatever he is doing or eating wherever he is. He makes it obvious that he himself hates those tourists who think "why isn't the rest of the world like _________". I agree that last night's show was not one of the best we've seen him in. It was a little bit boring at times but so was he, he was bored to death and he thought the food at the feast was gross. I guess I just do not get why you would get that impression. Elie

Sunday: Samke Harra (spicy fish), a Lebanese dish with tahini, walnuts, cilantro and chilies. Click here for a thread discussing the dish, pictures and a link to my recipe. dessert: I love fresh white peaches and I bought a bunch of them. So dessert was poached white peaches (white wine, water, sugar, vanilla bean) with homemade Middle Eastern milk ice cream Last night: scrambled eggs an potatoes with homemade sourdough beer bread. The bread is basic sourdough with beer instead of water for the liquid, it comes out wonderfully fragrant and soft with one of those tastes that you cannot quiet figure what it was. Elie

This weekend I had better luck at buying fish. They had both bass and snapper, since the latter looked much better, I bought two cleaned whole red snappers (about 1.5 lbs each). My recipe is almost identical to the way my mom makes it and the way I grew up eating it. I sure hope someone would give it a try and let us know if they have any comments or improvements. Click Here for the recipe You will notice that sauce will "curdle" a bit once baked. This is ok and it will turn creamy once stirred a little bit. Elie

Lebanese Spicy Fish with Tahini Sauce (Samke Harra) Serves 4 as Main Dish. This is an iconic Lebanese dish, prepared for large family gatherings (or small ones) and for special occasions, like Sunday lunch. The fish can be any white fleshed non-oily fish. I like to use red snapper or sea bass. The dish should be pretty spicy as the name indicates but it will still be amazing even if mild, so adjust that accordingly. Stuffing: 1 bunch cilantro, chopped 1 c walnuts 3 chilies 3 garlic cloves, chopped salt and pepper Sauce: 1 c tahini 2 large garlic cloves, mashed 1-1/2 c water juice of 3-5 lemons 1 tsp cumin 1 3lb whole fish, cleaned (or 2 smaller ones) olive oil for drizzling 1/4 c chopped cilantro Heat your oven to 375F and place a rack in the middle of the oven. Make the stuffing. Put all ingredients in a food processor and chop coarsely, not to a paste. Make the sauce. Mix all ingredients to a smooth consistency. It should be liquidy enough to pour, sort of like heavy cream. Taste and correct seasoning and add lemon juice if required. It should be tangy and garlicky. Warm the sauce in a microwave or in a small pot just until heated through. Keep warm. Make three diagonal slashes in the fish on each side, season with salt and pepper inside and out. Put the fish in an oiled baking dish and stuff the cavity with the walnut mixture. Also put as much stuffing as possible in the slashes. Sprinkle the rest of the stuffing all over the dish and on top the fish. Drizzle the fish with some olive oil and place in the oven. Bake until still a little underdone, about 25 minutes. Pour the sauce on top and around the fish reserving about ¾ cup for service. Return the fish to the oven and continue baking until done and the flesh flakes easily, about 10 minutes. Serve with white rice or pita bread topped with its baking sauce, stuffing and drizzled with the reserved sauce if needed. Garnish with the chopped cilantro. Keywords: Main Dish, Hot and Spicy, Seafood, Intermediate, Fish, Lebanese ( RG1371 )

Lebanese Spicy Fish with Tahini Sauce (Samke Harra) Serves 4 as Main Dish. This is an iconic Lebanese dish, prepared for large family gatherings (or small ones) and for special occasions, like Sunday lunch. The fish can be any white fleshed non-oily fish. I like to use red snapper or sea bass. The dish should be pretty spicy as the name indicates but it will still be amazing even if mild, so adjust that accordingly. Stuffing: 1 bunch cilantro, chopped 1 c walnuts 3 chilies 3 garlic cloves, chopped salt and pepper Sauce: 1 c tahini 2 large garlic cloves, mashed 1-1/2 c water juice of 3-5 lemons 1 tsp cumin 1 3lb whole fish, cleaned (or 2 smaller ones) olive oil for drizzling 1/4 c chopped cilantro Heat your oven to 375F and place a rack in the middle of the oven. Make the stuffing. Put all ingredients in a food processor and chop coarsely, not to a paste. Make the sauce. Mix all ingredients to a smooth consistency. It should be liquidy enough to pour, sort of like heavy cream. Taste and correct seasoning and add lemon juice if required. It should be tangy and garlicky. Warm the sauce in a microwave or in a small pot just until heated through. Keep warm. Make three diagonal slashes in the fish on each side, season with salt and pepper inside and out. Put the fish in an oiled baking dish and stuff the cavity with the walnut mixture. Also put as much stuffing as possible in the slashes. Sprinkle the rest of the stuffing all over the dish and on top the fish. Drizzle the fish with some olive oil and place in the oven. Bake until still a little underdone, about 25 minutes. Pour the sauce on top and around the fish reserving about ¾ cup for service. Return the fish to the oven and continue baking until done and the flesh flakes easily, about 10 minutes. Serve with white rice or pita bread topped with its baking sauce, stuffing and drizzled with the reserved sauce if needed. Garnish with the chopped cilantro. Keywords: Main Dish, Hot and Spicy, Seafood, Intermediate, Fish, Lebanese ( RG1371 )

I have to admit, I rarely venture into this part of the forums. That is a little odd since I enjoy my drink and I have a modest bar in one corner of my house that I visit a couple of times a week. Anyways, everytime I actually do check these pages out I learn something new or I am inspired to try something new (recently I learned about that cucumber flavored Gin, what's it called?...). Now this amazing thread! I had no idea how nuanced Vermouth can be. Like most, I use it for martinis and for cooking, usually it is N. Prat. After reading this thread I learned that I should keep this beverage in the fridge! Now, both the dry and the red ones are in my refrigerator. I also got inspired to use my vermouth and I had some nice sweet fresh white peaches on hand. So, a quick chop and a blend in the blender with some vanilla sugar resulted in a smooth great tasting puree. I put some of it in a glass, added crushed ice, a few ounces of vermouth and about 1/4 of that Grey Goose. Stir and serve. It was pretty damn good. Are there any rules of thumb as to what beverages should be refrigerated Vs. not? Maybe this is a topic for another thread... Elie

That is really baffling, I was under the impression that the problem is with the way/where the pigs are slaughtered not the place of their rearing. Why would the raising of the pigs be a problem? Is their diet? Elie

Nadia- Sabr is what it is called where I come from as well. Almass- It does not matter one bit if it is Sabr, Sabra, Tiin Al Sabr, or Sabr il Teen or whatever. I am done playing word games on the boards. If we all know what it is and what we are refering to then a vowel here and there DOES NOT matter. Let me say it again, ANY debate as to how a certain word is correctly pronounced by anyone will be removed. How on earth do you know if Nadia had the Sabr paddles in Lebanon or not? I have never eaten it over there and do not know of anyone who does either but I cannot say for sure that NO ONE in Lebanon eats it, or that no parts of the Levant serve it. Please if you are going to make a comment let it be constructive or at least inquisitive instead of purely aiming at finding fault with other people's comments! Elie

For me at least it's just a different way to cook the bird and I love the result. The bird comes out juicy and with a slighlty different texture. It's not necessarily better one way or the other just different. I sometimes like my coffee with milk and sometimes black.... Now, I have heard arguments from individuals who, like yourself, do not like the effects of brining and it's really a matter of taste, nothing more. As for salinity, a properly brined piece of meat should taste properly seasoned not oversalted or "cured". Elie

Is this a typo or did u really mean the skin is disgusting???! The skin comes out crispy and wonderful. Usually I make the simple roast chicken as well with no brining. Mainly because I never think about it ahead of time. Elie

Last night I made that wonderful roast chicken again, this time I also brined it first. This hands down is the best roast chiken I've ever had. It cooks to perfection in the searing 475F degrees and results in a great taste, texture, crispy skin and mahogany color. I also made for the first time the herb gnocchi and served them in a similar manner to the recipe with summer squash and tomatoes. I used some fresh white corn as well though and did not add the olives. I also made a sauce from the pan drippings with stock, lemon juice and a little butter at the end. Elie