FoodMan

I bought a copy (I'm sure I mentioned this elsewhere on this forum) last summer when I was in Lebanon and I love it. I just flip through it and read whenever I feel homesick. He even has recipes from my small hometown in Akkar . The full color glossy pictures are amazing as well. One caveate though, the recipes, especially desserts do not seem to have been fully tested and you might need to use your common sense or I guess "cook's sense" to make them work. Should we start a thread for this book? Anyone interested? Welcome to the Society Alanbalchin! unfortunatly I am not too familiar with specific restaurants on the cornish. I normally just go with my buddies wherever they decide to go and I do not remember many restaurant names. It seems that most of them in that area share the same menu more or less, so I would go with the one with the best view. Lats year we had a great time at a place looking on to the "Rouche" rock. The view itslef made the experience so much better. I heard Musar is nice to visit, if nothing the roadtrip itself is a pleasure. Keep us updated with both of your trips Behemoth and Alanbalchin. Elie

Add it with the water. And don't forget to report back. Elie

I am very intrigued by this and according to the nocino thread linked above, Mount Lassen Farmes should have green walnuts soon. My question is, are both Vin De Noix and Nocino pretty much the same thing? With the exception that the first uses wine and the second grain alcohol? Are they used in the same way? I might actually make both. I love wine/alcohol home concoction such as Limoncello and more recently Ratafia. Elie

Do I need to add my compliment to the rest of them, sure I do. Vengroff it is almost lunch time and those close-ups are really pushing my limits. Maybe an early lunch is in order. So, what are you planning to serve it with? if anything at all. Elie

Looking forward to seeing your terrine, and DON'T forget the little sour pickled cucumbers...what are they called again....

Click here to read Robb Walsh's review of the place and you'll get a very good idea of what kind of restaurant Bijan was. Elie

Lucy, this looks perfect and delicious. So, how was it? details please. I like how nice the "round" looks in the center. Elie

Elie, can you direct me to that recipe or describe it? That sounds really good. I love heart. ← It really does not get simpler than this "recipe". He does not even provide quantities . Cut the heart into square 1 inch pieces about 1/4 inch thick. marinate with coarse salt, pepper, chopped fresh thyme and a splash of balsamic vinegar for 24 hours. Cook for about 4 minutes per side on a hot cast iron pan or grill. I used a little bit of oil to cook in my cast iron pan. Elie

so where does the veal stock that Wendy mentions come into this? ← It is used to make the red wine jus that is served with it. Basically reduce red wine with the stock and some aromatics and use as a thin sauce. Elie

Bijan!! What on earth happened? I wonder what Alison would think now if... Ok, let me back up a little. Bijan is close to my work and my co-wrokers and I used to go there more or less regularly. Their grilled items and stews are top notch, and like the review says, the baklava rivals the best in the city. Actually it might be the best in the city. My regular items over there are “number 23” combo, that’s 2 grilled meat kabob (one each ground spiced beef and beef kabob made with whole beef chunks)/rice/bread. I also always get the Doogh, a yogurt drink similar to Ayran or lassi. The baklava is the usual finish, homemade with a thick layer of nuts and flaky sweet filo layers. We have not been to the place in a couple of months maybe. So, we decide to stop by for lunch today, and boy has it changed. Well, it still looks the same but the food is certainly not. First of, my doogh tastes old, very old and very sour. Instead of its normal liquidy smooth state, it is oddly thick and grainy. Too sips into it and I push it away. Then my #23 arrives and behold, the normal butter packet (LOL brand) normally served with the rice is replaced by some margarine packet. So, ok they are trying to cut costs I guess. Then I notice the first real ominous sign, the ground beef kebab looks normal, but what happened to the beef chunks?! They are replaced by thin sorry looking skirt meat (aka fajita meat). I taste the Persian fajita and it is almost inedible, it is “very tender”, perhaps due to the overuse of tenderizer and tastes like nothing but salt. On to the ground beef kebab, this one is edible but lacks the zip and flavor of the original version. Even the rice is salty, so my plate is left with all the “fajita” and most of the rice. The good news is that the bread is still decent so I eat that with the edible kebab. My co-worker orders a small hummus whenever he is here. This time was not different, but the hummus was. It comes in a large “scoop” straight from the fridge and it tastes like the tahini-overloaded canned stuff. They did not even bother to drizzle olive oil on it. We were both so disappointed but we wanted to try one more thing. Do you think the baklava has changed? First off their entire pastry display is filled with pre-packaged Chinese-buffet-style desserts, down to the pound cake and fruit cup! After a long wait they manage to find baklava for us, but we decline because it is obvious that this is not the same homemade pastry they served before. Long gone is the thick nut layer and wonderful flaky pastry. The small little piece again looks like the store-bought baklava you can get at Kroger. I really am sad that Bijan has declined so fast. It was one of those places I recommend to people. I tried asking if they have a new owner but both the cashier and the waitress did not seem to know what I meant, since they were conversing in Spanish the whole time. So, I am really not sure if there is a new owner, but the only non-hispanic person who I could see works there is not the owner I remember. Oh well, for Persian I will be heading down the road to Darband from now on. Elie

Do you have any middle-eastern stores close by? If so, then you should be able to find whole powdered milk there. Look for KLIM or NIDO brands. If all else fails, I think skim should be ok. I could be wrong, but I believe it is the proteins in the powdered milk that gives the ice cream a good texture. Skim milk still has those. Elie ← LOL, I wish there was a middle eastern store close. No such luck. Im in the middle of the country in Southwest Ontario. The closest large town is London. Anyway, I abandoned this recipe for now and pulled one off the web that calls for cornstarch. Im sure it wont be as good But it will have to do for now. I waited until the last minute to decide what to serve. ← Corn starch in ice cream base = Frozen Pudding . I think corn starch in any frozen concotion is evil. I would still try the fat-free powdered milk instead. Elie

I know it is sacrilage not to have them with pate but errrr...eh..I did not have any at the time . Elie

Do you have any middle-eastern stores close by? If so, then you should be able to find whole powdered milk there. Look for KLIM or NIDO brands. If all else fails, I think skim should be ok. I could be wrong, but I believe it is the proteins in the powdered milk that gives the ice cream a good texture. Skim milk still has those. Elie

Sunday: -Circassian Chicken, Turkish dish of shredded chicken in walnut sauce from the latest issue of F&W. Served with Parsley salad, pita bread and pickled turnips. Dessert: Suzy's cake from Pierre Herme's Chocolate Desserts Monday: -Marinated grilled calf's heart. I used the recipe from the St. John book. This was meat, tender and quiet tasty. Served with a celery/parsley/caper salad. Teusday: -Stir fried pork with mushrooms and a hoisin based sauce.

Wendy, do you mind describing the cooking method (I dont have the bouchon book yet). I often make skirt steak, but usually sear it over high heat. ← Working form memeory here, since I made this a week or so ago as well: 1- Season and sear the steak in a combination of oil and butter for about 3 minutes per side. 2- Remove the steaks to a plate 3- Cook the shallots in the steak pan with butter 4- put the steaks in a baking pan, top with the shallots and bake in a 375F oven for a few minutes or until desired donness. Hope this helps, Elie

Zeitoun, you sould've gone with your initial instinct. Yes, the dough is more or less the same but with extra olive oil. The inclusion of yeast in these pies is a must, both for taste and for texture. Otherwise it is an empanada . Zora- I use the term fatayir for the open-faced pies you mention, and it can also be used for the turnovers. However the term sambousek is only used to refer to the turnovers or the triangular shaped spinach pies. This is by no means universal, but I have never heard anyone refer to the open-faced pies as Sambousek. Does this make any sense? Elie

Thanks for the kind words, I was very proud of my very first terrine. ALthough I should not have cut the recipe in half and I should've ended up with three layers instead of two. I was worried it might be too much for my mold. Oh, well, now I know. The other sauce is actually onion marmalade. Elie

I went looking for "my" olive oil yesterday as I just finished off the bottle I'd been working on, and it looks like they stopped carrying it! Of course, I had already thrown out the bottle, and since I was looking for it based on recognizing the label I am helpless to request that they bring it back. I guess it's back to the drawing board... I picked up a different bottle of Greek OO and I will see how it compares. I am really annoyed, as I had been using this brand for about a year and was very happy with it, and now I have to find something different. I may check in at Antone's in Rice Village on the off chance that they carry it there. If I get really desparate, I might even trek out to Phoenecia market and look there, but I'm not sure I am to that point yet. ← That's quiet alright. I went there this past Sunday to try another olive oil and I almost picked up a wonderful looking Spanish one but then a Sicilian (cheaper) one caught my eye and I decided to give it a try. Big mistake, this has absolutly no personality. SO my quest continues as well. I think I will buy the Spanish one next time around. BTW, I bought a bottle of Newman's Own Organic olive oil from Kroger for my wife's grandparents this weekend and it was much better than I expected. Good flavor and great fruit. The label said the oil is from Tunisia. So you might want to give it a try. Now back to CM. I always thought it is very strange why CM can carry these great herbs for under a dollar per bunch (a pretty large bunch too), but all other stores including HEB want to sell us their crappy three sprigs of two-week-old thyme for $2.50. Any ideas? Elie

Great thread people! I am a novice terrine maker, as in I bought a Le Creuset terrine mold a couple of months ago and so far made one terrine, a basic pork and veal one from Julia's Mastering the art, Here are a couple of pics: I have been planning on making a duck or rabbit terrine next. I am hopping to get more tips from this thread. Seth- yours looks great, did you use Peterson's recipe from his Duck cookbook? I have the book and I want to try his recipe. I am not sure which one though, he has a tradional one and one with parsley. The both look excellent. Elie

Fifi- These look absolutly amazing! I admit I never thought of trying them fearing that Gruyere and anchos are not made for each other. I love your presentation as well (I need to buy some of those gratin dishes). I love Larry's Enchiladas, made with prime shelf aged freakishly yellow "rat-cheese" , aka Velveeta. Elie

The rich bitter-sweet Vahlrohna chocolate in a cakey, slightly less than purely fudgy, texture was what I liked about Suzy's cake. I guess part of it is what you like and what you were expecting. What kind of chocolate did you use? ← Ghirardelli as usual. It was not the taste, which was rich and chocolaty, I did not like, it was more the texture. I really did not think it was a bad cake per se, there are just too many other ones I prefer to bake. Elie

Yeap I have! and there is almost nothing better. Unfortunatly my father in law ate the whole loaf, after I took just one slice and left it on the counter. I used leftover salami and provolone to make mine. Elie

I made Suzy's cake this weekend as well. It was easy but I was not too impressed with it. Tasted like a brownie but with a more floury/fluffly texture at room temp. It was actually better straight from the fridge, where it turned dense and fudgy. Patrick these pictures look stunning! I also made the meringue kisses per my mother in law's request. she loves the plain white ones so I made both types. I reserved a couple of the PH ones and served them with Vanilla ice cream. They were way better than I expected, light, chocolaty, crispy and chewy. I am sure I will be making them again. Elie

Very true, and the salep or "sahlab" is the tricky ingredient. First off, in the US is is impossible to find the real thing, and supposedly it is pretty expensive. BTW, mastic is the devil's spawn . It tastes great but sticks like nothing else and is almost impossible to clean up. I use it in certain applications and try either not to stir after it is added or to actually stir with a disposable utensil. I made a very good Lebanese apple/walnut/mastic preserve, but the empty have to be thrown away because of it, instead opf reused. Elie

Made the migas for breakfast yesterday. They were very good and surprisingly creamy with a nice kick. I served them sprinkled with cilantro and with extra corn tortillas. Elie