shain

It was pizza dinner yesterday. First is a pizza topped with lightly smoked ricotta with herbs, mozzarella, sauteed mushrooms and oven grilled eggplants. All of them baked on a baking steel under broiler, this one took 6 minutes to bake. Second is a simple tomato sauce and mozzarella, slightly spicy. 5 minutes for this one. And finally a couple of smaller calzones, filled with eggplant, tomato slices, spinach, basil and mozzarella. 7 minutes. A little of a picture overload ahead - my apologies

I wish I could get fresh grated coconut, I can sometimes get whole coconuts, but they are usually expensive and not very flavorful, and then I'll have to grate them myself... Anyway, basbousas are usually made with dry coconut flakes, which works fine in this pastry. If you do have fresh coconut, I'm sure it will only be better (just make sure to compensate for the added moisture). And my suggestion is that you hold some of the syrup and taste the basbousa before adding the it all - many recipes are overly sweet (IMO).

Oven roasted cauliflower in olive oil, with cumin, chili, paprika and a little curry powder. Lemon-tahini sauce, and a salsa of chopped tomatoes, mint, parsley, and chili.

Picked the first of the Shamuti (AKA Jaffa) oranges and clementines. They are OK, going to get much more flavorful in a few weeks. @kayb the excess heat is quite harsh on the citrus this year, the trees restored their vigor only this month. The Shamuti oranges have a thick and not very bitter peel, which I think will do great candied. I never tried making it before.

No straight horseradish, but I do have chrain (horseradish with beets), might be nice (or at least interesting).

Thanks everyone for the great ideas! Gratin is great idea, I think I'll make one of mixed winter veggies & mushrooms. A grilled cheese of sorts is also likely to be made. But @andiesenji, I have both mushrooms and spinach on hand (bought some to make pizzas and a calzone), so I'm going to follow your idea first. I'm still open for more ideas. Tanks again .

I received a couple of large jars of grainy mustard and I am looking for ways to use it up. I don't use mustard too often, and when I do it's usually with grilled vegetables or with potatoes, and only small amount. I have plenty of meat based recipes in mind, but being a vegetarian, I don't make those often... Any suggestions?

I'm glad to see that you tried it. I guess it is indeed harder to time recipes over the stove. Sorry it was too salty, it's hard to tell if our measurement weren't synced, or if I'm a salt lover (probably a little). Also, make sure that you don't have a significant amount salt in the zaatar mixture. Anyhow, if you decide to make it again, please let me now, methi sounds interesting, perhaps with some turmeric and cumin.

Sorry for missing your post until now. It will work fine, I choose to do it in this order since it's easier to pour the dry ingredients - there is no need to scrape the bowl to get it out.

The fast browning and cracking are directly related and both are caused by the convection. The loaf is baked inwards from the outside, and as it does and inner part is heated, it raises and expends, pushing the top upwards. As long the the top is not yet set, it can raise freely without cracking, but once set, any further expansion from inside, will force it to crack. The convection causes air currents in the oven that causes the top of the cake to heat and dehydrate faster then they would in a regular oven, while the inside is less effected, therefore still expending while the top is set. And for the same reason, it is browning too fast. A few options: - Don't use convection (Best option, if your oven allows it). - Cover the cake from the start, and remove later to brown the cake. - Use a lower heat (20dC / 36dF) lower than in a regular oven. Reducing the amount of baking powder will also help, but will affect the texture. And will not help to prevent browning. Also, I personally don't believe it is necessary to throw old baking powder, as long is it was stored well, and not somewhere moist.

@Tri2Cook I also don't have fresh fenugreek leaves available (unless I try to germinate some seeds), so I used the seeds in my recipe. I think I like them better then (dry) leaves anyway. My spice mix included said fenugreek, cumin, coriander, mustard, fennel, chili and dry curry leaves, toasted in oil then ground, to which I added (not toasted) turmeric, paprika and black pepper.

Methi chole - chickpeas in a curry rich with fenugreek, gently sweet and quite hot - served over pancakes (made with yogurt and flavored with fennel seeds). It might be a little unusual, but makes sense considering that fenugreek has a maple-like aroma to it. Some real maple syrup was added to give a little sweetness and balance the chili. The pancakes did a great job of soaking some of the curry, without turning overly soft. The remaining curry went into the freezer, and will accompany some cauliflower in a few weeks.

Thank you, I appreciate that very much

Cocoa biscotti, with hazelnuts, figs and a gentle hint of fennel seeds. Those are not very sweet, with a notable bitter edge. Goes well with coffee.

Balls and rice shaped ptitim are the original and the most common, but ring and star shaped ones are quite common. In recent years there are even more new shapes available (numbers, animals, letters, hearts, etc.). It is considered somewhat of a children food, and is mostly served warm, often with fried onions, tomato sauce or baked along with chicken and vegetables. Google images for פתיתים (ptitim) will get you the idea of it. It is not commonly served in salads, which seems to be the common preparation outside of Israel.

This is ptitim (Israeli couscous), so it falls under the term pasta. The boiled portion was toasted before cooking, and the rest pan fried, hence the golden color. I must say, I've never noticed how similar it is to Cheerios (albeit smaller). I now want to try and make a Cheerios inspired snack, of ptitim, pan fried in butter; with honey and nuts - somewhat like Struffoli.

Here you go: @liamsaunt Those are great looking popovers!

Updated Nov 1st 2020. Best served warm, with labneh and vegetables. I enjoy making a sandwich filled with of labeneh, finely chopped tomato and parsley. Also great served with scrambled eggs cooked with tomatoes and onion, and of course, labneh Ingredients for one not very big bread or 10 muffins, a 20cm frying pan (as flatbread) or a small loaf pan. dry: 85g AP flour (you can use a cake flour if you have it on hand) 1/2-1 teaspoon salt (some zaatar mixtures contains various amounts of salt, so add to taste) 2/3 teaspoon baking powder 15-20g zaatar mixture (I encourage you to also try other spices) wet: 2 eggs 1 teaspoon sugar 90g-100g thick yogurt 20g flavorful olive oil optional: 1/2 a tomato, cut into small dice optional: a handful pf chopped cheese such as mozzarella or feta (reduce salt if using feta!) Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a second larger bowl, beat together the wet ingredients well. To make a flatbread in a frying pan: Preheat the frying pan over medium heat, and oil it well. Fold the flour mixture into the wet mixture. Do not over mix. Pour batter into the hot frying pan. Spread batter evenly. Cover the pan and cook until cooked through, the bottom is brown and crisp, and the top is not sticky. About 10 minutes. Avoid over cooking. Gently flip and briefly cook the second side. re-fry the browned side to get it crisp again if needed. To bake as muffins: Pour into greased muffin tin. It should make about 10-12 small muffins or 6-8 large ones. Bake at 200dC just until a toothpick comes out clean, apx 15-20 - they won't brown much so be careful not to over bake. If you want them prettier and a bit crisp, under bake them by a couple of minutes. Remove from tin, and cool a little. Brush with oil and bake at high heat until browned, apx 5-8 minutes.

Harak Osbao inspired by @Nicolai (At this thread). I've supplemented the brown lentils with some split red lentils, since they cook much faster, they dissolved into the stew and made it thicker while the brown lentils stayed intact. Tamarind water and a small amount of cumin, chili and anise seeds. Instead of frying pieces of pita bread, I've kept some of the pasta (ptitim actually), soaked it in cold water, then proceeded to fry it. The texture is very similar to fried flat bread, but I thought it looked nice and being very small, it mixed well with the lentils. The rest of the pasta was cooked normally and mixed into the stew. Tee addition of pomegranate kernels is however what makes this dish, they balance the sour tamarind and earthy lentil very well. So thanks Nicolai, it was quite delicious! I've also made a quick-flatbread with zaatar and yogurt - that's a thick batter, leavened with baking powder and baked in a pan until brown and crisp from outside. It turned out very nice and flavorful. Also very quick to make. Served warm with labneh and tomatoes.

Apple pecan muffins. Apples, some grated for moisture, some diced for texture, toasted pecans and maple syrup, a little cinnamon and a hint of nutmeg. Topped with more pecans and brown sugar for crispness. Double baked, first in a tin and then on a rack - so the interior is moist and the outside browned and crisp all around.

Crisp and warm roll with avocado, sirene cheese, raw onion slices, black pepper and chili. Chopped vegetable salad with tahini sauce.

Smoky black beans with feta cheese. Charred peppers cooked with tomatoes, garlic, cumin and cilantro. Popcorn with cumin, smoked paprika. Pico de gallo. Sour cream.

You can make shakshuka , small fresh eggs are best for it. You can also freeze separated eggs to bake with later. Just make sure their size will suit the recipe.

@Nicolai Thank you for the recipe! I'll surely make it soon enough.

I've never heard of this one, but it sounds like a dish I'd adore . Would you mind sharing a recipe (I saw some online , but I rather have a trustworthy one). Also, I might note that Lebanon and Syria produces the best pine nuts (and their long shape is very pretty). I really wish I could visit Lebanon and Syria one day. Lebanon especially is really beautiful.