shain

I don't mean to discourage any usage of ingredients nor do I want to sound fixed on traditiona., but I would like to write a couple of things that might give people some perspective. First, I must say that Israeli couscous is misnamed, and that this causes them to be wrongly considered a substitute for each other. In Israel, Israeli couscous is called ptitim, it's essentially a form of pasta and originated as an alternative to rice in times the later was expensive. It can be used like pasta in salads, or like rice, with saucy dishes. It is not considered to be related to real couscous. It seems to me that outside Africa and the middle east couscous is mostly used in cold preparations and salads. While those do exists traditionally, they are less common, as couscous is usually served warm. I personally much prefer hot couscous. Hot or cold couscous must be served in a moist preparation to taste right. Here is one recipe which is quite traditional and similar to what is also common in Israel. It can be made without meat, and I personally don't add raisins to it. Sweet potato is also a welcomed addition.

If you want dry pasta to be tasty enough to eat plain, try to toast it before cooking. Even the cooking water are tasty enough to drink (sobayu of sorts, I guess ). Obviously, that's somewhat misses the point, since it's not the same flavor quality being discussed. On a different matter, does freeze-dried fresh (uncooked) pasta exists? Will the taste and texture be the same?

A couple of things. The oil on the the tahini is indeed toasted sesame oil, that just separated from the solids, you can actually use it by itself, it makes a nice vinaigrette, and a alternative to other nut oils. It is less intense than the Chinese version, since sesame is toasted lighter for making tahini. You should never (traditionally) add oil to tahini sauce or hummus, as you both noted, the tahini is oily enough. Oil can be drizzled along, if mixed into the tahini, it's flavor will not come through. The tahini sauce recipe you listed is very different from what I'm used to. Mine is approximately 1/2 cup tahini, 1/2 cup water, 2 tspn lemon, salt. Optional touch of black pepper, chili or cumin. And again I just think unhulled tahini just don't fit. It's quite easy two tell, unhulled tahini is darker and has some tiny hull flakes in it. My favorite brand is this one. Amazing who expensive it is abroad... Other than as a salad dressing, tahini sauce can served with meats, especially lamb, grilled chicken and kebabs. It works great with grilled eggplant as a lemony sauce or raw, with some cumin and paprika. You can try it in a babaganush. I've also posted tahini cookies recipe a while ago:

Yes they do, very easy to handle.

I prefer to soak lasagna sheets in cold water before layering and baking. Works great and no need to guess how much liquid to add later.

@blue_dolphin Your lasagna look amazing (especially the photo in the breakfast topic). It sound much like a lasagna recipe I really like, so I'm sure it also tastes great. I made a batch hummus. One with tahini, chickpeas, olive oil and pine nuts. My serving was with onion, chickpeas, tahini, pine nuts and sumac.

I never made tahini paste myself, since even the best cost less than 3$ a pound. You can make tahini with unhulled seeds, but as I said, I do not like to use it in sauce, it is too earthy and bitter. Toast them low and slow, grind them as if making peanut butter (many instructions online). It makes a delicious spread on toast with some honey. Unhulled sesame is also very healthy. I should also mention that for use in salads with moist ingredients, such as tomatoes, tahini sauce is better made a little thicker and tarter to offset the added vegtable liquids.

I eat tahini sauce every day, it is a staple in Israeli cuisine. The most important factor is the tahini you use. It's important to note that it's not necessary the same tahini you prefer too eat raw. I always keep 2 brands, one for suace and one for eating raw and using in sweets. I also keep a whole meal tahini, which is good for eating raw or sweet, but not in lemony sauce. Another factor is sufficient amount of water, dilution is important to realese the nuances of tahini and reduce the earthy-toasted notes to a pleasant level. Start with a ratio of one to one by volume. It should be very liquid and flow freely. If you want it thicker, refrigerate it for a few hours. Do not add too much garlic. No more then one clove to one cup of prepared sauce. A good tahini suace doesn't have to contain garlic at all, but it does improve it. Lemon should be added to taste, it's quite easy to get the amount right if you know what you like. Always mix the raw tahini in it's jar very well before using, otherwise you will get too much solids or too much fat.

Leeks and caramelized onion quiche with cream cheese and Parmesan (whole milk instead of cream, since the cheeses are fatty). Had slightly to much filling, so I made a tiny crust less baby quiche. Even better when re-crisped in the oven for lunch the next day.

Looks like a great lunch! Now I really want to put my hands on some tarhana, but I never seen it being sold or made before, so I guess it's going to be an upcoming DIY project. I really like roasted chickpeas, my absolute favorite way to make it is to coat them in curry powder (I use turmeric, fenugreek, cumin, fennel and black pepper), then add some chili for heat, salt, and a touch of brown sugar. It's amazing how fast those things disappear, I just can't seem to ever make enough.

I really hope you will enjoy them! Tell me how it went out when you do.

@Deryn thank you very much. This is my recipe, which was based on the recipe I use for choclate Biscotti, which is in turn a modified version of this recipe this recipe.

Here you go.

Makes 40 cookies, 2 loaves. 50-60 g very aromatic olive oil 80 g honey 120 to 150 g sugar (I use 120 because I like it only gently sweet) 2 eggs 2 teaspoons of fine lemon zest, from apx 1 lemon 230 g flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 75 g lightly toasted peeled pistachios 50 g lightly toasted almonds (you can replace some with pine nuts) Optional: a little rosemary or anise seed Optional: more olive oil for brushing Heat oven to 170 deg C. In mixer (or by hand), mix oil, honey, sugar, lemon, egg and if desired, the optional spices - until uniform. Separately mix together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add flour mixture to mixer bowel with liquids and fold until uniform. Dough will be sticky and quite stiff. Don't knead or over mix. Add nuts and fold until well dispersed. On a parchment lined baking tray, create two even loaves of dough. With moist hands, shape each to be rectangular and somewhat flat - apx 2cm heigh, 6cm wide and 25cm long. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until golden and baked throughout, yet somewhat soft and sliceable. Rotate pan if needed for even baking. Remove from tray and let chill slightly or completely. Using a sharp serrated knife, gently slice to thin 1/2 cm thick cookies. Each loaf should yield 20 slices. Lay slices on tray and bake for 10 minutes. Flip and bake for another 10-15 minutes until complelty dry and lightly golden. Brush with extra olive oil, if desired. This will and more olive flavor. Let chill completely before removing from tray. Cookies keep well in a closed container and are best served with desert wines or herbal tea.

Sure, I'll post it tomorrow.

Thank you very much. I used a electric convection oven, pushed to it's limit. The thick steel help get good results, yet I wish I had an oven capable of higher temps. Maybe one day.

Pizza for dinner. First is a classical Margarita, uncooked tomato sauce - peeled, crashed and drained; fior di latte (fresh cow milk mozzarella), plenty of basil - added post bake. Second is one of my favorite usual toppings: Pesto (with plenty of pine nuts and Parmesan), ricotta, some low moisture mozzarella, sliced cherry tomatoes. And a first time topping for me: Same raw tomato sauce, Roquefort, low moisture mozzarella, granny smith apple, black pepper. Very good. Maybe I should re-consider my aversion from pineapple on pizza (it always seemed wrong to me, but if apple works, then it might do as well). First two baked 6-7 minutes on a baking steel @ 270 deg C, under a broiler. Last one baked 8 minutes, as the oven lost heat.

Thank you for replying. Baklawa is made with philo pastry, and as much as I understand so does the galaktoboureko, correct? It makes sense that philo inspired puff pastry, if someone has historical knowledge about this, I'd like to hear. Do try the rum variation, I can imagine only good things out of this combination.

I never heard of this one before. Semolina custard seems more interesting then pastry cream. I wonder if this is an intermediate link between baklava to mille feuille. Is the filling flavored with something other than milk?

Biscotti with pistachios, almonds, lemon zest and olive oil. I should have sliced them thinner, but yet, very tasty.

Two Indian style curries, over basmati rice with nigella seeds and yogurt. The first one in peas and courgette in tomato sauce with carrot, onion, many spices with notable anise & fennel note. Second is cauliflower and chickpeas with browned onion. Again, many spices, but notable fenugreek, turmeric and cumin note.

So I've made a test batch today, I don't have fine sugar on hand right now, so I used granular. Mixed 100g PB, 65g flour and 40g sugar. Baked until dry and just starting to get some color, lost track of time, maybe 15 minutes. Tastes just right, very peanut, and just sweet enough, I could feel the sugar crystals, as I thought may happen - adds some crunch, not sure if I like it or not. Only problem is that it's very-very short, it crumbles when handles and lacks crunchiness. Next batch I'm going to add more flour, and probably some liquid. It did held it shape while baking (until I lifted it and it crumbled), which is important, as I plan on shaping it into a hollow cylinder. Thank you both for the input so far.

Thank you both for the replies. I found the post you mentioned, quite a desert it was! Cakewalk, your recipe seems to have a high sugar content, I assume that reducing it might be desirable for me, considering the caramel and choclate I plan to add. Also is there a reason that you use two types of sugar? Hopefuly, I'll get to bake a test batch this weekend.

I'm thinking of making a twin-snickers inspired cookie of sorts, based on crisp peanut flavored shortbread cookie. So I'm looking for a recipe. Ideally, I'd like all the fat coming from peanut butter, and adding only flour and sugar to it.

I'm not sure I fully understood you. Are you saying that if you let it sit overnight then it's not as creamy-gooey as if you cooked straight away? Or is it not creamy enough at all? I'm not sure that sodium citrate will help much. What I assume, as that the pasta soaks too much of the moisture from the cheese sauce, making it feel fatty/buttery instead of creamy, is this what you are describing? If so, then you can try to either add more liquid to your sauce, or alternatively, keep it separated, heat it when ready, then combine with the pasta and place under a broiler to brown,