This is a beautiful summer dessert when fresh citrus and berries are in season. For some reason I wanted it to be greener (it turned out yellow-green, which i suppose is because of the eggs), but the taste made up for the color. I think the zest was supposed to be minced finer, but even though I could see strips of zest, it still tasted just fine. In fact, I think i like being able to see that there was zest in it. It is quite tart, so serve each slice with big dollops of whipped cream and sliced strawberries.

This curd recipe was really easy, as it did not require a double boiler. I was apprehensive about pouring the curd mixture directly into a pan, but it turned out just fine!

Recipe here: (more…)

One year ago: Totaa

Think back to your idea of a traditional kitchen, filled with a bunch of women, sharing stories over big bowls of food while they prepare a big meal for their family. Kibbe is that kind of food. There’s a big pot of meat, a big pot of dough, and a bunch of hands rolling and filling and frying while the kitchen echos with laughter and stories.

My friend/mother-in-law, Fatimah, tells me that being able to make kibbe is considered the mark of a great cook in Syria. I’m definitely not there, but it was very fun spending an afternoon learning how to make this classic dish.

Everyone has their own recipe for kibbe (also called kubbe). There are two main ways to prepare it – in bars or in stuffed lemon-shaped dumplings. People from Shaam, especially Syrians, make the dumpling style. These can either be fried and dipped in plain yogurt to eat, or made with a cooked yogurt sauce called shakriya. You can also make them in a patty style and slow-cook them in a barbeque, then serve them with plain yogurt for dipping. I’ll show all three of these styles in this post. The hardest thing to do is stuff and shape the dumplings into the traditional lemon form. I’ll try to show as step-by-step of a process as I can, but really, it just takes a lot and lot and a lot of patience and practice to get it right – but it’s worth it!

Other great Kibbe posts

Kibbi Mihshiyya at Arabic Bites
Kubbe in Broth at Desert Candy

Recipe (and lots more pictures) here: (more…)

One year ago: Mochi

The silver-haired man sitting next to me at dinner said not a word the whole evening. He listened patiently to the judge on my left and nodded along as we all discussed the Legal Ethics scenario for the evening.

He seemed a real southern gentleman. A quiet, pensive man who started life as a hardworking youth and grew into a hardworking adult. His mind had been trained with the words and writings of the law, but his hand stil yearned for the skills of his more fulfilling life.

He was a craftsman. A tinkerer through and through. His joy came from tying strong knots of fishing line onto a hook or carving a block of wood into a toy soldier for his grandson.

It was the same attention to detail that made him an excellent lawyer. His days were spent arguing for his clients. I could imagine him in action during his prime – commanding the attention of the judge and jury in all the terror and power of the courtroom stage. But the night I met him, he spent the evening lost in his own contemplation, with his hands in his lap, not in prayer, but doing what came naturally to their skills. One of the tines of his fork was oddly bent, and over the course of the night, it was reshaped and reformed by his wrinkled but strong hands.

I learned more from his silence that night than from the tableful of respected attorneys giving their opinion on someone else’s life. At the end of the night, when he shook my hand warmly, I could truly say to him, “It was a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

This is a simple, homey soup with just some basic flavors – not a lot of fancy herbs or spices, just the basics. Onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and the vegetables. And with a simple shortcut, its super quick.

Leeks look like an overgrown scallion and have a mild oniony taste, so you don’t have to start by sautéing onions for this soup…unless you just really like onions. Leeks are a little quirky to work with – the bottom part of a leek, the white part, is grown underground, so the dirt gets inside the layers. With leeks, you cut first, then submerge in water and rinse very well to get the dirt all out.

I used leftover mashed potatoes that I had frozen to make this. The mashed potatoes had spinach and mushrooms in a buttermilk alfredo sauce (this one), so if you wanted to make it the full “Potato, spinach, mushroom, and leek soup” (which I highly recommend), just sautee the mushrooms and spinach along with the leeks.

Recipe here (more…)

From my old, brown-paged, batter-stained Joy of Cooking, vol. 2: Appetizers, Desserts, and Baked Goods. It needed a little adjustment, but it was quite good – even though I don’t usually like orange flavors in desserts. I’m sure you can make it with lemon zest instead. It’s very good spread with ricotta cheese and drizzled with honey.

By the way, zest can be frozen. If you’ve got a bag of lemons to make lemonade, or if you’re peeling an orange to eat – zest it, then freeze it in a little ziploc bag, and juice a little bit of the fruit into the bag. You can keep it on hand and be ready to bake or make curd or add it to seafood.

Recipe here (more…)

Sounds fancy, eh? It’s not. Don’t be alarmed. On Sunday nights, I usually try to make a big pot of something that we can eat for dinner and that will last Ameir and I all week to take to work/school for lunch. This came together so quickly, I was back to lounging on the sofa in no time. (Summer break!). This thick sauce would also be good over couscous or stuffed into a hoagie roll with cheese melted on top.

Recipe here (more…)

This is a very tasty and filling weekend breakfast. It does take some time for the potatoes to cook, but it’s worth it. The tomatoes are optional, but I really recommend them because they make a tangy sauce and also provide some liquid for the potatoes to cook in. To make this quicker, microwave-boil the potatoes before putting them in the skillet.

Recipe here (more…)

This recipe is now featured on KeyIngredient.com! Seeeee?

Also known as “Why Is It So Cold In The Spring In NC” Soup or “We Just Had A Huge Barbeque on Saturday, What Will I Do With All The Leftovers” Soup.

This whole week is rainy and cold. It doesn’t make sense, so I decided to make stew. Yes. Stew solves all problems, including what to do with all of the leftovers from Ameir’s graduation barbeque. These will all be very imprecise measurements, since I was working with leftovers from the fridge. The stew is a combination of guacamole, roasted corn, tomato sauce, chicken broth, and shredded leftover chicken. It came together so quickly, in less than 20 minutes! It also stores well and tastes better the next day.

Recipe here: (more…)

Allah disdains not to use the similitude of things, lowest as well as highest. Those who believe know that it is truth from their Lord; but those who reject Faith say: “What means Allah by this similitude?” By it He causes many to stray, and many He leads into the right path; but He causes not to stray, except those who forsake (the path), (Al Baqarah 26)

As I sat in the law school courtyard one morning, pondering over my Property reading, I was (not surprisingly) distracted by a huge bumblebee undertaking an impossible task. Wings buzzing at top speed, she was attempting, quite unsuccessfully, to fly into a closed window. I’m assuming she didn’t realize that she was trying to cross clear glass instead of clear air, but she was persistent nonetheless.

At first, it was hilariously amusing. She’d smack straight into window, fly around a little, then try again and smack straight into it. Bzzzzzzzz – smack! – bzzzzzzzz – smack!

But as my unruly mind started to wander, it stopped being funny.

This poor bee was attempting, with every beat of her wings, to grasp that fleeting mistress that every living creature wants from the depth of its existence. Sakoon.

I cannot translate this word directly into English. Sukoon is a softening calmness, a cooling peace of the soul. It at once encompasses freedom and restraint, as a heart with sukoon is free to love, live and worship and also restrains itself from anger, envy, and discontent. It fortifies a creature’s trust in God and thus his or her ability to have faith in Him. When God allows us to feel moments of sukoon in this life, it’s like a little gift, a taste of what bounties Paradise will hold.

This bumblebee was in a state of unrest and despair. She was trying with every ounce of her strength to reach her destination, her place of sukoon, but there was something invisible blocking her path. But she kept trying, literally throwing herself into her task, determined to find a way no matter how much it hurt.

In a few minutes, she had figured it out. This path was closed to her; there would be no success there. She turned around and flew away to find another path to get home. Her wings must have been aching with pain, her body bruised from her efforts, but she refused to give up. She would find her sukoon, somehow, because if God closed one path to her, He would surely open up another.

Salam ‘Alaiki, ya sayaddati. How many lessons you taught me that morning.

This one will make you consider dropping out of law school and opening a pizzaria. The key to this is the garlic-herb oil that is brushed onto the crust before the toppings are added and the cheese is melted all over the top.

Garlic-herb oil

Warm a quarter cup of olive oil on the stove over medium heat. While it is heating, chop two inches of rosemary and one garlic clove and add them to the oil. Add a few dashes of red pepper flakes, dried basil, and dried oregano. When the rosemary and garlic start to sizzle, stir a few times and then remove from heat. (these are the proportions I used for a small pizza. Make more as you need it).

The crust

For the crust, I used a crusty-chewy Afghani bread (from Jerusalem Bakery in Raleigh), but you could also use focaccia. Microwave the bread for about 15 seconds to soften, then spread with the oil, making sure to get the herbs and red pepper onto the bread. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes. (Don’t let the garlic burn!) Alternatively, use a store bought crust or dough and bake store bought as directed on package until almost done, then brush the oil on top and bake for 5 minutes.

The toppings

Slice very thinly: five mushrooms, a bit of red onion, a bit of tomato. Put down on the pizza the tomato, onion, then mushrooms and salt and pepper well. Press down the toppings with your hands. Pour a little bit of garlic-herb oil over the mushrooms and put it in the Low Broil until the mushrooms soften. A picture is on the left of the crust with half of the toppings (the bread already had black seed on it).

Top with cheese (I used mozarella), press down, then drizzle a bit of the oil on top. Salt and pepper, then put in a Low Broil oven for a few minutes until the cheese is melted. Switch the broiler to High and let the cheese brown to your liking.

Cut into slices, serve with a salad or soup!