Lebanese Dinner at Joanna and Jacek's house; November 19th, 2006

menu:

appetizers:

Dolmades (Stuffed grape leaves) - prepared by Brenda and Rudy

1 lb. ground lamb
1 lb. ground beef (lean)
1 cup rice
½ cup chopped white onion
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
¼ - ½ cup chopped mint (spearmint or peppermint)
¼ cup chopped parsley
Juice from 2 lemons
1 jar whole grape leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Steam the cup of white rice until cooked. In large bowl, combine the steamed rice w/ all the other ingredients (except grape leaves) and blend. The use of an electric blender here is extremely useful! Remember to add desired salt and pepper as ingredients are blending. While ingredients are blending, remove grape leaves from jar, taking great care not to rip too many, and rinse well w/ fresh water and open, laid out on paper towels. Leaves should be void of stems. Once everything is mixed well, place approximately a tablespoonful of the mix towards the base of the grape leaves and fold in sides, base and roll up until stuffing is covered by the leave. Continue until leaves and/or mix are gone.

Place stuffed leaves in a pyrex dish and cover w/ chicken both and additional lemon juice (if desired). Place in oven and cook at 400C for 1-1.5 hrs. With baster, baste leaves frequently w/ both to keep them from burning. Placing a pyrex or ceramic dish on top of the stuffed leaves keeps them from floating up and keeps them submerged.

Humus (Lebanese chick-pea cream with garlic) - prepared by Joanna and Jacek

1. Take a can of chickpeas (standard, 850ml 530 g), also called garbanzo beans. Wash the peas.

2. Put the peas in a blender. Add 100 ml of lemon juice. Let it turn for a while. When it becomes “creamy”.

3. Add 100 ml of olive oil. Let it turn until the cream is “perfect”.
4. Prepare four big garlic cloves. Stop the blender, crunch the garlic with a garlic-cruncher on top of humus, wait 2-3 min for garlic to “mature”, and mix again the humus.

5. Serve it cold with pita bread.



Baba Ganoush - prepared by Joanna and Jacek

Serves 4/6

1 medium eggplant
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
1-2 garlic cloves
salt (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 400. Pierce eggplant in several places w/a fork and place in a shallow baking dish. Cover loosely w/foil and bake for about 40 minutes or until tender and slightly imploded. Remove while skin is still hot, and trim away ends if still firm. Chop the flesh until fine or puree in blender or food processor. Blend in most of the lemon juice and gradually add the tahini. Crush the garlic and add, beat well, then add the remaining lemon juice and salt to taste if desired. Beat in olive oil and place in a shallow bowl and serve cold with pita bread.

salad:

Tabouli - prepared by Catherine and George



side dish:

Lebanese Inspired Eggplant - prepared by John and Kyle

source: cooks.com

2 large eggplant, cut into slices or cubes 1" thick
2 large onions, thickly sliced
1 whole head of garlic, peeled and separated
1/4 teaspoon each oregano and basil, fresh minced or flakes (optional)
2 30 oz. cans whole tomatoes
olive oil
salt

1. Slice eggplant and sprinkle with salt. Fry eggplant in olive oil until both sides are browned and blackened. Place eggplant into casserole and set aside. In the same fry pan, sauté onions in olive oil until slightly browned.

2. Stir in garlic and sauté several more minutes. Place onion and garlic into the casserole dish. Pour over the tomatoes and incorporate evenly.

3. Bake at 500°F for 30-40 minutes until the watery juice is gone from the sauce. Grill until tomatoes start to caramelize and blacken. Remove from oven and let set 10 minutes. Eat with pita bread, ripping off medium size pieces and scooping the eggplant and tomato in!

Lebanese Lentil-and-Rice Pilaf - prepared by Joanna and Jacek

Serves 4

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 14-ounce cans vegetable broth
3/4 cup dried lentils, rinsed, picked over
3/4 cup long-grain white rice

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and next 4 ingredients; sauté until onion softens, about 4 minutes. Add broth and lentils; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Stir in rice; return to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until liquid is absorbed and rice and lentils are tender, about 15 minutes longer.

main dish:

Lebanese Spicy Fish with Tahini Sauce - prepared by Joanna and Jacek

Serves 4

4 cloves garlic
2 chilli
1 cup walnuts
1 bunches cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup tahini
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 lb fish (red snapper or sea bass)
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Make the sauce by mincing together cilantro, garlic, chilli, walnuts, tahini, lemon juice, cumin, paprika, salt and 1 spoon of olive oil. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 375F.

3. Brush a large baking dish with the remaining olive oil. Place fish in a baking dish and pour over the sauce. Cover dish with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes.

4. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

dessert:

Layali Libnan (Lebanese nights) - a cold semolina pudding with caramel syrup sauce and pistachio nut topping - prepared by Dena and Sam

source: allrecipes.com

Serves 15

PUDDING:
8 cups cold milk
1 1/2 cups semolina
2 eggs
3 tablespoons rose water

SYRUP:
4 cups white sugar
2 1/4 cups water
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

TOPPING:
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped pistachio nuts

1. Pour the milk into a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat, and slowly pour in the semolina in a steady stream, stirring continuously. Continue to stir and cook until the mixture thickens and boils for 1 to 2 minutes.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the eggs and rose water. Pour the mixture into a 9x13 inch serving dish, or individual dishes. Allow the pudding to cool slightly, then cover with plastic wrap directly on the top. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 5 hours or overnight.

3. Heat 1/2 cup of the sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then cook until the mixture turns golden brown. Immediately remove from the heat and stir in the rest of the water. Don't worry if the mixture bubbles and hardens a bit, it will dissolve. Return the pan to the stove, and stir in the remaining sugar until dissolved. Add the lemon juice, to the sugar syrup, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and chill. The syrup will keep for a month if refrigerated in a sealed container.

4. To serve, whip the whipping cream with sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread a thin layer of whipped cream over the pudding. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Cut into squares, and serve with caramel syrup poured around it.