Pita Bread 1 pkg active dry yeast
1 1/4 cup warm water
3 cups flour
2 tsp salt
Dissolve yeast in the warm water. Stir in flour and salt.
Knead on a floured board (I usually just dust some flour on
my kitchen counter.) until smooth, which is about 5-10 minutes.
Divide dough into six pieces and knead each a couple times
until smooth and round. Flatten each to 1/4" thick and 4-5"
diameter. A rolling pin would be helpful for this, but you
could do it with your hands, or maybe use a glass soda bottle.
Place the disks on cookie sheets, and cover with a dish towel.
Put in a warm place (like a gas oven with just the pilot on)
and let rise for 45 minutes. Turn upside down on cookie sheets
and bake at 500 for 10-15 minutes, until very lightly browned.
(If they get too brown, they are still good, but they crack
when you put stuff in them.)
This is the recipe my mom uses, and they come out pretty good. Sometimes
you get one that doesn't puff, but you can usually cut the middle apart
with a knife.
From: pld@acsu.buffalo.edu (Pat Dennis)
Organization: University at Buffalo
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 1994 14:09:40 GMT
[I tested this one, and none of mine puffed. However, since you can slit
them open yourself you can make sure the sides are of equal thickness. I've
tried other recipes where the bread puffs open on its own, but the top side is
thinner and they tend to rip at that point when you fill them.]
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Bean and Sesame Seed Spread (Hummus, HOO-muss)
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1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained (reserve liquid)
1/2 cup sesame seed
1 clove garlic, cut into halves
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
snipped parsley
pocket bread or vegetable dippers
Place reserved bean liquid, the sesame seed and garlic in blender
container. Cover and blend on high speed until mixed. Add beans,
lemon juice and salt; cover and blend on high speed, stopping
blender to scrape sides if necessary, until of uniform consistency.
Garnish with parsley. Serve as spread or dip with wedges of pita
bread.
2 cups spread
Source: Betty Crocker's International Cookbook, 1989
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Eggplant Dip (Baba Ghannooj, BAH-bah gah-NOOSH)
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1 lg eggplant
1 clove garlic
salt to taste
4T tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/4 c water
1/4-1/2 c lemon juice
Bake or grill eggplant until well done (grilling is best). Remove the skin
and preserve the liquid. Chop fine.
Mash garlic with salt. Add tahini and blend thouroughly. Slowly add water
and mix well. Add lemon juice and blend well. Add the eggplant and mash
with a potato masher or mdaqqa (a large wooden mallet).
Source: Lebanese Cookbook (translated)
From: ??@u.cc.utah.edu
Date: 17 Jan 1994 15:44:32 -0700
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Syrian Salad
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1 head romaine lettuce
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
5 radishes, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
2 large tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 scallions, chopped
1 small red onion, sliced
3 ounces feta cheese, sliced or crumbled
1/2 cupe stemmed fresh parsley, coarsley chopped
several black olives
2 tablespoons capers (optional)
Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of one lemon
1 tblspn wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, pressed
salt to taste
fresh-ground black pepper to taste
pinch of dried mint
Rinse the roamaine, tear it into bite-sized pieces, and put in salad bowl.
Arrange other vegetables attractively over the romaine,topping with the
feta, parsley, olives and capers. Combine the dressing ingredients and
drizzle over the salad.
Source: Sundays at Moosewood
Date: Sun, 20 Feb 94 21:33:36 EST
From: laurie ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simple Iranian Salad
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1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
juice of one lime
salt and pepper to taste
Mix together. Chill before serving.
Yogurt with Cucumbers (Mast o khiar)
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1 cucumber, chopped
1 container of plain yogurt (16 oz.)
1/2 teaspoon of dill weed
salt and pepper to taste
Blend all ingredients. Chill before serving.
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 21:53:04 -0600 (CST)
From: Beverly ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Felafel
~~~~~~~
1 pound can chick peas (drained) or the same amount fresh cooked
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbs parsely, finely chopped
1 egg
1 tsp dried hot red peppers
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground coriander or cumin
1-2 - 1 cup breadcrumbs or fine burghul (cracked wheat)
1 tsp sale
vegetable oil
1. Mix chick peas and onion
2. Add parsely, lightly beaten egg and spices
3. Whirl in a blender or mix very well
4. Add breadcrumbs until the mixture will form a small ball without
sticking to your hands
5. Form the chickpea mixture into small balls about the size of a
quarter
6. Flatten the patties slightly before frying them in deep hot fat until
golden brown on each side
7. Drain on paper towels
The recipe goes on to say that you should serve them individually with
toothpicks, but felafel that is sold on every corner in Israel is like this:
pita halves
fried felafel balls
cucumbers
tomatoes
onion
techina
french fries (optional)
pickle chips
other interesting things
For the kids, place out separate bowls of everything, so they can pick
and choose.
Fill a pita half with two or three balls, add some chopped veggies,
french fries, anything else you might want to stuff in. Some of the
things offered at the felafel stands here are fried eggplant, fried
cauliflower, pickled carrots, whatever you want.
Top the stuff with a tablespoon of prepared techina, and place a large
napkin on your lap because this can become messy eating!
Betayavon (Hebrew for Good Appetite)
Source: Israeli Cooking on a Budget
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 12:16:59 +0200 (IST)
From: "Joel W./Mirjam D." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Koufte-ouche
============
This is a Persian/Kurdish dish of meat patties that I got from my
grandmother - it's a favorite dish for the whole family. It is served
with rice and salad and optionally fried tomato slices.
1 kg mince meat [could use ~ 2 lbs. ground beef--kkc]
2 medium cooked potatoes mashed
0.3 - 0.5 cup diced spring onions
1-2 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon chicken soup/stock powder
salt/pepper to taste
Oil for frying
Mix all ingredient well (mix with hands). Mixture should be smoothe and
not too stiff & dry. Since my Grandmother cooks by sight she could not
give exact amounts. Make balls and flatten to create a thin patty that is
maximum 1 cm in thickness [little less than 1/2"--kkc]. Use water to
wet hands so that mixture does not stick. Place in frying pan with oil
(do not deep fry).
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Cream Cheese Oznei Haman with Jam Filling
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1 cup sugar
1 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 3 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
Jam (your choice of flavors)
In a large bowl beat sugar, margarine and cream cheese until
light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg, blend well. Stir in flour
and salt and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1-
2 hours for easier handling.
Heat oven to 375 F. On lightly floured surface roll half the
dough to 1/8 inch thickness, refrigerate remaining dough. Cut
into 2 1/2 inch rounds and place one inch apart on an ungreased
cookie sheet. Spoon 1 tsp jam into the center of each round and
shape into triangles by folding 3 sides in without covering the
jam. Pinch corners to seal.
Bake at 375 F for 7-10 minutes or until edges are lightly
browned. Cool 1 minute before removing from sheet.
Repeat with second half of dough.