Salbin Bel-Lahmeh
November 2nd, 2010
Today’s recipe is about Salbin or A’kkoub or Ka’oub (English : gundelia). The gundelia is a spiny, thistle-like flowering plant of the genus gundelia L. in the sunflower family. They occur in the semi-desert areas of Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Anatolia, available in the markets during March and April.
Gundelia must be cleaned before using it. To clean gundelia, remove the thorns, then cut it into pieces and wash it with water, then you can use it fresh or freeze it. Before freezing, fill a pot with water, salt and some sugar and bring it to boil, then add gundelia for few minutes then plunge into a bowl of cold water (this is known in English as blanching, in Syria we call it “Tahbil”), drain then place in freezer bags and store in the freezer.
In Syria, it is cooked in two ways (cooked in another ways in some Syrian villages):
Salbin Bel-Lahmeh: salbin cooked with ghee and meat.
Salbin Bet-Tehineh: salbin cooked with olive oil, garlic, paprika, tahini and lemon juice (will be my next post).
Let’s make Salbin Bel-Lahmeh:
Fattet Al-Makdous
October 26th, 2010
Fatteh or fattah is an Arabic dish that uses pieces of toasted or fresh flatbread as a foundation upon which various ingredients are added on top.
Fatteh can be made with chickpeas (Arabic: Fattet Humus), or with chicken (Arabic : Fattet Dajaj), or with eggplants like today’s recipe.
Fattet Al-Makdous is a specialty of Damascus, it is made by layering crispy flatbread, topped with a tomato sauce flavored with (yogurt, tahini, pomegranate molasses and crushed garlic), then topped with meat-nut mixture and deep fried eggplants stuffed with meat.
Let’s make Fattet Al-Makdous:
Asabe’e Zainab
October 22nd, 2010
Asabe’e Zainab or Swabe’e Zainab (means Zainab’s fingers) is a middle eastern dessert. A dough is prepared by mixing (flour, semolina, sugar, yeast, salt, ghee and water), and a grater is used to give the pieces of the dough the popular shape of Asabe’e Zainab , then deep fried in hot oil and dipped in cold sugar syrup.
Let’s make Asabe’e Zainab:
White Chocolate Orange Dream Cookies
October 19th, 2010
I’d like to thank my friends for the kind words and comments, and thanks to everyone who stopped by and left a comment, I appreciate that :)
These cookies are loaded with great orange flavor and white chocolate, they are perfect for citrus lovers like me :)
Let’s make White Chocolate Orange Dream Cookies:
Kibbeh Bes-Seiniyeh
October 16th, 2010
Kibbeh Bes-Seiniyeh means kibbeh in a tray or kibbeh pie . Kibbeh is layered with meat-nut mixture, baked and served with salad or yogurt.
Let’s make Kibbeh Bes-Seiniyeh: