Yesterday we had two of my cousins over with their families and since both of them cook great Indian food, I decided to make it a middle-eastern themed dinner. I think it went well, even not withstanding some taste restrictions with olives, and eggplant! Amma, who is visiting us now, was a big help in her role as a chief adviser and sous chef!
I found a couple of good books in the library where I got some of the inspiration for the recipes and menu, but I found most of it online in some lovely cooking blogs.
Here is the full menu and my recipe notes:
Mezze:
Baked Pita Chips
Turkish beetroot with yogurt
Almond-stuffed Olives (store-bought)
Za’atar dip (with freshly ground home-made za’atar)
Baba Ghanoush (Iraqi-style)
V and I were first introduced to “mezze” on our trip to Egypt. Such a delicious idea to have little “nibbles” before the main meal. The Egyptian mezze, if I remember, had small dishes with olives, potatoes (cold), blanched carrots (cold), hummus, tabbolueh, red bell pepper dip, baba ghanoush and a few others. My mezze is very humble by comparison.
I used the Barefoot Contessa recipe for making pita chips from store-bought whole-wheat pita bread. Sometimes the simplest recipes are the easiest to screw up and I didn’t want over-baked pita bread and this recipe was perfect. I sprinkled salt, black pepper and some home-made za’atar before slicing in to wedges and baking.
The baba ghanoush recipe and beetroot yogurt recipe were gleaned from various places. I read that the smokiness of the eggplant in the baba ghanoush is particularly Iraqi in flavor. I kept both the recipes fairly simple with minimal ingredients.
I did not take as many pictures as I should have, as I was busy having fun with my little niece. However I will post some of the recipes and pictures soon.
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| Mezze for a Middle-Eastern Dinner Party |
Main course:
Egytian-style Falafel with yellow fava beans and chickpeas
Turkish stuffed bell peppers
A stew with Winter squash, potatoes and green fava beans
The recipe for falafel came from this excellent article on falafel on ToriAvey.com. I used the Egyptian method and used both fava beans and chickpeas rather than just chickpeas like the Israelis do. I also used a bunch of parsley and cilantro in the dough.
The Turkish Stuffed Peppers was inspired by a book I borrowed from the library called Fresh Pantry by Amy Pennington which has other great recipes on using seasonal produce in interesting ways. I changed the recipe quite a bit and stuffed my peppers with brown rice, onions, shallots, carrots, celery, pecans and lots of fresh herbs.
Dessert:
Pistachio-Cardamom cookies
Poached pears served with store-bought cardamom ice cream
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| Pears poached in red wine, orange juice, lemon juice and spices |
I don’t think the poached pears turned out well this time; still dessert was a hit, primarily due to the choice of ice cream. V and I had tasted an amazing cardamom-flavored ice cream on one of our trips to Napa Valley a few years back and I was thrilled to see that it is now available in some grocery stores. Three Twins ice cream is made right here in our neighborhood in Petaluma in Northern California! The Dad’s Cardamom flavor fit well with our dinner theme and was delicious over the poached pears.
I also made pistachio-cardamom cookies using a great recipe I found online at Baked by Joanna. The cookies were a big hit too.
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| Pistachio-Cardamom Cookies with Turkish coffee |
All in all, I think it was pretty cozy evening with family and the menu did not let me down!