Monday, October 3, 2008 Looks a lot like ricotta, but it’s not. It’s Arish or Arishah. It is a Lebanese staple and is ridiculously easy to make and versatile. I made this batch because I found myself with about a half-gallon of homemade yogurt that was starting to turn too sour. In case you are […]
Thursday, August 28, 2008 Tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella. Few ingredients are better when combined. I love to make this salad with the best tomatoes I can find. I toss them with a dressing made with excellent quality olive oil (a Sicilian one in this case), very little minced garlic, salt and pepper. The key
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Tuesday, August 5, 2008 Having a bounty of basil in the backyard gives me more of an excuse to eat pesto. I love the stuff on almost anything. Here as a pasta sauce for cauliflower. I was hoping to make some fresh pasta for this dish, but on a Tuesday in a busy week, I
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Friday, August 1, 2008 This is one of those dishes that sounded much better that it turned out. It was not bad, per se, just ok. I envisioned a light but very flavorful dish of stuffed eggplant. I’ve had similar versions that included ground beef or sausage and it was delicious. This was a bit
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Saturday, July 26, 2008 This is the first risotto I made without using chicken stock. Instead if the customary butter in there I also used olive oil. The result was quiet good, but I did miss the goodness of a rich stock in there. Instead, I used some fresh vegetable stock to cook the risotto.
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Eggs. Is there anything they cannot do? From savory to sweet, the egg is the undisputed queen of the kitchen. Without it we have no custard, no quiche or crème caramel, no egg-pasta and no omelets. Without the whites of the egg we have no fluffy meringue preparations, no macarons and
Saturday, July 6, 2008 I’ve written before about Saj bread (or Lebanese Mountain bread) in more detail in my post about Labib, the wonderful little pie shop in Beirut. So, I am not going to repeat the same info again. Suffice it to say that I got a major craving for this delicious bread and
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Saturday, July 5, 2008 Focaccia is easier and less forgiving that pizza to make at home and could be just as satisfying. I do not like it when bakers attempt to turn focaccia into pizza by piling a crap load of toppings on it. It should be a simple flat bread, flavored with olive oil
Sunday, June 15, 2008 I love a good steak or pork chop (or chicken or ribs for that matter) cooked over natural wood charcoal as much as the next guy. Let’s face it, the reason we light up our grills is to cook meat. It is the ultimate pleasure that hot charcoal can provide. However,
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Sunday, June 08, 2008 For quiet some time now, my oven has been heating very badly. It took forever to reach the set temperature, if it did, and it never maintained it. So, finally a few weeks ago I had it looked at and it needed a new ignition thingy (forgot what it was called).