Stuffed Grape Leaves

Ingredients:

• 1 jar grape leaves, about 50-60 leaves.
• 1 1/2 cups rice, Italian or calrose.
• 2 tomatoes, finely chopped.
• 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped.
• 1/4 cup mint, finely chopped.
• 3 tbsp lemon juice.
• 2 tbsp olive oil.
• 1/2 tsp salt.
• 1 tsp mixed spices.(seven spice)
• 2 tomatoes, sliced in circles.
• 1 1/2 cup water.
• 2 tbsp lemon juice, extra.
• 1/2 tsp salt, extra.
  

Wash rice and soak in hot water for 30 minutes, drain.
In large bowl, combine rice, tomatoes, parsley, mint, lemon juice, oil, salt and mixed spice; set
aside.
Rinse grape leaves under cold water. In large pot of boiling water, blanch for 3 minutes. cool under cold water; drain. If there is a stem on the leaf; cut it off.
Place 1 grape leaf, shiny side down, on work surface. Place about 1 tbsp of the rice mixture on bottom of leaf, fold over sides and roll up,like a spring roll; but not very tight. Repeat with rest of grape leaves and rice mixture.
In a large pot, line bottom with any broken leafs, then; place tomato slices. Place rolls over the tomatoes. Add any liquid left from rice mixture to 1 1/2 cup of water, add lemon juice and salt, pour over rolls. Cover rolls with a heatproof plate. Cover with lid and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour.
convert to serving plate. serve warm or cold.

Shepherd's Pie

I made this pie today for my family. It was delicious, everybody loved it.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef.
• 2 tbsp oil.
• 1 Carrot, chopped.
• 1 onion, chopped.
• 1 clove garlic, minced.
• 1 cup frozen peas.
• 4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce.
• 1/2 tsp salt.
• freshly ground pepper.
  
• 1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut to cubes.
• 2 tbsp cream cheese.
• 3 tbsp milk or heavy cream.
• 2 tbsp butter, melted.
• Salt and freshly ground pepper.

Boil potatoes in salted water until soft. In a large skillet, add oil and saute onion, carrots and garlic for 5 minutes. Add beef and cook for another 15 minutes. Add salt, pepper, peas and Worcestershire sauce and cook until all cooked through.
Mash potatoes and butter. Add milk and cream cheese and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Scrape beef mixture to baking dish and cover with mashed potatoes. Cook for 30 minutes or until golden on sides.

Sauteed Mushroom with Thyme

Ingredients:

• 200 g crimini mushroom, sliced.
• 200 g portobello mushroom, sliced.
  
• 200 g shitaki mushroom, sliced.
  
• 5 tbsp olive oil.
• 1 shallots , chopped.
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme.
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar.
• freshly ground pepper and sea salt.
  

Heat 3 tbsp of oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and shallots and saute until juices have been released and shallots are soft, about 6-7 minutes. Add thyme and balsamic vinegar. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with pepper and sea salt to taste and drizzle rest of olive oil on top.
Serve it with toasted french baguette slices.

Caraway rice pudding

Ingredients:

• 4 cups water.
• 1/2 cup ground rice.
• 1 tbsp ground caraway seed.
• 1 tsp cinnamon.
• 1/2 tsp ground anise seed.
• 1/2 cup sugar.
• 1 cup flaked sweetened coconut.
• 1/2 cup slivered almond.
• 1/2 cup walnut, small pieces.

In a medium size pot, add water, rice, caraway, cinnamon, anise seed and sugar. Put over medium-high heat and keep stirring until boiling and starts thickening. Turn off heat. Stir in half of coconut. Transfer to serving bowls.
Mix rest of coconut, almonds and walnuts together. Sprinkle nut mixture on to of pudding right before serving.
you can serve it warm or chilled.

* makes 4 servings.

Peanut Butter Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg (250 g) noodles.
• 2 tbsp peanut butter.
• 1/4 cup soy sauce.
  
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock.
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar.
• zest of 1 lemon.
• juice of half a lemon.
• 1/2 tsp chili sauce.(optional)
• 1 tbsp oil.
  
• 2 tbsp grated ginger.
• 3 cloves garlic, minced.
• 4 springs green onions, chopped.
• 1 small pkg frozen stir fry vegetable.
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro(coriander).
  

Cook noodles as directed on package, drain and sit aside. In a small bowl, mix peanut butter, soy sauce, stock, vinegar, lemon zest, lemon juice and chili sauce until Incorporated. In a large skillet, heat oil and add green onion, ginger and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes then add vegetable and cook for 2 other minutes. Add sauce mixture and cook until starts boiling. Take skillet of heat and add cooked noodles. Mix slowly until noodles well coated. Transfer into serving plate. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

* serves 4.

Tabouleh (Parsley Salad)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup fine bulgur.
  
• 6 cups finely chopped flat-leaf parsley.
• 3 springs of green onions, finely chopped.
  
• 2 large tomatoes, finely diced.
• 2 lebanese cucumbers, finely diced.
• 1/4 cup finely chopped mint leaves.
• 1/4 cup olive oil.
• 2 medium lemons, juiced.
  
• salt and pepper to taste.

In a small bowl, place bulgur and Pour warm water over it. Let sit for about half an hour or until softened.
Combine parsley, green onion, tomatoes,cucumber and chopped mint in a large bowl. Drain bulgur of any excess water( squeeze it between your hand if needed), then fold in with parsley. Stir in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve it on a plate covered with lettuce leaves. use lettuce leaves as scoops.

Traditional Jordanian Bread (Qras)

This is a traditional Jordanian bread that we usually make Easter time.

Ingredients:

• 8 cups all purpose flour.
• 4 cups wheat flour.
• 3 tsp salt.
• 1 tbsp ground anise seed.
• 1 tbsp ground fennel seed.
• 1 tsp ground mahleb.
• 1/2 cup sesame seed.
• 1/2 cup black onion seed( Nigella seed ).
  
• 1/2 cup olive oil.
  
• 2 tsp dried yeast.
• 1 tsp sugar.
  
• 1 cup warm milk.
• 2 cups warm water.
  

Place yeast in a cup with 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Add 1/3 of a cup of warm water and set aside for about 10 minutes or until starts bubbling.
Meanwhile, in a very large bowl combine flour, wheat flour, salt, ground anise seed, ground fennel seed, ground mehleb , sesame seed and black onion seed. Add oil and rub it into flour mixture with your finger tips until well distributed. Make a well in center of the flour mixture and add yeast mixture and warm milk. Mix well then add warm water slowly and knead as you are adding water until dough comes together. If you feel like you added too much water , just add more flour.
Keep kneading dough for about 7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Leave dough in the same bowl and Cover with a kitchen towel and leave it until rises and doubles in size, about 2-3 hours.
Knead dough and divide into 20 equal pieces and form each one into a ball. Let rest for another 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll each dough ball out into a circle, about 6 inches in diameter.
Preheat convention oven to 410 F. Place dough circles on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
Cover rest of dough circles with a kitchen towel until it is time to bake them.
Transfer bread to cooling rack and let cool completely before storing in plastic bags.


Note: Mehleb is a spice made from the pit of sour cherries. It's a traditional spice that you can find at middle eastern stores.

* You can freeze bread in plastic bags and just heat for 30 seconds in microwave when needed.