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Warm Hummus with Mushrooms & Caramelized Onion

Israeli folks know – loaded hummus is everything. An entire meal can be made from a cozy bowl of warm chickpea puree when loaded with caramelized onion and cumin-laced mushrooms. A raggedy pile of pita bread is the exclamation point on this edible yes. To get your fix in Israel you’d head down to a hummusia restaurant. There you can order up warm or cold hummus with your favorite filling – anything from cooked cauliflower, to ground beef or lamb. You can even find the classic tomato and poached egg dish, shakshouka, in the middle of hummus! But you don’t need to travel to Israel to bring these amazing flavors into your kitchen. Today’s hot mushroom filling is just the warmth a 25F degree freeze calls for, and is a welcome break from the heavy meals (and mountains of dishes!) of the holiday season. Real Talk: I need a cooking win. I’m 100% in the middle of a scary cooking carnival … in the last month of 2015 I made two bad lasagnas (in which the lasagna noodles actually dissolved), one excellent lasagna (finally!), …

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Celebrating the shining star of Palestinian cuisine: Musakhan

Within Palestine’s hotly contested territories there is one thing everyone can agree on: Musakhan. This simple dish doesn’t shout. It’s flavors don’t battle for dominance. No, Musakhan is a quiet meal – a layered preparation of chicken, onion softened with sumac, and doughy pieces of taboon bread. And yet this unassuming dish earned a Guinness World Record in 2010 in the city of Ramallah. Why a Guinness World Record Matters The clout of earning a Guinness World Record often remains limited to the feat itself – at most a symbol of egregious excess (consider the world’s largest pancake, for example – nearly 50 feet across with no other purpose than to … eat). But for Palestinians, the world’s largest Musakhan was a show of pride and honor far beyond simple bragging rights. Making the Musakhan was a critical show of cultural pride during a time of great crisis. More than 40 Palestinian chefs united efforts to cook and assemble the 4 meter loaf. The finished dish weighed nearly 3,000 pounds, including 1,100+ pounds of onion, 550+ pounds of flour, 370 …

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Garlic Basmati Rice with Pine Nuts

I’d like the record to state that I’m ready for a big hug. It’s the end of summer, times are changing, and I’m ready for that love-filled feeling that comes with a smooshable hug. I see people doing it all the time – their bodies smiling as they pull to each other. My husband still hugs me, which is the best kind of snuggle-hug I can ask for. But I want more. I want the kind of hug that can’t come from him. Or any person. It’s the kind of hug that comes from taking a giant bite of garlic bread. It’s the cozy feeling I get as I methodically tear apart a tray of buttery garlic knots. But even that kind of hug seems so… ordinary. Today I want the extraordinary. Actually, every day I should want the extraordinary, but that’s something I’ll need to work out with my life coach. Enter Pakistan and an ambling line of garlic goodness. This grand garlic is going into a heaping platter of Garlic Basmati Rice sprinkled with Toasted …

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Spiced Tea | Ainar

I drink a lot of tea, so I would have thought I’d seen it all. Apparently not. Introducing Ainar, the tea brewed especially for baby mama’s and the guests who stop in to dote on their pretty newborns. In case you didn’t know, Mamas need lots of things after having a baby. Rest. Love. Good, warm food. And this tea. The cool thing about Ainar is the treat at the bottom of the cup. Nuts. After cooking a bunch of warming, fragrant spices like cinnamon, caraway, anise, and nutmeg in a large pot of water, the hot tea is splashed over assorted nuts as as much sugar as you can stand. Walnut, almond, and pine nuts are the most common. The super hot tea softens the nut and the total effect is something like spiced nuts… mixed with “good.” Rumor has it that the anise in ainar is supposed to help moms recover after childbirth. And ward off evil spirits. Win-win, if you ask me. P.S. I’m honored that this recipe was featured in Penzy’s Spices’ 2012 …

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Baba Ghanoush with Roasted Garlic

When I’m at parties I like to dip, dip, dip. You’ll recognize me immediately – I’m the one in the corner, filling up on dip before the meal ever comes. And if, for some reason, I’m not? Just know that’s where I really want to be. When it comes to dips, baba ganoush is everything I never thought it would be.  Roasted eggplant, far from bitter, transforms into a smoky and smooth treat , able to fill my belly in just the right sort of way – without that greasy, pop-out-my-bellybutton feeling some foods leave me with. In fact, baba ganoush strikes me as one of those diet foods that is actually as comforting and every bit as delicious as French fries. But I’m crazy like that. Baba Ghanoush has long been in my top favorite dips. While Baba Ghanoush is traditionally made with raw garlic, something about the chill in the air made me decide to roast a whole head of garlic for the soft, warm richness. You can never go wrong eating a …

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Armenian Stuffed Grape Leaves | Yalanchi Sarma

Serves 4-8 (makes 20) This is a delicious variation on traditional stuffed grape leaves we see in supermarket salad bars. The Armenians make stuffed grape leaves without an intense vinegar brine. Instead, earthy cinnamon and currants carry the flavor. Just wonderful! Ingredients: 1 16 oz jar grape leaves 6 Tbsp olive oil 1 onion, diced (about a cup) 1/2 cup basmati rice 2 Tbsp tomato paste 3 Tbsp dried currants 1 Tbsp lemon juice 3/4 cup water salt 1/4 cup pine nuts 1/2 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp ground allspice 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley Method: 1. Saute onion in olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. After they begin to turn golden about 5 minutes), add rice, tomato paste, currants, and lemon juice. Cook for one minute longer. NOTE: Currants are like tiny raisins: 2. Add water and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook until just cooked, about 15 minutes. 3. Turn off heat. Add pine nuts, sugar, allspice, cinnamon, and parsley. 4. Stuff leaves …

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