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Turkish Flatbread “Pizza” with Spiced Lamb | Lahmacun

Lahmacun is Turkey’s answer to pizza. The flavors are rich and deep, like an old love story.

And, like any good love story, each bite makes my knees sink a little closer to the floor.

Why? Because of the layers of flavor.

This is no “jarred sauce” affair. This is no mess of waxy cheese.

Lahmacun is pure, unadulterated ingredients – as fresh and intense as mother nature grew them.

The version we made today includes lamb, olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, paprika, mint and parsley. There’s even a gated onion to provide a sweet background note.

The flavors come together to create an unbelievable explosion of flavor.

Republic Day Celebrations on the Bosporus (Istanbul, Turkey). Photo by Nightstallion03.

Once baked, Lahmacun is a DIY dream. Diners choose their own toppings and pile them on. In Turkey, you can find everything from pickles and lettuce, to onions and lemon juice. It’s an awesome way to get kids involved and to work through dinner party doldrums.

Ava had great fun adding onion, parsley and lemon juice to hers… plus a few sprinklings of sumac (a spice with a lemony flavor popular throughout the Middle East).

I actually find pizza rather boring, unless it’s homemade or from a really great artisan. But Turkish pizza blows me away.

It’s full of spice and everything nice.

And then some.

I made Lahmacun once. I made it twice.

Now, I crave Lahmacun at dinnertime.

I crave it at midnight.

Heck, I even crave it at breakfast time… with a cracked egg baked right on top.

Adapted from Saveur

IMPORTANT NOTE: This recipe makes a lot of topping (it’s too good not to). Double the flatbread recipe if you’d like to use it all up, otherwise save the leftover topping. We fried ours and added it to some couscous for a quick weeknight dinner.

Ingredients:

For the flatbread:

2 tsp sugar
2 tsp active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour, or as needed
1 1/2 tsp salt

For the topping:

1/4 cup olive oil
5 Tbsp tomato paste
handful fresh parsley, minced
handful fresh mint, minced
1 tsp hot paprika (or to taste)
1 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1 small onion, grated & squeezed dry
1 lb ground lamb

Garnish ideas:

torn parsley
ground sumac
sliced red onion
lemon wedges
lettuce
sliced pepper
pickles

Method:

Set up your kitchen. Beware of dust storms.

Kurdish children in dust storm locally called “Ecac” at Quzêrîb. Photo by Dûrzan.

Make the dough:

For one batch of dough: mix together the sugar, yeast, and warm water. Let sit about five minutes until frothy.

So pretty…

Next, add the remaining dough ingredients to a large bowl. Stir in the yeast mixture and knead until a soft, smooth ball forms. Add more flour, if necessary to keep from sticking.

Let rise for an hour, then punch down and divide into four pieces. Shape into balls.

Let rise another hour, or refrigerate until needed. I refrigerated mine in individual zip lock baggies, for 2 days and the dough turned into gorgeous pillows. They tasted awesome! This is because a long, cool rise gives time for the yeast to fully develop.

(If you can make the dough a day or two ahead it also takes the stress off of a dinner party).

While the dough is rising, take a tour of a Turkish palace.

Ishak Paşa Palace. Photo by Myararat83.

Gateway to the courtyard. Photo by Myararat83.

Stunning.

Next, make the Topping:

When you’re ready to eat (or up to a day ahead), mix together the topping ingredients.

Tip: Be sure to seed the tomatoes before chopping. Also, place the grated onion into a double layer of paper towels or a dish cloth, then squeeze dry. This will help keep the topping from getting too soggy.

Bake the Lahmacun:

Now for some baking fun!

Preheat the oven to 450F. If you have a baking stone, use it!

Roll out the dough fairly thin. Spoon on some of the topping and spread around with the back of a spoon.

Bake 8-10 minutes, or until the dough is lightly browned and the meat is cooked through.

The olive oil and paprika in the topping will drip down over the crust, making it a little reddish orange in places.

Awesome.

So beautiful.

But we’re not done yet!

Add a bunch of your favorite Turkish toppings. Mr Picky liked red onion, parsley, lemon juice, sumac, and a bit of mint.

I mean, seriously.

This is the life.

Turkish pizza is traditionally folded or rolled, which makes for a fun, picnic-style dinner.

It also makes it easier to keep those loose toppings in place.

Peek-a-boo!

Enjoy with light and love in your heart.

Are you in?

Turkish Flatbread "Pizza" with Spiced Lamb | Lahmacun

CourseMain Dish
LifestyleGrilling, Weekend Projects
Food TypeBreads, Meat, Miss Ava's Favorite Recipes, Mr. Picky's Favorite Recipes, Sasha's Favorite Recipes

Servings	Prep Time
4 people	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
8-10 minutes	2 hours

Servings	Prep Time
4 people	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
8-10 minutes	2 hours

Turkish Flatbread "Pizza" with Spiced Lamb | Lahmacun

CourseMain Dish
LifestyleGrilling, Weekend Projects
Food TypeBreads, Meat, Miss Ava's Favorite Recipes, Mr. Picky's Favorite Recipes, Sasha's Favorite Recipes

Servings	Prep Time
4 people	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
8-10 minutes	2 hours

Servings	Prep Time
4 people	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
8-10 minutes	2 hours

Ingredients

For the flatbread:

2 tsp sugar
2 tsp active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour , or as needed
1 1/2 tsp salt

For the topping:

1/4 cup olive oil
5 Tbsp tomato paste
1 handful parsley (freshly minced)
1 handful mint (freshly minced)
1 tsp hot paprika (or to taste)
1 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic , crushed
1 tomato , seeded and diced
1 small onions ,grated and squeezed dry
1 lb ground lamb

Garnish ideas:

parsley
ground sumac
red onions (sliced)
lemons (wedged)
green lettuce
bell peppers , sliced
, pickles

Servings: people

Units:

Instructions

Make the dough:

For one batch of dough: mix together the sugar, yeast, and warm water. Let sit about five minutes until frothy.
Next, add the remaining dough ingredients to a large bowl. Stir in the yeast mixture and knead until a soft, smooth ball forms. Add more flour, if necessary to keep from sticking. Let rise for an hour, then punch down and divide into four pieces. Shape into balls.
Let rise another hour, or refrigerate until needed. I refrigerated mine in individual zip lock baggies, for 2 days and the dough turned into gorgeous pillows. They tasted awesome! This is because a long, cool rise gives time for the yeast to fully develop.

Make the topping:

When you’re ready to eat (or up to a day ahead), mix together the topping ingredients.
Tip: Be sure to seed the tomatoes before chopping. Also, place the grated onion into a double layer of paper towels or a dish cloth, then squeeze dry. This will help keep the topping from getting too soggy.

Bake the Lahmacun

Preheat the oven to 450F. If you have a baking stone, use it! Roll out the dough fairly thin. Spoon on some of the topping and spread around with the back of a spoon.
Bake 8-10 minutes, or until the dough is lightly browned and the meat is cooked through. The olive oil and paprika in the topping will drip down over the crust, making it a little reddish orange in places.
Add a bunch of your favorite Turkish toppings. Mr Picky liked red onion, parsley, lemon juice, sumac, and a bit of mint. Turkish pizza is traditionally folded or rolled, which makes for a fun, picnic-style dinner.

Recipe Notes

You may also grill this over a 450F grill with lid shut. Best done over indirect heat.

Menu: Turkey

“In a flat country, a hillock thinks itself a mountain”
Proverb from Turkey

Friends, let’s knock the hillocks of life to the ground. And let’s do it with Turkish food. This week, I created a fun party menu – a Turkish meal that can be enjoyed on a balmy summer evening, under starlight, with a few close friends and family. It’ll inspire laughter, some much needed spice, and full hearts.

After all, isn’t that what we all need? A little time to chill out with our loved ones, and get some perspective on the bumps and bumbles (and hillocks) of life?

All recipes and meal review will be posted throughout the week.

Lamb Flatbread “Pizza” | Lahmacun [Recipe]
Lahmacun is an incredible spiced lamb pizza. There are so many flavors, you might not be able to see beyond the fireworks in your mouth. Somewhere in that explosion of deliciousness, I promise you, there’s tomatoes, onion, paprika, parsley, mint, and more. Not to mention the DIY toppings: red onion, parsley, mint, lemon juice, and sumac. Yessss.

Turkish tabbouleh | Kisir [Recipe]
This fresh bulgur salad can be found on many Turkish tables, especially as a part of a meze, or meal of small plates. Kisir is stained reddish orange, thanks to the addition of tomato paste and red pepper paste, but it also boasts fresh lemon juice and plenty of chopped veggies. This is a bold, and (sometimes) spicy salad. Good enough to bulk up any dinner party.

About the food of Turkey

Town of Ortahisar in Cappadocia, a region in central Turkey. Photo by Brocken Inaglory.

Turkey walks the line: her western borders dip into Europe, while the rest lounges in Asia. Indeed, Istanbul – is the only large city in the world to span two continents. Pretty awesome.

Her extensive mountains cradle many small villages and cities, but it is her coastal plains and valleys that produce the most luscious produce. There’s everything from citrus to corn, and olives to barley.

Inner Anatolia, Turkey. Photo by ngoro.

The food will fill your spirit as well as your mouth. A few years ago I watched a show about Turkey and in it, I saw someone eat what looked to be a pizza. But they rolled it up like a burrito. They call it Lahmacun [Recipe]. Epic.

The list of popular dishes is like a who’s who of my favorite dishes: all manner of meaty, spiced kebabs, glorious stuffed grape leaves, tabbouleh (called kisir) [Recipe], lovely pide bread, sweet, nutty baklava. Much of this can be enjoyed as part of meze, or a meal of many small plates (similar in theory to Spanish Tapas).

The ruins of the Temple of Apollo at Side, Antalya, Turkey. Photo by Saffron Blaze.

Just about everything can and should be served with good quality yogurt, honey, or nuts (think walnuts, pine nuts, and almonds).

Of course, we can’t forget about Turkish delight, which was first brought to my attention in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when the evil queen offered it to Edmund to buy his sympathies. As I read, I thought it was a savory treat, but soon discovered that Turkish delight is a lovely confection covered in powdered sugar and often seasoned with rose water and orange blossom water. I had the joy of making it way back on the blog, when I cooked Albania).

So the question is, would you rather be eating Turkish Delight in the “Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe,” a magical place where a closet can lead to another world, or in Turkey proper, where beauty seems to grow from the very earth?

Monday Meal Review: Tunisia

Crying in front of 3,000 people. Last week, I did that.

We ate Tunisia and celebrated Ava’s fourth birthday right before I hopped on a plane to go to the World Domination Summit, hosted by Chris Guillebeau. Keith and I were sticky with the honey almond samsa. Ava ate two pita sandwiches spread with the grilled Tunisian Salad. (She must be growing. Again).

Then, I hugged my family goodbye and flew to Portland with a belly full of Tunisian goodness.

I’d been invited to speak in front of 3,000 people at the Summit. I’d rehearsed my talk for a month or two, twice a day. I had it down pat. I was going to talk about the spiced life. How this blog helped me achieve it. How it’s kept me from running away from my happy ending.

But the night before I was to deliver the talk, I received a phone call. My talk might be cut down. Way down. They’d know more in the morning.

Bright and early on the big day, I got confirmation. I had one minute on stage, instead of the eight I’d planned on. They wanted to know was I still interested in talking?

Photo courtesy of World Domination Summit, taken by Armosa Studios.

Look at all these beautiful people! And there’s double this amount on the main level. Photo courtesy of World Domination Summit, taken by Armosa Studios.

Photo courtesy of World Domination Summit, taken by Armosa Studios.

This would be the perfect excuse to back out.

After all, 3,000 people is a whole lot of people.

But you know what I said?

I said yes. Because the answer could only be yes.

To be specific? The answer was yes and thank you. We must always be grateful, especially for an opportunity to grow.

With just three hours to go before the big moment, I sat on my bed and tried to figure out how to cram my talk into a minute, Cinderella-style. It didn’t take long to realize it wasn’t going to happen. In fact, I wasn’t going to be able to focus on anything to do with the spiced life.

I was going to have to hone in on the core of my beliefs and fast.

I had to sum up why I was doing this blog.

Not the little why, but the BIG why.

What is Global Table Adventure all about?

Thankfully I knew the answer. While cooking the world had given me a spiced life, it has done much more than that. It has taught me how to LOVE. How to be hungry for peace.

Once I knew my direction, the story just about wrote itself. Over breakfast, I rehearsed my lines with a gal I’d met at the conference named Freya. She helped me make notes and, when I had a minor freak out, she did what any friend does:

She told me I could do it.

I even practiced my talk on two coat check ladies. Awesome.

All too soon, the time came to head onto stage. I didn’t know everything by heart, so I had to bring my heart to the table, instead.

Photo courtesy of World Domination Summit, taken by Armosa Studios.

I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be, considering how last minute the talk was.

But a few sentences into my talk I began crying. Hard.

The whole thing was a bit of a blur, but things got interesting about the time I said:

“Yes, there’s heartache, war, devastation, and famine in the world.

People are having important conversations about those things, as they should.

But you know what’s also important to talk about?

The good.”

Once one tear spilled out, the rest followed suit, faster and faster. I’m not sure when the audience began clapping – maybe their audible acknowledgement of my beliefs overwhelmed me and opened the floodgates. Or maybe I started crying before that. The video (which I hope exists) will have to tell us that.

I do know one thing: when I tried to get it together, I snorted into the microphone.

I assure you, it was totally unintentional.

Friends, I don’t think I would have kept going if a few voices from the crowd began shouting “Keep going!”

Photo courtesy of World Domination Summit, taken by Armosa Studios.

Thanks to them, I got my message out.

Ultimately, I told 3,000 people that it’s not about doing what we love, it’s about loving your world in the way that only you can… by using your unique gifts and talents to change the world. That’s what I’m doing here, and that’s what I wish for you.

So the talk ended and I slunk back into the crowd. But, when they released us for lunch, something strange began happening: people hugged me. Walking down the streets of Portland… they were hugging me! They hugged me while I was on the phone AND while I was being hugged by other people! They high-fived me. Some people picked me up and spun me around. Guys and girls kissed me on the cheek. At least 100 of them did one or all of these things. I know because they took my cards. And I ran out… I couldn’t move five feet without someone else loving me.

Look at this beautiful soul, who gave me a standing ovation:

Photo courtesy of World Domination Summit, taken by Armosa Studios.

Throughout the day, many of the headlining speakers complemented me. Some confided that they’d cried with me. Andrew Warner even gave me his personal meditation bracelet.

I am bursting with just the strangest feelings… BEAUTY. SPIRIT. LOVE.

You know what it all boils down to?

If you risk sending love out into the world … then guess what? You’ll get it back. Try it. You’ll see.

***

THE FOOD

Now, back to our Tunisian Global Table… and a bit about the recipes we tried this week!

Tunisian Grilled Salad | Salata Mishwiyya [Recipe]

What I loved most about this dish:

Salata Mishwiyya is a non-apologetic salad, full of intensity. Those caraway seeds, the raw garlic, and the chili peppers make for a punch. But the Tunisians know what they’re doing; by pairing it with tuna and hard boiled eggs, balance is achieved, especially with plenty of lemon juice, olive oil, and pita bread.

What I loved least about this dish:

You’ll need to let it meld a while. I tasted it right after mixing the ingredients and felt like it was

Honey Almond Samsa with Orange Blossom Water [Recipe]

What I loved most about this dish:

This is like a very fragrant baklava. The orange blossom water made the dessert dreamy – poetic, even. The almond mixture, by itself, isn’t very sweet, but a dunk in the honey syrup changes all that. Keith and I gobbled it up; we even had a friend roll his eyes with delight.

What I loved least about this dish:

Not much, though it was too sweet for Ava. Maybe save one or two from the dunk if you have people in your family who don’t have a sweet tooth. Or do a quicker dunk.

Tunisian Grilled Salad with Tuna | Salata Mishwiyya

Usually, the food we grill stays whole. We put it on a bun, or we eat it with our hands. But today’s Tunisian Grilled Salad takes a different approach. The charred vegetables – peppers, onion, tomatoes – are pulsed together into a chunky mixture, then served with flaked tuna, and hard boiled egg.

This salad has body.

Much of the intensity comes off the grill, from the raw garlic, hot chili peppers, and the caraway seeds, all of which can be tempered to taste.

Please, please, please… let this salad meld for at least an hour before eating.

This will give the bite time to mellow.

Because you wouldn’t want to serve your guests a grouchy salad.

Mellow is much nicer.

UPDATED 2015: Caraway cut down from 1 Tbsp to 1 teaspoon.

Adapted from Clifford A. Wright’s A Mediterranean Feast.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

3 green bell peppers
3 red chili peppers (like red fresno)
2 tomatoes (or 3 small)
1 onion, peeled and quartered (leave stem on to help hold it together)

3 cloves garlic
1 tsp caraway seeds (optional)
1 tsp salt

Garnishes:

Olive oil (several swirls)
Juice of 1 lemon
lemon wedges
handful black olives
1-2 pouches flaked tuna, drained
2-3 hard boiled eggs

Method:

Find a sunny spot in Tunisia to set up your grill.

Perhaps like this:

Camels in the desert near Douz in Tunisia. Photo by Moumou82.

Or like this:

Landscape in Tozeur–Nefta International Airport (Tunisia). Photo by Gloumouth1.

Next up?

Grill the tomatoes, bell peppers, chili peppers, and onion over medium heat. Remove each vegetable after it is cooked through and charred. The onion will take the longest. The entire process will take somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mash together the garlic, caraway seeds, and salt until it forms a paste.

Tip: If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you could try crushing the garlic and using half ground caraway and half whole caraway seeds. The garlic might have more bite this way, though, because the pieces will be bigger.

This is how mine looked after a good pound.

Peel and roughly chop all the grilled veggies. Add them to the bowl of a food processor with the garlic mixture (you may want to stir in the garlic mixture to taste; it is extremely potent). Pulse several times until chunky and well mixed.

Add in the garlic mixture and season with salt, to taste.

Refrigerate about an hour before serving.

Squeeze lemon juice over the top, drizzle with a happy stream of olive oil. Pile on the tuna, then garnish with eggs, olives, and lemon wedges.

Serve with pita bread.

I like it best about room temperature, or slightly cooler.

Ava likes it best in a pita sandwich.Smart cookie.

What about you? Do you find this salad appealing? I think caraway seed is the most polarizing ingredient in here… Keith sniffed it out immediately. Are you a fan? If not, how would you modify the recipe to suit your tastes?

Tunisian Grilled Salad with Tuna | Salata Mishwiyya

Usually, the food we grill stays whole. We put it on a bun, or we eat it with our hands. But today's Tunisian Grilled Salad takes a different approach. The charred vegetables - peppers, onion, tomatoes - are pulsed together into a chunky mixture, then served with flaked tuna, and hard boiled egg. UPDATED 2015: Caraway cut down from 1 Tbsp to 1 teaspoon.

CourseSides & Salads
LifestyleGluten-Free, Grilling, Potluck Friendly
Food TypeSasha's Favorite Recipes, Seafood, Vegetables

Servings	Prep Time
4-6	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
15-30 minutes	1 hour

Servings	Prep Time
4-6	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
15-30 minutes	1 hour

Tunisian Grilled Salad with Tuna | Salata Mishwiyya

CourseSides & Salads
LifestyleGluten-Free, Grilling, Potluck Friendly
Food TypeSasha's Favorite Recipes, Seafood, Vegetables

Servings	Prep Time
4-6	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
15-30 minutes	1 hour

Servings	Prep Time
4-6	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
15-30 minutes	1 hour

Ingredients

3 green bell peppers
3 red fresno peppers , or other chili pepper
2 tomatoes
1 onion , peeled and quartered, leave stems on to help hold it together
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp caraway seeds , optional

Garnishes

olive oil (several swirls)
1 lemon , juiced
1 handful black olives
1-2 cans tuna , drained
2-3 eggs (hard-boiled)

Servings:

Units:

Instructions

Grill the tomatoes, bell peppers, chili peppers, and onion over medium heat. Remove each vegetable after it is cooked through and charred. The onion will take the longest. The entire process will take somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mash together the garlic, caraway seeds, and salt until it forms a paste.
Peel and roughly chop all the grilled veggies. Add them to the bowl of a food processor with the garlic mixture (you may want to stir in the garlic mixture to taste; it is extremely potent).
Pulse several times until chunky and well mixed.
Add in the garlic mixture and season with salt, to taste.
Refrigerate about an hour before serving.
Squeeze lemon juice over the top, drizzle with a happy stream of olive oil. Pile on the tuna, then garnish with eggs, olives, and lemon wedges.

Honey Almond Samsa with Orange Blossom Water

Every wedding, every baby shower, every birthday… every party… needs a smile. And by that, I mean, something that is delectable, not just to the spirit, but to the heart. Perhaps it’s an epic DJ known for Bollywood Dancing.

Or perhaps it’s something as simple as a platter of Tunisian cigars, filled with crushed almonds, honey, orange blossom water, and cinnamon…Oh, and there’s a fair kiss of melted butter on them, too.

These cigars are rather like baklava, but the orange blossom water makes them more floral, in a dreamy sort of way. The sticky, sweet mixture is guaranteed to get you and your guests licking their fingers.

There will be murmurs and smiles.

“What is that,” they’ll ask. And you know they’ll be talking about the orange blossom water. So fragrant, yet so delicate.

Around the world, the word “samsa” is used to describe many, many different filled pastries, from meats to sweets.

In Tunisia these are samsa.

Every, last, glistening morsel is yours for the taking.

Important note: Thaw the filo dough according to package instructions before attempting recipe. Usually this is overnight in the refrigerator, then set out for an hour or so to come to room temperature.

Makes about 32

Ingredients:

For the syrup:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup honey
the juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp orange blossom water

For the filling:

1 lb slivered almonds
the zest of 1 orange
2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp orange blossom water, or as needed

1 lb frozen filo pastry, thawed overnight in the refrigerator
1 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Method:

Say hello to our little honey bear… she just got back from a trip to Tunisia, and she’s here to show you how samsa are made.

1. Make the syrup:

Heat together the water and sugar for about fifteen minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the honey, lemon juice, and orange blossom water.

2. For the Filling:

In a food processor, blend together the almonds, orange rind, and cinnamon. Pour on the orange blossom water and continue pulsing until the mixture begins to bind together. Test by pressing a spoonful in the palm of your hand. If it sticks together (mostly), then you’re in business!

3. Assembly:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Unwrap the thawed filo dough and set on table. Keep covered with a dishtowel while you work, so it doesn’t dry out.

Gather 2 sheets of filo dough and lay them landscape-style on a clean work surface (they should be stacked on top of each other). Brush liberally with melted butter. Cut in half. Then cut in half again. You’ll end up with four pieces.

Gather a spoonful of the filling into your palm, press together, and lay at the bottom of one of the strips. fold over the sides and brush the folded sides with butter again. Roll up. Brush all over with butter. Place on cookie sheet. Keep working in this way until the cookie sheet fills up.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Option 1: Place in a casserole like a lasagna pan. Pour on the syrup. Let sit 10-30 minutes, depending on how sweet you’d like samsa. Turn once halfway. The cigars will absorb much of the syrup, but not all of it.

Option 2: leave the syrup in the pot and dip the samsa into it, one by one, for a few moments, or as desired.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.

Enjoy with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and a smile in your heart, perhaps while overlooking something spectacular…

Capitoline temples of Sbeitla: Minerva (left), Jupiter (center), Juno (right), Tunisia. Photo by Bernard Gagnon.

Are you in?

Honey Almond Samsa with Orange Blossom Water

CourseSweets
LifestylePotluck Friendly, Vegetarian

Servings

32 samsa

Servings

32 samsa

Honey Almond Samsa with Orange Blossom Water

CourseSweets
LifestylePotluck Friendly, Vegetarian

Servings

32 samsa

Servings

32 samsa

Ingredients

For the syrup

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup honey
lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1 Tbsp orange blossom water

For the filling

1 lb slivered almonds
1 orange zest
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp orange blossom water , or as needed
1 lb frozen filo pastry , thawed overnight in the fridge
1 cup butter , melted
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Servings: samsa

Units:

Instructions

Heat together the water and sugar for about fifteen minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the honey, lemon juice, and orange blossom water.
In a food processor, blend together the almonds, orange rind, and cinnamon. Pour on the orange blossom water and continue pulsing until the mixture begins to bind together. Test by pressing a spoonful in the palm of your hand. If it sticks together (mostly), then you’re in business!
Preheat the oven to 350F. Unwrap the thawed filo dough and set on table. Keep covered with a dishtowel while you work, so it doesn’t dry out. Gather 2 sheets of filo dough and lay them landscape-style on a clean work surface (they should be stacked on top of each other). Brush liberally with melted butter. Cut in half. Then cut in half again. You’ll end up with four pieces.
Gather a spoonful of the filling into your palm, press together, and lay at the bottom of one of the strips. fold over the sides and brush the folded sides with butter again. Roll up. Brush all over with butter. Place on cookie sheet. Keep working in this way until the cookie sheet fills up. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Option 1: Place in a casserole like a lasagna pan. Pour on the syrup. Let sit 10-30 minutes, depending on how sweet you’d like samsa. Turn once halfway. The cigars will absorb much of the syrup, but not all of it. Option 2: leave the syrup in the pot and dip the samsa into it, one by one, for a few moments, or as desired.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.

Menu: Tunisia

“If the full moon loves you, why worry about the stars?”
Tunisian Proverb

I never thought I’d compare tuna fish to the beautiful moon. But here we are.

This week, there were so many beautiful recipes to choose from; I had a hard time choosing what best represented Tunisia. But then I read the proverb posted above, and realized maybe it was more important to showcase what made my stomach crawl. So I scanned the dozens of recipes for two dishes that could make my stomach growl. The first one? A grilled salad topped with tuna. I know funky tuna is not for everyone, but man, oh, man I love it (am I the only one that loves a good bit of tuna?). As for the dessert, I found something just as tantalizing.

In short, I found a glittering menu, or moon, so to speak … so I didn’t worry about the stars I couldn’t get to.

All recipes and the meal review will be posted throughout the week.

Tunisian Grilled Salad | Salata Mishwiyya [Recipe]
A charred, highly spiced salad made with grilled tomatoes, peppers, chilies, and onion. The main flavor is caraway and garlic, with a hit of lemon juice and olive oil. The salad is served with tuna and hard-boiled eggs. Mishwiyya makes a meal, especially with a few slices of pita bread.

Honey Almond Samsa [Recipe]
Think impossibly flaky baklava, but made with almond, cinnamon and orange blossom water. This is a finger-licking sweet for any party.

About the food of Tunisia

Bordj-el-Kebir. Photo by Thomas Kees.

The castles in Tunisia don’t look like they are made of stone. Not European stones, anyway. Those make for grey castles – the kind most of us are familiar with.

No, Tunisian castles look like sandcastles. The soft yellow stones look like knobs of buttered polenta. Or couscous.

I know, because this is one of the twelve countries I visited when I was a teen. I went for my senior trip (from Luxembourg, where I was living at the time).

While I was there I wanted to eat up those castles.

I mean look at this…

Fort Djerba, Tunisia. Photo by Cezary P.

But before I ever saw the castles, I had to feel Tunisia. I stepped off of the plane, into the heat. The humidity squeezed me like a giant hug.

Not only was it hot enough to swim at 8 a.m., it was hot enough to want to.

The food was suitably refreshing. I had lots of tomato salads, grilled meats, and even grilled salads [Recipe]. In the morning, chakchouka was common, a quick fix cobbled together with simmered eggplant, peppers, onion, and sausage. Hold the eggs. On the side could be bread or couscous.

Cap Serrat, Northern Coast of Tunisia. Photo by DrFO.Jr.Tn.

Like their Moroccan neighbors, Tunisians also enjoy a good tagine, filled with aromatic chicken, fish, vegetables, and more (I made a Lamb with sweet honey figs tagine for Morocco, yum).

Tunisian food employs a range of seasonings, from spicy harissa, olives, cinnamon, and coriander.

For dessert, you’ll find many people looking to cash in on sweet nibbles, like almond honey samsa [Recipe]. Others love a big jolt of coffee. When I was there, in 1999, coffee shops were a favorite pastime for the men’s social hour (rather like the smoking room used to be in America).

Djerba, Tunisia. Photo by SuperManu.

Have you been to Tunisia?

What do you love about Tunisian food?

Maps and flag courtesy of CIA World Factbook. Photo of Landscape in Tozeur–Nefta International Airport (Tunisia), by Gloumouth1.

Monday Meal Review: Trinidad and Tobago

This week, gorgeous Trinidad and Tobago helped me question what was real about my relationship in a way I’d never thought about before. The timing couldn’t have been better, since Keith and I just celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary.

The lesson came in an unlikely form: The Swiss Family Robinson.

The Swiss Family Robinson was filmed in Tobago in 1960. The filmmaker, Ken Annakin, emphasized how perfect the location was for shooting… After visiting countless less-than-desirable locations, they called Tobago “love at first sight.”

It was beautiful. It was serene. The island was everything they’d been looking for.

And yet – even with this “love at first sight” location – they still flew in countless animals from around the world (think elephants, cranes, parrots, tigers, anacondas, and more), to build the ambiance of the film. They still constructed their own set in Tobago, bending the location to suit their needs.

All this was done to make the story of a shipwrecked family seem more real.

I thought about this story, while my stew chicken simmered. A few questions kept popping back up:

– Is love at first sight enough? Is it appropriate to tend, enhance, or even outright modify our love… to make it feel more real?

– Should we be bending and modifying our loves to suit our needs?

– And, really, how much of our love story is fabricated, just like a movie set, a construct to project an image to the outside world, much like a film projects a image (which may or may not be real) to its viewers.

Thanks to Trinidad and Tobago for prompting the questions. As usual, I don’t have all the answers. But I do know this:

Love is love, and you’ll know it when you have it. Because, when you have the real deal, your heart gives a little gasp of recognition.

What you do with that love is up to you.

Happy Anniversary, to my love at first sight.

Here’s to another five.

View of the Five Islands, Carrera Island and Point Gourde near in Chaguaramas, Trinidad. Photo by Jean-Marc /Jo BeLo/Jhon-John from Caracas, Venezuela.

THE FOOD WE TRIED THIS WEEK:

Easy Orange Juice Rice [Recipe]

What I loved most about this dish:

Fresh orange juice doesn’t just give the rice a squeeze of bright, tropical flavor; it paints the grains of rice the most lovely pale orange. This dish is a great conversation starter and wonderful in an environment where a burst of sweetness is needed – as with spicy food. Ava couldn’t quite figure out why her rice tasted like juice, but Keith gobbled it right up. They both fell into line once they ate a bite of the spice with the rice.

What I loved least about this dish:

As fun as this recipe is, and as perfect as it is with spicy food, I can’t eat the rice by itself. It’s just a bit too sweet for me – I think half water or broth would create a nicer balance of flavor.

Caribbean Stewed Chicken [Recipe]

What I loved most about this dish:

I loved everything about stew chicken. This is one of the rare cases where I felt like I was eating a restaurant dish at home, in the sense that it was packed with layer upon layer of flavor. The best part? How easy it was to throw together. The brown sugar trick makes browning the chicken ridiculously easy. Everyone loved it, even Ava (though it was a bit spicy for her).

What I loved least about this dish:

Nothing.

Caribbean-Style Orange Juice Rice

In Trinidad and Tobago they say “Don’t pick fruits after 6 p.m., the tree is sleeping.”

I’m not exactly sure what the tree would do to retaliate if you interrupt its sleep … but I do know that when I don’t get my sleep, I’m not only gruffy, but I can’ t focus on anything. I’m so tired that my work suffers. I pout. I play with my hair. I pace rooms. I can’t bear fruit, so to speak.

So.

Let’s avoid picking fruit from the tree after six, both literally and figuratively.

Instead, let’s enjoy fruit in our rice. I first read about orange rice in The World Cookbook for Students. Apparently, this is a popular side dish in parts of Trinidad and Tobago. And for good reason.

When cooked with orange juice, rice becomes sweet, tangy, and makes the perfect complement to spicy food.

Now. There is nothing subtle about replacing all the water with O.J., so if you’d like to start off with something more mild, try using half water (or broth) and half O.J.

A few other ideas: consider adding thyme, green onion, or cilantro for seasoning and/or garnish. It’ll take the rice to the next level.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh orange juice with pulp
2 cups white rice
2 Tbsp butter
freshly grated orange peel, for garnish

Method:

Let’s create a sea of orange…

First step?

Juice a mountain of oranges or… keep it simple and use O.J. from the bottle (with pulp, please).

Next, melt some butter in a medium saucepan and stir in the rice. Cook several minutes over high heat until the rice is very hot.

Meanwhile, season with salt and pepper. Don’t be shy! How much salt you add makes the difference between flat rice and rice nirvana.

Next, pour on the O.J. If you warmed the rice long enough, it will sizzle and sputter as the liquid hits the hot grains. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until all the liquid is absorbed. This will take longer than regular rice because we made it with O.J. instead of water. Mine took 25+ minutes, but cooking times may vary.

NOTE: If you use 50% OJ and 50% water, cooking time will be more like 16-20 minutes.

Remove from heat and let sit another ten minutes.

Meanwhile, daydream your way to a glorious spot in Trinidad and Tobago.

Perhaps an orange one.

View of the Five Islands, Carrera Island and Point Gourde near in Chaguaramas, Trinidad. Photo by Jean-Marc /Jo BeLo/Jhon-John from Caracas, Venezuela.

When you return, uncover the rice, fluff and serve with a little grated orange zest or perhaps a sprinkling of green onion, cilantro, or thyme.

Uh-oh.

Yum.

What else can be done with orange juice? I have another half gallon to use up. Ideas?

P.S. Orange you glad it’s Friday?! (I know, I know)

Caribbean-Style Orange Juice Rice

let’s enjoy fruit in our rice. I first read about orange rice in The World Cookbook for Students. Apparently, this is a popular side dish in parts of Trinidad and Tobago. And for good reason. When cooked with orange juice, rice becomes sweet, tangy, and makes the perfect complement to spicy food. Now. There is nothing subtle about replacing all the water with O.J., so if you’d like to start off with something more mild, try using half water (or broth) and half O.J.

LifestylePotluck Friendly, Quick
Food TypeRice

Servings

6-8 people

Servings

6-8 people

Caribbean-Style Orange Juice Rice

LifestylePotluck Friendly, Quick
Food TypeRice

Servings

6-8 people

Servings

6-8 people

Ingredients

4 cups orange juice (fresh), with pulp
2 cups white rice
2 Tbsp butter
orange zest , for garnish

Servings: people

Units:

Instructions

Juice a mountain of oranges or… keep it simple and use O.J. from the bottle (with pulp, please).
Next, melt some butter in a medium saucepan and stir in the rice. Cook several minutes over high heat until the rice is very hot. Meanwhile, season with salt and pepper. Don’t be shy! How much salt you add makes the difference between flat rice and rice nirvana.
Next, pour on the O.J. If you warmed the rice long enough, it will sizzle and sputter as the liquid hits the hot grains. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until all the liquid is absorbed. This will take longer than regular rice because we made it with O.J. instead of water. Mine took 25+ minutes, but cooking times may vary. NOTE: If you use 50% OJ and 50% water, cooking time will be more like 16-20 minutes.
Remove from heat and let sit another ten minutes. When you return, uncover the rice, fluff and serve with a little grated orange zest or perhaps a sprinkling of green onion, cilantro, or thyme.

Trini Stew Chicken

Many a good thing requires we throw our all into it.

Swimming, for example. If we don’t swim with our all, well… we sink.

Fast.

When it comes to food from Trinidad and Tobago, adding a ton of flavor goes a long way to making unctuous and irresistible stew chicken.

And when I say a “ton of flavor”, I mean, we’re going to throw our all into it. Just about everything your market (and your herb planter) has to offer goes into stew chicken.

The basis of Stew Chicken is Green Seasoning. We made green seasoning back when we cooked Guyana. There are hundreds (thousands!) of recipes for green seasoning, so I thought it’d be fun to make up a second batch with this recipe.

I used a different mix of herbs and aromatics, like ginger, garlic, tomato, green onion, and thyme. These flavors speak to Trinidad and Tobago’s preferences… and go wonderfully with this chicken.

For this recipe, I used four whole chicken legs, which weighed about 2 lbs total. This sauce is enough to serve with 4 lbs of chicken, so if you have a big crowd or like leftovers, go for it!

Tip: If you don’t have a blender or food processor, you can also chop the marinade ingredients. You might need to add water, if you choose this path, to keep things from sticking.

Serves 4-8

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

1 lime, juiced
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp worcheshire sauce
1 tomato
3-4 green onions
a handful of cilantro, stemmed
a few sprigs thyme, stemmed
a few sprigs parsley, stemmed
5 cloves garlic
1 onion, quartered
1 tsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
habenero pepper, to taste

For the chicken:

2-4 lbs of chicken (any cut you like, dark meat preferred, I used whole chicken legs)
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 cups water

Serve with Orange Juice Rice

Method:

Let’s go to the Caribbean, friends!

First step? Find a lovely kitchen with a view, perhaps like this:

View of Little Tobago. Photo by Jim F. Bleak

Feeling inspired yet?

Great.

Next up, Green Seasoning.

Add the ingredients for the Green Seasoning marinade to your blender or food processor… in the order written (liquids first). Be sure to cut things small enough for your machine to handle the pieces. Alternatively, you can just chop the marinade ingredients and forget the blender.

A note on the hot chili peppers: I used about half a habenero (without the seeds), and found the spice level somewhere between mild and medium.

Look how pretty!

Pour the green seasoning over the chicken and marinate at least an hour. Overnight is better.

Now for a fancy trick.

We’re going to use some brown sugar to color the chicken.

All you need to do is heat up the oil and brown sugar in a large pot. Cook until the sugar caramelizes (it will get foamy and may smoke a bit). Quickly add the chicken. Cook until browned on both sides, a few minutes per side.

Pour on the marinade… (right about now the house will start smelling really, really good).

Cover and simmer about an hour, adding water as desired to thin the sauce or make more of it. Personally, I added no extra water, and enjoyed the wonderfully deep and concentrated flavor.

Enjoy with a big heaping of orange juice rice (recipe will be up tomorrow)…

P.S. Happy Fourth of July to all the American readers!

Hope you have a safe and happy holiday.

Trini Stew Chicken

When it comes to food from Trinidad and Tobago, adding a ton of flavor goes a long way to making unctuous and irresistible stew chicken. The basis of Stew Chicken is Green Seasoning. We made green seasoning back when we cooked Guyana. There are hundreds (thousands!) of recipes for green seasoning, so I thought it’d be fun to make up a second batch with this recipe. I used a different mix of herbs and aromatics, like ginger, garlic, tomato, green onion, and thyme. These flavors speak to Trinidad and Tobago’s preferences… and go wonderfully with this chicken.

CourseMain Dish
LifestylePotluck Friendly, Weekend Projects
Food TypeMiss Ava's Favorite Recipes, Mr. Picky's Favorite Recipes, Poultry, Sasha's Favorite Recipes

Servings	Prep Time
4-8 people	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
60-90 minutes	1-8 hours

Servings	Prep Time
4-8 people	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
60-90 minutes	1-8 hours

Trini Stew Chicken

CourseMain Dish
LifestylePotluck Friendly, Weekend Projects
Food TypeMiss Ava's Favorite Recipes, Mr. Picky's Favorite Recipes, Poultry, Sasha's Favorite Recipes

Servings	Prep Time
4-8 people	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
60-90 minutes	1-8 hours

Servings	Prep Time
4-8 people	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
60-90 minutes	1-8 hours

Ingredients

For the green seasoning:

1 lime , juiced
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tomato
3-4 green onions
1 handful fresh cilantro , stemmed
3 sprigs thyme , stemmed
3 sprigs parsley , stemmed
5 cloves garlic
1 onion , quartered
1 tsp ginger root (grated)
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
habanero peppers , to taste

For the chicken:

2-4 lbs whole chicken legs
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 cups water

Servings: people

Units:

Instructions

For the green seasoning:

Add the ingredients for the Green Seasoning marinade to your blender or food processor… in the order written (liquids first). Be sure to cut things small enough for your machine to handle the pieces. Alternatively, you can just chop the marinade ingredients and forget the blender. A note on the hot chili peppers: I used about half a habenero (without the seeds), and found the spice level somewhere between mild and medium.

For the chicken:

Pour the green seasoning over the chicken and marinate at least an hour. Overnight is better.
Now for a fancy trick. We’re going to use some brown sugar to color the chicken. All you need to do is heat up the oil and brown sugar in a large pot. Cook until the sugar caramelizes (it will get foamy and may smoke a bit). Quickly add the chicken. Cook until browned on both sides, a few minutes per side.
Pour on the marinade… (right about now the house will start smelling really, really good). Cover and simmer about an hour, adding water as desired to thin the sauce or make more of it. Personally, I added no extra water, and enjoyed the wonderfully deep and concentrated flavor. Serve with orange rice.

Menu: Trinidad and Tobago

Keith and I just celebrated five years of marriage. There’s an old saying from Trinidad and Tobago that sums up the depths to which I love this man: There’s more in the mortar than the pestle. In other words, there’s more to this man than meets the eye. He’s not just a pair of jaw dropping hazel eyes. He’s not just the funny one. He’s sure. Stable. All things committed.

And I’m so lucky to have him.

What better way to celebrate my husband than two of his favorite things? Spicy food and orange juice. Sweet and hot.

Please and thank you.

These recipes will be posted throughout the week along with the meal review.

Orange Juice Rice [Recipe]
Take ordinary rice on a tropical spin; cook it up with orange juice! This pale orange, fruity dish is a must-have on the side of any spicy food.

Caribbean Stew Chicken [Recipe]
Stew chicken is a celebration of the Caribbean. There are so many seasonings in here – a true melting pot of flavor characteristic of the West Indies. Think ginger, garlic, thyme, onion, green onion, tomato, Worcestershire sauce, and more. Don’t forget the habenero (to taste, of course!)

Happy 5th Anniversary, Keith!
I love you.