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African Papa

I find that Mr. Not-as-Picky, Keith – even with all his progress on the adventure – can still be rather fussy about food that looks soft and mushy.

Especially if he has to eat it with his fingers.

If you ask me, some of the best food is soft and mushy – mashed potatoes being the prime example.

So I’ll you what I told him. Papa, a stiff white porridge from Lesotho, is not that unusual. Especially if you eat grits for a living, which – apparently – many people do, here in the south.

The best way to approximate Papa is by simply taking grits – the white ones – and make them a bit thicker than usual.

When you’re done whisking, whisking, whisking, you’ll have a beautiful, scoopable papa – not unlike polenta in texture.
It looks soft and mushy, but in fact, this papa is rather solid once cooled.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup white grits
1 1/4-1 1/2 cups stock (your preference)
salt

Method:

Bring stock to boil. Stream in grits, while whisking constantly. Cook until thickened for the time indicated on package.  Pour onto plates and let cool for a moment. The grits will thicken up and can be eaten with the fingers.

For more information, check out Help Lesoth0.

African Papa
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The best way to approximate Papa is by simply taking grits - the white ones - and make them a bit thicker than usual.
Servings
2-4 people
Servings
2-4 people
African Papa
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The best way to approximate Papa is by simply taking grits - the white ones - and make them a bit thicker than usual.
Servings
2-4 people
Servings
2-4 people
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup white grits
  • 1 1/4 cup stock , up to 1 1/2 cup, chicken or beef
  • salt
Servings: people
Units:
Instructions
  1. Bring stock to boil.
  2. Stream in grits, while whisking constantly.
  3. Cook until thickened for the time indicated on package.
  4. Pour onto plates and let cool for a moment. The grits will thicken up and can be eaten with the fingers.

Moroko Mash

Today I’m partnering with your mother. It’s cold outside. Let’s all bundle up in our favorite fuzzy-wild-animal-looking hoodies. Let’s wear face masks and giant mittens. And let’s definitely eat our vegetables. Lots and lots of veggies.

Today’s recipe is inspired by moroko, a dish enjoyed in the African country, Lesotho.

Typically, Moroko is made with onions and greens, sauteed in oil with a bit of broth, not unlike the Kale (Sukuma Wiki) we made recently for Kenya. Moroko  can be made with any dark greens you’d like, such as kale, spinach, chard, or mustard greens. Optionally, beans or potatoes can be added. But I have a secret – the most wonderful mash around is when you add mustard greens to potatoes. And this mash, inspired by Lesotho, is what we’re serving up today.

Turns out this is the mashed potatoes your mother always dreamed you would eat. Loaded with nutrients. And really, really green.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

1 bunch mustard greens, chopped finely
3 fairly large russet potatoes, peeled and roughly cubed
stock, as needed – I used about 1 1/2 cups
vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Method:

Take a drive through Lesotho. Enjoy the scenery. Try not to get vertigo (see that tiny white bus?) …

Sani Pass. Photo by Amada44.

While you’re there, gather up a happy batch of potatoes and mustard greens.

Remove the tough stems from the mustard greens and chop the leaves finely. Peel and cube the potatoes.
If you’d like, brown the potatoes in vegetable oil to add a bit more flavor. Then add the greens, stock, salt and pepper.

Cover and simmer until everything is soft enough to…

… mash with the back of a wooden spoon.Pile high into a bowl…

Mess around with it until pretty… 

… and serve with a smile.

These are festive taters.

Great for any holiday table… any healthy holiday table.

So what do you say? Are you read to bring some comfort food into your chilly-cold-wintery days?


Moroko Mash
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Moroko can be made with any dark greens you'd like, such as kale, spinach, chard, or mustard greens. Optionally, beans or potatoes can be added.
Servings
2-4 people
Servings
2-4 people
Moroko Mash
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Moroko can be made with any dark greens you'd like, such as kale, spinach, chard, or mustard greens. Optionally, beans or potatoes can be added.
Servings
2-4 people
Servings
2-4 people
Ingredients
  • 1 bunch mustard greens , chopped finely
  • 3 large russet potatoes , peeled and cubed
  • 1 1/2 cup stock , as needed
  • vegetable oil
  • salt
  • pepper
Servings: people
Units:
Instructions
  1. Remove the tough stems from the mustard greens and chop the leaves finely.
  2. In a medium pot brown the potatoes in vegetable oil over medium heat.
  3. Add the greens, stock, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until everything is soft enough to mash with the back of a wooden spoon.

Red Rooibos Latte

Friends, it’s time. Let’s have a tea party. Cabin fever is setting in. Bring out your favorite dishes and your fancy hats. Shake things up. Wear those shoes you never wear and paint your fingernails red, red, red.

Or, if you’d rather, we can do it in our PJ’s, fuzzy slippers and robes.*

As for what we’ll drink?

I haven’t been this excited about a new tea since I had my first “London Fog” which, for the uninitiated, is Earl Grey tea made with half steamed milk. (It literally makes my toes curl). Today, however, I bring you something even more fantastic – from the Southern hemisphere – the Red Rooibos Latte.

Or the Red Love Latte, as I’ve come to call it.

This is the hot drink of choice in the big-city coffee shops of Lesotho and South Africa. Of course they just call it a Red Rooibos Latte or Red Latte. I even like the idea of calling it a Rooibos Fog.

The friendly baristas brew Rooibos tea very, very strong – they actually have a special fine grind that can be run through an espresso machine. The tea comes out a deep red, so dark it’s almost black. Very sensual. There’s a brand called Red Espresso that will work in any espresso maker, if you can get it near you. I should note that, unlike espresso, rooibos is totally, naturally decaffeinated.

Here’s what I love about Rooibos tea:

If you tried to brew just any old tea espresso strength, it would become impossibly bitter. Rooibos is unique because the longer it brews, the stronger the flavor without the astringent bitter aftertaste. So, the longer it brews, the bolder the flavor.

It grows and grows, like a big, bear hug. Full of love and totally delicious.

Using the finely chopped tea leaves makes easy work of it, but any strongly brewed Rooibos will work.

Dream a little daydream while the double (or triple) strength tea slowly turns as deep-dark as coffee. Boiling the tea on the stove helps.

 When it’s ready it’ll almost be black. This pot is still steeping to full-strength “love” status.

Ahh, this is better – just a shimmer of red in a dark sea of tea…

Then add honey, pour on the steamed milk and dust with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Or an avalanche, depending on your preferences.

Enjoy your Red Rooibos Latte with someone special.

Or simply sit by the window and watch the winter light move through the trees.

How to make a Red Roiboss Latte

Serves 1

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup Rooibos tea brewed double to triple strength
1/2 cup of steamed milk
honey, to taste
ground cinnamon, to taste

Method:

Mix brewed tea with honey. Top with steamed milk and cinnamon. Serve immediately.

Recipe inspired by African Wanderlust and Red Espresso.

* The hat picture is from 2008, right before I got married. The next photo is from last week. It makes me laugh to see how much my life has changed in just 3 years. Life is such a beautiful journey.

Red Rooibos Latte
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The friendly baristas brew Rooibos tea very, very strong - they actually have a special fine grind that can be run through an espresso machine. The tea comes out a deep red, so dark it's almost black.
Red Rooibos Latte
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Print Recipe
The friendly baristas brew Rooibos tea very, very strong - they actually have a special fine grind that can be run through an espresso machine. The tea comes out a deep red, so dark it's almost black.
Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup rooibos tea (brewed double to triple strength)
  • 1/2 cup milk , steamed
  • honey , to taste
  • ground cinnamon , to taste
Servings:
Units:
Instructions
  1. Mix brewed tea with honey. Top with steamed milk and cinnamon. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes

There's a brand called Red Espresso that will work in any espresso maker, if you can get it near you. I should note that, unlike espresso, rooibos is totally, naturally decaffeinated.

Menu: Lesotho

Ava was endlessly fascinated with the "bubbles" in her latte.

Weeks like this make me really happy. First of all, I’m learning about a country I knew nothing about last week. Turns out I’m a big fan of Lesotho and today’s menu. Anything with steamed milk or potatoes is a near automatic win. And who wouldn’t want to drink tea and eat papa in their pj’s? Second of all, my two year-old daughter is singing in her first ever musical performance (ahhhh). I’m not sure my heart can take it; the cuteness is going to be ridiculous. Third of all, I get to travel back to Estonia to make gingerbread cookies for the party after said performance. This is simply the most wonderful time of year.

That being said, let’s eat Lesotho. What sounds good to you?*

Red Rooibos Latte  [Recipe]
Double-strength Red Rooibos tea, topped off with steamed milk, honey and cinnamon. It’ll make you sing.

Papa  [Recipe]
While this is what Ava calls Keith, we aren’t serving him up for dinner. No, in this instance, papa is more like the grits of Lesotho. The staple is eaten on it’s own or with veggies, meats and other saucy meals.

Moroko Mash  [Recipe]
Potatoes and mustard greens stewed until soft and mashable. The final result looks like very green mashed potatoes. Brilliant.

*All recipes and the meal review will be up by Monday morning.

About the food of Lesotho

Maletsunyane Falls in Lesotho. Photo by BagelBelt.

If you’d like to go Lesotho, there’s only one way. Through South Africa. If you have trouble imagining what I mean, visualize the yolk of an egg. Now squish it a little and set it way over to the right. That’s Lesotho. Inside of South Africa.

Lesotho mountain scenery. Photo by Kentstander.

Despite being entirely surrounded by South Africa, Lesotho asserts her presence in a big way – by being the world’s tallest country. The entire country is 3,281 ft (or more) above sea level, which is more than any other country in the world.

Maseru, Lesotho. Photo by Michael Denne

But what about the food?

Let’s start with the city. If, as the sun grandly rises on a frosty winter morning, you decide to slip into a local coffee shop, you can warm yourself with a big, red latte, made with extra-strong rooibos tea (aptly nicknamed red espresso)  [Recipe]. Rooibos is grown in this part of the world, making a red latte (and cappuccino etc) a very local specialty.

Once you’ve walked around a bit and worked up an appetite, you can slip into a restaurant and have any number of international dishes, especially French, or you can saddle up to regional favorites like grilled meats, fish, home-brewed beer and ginger drinks.

Boy sitting on rocks. Photo by K. Kendall. Flag courtesy of CIA World Factbook. Sunset in Lesotho. Photo by Matt80.

A walk to the countryside will lead you to another array of favorites, like Moroko, or finely chopped and braised greens – sometimes cooked with potatoes or even beans. Another staple is papa (also nsima), or white porridge made from maize  [Recipe]. Papa is used to scoop up the moroko  [Recipe] or other veggies, like chakalaka – a vegetable chili sauce. Meat can be included in these meals but, while owning cattle is a sign of status, eating it is traditionally reserved for special occasions.

Finally, there’s an amazing array of fruit grown in and around Lesotho – anything from pear, to oranges and from quinces to peaches. The natural sweetness always tastes best right off the tree, which is where you’d find me if I was in Lesotho.

Rondavel home in Lesotho. Photo by K. Kendall. Ha Nqabeni primary school, Lesotho. Photo by Michael Denne. Maps courtesy of CIA World Factbook.

And that’s just the beginning. What is your favorite food from the region?

Monday Meal Review: Lebanon

THE SCENE:

I am five minutes into mashing and squashing an entire head of garlic, when I realize I am not really sure what people mean when they say “I cook with my heart.”

My kitchen is littered with garlic peels. The papery petals stick to my fingers when I try to scrape them up. This is my second head of garlic for the day. Earlier, I roasted an entire head of garlic for the baba ghanoush.

Two heads of garlic is a lot for one single, solitary meal. For the 2.5 of us.

I laugh. How did I get here?

I scrape the blob of garlic paste into my mini-prep and buzz it together with a splash of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil. It turns from pale cream to butter yellow. The scent explodes into the air.


Is this what happens – is this the result of cooking from the heart?

Does one really need two entire heads of garlic in a meal? No. 

Had I let my love of garlic overcome me? Probably.

Can love, perhaps, push the brain to the perimeter – even in an activity as simple as cooking? Definitely.

Tentatively, I dip my finger into the sauce – the smooth, silky sauce – and bring it to my lips. Oh goodness. This is raw, heart-squeezing garlic. This will kill every single germ inside my body.

I ladle it thickly on my Lebanese Maakroun. I eat without pause.

Just an hour later, I walk up the dark path to the small meet and greet at This Land Press.

My mouth tingles with toothpaste and garlic. Wretched.

I shake hands with a half dozen people. Fellow foodies. The garlic seeps effortlessly out of my pores, perfumes my hair, and floats over to the people around me.

I sip three glasses of wine, trying to cover up the taste.

Nothing helps.

A friend named Joe says he loves how garlic lingers on the hands, even days later. He doesn’t mind.

When I tiptoe back into the house I debate brushing my teeth again. Instead, I pop open the fridge and stand there, cool air flowing onto my face. Bite by bite, I scoop up the leftover baba ghanoush.

I sleep without dreaming.

THE FOOD:

Baby-mama’s Spiced Tea, from Lebanon (Ainar) [Recipe]

What I liked most about this drink:

While I would have never thought of putting nuts in tea, I loved the slightly softened texture in combination with the hint of cinnamon and other spices – very festive.  Definitely a new favorite. Ava had tons of fun dropping nuts into her tea, and even more fun fishing them out. Even Mr Not-as-Picky (Keith) thought it was “pretty good.” This is high praise considering he’s mildly allergic to nuts (very mildly, as in… they make his mouth “tingle”).

What I liked least about this drink:

For some weird reason I forgot how to make tea. I dumped all the spices, loose as a goose, into my pot of water. Next time I’ll simply use a tea ball and avoid the straining game.

Baba Ghanoush with Roasted Garlic [Recipe]

What I liked most about this dish:

I ate half my body weight of this dip, if that’s any indication. I really enjoyed the mellow roasted garlic flavor which rounded out the eggplant and bright lemon juice. Also, the smoky pine nuts added great body. Keith had a little bit and said it reminded him of hummus and, in fact, he thought that’s what it was at first.

What I liked least about this dish:

Ava is funny with dips. Some days all she wants to do is dip, dip, dip. Other days- and this was one of them – she won’t go near anything dip-like.

Mountain Gnocchi (Maakroun) [Recipe]

What I liked most about this dish:

This recipe is a snap to make. The pasta dough was really pliable thanks to the warm water which made it easy for Ava to help roll it out. Good family fun. And, as a bonus, Keith asked for it for dinner just two days later. We whipped up a batch and used up the leftover toum – fantastic.

What I liked least about this dish:

No real complaints with this one, except perhaps that I need to work on my fork technique for making the markings.

Lemon Garlic Sauce (Toum) [Recipe]

What I liked most about this dish:

Wow. 1) I never thought in a million years that Ava or Keith would go for this. 2) They did and they both loved it. 3) This stuff is potent 4) Despite my hesitations before making the dish, I can now say that Toum will be making many an appearance on pasta dishes in our home.

What I liked least about this dish:

Use with a light touch – make sure you can handle the potency. Also, if you don’t have a mini food processor, you might have to double or triple the recipe so you can put it in your blender or large food processor. OR you can do it entirely by hand, but getting it so smooth isn’t super easy by hand – I tried.

Ava’s Corner

Mountain Gnocchi | Maakroun

Gnocchi is always associated with Italy. Gondolas. Striped shirts. Butter and sage. But take a trip southeast, across the Mediterranean, to the old mountain villages of Lebanon and you’ll encounter something very similar. It’s called Maakroun –  a thick homemade pasta that is either fried and served sweet, or boiled and served with an intense garlicky lemon sauce called toum. While Maakroun is not made with potatoes, the shape is nearly the same – a little longer perhaps.

I would have never guessed that the Lebanese have something so similar to gnocchi. Never in a million years. But that’s what this Adventure is all about – discovery and trying something new. So get off your gondola, and put on your hiking shoes. We’re headed to Lebanon. And we’re going to eat pasta.

Recipe inspired by this regional tourism flyer from Douma, Lebanon.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
warm water, as needed (I used 3/4 cup)
1 tsp salt

Method:

Find yourself a happy mountainside. Or perhaps a beautiful window to cook by.

L: Mountain road in Lebanon. R: Stone windows in the Great Palace of Anjar. Photo by Guillaume Piolle.

Then, in a food processor with dough blade attached, buzz the flour, salt and olive oil together, scraping the sides once or twice.

The golden olive oil will coat the flour, paving the way for a super soft dough. 

Once all the grains are coated with oil, drizzle in the warm water until…

… the mixture begins to pull together into a ball. Some of it will be moist. A little bit will by dry.

Remove it all and knead together for a few minutes until a smooth ball forms. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, bathing kitty cats happen…

Sorry about that. He has no shame.

Now, time to get fancy. Roll pieces of the dough into snakes cut into 1 1/2 long pieces. Press with a fork to make little indentations.

 

Like so…

Hungry yet?

Cook in salted boiling water for 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness and then coat with a few spoonfuls of toum – lemon garlic sauce.

Eat with a big appetite and a smile.

And imagine yourself in a mountainside village in Lebanon.

Village in Lebanon. Photo by A.K.Khalifeh.

Lovely.

<sigh>



Mountain Gnocchi | Maakroun
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A thick homemade pasta that is either fried and served sweet, or boiled and served with an intense garlicky lemon sauce called toum.
Servings
2-4 people
Servings
2-4 people
Mountain Gnocchi | Maakroun
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Rating: 5
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A thick homemade pasta that is either fried and served sweet, or boiled and served with an intense garlicky lemon sauce called toum.
Servings
2-4 people
Servings
2-4 people
Ingredients
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3/4 cup warm water , as needed
  • 1 tsp salt
Servings: people
Units:
Instructions
  1. In a food processor with dough blade attached, buzz the flour, salt and olive oil together, scraping the sides once or twice.
  2. Once all the grains are coated with oil, drizzle in the warm water until the mixture begins to pull together into a ball. Some of it will be moist. A little bit will by dry.
  3. Remove it all and knead together for a few minutes until a smooth ball forms. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
  4. Roll pieces of the dough into snakes cut into 1 1/2 long pieces. Press with a fork to make little indentations.
  5. Cook in salted boiling water for 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness and then coat with a few spoonfuls of toum - lemon garlic sauce.

Garlic-lemon Sauce |Toum

Adding a handful of spices to a pot of sauce can be cause to say “Bam.”

Or so I’ve heard.

But how about making sauce with an entire head garlic?

Raw garlic?

Raw garlic with nothing but a heap of lemon juice and olive oil to thin it out? They do it in Lebanon. And it’s fabulous.

Just one thing …

No one will ever kiss you again. Except your mother.

Bam!

NOTE: Use sparingly. Especially on hot days, when your pores are likely to sweat out the scent of this intense pasta sauce.

Makes 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

The cloves from 1 head garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (about 1 lemon, juiced)
1 tsp salt

Serve over Maakroun, Mountain Gnocchi

Method:

First, you have to get the garlic started. You can crush it with a garlic crusher, or chop, chop, chop it, or pound it with some salt with a mortar and pestle.

In fact, if you’re really good, you can make this entire sauce in a mortar and pestle. I’m not though…

Once you have a rough paste formed…
Add to a small processor with olive oil and lemon juice.

Puree until perfectly smooth.Serve on top of pasta,such as this batch of Lebanese Maakroun.

Now, go lock yourself in a castle and enjoy your garlic breath!

It’s worth it.

Moussa’s castle near Beiteddine, Lebanon. Photo by Peripitus.

Have a happy day!

Garlic-lemon Sauce |Toum
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Raw garlic with nothing but a heap of lemon juice and olive oil to thin it out? They do it in Lebanon. And it's fabulous.
Servings
1/2 cup
Servings
1/2 cup
Garlic-lemon Sauce |Toum
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Raw garlic with nothing but a heap of lemon juice and olive oil to thin it out? They do it in Lebanon. And it's fabulous.
Servings
1/2 cup
Servings
1/2 cup
Ingredients
  • 1 head garlic
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice , about 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 tsp salt
Servings: cup
Units:
Instructions
  1. Remove the garlic cloves from the head. Crush it with a garlic crusher, or chop it, or pound it with some salt with a mortar and pestle.
  2. Add garlic to a small processor with olive oil and lemon juice. Puree until perfectly smooth.
  3. Serve on top of pasta.

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 early summer catalog.

Here’s how to make it:

Ingredients:

1 tsp caraway seeds
2 cinnamon sticks
1 Tbsp anise seeds
pinch nutmeg
6 cups water

Garnish (to taste):

pine nuts
walnuts
slivered almonds
sugar

Method:

Add spices to water (use a tea ball, if you have one) and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 15 minutes, or until flavored strongly enough. Serve with nuts and sugar, to taste.

Enjoy while watching a scarlet sunset.

Sunset over Tabarja, Lebanon. Photo by Mandi.217.

 

Spiced Tea | Ainar
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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.
Spiced Tea | Ainar
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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.
Ingredients
  • 1 tsp caraway seeds
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 Tbsp anise seeds
  • 1 pinch ground nutmeg
  • 6 cups water
Garnish ideas:
  • pine nuts
  • walnuts
  • slivered almonds
  • sugar
Servings:
Units:
Instructions
  1. Add spices to water (use a tea ball, if you have one) and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 15 minutes, or until flavored strongly enough.
  2. Serve with nuts and sugar, to taste.
Recipe Notes

Garnish (to taste):

pine nuts
walnuts
slivered almonds
sugar

I'm honored that this recipe was featured in Penzy's Spices' 2012 early summer catalog.

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 whole head of roasted garlic.

And you can quote me on that.

Makes about a quart

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked eggplant flesh from about 3 large eggplants
(2 of mine were 8 inches long and 1 was 12 inches long)
1 head garlic, roasted
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp – 1/4 cup tahini (to taste)
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
handful fresh parsley
1 tsp salt, or to taste
pepper, to taste

Method:

After a fun night out on the town, wake up with purpose. Wake up to eggplants.

Downtown Beirut. Photo by Bertil Videt.

First, preheat the oven to 475F.  Then get silly with your fork.

Poke, poke, poke a million-billion holes in your eggplant and rub all over with olive oil. Place the eggplant on roasting pan with the head of garlic, all wrapped up in foil like a mummy.

A delicious garlic mummy.

Roast the eggplant, turning occasionally until they collapse. Large eggplant will take 30-45 minutes. Roast the foil-wrapped garlic for 2o minutes, removing from oven while the eggplant finishes up. Set both aside until cool enough to handle.

While you wait, take a stroll around Baalbek, the amazing Roman ruins of Lebanon once known as the City of the Sun.

Baalbek ruins in Lebanon. Photo by Heretiq

Sit in a corner and let the sun warm your face while you take a brief nap. Then, fully renewed, return home and finish up the baba ghanoush.

Toast the pine nuts over medium heat in a clean dry skillet  until golden brown, stirring continually. Add half to a food processor, reserving other half for garnish. Pop the garlic cloves out of the skins and add them to the processor as well. Try not to gobble them all up at once!

Finally, scoop out four cups of eggplant flesh and add it to the processor with lemon juice, tahini, and parsley. Pulse, drizzling in olive as needed – I used about 1/4 cup. The mixture should take on a hummus-like consistency.

Taste and adjust seasoning.

Scoop into bowls – or more traditionally – onto plates – and top with some of the pine nuts… and that’s it!

Well, unless you subscribe to the belief that a sprig of fresh parsley makes everything prettier.

Which, as a matter of fact, I do.

Now bring this to a party and sit in a corner with a favorite friend and dip, dip, dip.

With each bite, daydream yourself halfway around the world, enjoying a warm, sunny day.

Baba Ghanoush with Roasted Garlic
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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.
Baba Ghanoush with Roasted Garlic
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Print Recipe
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.
Ingredients
  • 3 large eggplants
  • 1 head garlic
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice , fresh
  • 1 Tbsp tahini , more to taste
  • 1/4 pine nuts , toasted
  • 1 handful parsley , fresh
  • 1 tsp salt , or to taste
  • pepper , to taste
Servings:
Units:
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 475F.
  2. Poke holes in your eggplant and rub all over with olive oil. Place the eggplant on roasting pan with the head of garlic, all wrapped up in foil.
  3. Roast the eggplant, turning occasionally until they collapse. Large eggplant will take 30-45 minutes.
  4. Roast the foil-wrapped garlic for 20 minutes, removing from oven while the eggplant finishes up. Set both aside until cool enough to handle.
  5. Toast the pine nuts over medium heat in a clean dry skillet until golden brown, stirring continually.
  6. Add half to a food processor, reserving other half for garnish. Pop the garlic cloves out of the skins and add them to the processor as well.
  7. Scoop out four cups of eggplant flesh and add it to the processor with lemon juice, tahini, and parsley. Pulse, drizzling in olive as needed - I used about 1/4 cup. The mixture should take on a hummus-like consistency.
  8. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Menu: Lebanon

Ava helps mama make maakroun.

In between brushing Ava’s hair, making her breakfast and playing with scissors, paper and glue, I like to pretend we’re traveling. This week it’s all about Lebanon. I tell her about mountains and snow. We look at pictures of bustling city and sleeping country. We watch clips online. We talk about the pretty trees and the winding roads.

She responds to it all by saying, in her sweet broken toddler-tongue “I want go, right now.”

“Where,” I ask?

I smile, leading her to repeat the very-big-word Lebanon back to me.

“Christmas” she says, unblinking.

Not exactly what I thought she’d say.

Oh, to be a two year-old again. 

And, yet, here I am, taking her to Lebanon via stovetop travel. Everything about this week’s menu is fantastic. Two heads of garlic. Roasted eggplant. Homemade pasta. Warm, cozy tea. The menu also happens to be entirely vegan. Nothing wrong with that.

Not when it tastes this good.

What sounds good to you?*

Baba Ghanoush with Roasted Garlic [recipe]
Smoky eggplant dip seasoned with lemon juice, tahini, parsley and an entire head of roasted garlic.

Garlic-lemon Sauce (Toum) [recipe]
A perfectly smooth sauce made with nothing more than an entire head of raw garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. (!)

Mountain Gnocchi (Maakroun) [recipe]
Lebanon’s answer to gnocchi – this vegan pasta is made with just flour, olive oil, salt and water.

Baby-mama’s Spiced Tea, from Lebanon (Ainar)  [recipe]
Take the chill out of the air with this tea made with caraway, cinnamon, anise and nutmeg. Serve with sugar and pour over an assortment of nuts.

*All recipes and the review will be posted by Monday morning.

About the food of Lebanon

Let’s climb around the mountains of Lebanon, shall we? Depending on the time of year, we might find a heavy haze of snow. In the hush and slush we can work up an appetite.

The Cedar Forest in Al Arz, Lebanon. Photo by Aboluay.

Lebanon’s very name is inspired by her snow-capped mountains – Lebanon literally means white land.

And, even in the humid summers, when the snow has long since melted, the sandy-sandstone  still looks white.

Al Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve. Photo by Yhabbouche.

Let’s pick our way between needly cedars, crumbly rocks, and thin brush, to our first meal.

Your host will certainly welcome you with a bowl of nuts and, if a baby was recently born, with a cup of hot tea called Ainar served with nuts at the bottom of the teacup [recipe].

Stone of the Pregnant Woman. Photo from the Oregon State University Archives. Ornamental ceiling. Photo by Jerzy Strzelecki. Both images from Baalbek.

After tea, you might be served a mezze – an assortment of little dishes – including tabbouleh or hummus or or kibbeh (a blend of meat and bulgur, served raw or deep fried), baba ghanoush [recipe] or even kababs.

So put on your smile, load up your plate, one item at a time, and get to digging.

There’s just one thing…

If you want to do as the Lebanese do, don’t use silverware and definitely don’t get your hands dirty. Instead, simply scoop everything up with some of the region’s tasty flatbread.

It’s like pita bread, but the size of the moon.

Simply scoop, scoop, scoop the food, just like the buckets of a water wheel (a.k.a. noria).

A noria on Orontes River in Hama, Syria. Photo by Bernard Gagnon.

Take a nap and when you’re hungry again, dig into a real mountain dish called maakroun [recipe] with toum [recipe] – or pasta with lemon and garlic sauce. Or, just possibly, you might want to slurp down some spaghetti with yogurt sauce.

I’m into it.

Maps and flag courtesy of CIA World Factbook. Photo of Raoche Rock by Aboluay.

Are you ready to go? Lebanon is uniquely situated between Africa, Asia, and Europe – and presents an assortment of dishes which blend elements from all of these influences.

What is your favorite food from this region?