Middle Eastern Feast

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
21

A+
Looks perfect.

22

If you want to cheat (slightly) on the baba ghanoush recipe, you can find fire-roasted eggplant in a jar at most decent-sized Middle Eastern grocery stores…

Bruce

23

I’m a little late Bruce, but doing it on the grill lends a little smokiness that I think makes the dish. Very close to what we used to get at La Shish.

24

Those Palouse GB are great! I don’t think I was using them before your OP but we’ve been thru 3 or 4 bags since. Do you peel them (we don’t) but a ME friend swears by the peeling method for his hummus.
I like the extra fiber…

25

FWIW I necro’d this thread because Palouse Brand announced on their facebook page a “$200 Giveway” contest for photos of people using their products. I posted a few of the pics shown in this thread, and they announced earlier this week that my Kitchenaid grinding the falafel is the winner!

champagne.gif [highfive.gif] [winner.gif] [dance-clap.gif] [gen_fro.gif] [dance.gif] [dance2.gif] [drinkers.gif] [wow.gif]

It’s funny that I, of all people, could win a photo contest with a blurry pic taken from a camera phone, and poetic perhaps that the prize for such a pic might be $200 worth of garbanzo beans. They haven’t actually contacted me to tell me what I’ve won or how to collect it.

26

Mel, I think it was you mentioning these in an earlier thread which was my inspiration for getting these. We did peel these for hummus but I’m not sure it was worth the effort.

27

WTF I’ve posted a few photos on their FB page that they asked to share!

28

Indeed Mel, I’ve won a few photo contests in my day, but never one I phoned in this badly. Like I say, I’m still not sure I’ve won anything. If it’s really $200 worth of dried legumes, some will go to our local food bank.

29

Still great for you…
here is my last post on their page
Screen Shot 2014-05-29 at 11.58.31 PM.png

30

Nice photo!

31

Submitted the day before they started the contest…(very little user content on their FB page)
Wow, folks take pictures of our beans! Hey, let’s have a contest and give away $200!

FML

& had some of their beans tonight in a veggie curry with tofu and spinach & cauliflower

32

That curry sounds great!

Otherwise, the only thing funnier that your reaction was my wife’s, when I texted her saying I’d won $200 worth of beans. And not magic beans. They’ll probably find this thread and disqualify me now…

33

It was but next time more spinach!
the GB were hot soaked for a few hours then pressure cooked for 22 min (natural release) with a touch of salt and some olive oil. They had a super creamy texture and I didn’t add them to the veggie curry till the carrots and cauliflower were cooked.

34

Larry–If you get the right kind in the jar, they are fire-roasted on a grill before being jarred. So you will get smokiness from even the jarred product. Again, a slight “cheat” versus grilling the eggplant yourself…

Bruce

35

It’s a good suggestion. Really the grilling adds a fair amount of complication to what could be a really simple dish to prepare.

36

Debbie:

You may wan to check out Maureen Abood’s blog. The Best Lebanese Recipes - Maureen Abood

Maureen lives in Harbor Springs, and her recipes are quite good

37

This is the mujadara recipe in my file. IIRC I found this light on the seasoning and looking at the quantities I believe I haven’t adjusted this recipe. I also think the lentils won’t take nearly that long to cook, so consider those if trying it:

Mujadara
ingredients:
• 1 cup lentils
• 1 1/4 cup brown basmati rice
• 4 cups vegetable broth or water
• salt (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 large onions, slice in 1/2 inch slivers
directions:

  1. saute onions with olive oil, stirring occasionally, caramelized. reserve 4 tbs (or more) for garnish.
  2. while onions are caramelizing, throw lentils in a pot with 4 cups of broth or water. bring to a boil, reduce to medium heat, cover, and cook for about 40 minutes, or until lentils are tender and most liquid is absorbed.
  3. once lentils are situated (ie – cooking), cook rice. we use a rice cooker for this part.
  4. once lentils are finished cooking, add in cooked rice, caramelized onions, cumin, salt, and pepper. mix well.
  5. garnish with remaining onions.
  6. serve and enjoy.
38

That’s exactly why I use the shortcut. If I’m already grilling a bunch of other stuff, it’s not a big deal to add eggplant to the mix. But if I’m just making baba g., then using the jarred but fire-roasted eggplant makes a big difference in preparation time. You do, of course, have to drain the jar thoroughly in a sieve to remove any of the liquid.

Bruce

39

Unfortunately we don’t have any middle-eastern groceries around here, but I grabbed a couple jars off Amazon to try, thanks.

40

I just talked to Palouse and they are really sending me $200 worth of Palouse Brand products. I asked for Garbanzos, Lentils, and a mix of red & white wheatberries, split into 5# bags so we can donate some to our local soup kitchen. Really nice people and I’ll try to reward them with some better photos