Cardamom and Tea

samoon

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In the United States, Middle Eastern bread is almost always very flat. Pita and lawash have become so ubiquitous, you can always find one or the other in any major American supermarket. And I would never complain about this flatbread craze, since these breads are undeniably delicious. But all this is enough to make a person think that pita and lawash are the only two kinds of Middle Eastern bread, which is of course not the case. My family eats, bakes, and buys a variety of different Middle Eastern breads. But when one of us requests some “bread” without specifying which type, you can assume they mean samoon.

While samoon is primarily known as an Iraqi bread, it’s eaten in many different parts of the Middle East and Mediterranean. And with such a broad reach, samoon varies from place to place and doesn’t always look and taste exactly the same.

The market my family shops at in Chicago carries a version that’s very much like this recipe. But you’ll also find places with bigger seedless loaves that are cooked at a higher temperature and become slightly charred instead of golden.

Some versions of samoon even look almost like flatbread. Each variety is unique and absolutely delicious, but the thing that unites them all is their pointed oval shape. If you’re not one of the lucky ones who lives near a samoon bakery, you can use this recipe to make your own. But even if you have a samoon shop near you, nothing beats homemade bread.

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samoon

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  • Yield: 12 rolls

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 1/3 cups + 3 tablespoons tepid water, measured separately
  • 5 ounces wheat flour (about 1 cup)
  • 14 ounces white flour (about 3 cups)
  • 1 tablespoon yogurt or buttermilk
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1/4 c corn meal or semolina flour
  • Additional water for brushing
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. Proof the active dry yeast with the sugar and 1 1/3 cups of the water until the water looks a little foamy on top (about 5-10 minutes).
  2. Add the wheat flour, white flour, yogurt, melted butter, and salt to a bowl (the bowl of a stand mixer, if you plan to knead by machine).
  3. Add the water/yeast/sugar mixture and stir until the dough starts to come together. If there is still a lot of flour or if the dough looks dry, gradually add 1 tablespoon of water at a time. The dough should be on the wet side; the dough ball should be a bit sticky, but it should hold together in a ball.
  4. Knead until the dough ball passes the window pane test. It should come together into a somewhat sticky elastic ball that has a smooth surface. Kneading should take about 5-15 minutes by machine with a dough hook, or 10-20 minutes by hand. Pay more attention to the dough’s consistency than the time you’ve spent kneading.
  5. Place the dough in a bowl, cover it, and let it rise at room temperature for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. It will rise noticeably. If it’s a little chilly in your kitchen (e.g., below 67° F), you might need to let it rise for about 15-30 minutes longer.
  6. Lightly flour a clean, food-safe work surface, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, and shape each chunk into a round ball.
  7. Roll each ball into an elongated shape, sort of like a long football (see photo above). The ends should be a bit pointy. After you roll it into this shape, slightly flatten the football shaped piece with the heel of your hand. Pinch the ends of the football into points if they’ve become rounded.
  8. Sprinkle 1 or 2 sheet pans with corn meal or semolina and place the shaped loaves on the sheet pans, leaving a couple inches between each one.
  9. Brush each loaf with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  10. Cover the loaves with plastic wrap and preheat the oven to 475° F.
  11. Once the oven has preheated and the loaves have risen for 30 minutes, bake them for 12-18 minutes, until they’re cooked all the way through and golden-brown on the outside.
  12. Cool on a wire rack.

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botanical baklawa (baklava)

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A few months ago, I was making quite a lot of buttery cardamom baklawa to make sure the recipe was absolutely perfect before posting it. Baklawa (also known as baklava) is the kind of thing where you make a huge batch and then share it with friends and family, so I was bummed that I couldn’t share any with my friend, Laura. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in October, and since she’s been breastfeeding, Laura has stopped eating dairy. So one day, when I was going on and on about baklawa (maybe it’s not surprising that this is something I tend to do), I asked Laura if she had any ideas for making it dairy-free, and she suggested replacing the butter with extra virgin olive oil. I was immediately intrigued because lemon olive oil cake is one of my favorite desserts—why not use the same flavors in baklawa?

So we got together to test out this theory, and as we suspected, olive oil works perfectly in baklawa. It somehow tastes even butterier than butter and makes all of the layers extra crispy, so they completely shatter with each bite. It might sound kind of strange if you’ve never tried using extra virgin olive oil in dessert, but trust me when I say that it absolutely does not make the baklawa taste like you drizzled it with a vinaigrette, or worse, kalamata olive brine. It just somehow works.

The olive oil adds another interesting nutty flavor to the walnuts and pistachios, especially when the pistachios are a little roasted. I decided to add rose, which is a very traditional baklawa flavoring, to contrast with these earthy flavors. Rose petals and rosewater add an intoxicating fragrance that brings out the botanical qualities of the olive oil, cardamom, cinnamon, and honey. When the fragrant honey and rosewater hits the earthy, crispy filo, walnuts, and pistachios, the whole thing smells like a rainy garden.

After our successful olive oil experiment, I called my grandmother, the woman who first taught me how to make baklawa, to tell her the exciting news about our innovation. She listened patiently to my story, and then casually broke the news to me, her millennial granddaughter, that this has certainly been done before. “We used to make baklawa with olive oil whenever the bishop or cardinal would come to our house. We would make everything with olive oil because they keep a vegan diet.” So there you have it: there is nothing new under the sun.

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botanical baklawa (baklava)

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  • Prep Time: 35 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 1/2 hours
  • Yield: approximately 3 to 6 dozen pieces (depending on how you slice them)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus an extra tablespoon for greasing
  • 16 ounces walnuts, about 4 cups medium-chopped
  • 5 ounces powdered sugar, about 1 cup
  • 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 16-ounce container of filo dough sheets (do not open until the recipe tells you to)
  • 16 ounces honey
  • 1 to 3 teaspoons rosewater (to taste) *
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios
  • 3 tablespoons crumbled edible dried rose petals (optional) **

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
  2. Use the extra tablespoon of olive oil to grease a rimmed sheet pan (at least 12″ x 16″).
  3. Combine chopped walnuts, powdered sugar, cardamom, and kosher salt, and set aside.
  4. Once everything is mixed together, open the filo dough container and place half of the filo dough on the sheet pan. Be careful to work somewhat quickly so that the filo dough does not dry out.
  5. Spread the chopped walnut mixture evenly over the filo dough.
  6. Place the rest of the filo dough on top of the walnut mixture.
  7. Cut the baklawa into diamonds by slicing straight across in the short direction, then diagonally in the other direction (see more instructive photos here). It’s best to work with a very sharp or serrated knife so that you don’t tear, stretch, or dishevel the filo. It’s alright if a few of the pieces go a little awry, but you want everything to stay pretty lined up.
  8. Drizzle the olive oil evenly all over the baklawa.
  9. Cook the baklawa in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, until it has lightly browned. (Start checking after 15 minutes of baking).
  10. While the baklawa bakes, gradually add the rosewater to the honey, until the honey is properly fragranced. The potency of rosewater varies a lot from brand to brand, and also depends on freshness, so taste as you go. You should be able to distinctly taste the rose, but it should not taste soapy or perfumey.
  11. Cool the baklawa at room temperature in the pan for about 5 to 10 minutes, until it’s still warm, but not radiating heat from the top. Once cooled to this point, immediately pour the rosewater honey evenly over the top.
  12. Immediately top with ground pistachios and rose petals.
  13. Let it sit until it comes to room temperature, at least one hour.
  14. Cut through the same lines you made before baking and serve. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or the freezer for up to 3 months.

Notes

* You can find rosewater at Middle Eastern or Indian markets. You can also find it online (just make sure you find an edible one, rather than a cosmetic one). Different varieties vary in strength, so you should taste as you go.

** Dried edible rose petals can be found in most tea or spice shops, or online. Most of the rose flavor in this recipe comes from the rose water, but if you leave these out, just add a touch more rosewater to compensate.

Note: If you have any leftover baklawa, you can freeze it and turn it into baklawa frozen yogurt. In the frozen yogurt recipe, add about a teaspoon of rosewater to the yogurt and substitute cinnamon for half of the cardamom.

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stuffed dates eight ways

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When you snack a lot, you tend to prepare the same things over and over again. Yogurt with nutella, cheese and crackers, a sliced apple with peanut butter, a handful of raw almonds when you’re feeling particularly virtuous. Maybe you wouldn’t exactly call it a snacking rut, but a snacking routine. You’ve got to find those calories to get through the conference calls or grading marathons, so you make the same sensible, reliable decision every time.

But, rut or no rut, sometimes you want to make something a little extra special. You might have guests visiting from out of town, or maybe you just want to treat yourself. Either way, it’s even better if you can make something exciting, healthy, and delicious without a lot of effort. The answer? The stuffed date.

Dates are perfect for stuffing, since they are left with that huge gap after you pit them. Why not replace the thing that’s just waiting there for you to forget it exists so that you end up cracking a tooth and needing emergency dental care, with something edible that perfectly compliments the date’s lovely flavor and texture. The trick is to carefully make an incision in one side, pop the pit out, and open it like a baked potato or one of those rubber coin purses. Then just fill it with whatever you choose! (Just not broccoli-cheddar or nickels and pennies). Experiment with your own fillings, or choose one of the examples below.

Below: rainbow tiramisu date, chocolate-covered pretzel date, Nana’s date, baklawa date
herby cheesy date, salted peanut butter chocolate date, retro 1995 date, dinner date

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stuffed dates eight ways

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★★★★★

4.8 from 5 reviews

Instructions

rainbow tiramisu date


Roll the date in Turkish coffee and cocoa powder, fill it with honey-sweetened mascarpone, and top it with some rainbow sprinkles.

chocolate-covered pretzel date


Stuff the date with a pretzel nugget and dip the bottom and sides in chocolate. (vegan)

nana’s date


Stuff the date with a walnut piece and unsweetened coconut flakes, or roll it in sweetened coconut flakes. (vegan)

baklawa date


Stuff the date with a walnut piece and pack a small pinch of cardamom, finely chopped pistachios, and (optional) edible dried rose petals into the rest of the space. (vegan)

herby cheesy date


Stuff the date with a chunk of fontina (or another firm cheese) wrapped in basil, or sprinkled with another herb.

salted chocolate peanut butter date


Stuff the date with smooth peanut butter, top with an almond and some crunchy sea salt, and dip the bottom in chocolate. (vegan)

dinner date


Stuff the date with a slice of brie and a pecan.

Retro 1995 date


Stuff the date with goat cheese and some sun-dried tomato pieces, and top with basil chiffonade.

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lahm bi ajeen | middle eastern pizzas

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[jump to the lahm bi ajeen recipe]

My cousin, Kris, spends all of his time creating beautiful things. He is a talented computer programmer and graphic designer, and he spends a lot of his free time making delicious food. Kris’ cooking is equal parts improvisation and precision; he uses his knowledge of food science and technique, but he’s also an inventive and spontaneous cook. He’s the type of person who can take random leftover ingredients from the refrigerator and make something new and delicious. But he’s also always working on and perfecting his favorite dishes, like his recipe for lahm bi ajeen. He taught me how to make it a few weeks ago, and kindly let me share his recipe with you.

Lahm bi ajeen (AKA laham b’ajeen, lahmajun, or lahmajoun) is usually described as Middle Eastern meat pizza. But there are some ways that the comparison doesn’t begin to do justice to lahm bi ajeen’s unique flavor. Sure, each dish is thinly rolled dough baked with toppings on a hot stone. But instead of layering dough, tomato sauce, cheese, and toppings, you mix the tomato sauce in with the meat, you skip the cheese altogether, and you add a bunch of intensely flavorful ingredients, like pomegranate molasses/paste, parsley, and peppers. Pomegranate molasses is unbearably tart on its own, but it adds a lovely sweet and sour flavor to ground beef. It’s the true star of the recipe and simply can’t be substituted.

pomegranate molasses

You’ll rarely (although not never!) find pomegranate molasses in the average American supermarket, but it’s a staple of Middle Eastern grocery stores. It’s also very easy to make yourself, if you can’t find it near you (and makes the house smell dreamy). When I’ve made pomegranate molasses at home, it has never turned out quite as tangy as the stuff from the store, but it has its own interesting, subtle flavor. If all else fails, you can very easily find it online.

If you’re worried about investing in a specialty ingredient that you’ll only use one time for this one recipe, then I’m here to tell you that no one has ever had this problem in the history of pomegranate molasses. There are a lot of traditional dishes that call for it. But it’s also the kind of thing you can just throw in with your favorite recipe to make it extra-special. For instance, it’s a wonderful simple syrup substitute in cocktails and mocktails, it works fabulously as part of a marinade for meat or veggies, and you can spoon it over or swirl it into just about any dessert. Any time you want some sweetness and tartness, it’s the perfect thing.

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lahm bi ajeen | middle eastern pizzas

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

For an easier recipe, try this alternative

  • Total Time: between 4 and 26 hours
  • Yield: 8 small pies

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups room temperature water, divided into 1 cup and 1/2 cup
  • 12 ounces (2 cups) all purpose flour
  • 5 ounces (1 cup) 00 flour (or substitute additional all purpose flour)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt

For the meat mixture:

  • 1 pound 5 ounces lean, ground beef
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons pomegranate paste/molasses (see ingredient note preceding the recipe)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 banana pepper, minced
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley, loosely packed
  • 1/2 small onion, minced
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste, if you prefer)
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

To bake the pies:

  • Additional flour, for sprinkling
  • Semolina or cornmeal, for sprinkling
  • Ground meat mixture
  • Risen dough
  • Finishing salt

Instructions

  1. Make the dough: Proof the active dry yeast with the sugar and 1 cup of the water until the water looks a little foamy on top (about 5-10 minutes).
  2. Add the all purpose flour, 00 flour, and salt to a bowl (the bowl of a stand mixer, if you plan to knead by machine).
  3. Add the water/yeast/sugar mixture and stir until the dough starts to come together into a dry, shaggy mess.
  4. Gradually add a little of the remaining 1/2 cup of water at a time, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until the whole thing comes into a dough ball. Do not use all of the water, unless you need it. If you use too much water, compensate with a little more flour; likewise, if the dough looks too dry, add a little more water and let it sit for a few minutes to absorb. The dough ball should not be too sticky or dry (somewhere in between is best). It should look a tiny bit firmer than store-bought pizza dough.
  5. Knead until the dough ball passes the window pane test. It should come together into an elastic ball that has a smooth surface. Kneading should take about 5-15 minutes by machine with a dough hook, or 10-20 minutes by hand. Pay more attention to the dough’s consistency than the time you’ve spent kneading.
  6. Place the dough in a bowl, cover it, and let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes, and then in the refrigerator overnight. If you don’t have time to wait overnight, you can let it rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (resting it in the refrigerator will help it develop a better flavor and texture).
  7. Make the meat mixture: Combine the ground beef, pomegranate molasses, tomato paste, banana pepper, parsley, onion, salt, and pepper, being careful not to over-mix.
  8. Shape and bake the pies: Lightly flour a clean, food-safe work surface, use a knife or bench scraper to divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, and shape each chunk into a round ball.
  9. Place a pizza stone (or sheet pan) on the oven floor, move the oven racks up and out of the way, so you can easily access the pizza stone, and pre-heat the oven to 500° F.
  10. Roll each dough ball into a circle, about 1/8 inch thick. This is very thin, but not paper-thin (see above photos). To keep the round shape, rotate the disc about 90 degrees after each time you roll it out, and be sure to re-flour the surface every so often. Separate the discs with wax paper and let them rise for about 25 minutes.
  11. Divide the ground meat mixture into about 8 equal pieces.
  12. Sprinkle a pizza peel (or rimless sheet pan) with a tablespoon or two of semolina or cornmeal.
  13. Place a rolled-out disc of dough on the semolina/cornmeal.
  14. Put one of the pieces of meat on top of the dough disc. Work the meat into a thin, even layer over the dough, so that it doesn’t separate from the crust and shrink to the center as it cooks. Sprinkle with a little additional salt, if you’d like.
  15. Once the oven has preheated, use a quick motion to move the pie from the pizza peel onto the pizza stone. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the meat starts to brown and the bread is cooked through and starting to char. The dough should be crispy and chewy, like really good brick oven pizza.
  16. Repeat with the remaining 7 pies.

Notes

Kris’ dough recipe is phenomenal, but if you don’t have time and still want to make this recipe, feel free to use store-bought pizza dough. It won’t be quite the same, but it’ll still be delicious.

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dandelion greens | yarcah

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A few years after my mom and her family immigrated to Chicago from Baghdad, when my mom was a little girl, they moved to a bigger apartment in Andersonville on Balmoral Avenue. But even though there was more space than they had before, there were still twelve people packed into the two flat. Every week, Baba would take my mom to the produce market on Randolph, where he’d pass for a restaurant owner to get good deals on produce. They’d bring home giant cases of lettuce, tomatoes, greens, and other produce, and the whole family would divide things up for the week. One week, when they brought home too many tomatoes, my mom and uncle Al packed up the extra ones in paper bags and went door to door selling them to the neighbors. And on weeks when they would bring home too many cases of dandelion greens, swiss chard, spinach, or romaine, they would make a big batch of yarcah.

Yarcah is just the Assyrian word for greens, and while cooking times vary from one vegetable to another, the idea is always the same: take something green and leafy, blanch it in boiling water until it wilts, and add it to some sauteéd onions and lemon juice. It’s very simple and quick to make, and results in perfectly cooked greens, which aren’t bitter in the least. You can even freeze the finished yarcah in quart-sized ziplock bags to have veggie sides ready to go for weeknight meals. If you’re planning on freezing the greens, you should cook them for about 3 minutes less than you would otherwise, since they will soften further through freezing and reheating.

Dandelion greens are my favorite greens to cook this way, since they tend to get very bitter without blanching. This recipe ensures that they turn out perfectly. The greens have so much flavor and such a lovely texture, especially if you leave in the tender parts of the stems. But feel free to use whatever greens you’d like, using the following guidelines:

Tender greens: spinach, romaine, and other tender greens do not need to be blanched in hot water. Instead, throw them in once the onions are done cooking, toss them around until they wilt (about 2 to 3 minutes), and add the lemon juice. Tender greens cook down a lot more than hearty greens, so you should scale back the amount of lemon juice accordingly (add half, taste, and adjust)
Medium greens: swiss chard, broccoli rabe, and dandelion greens are somewhere more in the middle. Use the recipe below the photos as a guide.
Tough greens: collards and kale need longer to cook. Cook them until they are tender, about 8 to 10 minutes for kale, and at least 40 minutes for collards.

The most important thing is to taste a piece every so often as you cook, just like when you make pasta and forget to set a timer.

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dandelion greens | yarcah

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  • Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup medium diced onion (from about half a medium onion)
  • Between 1/3 to 1/2 cup lemon juice (from about 2 lemons), to taste *
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 pound roughly chopped dandelion greens, with the tough ends of the stems trimmed (from about 2 bunches)

Instructions

  1. Bring 3 quarts of salted water to a boil in a large stockpot.
  2. While you’re waiting for the water to boil, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a frying pan and add the onion.
  3. Cook the diced onion until it softens, turns translucent, and turns very slightly golden around the edges, about 8 to 10 minutes. Once it’s done, and add the lemon juice, heat until it starts to simmer, and immediately remove from heat.
  4. Boil the chopped dandelion greens for 5 to 8 minutes, depending on your preference for doneness. **
  5. Drain the greens over a sink, and wring them out by pressing them against the colander with a wooden spoon.
  6. Combine the cooked greens with the lemon juice and onion mixture.
  7. Season with salt, to taste (start with about 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and go from there).

Notes

* I use the full 1/2 cup of lemon juice because I like more acidic greens, but if you want a mellower flavor, you can add closer to 1/3 cup. You can always add a little more, but it’s hard to take lemon juice away.

** The dandelion greens pictured here were cooked for 8 minutes, which yields a deeply green, slightly toothsome finished product. If you like brighter, even more al dente greens, cook them closer to 5 minutes (or even less). If you have very tender, small dandelion greens, you may need to cook them even less. If you’re using a different vegetable, see the chart above the lemon tree photos as a guide.

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lentils and rice

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I was on the phone with my mom a few weeks ago, brainstorming ideas for new recipes to work on. We talked about doing a series on Assyrian fasting and feasting, and my mom gave me a list of about 15 amazing ideas. But when she suggested lentils and rice, I have to admit, I sort of hesitated to add it.

How am I supposed to convince people that they need a recipe for something so familiar? Furthermore, how can you even write a recipe for something as simple as throwing a few basic ingredients together? The next weekend I flew to Chicago to visit my family, and as I watched my mom make lentils and rice, I realized how wrong I was to even consider forgetting it.

Never be deceived by simple ingredients! The simpler the ingredients, the more carefully and thoughtfully they need to be prepared. This recipe only has four real ingredients, but it’s not just a matter of stirring everything together; there are a few important techniques to keep in mind.

The two keys to perfect lentils and rice

1) lots of rinsing

The key technique for this recipe is lots and lots of rinsing. You rinse the lentils both before and after you cook them, you rinse the uncooked rice, and you rinse the pot before adding everything back in for a final steam. If you don’t rinse, an olive-beige scum will cover everything. This creates a (somehow simultaneously!) gritty and gummy texture and unappealingly homogenous color.

2) perfect timing

The other key to this recipe is timing. You don’t want to add everything together at the same time because rice and lentils cook at different rates; if you get the timing wrong, one or the other (or both!) will turn to complete mush. This recipe has you covered on all accounts. There’s nothing but perfect lentils and rice ahead.

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lentils and rice | niskeh ou riza

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  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 pound brown or green lentils
  • 1 cup basmati rice
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3 cups boiling water
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt

Instructions

  1. Rinse the lentils and sort through them for little pebbles. Cover with about 3 inches of water in a medium stock pot.
  2. Turn the heat to high. Once the pot of water and lentils comes to a boil, turn the heat to medium and boil uncovered for about 10 to 15 minutes.
  3. While the lentils are cooking, rinse the rice until the water runs clear and set it aside. *
  4. Start testing the lentils for doneness around the 10 minute mark. The lentils are ready once they are unpleasantly al dente. You should be able to chew one (it should be somewhat soft), but it should still be gritty and mealy.
  5. Once the lentils are ready, strain them and rinse them until the water runs clear. *
  6. Use a damp paper towel to wipe down the sides of the pot that you cooked the lentils in until the scum is completely gone.
  7. Add the olive oil to the pot, turn the heat to medium and add the diced onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens (about 5 minutes).
  8. Add the lentils back into the pot, along with the rinsed rice, kosher salt, and 3 cups boiling water. Stir together and shake everything out into an even layer.
  9. Turn the heat to high. Once the water comes back up to a boil, cover, lower the heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes. Do not look inside the pot while the lentils and rice are cooking.
  10. Once 15 minutes have passed, open the lid, do not stir the lentils and rice, and take a taste. If they taste done, cover, heat for another 30 seconds, and then turn the heat off, keeping them covered.
  11. Keep the pot covered for another 10 minutes after you’ve turned off the heat.
  12. After 10 minutes of resting, fluff the lentils and rice with a fork and serve.

Notes

* To do a more environmentally-friendly version of the rinsing steps, you can rinse by adding water to the pot, swishing things around, straining, and repeating a few times. This uses less water than just rinsing in a colander over the sink.

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ingredient highlight: sumac

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Whenever I’m writing a recipe, I try to make the ingredient list as flexible as possible. I know that there is nothing more annoying than having to track down an unfamiliar ingredient, paying extra to have it shipped, then having to wait for it to show up before you make the recipe, for which you only need one tablespoon, which leaves the rest of the bottle to languish in the back of the pantry until spring cleaning two years later, when it gets the Marie Kondo treatment, along with all those CDs, mismatched socks, and collections of old National Geographics. It’s just the worst.

And while I’ll usually list lots of possible substitutions, there are a few ingredients that just can’t be replaced. That’s why I’ve dedicated this whole post to sumac—I really believe it’s worth it to have a jar in your pantry, especially if you want to regularly cook Middle Eastern food.

Sumac (also spelled sumaq or sumach) is made from the ground-up pods of the sumac shrub. It adds a wonderfully tangy, subtly bitter flavor to whatever it’s dusted over. It tastes acidic, but without tasting like citrus or vinegar. An added bonus is the dramatic color, which ranges from tawny red to burgundy, and adds a pop of color to a humble plate of hummus or labneh. It’s a staple of Middle Eastern cuisine (as well as many other cuisines around the world) and can be used wherever a little extra tartness is called for.

But all of this is not to say that sumac is never replaceable. In certain recipes, lemon will add the necessary tartness, and the sumac won’t entirely be missed. But sumac adds a distinctive flavor that just isn’t exactly the same as lemon. Some dishes, where sumac is the star, simply can’t be made without it. Take fattoush. If you don’t have sumac, you might as well choose another salad (although you shouldn’t worry, because there are plenty of Middle Eastern salads that don’t require sumac).

But the good news is that sumac is relatively inexpensive and easy to find online, and once you buy it, you will start putting it on everything (popcorn, garden salads, grilled veggies, grilled meats, burgers, fish, cheese sandwiches, lentil soup, even dessert!). When I want to treat myself, I like to shop at the Spice House (my top recommendation), which sells phenomenally high quality goods at a very reasonable price. If you can find it in a Middle Eastern grocery store, it will be even more affordable. The market near me sells sumac for a couple dollars for a decent-sized bag.

Feel free to check out my sumac archives for a full list of recipes, or try one of my favorites below:

kebab burgers | kebabeh gu samooneh

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My mom is always cooking something delicious for someone. Last night, I called her to talk and she was chopping tabbouleh for my sister’s boyfriend just because she knows it’s his favorite and wanted to send some over. She plans huge family dinners all the time, and when she has to plan a big meal at the last minute, you’d never know that she didn’t spend all week cooking. The secret to her effortless entertaining is the Assyrian kebab.

The key to a good kebab is to completely overload it with herbs. This is what makes it both easy and impressively flavorful. My family uses a ton of cilantro and a decent amount of green onions, so that every bite has an intensely herby flavor. Feel free to experiment with this recipe, as long as you capture the essence of kebabeh—that is, the intensely herby flavor.

We usually serve them on samoon bread, which is available in many Middle Eastern markets, and if you can’t find it, you can always make your own samoon. But if you don’t feel inclined to bake your own, you can use any other bun or bread. Assyrian food is a diaspora cuisine, so it’s not unheard of to eat a kebab on a parker house roll or a Hawaiian roll. We shape kebabs into an oval shape, which nicely matches the oval shape of samoon, but you can use whatever shape makes sense for the bread you have.

My family often eats kebabs plain, but you can add a lot of toppings to make it more of a special occasion food. We sometimes add sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, as well as a dry salsa of sumac, parsley, and green onions.

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kebab burgers | kebabeh gu samooneh

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  • Yield: 12 patties

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped green onions *
  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sumac (or 2 tablespoons lemon juice)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt (or to taste)
  • 2 1/2 pounds ground beef (a combination of chuck and sirloin, or a mix that is about 80% lean)
  • 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves *
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onions *
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt (or 1 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt/table salt), or to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
  • About 2 to 3 thinly sliced plum tomatoes (for serving)
  • About 2 to 3 thinly sliced small Persian cucumbers (for serving)
  • Samoon or any other kind of bread (lawash, pita, or even burger buns all work great)

Instructions

  1. For the dry salsa: Combine parsley, green onions, sumac, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, and set aside.
  2. Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to medium high heat (or turn your oven’s broiler on 5 to 10 minutes before you’re ready to cook the patties).
  3. Combine the ground beef with the cilantro, green onions, kosher salt, and black pepper. Mix everything just until it comes together. Do not over-mix or your kebabs will be tough and rubbery.
  4. Shape the kebabs into approximately 12 ovals.
  5. Grill or broil for about 5 to 7 minutes per side until they are cooked all the way through. **
  6. Serve the kebabs on samoon (or your bread of choice), topping each with a heaping teaspoon of the salsa, and a couple slices of tomato and cucumber.

Notes

* For grocery shopping purposes, this normally comes out to about 1 bunch cilantro and 1 bunch green onions (with the onion bunch split between the two components of the dish).

** Kebabs are most often served medium-well or well, but you can serve yours medium rare if that’s what you prefer.

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jeweled rice and noodles | riza sh’ariyeh

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Friends often tell me that they find rice difficult to prepare well. I’ll tell you what I always tell them: the trick to making rice isn’t knowing more about rice, but knowing more about yourself. If you’re someone who does not have a tendency to micromanage, if you tend to entirely check a project off your mental check-list the minute you delegate it, you’ll probably be just fine. If you’re the kind of person who over-waters succulents and kills goldfish by loving them to death, you’ve got to be really careful when making rice and pay extra-close attention to the following suggestions:

First, set a timer and leave the rice alone while you cook it. Don’t peek under the lid and just let it do it’s thing. But, secondly, if you do need to check on it a couple times to make sure it’s doing ok, whatever you do, do not stir the rice. I’m not a food scientist, so I’m not entirely sure why this is so important, but it really will ruin the texture and doneness of your rice. Third, when you eventually turn the heat off, do not remove the lid for 10 or 15 minutes. Once the heat is off, the rice still needs the residual heat to steam the rest of the way. And finally, after it’s rested, fluff the rice with a fork or chop sticks and serve. When it comes to cooking rice, less is more.

Riza sh’ariyeh is the foundation of most Assyrian meals. It’s steamed basmati rice and toasted noodles, usually topped with butter-fried nuts and golden raisins. The raisins become succulent and caramelized while they baste in butter and everything else gets a golden toasted flavor and color. My grandmother‘s mother, Yemmah Sourma, would make this rice with tabouli or fatoushi every Friday night when they would fast from meat; we still make it exactly the same way.

If you don’t have a go-to method for making rice, riza sh’ariyeh is a good one to have memorized or bookmarked. You can quickly whip it together for weeknight meals or really carefully prepare it for a fancy dinner party. Without the decadent topping, it makes a perfect plain pot of rice. But with the almonds, pine nuts, and golden raisins, it’s really something else. Pine nuts are easier to come by in Lebanon, but they’re often prohibitively expensive in the United States, so feel free to leave them out or replace them with more almonds. But if you can include them, they elevate this dish to special occasion status.

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jeweled rice and noodles | riza sh’ariyeh

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  • Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups basmati rice (or other long-grain rice)
  • 3 cups cold water
  • 1 cup fine egg noodles, broken into pieces no longer than 3/4 inch *
  • 1 stick of unsalted butter (8 tablespoons), divided: 1/2 stick set aside for the rice, the other 1/2 stick cut into thirds **
  • 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt (to taste)
  • 1 cup slivered almonds
  • 1 cup golden raisins
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts (optional)

Instructions

  1. Use a fine mesh colander to rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear and is no longer cloudy.
  2. After you’ve rinsed and drained the rice, add it to a large sauce pan or small stockpot along with the 3 cups of cold water, the 1/2 stick of butter, and the salt. Set the stockpot aside.
  3. In a frying pan, melt the first of the three chunks of butter over low heat. Add the egg noodles and stir constantly until they turn light brown.
  4. Once the egg noodles have toasted, add them to the rice, water, butter and salt in the stockpot. Turn the stockpot’s heat up to high. As soon as the rice comes to a boil, set the heat to low, cover, and cook for 13 minutes.
  5. Add another chunk of butter to the frying pan and melt it over low heat. Add the raisins, stirring constantly until they start to slightly caramelize and soften. Once they’re done, remove them with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate.
  6. Add the final chunk of butter to the frying pan with the almonds and pine nuts. Stir them constantly over low heat until they are golden-brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon and add them to the plate with the raisins.
  7. Once the rice timer goes off, do not lift the cover. Turn off the heat and let it rest for 15 minutes.
  8. After the rice has rested, fluff it with a fork, spoon it onto a large serving dish, and cover with the almonds, raisins, and pine nuts.

Notes

gluten free / vegan variations:

* If you don’t eat gluten or want to make the recipe egg-free, you can use a gluten- and/or egg-free pasta. Thinner pasta works better; angel hair/spaghetti broken into pieces or orzo would work great. Add an extra 1/4 c of water if you’re using a less voluminous pasta, since egg noodles aren’t very compact).

** If you want to make the recipe vegan or dairy-free, feel free to substitute olive oil for the butter. Just make sure you add an extra 2 tablespoons of water to the rice.

Note on making this ahead: The nut and raisin topping can be fried ahead of time and set aside until needed. If you need to keep the rice warm before serving, fluff it after it rests for 10-15 minutes, and then keep it covered in the stockpot.

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