Holy crap that was a long break! I know I didn’t post about my vacation but it was a really off vacation for me so I’m just gonna skip it and we can pretend I had a crazy bizarre time dressing up in medieval/middle eastern garb, drinking mead, and bellydancing by campfire light….. which I did.
Today however, I’ve been cooking again! Sunday I went to Friend’s house and made a Turkish/Egyptian dinner to finish off my ideas for the Mediterranean dinner party. I made Pistachio Soup, Mahmudiye, and Mujadarra.
Gotta say: I loved the (Turkish) Pistachio Soup. It was very, pistachio-y. And simple to make once I got finished shelling all the freakin’ pistachios. By hand. One at a time. Totally worth it.
I enjoyed the Mujadarra as well but I think I overcooked the lentils a bit. Friend and the wife said that it had a very meaty consistency that made it very hearty. I did this in three parts. The lentils/rice/spices, fried carmelized onions, and a middle eastern tomato sauce. All in all I think it came out rather tasty though next time I’ll add the rice to the lentils sooner so I don’t have even a little overcookedness.
Mahmudiye is unlike anything so instead of trying to describe what it’s like. Here’s the ingredients:
- Skinless Chicken Breast, cubed
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 16-18 Pearl onions or 1 medium onion chopped
- 6 dry apricots (quartered)
- 1 bunch seedless grapes, cut, or 3 Tbsp Golden raisins (I used both)
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 c. hot chicken brother
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- 4 Tbsp blanched almonds
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Apparently the apricot really came through in the seasoning. I don’t remember a lot of what they said, but I’m told it was tasty.
Thus concludes the array of dishes I’m torn between. Now I just have to take the 20 or so recipes I’ve made in the past couple months and knock it down to 4 that I want to serve a dining room of 15 people + 4 cooks (myself included). Aye! That’s going to be the hard part.
Dolma. You must serve dolma and think of me when eating it. I miss dolma.
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