Bamia Mareg

Bamia Mareg
Iraqi Okra Stew

Ingredients

Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove (or more) garlic, peeled and minced
Stew beef or lamb with or without bones (I usually use a little less than a
pound, but it depends on how many people you are cooking for.)
salt
pepper
noomi basra (optional)
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 bag frozen chopped okra, or chopped cleaned fresh okra (the BEST way
to make it is if your middle east store has frozen baby okra from Egypt in
their freezer section-- these are about 1 inch long and extremely delicious
and not fibrous like larger, older okras)
water


1. In olive oil in a saucepan, fry onion over medium heat until soft or
transparent. Add garlic and fry for a minute or two longer.
2. Add stew meat and brown. Add salt, pepper, and tomato paste, stirring
around so the paste breaks up and takes on a dark red hue (dont burn it!)
3. Add water and noomi basra; cover and boil gently over medium
fire for 1 hour to 1.5 hours. Alternatively, the meat may be browned
and boiled by itself until very tender, cutting out this step.
4. Add okra, and boil gently until tender and the stew is thicker than
a soup but thinner than a pasty stew.

** serve over bastmati rice, with a nice salad like fattouch**

Pasta Sauces

Pasta Sauces


Spaghetti Sauce

2 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium garlic clove, minced
2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
1 12 oz can tomato paste
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp oregano leaves
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cracked pepper
1 bay leaf

1. in 3 quart saucepan over medium heat, in hot oil, cook onion and garlic
until tender, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes.
2. Add tomato sauce and remaining ingredients; over high heat, heat to boiling.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low; partially cover and cook 30 minutes.
Discard Bay leaf.


--------
Meat Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb (1/2 kilo) ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove (or more) minced
1 16 oz can tomatoes
1 12 oz can tomato paste
4 tsp sugar
2 tsp oregano leaves
1 3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf

1. in 5 quart saucepan over medium heat; in hot oil, cook ground beef, onion,
and garlic until meat is well browned; spoon off excess fat.
2. Stir in tomatoes, their liquid, and remaining ingredients. (personal note--
I always whir the tomatoes with the paste in the food processor first-- I dont
like chunky tomatoes) Reduce heat to low; partially cover and simmer tomato
meat mixture 35 minutes or until very thick, stirring occasionally.

~~~~~~~~
Anchovy Sauce

1/4 cup olive oil
1 small garlic clove, halved
1 2 oz can anchovy fillets, drained and chopped
2 tbsp minced parsley
2 tbsp greated parmesan cheese
1 tsp lemon juice

1. in 1 quart saucepan over medium high heat, in hot olive oil, brown garlic.
Remove from heat; discard garlic.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients until well mixed.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marinara Sauce

2 tbsp olive or salad oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 16oz can tomatoes
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp basil
1 1/2 tsp salt

1. in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, fry onion and garlic in the oil
about 5 minutes until tender.
2. Stir in tomatoes, their liquid, and remaining ingredients. Reduce heat
to low; cover, cook 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shrimp Marinara Sauce

1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt (more to taste)
1/2 tsp oregano leaves
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pound frozen shelled and deveined shrimp (use fresh its better!)

1. in 10 inch skillet over medium high heat, in hot olive oil, lightly
brown garlic.
2. Add tomato sauce and next 6 ingredients; heat to boiling. Reduce
heat to low; cover and simmer sauce mixture over low heat 10 minutes
3. Add frozen shrimp and cook until shrimp are tender, about 8 minutes,
stirring occasionally

* personal note-- if using fresh-- shell shrimp and devein... fry them lightly
in the oil before step 1, and remove to add later in step 3.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Spinach Sauce

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach
1 tsp salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1. in 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, in hot butter, cook spinach
and salt 10 minutes.
2. Reduce heat to low; add remaining ingredients; mix sauce well; cook
sauce until just heated through (do not boil)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Walnut Sauce

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 cup Walnuts, coarsley chopped
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp minced parsley
1 tsp salt

In 9 inch skillet over medium heat, in ho9t butter, lightly brown walnuts,
about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in remaining ingredients; heat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pesto

1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (FRESH)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 small garlic clove (or more) quartered
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

in a blender container, place all ingredients; cover and blend at medium
speed until well mixed.

Iranian Saffron Ice Cream

Iranian Saffron Ice Cream

2 tbsp cornstarch or powdered sahlab
4 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ground mastic
1/4 tsp ground saffron dissolved in 3 tbsp rose water
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp slivered pistachios or decoration

1. Dissolve the sahlab or cornstarch in 1 cup cold milk. Mix very
well until quite smooth.
2. In a large saucepan, stir the rest of the milk and sugar together
and bring to a boil over medium heat.
3. Add the sahlab mixture and mastic to the warm milk in the saucepan.
Simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.
At this stage, the mixture should be slightly elastic. Remove the pan
from heat.
4. Add the saffron rose water. Mix well. Allow to cool for 2 hours.
Pour the entire mixture into an ice-cream machine
5. Follow your ice cream machine's directions for making ice cream.
6. Pour a thin layer of whipping cream into a flat plate and place it in
the freezer until a 1/4 inch frozen creamy crust forms. Remove the
crust from the freezer, let it stand fr 2 minutes, then break off 1/2 inch
pieces of the crust and mix them with the finished ice cream.
7. Serve saffron ice cream in small crystal bowls; sprinkle the top with
ground pistachios/

Variation-- you may simply use 1 pint vanilla ice cream (watch out
for vanilla extract though-- alcohol u know). Simply add frozen cream
pieces, saffron rose water, and slivered pistachios. Mix well.

Olive Dip

Olive Dip
(Palestine and Jordan)

2 cups green olives, pitted and washed to remove salt
4 tbsp taheena
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 small topmato, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil

Place all ingredients except the tomatoes and olive oil in a blender;
blend until smooth.

Place in a flat serving dish and refrigerate for 1 hour; then spread
the tomato pieces on top[, and sprinkle with oil before serving

Bissara

Bissara
Morocco


1 c large size dry fava beans, soaked overnight and drained
3 cloves garlic, crushed
salt to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
8 c water
5 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 c chopped parsley

Place the fava beans (fooel beans), garlic, salt, 4 tbsp of olive oil, and water
in a pot; then cook over medium heat until the beans are tender. (personal
note-- I dont recommend adding salt to cooking beans because I find they tend
to toughen up the beans)

Place the beans in food processor and process until smooth, then return to the
pot. Add the lemon juice and cumin, and cook for 5 minutes over low heat.
Spoon into a serving platter. Pour the remaining olive oil evenly over the top;
then sprinkle with the paprika and chili powder. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Sudani Fish

Sudani Fish


4 tbsp butter
2lbs fish fillets (firm fleshed such as cod, haddock, salmon, or bass)
1 cup shredded cabbage
5 medium tomatoes
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
6tbsp lemon juice
1/2 c olive oil
1 c finely chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)
pinch cayenne
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1/2 cup black olives
1/2 cup coarsley chopped fresh parsley

In a frying pan, melt the butter, then saute the fish fillet for about 10
minutes or until it turns light brown, turning over once. Remove and
flake with a fork.

Dice 3 of the tomatoes. MIx the fish, cabbage, cumin, salt, pepper,
2 tbsp of the lemon juice, and 4 tbsp of the olive oil, and place on a
serving plate.

Make a sauce by mixing the coriander leaves, cayenne, salt, pepper,
lemon juice, and olive oil. Pour evenly over the fish mixture.

Garnish with the eggs, the remaining 2 tomatoes (sliced), the olives,
and the parsley

Torta de Zapallitos

Torta de Zapallitos
(Argentina)

Cut into small pices:
3-4 small green summer squash, such as zucchini (about 1 lb/ 500 g)
1 onion
1 small hot red pepper

Mix with
3 tbsp flour (45ml)
1/2 tsp baking powder
salt and pepper to taste

Place in small, gresed baking pan and top with:

3 eggs, beaten
1 c cheese, grated (250 ml)

Bake at 350 F (180 C) until squash is cooked through, about 30 minutes


** Microwave directions **
Place chopped squash and onion in large pie plate, cover
loosely, and cook on high 4-6 minutes or until tender, stirring twice.
Combine and pour other ingredients over squash.
Cook on medium for 6-8 minutes or until a knife
inserted 1 inch from center comes out clean and center
is almost set. Let stand 5 minutes; center will set during standing time.



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