GZ Tai-Tai

Apricot Pastries

You can substitute peach slices if you cannot find apricots. No photo.

Apricot Pastries

Puff Pastry - ready rolled sheets

1 can apricot halves

1 jar apricot jam

almonds, chopped or sliced

milk  - for brushing on pastry

Cut the puff pastry, already rolled sheets, into 9 squares.

Onto each square place an apricot half, cut side up.

Into the apricot half, place ½ tsp apricot jam. Not too much, as it melts and burns

Sprinkle with the almonds.

Pinch the diagonal corners together in the centre. Brush with milk and cook in oven 180C for 20min or golden brown.

When cool dust with icing sugar.

Kibbeh

 

Kibbeh

Outside

500g bulgur, cracked wheat

500g finely ground lean beef  like a paste  

1 1/2 onions, pureed

salt & pepper to taste

 

Wash the bulgur well. Put into a bowl and cover with water. Soak for 10 minutes.

Drain and then squeeze all the moisture out really well. 

In a large bowl, work the salt and pepper into the onion.Taste, adjust salt and pepper as needed.

Slowly add the meat paste and bulgur mixing well. 

 

Filling

½ cup pine nuts

350g ground beef

1 large onion finely chopped

1 1/2 Tbsp butter

Salt pepper

 

Fry the pine nuts in the butter until golden. 

Remove the pine nuts.

Add the chopped onion to the butter and fry until golden.

Add the ground beef to the onion, fry until done meat is cooked add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat, add the pine nuts and mix. Set aside until ready to form the kibbeh.

To form

Take about an egg sized portion of the outside mixture and form into an oval shape.

Lightly wet hand if mixture is sticky.

With your index finger make a long hole with just one end open.

Take about a 1 tsp filling and put into the hole. Close the top up by pinching the outside filling together.

Deep fry until golden brown, drain on kitchen paper.

 

 

Tabbouleh

 One of my favorites so fresh tasting and lively for the tongue. No photo.

Tabbouleh

1 cup bulgur cracked wheat

3 spring onions, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped

½ bunch mint, finely chopped

3 tomatoes chopped into small cubes

2-3 lemons the juice of

3 Tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper, to taste

 

Put the bulgur, into a bowl and cover with cold water, soak for 30 minutes.

Drain the bulgur and squeeze out excess water.

Place the bulgur into a bowl with.. both types of onions, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper (to taste) and mix well with a spoon.

Add parsley & mint mix lightly.

Just before serving fold in the tomatoes.

 

Foulia - Broad Beans

This was part of our lunch with the Falafel, Kibbeh, Tahini sauce, Baba Ghanoush and Tabbouleh. We also had flat bread and were told that you could eat the beans in the bread with the other items. I enjoyed just eating the beans by themselves, they had such a lovely taste on their own.

Foulia - Broad Beans

 

3 - 400g cans foulia beans  broad beans

1 - lemon  the juice of

1 tsp cumin

3 Tbsp olive oil

salt to taste

chilli powder to taste

 

Drain the beans, but reserve a little of the liquid. Put a little of the liquid with the beans and heat in the microwave about 3 minutes.

Then toss the beans with the lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, salt and chilli powder to incorporate the spices.  Taste and adjust as needed. 

 

Eggplant Dip - Baba Ghanoush

Egg Plant Dip - Baba Ghanoush

500g eggplant

2-3 cloves garlic chopped, finely

Salt to taste

Juice of  2-3 lemons

1/3 cup Tahini paste

 

Blacken eggplants over a gas flame. Put into a bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to sweat a little.  When cool enough to handle remove skin a wash any black residue off.

I usually put in the oven moderate heat, bake until the skin turns brown, then I remove from oven, and let cool. Then slice open skin and run a spoon along skin to remove the eggplant.

 

Blend  the eggplant, garlic, most of lemon juice, and the tahini paste. Mix until combined well.

Adjust flavor of the salt and lemon.

Cool in fridge for about 30 minutes before serving. 

 

Tahini Sauce

Serve this sauce with the Falafel and the Kibbeh it compliments both very well.

Tahini Sauce

 

½ cup Tahini

½ - ¾ cup Lemon juice

¼ cup Water

1 tsp Salt

1 large clove Garlic

½ ts Cumin powder

 

 

Mix together.

It will look like it has seized but keep mixing and adding water and juice a bit at a time, until a smooth runny consistency is achieved. Taste for lemon and cumin.

 

 

Falafel

Recently our cooking club had some guest chefs... some of the Mothers of our group had been visiting and they were nice enough to share many of their recipes with us, and show us how they make them. The next several posts will be those recipes that were shared.  So I will start with this lovely recipe with a minor change made and noted because the local market near my home did not have curly parsley.

This recipe is from our member that is from Australia her father is German and lived in Greece. Her mother is originally from Alexandria and then Greece. It is very interesting how much Australia and USA have in common. Australia really is America's cousin.

 

Falafel

250g split yellow peas (Soaked for 2 hours)

1 bunch parsley roughly chopped I used Coriander/Cilantro instead as my local market did not have parsley.

12 stalks spring onion  you may also add coriander for taste if using regular parsley. I did not as I used Coriander instead of parsley.

1 onion roughly chopped

4 big cloves garlic roughly chopped

 

Blitz together in batches in food processor until a rough paste is formed.

 

To the paste add

3 Tbsp ground coriander

1 Tbsp salt

Chilli powder to taste (optional)

The mixture can be frozen at this point.

 

When ready to cook

Add 1 egg

¾  tsp baking powder

 

Mix well and form tablespoon sized balls.

(Lightly wet hand if mixture is sticky)

Heat oil. As you drop the balls into the oil flatten slightly.

Fry till golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.