Last weekend was a birthday celebration weekend and so I asked the birthday boy what he’d like me to cook for him from all the cookbooks I own. He chose the Armenian Jewelled Bulgur, and then I wandered through the rest of The Illustrated Food and Cooking of Lebanon Jordan and Syria by Ghillie Ba?an.
For these recipes you may need to find a Middle Eastern grocer, I visited Al Alamy on Waterfield Street, in Coburg in order to purchase some of the less common (for me) ingredients. The dishes were simple and incredibly delicious. Notes will be included at the end of each recipe (I didn’t always cook them as listed).
Armenian Jewelled Bulgur
Armenian Jewelled Bulgur
Ingredients:
For the Bulgur
- 30 ml/2 tbsp olive oil with a knob of butter or ghee
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 5ml/1tsp sugar
- 2 – 3 cardamom pods
- 225g/8oz medium or coarse bulgur, well rinsed and drained
- 450ml/3/4 pint cups chicken stock (or water)
- sea salt and ground black pepper
For the jewels
- 30ml/2 tbsp olive oil with a knob of butter
- 115g/4oz blanched almonds
- 100g/3 1/2 oz apricots, thinly sliced
- 100g/3 1/2 oz figs, thinly sliced
- 50g/2oz sultanas
- 5ml/1tsp ground cinnamon
- 15-30ml/2tbsp pomegranate molasses
Method:
- Melt the olive oil and butter/ghee in a heavy pan and stir in the onion with the sugar, until it turns golden. Add the cardamom pods and stir in the bulgur.
- Pour the stock into the pan, season with salt and pepper and bring it to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 – 12 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed.
- Turn off the heat, cover the pan with a clean dish towel and put on the lid. Leave the bulgur to steam for a further 10 mins.
- Meanwhile, prepare the fruit and nuts. Heat the oil with the butter in a heavy pan and stir in the almonds and walnuts.
- One the nuts begin to grown, stir in the sliced apricots, figs and sultanas and cook for 1 – 2 minutes.
- Transfer the bulgur to a serving dish, creating a mound. Spoon the nuts and fruit over the bulgur, dust with cinnamon, and drizzle the pomegranate molasses over the top.
- Serve the bulgur hot with grilled meats and poultry. It can also be eaten on its own with dollops of thick, creamy (strained) yoghurt, mixed with a little lemon juice.
Notes on this recipe:
- We cooked this in winter, when apricots and figs were not in season. We substituted dried apricots and figs, and cooked them a little longer. If you do this, be careful that you do not burn the fruit.
- Bulgur is a form of cracked wheat, and cooks much like rice does – it is delicious cooked in this way.
Stuffed Breast of Lamb with Apricots
Stuffed Breast of Lamb with(out) Apricots
Ingredients:
- 1 large breast of lamb, chined and with a pouch cut between the skin and the ribs, rinsed and patted dry.
- Sunflower oil for rubbing
- 175g/6oz dried apricots, soaked overnight in just enough water to cover
- 15 – 30ml/1 – 2 tbsp sugar
- sea salt and ground black pepper
For the stuffing
- 30ml/2tbsp ghee or olive oil with a pat of butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 5-10ml/1-2 tsp turmeric
- 125g/4.5 oz minced beef
- 1 small bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 250g/9oz long grain rice, washed and drained
- 115g/4oz pine nuts
- 115/4oz unsalted pistachios, chopped
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6
- To make the stuffing, melt the ghee in a frying pan and cook the onion until it colours. Stir in the turmeric, cumin and beef and cook until it begins to brown.
- Add the parsley and rice to the pan and pour in 200ml/7fl oz water. Season with salt and pepper and bring the liquid to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 mins until the water has been absorbed. (I added some extra water as it was absorbed at the 7 min (approx) mark).
- Remove pan from the heat, stir in the nuts and leave to cool.
- When the filling is cool, stuff the breast pouches of the lamb. If there is any left over it can be served with the meat afterwards. Rub the joins with a little oil and then place the breast into the over for about 1 hour, until the meat is well browned and tender.
- Meanwhile, prepare the apricots. Transfer the apricots and their soaking liquid to a pan and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat, stir in the sugar, and summer partially covered until the apricots are soft.
- Just before serving, spoon off any excess fat from the roasting pan and baste the meat. Turn the oven up to 220C/450F and pour the apricots over the lamb. Return to the oven and glaze for 5 mins.
- Allow lamb to rest for 10 mins, then slice and serve with with a green salad and any leftover rice filling.
Notes on this recipe:
- We used a deboned breast of lamb, and rolled it up like a swiss roll (see above). We used string to tie it together, wrapped it in foil and cooked it for 45 minutes before unwrapping the roll and leaving as is in the oven for another 15 (total cooking time = 1 hour).
- I skipped the apricot bit of this recipe, I didn’t have time and wasn’t so interested in the glazed part of the dish – it was amazingly delicious.
- Lamb breasts aren’t very expensive, so the most expensive part are the nuts, which if you can find somewhere to buy in bulk, will be cheaper.
Green Beans with Cumin and Tomatoes
Green Beans with Cumin and Tomatoes
Ingredients:
- 30 – 40ml/2 – 2 tbsp olice oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 – 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 10 ml/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 450g/1lb green beans, trimmed and left whole
- 5ml/1tsp ground cinnamon
- 5ml/1tsp ground allspice
- 5ml/1tsp sugar
- 400g/14oz can of chopped tomatoes
- sea salt and ground black pepper
- 1 lemon cut into wedges to serve
Method:
- Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and stir in the onion and garlic, until they begin to colour. Stir in the cumin seeds, then toss in the green beans and cook, stirring for 2 – 3 mins.
- Add the cinnamon, allspice and sugar to the pan and stir through to cover all the beans with the spice mixture.
- Stir the tomatoes into the pan. Cover with a lid and cook gently for 15 – 20 mins, until the beans are tender but still retain a bite to them. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot or at room temperature with wedges of lemon to squeeze over them.
Puffed Fritters in Syrup
Puffed Fritters in Syrup
Ingredients:
- 2.5ml/ 1/2 tsp dried yeast
- 2.5ml/ 1/2 tsp sugar
- 150ml/1/4 pint lukewarm water
- 175g/6oz/1.5 cups of plain flour
- 50g/2oz/ 1/2 cup rice flour
- 1 – 2 mastic crystals, pulverised with 5ml/ 1/2 tsp sugar
- sunflower oil for frying
- pinch of salt
For the syrup:
- 225g/8oz/1 cup sugar
- 150 ml/ 1/4 pint/ 2/3 cup water
- 30ml/2 tbsp orange blossom water
Method:
- In a small bowl, cream the yeast with the sugar in the lukewarm water until frothy. Sift the flours with the salt and mastic into a bowl and make a well in the centre.
- Pour the creamed yeast into the well and draw in a little of the flour to form a batter. Dust the surface of the batter with a little of the remaining flour, cover the bowl with a clean, damp cloth, and leave for about 20 mins
- Remove the cloth and draw in the rest of the flour to make a soft, sticky dough, adding a little extra water if necessary. Cover the bowl with the damp cloth again and leave the dough to prove for about 2 hours, until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, prepare the syrup. Place the sugar and water in a heavy pan and bring it to the boil, stirring constantly.
- Stir the orange blossom water into the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 mins, until the syrup coats the back of a wooden spoon. Turn off the heat and leave the syrup to cool.
- Heat enough sunflower oil in a pan for frying. Take a portion of the dough with two teaspoons and drop little balls of dough into the oil (they do not have to be perfect).
- Fry the fritters in batches until golden brown and drain on kitchen paper.
- While still warm, soak the fritters in the cold syrups for 10 – 15 mins. Scoop them out and serve at room temperature with a little of the syrup drizzled over them.
Notes:
- If you can’t find orange blossom water, or you don’t like it, you can substitute rose water in the syrup for a different and still authentic flavour.
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