My favorite restaurant in Rochester is the Lebanese place Sinbad's on Park Avenue. It is simply the best and I have been going there since I used to live next door to it in 2004! I try ALL THE TIME to make food as good as theirs, and, progress is being made!!! I'm getting pretty close on the salad and dolmades, although I need to figure out the sauce they rest the dolmades on! They are served warm, whereas most Greek places serve dolmades cold.
Mujadara is something I have never made before, but it is apparently the "national dish" of Lebanon. It is easily googled. I modified a Food Network recipe (less oil), but it seemed to me that most recipes were very similar to each other.
The salad recipe is a mix of several I have tried in my hopes to perfectly replicate "The Sinbad Salad." The spinach I learned how to make from my friend Amber, years ago. So grateful for that lesson, Amber! And finally, the dolmades I modified from the first time that I made them last month. I learned how to properly cook them! If only I could roll them faster.
Mujadara (lentils and rice)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup basmati rice, soaked and rinsed for 2 hours
1/2 cup lentils, rinsed
1 Tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon course black pepper
1 red onion, sliced/diced thinly
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:
Make sure to get the rice soaked and drained! High quality rice is a game changer for Middle Eastern food!
Simmer the lentils for 20 minutes. Set aside. In a medium soup pot, sauté the oil, cumin seeds, and pepper. Stir for 2 minutes, then add the onion. You may add more oil, or water!, for the next few minutes as they simmer. When the onions are soft, add the cinnamon stick, drained rice, and lentils. Add just enough water to cover them- not any more! Reduce heat and stir once in a while, until the water is absorbed by the rice and lentils. Taste a bite- add more water if necessary. Stir in the cumin, cayenne, and salt. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving.
Warak Arish (dolmades)
This recipe makes about 40 dolmades. Unlike the last time I made dolmades, these turned out practically perfect. I ate 20 for dinner. Really, I did. Possibly more than 20, honestly!
Ingredients:
1 jar grape leaves (about 50)
1/2 cup basmati rice, soaked and rinsed for 1 hour
1 onion, minced
1 tomato, minced
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
2 Tablespoons fresh mint, minced
one pinch of crushed dried dill (or fresh, if you want)
salt & pepper
lemon juice
Directions:
Boil 8 cups of water with a pinch of salt and a few tablespoons of lemon juice (I used bottled). Rinse the grape leaves lightly. Once boiling, add the grape leaves to the pot. Turn off heat immediately, and let them sit in the hot water for 3-4 minutes. Remove from water, and place in a strainer.
In a large frying pan, use oil or water to sauté the onion. Add tomato, and stir for a few minutes more. Then add the drained rice. Reduce heat, and add barely enough water to cover the rice. Simmer until the water is gone. The rice should still be medium hard (not thoroughly cooked!). Stir in the parsley, mint, dill, salt, pepper, and lemon juice to your liking. I like a lot of lemon juice, personally!
To assemble the dolmades, place the shiny side of the grape leaf down, and add a teaspoon of filling to the middle. Bend over the middle segments first, then the bottom segments, and roll up. The grape leaf will form a natural glue to keep it together. I recommend starting with a tiny about of rice mixture in each one until you get the hang of it! Also, youtube it and google it to see photos of dolmade-rolling.
Use the extra grape leaves to line a small pot. Tightly pack the dolmades in. Pour a tiny amount of oil over top, brushing over many, if you can! Use a small heavy or weighted plate to weigh the dolmades down. Add enough water to barely cover them. I also add more lemon juice at this point! Boil/simmer for 60 minutes. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don't burn when the water boils off. That's it! Enjoy!
Lebanese Salad
Ingredients:
romaine
tomato
cucumber
green onion
red wine vinegar
sumac
salt & pepper
Directions:
If you've read this far, hopefully you know how to make a salad. Go with that.
Spinach
Ingredients:
16 ounce bag of cooking spinach
oil/broth
3-5 cloves garlic
salt & pepper
balsamic or wine vinegar, if you want
Directions:
Rinse and de-stem the spinach. Sauté the garlic in oil or broth. Add handfuls of spinach before the garlic is fully toasted. Let simmer, adding all the spinach slowly. Stir often until the spinach is "cooked down." Season with salt and pepper, and vinegar, if wanted.
No comments:
Post a Comment