Pick and mix
I discovered it some years ago when my editor almost chained me to the desk in an effort to extract the final manuscript of one of my books. We took a break to grab a bite of lunch at the local Lebanese restaurant and found a little gem.
Le Mignon is in Delancey Street NW1, well away from the Lebanese epicentre that is Edgeware Road. I ordered much more than I could eat, ate much more than I should and brought the rest away in little boxes to have a picnic on the plane.
I begged chef/patron Hussien Dekmak for the recipes for his classic Lebanese dishes — he was unmoved by my pleading but did say that one day he planned to write a cookbook and sure enough it arrived on my desk today, about 10 years later.
Lebanese cuisine is the fastest growing trend in Britain and Hussein’s delectable home-style cooking is a stunning example of the inspirational health-giving food of this beautiful troubled country. He sources many of his ingredients — chickpeas, bulgur wheat, lentils and spices — from Lebanon when he goes home every summer.
A Lebanese table is always full, brimming over with delicious dishes. Soups, salads, starters and mains are all served at the same time and shared, mezze style, with an accent on quality rather than quantity that is reflected in serving sizes.
Hussien’s honest approach to food is beautifully simple, focusing on the integrity of the ingredients, their freshness and the aromatic strength of their flavours.
At last I can discover the secret of how to produce authentic tabbouleh (parsley salad) and ardishawki bil lahma (artichoke hearts topped with minced lamb, tomatoes and pine nuts), or traditional creamy hummus and falafel as well as less well-known delicacies such as creamy Lebanese ashtalieh (milk pudding) and how to brew the perfect Lebanese coffee.
Serving suggestions and combination tips that only come from years of experience are included; salatit malfof abiad (white cabbage salad) superbly partners a serving of moujadara hamra (lentils with bulgur wheat), and makloubeh batinjan (aubergine with lamb and rice) are best accompanied by mahamara (freshly deep-fried golden peanuts, almonds, cashews) and your favourite salad.
The recipes are simple, but as ever, one needs to seek out really good ingredients and a few speciality items, such as sumac and zahtar.
This recipe makes quite a large quantity, but it will keep in the fridge for a week. Hussien uses it as the base for a marinade for grilled chicken and a sauce for fried chicken livers.
If you have any left over, it is also good with chips, he says.
2 garlic heads, cloves peeled
1 tsp salt
1 egg white
500ml (18 fl.oz) vegetable oil
Juice of 2 lemons, or more to taste
Put the garlic cloves and salt in a blender or food-processor and whizz to a smooth purée.
Add the egg white and whizz again until smooth.
With the motor running, very slowly pour in the vegetable oil in a constant, steady stream until all the oil is used up and the sauce is the consistency and colour of mayonnaise.
Add the lemon juice and keep whizzing until smooth. Taste and add more if necessary. Serve.
Serve with mixed pickles and toum (garlic sauce) and pitta bread
Serves 4
1kg (2¼ lb) of chicken breasts
Juice of 3 lemons
4 cardamom pods
Salt and white pepper
150ml (5 fl.oz) white malt vinegar
Cut the chicken pieces into long, thin slices. Put them in a deep dish with the lemon juice, cardamom pods, salt, pepper, vinegar and enough water to cover and leave in the fridge overnight to marinate.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Remove the chicken from the marinade and place on a baking tray. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes, turning from time to time. Serve.
Serves 4
500g (18oz) fresh jumbo prawns, or frozen and thawed (about 12 prawns)
100g (3½ oz) plain flour
Salt and black pepper
125ml (4fl.oz) vegetable oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
5 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp chopped coriander
Peel the prawns, remove the black vein that runs along the back, then wash well. Place the flour in a bowl with salt and pepper. Add the prawns, coating them in the flour.
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the prawns, stirring occasionally, until cooked through — this will take about 10 minutes.
Drain the prawns and toss with the lemon juice, garlic and coriander.
Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Fatthoush is a classic Lebanese dish. It is often eaten by itself as a starter or light lunch. Sumac is an essential ingredient. It is a spice that is made from the dried, powdered berries of the sumac tree.
Serves 4
1 carrot, chopped
½ Cos lettuce, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
5 radishes, chopped
1 tbsp chopped spring onion
1 red pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp chopped flat parsley
2 tsp sumac
1 large flatbread, toasted and broken into pieces
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl and mix well. Add the garlic, parsley, sumac, bread, olive oil and salt to taste. Toss everything together and serve immediately.
This recipe makes a large batch of hummus, which will keep for one week in the fridge.
The bicarbonate of soda helps the chickpeas to cook quickly and also helps loosen their skins so they can be easily removed. Just make sure you rinse the chickpeas well after cooking to get rid of any traces of the bicarbonate. Once refrigerated, the hummus thickens, so make it quite thin to start with. The ice is used to keep the food processor cool. Buy good-quality tahini — good tahini shouldn’t taste too bitter. The cheaper brands use peanuts and don’t taste good.
Serves 4
500g (18pz) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and rinsed thoroughly
2 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
Salt
100g (3½ oz) ice
200g (7oz) tahini
4 tbsp lemon juice
Place the chickpeas in a large pan with plenty of fresh cold water and the bicarbonate of soda. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 45 minutes until soft to the touch. Remove the pan from the heat and stir well to loosen the skins from the chickpeas. Drain away the water and skins so you are just left with the chickpeas. Rinse thoroughly.
Place the chickpeas in a food processor and whizz with a little salt to a smooth puree.
Add the ice, tahini and some of the lemon juice. Whizz again, adding about 500ml of water in a steady stream, until the mixture is smooth and the consistency of a creamy paste. Pour in the remaining lemon juice and add more salt to taste.
Serves 4
1 quantity hummus bil
tahina — see recipe (above)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
100g (3½oz) lamb shoulder,
cut into 1cm (½in) pieces
1 tsp pine nuts
Salt and black pepper
Place the hummus in a serving dish and use a tablespoon to make a well in the centre.
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the lamb and pine nuts for 5-7 minutes. Stir well, then add salt and pepper and cook until the meat is tender.
Arrange the meat and pine nuts in the well of the hummus and sprinkle with more black pepper.
Hummus snouber is also popular — follow the same recipe but omit the lamb.
This is like a Lebanese shepherd’s pie.
Serves 6
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
200g (7oz) minced lamb
1 tbsp pine nuts
Salt and black pepper
4-5 large potatoes, boiled and mashed
3 tbsp butter
100g (3½oz) dried breadcrumbs
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Heat the vegetable oil in a pan, add the onion and cook, stirring, until tender. Add the meat, pine nuts, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the meat is browned.
Place the warm mashed potato in a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of butter and some salt and mix well.
Grease a deep baking tray with the remaining tablespoon of butter. Spread half of the mashed potato in the tray. Spread the meat mixture over in one layer, then spread the rest of the mashed potato on top.
Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden.
Cut into squares and serve hot or cold with salad or sautéed vegetables.
in the south east will hold its first seminar on
Saturday, October 7, Harvesting and Cooking with Seaweeds with Dr Prannie Rhatigan.
A seashore visit at 10am will be followed by lunch and cookery demonstrations in the afternoon at the Copper Coast Bistro at Annestown, Co Waterford.
Information from Margaret or Sophie, telephone 051-396686/051-396179. Cost, €60 including lunch, deposit €30. Seafood banquet that night €30. Web: www.slowfoodireland.com or www.coppercoastgeopark.com
will open a new ‘static’ butchers shop on October 6, as part of the Ballinasloe Fair — its mobile butchers will continue to travel to markets around the country selling its organic meat.
The Global Food Marketplace at Paris-Nord Exhibition Centre, October 22-6. This international event showcases the largest array of products and services in the food industry — more than 5,200 exhibitors from 99 countries. Web: www.sial.fr
has passed a motion declaring that the town become a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) free zone.
Email: mail@gmfreeireland.org Web: www.gmfreeireland.org
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
