Food is never more glorious than when it comes from the Middle East. The Middle East, especially Lebanon: home to one of the most vibrant, aromatic and delicious of tastes, ranging from the adventurous and experimental to ni -fuss food you can easily throw together in a matter of minutes. Here we’ve gathered together some recipes from the region guaranteed to make anyone fall in love with the cuisine.
Lebanese food, Pita bread :
Pita bread is one of the popular breads in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and specifically in Lebanon, dating back several thousand years. You can fill this bread with various foods such as kebabs, falafes, etc. Here’s we have recipe ti make this popular bread and i hope you find it useful.
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purposed flour
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour preferably freshly milled.
Procedure:
Put 1 cup lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add the whole-wheat flour and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and whisk together. put bowl in a warm place, uncovered, until mixture is frothy and bubbling, about 15 minutes.
Add salt, olive oil and nearly all remaining all-purpose flour with a wooden spoon or a pair of chopsticks, stir until mixture forms a shaggy mass. Dust with a little reserved flour, then knead in bowl for 1 minute, incorporating any stray bits of dry dough.
Turn dough onto work surface, knead lightly for 2 minutes, until smooth. Cover and let rest 10 minutes then knead again for 2 minutes. The dough should be soft and a bit moist. At this point, dough may refrigerated in a large zippered plastic bag for several hours or overnight. bring dough to room temperature, knead into a ball and proceed with recipe. clean the mixing bowl and put dough back in it. Cover bowl with a plastic wrap, then cover with a towel. Put bowl in a warm place. Leave until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Place a heavy-duty baking sheet on bottom shelf of oven and heat oven to 475 degrees. Punch down dough and divide into 8 pieces of equal size. Place dough balls on work surface, cover with a damp towel and leave for 10 minutes.
Remove a ball and press into flat disk with rolling pin. Roll to a 6 inch circle, then ti an 8 inch diameter. Dusting with flour if necessary.
Carefully lift the dough circle and place quickly on hot baking sheet. After 2 minutes the dough should be puffed. Turn over the bread and bake 1 more minute. The pita should be pale,with only a few brown speckles. Transfer warm pita to napkin-lined basket and cover so bread stays soft.
Lebanese foods, Dawood Basha (Lebanese Meatballs Braised in Tomato Sause ):
Ingredients:
500g minced meat
2 onions,grated
1 tablespoon dried mint powder
2 tablespoons pomegranate paste
1 glass of water
Salt,pepper and cinnamon
Butter
Procedure:
Mix well minced meat that is the mixture of lamb and beef with grated onions,spices and salt in a bowl and knead it well. Creating round shaped balls with these ingredients.place this balls in a bowl and refrigerated for 15 minutes.
Melt butter in a pan add remaining grated onions and roast a little. After the onions are slightly golden,fry round balls in the pan and after that add mint and continue roasting. Dissolve the pomegranate paste in a glass of water,then add it to the pan and stir gently with meat. And let cook over medium heat. Serve it with plain rice or rice and vermicelli. How delicious!
This recipe is very tasty and so juicy and i assure you love the flavor of this dish.
