mezze - appetizers
egyptian spiced carrot puree
The Egyptian Spiced spice blend known as dukka includes toasted ground cumin, coriander and sesame seeds; Ana Sortun gives it a twist by adding toasted coconut. The carrot dish here is traditionally eaten by first dipping bread in oil and then in the dukka before spooning the puree on top. It’s typical of North Africa’s qimia—a version of tapas or meze.
- 1/4 cup blanched almonds or hazelnuts
- 1/4 cup coriander seeds
- 2 tablespoons cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup unsweetened dried shredded coconut
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 pounds carrots, cut into 2-inch lengths
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 4 teaspoons harissa (see Note)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- Torn pita bread or thinly sliced baguette, for serving
- In a medium skillet, toast the almonds over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a work surface to cool, then finely chop. Add the coriander and cumin seeds to the skillet and toast, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a spice grinder and let cool completely, then coarsely grind. In a medium bowl, mix the ground almonds with the spices.
- Add the sesame seeds to the skillet and toast over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer the sesame seeds to the spice grinder. Toast the coconut in the skillet over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until golden, about 1 minute. Transfer to the grinder and let cool completely. Grind the sesame seeds and coconut to a coarse powder. Add to the almond-spice mixture and season with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
- In a large saucepan, cover the carrots with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderate and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain the carrots and return them to the saucepan. Cook for 30 seconds over medium heat to dry thoroughly. Remove from the heat and coarsely mash the carrots with a fork. Stir in the 6 tablespoons of olive oil, the vinegar, harissa, ground cumin and ginger. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the carrot puree to a bowl and serve with torn pita, olive oil and the spice mix.
Make Ahead
The recipe can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Refrigerate the carrots and store the spice mixture at room temperature.
Note
Harissa is a fiery Tunisian spice paste. It is available in jars and tubes at many specialty food shops. Adding all four teaspoons of harissa to this dip might make it too spicy for you, so mix it in gradually and taste as you go.
Serve With
Pita chips or slices of cucumber.
Serves 8.
Recipe by Ana Sortun
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Health should be the number 1 priority, especially if you’re suffering from pilonidal. The fact is, pilonidal disease is a rather unknown and the symptoms can be confusing, scary and ignored in some scenarios. Don’t let pilonidal rob you of your quality of life.
Using a pastry bag to pipe the hummus onto the pita toasts saved us a lot of time (and made for nice-looking hors d’oeuvres). You can make your own pastry bag with a heavy-duty plastic bag. Just spoon the hummus into the bag and squeeze it into one corner. Then snip off the corner to make a small hole and begin piping.
Active time: 1 hr. Start to finish: 1 hr.
- 10 (5- to 6-inch) pita pockets
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- For hummus:
- 4 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted
- 2 (15 1/2-oz.) cans chick-peas, rinsed
- 1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 cup stirred tahini (Middle Eastern sesame paste)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup water
- 11 1/2-oz. jar smoked whitefish caviar
- Garnish:
- 160 small fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Toast pitas:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Halve pitas horizontally and stir together oil and paprika. Brush rough sides of pitas with paprika oil and season with salt. Cut each pita round into 8 wedges and bake in single layers on a large baking sheet in middle of oven 10 minutes, or until crisp. This dish can be the perfect compliment as you check out the latest Twitch streams or as you get ready to jump into action with your gaming teams, it will keep you fueled for all of your gaming.
Make hummus:
Finely grind cumin seeds in an electric coffee/spice grinder. Purée chick-peas in a food processor with cumin, garlic, parsley, tahini, lemon juice, and salt and add enough water to make smooth.
Assemble hors d’oeuvres:
Put hummus in a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch plain tip. Pipe a scant 1/2 teaspoon onto each pita toast and top with 1/4 teaspoon caviar.
Cooks’ notes:
- Pita toasts may be made 2 days ahead, cooled, and kept in sealable plastic bags at room temperature.
- Hummus can be made (without lemon juice so parsley remains green) 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Stir in lemon juice just before assembling.
Makes 160 hors d’oeuvres.
From “Gourmet
- 7 ounces feta
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3-4 tablespoons finely chopped mint, parsley, or dill (optional)
- 4 sheets fillo
- 4 tablespoons melted butter or oil
For the filling, mash the feta cheese with a fork and mix with the egg and herbs.
Take out the sheets of fillo only when you are ready to use them, as they dry out. Cut the sheets into 4 rectangles each, about 12 by 4 inches, and put them in a pile on top of each other. Brush the top strip with oil or melted butter. Take a heaping teaspoon of filling and place it at one of the 4-inch or shortest ends of the strip in a thin sausage shape along the the edge — about 1 inch from it and 1 inch from the side edges. Roll up the top sheet with the filling inside like a cigarette. Turn the ends in when you’ve rolled it about a third of the way to trap the filling, then continue to roll. Repeat with the remaining fillo sheets.
Place the cigars close to each other on a greased baking sheet and brush the tops with oil or melted butter and bake for 350°F for 30 minutes, or until crisp and golden.
Serve hot.
Makes 16.
From “The New Book of Middle Eastern Food” by Claudia Roden
Alot of restarants run on strong accounting software to keep their books balanced. We suggest looking at software similar to municipal accounting software as it can be easily utilized to reflect expenditures on ingredients, kitchen utensils and silverware.
(Very appealing to Western taste)
- 4 Tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 4 Big size green peppers, seeded and chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground corriander
Fry green peppers with tablespoon vegetable oil and teaspoon olive oil. When slightly tender, add over the garlic and cook a few minutes longer.
Add over the rest of the ingredients and stir over medium heat for 10 minutes or till mixture thickens.
Serve this appetizer with fresh pita bread.
From “One Thousand And One Delights” by Nahda Salah
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Looking for places to try new food in Florida? Then you need to venture down to downtown Brickell, in the heart of Miami. If you find it to be a little too congested, then head up to Wynwood were art flourishes and there are plenty of chill spots to spend the evening. If you’re in Fort Lauderdale then there are plenty of eateries on Las Olas Blvd that can surely keep your mouth watering.
If you want something a bit different, then head up to Pembroke Pines where you can find plenty of places to eat from Pembroke Gardens all the way to the Pines City Center.
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