Ashtalieh (Cream Pudding)

Rounding off this week is another Lebanese recipe, this one designed to hit your sweet spot! Writes the author about his cream pudding:

I use a brand called Puck for the cream cheese. It comes in cans and can sometimes be found in Middle Eastern stores. Otherwise any cream cheese will do. Ashtalieh will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Serves 6

4 cups milk
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¾ pound cream cheese
2 teaspoons mastic powder
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
1 teaspoon rose water

to finish
½ cup pine nuts, soaked overnight in cold water
½ cup peeled almonds, soaked overnight in cold water
½ cup unsalted pistachios
kater (sugar syrup) (for Dekmak's recipes, check out page 149 of The Lebanese Cookbook)

Heat the milk, sugar, cornstarch, flour, and half the cream cheese in a saucepan over a medium heat, stirring all the time with a whisk until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and continue to stir until it thickens.

Add the mastic powder, orange blossom water and rose water and stir another 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Pour the mixture into a shallow serving dish and set aside to cool. Spread the remaining cream cheese on top and store in the refrigerator until needed.

When ready to serve, divide into pieces, decorate with the nuts and pour over the sugar syrup.

Batata Harra (Spicy Potatoes)

This week we have decided again to feature recipes from Hussien Dekmak's delectable guide to Lebanese cuisine, The Lebanese Cookbook.

Bring new life to the potatoes on your dinner plate, by adding some spice to them with this recipe for Batata Harra!

Serves 4

vegetable oil, for deep-frying
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped into ½-inch cubes
¼ cup olive oil
½ onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 green chilies, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
salt and black pepper
½ teaspoon ground coriander

Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer or deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Deep-fry the potatoes until crisp. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the onion, garlic, pepper, chilies and fresh cilantro until softened. Add the potatoes along with salt, pepper and ground cilantro to taste. Stir to combine and serve.

Photography by Martin Brigdale.

Moujadara (Lentils and Rice with Crispy Onions)

Our recipe for this week comes from another one of our more recent releases, The Lebanese Cookbook by Hussien Dekmak, owner and head chef of Le Mignon in London. Says Dekmak:

This is always a favorite at my restaurant, Le Mignon. You can use either brown or green lentils, but I find that brown lentils give a much better result.

moujadara

Serves 4

generous 1 cup brown or green dried lentils, rinsed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup basmati rice
salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin

for the crispy onions
vegetable oil
4 tablespoons sliced onion




Place the lentils in a deep saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes, then drain and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a lidded saucepan, add the chopped onion and fry until browned. Add the rice, cooked lentils, salt, pepper and cumin and just enough water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and stir occasionally until the rice is cooked, 15 minutes. Place in a serving dish.

For the crispy onions, pour vegetable oil into a deep skillet to the depth of about 2 inches. Heat well and deep-fry the sliced onion until brown and crispy. Remove from the skillet and arrange on top of the lentil and rice mixture. Serve hot.

Photography by Martin Brigdale.