Tag Archives: Bread

Ingredient: Mahleb

Mahleb, whole and ground, Maureen Abood

Sour cherries are so delicious that I suppose it’s not so shocking that someone, somewhere deep in the past kept eating right past the bright red flesh and crunched away at the pit. There that adventurous eater discovered an almond-like … Continue reading

Posted in Ingredients | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Lebanese man’oushe, za’atar flatbread

Manoushe 2, Maureen Abood

My brother Chris was the first to speak to me of the man’oushe. Every time he returned from a trip to Lebanon I wanted to sit him down and discuss, in detail, every bite of food he’d eaten. He was … Continue reading

Posted in Stories and Recipes | Tagged , , , , , | 31 Comments

Favorite Things: A baking stone, with handles

Emile Henry stone with handles, Maureen Abood

A pizza stone is heavy. It’s awkward. It gets hotter than Hades. It’s the sort of thing you might “forget” and leave behind in the oven when you move, just to avoid figuring out how to pack it. But once … Continue reading

Posted in Favorite Things | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Our Thanksgiving Menu, with little ideas, recipes and tips

Thanksgiving table 2 POST

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. ~Khalil Gibran While cooking: Beaujolais nouveaux, fatayar nibble (made ahead). Before and … Continue reading

Posted in Menus | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Whitefish dinner: Green beans, corn and good bread

Green beans, whitefish dinner POST

We all know that one of the great pleasures of the bounty of summer is that it tastes so good you don’t need, or want, to do much beyond getting it to the table. But as with writing, and perhaps … Continue reading

Posted in Stories and Recipes | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Postcard from Lebanon

Pool of water at Mir Amin POST

We have been in Lebanon for one day, and if I had to leave now, the trip would have been worth it. Some scenes from today: a friend of a friend who is now a friend…takes her Sunday and spends … Continue reading

Posted in Picture Postcards | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Lebanese talami bread; ask and you shall receive.

Talami slices with crust 2 POST

Last Thanksgiving was my first one away from my family. That may sound wacky to some given that I’m not exactly a kid, but for the Lebanese among us it probably sounds about right. Our families tend to stay close, … Continue reading

Posted in Stories and Recipes | Tagged , , , , , | 23 Comments

Technique: How to proof yeast

Yeast proofed POST

There was one aspect of culinary school that could, if you wanted, be compared to law school: every week officially, and every day casually, we were asked by our instructor Frances to recite what we knew about the various concepts … Continue reading

Posted in Techniques | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Ingredient: Flour

Flour in bowl 2 POST

Get ready, because we are baking bread this week. Chewy, airy, crisp-on-the-bottom talami. Bread baking enjoys a longstanding, deep tradition in my family. The women always baked by the tons, every week, to have bread on the table for their … Continue reading

Posted in Ingredients | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments