Lebanese Breads
Garlic Butter Glazed Talami Bread
Eureka! Truly an exceptionally simple method for Lebanese talami bread that yields a light, airy, perfect loaf. I’ve published other recipes for talami, but this one is IT. I really don’t get super gadget-happy in my kitchen. Gotta have sharp knives. Lots of dish towels. A lemon reamer, GOT TO. Anyone who’s ever made Lebanese…
Read MoreToasted Sesame Twists, for Oscar Night.
My dad’s favorites were James Bond flicks. He had a line-up of them ready to go, and they accompanied him through his chemo-recovery. “Intrigue, adventure, and three skin scenes.” That’s how he described his Bond fun. He and my mom watched a lot of movies and enlightened my sister and me to the delight of…
Read MoreChristmas Breakfast Wreath
This Christmas Breakfast wreath is glorious to behold and to eat. A buttery dough is filled with cherry almond filling scented with rose water, cut and twisted to form a wreath, and finished with a rose water glaze. Also see the beautiful Brioche Star with Strawberry Rose Jam. At Tante Marie’s, where I went to…
Read MoreHomemade Butter. You HAVE TO!
Homemade butter is simple and the flavor is over-the-top. Top with crunchy sea salt. Makes a great gift! We had just finished an epic lunch—a menu of ribeyes cooked sous vide, homemade creamed corn, big spoonful mujadara, and lemonade made from lemons fresh from a tree out back—and decided we ought to walk it off.…
Read MoreSalted Tahini Avocado Toast
Salted Tahini Avocado Toast is among my favorite ways to a hearty, healthy, delicious toast. There are few ingredients in this toast, barely touched, so every one of them matters and should be the best you can find. “You should make them your chicken wings. Or better yet, my rocking hot chili. I can’t believe…
Read MoreDanny Talami
Dan and I just celebrated our 6-month wedding anniversary, and I’ve made what can only be described as a most stunning discovery: seems I’ve married under false pretenses. Now before you go thinking something like this is going to happen, let me explain. Most everyone who spends even a short amount of time in my…
Read MoreLebanese Meat Pies (fatayar). The raw and the cooked.
As I have discovered in the short time I’ve been married, even among the Lebanese there are differences in the ways families make their Lebanese recipes. As my teacher in culinary school used to say: likes and dislikes have a lot to do with expectations. Take the meat fatayar (pronounced fuh-TIE-yuh). The proper preparation of…
Read MoreDate Nut Bread Recipe, and learning to fly solo
When I went to culinary school a few years ago, I wanted to make a change as much as I wanted to cook great food. I left the job I’d been working in Chicago for years, left the neighborhood where I’d been living all those years too, and headed west to San Francisco. Growing…
Read MoreSweet Potato Biscuits from Kinfolk Table
The Lebanese, we love our kinfolk. Our kinfolk may be descended from the old country, they may be cousins who are cousins by blood or by affection, they may be neighbors who know when you’re home and when you’re not. Or they may be you and me, who love everything about gathering over good…
Read MoreGrilled Pizza with Za’atar, Tomatoes & Fresh Mozzarella
This is za’atar flatbread taken to another level! Grilled pizza with za’atar, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella is a great summer appetizer, or make it in the oven anytime on a hot stone. There are many great things about living Up North; the natural beauty, the tranquility. Among those great things, something important is missing. Something…
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