An Edible Mosaic. Faith Gorsky
and friends asking me to cater events for them. After making a Mother's Day meal for my mom in 2009, I decided to start a food blog (www.AnEdibleMosaic.com) to share the meal that I had made for her. In initiating my blog, I hoped to be an inspiration to home cooks who were looking for a little bit of encouragement to experiment in the kitchen (because after all, I'm a home cook myself... and if I can do it, so can they!). My other reason for starting An Edible Mosaic was to have a venue to share the wealth of information I had learned about Middle Eastern cuisine. Authentic old world recipes are typically shared orally and aren't put into writing, but since I had the good fortune of being able to watch a master Middle Eastern cook in the kitchen, I knew this information had to be memorialized and shared with the world.
Through this book, I'm sharing the recipes that I've lovingly learned to make in hopes that they become new favorites and the basis of new traditions for other families. I'm hoping to show home cooks that Middle Eastern food is not only delicious but also attainable, and goes well beyond the commonly known Middle Eastern favorites. Another of my aspirations for this book is that it serves as a written collection of authentic Middle Eastern fare for those who are looking for traditional recipes. I think it will be indispensible to people who have traveled to the Middle East or have married into a Middle Eastern family and want to be able to replicate authentic Middle Eastern recipes at home. My final goal is that this book teaches a bit of Middle Eastern culture along with cuisine, as the two are so closely intertwined.
May you always have a healthy appetite. Saha (to your health)!
Faith Gorsky
author of An Edible Mosaic
Cooking Tips and Techniques
This section is meant as a guide for some of the most commonly used techniques in Middle Eastern cooking. As I learned how to cook, I was surprised that even a small amount of extra effort can make a huge difference in a finished product. Brining chicken, for example, requires minimal effort and you will be able to taste the difference from the first bite: not only is brined chicken more tender and juicy, but it tastes fresher and has less of a fishy flavor than non-brined chicken. This section also shows you that some kitchen tasks are much easier to do at home than you might have thought. For example, I used to buy blanched almonds at the grocery store before I realized how easy it is to blanch them at home (and it saves money too!). And there are other tasks that I did well enough (ahem, cooking eggplant) and was happy with the results, but wasn't very impressed by the food's flavor until I learned the proper way to handle it (like giving it a little time alone with some salt). Little tricks like these will transform your food from good to fantastic.
Blanching Almonds: Blanched almonds are frequently used as a garnish for both sweet and savory dishes. They are wonderful on top of puddings or as a garnish for other desserts, like Coconut Semolina Cake (Harissa) (page 130), or sautéed up in a little bit of clarified butter or olive oil, they add flavor and crunch to rice dishes like upside-Down Rice Casserole (Maqluba) (page 114) and Baked Chicken with Red Rice Pilaf (Kebseh) (page 96). Blanched almonds are commonly available at grocery stores, but in a pinch it’s good to know how to make them at home. There are four steps to the process: (1) place fresh, shelled (raw and unsalted) almonds in a heat-safe bowl; (2) pour in enough boiling water to fully cover the almonds; (3) let the almonds sit for 1 minute, then pour into a mesh sieve, rinse under cold water, and drain; and (4) hold one almond at the wide end between your thumb and forefinger and gently squeeze—the skin should slip right off. (Note: if your almonds aren’t the freshest, you can use a slightly different method to blanch them. Pour them into a saucepan, add enough water to cover, and bring up to a rolling boil. Boil 1 minute, then pour into a mesh sieve, rinse under cold water, and drain. The skins should slip right off.) Blanching can cause almonds to lose a bit of their crispness, as they tend to absorb water. To dry them out, pat them dry with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel, and then spread them in an even layer on a large baking pan. Let them sit in a sunny spot for a full day, or transfer them to an oven that has been preheated to 200˚F (95˚C) and then turned off. Once dried, store blanched almonds in the freezer.
Chiffonading Herbs: this technique is used to shred herbs into thin, confetti-like strips. The purpose of this technique is to keep the herbs as fresh and crisp as possible, with minimal wilting or bruising. For most salads that use minced herbs such as Middle Eastern Salad (page 47) and Colorful Cabbage with Lemony Salad Dressing (page 40), a regular mincing technique works perfectly fine, and for most cooked dishes that contain minced herbs, like Sautéed Greens and Cilantro (page 58) and Cauliflower Meat Sauce (page 110), i’ll go one step further and say that a Mincing Knife/Mezzaluna (page 16) does a decent mincing job. However, there are a few dishes where the integrity of the herb is of utmost importance and so chiffonading is the best technique; one such dish is tabbouleh (page 44). Before chiffonading any herb, wash the herb and let it dry completely (water can cause it to blacken quicker). To cut up large, flat-leafed herbs (such as mint, basil, and sage), pick the leaves off their stems and stack about eight to ten leaves; tightly roll the stack lengthwise into a cigar shape, then use a sharp paring knife to thinly slice across the cigar, creating little ribbons. Parsley is a bit more difficult to chiffonade since the leaves are smaller and more irregularly shaped; don’t let this deter you though, once you get the hang of it, it really will be quick work. The method for chiffonading parsley is described in the recipe for tabbouleh.
Cooking Dried Beans and Lentils: As a general rule of thumb, I use canned beans but dried lentils (which cook much quicker than dried beans) for cooking. Of course, there are a few recipes for which dried beans are noticeably better, such as hummus (page 79) and Falafel (page 81), and for those select few I take the extra time to cook dried beans. If you want to use dried beans be sure to plan ahead, since most should be soaked in cold water for 12 to 24 hours, during which time the beans will swell as they absorb water. (if you’re really pressed for time, here’s a trick that my mom taught me: add the [unsoaked] beans to a large pot and cover with water; bring up to a boil, boil 3 minutes, then turn the heat off, cover the pot and let the beans sit for one hour; drain and proceed with cooking the beans.) After soaking, drain the beans and add them to a large pot with fresh water; bring them to a boil over high heat, then turn the heat down slightly and boil until they’re tender, adding more water as necessary so that they are immersed, (the exact amount of time will vary depending on several factors, including what kind of bean you’re using, how old the beans are, and even the weather); this generally takes one to two hours for chickpeas. (Don’t add salt or acid—such as lemon juice, tomato, or vinegar —to the water as the beans cook, since these can cause the skins to toughen; instead, season the beans once they’re tender.) Also, during the cooking process, the skin on the beans will sometimes come off; you can pick through the beans to remove it if you want. This step is fairly time-consuming and is optional; I may or may not do it depending on how I plan to use the beans. However, i’ve noticed that when I take the time to pick out the skins when I make the hummus, I end up with a much creamier consistency. Here are the general equivalent measurements for canned and dried beans: 1 (approximately 16 oz/500 g) can of beans = 1¾ cups = ²⁄ ³ cup (4¾ oz/135 g) dry beans.
Cooking Eggplant: First things first, when you’re buying your eggplant, look for smaller fruits rather than larger