Chef Fatma Korid, September 12, 2016

The fish that everyone LOVED, shish barak.

For the dough:

  •  1.5 C of flour
  •  ¾C very warm water
  • TBSP OIL
  • ts salt
  •  Lemon juice, lemon salt, or vinegar, whatever you got at home.

Making the dough:

  • Add the flour to the mixer, in one bowl, mix half the water with the oil and vinegar or the lemon juice and the dry stuff together, then add them to the flour, start mix. Slowly start adding the remaining water.
  • In an oily pan, put the dough in and make sure the whole dough surface is covered with oil. Let it set for an hr.
  • An hr later, start rolling the dough as thin as 2mm/3mm. then with a ring, start cut the dough, and stuff it with the meat mix, close the rounded dough( like and take the 2 corners and bring them together, it will look similar like a fortune cookie shape) . What you can do is, put them directly to the yogurt mix or half bake them first then add them to the liquid. Cook them like you cook pasta, one it the dough is cooked, the dish is done.

Making the filling:

  • Add 1 kilo of meat to a 2-table spoon of oil, with fine dice large onion, few garlic gloves and coriander, salt and pepper as needed.
  • Once all the meat and onion is cooked, drain it from fat if there is any.
  • Start filling the dough.

The sauce:

  • On medium heat, In large pot, Add 750 g of 3% yogurt, 1TS of coriander, salt and pepper as needed.
  • 1 box of Maggie, 2 L egg white, 1C of water- dissolve the Maggie in it for better result, 1ts of cornstarch for thickener, only if needed.
  • Keep stirring the pot once the mixer get to boiled, add the pasta and keep stirring gently. Once the dough of the pasta is fully cooked, then the dish is ready.
  • Let it simmer for 15 minutes, garnish with almonds or pine nuts.

 

Molokhia dish:

  • Add the dried molokhia 1c pr person to a large pot, saute  it for at less 15 minutes on medium hear.
  • Then add the coriander powder, garlic along with fresh chicken stock, or dissolve 2 boxes of Maggie in water. Add enough water to cover one inch above the molokhia, remember the molokhia is dried; it will absorb lots of water. Instead of water, you can boil a whole chicken and use its water for this dish; you will be using the chicken later on in this dish.
  • Once the molokhia has absorbed the liquid it will be tenderized, let it simmer for 20 minutes with a lid on.

Serving:

  • half of the plate is plain steamed rice and the other half is molokhia.
  • Use the chicken pieces (9 skinless and boneless part) to spread it on the top of the molokhai.

Grape leaves:

Mixture:

  • 2c of washed raw long grain rice,
  • 1lb lean ground beef,
  • TS salt,
  • TS pepper,
  • ts lemon
  • salt, or fresh lemon juice.

Preparation:

  • For a medium grape leave, put 2 ts of mixture, and start rolling the grape leaves like you rolling a cigar. Make sure all the corners are sealed.
  • Watch for the amount of mixture you put in each grape leaves, the more rice you put in each one, the longer it takes to cook. Sometimes the grape leaves get busted due to large rice portion.
  • Stack them gently in a pot. You can put bones in the bottom of the pot and then start stacking the grape leaves on top, for more flavor.
  • Then add enough tomato sauce mixed with water to cover the grape leaves.
  • Leave it on high heat until it boiled, once it does, turn the heat to medium.
  • Cover it and keep watching for the liquid, RICE will start absorb the water- tomato sauce mixture, if need more liquid, keep adding till the grape leaves are soften and the rice is fully cooked.
  • My mother always flip the pot upside down and let it set for 15 minutes, then she lift the pot and you are left with one nice block of well stacked grape leaves.

For people whom have fresh grape leave tree, collect the medium sized ones, wash them, and use them immediately, other wise superstore have canned grape leaves in the international section.

All the ingredients are available at the halal store on Maryland and at the Syrian supermarket on ellice cross the street from the ellice mosque.

Dessert:

In one bowl, add

  • 1TS sugar,
  • ½ TS yeast,
  • 2C very warm water and let it set for 5 minutes.

In another bowl, add

  • 2 C of flour,
  • 1TS cornstarch,
  • ½ ts salt

mix well, add the liquid to the dry ingredients, let it set for 15 minutes.

Start forming the pancake, however we wont flip them, we will cook them on griddle on medium heat till the heat travel through out the dough to cook the top of the pancake.

Remove it from the heat and let it cool down.

In a bowl add

  • 1 C of mascarpone cheese,
  • 1 TS icing sugar,
  • coconut and some nuts.

Once the pancake cooled down, start piping into the center of the pancake, close it, your final product should be like the shape of half moon. Pan fry it to the desired crisp and dip it in simple syrup or pour maple syrup on it and serve.

Can be garnished with ground pistachios

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