[Sca-cooks] middle eastern food questions

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Back on January 27, Aoghann wrote:
>Oh, they also had pressed slabs of apricot paste. I am going to have to
>figure out something to do with that!

I confess i didn't hit my Middle Eastern cookbooks to find recipes. 
But i ran across this one in a recently purchased book:

Creme Amardine
from Lebanon
Serves 6 to 8

1 lb sheet apricots (amardine) or 3 cups dried apricots
4 cups water
1/2 cup sugar - adjust, as apricots vary in sweetness
2 Tb cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
1 Tb orange flower water
fresh lemon juice to taste
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tb sugar
2 Tb pistachio nuts, toasted and chopped

1. Cover amardine with the 4 cups water, and soak a few hours.
2. In a large sauce pan cook sheet apricots until practically dissolved.
3. Lower heat to simmer and stir in sugar and cornstarch in water.
4. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 3 minutes, 
adding more sugar as needed.
5. Stir in orange flower water and lemon juice.
6. Pour into individual serving dishes and refrigerate.
7. Shortly before serving whip cream with 2 Tb sugar.
8. To serve, top each dish with whipped cream and sprinkle with 
chopped pistachios.

If using dried apricots:
1. Soak apricots in the 4 cups of water overnight.
2. Cook until soft. This may take 30 minutes for dried apricots. Add 
more water if necessary.
3. Cool slightly, then puree in a blender or food processor.
4. Return puree to pan and bring to simmer, then follow directions 
above, beginning with step 3.

The two other recipes i found for this did not include the cornstarch 
or the orange flower water. The Egyptian recipe had the same name. 
The Turkish recipe was called Kremli Kuru Kayisi.

Anahita