[Sca-cooks] My Middle Eastern Feast...how it went

[Elaine Koogler]

OK, Urtatim wanted a report on how it went...here goes:

Based on feedback from those who were there, it appears that it was a 
success.  We had a couple of "oops!" moments...seems my brain wasn't 
functioning on all cylinders, so I forgot things like the recipe for the 
Jazr (looked at the ingredients list and "winged it), the flour and 
cilantro (fortunately there was a Safeway nearby) and putting one of the 
ingredients in the Thumiyya (called for murri or soy sauce...forgot it, 
but think it was actually better because the soy sauce seemed to make it 
a little too salty).  But, with the assistance of some incredible cooks 
(Dame Hauviette and Laird Muirghen, to name two whom some of you may 
know), we pulled it off.  Far and away the most highly praised dish was 
the Lauzinaj...Dame Hauviette played around with the recipe and we came 
up with a really easy way to make it:  we used wonton wrappers and 
rolled them around almond paste (found an AA brand...American Almond 
company or some such, premade for $38 a #10 can...and wonderful!!), 
baked them until they began to brown, then poured a 
sugar/rosewater/water syrup over them and sprinkled them with ground 
pistachio.  People RAVED over them. 

We did a mezze during the afternoon, putting out dishes in three 
groupings.  The following made up the mezze:   /Zaitun Mubakhkhar/ 
(Smoked Olives),/  Hummus Kasa / (Chickpea/Tahini/Pistachio Dip), /Sals 
Abyad/ (Spiced Walnut Sesame Spread), Stuffed Eggs (from the /Anonymous 
Andalusian Cookbook/), /Badhin/ (Cakes stuffed with dates/poppy seed), 
/Barad /(Fried Pastry), /Rutab  Mu'assal /(Stuffed Dates), Minted 
Grapes, Fresh fruit, dried fruit and nuts.

The feast was served in one course:  /Badhinjan Buran/ (Princess Buran's 
Eggplant), /Isfanakh Mutajjan/ (Fried Spinach), /Jazr/ (Fried Vinegared 
Carrots), Minted Cucumber Fresh Pickle,  /Lauzinaj/ (Stuffed Pastry), 
/Marwaziyya/ (Lamb Stew, named for the Central Asian city of Merv), 
Couscous, /Thumiyya / (Chicken with Garlic, Lavender and Spices). 

Some of the recipes came from Lady Urtatim's Web site...and from recipes 
of hers that were in the Florilegium.  I also used a couple from the 
Flory-thingey that were not hers.  A couple of them (the Hummus Kasa and 
what we did with the Lauzinaj) were created by Dame Hauviette d'Anjou.  
The remainder were redacted from the Medieval Arab Cookery Book (Baghdad 
Cookery Book and A Description of Familiar Foods) by either my lord 
husband or me.  I had done the stuffed dates and lamb stew for a cooking 
competition a couple of years ago and remembered that they turned out 
pretty well.

This feast was a prime example of how much being on this list has helped 
me improve my repertoire of recipes!!  Thanks, guys...

Kiri

PS:  The almond paste is available online...I don't have the URL at 
hand, but you can "google" American Almond and find it.
PPS:  I didn't post the recipes as it would take a lot of room.  
However, many of them are already either on Urtatim's page or in the 
Florilegium.  If anyone wants a specific recipe, let me know and I can 
post that...or send it privately, as needed.