Sunday dinner
 

I love Sundays. It's the only day in the week where I get hours to prep a great meal. This week, it's a Meditteranean/Middle Eastern BBQ with everything made from scratch. The menu is:

Grilled flatbread
Baba Ganouj
Hummus
Tabouli
Couscous with Sundried Tomato and Kalamata Olives
Lamb kabob with Tzatziki
Lemon chicken kabob
Grilled squash, artichoke, carrots and asparagus

The guests are bringing desert. I'm expecting brownies from a box.

The best part about this is the leftovers. I can use the grilled flatbread to make pizza, topped with fresh basil and mozzarella. I can use the couscous for stuffed chicken. The hummus and baba ganouj make a pretty healthy snack.

Are you inviting all of Adams LDS Arab friends?

Sounds wonderful. How about posting some recipes?

Our Sunday dinner usually consists of what are known as "gnarly nachos". We load a big ol pan with chips, cheese, and whatever else we feel like putting on top. The kids love it. We're just not the pot roast and potatoes type of family.

Do you do anything special with the couscous to make it tasty? we dig couscous in our house, but lately I have been a bit burned out on it. Looking for ways to spice it up.

Also, your hummus and baba gnanouj is from scratch? that is impressive.

Your menu sounds amazing. Good luck and please come back and report. As Leb says, share the wealth...post some recipes!

Speaking of baba ganoush, I harvested my first egg plants from the garden today. Had 'em stir fried and they were delish.

we had eggplant parmesan about a week ago.

eggplant doesnt get half the run it deserves when throwing down vegetable smack.

Hummus from scratch is easy. Baba ghanoush is a bit trickier. Salting the eggplant and getting out the bitter juices is a pain. I am mostly impressed with the array of the items. Any one probably isn't so tough, but put them together and you're in the kitchen all day.

We have a family from Jordan in our ward. Also, I spent a couple of months in Jordan about 11 years ago. At that time there were two branches in the country and not all members were ex-pats. One of the branch presidents was an Iraqi who fought in the first Gulf War for Iraq. There aren't a lot of Arab Mormons out there, but they do exist.

My wife and I have a deal that I get to cook Sunday dinner each week. I cook other meals also as time permits, but this one is reserved for me. I love it. We had yakiniku today (Japanese BBQ). I would like to tackle a menu like you described sometime.

Tonight I had a chicken fried steak dinner at Ma & Pa's Kettle about 6 miles from Far West, Missouri. The food was average, but the sunset was great.

http://mylittleutefan.com/farwestsunset.jpg
View northwest one block from the temple lot, where Joseph Smith's home stood

Try adding mango salsa to your couscous. It's dang good. My wife made chicken with mango salsa couscous and black beans the other day. It was awesome.

I made beef broccoli and sweet and sour shrimp for dinner tonight.

Growing up my wife lived in Jordan for several years. When we were dating I would take her to Middle Eastern restaurants just to impress her. As it turned out, I like the food as much or more than she does.

Grilled flatbread is simple, delicious and incredibly versatile. You can use it as Naan as well. I got this from Bobby Flays cookbook.

Grilled Flatbread
1 1/2 cups warm water (105 to 110 degrees F)
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil, plus more for bowl
Mix water and yeast in a large bowl and let stand 5 minutes to proof. Gradually pour in 2 cups of the flour and stir to incorporate. Mix for about 1 minute to form a sponge. Let stand, covered, for at least 1 hour.

Put sponge in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook, add the salt and oil, then add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form a dough. Remove from bowl and knead. Place in a clean oiled bowl and let rise, slowly, about 2 1/2 hours. Divide dough into 4 balls, let rise again for 1/2 hour, and then roll out as desired. Spray or brush lightly with olive oil.

Place the dough on a preheated grill set to high heat oil side down. Spray the top side. As the dough bubbles, about two minutes, peek underneath to ensure that it doesn't burn. Flip the dough over and grill for another minute or two.

Triple Father:

Here is a good couscous recipe I got on Guy's Big Bite:

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
4 tablespoons kalamata olives, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1 (10-ounce) box couscous
Salt and pepper
1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled

In saucepan over medium heat add olive oil, when hot, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and saute a few minutes more. Add olives and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the box of couscous, turn off heat and let stand covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork, and season with salt and pepper. Add the Feta and mix in.

Hummus is super easy.

1/4 Tahini
1/3 Lemon juice
1/3 - 1/2 cup water
1 clove chopped garlic (I press it and use a two or three cloves b/c I love garlic)
1 can rinsed chickpeas (you could also do 3/4 cup dried chickpeas - soaked or pressure cooked)
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste

Put tahini, lemon juice, water and garlic into a blender or food processor. Run it until smooth. Gradually add the chickpeas until the mixture has the texture you like, usually a thick paste. Salt and pepper to taste.

You can also add other flavors to liven it up. I really like basil from the garden, roasted red peppers or kalamata olives.

Baba Ganouj

1 large firm eggplant (about 1 1/3 pounds), cut in half lengthwise
Olive oil
1 tablespoon tahini
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/8 cup minced shallots (you can substitute any onion or scallion)
1/4 cup fresh lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
Olive oil

Preheat grill. Brush flesh of the eggplant with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Grill flesh-side down for 15 to 20 minutes, turn over and grill an additional 15 minutes, or until soft. Let cool slightly and remove the flesh with a large spoon and puree in the food processor. I like to let a little burned skin into the mixture to get more of the smoky taste.

In a large bowl, mix the tahini, garlic, shallot, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, cayenne, cilantro together until combined. Fold in the eggplant and reseason with salt and pepper and more lemon juice if necessary.

I usually make this and the hummus at least one night in advance to let the flavors blend and to save time.

That's a great deal. Every Saturday night it seems I end up at Kroger picking up a few forgotten ingredients. I'd love to hear about the yakiniku.

"Yeah... I'll have the roast duck with the mango salsa"

"frankly I don't have much of an appetite"

I am going to give this a shot this week.

How did you do your lamb kabob? Did you use ground lamb?

Anybody have a good recipe for the yellow rice they serve with these meals?

We have an excellent cucumber rhaita recipe that I should post here. Here is what I am thinking for my first attempt:

Grilled kabobs
Grilled flatbread
Rice or couscous
Hummus
Cucumber rhaita

What time next week? I'll bring some oreos and milk.

You don't really care about his cooking.

You just want to use your "future poo" line.

Dang it!

Two questions, do you marinate the lamb in anything, and how do you grill carrots?

I made some peach jello yesterday. I've been experimenting with different ways to make it. How much water versus how much ice. I think the quickset method makes it lumpier. If you don't do the quickset, you will get a better product.

I have used both of these recipes for Lamb kabobs.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/reci...html?rsrc=like


http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/reci..._31292,00.html

When using the first , I like to sprinkle on a little za'atar right after grilling.

I like to grill vegetables by cutting them lengthwise and marinating in olive oil and garlic salt for a few hours. Carrots are surprisingly awesome on the grill. After squash, it's my favorite grilling veggie.

I will have to try the carrots. The grilling doest dry them out, I guess?

My favorite grilling veggies: bell peppers of all colors, jalapenos, onions, tomatoes, yum! I also marinate in olive oil and garlic salt. Makes all the difference.

One thing I cannot get into on the grill.....corn on the cob. I prefer it boiled and steamy. All the grilled versions I have had come out too dry for my tastes. If anyone has a sure-shot approach to grilling corn without nuking it, I would love to hear it.

Also, grilled pineapple with cinnamon and brown sugar....delicious.

I have long been wanting to try this grilled flatbread recipe, and yesterday was the day, my friends. Very good. Thanks, yohio.

I continue to make this grilled flatbread, all these years later. In fact, I logged on here today to pull off the recipe because someone asked me for it. It is delicious.

I had Shrimps and pasta yesterday https://club.cooking/recipe/shrimp-fra-diavolo/

Easy and tasty!

https://club.cooking/wp-content/uplo...03-kvadrat.jpg