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