Yogurtlu Kebab (Kofta with tomato sauce and yogurt)

From Roden's "The new book of Middle Eastern food".

Delish. As Mike points out, the combination/contrast of the tomato sauce and yogurt works really well. As the recipe didn't specify specifics, I used my "half-sharp" hot paprika in the olive oil mixture on top. With this, I thought it was on the verge of being a little too intense.

The recipe calls the meat concoction "koftas", but I feel like the size of my "burgers" was much bigger than the typical kofta. Whatever, though, right?

Scaling/portion note: the amount of tomato sauce that came out of following the recipe seemed a little skimpy. Increase by 50% next time.

For the recipe, see the image below.  For the kofta part of it, mix the following:

• 2 lbs ground lamb
• 2 onions, grated
• 3 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Pita (Khubz)

From Roden's "The new book of Middle Eastern food".

My pita adventure left a nice mess in the kitchen. Definitely didn't help that I was trying to quickly finish up before running off to meet some friends.

I baked the bread's in the oven for 3 minutes (on the lower end of the 3 to 5 minute range). By that point, they really hadn't browned at all and tasted slightly undercooked. This afternoon, I toasted one that I had frozen -- it browned, but became quite hard/brittle. Next time I reheat one, I'm going to bake instead of toast and maybe sprinkle a little bit of water on, like some of the experts suggest.

They also turned out much thicker than I had hoped (certainly when compared against the standard store-bought versions). When I rolled them out, they seemed sufficiently thin (at about 1/8 of an inch), but I guess the cooking process really makes it expand.

One other note: the recipe claimed that the dough should be allowed to rise over a 20 minute period after being rolled out. As far as I can tell, though, my dough didn't rise at all after that point. Perhaps because I let it rise too much during the initial stage, there was no oomph left in the yeast?

Lentil salad (Salatet Adds)

From Roden's "The new book of Middle Eastern food".

A simple, comforting and filling dish. A good addition to the culinary repertoire.

Swiss chard leaves stuffed (sarma/dolma) with rice, chickpeas, in tomato

From Paula Wolfert's "the cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean".

These were a major pain in the ass. The recipe called for hulled, split chickpeas and claimed that it wasn't too difficult to do this processing oneself. I disagree. Next time, I think I'll use the "chana dal" from an Indian grocery.

As I spooned out the filling into each leaf, it seemed like a very insubstantial amount. However, it appears that during the cooking process, the filling expanded (probably as the rice cooked).

The final result was fantastic (the lemon juice drizzled over the top, essential) and got even better as it sat for a few days.

Adzharian-style green beans with cinnamon-flavored yogurt sauce

A Georgian dish from Paula Wolfert's "The cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean". I'm not sure if I would recognize this as Mediterranean/Middle Eastern, but hey, it has plenty of yogurt, right?

I made the mistake of bringing the heat too high after adding the yogurt, which caused it to curdle slightly (note the chunky appearance in the photo). Also, I felt the yogurt had a very rich, almost cheesy, complexion, making the dish a little heavy for my palate. Housemate Mike loved it, though.

Gaziantep-style chopped salad (bell pepper and tomato)

From Paula Wolfert "The cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean".

Of course Gaziantep is a city of southeast Turkey. Actually, I had never heard of it, but Wolfert says that this area is one of the major sources of her Turkish recipes. Despite the massive amount of sumac in the salad, it had a relatively mild flavor, and a light feel.

On a side note, it bothers me, for some reason, that so many of these Middle Eastern dishes make extensive use of the tomato. Before the tomato was introduced from the Americas several hundred years ago, what did they eat? Have they given up those dishes in their modern cooking?

Turnip and orange salad

From "The new book of Middle Eastern food".

Strictly speaking, this doesn't fall within the "Northeast Mediterranean" theme. Mike brought some turnips in from the garden though, and we needed a way to use them up. This is a North African dish -- with a intensely unfamiliar flavor. In a way, it reminded us of Korean kimchi or some other Asian pickled item.

Zucchini salad (sautéed) with raisins and pine nuts

From Roden's "The new book of Middle Eastern food".

This dish really grew on me after a couple of days of eating the leftovers. I discovered that the lemon juice garnish it is absolutely essential -- otherwise it feels heavy and oily. Even still, it felt like the zucchini slices were dripping in Olive oil. But heh, that's how they like it in the Middle East/Mediterranean, right?

Kisir (Bulgur and tomato salad)

From Claudia Roden's "The new book of Middle Eastern food".

This dish reminds me of the more well known tabouleh -- the main differences being that this has noticeably less parsley and mint (a more pure starch salad as opposed to a starch-greens blend).

Lacking a couple of ingredients, I left out the minced green chili pepper and most of the scallions. Unfortunately, I think it suffered -- felt a bit flat/heavy. Also, I used #2 bulgur (fine-medium grain), which may have given it a slightly "mushier" consistency than desired. Still, I finished off the whole bowl after a couple of days with no problem.

Georgian chicken Tabaka with Badza (walnut) sauce

From Paula Wolfert's "the cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean".

Who would think that putting a heavy cast-iron skillet (brick stand in) on top of a chicken in a skillet wouldn't squeeze all of the juices out? Indeed, the chicken was nice and tender and plenty juicy.

The walnut sauce was fantastic -- rich, almost like a cream sauce, but lighter. Although the spices in the sauce were fairly exotic, the flavor was understated.

Red lentil soup with caramelized onions from Aleppo (Syria)

From Paula Wolfert's "The cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean".

Simple and straightforward to make; sufficiently complex in flavor. I must admit that I thought the amount of oil called for to sauté the onions seemed excessively high. However, once the onion mixture was added to the soup it really gave it the perfect boost of flavor.

Baba Ghanoush

From Paula Wolfert's "The cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean".

Mike and I agreed that this was fantastic -- light and creamy with intense smoky eggplant flavor.

Sadly, for the 5 days after making this, my stomach was upset and I could hardly bear to look at it.

Black-eyed peas with scallions, walnuts and parsley

From Paula Wolfert's ".... of the Eastern Mediterranean".

This is a dense, meaty salad, with almost a cheesy flavor.  I used the pre-steamed Trader Joe's black-eyed peas, which surely aren't as good as cooking the beans fresh.

Okra braised with tomatoes and onions

This recipe also comes from "The cooking of the eastern Mediterranean".

This was my first experience cooking with okra and I think it turned out well. By simmering the vegetables covered with parchment paper and a tightly closed lid, we help ensure that the vegetables don't get overcooked or dried out.

I must say that the presentation of the final dish was fantastic! With the perfectly arranged hub and spoke pattern of the okra nestled on top of the tomatoes, onion mixture.