Lebanese Food Recipes

Milk Ice Cream
BOUZA BI HALEEB

This is an Authentic Lebanese Recipe
1 qt. milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. sahlab (cornflower)
1/4 tsp. mustikah (gum arabic)
1 tsp. ma'es zahr (orange blossom essence)

Middle Eastern hostesses sprinkle chopped pistachio nuts over this ice cream when serving it to guests.

Dissolve sahlab in one cup of milk. Bring the rest of the milk to a boil with the sugar. Add the cold milk and starch mixture slowly to the hot milk, stirring constantly. Pulverize the mustikah and mix with several teaspoons of sugar. Add to the cooking milk mixture. Boil gently over low fire for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from fire. Stir occasionally while cooking. Flavor with ma'ez zahr. Freeze either in crank type freezer or in refrigerator trays. When mixture is frozen in refrigerator trays it should be removed and beaten three times during freezing to break up ice crystals. Just before serving, take the trays of ice cream from the freezer unit and allow to rest several minutes in the chilling part of the refrigerator.

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Nut Pastry
BAQLAWA (Lebanese)

Lebanese Recipe

In the Lebanon the famous pastry called Baqlawa is made of many layers of paper-thin dough with a filling of crushed nuts and sugar between layers. The best samneh (ghee) is used for this dough. Sugar syrup is poured over the pastry when it comes hot from the oven to give it a translucency and a rich honey flavor. The pastry is difficult to make at home for it must be rolled very thin. Sheets of it can be bought at pastry shops selling oriental sweets. Squares of baqlawa are sold at the shops where made, from large trays. They may be eaten there, or taken home. Shops specializing in Arabic sweets box them for shipment around the world. Among the different kinds of baqlawa are Kul wa Ishkur (eat and praise), Zind es Sit (the lady's wrist) or Znood es Sit (the lady's wrists)

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Many Layered Pastries
BAQLAWA (Turkish)

Turkish Recipe

2 cups pastry flour, unsifted
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. salad oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup tepid water
1 cup ground walnuts
1 cup melted butter
Pinch of baking powder

Mix flour, eggs and salad oil. Work in the water a little at a time. Knead 15 minutes until very smooth. Divide dough into ten portions and form each into a ball. Roll out on pastry board, liberally dusted with cornstarch, into thin sheets about 10 inches in diameter. Stack the sheets in a round baking pan, brushing each sheet with melted butter and sprinkling walnuts between every third sheet. Score the top in a diamond pattern with a very sharp knife. Bake in a hot oven until well puffed, flaky and lightly browned. While hot cover with simple hot syrup made with three parts sugar to one part water. Chill. Cut in diamond shapes along scored lines.

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Easter Cakes
MA'AMOUL

This is an Authentic Lebanese Recipe
2 cups smeed (semolina)
1 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups samneh (or other shortening)
1 tsp. ma'ez zahr (orange blossom essence)
1 tsp. rose water
3/4 cup fine sugar
1 1/4 cup crushed walnuts

These traditional rich Easter cookies are molded in the bowls of decoratively carved wooden spoons before baking. The molded cookie dough is arranged on large baking sheets and carried to the commercial bakery. Good ma'amoul can be bought at the larger pastry shops at Eastertime.

Make dough of smeed, samneh and boiling water. Knead well together. Cover tightly and leave overnight. On the second day knead again thoroughly and form into small balls. Hollow out their centers. Fill the hollow with mixture of sugar, nuts and flavorings. Press the dough back over the filling. Press each cookie onto a buttered baking pan and flatten and decorate with the times of a fork. Or, shape the dough in the carved molds made in Lebanon especially for this purpose. Bake in moderate oven until lightly browned. Dust liberally with powdered sugar while hot.

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Sugar Syrup
QATER or 'ATR

This is an Authentic Lebanese Recipe
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp. ma'ez zahr (orange blossom essence)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. ma'el ward (rose water)

Many Arabic pastries owe their succulence to this sweet, rose water flavored syrup. It is usually poured while very hot over such pastries as baqlawa, 'awwamaat (doughnuts), kataif (stuffed small pancakes), macaroons and kanafeh (cheese pastry baked in a flat pan and cut in squares).
Dissolve sugar in water and boil rapidly. Remove foam which rises to top. Add orange blossom water and lemon juice and continue boiling until syrup resembles thin honey. Add rose water last to preserve its essence.

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Lebanese Doughnuts
'AWWAMAAT

This is an Authentic Lebanese Recipe
8 cups pastry flour
1 qt. laban
1/2 tsp. soda
1 1/2 cups olive oil
Qater or Sugar Syrup (see recipe above)

These syrupy doughnuts are a famous treat in the Middle East. In Lebanon they are part of the traditional celebration of Ghtas, Christ's baptismal night. The belief of the people is that upon this night the trees kneel down to pray for the Christ Child. To celebrate the feast children dress in costume and dance in the streets begging coins and sweets.

Sift flour and mix with laban and soda. Knead well together. Heat olive oil until almost smoking. Drop dough by the teaspoon-ful into hot oil. Fry only a few at a time. They quickly rise to the surface, brown, and are ready to be skimmed out of the fat. Drain on absorbent paper. When all the 'awwamaat are fried, dip a few at a time in thin sugar syrup (qater, see recipe above). Serve the doughnuts hot or cold.

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Dates in Syrup
MURABBA EL BALAH

This is an Authentic Lebanese Recipe
2 Ibs. fresh dates
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups water
Several whole cloves
Few drops lemon juice
Blanched almonds

Peel the fresh dates carefully and then boil in water until tender. Drain and let dry until they no longer feel moist to the touch. Push out the pits with a knitting needle. Save the water in which the dates have been boiled. Put layers of fine sugar and dates in saucepan, starting with a layer of sugar. Let stand overnight. In the morning, remove the dates from the pan, shaking off the sugar. Add the water in which the dates were cooked to the sugar and boil until the syrup is thick. While syrup is boiling, stuff each date with a blanched almond. Add the stuffed dates to the thick syrup and boil gently for 10 minutes. Store in covered glass jars.

These dates may be served as confection after a meal, or offered at teatime. In Lebanon they could be offered to visitors at any time.

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Fig Jam
TEEN BI SUCCAR

This is an Authentic Lebanese Recipe
2 Ibs. dried figs
3 cups sugar
3 cups water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. powdered anise seed
1 1/2 Tbsp. roasted sesame seeds
1/4 tsp. powdered mustikah (gum arable)
1/4 cup pine kernels
1/2 to 1 cup walnuts

This delicious and nourishing jam will keep for several months, unsealed, in a cool place. The figs are preserved in the fall when the fruit is in its prime and the jam is relished by Lebanese villagers as a spread for bread, as a pudding or just as a sweet.

Cut the dried figs in small pieces. Dissolve sugar in water and bring to a full boil. Skim off the foam. Add lemon juice. Place figs in the syrup and boil together on a medium flame. Gradually increase the flame, stirring mixture constantly to avoid burning. Add walnuts, pine nuts, sesame seeds and anise seeds and cook on low fire for five minutes stirring constantly. Remove from fire. Stir in mustikah. Pour into jars. Decorate tops with walnut halves which have been lightly toasted.

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Dried Figs
TEEN MUTABBA'

This is an Authentic Lebanese Recipe

Figs are preserved in this manner in Lebanon to be served in the winter as part of nokl, the light refreshments at an informal family party. Figs are preserved in all of the principal fig growing areas of the Middle East for they are highly nutri¬tious. Anise seed is the preservative used to ward off worms and other insects. The figs are usually packed in tins with tight fitting lids or in heavy cloth bags. Children often take handfuls of dried figs to school.

Figs are gathered from the trees as they ripen in the fall. Each one is pressed lightly in the middle with the fingers and placed on a large straw tray to dry. When well dried each fig is individually dipped into boiling water to which a spoonful of anise seed has been added. Again the figs are spread out to dry and when they are thoroughly dry they are packed away for winter eating.

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Bitter Orange Peel in Syrup
MURABBA QISHR EL ABOU SFAYR

This is an Authentic Lebanese Recipe

This recipe calls for bitter oranges. They have a tang which is not duplicated in ordinary oranges, although they can be successfully candied according to the following rule. Chop the preserved peel and use it in fruit cakes or puddings, or serve it as you would candy.
Rub the skin of bitter oranges lightly with a fine grater to remove some of the oil and its bitterness. Section the skin carefully into six parts and remove it from the orange with a sharp knife. Thread the peel sections with a needle onto a heavy thread so that they may be handled easily during the candying process. Boil the peel gently in water until soft. Drain. Soak in cold water for five days, changing the water morning and evening.
Boil the orange peel in a thick syrup made of equal parts of sugar and water for half an hour. Add several drops of lemon juice. Some of the peel may be removed from the syrup at this point and rolled in granulated sugar to be served as candy. The rest may be preserved in its syrup in sealed glass jars.

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Pounded Rice Pudding
MUHALLABIEH

This is an Authentic Lebanese Recipe
1 qt. milk
1/4 cup pounded rice
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. ma'ez zahr (orange blossom essence)
1/4 cup chopped blanched almonds and skinned pistachio nuts

This Lebanese pudding is a favorite both summer and winter, especially liked by childrenandalways served toinvalids. In the Middle East the rice may be purchased already pulverized. It could also be pulverized at home with a mortar and pestle or in an electric blender.

Mix rice with water and add to milk which has been brought to a boil. Stir and cook until thickened and then add sugar. Continue cooking and stirring until mixture coats the spoon. Add flavorings and boil a few minutes longer. Pour into indi¬vidual serving dishes and decorate with chopped nuts.

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Festive Rice Pudding
MOGHLIE

This is an Authentic Lebanese Recipe
1 1/4 cups pounded rice
8 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. caraway seed
1 Tbsp. anise seed
1/4 tsp. powdered ginger

When a boy is born in Lebanon this ceremonial pudding is served to all the family's friends and relatives. This is also served for girls—sometimes! The recipe calls for pounded rice which can be purchased in grocery specialty shops but most Lebanese prefer to prepare their own.

Pound rice in a mortar until fine and powdery. Pound spices separately. Mix rice with two cups water. Add sugar, caraway and anise. Add it to the remaining six cups of water, which should be boiling. Add ginger. Boil, stirring occasionally, until mixture coats the spoon. About an hour of cooking, at least, is required. Pour into individual serving dishes. Decorate with blanched almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, pistachios and coconut. Makes about 15 portions.

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Rice Pudding in Pressure Cooker
MOGHLIE II

1 Tbsp. pounded rice
1 1/2Tbsp. sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp. caraway seed
1 tsp. anise
I tsp. powdered ginger

Moghlie should only be prepared in small quantities when using the pressure cooker. It swells considerably during cooking, making large quantity cooking under pressure dangerous. This is an excellent quick method of preparing a small amount of this favorite Lebanese pudding.

Pound rice in a mortar until fine and powdery. Mix rice with water in pressure pan. Bring to boil, stirring constantly and cook under pressure for five minutes. Reduce pressure, open cooker and add sugar, caraway, anise, cinnamon and ginger. Stir and cook uncovered until the consistency of thick cream. Pour into individual serving dishes. Decorate with blanched almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, pistachios and coconut.

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Rice Pudding
RIZ BI HALEEB

This is an Authentic Lebanese Recipe
Here is another rice pudding loved by Lebanese children.
1 qt. milk
3/4 cup rice
1 1/4cups sugar
1/2 tsp. ma'el ward (rose water)
1/2 tsp. ma'ez zahr (orange blossom essence)
1/4 tsp. powdered mustikah (gum Arabic)
1 cup cold water

Wash rice well in several waters to remove loose starch. Add cold water and rice to milk which has been brought to the boil. Boil for half an hour over a medium flame. Stir well and gradually turn up the cooking flame. When pudding has thickened add the sugar, rose water and orange blossom essence. Continue boiling until bubbles break through the pudding. Pour into individual serving dishes. Decorate in the traditional manner with a design of blanched almonds, pistachio nuts or pine nuts.