Featured on Feed Feed!

Okay so I'm such a dork but I just got SO excited about being featured in the Feed Feed's Middle Eastern feed!  Look no further, here is the link ... http://feedfeed.info/middleeastern .

I've been in such a funk lately and I just couldn't shake it off.  Every dish I made wasn't turning out the way I envisioned and every picture I took wasn't coming out right.   The problem was I couldn't translate what was in my head in the kitchen and I didn't know how to fix it.  Agh it was so frustrating.  It's one thing when steps are mapped out and its clear what needs to be done to improve.  But I felt so lost because I didn't even know what I had to do to make the dish or photos better.  Maybe I'll actually upload the pictures I hated just to show you guys.  But anyway, my creative juices started to dry out and I literally couldn't think of anything food related, my mind was just blank.   Poor Ayla was starving, the hubby was getting hangry.  The whole thing wasn't pretty.  

I did manage to make the Muhammara chicken rolls yesterday which I thought came out great! So that kinda started taking me out of my funk.  (I'll post the recipe to that in a few btw).  But I just wanted to share that I'm featured on the Feed Feed's Middle Eastern feed!   So now that you have an in depth analysis of my funk, you can sleep in peace, haha. 

Feed Feed feature

Middle Eastern Rice and Peas with Cucumber Yogurt {Riz ou bazalaya}

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I'm eating this dish as I type this post, and I forgot how much I love it!  Miss no appetite ever Ayla is asking for more and I'm sitting here wondering why I don't make this more often!

It's SO easy.  

Is everyone sick of me saying everything is SO easy haha.

But seriously,

It is.  

Like if you can boil water you can make this dish.  But the best part about this meal is the cucumber mint yogurt served on the side.  

SO FRIGGIN GOOD and SO FRIGGIN EASY.

On a separate note, I took a personality test today.  I know it sounds like I'm a weirdo lol but it was one of those emails that every one of my friends took and we talked about the results and the analyzation and mine was so accurate, actually all of them were creepily accurate!  My analysis said I like to inspire people and I couldn't agree more.  

I really hope my recipes and dishes inspire someone, anyone, to explore Syrian and Middle Eastern cuisine.  I was always so intimidated because I saw my grandmother spend allllll day cooking and I assumed it was such a time consuming style of cooking but its actually not that bad!  My grandmother and mother were just cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for an entire tribe basically!  Anyway if anyone wants to take the test its at www.16personalities.com and mine is ENFP.  If you take it please comment and let me know what you got, it's so much fun!  I feel like I know myself a lot better now, and who doesn't want that.

INGREDIENTS FOR YOGURT SAUCE

  • 2 cups yogurt
  • 1/2 cucumber shredded (1/4 cup)
  • 1 T dried mint
  • A lot of salt ( cucumbers are very watery and they'll water the sauce down so compensate by adding more salt than usual)

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Mix all the ingredients together! As simple as that

INGREDIENTS FOR RICE & PEAS {Riz ou Bazalaya}

  • 1 cup jasmine rice
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 lb chicken (I used boneless chicken thigh for this one)
  • 1 cup sweet green peas
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts (or substitute slivered almonds)
  • 1 t olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Boil chicken in water covered for 35 minutes (I also add bay leaves, onions, cardamon, cloves, black whole pepper, salt and cinnamon stick.  Feel free to add all or some for more flavorful chicken stock)
  • In the meantime sauté the green peas and pine nuts in oil until pine nuts are golden brown and set aside
  • Take 2 cups of the chicken stock and let it come to a boil
  • As soon as it boils add the rice, reduce heat to low, cover and set timer for 15 minutes
  • Let it sit covered for another 5 minutes before removing the cover
  • I like to brown the chicken by broiling it in the oven for several minutes
  • To serve; put rice first, chicken, and top with peas and pine nuts
  • Serve immediately with cucumber yogurt
  • Enjoy!

Apricot Glazed Roasted Carrots

How pretty are these carrots! I was so overwhelmed with excitement when I saw them I couldn't decide what dish to make.  They're screaming fall, autumn, October yet I'm in California where we're experiencing a heat wave, over 100 degrees yesterday. aghhh. Won't complain though.  I'll just stare at these carrots and put on the AC until I'm so cold that I need to put on the fireplace and pretend its fall.  Gotta do what you gotta do.  

I remember summers in Damascus when my grandmother would lay out trays upon trays of fresh apricots outside in the sun in preparation for this apricot jam (called ma'oud mish mish {ma'oud is jam and mish mish is apricot} in Arabic).  At the time, I thought it was so strange that preparing food had to take place outside of the kitchen, let alone the balcony and chalked it up to old school ways that I was too cool for.  Fast forward, I'm laying out trays of apricot on my balcony during apricot season and trying to replicate this fresh apricot jam haha.  Oh, how funny time is.  My favorite is to pair this ma'oud with some Syrian cheese or feta and warm pita bread along with some hot tea.  My mouth is salivating just thinking about it.  

This is the perfect side dish to make really anytime; Thanksgiving, casual dinner, formal dinner, holiday dinner, Friendsgiving, you get the point haha. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Carrots
  • Apricot jam (I'm going to post a step by step on how to make my grandmothers jam but you can use the store bought kind in the meantime, might be a while :))
  • Rosemary twig
  • medjool dates
  • Salt & Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

I didn't include any measurements because it really doesn't need it.  It just depends on what quantity you want to make. 

  • Preheat oven to 350
  • Rub apricot jam on the carrots until they are well coated
  • Place rosemary twig, dates, salt & pepper on them
  • Put in the oven for 20 minutes or until roasted
  • Enjoy & let me know how it turns out in the comments!

Zaatar Crusted Shrimp with Lemon Tahini Drizzle

in

You have no idea the high that I get after my husband gives me the thumbs up after trying something that I "created" in the kitchen!  This was one of those highs.   

So what ha happened was, I met up with a friend, a fellow mom foodie that thinks about food just as much if not more than I do to talk about work, seriously.  We spent about 2 hours talking about the kids and food, just kidding it was pretty much all food and sweet pillar, work, you know.  Zaatar came up in the conversation.  That was that.  

I came home, saw the shrimp I got for a lemon shrimp pasta dish I was planning on making.  Lightbulb.  Zaatar from my subconscious jumped out, the shrimp was right in front of my face, boom bam, next thing I know I'm creating Zaatar crusted shrimp with lemon tahini drizzle.

I thought it tasted great and I love that it was so different.  My mom and grandmother, both the best chefs I've ever known literally make so much food on a daily basis for the family, the kids, and non stop guests it's as if they were running catering businesses.  My mom makes and experiments with food all the time and cooks every cuisine under the sun, but when it comes to Arabic food she is NOT comfortable experimenting.  If I ever consulted with her about making zaatar crusted shrimp she would have freaked out, gave me a look of confusion, and would've just said in arabic "we just don't do that.  we don't eat zaatar and shrimp.  It's just not done."  There is one way to eat zaatar and its taking pita bread, dipping it in a bowl of olive oil then a bowl of zaatar and then sipping tea.  I'll update this post and tell you her reaction once I show her the pictures and tell her what I did.  Insert emoticon of monkey covering his face here.  haha. 

 

So this is actually pretty easy to make.  The lemon tahini sauce is used for multiple dishes so it's definitely a recipe to hold on to and know how to access later.  Ayla eats this sauce with just pita bread, she loves it so much.  I made the shrimp the same way I would if I was making buffalo shrimp or coconut crusted shrimp and then I just drizzled the zaatar marinade at the end.  The challenge is making the zaatar wet enough to stick on to the shrimp.

INGREDIENTS for TAHINI LEMON SAUCE

  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 cup water
  • salt

INSTRUCTIONS for TAHINI LEMON SAUCE

  • whisk all ingredients together
  • As simple as that

TIP:

  • If it is too pasty, add more water until desired consistency is achieved
  • If you don't taste the lemon burst of flavor, add more
  • I tend to use a lot of garlic, so feel free to add more or less depending on how you like it

INGREDIENTS for ZAATAR CRUSTED SHRIMP

  • Egg
  • Flour
  • 8 Raw Shrimp, deveined
  • 1/4 cup Zaatar
  • 2 Tbl Olive oil
  • Frying oil (I used vegetable)

INSTRUCTIONS for ZAATAR CRUSTED SHRIMP

  • Create an assembly line by whisking egg and a little bit of water in one bowl, flour in the second bowl and shrimp in a third.
  • Start by dipping the shrimp in the egg mixture then the flour
  • Refrigerate while creating the zaatar mix and heating the frying oil
  • Once the oil has heated, fry the shrimp for 2-3 minutes
  • Remove and place on a paper towel to remove excess oil
  • Mix zaatar and olive oil 
  • Drizzle on shrimp
  • Done and Done!

 

Muhammara & Cauliflower Soup

in

I obviously love Muhammara and judging from the past few post and Instagram photos, I obviously love cauliflower.  Not sure what my thought process was that led me to come up with this genius idea :)  I do know that the idea simmered in my mind for a few days before I actually executed.  The stars aligned a few days ago and the universe was basically forcing me to make this soup.  I had preordered a book called Soup for Syria,  a humanitarian cookbook project whose profits will be donated to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR to provide urgently needed food relief for Syrian refugees, which arrived that day.  I also caught the first glimpse of fall which for Southern California included 10 minutes of drizzle and some clouds, but it was enough for me to jump on the opportunity to make this soup.

Muhammara is a red pepper spread which originates in Aleppo, Syria.  It's made from roasted red peppers, walnuts, and sautéed cumin.  Traditionally it is only used as a dip but I literally with no exaggeration use it almost every day for everything.  Most often, I use it as a paste to thicken and add flavor to any sauce slash soup I'm making.  

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 tablespoons of Muhammara 
  • 2 cups baked cauliflower
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 1 small onion sliced
  • Salt & Pepper
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Preheat oven to 350
  • Drizzle olive oil, salt & pepper on cauliflower and bake for 10 minutes or so
  • On stovetop medium heat sauté sliced onion in olive oil to caramelize
  • Add chicken stock and muhammara to chicken stock
  • Add baked cauliflower to chicken stock for a few minutes so flavors can simmer together 
  • Add everything to blender and blend until desired consistency
  • Optional: Serve with pita chips and spoon of muhammara

INSTRUTIONS TO MAKE PITA CHIPS

  • Preheat oven to 350
  • Cut pita bread into desired shape
  • Drizzle with olive oil and whatever seasoning (I did just salt and pepper)
  • Put in oven for 5 minutes
  • Monitor carefully remove when golden brown

INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE MUHAMMARA in case our store is out of stock =(

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons tahini
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 3 red bell peppers
  • 1/2 small yellow onion
  • 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
  • 1 tablespoon Chili paste or Chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Roast the red peppers on the stove top until skin starts to peel off
  • Roast the walnuts in the oven at 350 until they are golden brown
  • Pulse walnuts in food processor until they are desired size (some like it bigger for more crunch, some like it finer) set aside
  • Add all ingredients to the food processor and pulse
  • Add walnuts at the end
  • Keep in the fridge for up to a week

 

Super easy baked Cauliflower with garlic lemon sauce

This side dish is everything.  It's so easy to make, it's an amazing vegetable, and its full of flavor.  The only downside is you will be tasting the garlic aftermath for quite some time but its so worth it!  In arabic this dish is called "Arnabeet", I'll try to find out what that means and I'll let you know what I find.  My grandmother used to make tons of these, literally tons and everyone would just devour them as if they were a bag of chips. The warm soft pita bread soaks up the garlic lemon sauce and the whole thing just explodes in your mouth.  Be right back, I convinced myself to go have some more by writing this. hah.  Insert emoticon here. 

INGREDIENTS

  • Olive oil for drizzle
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • salt
  • 1 head cauliflower
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • 3 garlics crushed

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Preheat oven to 350
  • Separate cauliflower head and lay on parchment paper
  • drizzle with olive oil
  • sprinkle salt and ground cumin
  • put in the oven for 35 minutes or until crispy
    • TO MAKE GARLIC LEMON SAUCE
  • crush garlic
  • add to lemon juice
  • add salt and cumin
  • serve with warm pita bread and enjoy!

Lemonade & Mint Drink "Limonana"

in

This drink is screaming summertime and granted its almost October, but in Southern California its still in the 80s so I think its appropriate to make and drink this!  But truth be told, I actually make this drink in the wintertime too, those days when I'm craving summer.  The original Lemon & Mint (laymoon ou na' na') drink is basically just lemons and a ton of mint but we decided to go a step further and add watermelon which also tasted amazing.

Happy summer in October =) 

INGREDIENTS Lemon Mint

  • 2 cups Lemon Juice
  • 6 cups of water
  • 1 1/2 cup fresh mint
  • 1 cup sugar (or honey)
  • Ice as desired

INGREDIENTS Watermelon Lemon Mint

  • 3 Cups Watermelon
  • 2 Cups Lemon Juice
  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 1 1/2 Fresh Mint
  • Ice as desired

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Peel the lemons and stick them in a blender
  • Use a strainer to get rid of the pulp and seeds
  • Put lemon juice back in the blender
  • Add mint, water, ice, and sugar or honey ( & watermelon if making watermelon drink)
  • Adjust to make it sweeter or tangier

Tips:

  • Add more lemon juice if its too diluted
  • Add more mint if the mint flavor isn't strong enough
  • Add more sugar/honey if it's too sour

 

Dawood Basha (Syrian Meatballs in tomato pomegranate sauce

in

I feel so proud of myself that I actually motivated myself to take step by step photos and upload and write this post!  It takes twice as long to make a dish when photographing step by step because I had to continuously stop, wash my hands, take the photograph etc.  Def challanging when the dish is actually on the stove.  But anyway, this dish is called Dawood Basha which translates literally to Pasha David.  I'm not sure how accurate this story is as its been told to generations and generations.  There was a nobleman aka a Pasha in the Ottoman empire that invented this dish in his kitchen and would eat it all the time because he loved it so much.  It is confirmed that there was a Dawood Pasha governor of Lebanon in the late Nineteenth century but that's all I could find. 

This dish is such a comfort food for me.  It can be eaten with rice or bulgar but I prefer rice.  People of Damascus like to add chickpeas but that is an optional ingredient.   If I have it on hand i'll add it, if not my life goes on.  

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb ground beef (or lamb)
  • 1 medium sized onion
    • 1/4 cup minced
    • remaining sliced
  • 1/4 cup bulgar
  • 1/2 can of 8oz tomato sauce
  • 1 1/2 cup water (or chicken stock)
  • 1 Tbl pomegranate molassas
  • salt & pepper

Instructions:

  1. Soak the 1/4 cup of bulgar in water
  2. add the bulgar, minced onions, salt & pepper to the ground beef and form into 1 inch balls
  3. sauté the meatballs in deep pan, do not cook all the way through or else they will be dry
  4. set meatballs aside
  5. in same pan sauté the onions
  6. add the tomato sauce, water (or chicken stock), pomegranate molasses, salt and pepper
  7. Let the flavors cook together for a few minutes
  8. Add the meatballs and cook for roughly 10-15 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through
  9. If adding chickpeas add 5 minutes before the end
  10. Serve over rice or bulgar

Tips:

  • Add more tomato sauce if it's too diluted
  • Add 1 teaspoon of flour if the sauce is not thick enough
  • Add more water (chicken stock) if the sauce is too thick

My sort of first post

I say this is my first "sortof" post because I tried to write a blog a while back but it didn't work out for multiple reasons (I'll talk more about that later I'm sure) but this is the first blog post on this site.  

Long story short, I started Sweet Pillar™ in hopes of keeping traditions alive for my family.  Along the way I learned a lot about life, business, myself and so much more.  I've also met so many great people, customers, mentors and made some great friends, some of whom I call family.  I want this blog to be a creative outlet for everything modern middle eastern, a space to connect with all of you, and a way to learn from each other.  Not gonna lie, I feel slightly nervous to hit publish and just allow my words to float in internet space but heres to Sweet Pillar™.  

Ps. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit down, and press the play button on the right.  I'm so excited that I figured out how to install the song on here.