Ethnic: Pita Bread by Recipe Cottage

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	Pita Bread

		1 pkg active dry yeast 1 1/4 cup warm water 3 cups flour 2 tsp salt Dissolve yeast in the warm water. Stir in flour and salt. Knead on a floured board (I usually just dust some flour on my kitchen counter.) until smooth, which is about 5-10 minutes. Divide dough into six pieces and knead each a couple times until smooth and round. Flatten each to 1/4" thick and 4-5" diameter. A rolling pin would be helpful for this, but you could do it with your hands, or maybe use a glass soda bottle. Place the disks on cookie sheets, and cover with a dish towel. Put in a warm place (like a gas oven with just the pilot on) and let rise for 45 minutes. Turn upside down on cookie sheets and bake at 500 for 10-15 minutes, until very lightly browned. (If they get too brown, they are still good, but they crack when you put stuff in them.) This is the recipe my mom uses, and they come out pretty good. Sometimes you get one that doesn't puff, but you can usually cut the middle apart with a knife. From: pld@acsu.buffalo.edu (Pat Dennis) Organization: University at Buffalo Date: Wed, 26 Jan 1994 14:09:40 GMT [I tested this one, and none of mine puffed. However, since you can slit them open yourself you can make sure the sides are of equal thickness. I've tried other recipes where the bread puffs open on its own, but the top side is thinner and they tend to rip at that point when you fill them.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bean and Sesame Seed Spread (Hummus, HOO-muss) ---------------------------------------------- 1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained (reserve liquid) 1/2 cup sesame seed 1 clove garlic, cut into halves 3 Tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp salt snipped parsley pocket bread or vegetable dippers Place reserved bean liquid, the sesame seed and garlic in blender container. Cover and blend on high speed until mixed. Add beans, lemon juice and salt; cover and blend on high speed, stopping blender to scrape sides if necessary, until of uniform consistency. Garnish with parsley. Serve as spread or dip with wedges of pita bread. 2 cups spread ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eggplant Dip (Baba Ghannooj, BAH-bah gah-NOOSH) ----------------------------------------------- 1 lg eggplant 1 clove garlic salt to taste 4T tahini (sesame seed paste) 1/4 c water 1/4-1/2 c lemon juice Bake or grill eggplant until well done (grilling is best). Remove the skin and preserve the liquid. Chop fine. Mash garlic with salt. Add tahini and blend thouroughly. Slowly add water and mix well. Add lemon juice and blend well. Add the eggplant and mash with a potato masher or mdaqqa (a large wooden mallet). Source: Lebanese Cookbook (translated) From: ??@u.cc.utah.edu Date: 17 Jan 1994 15:44:32 -0700 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Syrian Salad ------------ 1 head romaine lettuce 1 cucumber, thinly sliced 5 radishes, thinly sliced 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced 1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced 2 large tomatoes, cut into wedges 2 scallions, chopped 1 small red onion, sliced 3 ounces feta cheese, sliced or crumbled 1/2 cupe stemmed fresh parsley, coarsley chopped several black olives 2 tablespoons capers (optional) Dressing: 1/4 cup olive oil juice of one lemon 1 tblspn wine vinegar 1 garlic clove, pressed salt to taste fresh-ground black pepper to taste pinch of dried mint Rinse the roamaine, tear it into bite-sized pieces, and put in salad bowl. Arrange other vegetables attractively over the romaine,topping with the feta, parsley, olives and capers. Combine the dressing ingredients and drizzle over the salad. Source: Sundays at Moosewood Date: Sun, 20 Feb 94 21:33:36 EST From: laurie <LANDERS@uga.cc.uga.edu> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Simple Iranian Salad -------------------- 1 cucumber, peeled and chopped 1 medium tomato, chopped 1 small onion, chopped 1 tablespoon minced parsley 1 tablespoon olive oil juice of one lime salt and pepper to taste Mix together. Chill before serving. Yogurt with Cucumbers (Mast o khiar) ------------------------------------ 1 cucumber, chopped 1 container of plain yogurt (16 oz.) 1/2 teaspoon of dill weed salt and pepper to taste Blend all ingredients. Chill before serving. Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 21:53:04 -0600 (CST) From: Beverly <CARVER@LIB.IS.TCU.EDU> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Felafel ~~~~~~~ 1 pound can chick peas (drained) or the same amount fresh cooked 1 large onion, chopped 2 tbs parsely, finely chopped 1 egg 1 tsp dried hot red peppers 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp ground coriander or cumin 1-2 - 1 cup breadcrumbs or fine burghul (cracked wheat) 1 tsp sale vegetable oil 1. Mix chick peas and onion 2. Add parsely, lightly beaten egg and spices 3. Whirl in a blender or mix very well 4. Add breadcrumbs until the mixture will form a small ball without sticking to your hands 5. Form the chickpea mixture into small balls about the size of a quarter 6. Flatten the patties slightly before frying them in deep hot fat until golden brown on each side 7. Drain on paper towels The recipe goes on to say that you should serve them individually with toothpicks, but felafel that is sold on every corner in Israel is like this: pita halves fried felafel balls cucumbers tomatoes onion techina french fries (optional) pickle chips other interesting things For the kids, place out separate bowls of everything, so they can pick and choose. Fill a pita half with two or three balls, add some chopped veggies, french fries, anything else you might want to stuff in. Some of the things offered at the felafel stands here are fried eggplant, fried cauliflower, pickled carrots, whatever you want. Top the stuff with a tablespoon of prepared techina, and place a large napkin on your lap because this can become messy eating! Betayavon (Hebrew for Good Appetite) Source: Israeli Cooking on a Budget Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 12:16:59 +0200 (IST) From: "Joel W./Mirjam D." <yoel@brachot.jct.ac.il> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Koufte-ouche ============ This is a Persian/Kurdish dish of meat patties that I got from my grandmother - it's a favorite dish for the whole family. It is served with rice and salad and optionally fried tomato slices. 1 kg mince meat [could use ~ 2 lbs. ground beef--kkc] 2 medium cooked potatoes mashed 0.3 - 0.5 cup diced spring onions 1-2 eggs 2 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon chicken soup/stock powder salt/pepper to taste Oil for frying Mix all ingredient well (mix with hands). Mixture should be smoothe and not too stiff & dry. Since my Grandmother cooks by sight she could not give exact amounts. Make balls and flatten to create a thin patty that is maximum 1 cm in thickness [little less than 1/2"--kkc]. Use water to wet hands so that mixture does not stick. Place in frying pan with oil (do not deep fry). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cream Cheese Oznei Haman with Jam Filling ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 cup sugar 1 cup margarine or butter, softened 1 3 ounce package cream cheese, softened 1 tsp vanilla 1 egg 2 1/2 cups flour 1/4 tsp salt Jam (your choice of flavors) In a large bowl beat sugar, margarine and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg, blend well. Stir in flour and salt and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1- 2 hours for easier handling. Heat oven to 375 F. On lightly floured surface roll half the dough to 1/8 inch thickness, refrigerate remaining dough. Cut into 2 1/2 inch rounds and place one inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Spoon 1 tsp jam into the center of each round and shape into triangles by folding 3 sides in without covering the jam. Pinch corners to seal. Bake at 375 F for 7-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute before removing from sheet. Repeat with second half of dough.