Egypt

Egyptian food is a combination of Eastern Mediterranean and North African cuisines. There's a bit of spice, a bit of sweet and a little bit of savory notes in most dishes. Staple ingredients that you will need for any good Egyptian meal include lemons, olive oil and dried fruit.

As you look through our recipes, please note that we tried to grill as much as possible because this particular day it was about 90 degrees. This, of course, is not necessary, but it does make things go a little faster and your home that much cooler. Also note, that grape leaves are amazing and if you take nothing else away from Egypt, please, roll a grape leaf.

Stuffed Grape Leaves with Rice and Nut Filling

Tom and I recently found out how easy it is to stuff grape leaves and how often they are a complete rip off in restaurants. Usually if you order these little bundles of awesome, you will pay about a dollar or so for just one grape leaf. If you buy a entire jar of about 50 grape leaves, it costs no more than $4. It also behooves you to make them yourself just to have a say of what goes in them. I've definitely ordered these before to find nothing more than rice inside.

So go ahead and wow your guests, it will cost you very little and impress many. If you need any further instructions, just let us know. We would be more than happy to help.

For the filling:

2/3 cup short grain or medium rice
1 large red onion minced

1/3 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/3 cup chopped mint

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp cayenne or hot paprika

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Simply throw all of this into a bowl, mix together, and taste for salt.

For cooking:

1 jar of preserved grape leaves stems removed

1/4 cup olive oil

1.25 cups water or just enough to cover the leaves

Juice of 1 lemon

1. Pack about 1 tbsp of the filling onto the center of each grape leaf. Fold the bottom of the grape leaf over the center, and then fold the sides over to enclose it and roll the leaf into small cylinder.

2. Place the filled leaves in a heavy 3 quart casserole lined with at least ten grape leaves (this is to prevent the stuffed leaves sticking.

3. Pack the stuffed leaves into the casserole dish as tightly as possible to prevent them from unrolling.

4. Pour water, olive oil, and lemon juice over the leaves. Place a small plate over them to pack them down. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer over low heat for about 1 hour or until the leaves and filling are fully cooked and tender. Serve these either chilled or at room temperature.

Baba Ghanouj

Oh, the eggplant. In my experience, people either love it, absolutely hate it or won't even try it. Luckily, chances are if you make baba ghanouj you will trick people into eating it. I mean, it's dip and who can resist dip and crackers put out on a table?

1 large eggplant about 1.5 pounds.

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup tahini

2 cloves garlic2 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses (optional)

1 tbsp chopped parsley

Salt to taste

1. Pierce the eggplant on all sides with a fork and broil in the oven or on the grill for about 25 minutes turning it over halfway. (If you don't prick the eggplant, I can say from experience that it may explode in your face when you open the oven.)

2. When fully cooked and soft all the way through, you may remove it from the oven and set aside until it is cool enough to handle.

3. Cut the eggplant in half and scoop the flesh out with your hands or with a fork. Place the flesh on a sieve and press out some of the bitter juices. Discard the skin.

4. Combine the eggplant flesh with the remaining ingredients and grind to a creamy and smooth consistency. 5. Serve chilled or at room temp alongside the hummus.

Garlic Hummus

Hummus is one of Tom's staple "we need to take something to a party" foods. He's gotten damn good at making it through the years and we just had to include it for Egypt. Of course, if you own a pressure cooker, it takes no time at all. If you don't, you can still make it with a little time and forethought. Always a crowd pleaser, I give you, hummus.

4-5 cloves garlic peeled

2/3 cup tahini

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 lbs cooked chickpeas

Salt to taste
Hot paprika or cayenne

Combine everything except for the olive oil in a food processor and begin to grind. With the blade running, pour in the olive oil slowly. Add a bit of water if the hummus is too thick. Grind to a very smooth paste. I like to give it about five minutes just to be sure that no chickpea escapes the blades. Taste for salt, allow to sit for at least two hours for the flavors to develop, and serve garnished with olive oil and paprika.

*Traditional hummus is made by first removing the shells from soaked chickpeas to give the dip a much more uniform and smooth texture. This is unnecessary, takes forever, and is best done with a lot of people working together. I've recently found a quicker and less tedious method of getting a perfectly smooth hummus. I soak dried chickpeas overnight in plenty of water with a few teaspoons of baking soda. Then I pressure cook them for 30-40 minutes. This causes the skins to soften considerably, and allows me to grind everything to a beautiful paste.

Tabouleh

It seemed appropriate to make tabouleh as it is already warm outside and we needed a refreshing side dish. The key to fantastic tabouleh is taking advantage of all the fresh herbs that the summer provides. It's easy to throw together on a hot day when the oven just seems like the worst idea in the world and it's also excellent at filling your belly.

1 cup bulgur soaked for 1 hour and drained thoroughly

3 cups chopped parsley

1/2 cupped chopped mint

1 large red onion minced
3 large tomatoes chopped

2 cucumbers peeled and chopped

1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything in a large bowl. Stir and serve!

Pita

We have tried many a pita recipe over the last year. It seems that we are still having an issue getting pita bread with a good pocket. This recipe worked out okay though, because it was another thing we could throw on the grill and not heat up our tiny apartment with the oven cranked all the way up.

They turned out okay though and we just cut them open instead of them pocketing on their own. They didn't fall apart either, so I dub this pita recipe the best one we've had, so far. Someday, someday.

1.5 cups warm water

1.25 tsp dried yeast

1.5 tsp sugar

4.5 cups flour
1.5 tsp salt

1.5 tsp olive oil

1. Pour 1/2 cup water into a small bowl and mix in the yeast and sugar. Allow to stand for ten minutes to activate the yeast culture.

2. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the water, yeast mixture, and oil. Stir until a dough is formed and then knead either by hand or machine until the dough is smooth and elastic.

3. Form the dough into a ten inch log, and cut it into 10 inch thick slices. Knead each slice of dough into a smooth ball.

4. Set these aside covered with a kitchen towel in a warm place for 1.5 hours or until the balls have doubled in size.

5. Roll each ball on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness and six inches in diameter. Arrange these on a large flat surface and cover with kitchen towels. Let these rise for another hour.

6. Fire up a gas grill to the highest setting or use your oven's broiler. Gently place the pitas on the grill or in the oven two at a time for 30 seconds to 1 minute each or until fully cooked.

7. Allow the pitas to cool on a wrack and serve with everything.

Falafel

Falafel is one of the better things to cook if you are looking for a cheap, delicious filling meal for a lot of people. They are quick to fry up on the stove top and they are so flavorful. They are also great to eat cold the next day. This is another item that if you pay more than $6 for at a restaurant is completely ridiculous.

1 pound dried chickpeas soaked overnight

1 large red onion chopped

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

2 tsp ground cumin

1.5 tbsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cayenne

Salt and pepper

Oil for frying

1. Combine everything but the cooking oil in a processor and grind to a fine coarse meal. Set aside for 40 minutes and heat the oil in wok or large pot.

2. Roll the ground chickpea meal into golf ball sized pieces and deep fry over high heat in batches. Set aside on paper towels and serve immediately.

Grilled Fish with Yogurt Tahini Sauce

Finally, we come to the only item in our Egypt meal that is not vegan (unless you count the yeast in the pita, depending on which vegan you ask). Of course, we grilled this as well and topped it with a yogurt tahini sauce that is also amazing on falafel or any other white fish that is available to you. We felt we had to include fish since Egypt is nestled in-between the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

1 tilapia fillet for every two people

Simply grill the fish in a basket and flake the meat onto a serving platter.

For the sauce:

2 cups yogurt

1/2 cup dill chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/3 cup tahini

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and serve with flatbread and flaked fish.

Conclusions

Okay, okay...you caught us. All the dishes we made for this meal we have made before in our everyday lives, but we defend our decision to not make anything new (to us) simply by declaring our absolute love of Egyptian food. The sweet/savory combination just bursts through and it is all extremely healthy and good for digestion.

The command decision we made to grill most of this food also saved us from our horrible sweatbox of an apartment. I know this summer has been terrible for everyone, but when you add an unairconditioned apartment with an oven in 90+degree heat you just agitate the situation even further and add misery to your guests. Still, we managed to cram 16 guests into our tiny abode and enjoy some lovely Egyptian fare.

Algeria

I've only met three Algerians in my life and they all lived in Hanoi while I was there teaching English. One of them is a good friend of mine. Another is her brother. And the other one beat me up in a dark alley after an evening of frenzied drinking and foolish decisions. Aside from that one incident, I'm sure the overwhelming majority of Algerians are as wonderful as their food.

Algerian cuisine is the perfect combination of two of my favorite cooking styles: North African and French. This is the result of over a century of brutal colonial rule by the French that finally came to an end in the 1960's. Like many countries, Algeria's independence was immediately followed by years of corruption, civil war, and violence that finally simmered away less than a decade ago. Fortunately, an amazing cuisine has survived the rocking of the Casbah that can be enjoyed by any foodie.

Unfortunately, we don't see much Algerian cuisine here in the States, and most of the literature on Algeria's food has been published in French. However, cookbook author Paula Wolfert includes a few recipes in Mediterranean Cooking that we were able to use as a starting point for our cooking. And nearly all the ingredients are readily available at either a supermarket or better yet a Middle Eastern or Indian grocery. After much perusing of recipes we settled on a menu consisting of eggplant and yogurt salad, chicken and chickpea tagine, and potato gruyere croquettes.

Eggplant and Yogurt Salad:

This was a very simple recipe. The only change I would make to my preparation is to use baby eggplant instead of the giant eggplant that we had on hand. We used homemade yogurt and were pleased with the results. Here's a recipe for those who want to start growing their own yogurt cultures, for everybody else store bought plain yogurt works fine.

1.5 lbs eggplant cut into 1 inch cubes

1 cup yogurt

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tbsps chopped mint

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp olive oil for frying

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium and add eggplant and cook on medium low heat for about 15 minutes until tender.

2. Drain eggplant on paper towels, combine with remaining ingredients in a large bowl, cover and chill before serving.

Chicken and Chickpea Tagine:

With the eggplant in the fridge we started working on the chicken tagine. We used an actual clay tagine that was given to me by my good friend Justin. If you don't have a fancy tagine, it's fine to just use a cast iron pot:

1 chicken cut into serving portions

2 tablespoons butter

2 onions grated and drained

1 clove garlic minced

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/3 tsp cayenne

2 cups cooked chickpeas

1 cup water

salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter in the pot and brown the chicken on all sides over medum heat. I had to do this in two stages because the chicken I used was rather large.

2. Add the onions, garlic, spices and cook covered for about five minutes.

3. Add 1 cup of water and increase to a boil, reduce and simmer covered for 1 hour

4. Remove the chicken to a plate and finish boiling the sauce until reduced by one half.

5. Place chicken back into the sauce, remove from heat and serve!

Potato Gruyere Croquettes:

While the bird was braising in the tagine we made these croquettes to accompany the meal.

2 lbs potatoes peeled and quartered

1 clove garlic

1 cup gruyere cheese

2 tbsps chopped parsley

1 grated onion drained

1 large pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

flour for dredging

oil for frying

1. Boil potatoes until tender and then mash them or pass through a ricer if you have one.

2. Allow potatoes to cool slightly and add remaining ingredients except of course the flour and oil.

3. Roll potatoes into 2 inch balls, dust with flour, and shallow fry in a centimeter of oil until they are brown on all sides. You'll have to do this in batches unless you have a giant pan and a lot of oil and mix thoroughly.

4. Drain the croquettes on paper towels and bring them to the table with everything else. The cooking has finished!

The meal in retrospect:

Sadly the meal was rushed due to the our desire to watch the opening game of the NFL season and some horrible mistakes were made along the way. Our good semi-vegetarian friend, Drew came over and I attempted to make him a simple bulgur, lentil, and rice soup in place of the tagine. Sadly the burners on our tiny stove are way too close to one another and the soup burned to carbon next to the mighty heat of the frying croquettes. So Drew ended up eating more croquettes than he'd bargained for. I'm sorry, Drew. That's him in the yellow:

On the plus side we are getting better at photographing the food. The food pictures above look much nicer mainly because we've stopped using the flash in our kitchen. Below is a picture of what the food looks like when photographed with a flash. Compare it with the others to decide which looks better. Still our kitchen looks mighty orange at night. This is because we have yet to install overhead lighting and are currently using a desk lamp to light the whole room. Renovations should be completed in the near future. Andorra's next! Until then, fisehatak!