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Feasts

Middle Eastern Food to Savor & Share

Published by Weldon Owen
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
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About The Book

In Feasts, the highly-anticipated follow-up to the best-selling Persiana: Recipes from the Middle East and Beyond (2014) and Sirocco: Fabulous Flavors from the East (2016), award-winning chef Sabrina Ghayour presents a delicious array of authentic Middle Eastern dishes.



Feasts is a sumptuous celebration of Persian food featuring more than 90 sophisticated yet approachable recipes for breakfast and brunch, weeknights, weekends, summer meals, vegetarian dishes, festive occasions, and comfort food. The author, who teaches cooking, is an expert on Middle Eastern food, and her voice is authoritative but friendly, making the recipes very accessible even to the most inexperienced cook. Chapter intros brim with passion for her homeland’s culinary delights, and her recipe methods are easy to follow. The author also provides suggestions for complete menus. From finger foods, mezze dishes, entrees, sides, desserts, and drinks, Feasts is a mouthwatering tour of Persian food for today’s home cook.

Chapters and a sampling of recipes:
Breakfast & Brunch: Goat cheese & filo pies, Cheddar & feta frittata with peppers, herbs & pul biber, Apple, cinnamon & raisin loaf with nigella honey butter

Weekend Feasts: Pan-fried lamb steaks preserved lemon, cilantro & garlic, Pear & thyme tart, Mint tea mojito

Quick-Fix Feasts: Spicy halloumi salad with tomatoes & fried bread, Harissa skirt steak sandwiches, Roasted apricots with ricotta, honey & pistachio crunch

Vegetarian Feasts: Carrot, orange, ginger & walnut dip, Roasted Portobello mushrooms with pine nuts & halloumi, Garlic, fenugreek & cumin flatbreads

Summer Feasts: Butterflied leg of lamb with pomegranate salsa, Pomegranate, cucumber & pistachio yogurt, Peach, feta & mint salad

Lighter Feasts: Yogurt & harissa marinated chicken, Smoked salmon with capers, olives & preserved lemons, Eggplant rolls with goat cheese, herbs & walnuts

Special Occasions: Jumbo prawns with tomato, dill & fenugreek, Beer roasted pork shoulder with plum sauce, Saffron roast potatoes, Charred cauliflower steaks with tahini, harissa honey sauce & preserved lemons, Cherry, dark chocolate & mint parfait

Comfort Food: Black garlic, tapenade, & feta rolls, Lamb kofta roll, Harissa-infused leg of lamb with fenugreek & lime, Freekeh, tomato & chickpea pilaf

Excerpt

CARAMELIZED BANANA CRÊPES WITH PISTACHIOS & HONEY
MAKES 12
¾ cup all-purpose flour, sifted pinch of salt
2 eggs
¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
¼ cup water
4 tablespoons salted butter, melted, plus an additional 6 tablespoons
1 heaping tablespoon superfine sugar
 
FOR THE TOPPING
3–4 tablespoons superfine sugar
3 large or 4 small bananas, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into 1-inch thick slices
4 tablespoons salted butter
¾ cup pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
Honey
 
To make the crêpe batter, put the flour, salt, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Combine the milk and water in a small pitcher, then blend the liquid into the flour mixture a little at a time, mixing well with either a fork or an electric mixer to beat out any lumps. Mix in 2 tablespoons of melted butter and the sugar, then transfer the mixture to a measuring pitcher and set aside.
 
Set a heatproof plate over a pan of simmering water—you can keep the cooked crêpes warm by stacking them on this plate.
 
Heat a 7-inch frying pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle in 1 teaspoon of the melted butter and tilt the pan to spread it around the base of the pan. Quickly pour in just enough crêpe batter to barely coat the base (you want a nice, thin crêpe, not a pancake) and tilt the pan to spread the batter evenly. Cook until the edges start to curl up, about 1 minute, then use a knife to tease the edge of the crêpes over to check if the underside is golden and, if so, flip the crêpe (use a spatula if you like) and cook until the underside is golden brown, a further 30 seconds or so. Transfer the crêpe to the warm plate and cover with parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding 1 teaspoon melted butter to the pan each time. Keep the crêpes warm while you cook the topping.
 
Put the superfine sugar in a shallow dish. Dip the 2 cut sides of each banana slice into the sugar to coat.
 
Put 2 tablespoons of the butter into a large frying pan set over high heat. Add half the banana slices and fry until slightly caramelized, or no more than 1 minute on each side. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and banana slices.
 
To serve, place a few banana slices across half of each crêpe. Scatter over the pistachios and drizzle a little honey over each. Fold into quarters and serve immediately.
 

About The Author

Product Details

  • Publisher: Weldon Owen (March 13, 2018)
  • Length: 240 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781681883748

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