A popular dip called “baba ganushe” is made with eggplant. Wash and then pierce with a fork one large or two medium-small eggplants. Bake on an oiled tray at about 350 for about 30 – 40 minutes or until soft. Cool. Remove and discard the skin and tough stem-end. Combine with these ingredients in a blender or food processor:

1/4 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cloves peeled garlic, quartered
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Blend until smooth.

Put this into a serving bowl and garnish (add for decoration or color and taste) with a little olive oil and sprigs of parsley.

Serve with pita bread.

Penne or Garganelli pasta (cooked)
2 tablespoons oregano
1 tablespoon anchovies
1 tin tomatoes
1 dessertspoon capers
cup black pitted olives
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt & pepper to taste
2 to 3 Boab roots sliced into rounds

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil and lightly fry garlic oregano, anchovies and tomato paste.
Add tomatoes, olives and Boab and heat through.
Fold into the cooked pasta.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve hot as a side dish or cold as a salad.

1 lb jumbo lump crab meat
1 bulb fennel, shaved and mixed with lemon juice
cilantro, 1 pinch per plate
1 cantaloupe, small dice
1 honeydew melon, small dice
1/2 seedless watermelon, small dice
lime-poppy seed dressing

Lime-Poppy Seed Dressing:

oil
1/4 gallon fresh lime juice
3oz poppy seeds
salt and pepper

Preparation:

To prepare dressing: Combine oil, lime juice and poppy seeds and emulsify. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

To prepare salad: Keep melons separate in a pan with paper towel underneath to absorb residual liquid. In a separate mixing bowl, combine fennel, cilantro and crab with dressing.

To assemble, layer in equal parts in a ring mold. Spoon 1 tablespoon of additional dressing onto melon. Layer fennel/crab mixture on top of melon and gently remove ring mold. Drizzle dressing around the base of the melon and garnish with a touch more cilantro.

2 lb Turkish yufka/pastry leaves (6 big round pieces)
1 egg yolk

Liquid Mixture:

cup olive or vegetable oil
4 cups milk
1 eggs
13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan

You can choose one of the following fillings:

Cheese Filling:

1 cup crumbled feta
bunch of parsley, chopped
2 cups mozzarella or any other kind of cheese
Black pepper (if desired)

Eggplant Filling:
3 medium eggplants
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, diced (or 1/3 cup crushed tomato)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt
Black pepper

For Cheese Filling:

Combine all the ingredients and put aside

For Eggplant Filling:

Chop the eggplants into small squares. Put vegetable oil and diced onion in a pan. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the eggplants. 5 minutes later add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes. Put aside.

Now we are ready to start. In a bowl, mix the egg, olive/vegetable oil, and milk with a whisk. This liquid mix will go between every layer of the pastry, and will complement your choice of filling.

Grease the baking pan. Place of one sheet of the pastry in the bottom. Spread 3-5 tablespoons of the liquid mix on top. Take the other part of the pastry sheet and stack in the dish. Again spread 2-3 tablespoons of the liquid mix on top. Continue layering until you are done with1/3 of the pastry (2 sheets). Then, spread all of your main filling evenly over the pastry in the dish after you spread the liquid mix. Resume layering the pastry and the liquid mix until you are done with 2 more pastry sheets and repeat the same steps with filling and liquid mix. When you are done with all pastry sheets, brush the top layer with the mixture and cut the borek into medium squares and pour the remaining mix on top. You can bake the borek right away or leave the casserole dish in the fridge for 2-3 hours or a night; this way it will be more crispy and tasty. As the last step, get the yolk of an egg and brush it on top. If you left it in the fridge, take it out and let it sit for at least an hour before putting it in the oven. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Bake until golden brown, for approximately 20 to 40 minutes.

3 tubes egg tofu, cut into cubes about 1 inch
3 large eggs
1.5 heapful tbsp cornstarch/cornflour
pinch of salt
a bit of pepper

Garnishing:

1 small carrot, julienned
1 small cucumber, julienned
ground roasted peanuts

Sauce:

100ml kicap manis
3 cloves garlic
2-3 birds eye chilli (chilli padi), more if you want spicy

Method:

Sauce
1. Blend everything and heat it over medium heat

Tahu Telor:

1. Heat oil in a pot and immerse the mould for the tahu telor. Leave it in (make sure the oil covers at least 3/4 of the mould)
2. Beat eggs, salt, pepper and cornstarch, then add tofu
3. Pour mixture into the mould (about 3/4 full)
[The heat from the oil will cause the egg to overflow. Lower the fire, take a scoop and scoop the overflowing egg and pour it back into the mould.]
4. Continue pouring the hot oil into the mould till the egg is crispy
5. Remove mould and let the tofu in the oil till the sides are crisp, once brown and crispy, remove from oil and drain it
6. Place tofu on a plate, garnish with cucumber and carrot and sprinkle ground peanuts,pour sauce over and serve

Note:
For easy estimation on how much egg is sufficient, the quantity of the beaten egg when poured into the same bowl with the cubed tofu must be just about the same height. Your tahu telur will come out perfect.

1 small firm tofu/beancurd, deep-fried and sliced
50g beansprout, tailed, washed and blanched
75g long beans, cut into 5cm section and blanched
25g carrot, peeled and cut into 5cm section and blanched
1 potato, peeled, diced and streamed or boiled
a small handful of vegetable crackers (optional)

Peanut Sauce

2 fresh red chilli, seeded and chopped
2 red chilli padi (optional), seeded and chopped
2 slices ginger, chopped
1 stalk lemon grass, peel off outer layers leaving tender whitish centre, cut out 7.5cm, chopped

2 candlenuts, chopped
teaspoons vegetarian belacan powder
1 tablespoon carotino oil or vegetable oil
teaspoon tamarind/assam paste, knead with 150ml water and strained
teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 tablespoons black sugar or palm sugar, or to taste
125g grounded peanut powder or finely crushed roasted peanut

Method

1. Grind chilli, ginger, lemongrass and candlenut into fine spice paste. Stir in vegetarian belacan powder and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pot or wok, fry the spice paste for 1 minute or until fragrant. Stir in tamarind liquid and bring to a boil.
3. Stir in the black sugar, salt, peanut powder and bring to a boil. If the sauce is too thick, add some water. To thicken the sauce, add a bit more peanut powder. Set aside.
4. Arrange all the vegetables and beancurd on a serving dish. Drizzle the peanut sauce over the vegetables or serve the sauce separately.

1/2 head cabbage
2 carrots
1/2 turnip
250 g firm tofu
1 1/2 cups cut green beans
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
2 cups water

Spice blend:

2 tablespoons chili paste
2 teaspoons shrimp paste (belacan)
2 medium onions
4 garlic cloves
2 stalks lemongrass
20 small dried shrimp, soaked in hot water to soften
1 inch fresh ginger
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
4 tablespoons oil

Directions:

1. Chop all the spice blend ingredients and add them to the blender, except.
2. the chilli powder. Blend it into a paste.
3. Combine coconut milk and water to form “thin coconut milk”. Cut all the.
4. vegetables into small cubes and sticks.
5. After all the spices are blended, add chilli powder according to your.
6. tastes. Fry it in oil till the oils in the paste ooze out. DO NOT BURN IT!
7. Add thin coconut milk and bring it to a gentle boil. Dump in all the.
8. vegetables and tofu and simmer it till the vegetables are tender. Add salt to.
9. taste.
10. PS: Adding pepper is not reccomended.
11. Serve your Sayur Lodeh over rice & nasi empet.

2 cups of bulgur (cracked Wheat) (fine or medium fine type)
5-6 scallions chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 green peper chopped
1 cucumber chopped
1 lemon juice
2-3 tbsp red pepper (sweet) or tomato paste
2 tsp cumin
salt, blackpepper, red pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cover the bulgur with boiling water, set it aside. The water and the bulgur should be at the same level.

2. The bulgur will absorb all the water.

3. Mix the paste and the spices thoroughly.

4. Add the vegetables to the paste and mix well. Use lemon and vegetable/olive oil as dressing.

5. Add the Bulgur to the salad and mix well. Serve.

2-1/2 pounds red potatoes
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Boil the potatoes and allow to cool. Cut into edible pieces.

2. Combine the potatoes, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, vegetable oil and salt and pepper. Mix well and serve.

1/4 cup bulgur or cracked wheat
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
5 tomatoes, diced
1 onion, finely diced
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Place the bulgur in a small mixing bowl. Add the boiling water, mix and cover with a towel; let stand for 1 hour. Drain any excess water.

2. Combine the parsley, mint, tomatoes, onion, olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Add the bulgur; mix well and serve.