• Prepare okra by cutting the tops off. Rinse well and set aside. 
• Heat 4 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan (if you have an oven/stove top pan that will better) over medium high heat. Add chopped onions and saute for few minutes until they are gold. 
• Add meat to the pan and brown them, turning constantly, until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. You do not need to cook it thoroughly because it will cook further in the oven. Transfer the meat to a baking pot. 
• In the same saucepan that contains the remaining onions and fat from meat, add okra and saute for few minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  
• Add chopped tomatoes and stir well. Add water, tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Let it boil for few minutes. Add to the meat in the baking dish.
• Add 2 tablespoon to a small frying pan and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until they are gold. Add immediately to the okra and cover the baking pot right away so the mix absorbs all the garlic smell and put the pot in the oven.
• Bake for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, until meat is fully cooked.
• Serve with rice.

• Heat the oil in a big frying pan and then fry the eggplants until they are evenly browned on both sides and cooked through. Transfer the cooked eggplant slices to paper towels to drain.
• In another frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil and then add chopped onions and fry until they are gold. Add ground meat and cook until well browned. Add tomatoes, water, and tomato paste and cover the pan over a medium heat until the tomatoes are cooked. And then add spices and salt and stir well.
• Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
  
• Arrange half of the eggplants in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Spread the meat sauce over the eggplants, and then arrange the second half of the eggplant over the sauce.
• Spread the mozzarella cheese on the top until it covers the whole pan.
• Bake it for 20-30 minutes uncovered in the oven.
• Serve with pita bread or rice.

I cooked this dish last Friday. It was really good! I'm sure there are many other ways to make the Sayadeyeh, but I always try to make the dish appeal to me better. And as always I'll be glad to hear from you. Enjoy :)

Ingredients:

2 pounds fish fillets (I used haddock fish)
2 cups rice (I used Basmati rice)
5 medium onion, sliced
1 cup flour
vegetable oil
salt and pepper
all fish spices
water (about 4 cups, note that this amount depends on the rice you're using)
2 fresh lemons

Cooking instructions:

• Soak rice in warm water for 30 minute.
• Wash the fish and dry it good
• heat 1 inch of oil in a skillet
• Dip fish fillets into flour mixture.
• Fry fish for about 3 minutes on each side; remove to a platter.
• In another skillet heat one tablespoon of oil and fry sliced onions until they are brown.
• In a deep pot arrange fried fish in the bottom and then add the fried onions until it makes a a layer over the fish.
• Wash the rice and rinse it, then add it to the pot over the fried onions.
• Add water, 2 tablespoon of the oil you used to fry fish, salt and pepper, and all spices. Bring it to boil and then cook the rice on low heat as you usually cook your rice.
• When the rice is ready flip the pot in a serving plate (so the fish will be on the top).
• Serve with sliced lemon

Yesterday I cooked kofta with tahini sauce. This dish is popular in Sham countries (Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria). In my recipe below, I do it differently than the traditional recipe, which I will summarize at the end.

Ingredients:

Kofta:
2 lb lean beef meat, minced
2 big onions, minced
1 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon all spice
salt and black pepper

Tahini sauce:
1 cup tahini paste
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup plain yogurt salt
3 cups water

Optional:
Two large potatoes, sliced


Directions:

• Mix meat, parsley and onions in a big bowl. Add spices and salt and mix them all well using your hands
• Mold the meat mix into finger shapes and place into a large pan
  
• Bake them in a preheated oven (350 degrees) until it's brown (I do this step to get rid of all the fat)
• Mix tahini, yogurt, salt, and lemon juice together well until it forms a smooth paste.
• Slowly add the water while stirring to keep the mixture smooth.
• Pour sauce in a cooking pan and put it on the stove at medium heat until it boils
• Add meat fingers to the sauce and let cook at low heat for about 30 minutes
• Pour in a serving plate
  
• Serve with white rice
  Optional:
• Slice potatoes and fry until lightly golden on each side
• Add them to the sauce when you add the meat
  

I have been lately craving for Atlanta Bread Company's chunky potato soup. The last time I ate this soup was about two years ago when I was still in AR. We don't have any Atlanta Bread Company restaurants here in our area, and most of the other restaurants cook this soup with bacon, so I thought about making it myself! I looked online for the recipe, and then made my own recipe from four different sources in attempt to conjure my potato soup. My ingredients were as follows:

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoon heavy cream mixed with 1 cup of water
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
1/2 tablespoon all purpose flour
salt and ground black pepper
1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 pinch of cumin
1 pinch of chili powder
Sliced green onion

Directions:

• In saucepan, combine the potatoes, onion, and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Then lightly mash.
• Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, add olive oil or butter, stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in cream. Bring to a boil. Stir into potato mixture. Cook and stir until thickened. Add salt and pepper, and some sliced onions. Remove from the heat, and stir in cheese until melted.
• Serve the soup garnished with cumin, chili powder, and sliced green onion.

Kabseh is a dish from The Arabian Gulf. It's so popular in Saudi Arabia. My Saudi friends told me that people in Saudi Arabia cook Kabseh in many different ways. For example, Southern Kabseh is different than the Middle or Northern ones. My friends used to cook a white Kabseh. The recipe here is for a red Kabseh. This is the one that is popular in Jordan. I hope you all like it.

You will need:

2 lb lamb meat (or you can use 1 whole chicken cut in 4 pieces)
3 cups Basmati rice
3 chopped fresh tomatoes
1 finely chopped big onion
6 garlic cloves, minced
Spices (ground coriander, black pepper, cinnamon, turmeric powder)
salt
2 tablespoon tomato paste
olive oil (about 3 tablespoons)
4 black dried lime
pine nuts and/or almonds (I used cashews as well)

Directions:

• Add enough water to the pot so that it covers the meat, bring to a boil then cook gently over medium heat for 1 1/2 – 2 hours or until tender. Reserve stock & set meat aside.
• Soak rice for 15 minutes. Drain, rinse, and then drain well.
• Add olive oil to a large stock pot or casserole, fry garlic and onion until gold. Add tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes. Add salt, spices, and dried limes. Add some stock (about 2 cups). Add tomato paste and let it boil for few minutes. Add the meat and let it boil for another few minutes until the meat takes all the sauce taste. Set the meat aside.
• Add rice to the pot. Add more meat stock until stock covers rice (approx 1.5″ above rice). Cover pot. Let it boils and then lower the heat and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes.
• Broil the meat in the oven until it has a pleasant brown color.
  
• Serve the rice in a large dish. Place the rice first, top with meat and garnish with pine nuts.
  

Shish taouk is a traditional Turkish dish, and it means chicken skewers. Cubes of chicken are skewered and grilled. This dish is popular in Arabic countries too. The variation in flavor from one place to another is due to the type of marination used.

Ingredients:

3 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in pieces for skewers
1.5 tsp salt (sea salt is preferred)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp plain yoghurt
1 tbsp tomatoes paste
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp minced garlic

Directions:

• In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients with chicken.
• Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge for at least two hours. You want the chicken to get all the marination flavor, and to have that juicy texture inside.
• Thread the chicken on skewers and grill them. I used my indoor electric grill. It's perfect for winter weather.
• Serve with grilled vegetables, rice, and/or pita bread.
  

Kushari is a popular traditional Egyptian dish. It's a vegetarian dish that consists of rice, brown lentils, pasta, and a topping of spicy tomato sauce and Fried onions. Kushari is one of the most popular and common dishes in Egypt, and it's one of my favorites.

Ingredients:

For the rice:
2 cups rice
1 cup brown lentil
1 small onion chopped
2 tablespoon olive oil (you can use veg. oil or butter)
salt and pepper
water (about 4 cups)

For the sauce:
5 fresh skinned tomatoes
5 garlic cloves minced
1 chili pepper chopped (optional)
2 cups tomatoes sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups short pasta (macaroni)
1 teaspoon cumin
salt
1 cup water

For the onion garnish:
2 onions cut in slices
2 tablespoon olive oil

Cooking instructions:

Rice:

• Soak rice in warm water for 30 minute.
• If you're using Egyptian rice you need to wash it very good.
• Wash the lentil and then boil them in 2 cups of water until they are half cooked.
• Keep the lentil water, you'll need it to cook rice (it will give the rice this nice brownish color).
• In a pot add the olive oil and fry the chopped onion until gold and then add rinsed rice.
• Add the lentil with the water. Add salt and pepper and then cook the rice as you usually do. Add more water if you feel that the lentil water is not enough to cook the rice.
• Boil pasta and rinse it.
  

• Add olive oil to the pan that you will use for making the sauce.
• Cut tomatoes in small pieces.
• Fry minced garlic and chili pepper in the oil until gold.
  
• Add tomatoes and let them them cook.
• Add tomatoe sauce, water, vinegar, salt, and cumin. Let them boil for few minutes.
  

• In a frying pan heat the olive oil
• Add the sliced onions and brown them.