I was mentioning this to my work colleague, Anan, while we made a quick stop to a local Arab market recently. I was on the prowl to locate a good za’atar mix so that I could begin experimenting with bread recipes at home. My colleague kindly told me to hold off on purchasing the za’atar; she assured me that she had a huge quantity that she had brought home from Jordan and that she would be happy to share some with me. I was surprised to find a nice big sack of the mixed herbs on my desk the following day. So, now that we’ve finished off our batch of pumpernickel, we’re ready to start exploring various za’atar recipes. Here are the four versions that we’ll try:

• Za’atar Flatbread from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
• Sesame Herb Bread (Manakeesh Bi Zahtar) from Feast from the Mideast: 250 Sun-Drenched Dishes from the Lands of the Bible
• Thyme Bread (Manaqish Bil-Za’tar) from Mediterranean Street Food
• Mana’eesh Zahter (Thyme-Sumac Pies) from Sahtein

We’ll share with you our favorite recipe in the comments section when we finish this little experiment. I suspect we’ll try one recipe per week. If you’ve tried making homemade za’atar bread, or you have a favorite za’atar bread from a local bakery, please do share! And, if you live in the Ann Arbor area, please do not pay $4.00 for a single loaf at one of our overpriced local grocery stores. You could buy a dozen for that price from an Arab baker, so save your money and try the real stuff.

The first loaf, from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. So good!

- Devon Akmon

So, for the newbies, you must be wondering what are pączki and where does this tradition come from? First of all, pączki are essentially deep fried doughnuts filled with sweet filling (think jelly doughnut) and covered with powdered sugar or icing. So, how do these differ from the more common jelly doughnut? Pączki are made from especially rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar and sometimes milk. In other words, bakers throw in everything but the kitchen sink (remember, Fat Tuesday marks the coming of Lent).

Pączki have a long history in Poland dating back centuries. However, pączki are traditionally consumed on Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent, in Poland. Here in the US the tradition takes place on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning on the Lenten season. As explained on Wikipedia, “the reason for making pączki was to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house, because they were forbidden to be consumed due to Catholic fasting practices during Lent.”

Hamtramck has long been the center of the Detroit Polish community (although, the small Detroit enclave is much, much more diverse these days). This is the place to go for pączki. People have been known to drive great distances for these treats, especially given the large Catholic population in metro Detroit (think Italians, Polish, Irish, Lebanese and Iraqi Chaldean communities). The long lines leading out of the various bakery doors are quite common on Fat Tuesday. Last year I visited one bakery with some work colleagues and we waited close to two hours to buy our pączki! This year I’m heading to Hamtramck a day early to buy my dozen to share with family and friends.

So, how decadent are pączki? According to this Detroit News article, a typical 5-ounce pączek contains about 420 calories and 25 or more grams of fat. If you’re a newbie and not quite sure where to buy pączki, then head over to Chowhound and take a look at what’s recommended. Me, I’ll be heading to New Palace Bakery as usual!

Packzi Day 01

Packzi Day 02

- Devon Akmon

“Coffee culture” as we know it has come a long way from its origins in the Arab World. Many myths surround the discovery of this fascinating beverage, but it is coffee’s Arab cultural roots that have led to continuing social traditions, the global institution we know as the coffeehouse and even some of the greatest intellectual achievements in human history.

Take a break from the daily grind to drink it all in at the Arab American National Museum’s new exhibition From Mocha to Latte: Coffee, the Arab World and the $4 Cup. It explores the effects of coffee on the history of the Arab World and consequently, the rest of the world. The exhibition runs January 28 – August 15, 2010 in the Lower Level Gallery. It’s free with Museum admission.

The public is invited to a free opening reception at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, January 28, 2010 in the AANM’s dramatic Community Courtyard, featuring complimentary Arabic coffee and sweets, sponsored by Hashems Nuts & Coffee Gallery of Dearborn.

Rack of Lamb with Rosemary and Thyme and Salt-Baked Baby Potatoes

Rack of Lamb with Rosemary and Thyme
Source: “Understanding Lamb.” Saveur October 2009: 48-69.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4-lb. frenched rack of lamb
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp. roughly chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme, plus 4 sprigs
• 10 cloves garlic, smashed

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 450˚. Season lamb with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 12″ cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add lamb fat side down and cook, using tongs to flip and sear the bottom and sides of the rack, until browned, about 10 minutes. Turn lamb fat side up in the skillet and scatter herbs over the top.
2. Add garlic to skillet and transfer to oven. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of the meat reads 130˚ for medium rare, about 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before slicing into chops and serving.

Rack of Lamb with Rosemary and Thyme

Salt-Baked Baby Potatoes
Source: “Spud Sunday: In Defence Of Salt.” The Daily Spud 11 October 2009. 13 December 2009.

Ingredients:

• Around 400g to 500g coarse salt
• Approx. 500g baby potatoes

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400C
2. Scrub the baby potatoes. If you like, you can cut some of them in half, so that you have roughly even-sized pieces. Dry the potatoes well.
3. Scatter your ovenproof dish with a thin layer of salt. Lay the potatoes on the salt layer, cut side down for any that have been cut in half, and allowing a bit of room between each spud. Switch to a larger dish if your potatoes are squashed up against each other.
4. Cover the potatoes with enough salt to cover them completely and bake for around 45 minutes to an hour or until the flesh is soft throughout. To test, just poke a small knife through the salt crust and into one of the spuds, it should slip through easily.
5. Dig the little potatoes out from their salt bed, dust off any excess salt and enjoy.

Salt-Baked Baby Potatoes

Mexican Chocolate Pots de Crème
Source: Prida, Stephanie. “Judges’ Choice: Dessert.” Food & Wine January 2010: 52.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 6 large egg yolks
• 6 ounces Mexican chocolate, preferably Ibarra, finely chopped
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, plus shavings for garnish
• Unsweetened whipped cream, for serving

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the whole milk with the heavy cream and bring to a simmer over moderately high heat.
2. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks until combined. Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup of the hot milk, then transfer the mixture to the saucepan. Cook the custard over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until it is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Immediately add the finely chopped Mexican and bittersweet chocolate and remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted, then strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a large glass measuring cup or bowl. Pour the chocolate mixture into 6 small bowls and refrigerate until the pots de crème are chilled, at least 6 hours or overnight. Serve the pots de crème with unsweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Mexican Chocolate Pots de Crème

- Devon Akmon

Having been a vegetarian for close to fifteen years, my sitti’s kibbeh was one of the first meat dishes I ate after switching my diet. I have to admit, this comfort food is delightful.

In an effort to learn my family’s method for cooking this delectable dish, Dharma and I paid a visit to sitti’s house last night. However, first we made a stop at a local Arab market for some meat from the butcher. My family often prepares kibbeh using beef instead of lamb. The beef is incredibly lean. It is common for Arab butchers to triple-grind the meat for this dish. In addition, we picked up some extra fine bulgur. In our recipe we use approximately one cup of bulgur per pound of beef. A filling (called “hausa”) is made by sauteing about a quarter of the meat with a bunch of onion, olive oil, pine nuts, salt and pepper.

You then mix by hand the bulgur and meat, working ice cold water in to soften the bulgur and get everything to stick together. Add in salt, pepper, allspice and a puree of green pepper and onion and you’re ready to start layering. A thin layer of kibbeh goes on the bottom of an oiled pan. Then the hausa gets placed on top of that. The top layer is kibbeh again. Then you slice it up into pieces, drizzle olive oil over the top and bake for about 1 hr 15 minutes in an oven heated to 375.

Well, that’s about all I can share. Some family recipes are meant to be secrets. The kibbeh tastes great, and I suspect we will be eating much of it over the next few days.

Dharma and I hope to meet with sitti over the next several weeks to learn additional Lebanese dishes and family recipes. I hope to record some of these cooking sessions as well. It’s my small effort to keep alive a family tradition while enjoying some great food!

Check out some not-so-great iPhone pixs of our lesson here.

From Sitti's Kitchen: Kibbeh Lessons

- Devon Akmon