Middle Eastern Cuisie
Week 11
MAIN COURSE – MANDY RICE
WITH ROASTED CHICKEN AND SALAD SALATA HARA SERVE WITH MINT CHIMICHURI SAUCE
Date – April 19,
2018[Thursday]
Today is the
last day of production class with Middle Eastern Cuisine.
During the
production class, the Chef On Duty was Me and Azlina, help by the Supervisor On
Duty Raffae, Cindy & Doren. The Cuisine that will be produce today is
Middle Eastern Cuisine.
Middle Eastern cuisine is the cuisine of
the various countries and peoples of the Middle East. The cuisine of the region
is diverse while having a degree of homogeneity. It includes Arab,
Iranian/Persian, Israeli, Assyrian, Armenian, Kurdish, Cypriot, Azerbaijani and
Turkish cuisines. In 2017, Middle Eastern cuisine was claimed by many sources
to be one of the most popular and fastest growing ethnic cuisines in the US.
Some commonly used ingredients include olives and olive oil, pitas, honey,
sesame seeds, dates, sumac, chickpeas, mint, rice, and parsley. Some popular
dishes include kebabs, dolma, baklava, yogurt, doner kebab, shawarma and
Mulukhiyah.
The menu are
carefully constructed by the COD. The style of menu that our Production class
usually provide is menu Table D’Hote,
which is a Full-course menu starting from the Appetizer, Soup, Main Course and
Dessert. The menu’ recipe will be listed below.
THE MENU:
APPERIZER – FALAFEL SERVED WITH HUMMUS
SOUP – PUMPKIN SOUP SERVE WITH GARLIC BREAD
MAIN COURSE – MANDY RICE WITH ROASTED
CHICKEN, SALAD SALATA HARA AND MINT CHIMICHURI SAUCE
DESSERT – MUHALLABI – MIDDLE EASTERN
PUDDING
THE RECIPE:
STANDARD RECIPE
APPETIZER – FALAFEL SERVED
WITH HUMMUS
No.
|
Ingredient
|
Amount
|
Falafel
|
||
1
|
Dry chickpeas
|
450 g
|
2
|
Onion
|
1 no, small, roughly chopped
|
3
|
Fresh parsley
|
¼ cup, chopped
|
4
|
Garlic
|
3-5 cloves
|
5
|
Flour
|
1 ½ tsp
|
6
|
Salt
|
1 ¾ tsp
|
7
|
Cumin
|
2 tsp
|
8
|
Ground coriander
|
1 tsp
|
9
|
Black pepper
|
¼ tsp
|
10
|
Cooking oil
|
1.5 liters, for deep frying
|
Hummus
|
||
1
|
Well-cooked chickpeas
|
2 cups
|
2
|
Tahini (sesame paste)
|
½ cup
|
3
|
Extra-virgin olive oil
|
¼ cup, plus more for drizzling
|
4
|
Garlic
|
2 cloves, peeled
|
5
|
Salt and freshly ground black
pepper
|
To taste
|
6
|
Ground cumin or paprika
|
To taste
|
7
|
Lemon juice
|
1 no
|
8
|
Fresh parsley
|
Chopped, or for garnish
|
PREPARATION METHOD
Falafel:
1. Pour the chickpeas into a large
bowl and cover them by about 3 inches of cold water. Let them soak overnight.
They will double in size as they soak – you will have between 4 and 5 cups of
beans after soaking.
2. Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans
well. Pour them into your food processor along with the chopped onion, garlic
cloves, parsley, flour or chickpea flour (use chickpea flour to make gluten
free), salt, cumin, ground coriander, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and
cardamom.
3. Pulse all ingredients together
until a rough, coarse meal forms. Scrape the sides of the processor
periodically and push the mixture down the sides. Process till the mixture is
somewhere between the texture of couscous and a paste. You want the mixture
to hold together, and a more paste-like consistency will help with that...
But don't overprocess, you don't want it turning into hummus!
4. Once the mixture reaches the
desired consistency, pour it out into a bowl and use a fork to stir; this
will make the texture more even throughout. Remove any large chickpea chunks
that the processor missed.
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap
and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
6. Note: Some people like to add
baking soda to the mix to lighten up the texture inside of the falafel balls.
I don’t usually add it, since the falafel is generally pretty fluffy on its
own. If you would like to add it, dissolve 2 tsp of baking soda in 1 tbsp of
water and mix it into the falafel mixture after it has been refrigerated.
7. Fill a skillet with vegetable oil
to a depth of 1 ½ inches. I prefer to use cooking oil with a high smoke
point, like grapeseed. Heat the oil slowly over medium heat. The ideal
temperature to fry falafel is between 360 and 375 degrees F; the best way to
monitor the temperature is to use a deep fry or candy thermometer. After
making these a few times, you will start to get a feel for when the oil
temperature is "right."
8. Meanwhile, form falafel mixture
into round balls or slider-shaped patties using wet hands or a falafel scoop.
I usually use about 2 tbsp of mixture per falafel. You can make them smaller
or larger depending on your personal preference. The balls will stick
together loosely at first, but will bind nicely once they begin to fry.
9. If the balls won't hold together,
place the mixture back in the processor again and continue processing to make
it more paste-like. Keep in mind that the balls will be delicate at first; if
you can get them into the hot oil, they will bind together and stick. If they
still won't hold together, you can try adding 2-3 tbsp of flour or chickpea
flour to the mixture. If they still won't hold, add 1-2 eggs to the mix. This
should fix any issues you are having.
10. Before frying my first batch of
falafel, I like to fry a test one in the center of the pan. If the oil is at
the right temperature, it will take 2-3 minutes per side to brown (5-6
minutes total). If it browns faster than that, your oil is too hot and your
falafels will not be fully cooked in the center. Cool the oil down slightly
and try again.
11. When the oil is at the right
temperature, fry the falafels in batches of 5-6 at a time till golden brown
on both sides.
12. Once the falafels are fried,
remove them from the oil using a slotted spoon.
13. Let them drain on paper towels.
Serve the falafels fresh and hot; they go best with a plate of hummus and
topped with creamy tahini sauce. You can also stuff them into a pita.
Hummus:
1. Put everything except the parsley
in a food processor and begin to process; add the chickpea liquid or water as
needed to allow the machine to produce a smooth puree.
2. Taste and adjust the seasoning (I
often find I like to add much more lemon juice). Serve, drizzled with the
olive oil and sprinkled with a bit more cumin or paprika and some parsley.
|
SOUP – PUMPKIN SOUP SERVED
WITH GARLIC BREAD
No.
|
Ingredient
|
Amount
|
1
|
Chicken stock
|
6 cups
|
2
|
Salt
|
1 1/2 teaspoons
|
3
|
Pumpkin puree
|
4 cups
|
4
|
Fresh parsley
|
1 teaspoon chopped
|
5
|
Onion
|
1 cup chopped
|
6
|
Fresh thyme
|
1/2 teaspoon chopped
|
7
|
Garlic
|
1 clove, minced
|
8
|
Heavy whipping cream
|
1/2 cup
|
9
|
Black peppercorns
|
5 whole
|
PREPARATION METHOD
1. Heat stock, salt, pumpkin, onion,
thyme, garlic, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and
simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.
2.
Puree the soup in small batches (1 cup at a time) using a food
processor or blender.
3. Return to pan, and bring to a boil
again. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for another 30 minutes, uncovered. Stir
in heavy cream. Pour into soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.
|
No.
|
Ingredient
|
Amount
|
Ingredients A – Mandy
spices
|
||
1
|
cardamom pods
|
2 tablespoons
|
2
|
cloves
|
2 tablespoons
|
3
|
black pepper
|
2 teaspoons
|
4
|
nutmeg
|
1 whole
|
5
|
ginger
|
1 tablespoon
|
6
|
bay leaves
|
4 leaves
|
Ingredients B -
Chicken
|
||
1
|
Whole chicken
|
1 whole cut into 4 pieces
|
2
|
Mandy spice mix
|
4 teaspoons
|
3
|
Salt – to taste
|
1 teaspoon
|
4
|
Lemon juice
|
2 tablespoons
|
5
|
Turmeric/saffron
|
1 teaspoon
|
6
|
Chicken stock
|
2 cubes or 2 tablespoons
|
Ingredients C - Rice
|
||
1
|
Basmati rice
|
1 1/2 cups
|
2
|
Butter/margarine
|
1 tablespoon
|
3
|
Yellow onion
|
1 small, finely chopped
|
4
|
Tomato
|
1 small, finely chopped and
removes all the seed
|
5
|
Whole cardamom pods
|
4 nos
|
6
|
Whole cloves
|
4 nos
|
7
|
Black peppercorns
|
6 nos
|
8
|
Chicken stock (or just enough
that about an inch is above the rice)
|
3 cups
|
9
|
Yogurt – optional
|
½ cups
|
Ingredients D – Mint
chimichurri sauce
|
||
1
|
Garlic
|
2 cloves, chopped (about 2
teaspoons)
|
2
|
Fresh mint (spearmint) leaves
|
1 cup, packed
|
3
|
Fresh Italian parsley leaves
|
1 cup, packed
|
4
|
Kosher salt
|
1/2 teaspoon
|
5
|
Red pepper flakes
|
1/4 teaspoon
|
6
|
Olive oil
|
6 Tbsp
|
Ingredients E – Salad
Salata hara
|
||
1
|
tomatoes
|
4 whole, cubed
|
2
|
cucumbers
|
2 small, cubed
|
3
|
1 red chili sliced
|
1 stalk, seed out
|
4
|
coriander leaves
|
chopped
|
5
|
Lemon juice & salt
|
to taste
|
6
|
olive oil – optional
|
1 teaspoon
|
PREPARATION METHOD
1. In a coffee grinder or food
processor finely blend all ingredients A spices together.
2. Use only 4 teaspoons for this
recipe, store the rest in spice bottle preferably glass container.
3. Rub all ingredients B except
turmeric all over the chicken and set aside to marinate in a close container
or plastic bag or zipper bag.
4. While waiting for the chicken to
marinate, proceed to wash and soaked rice.
5. After soaking the rice, set aside
and proceed to prepare sauce and salad.
6. To prepare sauce, blend all
ingredients D in food processor. Season to taste.
7. To prepare salad, in a bowl mix all
veggie in ingredients E (tomato -cubed, cucumber- cubed, chili-sliced and
coriander leaves-chopped).
8. Add lemon juice, salt and olive
oil. Mixed thoroughly.
9. Strain the rice in a colander.
10. Bring to boil the marinated
chicken with 3 cups of water and 1 teaspoon turmeric to make chicken stock
11. Take the chicken out and strain.
12. Sauté onion with butter until
tender and brown in a pot, add whole spices (cardamoms, clove, pepper corns –
crushed)
13. Then add salt, rice, chicken stock
and stir. Bring to boil then add chopped tomato, simmer cover, cook on a very
low heat until chicken stock dried.
14. Remove the rice from heat, put
chicken on top, cover and put in preheated oven at 300F for 45 minutes.
15.
Serve with the salad, sauce and also green chili.
|
DESSERT – MALABI
No.
|
Ingredient
|
Amount
|
FOR RICE-FLOUR MALABI
|
||
1
|
Milk
|
4 1/2 cup
|
2
|
Rice flour
|
1/2 cup
|
3
|
Sugar
|
1/2 cup
|
4
|
Rosewater
|
2 tablespoons
|
5
|
Vanilla extract
|
1 teaspoon
|
6
|
Nuts
|
4 ounces chopped
|
7
|
Maple or other sweet syrup
|
|
FOR CORNSTARCH MALABI
|
||
1
|
Milk
|
4 cups
|
2
|
Sugar
|
1 cup
|
3
|
Cornstarch
|
5 tablespoons, diluted in 1/4
cup water
|
4
|
Rosewater or orange flower water
|
2 tablespoons
|
5
|
Nuts
|
4 ounces chopped
|
6
|
Maple or other sweet syrup
|
|
PREPARATION METHOD
For rice-flour malabi:
1. Put the rice flour in a small bowl.
Slowly, add 1/2 cup from the milk to it, whisking to dissolve any lumps.
Bring the rest of the milk, plus the sugar, to boil. Stir in the rice
flour/milk. Stir well to distribute the rice flour, but don’t scrape up the
thickened layer that will form at the bottom of the pot – it will simply form
lumps.
2. Lower the heat to medium and cook
the pudding for 5 minutes, stirring.
3. Lower the heat to medium and cook
the pudding for 5 minutes, stirring.
4. Pour the malabi into a big bowl, or
ladle it into 6 dessert-sized bowls. Cool it completely, then refrigerate it
for at least 2 hours.
5. Garnish the tops with chopped
pistachios and a ribbon of your favorite sweet syrup.
For cornstarch malabi:
1. Put the milk and the sugar in a pan
and bring the mixture to a boil.
2. Always stirring, add the cornstarch
and water mixture.
3. Cook over medium heat until the
pudding thickens – up to 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the rosewater.
5. Ladle into small bowls. Cool the
pudding and then refrigerate it until cold.
6. Garnish the servings with chopped
nuts and a swirl of syrup.
|
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