Middle Eastern Cuisie

Week 11

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.

 MAIN COURSE – MANDY RICE WITH ROASTED CHICKEN AND SALAD SALATA HARA SERVE WITH MINT CHIMICHURI SAUCE

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.