step-by-step recipe

Sholeh Zard is a centuries old golden rice pudding flavored with saffron and rose water. Its fragrant taste and decorative garnishes used give this Persian recipe its distinct character. One can get quite creative using toppings such as cinnamon, pistachio, almond, candied orange peel and edible miniature roses.

Fatayer bil Jibneh | Savory Cheese Hand Pies

October 16, 2012
Breads + Savory Pastries, Breakfast + Brunch, Made by Me, Party Food, Recipe Box, The Khohanotz, Yeast Breads
3 Comments
afternoon tea, aleppo pepper, baking, balkan cuisine, black caraway seeds, börek, bourekas, braided armenian string cheese, bread, breakfast, dough, fatayer, finger food, flavors of anatolia, halloumi cheese, hand pies, khachapuri, levantine cuisine, mahlab, mediterranean cooking, middle eastern food, nabulsi cheese, nibbles+bites, peynirli pide, recipe, savory pastries, snack, southern caucasian cuisine, step-by-step recipe, street food, فطائر بالجبنة, معجنات

Simply put, fatayer is pizza-like dough, rolled crispy thin or fluffy thick, and stuffed with filling; herbed cheese in this case. Various adaptations of these savory hand pies can be found throughout the Levant, the South Caucasus, Southeast Europe (The Balkans), North Africa, Anatolia and surrounding regions.

Usually served during breakfast, they are equally great to snack on throughout the day or devour with a cup of tea at an afternoon tea gathering; not to mention the perfect party food ~ no forks or knives needed.

Spumoni Eclairs | French Pastry + Italian Ice Cream

September 25, 2012
Cookbook Recipe, Desserts, Made by Me, Pastries, Recipe Box
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chocolate, choux pastry, cream puff, Dorie Greenspan, Éclairs, French food, French pastry, ganache, Italian ice cream, pain à la duchesse, pastry, pâte à choux, Pierre Hermé, profiterole, recipe, rice crunch, spumoni, step-by-step recipe

This pate a choux recipe is adapted from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme. The eclair, an oblong shape pastry, is filled with ice cream rather than custard or whipped cream and glazed with chocolate covered rice crunch rather than icing or caramel.

Copy-Cat Manti | Phyllo Dough Roses with Yoghurt + Chili Oil

August 13, 2012
Breads + Savory Pastries, Made by Me, Main Courses, Meat, Recipe Box, The Khohanotz
No Comments
aleppo pepper, armenian food, beef mince, chili oil, Cilician Armenia, dinner, dumpling, levantine cuisine, lunch, manti, phyllo dough, polaroids, southern caucasian cuisine, step-by-step recipe, yogurt

Manti is a type of dumpling made with unleavened pastry dough and filled with minced lamb or beef. It can be prepared a number of ways, which I will cover in future posts. This recipe for phyllo dough roses, or rosettes, is meant to mimic the experience of savoring manti without all the hustle and bustle of making it. But why roses one might ask? Because rolls are not pretty enough!

According to some researchers, manti first reached Cilician Armenia as a result of the cultural interaction between Armenians and Mongols during their alliance in the 13th century. However, some researchers do not discount the possibility that manti may have originated in the Mid East and spread eastward to Korea and China through the Silk Road (source).