Sunday, April 05, 2009
delishish
Being FOTB from the Middle East (or FOTP in my case), one would think that I would be ready for a classic American meal - or at least some bacon, right? Well, one would be wrong and it wouldn't be the first time. I actually enjoyed the food in Jordan so much that I want to see how I would do making it myself. Today, I made chicken shish kebab with rice and almonds (I had some time on my hands since I woke up at 3 AM because of jet lag).
I marinated the chicken for six hours, then skewered the chicken with cherry tomatoes, green peppers, and onions, and cooked the kebabs on the grill. I mixed some Greek yogurt into the rice - Middle Eastern style! I have to say dinner was pretty good for an American girl, but overall the recipes need some refining to compete with what I had in Jordan. Nevertheless, here is the chicken marinade:
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
S & P
There is one food I had in Jordan that I loved and I'm sure I will not be able to replicate - kunafa. It is a traditional Palestinian dessert topped with a special syrup and pistachios. Someone brought a big plate of it to work my first week there. We had it again the following week at a sweet shop in Amman called Habibeh, inspiring me to come up with the phrase "I can't get enougha kunafa" (hint: kunafa rhymes with "enougha").
In case you're wondering, I picked up a little Arabic beyond foods, most importantly: "Coffee please," "Thank you," "Good morning," and my personal favorite "Mashi, mashi mama!" which has no direct translation, but it is what you shout while you wave you arms wildly at bad drivers in the left lane.
I marinated the chicken for six hours, then skewered the chicken with cherry tomatoes, green peppers, and onions, and cooked the kebabs on the grill. I mixed some Greek yogurt into the rice - Middle Eastern style! I have to say dinner was pretty good for an American girl, but overall the recipes need some refining to compete with what I had in Jordan. Nevertheless, here is the chicken marinade:
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
S & P
There is one food I had in Jordan that I loved and I'm sure I will not be able to replicate - kunafa. It is a traditional Palestinian dessert topped with a special syrup and pistachios. Someone brought a big plate of it to work my first week there. We had it again the following week at a sweet shop in Amman called Habibeh, inspiring me to come up with the phrase "I can't get enougha kunafa" (hint: kunafa rhymes with "enougha").In case you're wondering, I picked up a little Arabic beyond foods, most importantly: "Coffee please," "Thank you," "Good morning," and my personal favorite "Mashi, mashi mama!" which has no direct translation, but it is what you shout while you wave you arms wildly at bad drivers in the left lane.
Labels: Recipe
// posted by niltiac @ 9:19 PM 
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