• Eat Your Books

  2005 James Beard Award Winner

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Armenian red lentil soup (Vospapur)

  • Fiona on February 21, 2011

    Thanks for correction - ingredients list now includes 'dried apricots'.

  • sgump on July 10, 2010

    Perfection in itself--and the embodiment of simplicity. Note that the EYB ingredients list is incorrect; the recipe calls for dried apricots (not fresh). I originally learned of this recipe from a different source; and, the way I prepare it involves adding the chopped dried apricots to the onions and garlic in the first step. Also, I do not add the diced tomatoes until after the lentils (in broth and water) have cooked for 30 minutes. However it's made, nevertheless, this soup really is delicious. Even though it's just lentil soup--but I do have to go to a specialty (Indian) market to procure red lentils--I do believe it's elegant enough for a dinner party. (Make it a day early--leaving out the lemon juice until ready to serve--and reheat.) Guests will be surprised to learn of the secret ingredient (the dried apricots)! And although it really is a soup, not a dal, I've served it atop basmati rice before--and it was quite tasty that way, too.

• Syrian eggs with rhubarb (Beid bi rhubarber)

  • sgump on June 15, 2010

    Just delicious!! Essentially a gleppered omelet or scrambled eggs marbelized with a sauce of fresh (or frozen) rhubarb, garlic, and sugar--finished with dried mint. (Allspice is optional, but salt and pepper are helpful.) Enjoy warm for breakfast or lunch (though I've eaten it for dinner, too). Often served with fresh cheese and sweet preserves (such as apricot). A similar recipe, called "Bed d'Rowand," can be found in Jennifer Felicia Abadi's *A Fistful of Lentils: Syrian-Jewish Recipes from Grandma Fritzie's Kitchen* (Harvard Common Press, 2002), pp. 210-11.

  • sgump on January 02, 2021

    I made this dish for the first time in YEARS tonight. (Okay, I'll confess: I logged in to EYB for the first time in years, as well. The reason, in part, is because I moved a few years ago--and almost all my cookbooks are still in boxes, alas!) Anyway, I logged in to EYB to remind myself of the recipe. This time, since I no longer have a non-stick pan, I made the dish in the microwave: heresy! Into a Pyrex dish (with cover) I started with frozen chopped rhubarb, which I microwaved on high for 2 minutes, covered, before adding a pinch of granulated sugar, a dash of salt, and--more heresy--a teaspoon of jarred minced garlic. After microwaving for another minute (covered again), I added two gleppered eggs. The lot I stirred a bit before microwaving on medium for 1.5 minutes and then on high for an additional minute (yes, covered). After topping with dried mint and a sprinkling of salt and freshly milled pepper, I was in heaven! No added oil, and no pan to clean up. Five stars!

• Calcutta red lentil soup (Massor dal)

  • lorloff on January 26, 2020

    I made the version with half cumin and half coriander and it turned out very well. I ran out of red lentils so used 1/4 cup urad dal and ½ cup yellow split peas to make up the full two cups. I also tried making the recipe in my Zavor multi-pot. I reduced the water to cover the lentils by less than a half inch and cooked the unsoaked lentils and peas for 20 minutes at high pressure and let the steam release naturally at the end of cooking. I garnished with fresh cilantro. It came out perfectly and was quite delicious as a soup. Will make again.

  • LFL on May 15, 2021

    3.5 stars. This is your basic red lentil dal. The last time I made it I felt it was a bit bland so next time I think I'll try adding 50% more spices.

• Moroccan beet salad (Shlata barba)

  • lorloff on May 20, 2018

    Really delicious dish. I roasted the beets which intensified their flavor. Needed additional olive oil used really flavorful olive oil. Mixed some tangerine juice in with the lemon juice

• Indian split pea and pumpkin soup (Chana dal 3)

  • Corrinie on October 19, 2013

    Fabulous! It's also delicious with red lentils and cooks in under an hour. The complex flavors and the spiced ghee were in perfect harmony. This is my new favorite lentil soup.

• Eastern European sorrel soup (Schav)

  • eve_kloepper on June 22, 2013

    used half sorrel and half spinach. add 1 T. or so of white miso, adds depth of flavor

  • deboChicago on August 20, 2019

    I was surprised that making a sour soup sourer makes it better. It was already sour from sorrel and the more lemon juice I added, the better it tasted. And sour cream improved it even more (the fat helps, too, no doubt). Very simple and quite good.

• Turkish black-eyed peas with tomatoes (Lubiya)

  • schwicke on January 02, 2012

    I converted the recipe to the pressure cooker. I put 2 T canola oil in the bottom of the pressure cooker, sauteed with onion and garlic until softened with 1 teaspoon aleppo pepper, added the peas (unsoaked) and 2.5 cups water. Cooked it at pressure for 15 minutes (a little long as ours were older peas), then did a quick release and added the tomato paste, tomatoes, salt, sugar and black pepper and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes. I served it over 1/2 cup of a 50/50 blend of millet and quinoa.

• Persian yogurt and cucumber soup (Mast va khiar)

  • PinchOfSalt on August 10, 2018

    Made this using whole milk yogurt (a very mild variety), omitting the milk or buttermilk, going for it with the garlic and substituting 2 tablespoons dried peppermint (added along with all the other ingredients) for the herbs. Delicious! It comes together quickly, too.

• Ethiopian collard greens in tomato sauce (Yeabesha gomen 2)

  • Nancith on September 10, 2018

    A nice way to brighten up collard greens! The tartness of the lemony tomato sauce offsets any bitterness that might be in the collards. I cooked the greens so they still had some bite, and my Anaheim chile was way over the hill, so that didn't make it into the dish.

  • deboChicago on July 31, 2020

    Such good flavors together and a really lovely way to use collards. Great with rice.

• Egyptian rice with vermicelli (Roz bil shaghria)

  • Nancith on April 25, 2016

    While the combination of rice & pasta itself was nice, the taste of the cinnamon & coriander were negligible which was disappointing. If I prepare this again, more spices would be an absolute must.

• Russian beet greens (Svyokli)

  • Barb_N on September 10, 2020

    I already had cooked beet greens (thanks to Tamar Adler’s “striding ahead”) So I heated them up and added a mix of creme fraiche, heavy cream and horseradish. With the creamy elements, it takes more horseradish than I expected. Served with chicken thighs with a horseradish-honey glaze and potato-corn-scallion tikki.

• Moroccan pumpkin soup (Shorabit yatkeen 1)

  • LFL on June 23, 2020

    3 stars. I remembered the this soup as great but most recently it came out too mild. The spice combo was good but the quantities were too small. Next time I’ll try doubling the spices. My prior review: “This recipe is delicious and easy to make. Of the choices given, I picked leeks over onions, water over broth, 20 oz. butternut squash (I like butternut squash better than pumpkin and 20 oz was the amount I had; I would like to try making it with the 2 -3 lb. the recipe suggests in the future), canned chickpeas over split peas, Demerara sugar because I happened to have some, ground cinnamon over cinnamon sticks, turmeric over saffron, fresh ground nutmeg over allspice, pine nuts over pepitas, probably cilantro over parsley. I left out the optional carrots, used 2 Tbsp minced fresh or jarred ginger in place of 1/8 tsp ground, and sautéed the spices for a minute once the leeks were soft.”

• Syrian lentils with chard (Adas bi sili)

  • LFL on February 05, 2021

    4 stars. Made the Syrian Lentils with Chard last night. I used red lentils, fresh chard, not spinach, and onion, not leek. I also soaked the lentils two and a half hours rather than just two. And I splurged on pomegranate concentrate aka pomegranate molasses from Amazon. The recipe came out a little soupy—About 10 or 12 minutes into the simmering, I added an extra 1/2 cup of water to keep it from burning. I’m not sure it was needed—the chard released a lot of liquid. Today, cold, it’s thicker and more stew-like, which is what I expected. I didn’t serve it on rice as suggested. Instead I used less salt than called for (5/8 tsp.), added near the end, and we simply ate it out of bowls. It’s really tasty. The pomegranate concentrate makes a big difference in the flavor though I think it would have turned out equally good, just different, without it.

• Ethiopian split pea purée (Yemesir aleetcha)

  • LFL on June 23, 2020

    5 stars. Fantastic. It’s in regular rotation in our house because we love it so. Some tweaks / suggestions: Most recently I made it in the Instant Pot. It came out a little soupy so I plan to cut the amount of water to 2.5 cups the next time I pressure cook (the pressure cooker doesn’t let out steam and the stovetop directions call for partial lidding). I used 25% less oil (sunflower tastes better than vegetable IMO), quadrupled the ginger, used the maximum amount of garlic, only a 1/2 tsp salt and I added the salt at the end for maximum saltiness. It was a bit too oniony when I used 20 oz. onions; will try 16 oz next time. Making it in the Instant Pot gives it a superior taste since none of the flavors steam out. I was also impressed that even with doubling the recipe, everything fit below the half mark line in my 6 Qt. Instant Pot. Good with rice as well as injera (rice is a lot quicker and easier to make).

• Turkish lentil-vegetable stew (Djuvec de lenteja)

  • LFL on June 23, 2020

    2 stars. I didn’t have cauliflower so I threw in frozen mushrooms and artichoke hearts. Overall, the recipe was fine, but not wow, especially considering how labor-intensive it is. I don’t think I’ll make it again.

• Syrian pumpkin patties (Kibbet yatkeen)

  • LFL on June 23, 2020

    1.5 stars. My sister-in-law once made these for Hanukkah while I was making latkes at her house. She had some difficulty with them because she didn’t fry them in enough oil. I didn’t like these that much, but then, I’m not that keen on fried foods and also, on pumpkin or on allspice, which appears in this recipe. The recipe isn’t terrible, it just doesn’t suit my particular palate.

• Indian curried eggplant (Brinjal kari)

  • LFL on February 05, 2021

    1.5 stars. The oregano among the ingredients intrigued me. It’s probably not at all authentic but I thought it might be interesting to taste. I decided to double the recipe and freeze some which was clearly a mistake since a single recipe makes enough to feed an army. The serving sizes are huge. I chose to pressure cook it and had to sauté a lot to get the ingredients below the max fill line. I drained a lot of the liquid out (there was so much of it) and puréed the rest (the spinach, cilantro and chickpeas had not been added yet; it was soupy ratatouille with a hint of Indian) to get a good consistency. We put all the chickpeas in a huge bowl, then added the rest in, because it would never have all fit even in our biggest pot. I had to adjust the spices a lot. Partly because a lot of them had been drained with the liquid but also because the flavor profile was not all that good. I added cinnamon, coriander and a bit of agave and garlic powder. It improved but still disappointed.

• Syrian chard with chickpeas (Silka bi hummus)

  • LFL on June 23, 2020

    4.5 stars. PLEASE NOTE: This recipe is improperly indexed and the ingredients list here at EYB is incomplete. In addition to chard, onions and chickpeas, the recipe also uses extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, plum tomatoes, lemon juice and a little salt.——- This is a variation on the Tunisian Braised Chard (Silka) recipe and one that I’ve made multiple times. For such a simple recipe, it’s very good. I really like the flavors, the fact that it doesn’t call for a lot of salt, and that it is a different way to get some greens into my diet. The only downside to this one is the time that it takes to clean the chard. If I could just find pre-washed chard at the supermarket I would make this all the time.

• Syrian lentils and rice (Mujadara)

  • trmarvin on December 30, 2017

    Could add a bit of cinnamon or even baharat.

• Turkish eggplant and cheese casserole (Almodrote de berengena)

  • deboChicago on August 22, 2019

    Made this with zucchini as well, and cheddar instead of kashkeval cheese. Really yummy and filling.

• Hungarian cream of mushroom soup (Gomba leves)

  • deboChicago on July 24, 2019

    Delicious. I added chard and puréed it. Careful with the hot paprika!

• Hungarian asparagus soup (Sparga leves)

  • deboChicago on March 31, 2020

    This is a very delicious, warming soup, pretty simple to make.

• Indian coconut rice (Nariyal chawal)

  • ashallen on October 05, 2019

    Following the instructions in this recipe yielded a thick, soupy, creamy rice dish very much like a savory rice pudding. I prefer a drier style for savory rice dishes. Flavors from the suggested spice combination were fine. While the texture could be adjusted by tweaking the amount of liquid added, there are many other coconut-spice rice recipes available and the flavors in this one weren't fabulous enough to make me want to play around with it.

• Ashkenazic potato puffs (Bilkas)

  • ashallen on September 27, 2019

    These sounded so yummy, but they were disappointing (though not inedible) - I wouldn't make them again. Recipe suggests a few variations on the basic ingredient list - I used garlic powder. I did substitute butter for the specified oil/shortening - maybe that was a no-no. The little potato mounds were on the dry and grainy side - not succulent at all. The recipe is relatively lean (4 tbsp fat for 2 lb of potatoes) so perhaps adding more fat would help. I also wonder if a potato other than the russets specified in the recipe would fare better - Yukon Golds might be moister and creamier. Recipe was unclear on whether potato should be left whole or cut up for initial boiling step - my potato was enormous (yes, one 2 lb potato), so I cut it in 2/3-inch slices.

• Georgian potato pancakes (Labda)

  • ashallen on September 28, 2019

    Not good at all. We found the flavor to be odd and muddy in an off-putting way. I used clarified butter for the sautéing step - what could be bad when it's fried in butter? - but even that wasn't enough to save it. The browned exterior was kind of tough. The interior was pasty and mushy. The cooked pancake was not cohesive - it was floppy and so wanted to fall apart that I ended up serving it in chunks. The recipe specifies boiling the potatoes first for 25 minutes but is unclear on whether to cook them whole or cut. My medium-sized uncut Yukon Gold potatoes were not ready for any kind of mashing after 25 minutes - I ended up cutting them in half after 25 minutes to speed up the cooking, but they probably absorbed more water as a consequence. While the preparation issues could probably be worked out, the flavor isn't good enough for me to want to try!

• Sephardic spinach patties with walnuts (Keftes de espinaca con muez)

  • ashallen on December 13, 2019

    These were fine, but the flavor didn't grab me. I like walnuts in savory dishes in general, but I might like the author's non-walnut versions of this dish better. Author says frozen spinach can be used instead of fresh spinach, but given how much the spinach contributes to the flavor of the dish, I was glad I used fresh. I made the patties a bit smaller than specified in the recipe for a higher ratio of browned exterior to moist interior. They absorbed some, but not a ton, of oil during cooking. Best when fresh, but leftovers froze and reheated in the microwave pretty well.

• Moroccan raw carrot salad (Shlata chizo)

  • Shirls on April 05, 2020

    One of the nicest carrot salads I’ve eaten. One of those recipes that is surprisingly easy to make with big end results taste wise.

• Persian white bean and noodle soup 1 (Ashe reshte 1)

  • Alwebber on April 18, 2020

    It was okay but I didn’t love the mint. Next time I will omit.

• Hungarian pepper ragout (Lecsó)

  • jenburkholder on August 18, 2020

    Very tasty with fresh summer vegetables. We added a bit of sage and served with socca for an easy but wonderful summer meal.