Notes about Recipes in this book

• Nine spice mix

  • jfrobertson87 on April 14, 2026

    This is a great spice blend. I use cassia bark instead of sticks. In total following the proportions specified I had 81g of whole spices. I also increase the cumin to 1 "heaping" teaspoon as I think a little extra cumin works better in this recipe after making it a few times.

• Pita bread

  • alysekstokes on August 11, 2025

    My go-to pita recipe; this yielded beautifully soft and fluffy pitas.

  • yayajho on February 14, 2026

    This was so fun to make, and it came out great! I used just 2 cups of water instead of 2 1/2, and used 5 cups of APF instead of 00 flour. So fluffy, hearty, and good flavor.

• Shakshuka

  • Avocet on May 07, 2021

    Easier to make than some other recipes for shakshuka I've done, and every bit as tasty. I did increase the cumin a bit. This will be my go-to recipe for shakshuka.

• Teta Asma's tabuleh

  • AllieTaylor on September 16, 2025

    This was excellent, despite my error/s making the dressing (way too much pomegranate molasses!). However, this makes TONS! Easily enough for 12. And we didn’t even have much else to eat at the time. I will make this again…

• Palestinian salad

  • jfrobertson87 on April 09, 2026

    I used about 5 leaves of finely chopped mint because I'm sensitive to that flavor, and I added a small bunch of finely chopped curly parsley. I had a red bell pepper that needed to be used soon, so I added it chopped the same size as the cucumber and tomato.

• Lentil, garlic, and pasta soup

  • alysekstokes on June 17, 2025

    Such a simple combination of ingredients with stellar results. This feels like a luxurious dish despite being built from pantry basics.

• Fish in olive oil, lemon, and cilantro (coriander) sauce

  • alysekstokes on August 14, 2025

    Stellar! The sauce is sharp, verdant, and garlicky. I used salmon for this because that’s what I had on hand, and the richer, oilier fish was beautifully balanced by the zingy sauce. This recipe is going on the keepers list.

  • katiesue28 on November 14, 2025

    This recipe is a gem. My favorite way to prepare halibut now. Absolutely delicious.

• Kafta and tomato bake

  • Acarroll on December 09, 2022

    This had a good foundation of flavors but the recipe was flawed. The potatoes were supposed to be thinly sliced, so I cut them somewhere between mandolin thickness and the picture of thicker cuts. It took forever for the potatoes to cook, and thus the meat ended up very overcooked. I added the tomato sauce towards the last 15 min of cooking, which was a smart choice. The flavors were great and I'd like to remake it. But next time I'll either mandolin the potatoes or somehow pre-cook them. Also, it said to add green bell pepper which was not in the picture. I opted to add sliced Anaheim pepper on top, which was a good choice but next time I'd use two. I don't think I would have liked the green bell pepper in this combination.

• Lentil and rice pilaf

  • jfrobertson87 on April 09, 2026

    I upscaled this recipe for a larger family meal. I used 3 cups of lentils and 2 cups of basmati rice. I used a total of 7.5 cups of water as the amount of water suggested (6 cups) seemed way too much for 1 cup of lentils and 1 cup of rice to cook in the same pot. I cooked the lentils first for about 15 minutes (uncovered), then the rice was added for about 15 minutes more (covered). Texture came out pretty good, slightly mushy but lentils still held their shape.

• Baklawa

  • laurenlangston on June 10, 2018

    I think there's an error in the recipe: it says to use 6"x8" sheets of filo, and to put a teaspoon of filling on the short end. When I did this, the baklawas were less plump than the photo in the book, and I had about 2/3 of the filling left over. The next day I made a batch with the remaining filling, and I put a tablespoon on the long end. This resulted in a fuller final product, much more pistachio-y. I'd also allow more than 30 minutes to roll these; I've cooked professionally and while I'm a little slower these days, I'm much faster than the average home cook and it took me closer to an hour. Maybe I'll just have to keep making them to get my speed up. :) The flavor is devastatingly good, and I look forward to making them again.

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