• Prim on September 26, 2022

  Koshary, page 108, excellent! Was also very good reheated to following day.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Z'hug

  • CordovaBayCook on June 05, 2023

    This herby sauce/relish is just SO delicious. And so versatile! Once you have some made, you will find yourself adding it to everything: rice, chicken, lamb, roasted vegetables, potatoes, etc. I did find this version quite salty, so next I would half the salt next time and then add more salt only if needed.

• Creamy hummus with tahini, smoked paprika, and herbs

  • averythingcooks on December 21, 2023

    I just made the hummus (ie no toppings) as I plan to use some of it in another recipe. I did go a bit lighter on the lemon & the lesson I learned here is that she is right...I have not been pureeing my hummus long enough! Even with thawed chickpeas from the freezer, this is the creamiest/smoothest hummus I've ever made. I just ate some with melba toasts and oh yes, this is lovely.

• Our traditional potato latkes

  • Zosia on January 10, 2023

    Excellent recipe! The instruction to shred the potatoes then finely chop half seemed much more fiddly in print than the reality of actually doing it with the food processor. The batter held together well and the latkes were very crisp with tender centres, worth that small extra step in making them.

• Lentil soup with carrots and harissa

  • Zosia on January 10, 2023

    Very nice, lightly spiced soup. The lemon juice (optional) balanced the slight sweetness of the soup and brightened the flavour. From the list of recommended toppings, I added spinach and cilantro.

  • averythingcooks on November 13, 2023

    I really like this soup. I used a 50:50 mix of hot & mild harissa which seems to always get the right heat for us. I prefer this style of soup to be very smooth so I used the blender and then pushed it through a sieve. I agree that the lemon juice is a perfect finish & I will happily work through this soup for upcoming lunches,

• Roasted cauliflower soup

  • Zosia on November 27, 2023

    Very nice, subtly flavoured soup that everyone enjoyed, even those who don't care much for cauliflower. My cauliflower was more medium (850g) than large so I didn't reserve any as topping and topped with chopped spinach instead.

• Chicken salad with peanut and lime dressings

  • lou_weez on March 09, 2023

    This was a really tasty, filling salad, that was quick to make. I used a store-bought BBQ chicken and chargrilled frozen corn in a dry pan.

  • jenmacgregor18 on June 13, 2023

    Very good. Great flavor and it's satisfying. I also used a rotisserie-style chicken and a mix of romaine and baby greens and added green onions. Since I was making ahead, I put all mixed all the raw veg then layered the corn, snap peas, & chicken on top. I mixed the two dressings together to store and just added them to my salad at lunchtime. Works well and it seems adaptable to use different veg you have on hand. Red bell peppers would be great or cauliflower, etc.

• Grilled flank steak and potato salad Niçoise

  • averythingcooks on July 17, 2023

    I will come back to this and make the full salad platter when I have more beans in the garden but for now, I made 1/3 of the dressing to marinate a bavette steak. The combination of vinegars & lemon juice imparted really good flavour to one of our new favourite steaks to grill and I will make it again.

  • averythingcooks on July 28, 2023

    Having recently made just the marinade, I came back to this to make the "complete plate" using 1 very nice rib eye for the 2 of us (marinated for about an hour). With the marinade doubling as the dressing, this dinner consisting of a bed of garden greens topped with thinly sliced steak, roasted baby potatoes (with a handful of grape tomatoes added with about 20 minutes of oven time left), hard cooked eggs & green beans from the garden was just lovely (and very filling). A great idea that I would proudly serve to guests (or just us again :)

• Crispy Persian tahdig rice with saffron

  • Zosia on January 10, 2023

    This recipe didn't work for me. I didn't manage to create the crisp bottom but even more disappointing was the overcooked rice. It was close to done after 20 minutes steaming when you're instructed to add 1/2 cup liquid in the form of salted saffron water plus 2 tbsp melted butter (I omitted the latter). An additional 30 minutes was required to cook this off, about 20 minutes too long. I may try this method again but I would boil the rice for only 4 minutes at the start and would make only 2 tbsp saffron water. I served it with Fish Tagine from the same book.

• Fish tagine

  • Zosia on January 10, 2023

    The base of this recipe is a flavourful sauce that cooks in about 30 minutes. A half batch was plenty for the fish variation for 3 people. I served it with the Crispy Persian rice from the same book.

• Focaccia croutons

  • janeths on May 05, 2026

    This is the way I generally make croutons but I pulled the cookbook out so counting it!

• Delicious chicken patties (deserving of a better name)

  • Zosia on January 10, 2023

    Exactly as the title states. They were a flavourful accompaniment to leftover Crispy Persian rice that I served with some of the tomato sauce made for the fish tagine, both recipes from this book. I baked them for 12 minutes at 475F.

• Middle Eastern comfort meatloaf

  • megrmajer on May 22, 2023

    Have made this x2 now. Great flavour, not dry at all and amazing as a leftover. 2 year old ate 3 pieces. With accompaniments like roasted cherry tomatoes and tahini and zhug takes it to another level. Used full beef both times and subbed the harissa for cumin and hot sauce as mentioned in the recipe.

• Korean marinated flank steak

  • megrmajer on May 22, 2023

    Needed a quick marinade, this did the trick! Served as part of steak salad with Calabrian Vinaigrette and hubby nearly fell over.

  • averythingcooks on November 13, 2023

    There is lots of good flavour here with relatively few ingredients....definitely worth repeating.

• Grilled Miami ribs with sticky pomegranate molasses

  • averythingcooks on March 22, 2023

    I can’t get this cut of short ribs locally BUT I kept coming back and looking at this marinade so….I cut it in 1/2 and added it to 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs. These went under the broiler and when the pan came out, I thickened the sauce with a cornstarch slurry to better glaze the thighs. These were very good (although T did say “but a bit sweet”) and, with pomegranate molasses on hand, I will repeat this…maybe with a good shot of hot sauce or Dijon added?

• Braised beef Italian style

  • averythingcooks on March 09, 2023

    I made this to serve 2 using 1 lb of boneless beef short ribs (finally found at Costco), around 1/2 of the tomatoes (the remains of a started can) and then 1/3 of the rest of the sauce ingredients (using red wine). And wow - not only did the house smell amazing during the braise, it is also delicious. I swirled in some pesto before spooning it over parmesan mashed potatoes. There is 1 serving left for lunch and so...rock paper scissors time.

• Fried rice

  • janeths on May 17, 2026

    Fried rice is pretty basic but I hadn’t thought to add hoisin in the past. I like it.

• Wild blueberry and orange muffins

  • Zosia on January 10, 2023

    These were very tasty with obvious orange flavour and tender crumb. This recipe calls for a whole orange. I had only a navel orange with very thick peel that I was reluctant to include. Instead, I zested it, removed and discarded the bitter pith and finely chopped the orange (by hand), membranes and all. The batter was quite runny and the baked muffins were flat but they looked like the book photo. I made them with 195g whole wheat flour. Bake time for regular sized muffins was 20 minutes in my oven.

• Upside-down rhubarb cakes

  • janeths on June 03, 2026

    Delicious.

• My favorite shortbread cookies

  • averythingcooks on March 07, 2023

    These are lovely! I got the predicted 15 cookies (for 1/4 recipe) by making 19 g balls of dough. I love shortbread and these have both the flavour and that sandy "melt in your mouth texture" that I expect from the good stuff. Easy choice to repeat.

• Thumbprint cookies

  • averythingcooks on October 19, 2023

    This is a classic & delicious version of T's favourite cookie. This time, I used blackberry jelly & replaced the pecans with walnuts. Note to self re: portioning help...1/2 recipe of dough weighs 398 g.

• Bonnie's rugelach

  • CordovaBayCook on January 05, 2023

    Absolutely delicious, and they look so pretty. Rich, flaky pastry, The finished cookie is not overly sweet. Perfect!

  • averythingcooks on January 05, 2023

    If Ottolenghi writes the forward to a book & specifically praises the rugelach recipe, then obviously it's the 1st recipe to try. As this was my 1st attempt at these, I appreciate her clear instructions but wondered how to know if I overfilled them (heeding her warning). So I baked the 1st pan before proceeding any farther and learned that, yes, they were overfilled! I cut away any really caramelized (burnt?) bits as instructed and had greater success with subsequent pans. These are special looking and delicious cookies (even pan 1). Next time, if I 1/2 the dough recipe again, I will scale the filling to 1/3.