Notes about Recipes in this book

• Aromatic rice with dill and fava beans ('Aish shbint wi bajilla)

  • TrishaCP on June 04, 2017

    The flavors of this dish were lovely and subtle and indeed aromatic. I was mistrustful of the rice cooking technique, which calls for leaving the lid off the pot until the water is absorbed (you finish by covering the rice and letting it steam), but decided to try it anyway. I found that the top half of my rice was cooked beautifully, and the bottom half was mushy, so I would cook it like I normally would do next time (covered).

• Aromatic fish stew (Marag simach/mafti)

  • stepharama1 on May 17, 2022

    Sensational dish!! I used cod and supplemented leftovers with shrimp the following night. I cooked the fish for less time than specified i the recipe as I think the cod would have disintegrated with a longer cook time. Sauce is just fabulous. It has an intriguing tamarind/sour lime flavor mixed with dill and cilantro.

• Baked fish with nut stuffing (Hamour mahshi)

  • mcvl on July 28, 2013

    This is fabulous! A truly exotic combination of ingredients, and they all work together perfectly. I'm going to cook this for company next week.

  • mcvl on August 04, 2013

    Further note: I did indeed make this for company tonight, and it will be our company dish for the next month or so, till we've served it to all our regulars. Two changes: only walnuts instead of all the different kinds of nuts, and fish cut into chunks rather than whole, easier cooking, easier serving.

• Shrimp and rice (Mrabyan)

  • mcvl on April 20, 2021

    Ritzy and sumptuous. I made it brothier than the recipe and enjoyed spooning it up as a kind of thick-and-thin soup.

• Cracked wheat and vegetables (Jareesh)

  • mcvl on December 27, 2020

    Not vegetarian, not vegan -- book ingredients include chicken.

• Divine lentil soup (Shorbat 'adas)

  • BlytheSpirit on June 30, 2012

    I used the dried limes called for but did not find that they added that much in terms of flavor. Ended up using fresh lime juice to 'jazz' it up. This recipe was decent enough, but not great. Probably will not make again.

  • Breadcrumbs on March 21, 2016

    p. 71 – The soup was delicious but the amount of water specified in the recipe was inadequate to produce the thin soup pictured in the book. I diluted my “stew” with water in order to cook the pasta however I still managed to burn my hand as the molten pot of lentils splattered away. There’s a photo accompanying this recipe on the Denver Post website that depicts the dish as mine turned out however I see they’ve added a note saying the soup can be thinned with water. I’d definitely make it again however I’d add likely triple the amount of water to produce a thinner broth-like consistency as I found the thick texture didn’t work with the noodles. Flavours were good though and I spritzed each bowl with lime juice prior to serving. Photo here: http://www.chowhound.com/post/show-winter-2016-meals-1030300?commentId=9827899

  • mcvl on March 09, 2021

    Maybe not divine, but good. I accidentally over-salted it, so thinned it out with a lot of yogurt, which I think was a good addition.

• Crushed spiced fava beans (Foul)

  • Sylfea on January 07, 2024

    Used dried broad beans instead of canned, and parsley instead of coriander. Broth was delicious.

• Green bean stew (Marag fasoolya)

  • mcvl on December 28, 2014

    I made this as a side dish for a saucy main dish my husband was making, so instead of using all the tomatoes and sauce I used just a smear of tomato paste -- and I liked the dish much better than the traditional stew version. I'll make it this way from now on.

• Sago and lychee pudding (Muhalbiyat al-sagoo)

  • Sylfea on December 29, 2023

    Made this 3 times, once for ourselves and twice for guests. Easy to make ahead dessert and lovely in hot weather. Crowd-pleaser. Have done one big bowl as well as individual portion sizes and liked the smaller servings better. Substituted coconut milk for the milk once and it still came out beautifully. Suspect it won't last long in fridge for leftovers but there's never been any left to find out.