Dalia's Kitchen: June 2012

Crunchy Chocolate Mousse

Image by Chris Mejorada for CPI Publishing

Home sweet home! We arrived yesterday after spending a few weeks in Beirut and Istanbul, where we attended two gorgeous weddings of dear friends of ours. Everything was absolutely stunning, and I came back feeling all lovey dovey..

I haven't been to Istanbul in quite a few years, and I'm always amazed by its beauty. It doesn't get enough credit for how beautiful it actually is. Every time I go, I'm mesmerized by the city on the seven hills and surprisingly, I always feel at home there. Of course due to old and dear Turkish friends I have (Aicha, Asli, Esra, Mert, thank you for taking such good care of us) but it's also a place where East meets West, and so it always reminds me of being fully Syrian but having lived abroad all my life. Or of my sister who got married to her Spanish husband in Istanbul, and so my beloved nieces and nephews are truly a mix of both cultures.

Having said that, my favorite historic attraction is Hagia Sophia, a former church, turned into a mosque and then turned into a museum by the one and only Ataturk. Hagia Sophia's beauty cannot be described in words, amazingly the mix of both religions under one roof is just incredible. I wish the whole world could be as harmonious as Hagia Sophia is.. The world would be a far better place.

Now back to glorious food. I've been doing a proper spring/summer cleaning of the entire house so the kitchen has been off limits today. So I will leave you with an incredibly yummy sweet treat I actually came up with by accident! I was trying to make a quick and easy chocolate mousse but as I was whisking the chocolate hardened. BUT it turned out even more delish and now I prefer my crunchy chocolate mousse from my traditional one. Plus it's so simple to make, perfect when you have people over for dinner and you need a speedy dessert ;)

Much love,

D xx

Serves 4 - 6

Prep & Cook Time: ~10 minutes

· 2 cups whipping cream
· 250g dark chocolate (70% or more)
· ¼ cup icing sugar
· ¼ cup toasted hazelnuts, crushed
· a few strawberries to garnish

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and set aside until it cools down completely.

Whip up the cream, add the icing sugar (more or less depending on how sweet you enjoy your mousse).

Using a hand whisk incorporate the chocolate into the whipped cream. It doesn’t have to me completely smooth though.

Place the chocolate mousse in serving glasses or ramekins, and top with a handful of crunchy hazelnuts and strawberries. Delicious!

As featured in BBC Good Food ME - April 2012

Fatte'd Aubergine

Image by Chris Mejorada for ITP Publishing

I love fattes and all types of Syrian tabakh, but I don't actually cook it as often as I would like to for two main reasons. It such comfort food, almost too much comfort food for me, and makes me feel like being at home with the family and then taking a nap right away! That's not ideal when I have to run around town. The other reason is that although it tastes absolutely delicious, it misses my Mami's touch which makes me miss her tremendously!

But for BBC Good Food ME's Mother's Day issue, I created a menu, which reminded me of the best mother in the world – mine J And this Fatteh was one of the dishes I made. I can't wait to see her tonight as I'm off to Beirut again. So I will leave you with this delicacy for lunch.. Sahteen :)

Serves 4 - 6

Prep & Cook Time: ~ 45 minutes

· 4 medium sized eggplants, cut into large pieces

· 6 cups low fat yoghurt

· 4 medium loafs Arabic flat bread

· 800g lean minced beef

· 1 garlic clove, using garlic press

· 2 onions, finely chopped

· 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

· 1/3 cup freshly chopped parsley

· 1 tbsp tomato paste

· 2 cups beef or chicken stock

· 1 tbsp tahina (sesame paste)

· 2 bay leaves

· 1 tsp sugar

· salt and pepper to taste

1. In a bowl, whisk the yoghurt with a little water, sesame paste, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

2. Cut the Arabic bread into squares, and either sauté them in a pan with a little oil, or toast them in the oven and set aside.

3. Heat a little sunflower oil in pan and cook the eggplants until they are almost ready, for about 10 - 15 minutes. Add the tomato paste, some hot water, sugar, seasoning and cook for a few more minutes until they are done.

4. In another pan, heat some olive oil, sauté the onions until translucent, add the garlic and cook a few more minutes before adding the minced meat, half the parsley and bay leaves. Cook for about 8 – 10 minutes, until the meat is done, then add the hot stock and simmer on low heat for just a few minutes.

5. Now assemble the dish by starting with half the toasted bread, layer the meat on top, then add the eggplants, followed by the yoghurt and finish by adding the remaining bread and parsley (and some eggplants to decorate if you wish). Enjoy!

As featured in BBC Good Food ME March 2012

LA, Newport Beach and NYC must eats :)

I'm writing a non traditional post, not including a recipe or yummy review, rather a snapshot of our trip, which was filled with food, food and even more glorious food! There are still get pics and suggestions of some of my loveliest bites, so when you get a chance, do try them if your in that neighborhood..

If I mention them then they are well worth it, and if something was not that delish I would just not post about it, as you know I hate criticizing anything or anyone- who am I to judge ;) Superstitious me believes it's all about karma in life so I'm only spreading the love..

These aren't my best images since I really didn't feel like taking my super duper cam, plus we were always starving and I never had time to take the right pics.. Sometimes I even forgot to silly me, so no evidence of us being at many, many other delish places - we'll just have to go back and do it again!

Even though food was crucial during our trip, more vital were the people we traveled with. So amongst a bunch of loving, singing, crazy and extremely funny people, I must say I had a phenomenal time.. So thanks to the funky bunch for an amazing time! In order of appearance: Joujou, Fufi, Nuffy, Cynthy, Somar, Salouha, Amir, Alex, Sly and Galva.

Much love,

D xx

The Crab Cooker in Newport Beach. Wish you were with us F & A ;)

Yummy Clam Chouder!

First time ever I try Salmon Wings, and they were OUT OF THIS WORLD!

King Crab.. Need I say more?

Galva's and mine favourite hot dog in LA.

Waiting impatiently for THE hotdog(s)!

One bite of each still means I only had one hotdog, right?

The BEST ramen I have ever had.. One of my, if not the meal of my trip!

First hour in NYC and we already devour a waffle from the truck. Extra nutella and whipped cream please :)

My all time favourite Lebanese restaurant, hands down. Each dish at ilili was truly memorable.

The beautiful spread of ilili dishes. Textures, tastes, smells.. I can feel them just looking at this (pls bear with my non-pro travel cam which doesn't do justice!)

Yes, nuffy kidnapped a tricycle!!!

The foccacia at Amaranthe, Uptown. There simply is nothing that tastes like it. I crave this at least once a week. I shall replicate and do my own version (evil laugh)

Peel's for breakie. Cheese and Jalapeno Gritts. Yummy!

The fluffiest, softest, smoothest, bestest pancakes I have had. After mine that is of course and the recipe is on the blog ;)

Not the best pic of our gang, but the only one I had where most of us were on. Galva, you weren't there and Jouj you took the pic! Great Mexican place La Pulqueria