muhammara

Muhammara Chicken

in ,

MY MUHAMMARA IS A FINALIST FOR A SOFI AWARD!!!!!  I was literally shaking when I got the call because I know what a big deal it is.  There are thousandssssss of amazing sauces and dips out there and for the judges to pick mine out of such a great group, I was just ecstatic.  When I first decided to package my moms Muhammara, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into.  How hard can it be, I thought.  I'm glad I didn't know how difficult and challenging it was going to be because I might have been too intimidated but thankfully I was naiive.  If any of you are ever thinking about taking a recipe to market, please ask me first! There are tons of avenues to take and a lot to know but it is possible so you should do it!  

Hands down the recipe I've been making almost every other day, but you already knew that from Snapchat haha (@nadiahubbi).  So this is an interesting dish because Muhammara is not traditionally cooked in with food, it's served as part of a meze platter and eaten the same way hummus is.  I was playing around with different ingredients in the kitchen and created this dish.  My husband immediately told me to write it down because he knows me better than I know myself, I happen to still be in the stage of denial as to how bad my memory has gotten so I assume I can remember how I made it.  He says, please just write it down in case you forget how you made it.  Glad I listened to him!  

Muhammara has complex flavors stemming from the red peppers, walnuts, pomegranate, chili, among other ingredients.  It's texture is unique because bread crumbs are used and the flavors marry each other well.  This dish is so simple but it screams exotic and mysterious because untouched taste buds will be activated.  The already complex flavors of the Muhammara combined with the sweet potatoes, the chewy dates, and the sweet onions makes for one party in your mouth.  No one is going to believe this dish took less than an 45 minutes to make!  It might take a little longer if you don't have Sweet Pillar Muhammara in stock but have no fear, it's still easy!  I have the Muhammara recipe posted here and you can always make some and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks! 

Muhammara pull apart wreath

in

This dish looks so impressive and looks so difficult to make but it's actually super easy!  I did semi cheat though (didn't make my own dough and used already made muhamamra) BUTT the idea is that the technique is what looks impressive and that part is not difficult at all.  You can make your own dough or use store bought, it's up to you.  You can also spread anything you want inside, it doesn't have to be Muhammara obviously.  I've made it with olive oil and zaatar, a variety of cheese, and also pizza sauce and mozzarella.  You can get as creative as you want!

For the Muhammara, you can make some and keep it stored in the fridge to use as a dip, spread on sandwiches or as a sauce.  That's what made this so simple, I had some already made and ready to go.  I posted the recipe for the Muhammara here. 

Since it only takes 10 minutes in the oven, I assembled it at home and wrapped it.  Once I got to my guests house I popped it in the oven for 10 minutes and it was fresh, warm and yummy!


Featured on Feed Feed!

Okay so I'm such a dork but I just got SO excited about being featured in the Feed Feed's Middle Eastern feed!  Look no further, here is the link ... http://feedfeed.info/middleeastern .

I've been in such a funk lately and I just couldn't shake it off.  Every dish I made wasn't turning out the way I envisioned and every picture I took wasn't coming out right.   The problem was I couldn't translate what was in my head in the kitchen and I didn't know how to fix it.  Agh it was so frustrating.  It's one thing when steps are mapped out and its clear what needs to be done to improve.  But I felt so lost because I didn't even know what I had to do to make the dish or photos better.  Maybe I'll actually upload the pictures I hated just to show you guys.  But anyway, my creative juices started to dry out and I literally couldn't think of anything food related, my mind was just blank.   Poor Ayla was starving, the hubby was getting hangry.  The whole thing wasn't pretty.  

I did manage to make the Muhammara chicken rolls yesterday which I thought came out great! So that kinda started taking me out of my funk.  (I'll post the recipe to that in a few btw).  But I just wanted to share that I'm featured on the Feed Feed's Middle Eastern feed!   So now that you have an in depth analysis of my funk, you can sleep in peace, haha. 

Feed Feed feature

Muhammara & Cauliflower Soup

in

I obviously love Muhammara and judging from the past few post and Instagram photos, I obviously love cauliflower.  Not sure what my thought process was that led me to come up with this genius idea :)  I do know that the idea simmered in my mind for a few days before I actually executed.  The stars aligned a few days ago and the universe was basically forcing me to make this soup.  I had preordered a book called Soup for Syria,  a humanitarian cookbook project whose profits will be donated to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR to provide urgently needed food relief for Syrian refugees, which arrived that day.  I also caught the first glimpse of fall which for Southern California included 10 minutes of drizzle and some clouds, but it was enough for me to jump on the opportunity to make this soup.

Muhammara is a red pepper spread which originates in Aleppo, Syria.  It's made from roasted red peppers, walnuts, and sautéed cumin.  Traditionally it is only used as a dip but I literally with no exaggeration use it almost every day for everything.  Most often, I use it as a paste to thicken and add flavor to any sauce slash soup I'm making.  

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 tablespoons of Muhammara 
  • 2 cups baked cauliflower
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 1 small onion sliced
  • Salt & Pepper
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Preheat oven to 350
  • Drizzle olive oil, salt & pepper on cauliflower and bake for 10 minutes or so
  • On stovetop medium heat sauté sliced onion in olive oil to caramelize
  • Add chicken stock and muhammara to chicken stock
  • Add baked cauliflower to chicken stock for a few minutes so flavors can simmer together 
  • Add everything to blender and blend until desired consistency
  • Optional: Serve with pita chips and spoon of muhammara

INSTRUTIONS TO MAKE PITA CHIPS

  • Preheat oven to 350
  • Cut pita bread into desired shape
  • Drizzle with olive oil and whatever seasoning (I did just salt and pepper)
  • Put in oven for 5 minutes
  • Monitor carefully remove when golden brown

INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE MUHAMMARA in case our store is out of stock =(

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons tahini
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 3 red bell peppers
  • 1/2 small yellow onion
  • 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
  • 1 tablespoon Chili paste or Chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Roast the red peppers on the stove top until skin starts to peel off
  • Roast the walnuts in the oven at 350 until they are golden brown
  • Pulse walnuts in food processor until they are desired size (some like it bigger for more crunch, some like it finer) set aside
  • Add all ingredients to the food processor and pulse
  • Add walnuts at the end
  • Keep in the fridge for up to a week