1888. Sour Lebna Balls

I was lucky to get my hands on a no-nonsense natural yogurt starter from a Turkish expat who got it from her mom. I have been making yogurt and straining it into greek-style yogurt weekly for months now. It was just a matter of time before experimenting with degrees of sourness and making these lebna balls.

1887. Savory Zaatar Cake

Wonderful Levant flavors are combined in this savory cake that can be sliced and served with lashings of lebne in place of frosting. Fresh zaatar leaves, olives, cheese, and nigella seeds are only some of the flavor notes. 

1886. Purslane Fateer

A couple of weeks ago I had a hanker for lemony, tangy, fresh spinach fateer made from scratch right at home. I checked four or five different sores, online and in person, and none had fresh spinach. In the last one, I found two bundles of purslane, or bakle, so fate was sealed. 

1885. Cypriot Basturma and Haloomi Pitas

Almost ten years ago (!) I published a recipe on freezer Iraqi basturma. It is completely different from the Armenian basturma. These Cypriot basturmas follow a very similar pattern wherein the meat is heavily spiced and garlicked. Freezing them into mini-rods makes the slicing easier. 

1884. Brisket Rashers

America has glorified the consumption of bacon for breakfast. It is a coveted favorite in any hollywood movie. Everyone glazes over the fact that they come from a pig, which is one of the worst things a person can eat, and is absolutely saturated in nitrates and other cancer-causing preservatives. Cue these one-ingredient beef brisket rashers.