Middle Eastern Breakfast Treats

Labaneh
For the February daring cooks challenge,Manal from Manal’s Bites invited us to celebrate the most important meal of the day Middle Eastern style!

Traditional breakfast in the Middle East seems to be such a wholesome meal what with all the fresh dips and salads, lots of olive oils and spices it has. I've never been to visit the area except for the few plane changes in Abu Dhabi. So I was quite surprised to know that hummus is for breakfast! In our house it's a dip for snacks. The salad is very similar to the Greek one especially because I used feta cheese since I can't find halloumi any where near us.

Mixed Salad
What a revelation these dishes were so thank you is in order to the Daring Cooks and Manal for coming up with this interesting challenge. For one, it's my first time to make soft cheese. As expected, it's delectable. While for the hummus, I never thought fried pitta bread would be great dipped in it.

The labaneh cheese is easy enough to make though I don't have a big enough cheese cloth for the whole lot. So I just put them in small little bundles. I didn't have any place to hang them so I put them in a colander over a bowl to catch the drips.

Speaking of cheese cloth (they are also called muslin cloth), if you buy them from kitchen shops they're quite expensive. I just realised recently that I could buy them cheaper from baby shops. You see, the cotton cloth nappies (diapers) are made of muslin cotton! Ha! That's my bargain tip of the day.


Hummus Fatteh


Hummus Fatteh

1 recipe of Hummus
pitta bread
reserved chickpea water or plain water
salt and lemon juice
olive oil
pine nuts (optional)
cooked chickpeas (optional)
chopped mint or coriander or parsley
  1. Cut pitta bread into big chunks (about 1-inch square). Fry in olive oil.
  2. Scatter at the bottom of a serving bowl.
  3. [Optional] Fry pine nuts briefly in a pan with olive oil until brown and aromatic.
  4. [Optional] Sprinkle water with lemon juice and salt on the fried pitta bread.
  5. Pour hummus on top. Serve sprinkled with chopped herbs, fried pine nuts and chickpeas (if using). Drizzle a little olive oil on top.


Labaneh

1 kg natural full-fat Greek style yoghurt
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp fine sea salt
cheese cloth (muslin cloth)
chilli powder
za'atar (optional)
  1. Dissolve salt in the water.
  2. Add the yoghurt. Stir to mix well.
  3. Put the yoghurt mix in the cheese cloth, tie up and hang (or put in a colander over a bowl) to drain the water. Hang this for about 24 hours.
  4. The labaneh cheese is now ready. Serve with olive oil and chilli powder or za'taar sprinkled on top.
Note: This will keep in the fridge for 1 week in an airtight container.


Mixed Salad

2 big red tomatoes - chopped into about 1/2-inch pieces
1 12-inch cucumber - chopped into about 1/2-inch pieces
3 Tbsp lemon juice
6 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup cubed halloumi or nabulsi or feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves (or coriander or parsley)
1/2 cup chopped red onion or 2 green onions - chopped
  1. Mix together the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and cheese in a serving bowl.
  2. Drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil.
  3. Sprinkle the chopped herbs on top.

Hummus

Hummus
With the aid of a food processor, this a very easy thing to whip up. Hummus is one of my all-time favourite snack dip. And now that I've got a recipe that I adapted from Angela Nielsen's The Ultimate Recipe Book you can be sure this will be a regular on our table.

As for the recipe, it was good as it is even without the yoghurt (I didn't have one at the time) but it would have been better if I reduced the garlic (too overpowering) and the reserved brine (to make it thicker). So all of these are reflected in the adjusted recipe below. Otherwise, it was simply delicious especially with crudites, tortillas, and pita breads.



Hummus

1 x 400 g  tin can of chickpeas
2 garlic cloves - peeled and chopped roughly
2 Tbsp tahini
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 Tbsp plain natural yoghurt (optional)
  1. Drain chickpeas from can and reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid.
  2. Transfer the chickpeas and reserved liquid into a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Scrape the sides if needed.
  3. Add in all the other ingredients and process again until completely smooth. Taste then adjust salt and lemon juice according to personal preference.


Hummus

Hummus
With the aid of a food processor, this a very easy thing to whip up. Hummus is one of my all-time favourite snack dip. And now that I've got a recipe that I adapted from Angela Nielsen's The Ultimate Recipe Book you can be sure this will be a regular on our table.

As for the recipe, it was good as it is even without the yoghurt (I didn't have one at the time) but it would have been better if I reduced the garlic (too overpowering) and the reserved brine (to make it thicker). So all of these are reflected in the adjusted recipe below. Otherwise, it was simply delicious especially with crudites, tortillas, and pita breads.



Hummus

1 x 400 g  tin can of chickpeas
1 garlic clove - peeled and chopped roughly
2 Tbsp tahini
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 Tbsp plain natural yoghurt (optional)
  1. Drain chickpeas from can and reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid.
  2. Transfer the chickpeas and reserved liquid into a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Scrape the sides if needed.
  3. Add in all the other ingredients and process again until completely smooth. Taste then adjust salt and lemon juice according to personal preference.


Pinakurat

Danggit
What's the best dip companion for crisp fried danggit? Why spicy vinegar of course, smothered in copious amount of hot steaming fluffy rice. I have to admit spicy hot food have not always been my cup of tea. When it comes to these fire-breathing, tongue-scorching food I'm a bonafide coward. My tongue tends to be on the sensitive side and needs some TLC. I prefer distinguishing distinct spice flavours instead of being swamped and overwhelmed by heat. It's no wonder I use spicy hot dips sparingly.

Pinakurat
Pinakurat, the spicy vinegar dip from Iligan City, was introduced to me by my BIL Derek. Unlike most spicy vinegars from the Philippines, Pinakurat managed to get the sourness, spices and hotness balanced just right. It actually tastes of some other spices other than the ubiquitous chillies. Mind you the hotness comes to you gradually not like an in-your-face typical hot spiciness common among other brands. Pinakurat is now my choice dip for crispy fried anything including the excellent danggit, tocino, and tapa. Yum!

Pinakurat
Note: This is not a paid advertisement.

Pinakurat

Danggit
What's the best dip companion for crisp fried danggit? Why spicy vinegar of course, smothered in copious amount of hot steaming fluffy rice. I have to admit spicy hot food have not always been my cup of tea. When it comes to these fire-breathing, tongue-scorching food I'm a bonafide coward. My tongue tends to be on the sensitive side and needs some TLC. I prefer distinguishing distinct spice flavours instead of being swamped and overwhelmed by heat. It's no wonder I use spicy hot dips sparingly.

Pinakurat
Pinakurat, the spicy vinegar dip from Iligan City, was introduced to me by my BIL Derek. Unlike most spicy vinegars from the Philippines, Pinakurat managed to get the sourness, spices and hotness balanced just right. It actually tastes of some other spices other than the ubiquitous chillies. Mind you the hotness comes to you gradually not like an in-your-face typical hot spiciness common among other brands. Pinakurat is now my choice dip for crispy fried anything including the excellent danggit, tocino, and tapa. Yum!

Pinakurat
Note: This is not a paid advertisement.