Lebanese Toum Recipe

Toum is a traditional Lebanese garlic dipping sauce goes perfect with everything from meat to bread. Next time you are looking for a unique dip that can be served with a variety of foods, Toum is the best dip to try!

Ingredients
3-4 cloves of garlic
¼ cup of vegetable or olive oil (or less depending on garlic used)
1 lemon, juiced
¼ teaspoon salt

Preparation
The garlic cloves are smashed using a wooden pestle, mixed with salt. Salt could be added just at the beginning or after the garlic cloves are well smashed. When the garlic becomes very smooth, olive oil is added gradually and mixed. The mixing is done by stirring the whole in the pestle. One should keep stirring until the whole is very viscous. The olive oil will be sucked by the garlic. Oil is added again, and again stirring until oil disappears. Little by little oil is added and stirred and this way the volume of the sauce grows and its taste gets sweeter. At a certain point lemon juice is added and mixed again until you get the sauce you see in the picture.

One thing to pay attention to, is not to add too much oil on one single time. Oil should be added gradually. The sauce should stick together and stay as viscous as possible. At a certain point one may notice that it's impossible to add more oil without the sauce falling apart. At that moment one can add a little lemon juice, stir for a while, and then continue adding oil and stirring. This makes the sauce stick together.

Do not stop for a long period time between mixing the Oil and the Lemon. While adding the oil it is necessary to keep stirring, stopping only for very brief periods.

The pestle used to prepare the Toum is usually wooden, some new one are made out of synthetic materials, like plastic; occasionally it is carved in stone. Stone carved pestles are usually used for Kibbe Nayeh.

The method described above is the most genuine way, this is how it's done in most parts of Lebanon.

Tip: If a mortar and pestle are unavailable, ingredients can be blended using a food processor.

Save and share this recipe
Want to share this recipe with your family and friends? Click the button below to send them an email or save this to your favorite social network.

Tarator Sauce Recipe

Best recipe of Tarator sauce - perfect for meats, and even better on pita sandwiches like Shawarma and Falafel. Tarator sauce is the quintessential Middle Eastern flavor--the one you love, the one that goes with everything. It is a universal sauce and can be used on veggies, seafood, beef, chicken and lamb.

Ingredients
1 cup tahini
3/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon parsley, finely chopped
dash of cumin

Preparation
In a food processor, combine tahini, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and cumin together. Mix well and add water as you are combining the ingredients.

Remove from processor and into a small bowl. Stir in parsley.

Serve immediately, or store in refrigerator for up to a week in an airtight container.

Save and share this recipe
Want to share this recipe with your family and friends? Click the button below to send them an email or save this to your favorite social network.

Pistachio & Almond Baklava

Everyone is invited to try this Pistachio & Almond Baklava recipe. A drizzle of orange syrup makes this Middle Eastern Turkish dessert an irresistible after-dinner treat.

Preparation Time 60 minutes
Cooking Time 55 minutes

Ingredients (serves 24)
Melted butter, to grease
430g (2 cups) caster sugar
185ml (3/4 cup) water
185ml (3/4 cup) fresh orange juice, strained
1 tsp orange flower water
280g (2 cups) pistachio kernels, finely chopped
320g (2 cups) blanched almonds, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
18 sheets filo pastry
250g butter, melted

Preparation
Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a 5cm-deep, 21 x 31cm (base measurement) baking dish with butter to grease. Place the sugar, water and orange juice in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cook, without stirring, for 20 minutes or until syrup thickens. Transfer to a heatproof jug. Set aside to cool completely. Stir in the orange flower water.

Meanwhile, combine the pistachio, almonds and cinnamon in a bowl. Place the filo on a clean work surface. Cover with a clean tea towel, then a damp tea towel (this will prevent it from drying out). Brush 1 filo sheet with butter and fold in half. Cut into 8 strips crossways. Repeat with another filo sheet and butter.

Brush 1 filo sheet with butter and fold in half. Line the base of the dish with the filo, leaving a gap at one end. Repeat with 3 more sheets of filo and butter. Use 4 of the filo strips to fill the gap.

Sprinkle one-third of the pistachio mixture evenly over the pastry. Continue layering with the remaining filo, butter and pistachio mixture to make two more layers. Finish with a layer of filo.

Use a sharp knife to trim the edges. Score the pastry into 24 squares. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and crisp. Pour over syrup. Set aside for 2 hours to cool completely. Cut into squares to serve.

Try
Middle-Eastern baklava
Baklava Recipe
Coffee Baklava
baklawa (baklava)

Save and share this recipe
Want to share this recipe with your family and friends? Click the button below to send them an email or save this to your favorite social network.