Put baba ganouj in a bowl & fold in chopped olives & zahter. Blend thoroughly & adjust seasonings if necessary. Cover & refrigerate. Before serving, drizzle with olive oil & garnish with parsley. Serve with pita wedges. * Zahter is a Middle Eastern blend of marjoram, thyme, sesame seeds & sumac seeds found in good [...]

CUT EGGPLANT into 1/2-by-2-inch strips. If using Italian eggplants, peel skin. In a colander, toss eggplant with salt; drain for 30 minutes. Squeeze gently to remove excess water. Pat dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, sugar and chicken stock. Preheat wok until hot over high heat. Add 3 tablespoons of [...]

Soak, dates, currants, & prunes in a bowl of warm water for 15 minutes. Then remove them, pat dry, and mix with the other dried fruits. Mel the butter in a large, heavy skillet over High heat. Add the fruit mixture and the almonds. Reduce the heat to Low and stir for 4 minutes, Stir [...]

-MARINADE – 1 tb Light soy sauce 2 ts Rice wine 1 ts Sesame oil 1/2 ts Salt 3 tb Cornstarch 1 tb All-purpose flour 2 c Peanut oil SAUCE 1 1/2 tb Peanut oil 5 Dried chiles; halved 3 tb Garlic, finely sliced 1 ts Salt 3 tb Sugar 1/2 c Water 1 ts [...]

–PEANUT SAUCE– 2/3 c Crunchy peanut butter 1 1/2 c Unsweetened coconut milk 1/4 c Fresh lemon juice 2 tb Soy sauce 2 tb Brown sugar or molasses 1 ts Grated fresh ginger root 4 Garlic cloves — minced or pressed Ground cayenne pepper 1/4 c Homemade chicken stock 1/4 c Heavy cream GARNISHES Grated [...]

RASPBERRY SAUCE 2 c Fresh raspberries 1/4 c Sugar IN A BLENDER, puree the lychee fruit. Add the sugar and orange juice and freeze according to the ice-cream makers instructions. Puree the raspberries in a blender. Strain into a small bowl through the fine-mesh strainer. Mix in the sugar. Refrigerate until ready to use. To [...]

Peel and cut eggplants into 1 inch by 2 inch strips. Mix sugar and Balsamic vinegar. Set aside. Heat 1/2 olive oil in wok. Add 1/2 eggplants and cook, stirring constantly until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Heat remaining 1/2 oil and cook remaining eggplant in same fashion. Add all eggplant back [...]

Preheat oven to 400F. Remove oven racks & spray them with oil. Wash potatoes & slice them lengthwise into sticks 1/2″ thick or crosswise into rounds 1/3″ thivk. Trnasfer to a baking pan & spray well with oil. Add seasonings & toss to coat. Place the rounds in a single layer on the oven racks. [...]

Dice chicken, place in a bowl and mix with marinade ingredients. Before dicing bamboo shoots, blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds (to remove tinny, canned flavour). Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Heat wok, add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil an stirfry pine nuts until golden brown. Set aside on paper towel. [...]

-HARISSA – 1/2 lb Red chilis, stemmed, seeded — & chopped 6 Garlic cloves, peeled 1 ts Caraway seeds 1 ts Salt 1 1/2 ts Pepper 1 1/2 ts Cumin 1 ts Coriander Olive oil Place cooked chick peas in a blender. Add onion, parsley, garlic, stock, soda, spices, salt & pepper. Process until smooth. [...]