Music is A Universal Language

Hello everyone, I don’t think I have ever emphasized my love for music and what is does to me and my soul and how it makes my world so great. Now, music has been part of me since I was a kid, but lately I have been listening to more and more, and plus it depends on the mood I am in that specific day and time of my life, but here are my favourite music genre’s and what the music reminds me of and how it is for me.

Reggaeton/Cubaton/Spanish/Caribbean/Soca/Reggae/Bachata/Salsa/Merengue/ — All these music genres remind me of my travels to The Caribbean, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and when I went on Cruise ships. I have a lot of this type of music and it just makes me feel like I am in tropical destinations around the world and it makes me feel like I am sipping a coconut by the beach, and just hearing this music in the background. It is awesome and great beats to soothe my mood at that point in time.

Armenian/Arabic/Middle Eastern/Greek/Persian/ — Now, this is what I usually listen to and I love this type of music too because it reminds of get together, parties, and outings within my Armenian community and we have all these types of music playing at our parties and among in our homes too. We love our Music and we play all these kinds. I know we are Armenian, but we listen to all these kinds of music and we dance and just have fun with it all. We also have Armenian Patriotic Music as I am sure with Arabic, Middle Eastern, Greek and Persian music too. We play that toward the ending of some parties I attend.

Pop/Alternative/Classic Rock/70’s/80’s/90’s/ — These I listen to when I am in the mood, but mostly I listen to them when I am with other friends and family and with those who like this music like me. Its something I listen to once in a while or a few times a month. Now when I go to parties too and when I hang out with people.

Dance/Freestyle/House/Trance/Rhythms/ — I listen to this a lot too. I have a huge playlist on my Ipod and I listen to it when I am just in the mood. Like I said, I am selective to music as long as it suits what I am feeling that day and when I am happy and jumpy, this is the type of music I get into.

Television Theme Songs are my favourite too.

So you can say I am into mostly everything and there are some types that are not my cup of tea, but I am sure that goes for everyone. I am into Country music too, but I am mostly interested in the ones above. I used to carry a huge cd collection, but now I have them all in my Ipod and carry it around. Times have sure changed, but nothing beats the Cassette tapes and music of the past, but although this time around the music has changed and everything, but music from the past is a whole different story. You could actually hear every word said, and you can actually understand the meaning behind what these artists would say, but then again times have surely changed, technology has changed a lot and advanced a lot. I think now with all this music talk, I am gonna go listen to some now. 🙂

Have a wonderful day!

Armenian Pizza — Laghmajoun – MesaShod – Armenian Style

Hello All, this is my last Delicious week recipe.

 

Armenian Pizza 🙂

 

Enjoy the recipe

 

Printed from THEGUTSYGOURMET.NET

INGREDIENTS: Makes 10-12

 

Dough:**See Note

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast

• ½ tsp sugar

• ½ cup lukewarm water

• 3 cups all purpose white flour

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

** NOTE: You can use medium sized fluffy flour tortillas and skip the dough making. Be sure when

you bake the lahmajoon/lahmacun, that you oil the baking sheet when you bake them.

 

Topping:

• olive oil for the brushing the dough before the topping

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 2 cloves crushed garlic

• 1 large onion, grated

• 1 tomato skinned and chopped – put tomato in a deep bowl and cover with boiling water for 2

minutes, remove and peel. Leave seeds and juice with the tomato, do not discard.

• salt to taste

• 1 – 2 teaspoons sugar

• 12-16 oz ground lamb – can use 85% fat ground beef.

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

• 1 large lemon, juice of

• 1 green bell pepper, finely diced

• 1 pickled Jalapeno pepper finely chopped

• 1 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

• 1 cup fresh spearmint, finely chopped

• 1 tsp. cumin

• 1 tsp. paprika

 

MAKING THE DOUGH:

** NOTE: You can use medium sized fluffy flour tortillas and skip the doughmaking. Be sure when you bake the lahmajoon/lahmacun,

that you oil the baking sheet when you bake them.

 

In a small bowl mix yeast and the sugar. Add 1/2 cup of warm water, stir well, cover the bowl. Keep the mixture in a warm place

for about 15 minutes to full activate the yeast.

 

Add the yeast mixture to the remaining flour and water. Knead well until the dough is soft and smooth.

 

Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, cover and let sit in a warm area of your kitchen for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled

in size.

 

Take the dough out and punch down. Divide the dough into 10-12 balls just slightly smaller than a tennis ball. Roll and set aside

on a floured surface and cover with a damp towel. Set the oven at 450º F.

 

MAKING THE TOPPING:

Add the onion, garlic and butter to a skillet and sautè until translucent. Take off the stove and let cool.

 

Take all your prepared vegetables and place them all in a large bowl. If you have a food processor, this would be the time to

give all the vegetables a few pulses to get them all into a fine spreadable size. DO NOT PROCESS TO AN UNIDENTIFIABLE MUSH!

 

Add pepper flakes, salt, sugar, paprika, cumin and lemon juice into a large bowl with the other ingredients and mix well by hand

until you have well mixed, spreadable topping.

 

Take balls of dough and roll into a round, circle or an oval measuring up to 1/16 to 1/8 inches in thickness. Place on a baking

sheet that has been oiled with olive oil, canola oil or cooking spray. Brush each round with olive oil (Extra Virgin is best). Top

with 2-3 tablespoons of the topping and spread the topping very thinly. Make sure you have an even layer.

 

Each baking sheet will hold two lahmajoon/lahmacun. You should have 3 or 4 baking sheets to keep things moving. Keep your

eye on the sheets in the oven to make sure they bake evenly. You may have to move things around the oven.The oven should

remain at 450°F – not too high and not too low. Since you are going to be constantly opening the oven, the temperature ideally

will stay between 400º F and 350ºF. Cooked Lahmajoon/Lahmacuns are crispy at the edges and pliable in the center. You can

stack your finished lahmajoon/lahmacun topping side to topping side and bottom to bottom. Cover them with a damp towel to

keep them from getting too brittle.

 

You are now ready to fill them with fresh parsley, cucumber slices, sweet onion slices or other fresh veggies and a drizzle of

lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil, roll them up and enjoy these Anatolian delights.

Armenian Cheese Boreg

Hi Everyone,Tomorrow will be the last of my Middle Eastern Armenian Recipes week, then I will resume to the regular blogging. Enjoy the last 2 recipes of today and tomorrow.

A phyllo dough turnover filled with cheese and parsley and baked to a golden brown. Similar to the Greek Spanakopita, but a bit more cheesy and lighter in texture. They can be served hot or at room temperature Like many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern recipes, the phyllo dough co-stars with the feta cheese to make this a spectacular snack. The packaged phyllo dough available today makes recipes like this a cinch, compared to the exhausting and time consuming drudgery of rolling out sheets and sheets of tissue paper-thin phyllo dough.

RECIPE PRINTED FROM: THEGUTSYGOURMET.NET©

INGREDIENTS: Makes 2 dozen

●   ½ pound, or more,  butter melted,  or better yet Clarified Butter.

●   Purchase 1 box phyllo dough at your supermarket (Athens or Apollo brands are the best).  You will
     need the whole box.

FILLING: 
●  1½ lbs. Jack cheese,  or ricotta,  or Armenian or Greek (Feta) cheese. Mix or take your choice.  Feta is
    the most authentic.  I like to mix feta and jack cheese ½ and ½.
●  1 cup chopped Armenian or Italian parsley,  Flat leafed.
●  2 eggs [beaten well]
●  ½ teaspoon salt
●  ½ teaspoon white pepper
●  Mix the above ingredients for the filling

DIRECTIONS: 

1.  Preheat oven to 400°F

2. Cut your phyllo dough sheets into 4 inch wide strips and the length of the longest dimension of the
    sheet of phyllo.

3. Brush a strip with butter and place another strip on top of that strip.  Butter that strip and add
    another until you have stacked 4 buttered strips.  

4. Place a tablespoon(s) of filling on the end of the strip and fold over the end into a triangle.  Now as
    you would fold a flag,  fold the filling and strip into a successions of triangular folds until you reach
    the end.  Brush butter on both sides and place on a baking sheet.  Do this until all the phyllo or the
    filling is used up.  Should come out pretty close to even and approximately two dozen triangular
    turn-overs..**SEE COOK'S NOTES**

5. Bake the cheese boreg triangles in a 400°F oven for approximately 20-25 minutes until they are
    golden brown.

6. As soon as they are cool enough to handle,  serve as an appetizer or a side dish

**COOK'S NOTES** 
1.  If you only need a dozen, you can now put a tray full in the freezer and freeze.  When frozen,  you
     can store them in your freezer in plastic zip-lock® bags and bake them,  without thawing,  at a later
     date.

Almond Baklava with Rosé Water

Almond Baklava With Rose Water..

Ingredients.

• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2/3 cup honey
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 8 2×1/2-inch strips orange peel
• 2 teaspoons rose water*

 

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 3 cups coarsely chopped almonds
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

 

• 15 fresh phyllo pastry sheets or frozen, thawed

 

• Plain yogurt

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Almond-Baklava-with-Rose-Water-106124#ixzz2EtJPpX00

Stir 1 1/3 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups water, honey, cinnamon sticks, and orange peel in saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; bring to boil. Remove from heat. Mix in rose water. Chill until cold.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Brush 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with some of melted butter. Mix almonds, ground cinnamon, allspice, and 1/3 cup sugar in medium bowl.

Fold 1 sheet of phyllo in half to form 12×9-inch rectangle. Place folded sheet in prepared pan. Brush with melted butter. Repeat with 4 more folded sheets, brushing top of each folded sheet with butter. Sprinkle half of nut mixture over. Top with 1 folded pastry sheet and brush with butter. Repeat with 4 more folded sheets, brushing top of each with butter. Sprinkle remaining nut mixture over. Repeat with 5 more folded sheets, brushing top of each with butter. Using sharp knife, make 5 diagonal cuts across phyllo, cutting through top layers only and spacing cuts evenly. Repeat in opposite direction to form diamond pattern. Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Strain rose syrup. Spoon 1 cup syrup over hot baklava; cover and chill remaining syrup. Recut baklava along lines all the way through layers. Let stand 4 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.) Serve baklava with yogurt and remaining syrup.

* Available at Middle Eastern markets and specialty foods stores.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Almond-Baklava-with-Rose-Water-106124#ixzz2EtJk10Dn

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Almond-Baklava-with-Rose-Water-106124?id=106124

Recipe Credits found from website above.

Armenian Nutmeg Cake

Recipe Credits and Website go to

http://www.dishesfrommykitchen.com/2012/04/armenian-challenge-daring-bakers-april.html

Ingredients For The Armenian Nutmeg Cake:

Milk – 1 cup

Baking soda – 1 tsp

All-purpose – 2 cups

Baking powder – 2 tsp

Brown sugar, firmly packed – 2 cups

Butter – 3/4 cup (preferably unsalted, cubed)

Walnut pieces -1/2 cup you may need a little more

Ground nutmeg – 1 to 1 1/2 tsp (5 to 7 ½ ml) (5 to 8 gm) (try to grate it fresh yourself; the aroma is enchanting)

Egg – 1

 Method:

1. Preheat your oven to moderate 350°F/175°C/gas mark 4.

2. Mix the baking soda (not baking powder; that’s for the next step) into the milk. Set it aside.

3. Sift together the flour and the baking powder into a large bowl. One sift is fine

4. Add the brown sugar. Go ahead and mix the flour and brown sugar together.

5. Toss in the cubed butter.

6. Mash the butter with a fork into the dry ingredients (you can also use your fingers if you want). You’ll want to achieve a more-or-less uniform, tan-colored crumbly mixture.

7. Take HALF of this resulting crumbly mixture into your spring form (9”/23cm) pan. Press a crust out of it using your fingers and knuckles. It will be easy.

8. Crack an egg into a mixer or bowl.

9. Toss the nutmeg in with the egg.

10. Start mixing slowly with a whisk attachment and then increase to medium speed, or mix with a hand whisk if you’re doing it manually. Once it’s mixed well and frothy (about 1 minute using a standing mixer, or about 2-3 minutes of vigorous beating with a whisk), pour in the milk and baking soda mixture. Continue to mix until uniform.

11. Pour in the rest of the crumbly mixture. Mix that well, with either a paddle attachment, or a spatula. Or continue to use the whisk; it won’t make much of a difference, since the resulting batter is very liquidy.

12. Pour the batter over the base in the spring form pan.

13. Gently sprinkle the walnut pieces over the batter.

14. Bake in a preheated moderate oven for about 30-40 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the top is a golden brown, and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

15. Allow to cool in the pan, and then release. Enjoy!

A Middle Eastern Dessert — Basbousa, Namoura — Delicious

A Delicious Middle Eastern Recipe. Dessert
Basbousa, Namoura

We make this in our family during special occasions and among everything else throughout the year.

This one of our popular desserts.

• 1 1/2 cups semolina flour

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1 cup plain yogurt

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 3 tablespoons flaked coconut

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 6 whole almonds, split in half

• 1 1/2 cups water

• 1 3/4 cups white sugar

• 2 tablespoons rose water

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the semolina flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, yogurt, oil, coconut, and baking powder. Set aside for 30 minutes.
2. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the water, 1 3/4 cups sugar, and rosewater. Bring to a boil, and boil for 3 or 4 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread the semolina batter into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking pan. Slice into squares or diamonds, and place on almond half onto each piece.
4. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light brown. Switch the oven setting to broil, and broil until the top is golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the oven, and pour the syrup over the squares. Serve warm.

Recipe Credits go to All Recipes Website.  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/basboosa/detail.aspx

 

Armenian Sesame Cookies

” ARMENIAN SESAME COOKIES ”

All purpose flour 3 and 1/3 cups
Baking powder 1½ tsp

Salt ½ tsp
Unsalted butter, melted 1 cup or 2 sticks
Milk ½ cup
Sugar ½ cup
Egg 3 large
Sesame seeds 1 cup

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Combining all wet ingredients
Combine flour, baking powder, salt together and set aside.

Whisk together melted butter and milk in a large bowl, then add sugar and continue whisking until the sugar is mostly dissolved.

Add one egg and whisk again thoroughly.

Gently stir in the flour mixture to make a soft dough.

On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 36 pieces of approximately equal weight. Roll each piece of dough into a 4 or 5-inch strand. Connect the ends to make a circle and set aside. Finish shaping all the cookies.

Place a couple of tablespoons of sesame seeds in a shallow dish.

Beat two eggs well to form an egg wash. Paint each cookie with egg wash and gently press its top into the dish of sesame seeds.

Arrange cookies, seeded side up, on prepared baking sheets, spacing about an inch apart. Adding a little sesame seeds to the dish at a time to keep them from getting all sticky from the egg wash.

Bake sesame cookies for about 30 minutes or until they are golden and dry. Cool cookies on baking pan on wire racks. Store them in airtight
containers to preserve their crisp texture.

Credits to the Recipe www.sugarbakingblog.com

Talin’s — Armenian Tabouleh Salad

Hello, today is the day where the week of Delicious Armenian and Middle Eastern Food Recipes Kick off as I had stated a couple of days ago. I would like to start with Tabouleh Salad (TAB-OO-LEI). Without Further do, Here is the moment you have all been waiting for.

is a healthy and tasty salad served throughout the tables of Armenian, Middle Eastern People. It is important to incorporate
fresh parsley and mint when making this masterpiece we call tabouleh. Many traditional Lebanese and Armenian recipes for tabouleh use a
much higher proportion of parsley to bulghur. If you prefer this style more than the rest, increase the parsley to 3 cups as desired to your preference.

Ingredients include:
1 cup fine (#1) bulghur wheat
1 1/2 cups fresh parsley, chopped finely
3/4 cup cooked chick peas, chopped (Not necessary but if you like you can include this into it)
1 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 large tomato, chopped to fine pieces
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped finely
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt to taste and to preference.

Preparation
1. With the bulghur mix with 2 cup cold water and let stand 1 hour to slightly soften.
2. Press out excess moisture and water in strainer.
3. Wash parsley thoroughly, and then drain and pat dry with paper towels, remove the stems and discard, finely chop leaves.
4. Mix the parsley with the bulghur in a large bowl, add chick peas(optional), green onions, tomato and some fresh mint.
5. Combine the oil, lemon juice and salt, pour over tabouleh and mix thoroughly and constantly.
6. Chill well before serving in the refrigerator for over 2 hours or you have the tabouleh salad instantly. Depends on the time you have.
7. Spoon tabouleh into small bowls lined with lettuce leaves for presentation and you can decorate the tops too with any ingredient not chopped in the recipe above.

Serve with pita bread or you can just eat it like that..

Notes
If you can’t find #1 bulghur, use #2 (medium sized bulghur) instead.

Stay Tuned For My Armenian/Middle Eastern Recipe Week Starting December 8 – 15, 2012

Hello everyone, due to popular demand and many people wanting to know about different types of food I eat, prepare and what my ethnic background eats, how it is prepared, what spices, herbs, among specific amounts to everything. I will be featuring an array and variety of Armenian and Middle Eastern foods that a lot of people are interested in. It is coming time to Christmas celebrations and gatherings with the family, and it is timely and it gets people to think about different recipes and create a new masterpiece in everything. So basically I will be writing and posting about different recipes that I have cooked myself, have learned from my family and friends, and basically what we love to eat with appetizers, deserts, dinner, breakfast, lunch, baking different cakes, pastries, salads, finger foods, meatballs, soups, among other delicious types of food. It will be quite exciting to me to share with the world my favourite Armenian and Middle Eastern Dishes. So stay tuned and get your taste buds ready for a new world in the culinary world and among everything else. Enjoy and have great Christmas and enjoy the holidays and every other day. 🙂

The Music Of The World, To My Soul – My Favourite Music Of The World

Hello everyone, I don’t think I have ever emphasized my love for music and what is does to me and my soul and how it makes my world so great. Now, music has been part of me since I was a kid, but lately I have been listening to more and more, and plus it depends on the mood I am in that specific day and time of my life, but here are my favourite music genre’s and what the music reminds me of and how it is for me.

Reggaeton/Cubaton/Spanish/Caribbean/Soca/Reggae/Bachata/Salsa/Merengue/ — All these music genres remind me of my travels to The Caribbean, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and when I went on Cruise ships. I have a lot of this type of music and it just makes me feel like I am in tropical destinations around the world and it makes me feel like I am sipping a coconut by the beach, and just hearing this music in the background. It is awesome and great beats to soothe my mood at that point in time.

Armenian/Arabic/Middle Eastern/Greek/Persian/ — Now, this is what I usually listen to and I love this type of music too because it reminds of get together, parties, and outings within my Armenian community and we have all these types of music playing at our parties and among in our homes too. We love our Music and we play all these kinds. I know we are Armenian, but we listen to all these kinds of music and we dance and just have fun with it all. We also have Armenian Patriotic Music as I am sure with Arabic, Middle Eastern, Greek and Persian music too. We play that toward the ending of some parties I attend.

Pop/Alternative/Classic Rock/70’s/80’s/90’s/ — These I listen to when I am in the mood, but mostly I listen to them when I am with other friends and family and with those who like this music like me. Its something I listen to once in a while or a few times a month. Now when I go to parties too and when I hang out with people.

Dance/Freestyle/House/Trance/Rhythms/ — I listen to this a lot too. I have a huge playlist on my Ipod and I listen to it when I am just in the mood. Like I said, I am selective to music as long as it suits what I am feeling that day and when I am happy and jumpy, this is the type of music I get into.

Television Theme Songs are my favourite too.

So you can say I am into mostly everything and there are some types that are not my cup of tea, but I am sure that goes for everyone. I am into Country music too, but I am mostly interested in the ones above. I used to carry a huge cd collection, but now I have them all in my Ipod and carry it around. Times have sure changed, but nothing beats the Cassette tapes and music of the past, but although this time around the music has changed and everything, but music from the past is a whole different story. You could actually hear every word said, and you can actually understand the meaning behind what these artists would say, but then again times have surely changed, technology has changed a lot and advanced a lot. I think now with all this music talk, I am gonna go listen to some now. 🙂

Have a wonderful day!

Talin’s Hummus — Chick Pea Dip

Hummus (Chick Pea) Dip is one of the easiest things to make… Here is how to make it…

 

Ingredients:

Salt

Lemon Juice (Use the machine or the lemon squeezer to squeeze the lemon juice out of real lemons)

Olive Oil

Garlic

Tahini

Chick Peas

Water

 

1 — Open up the Chick Peas can 1 or 2 or how much desired — put them into a strainer – Wash and rinse the liquid thoroughly, then drain the water completely..

2 — 2-3 cloves of garlic. Put in the food processor or to your choice (have little garlic, if you love a lot of garlic in your hummus.. it is all about a persons preference)

3 — Put 4-5 tablespoons of Tahini

4 — 2 or 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil

5 — Put a teaspoon of salt

6 — Put the lemon juice in

7 — Then add water in gradually

8 — Make sure the hummus chick pea dip is not so watery. Make sure it is not too too thick either.. just in the middle but more toward the thick side.. Also make sure the hummus is not too too salty, just right. take a spoon and have a taste before serving…

 to top it you can put ground pepper, paprika, olives, cumin, and decorate it with either grape tomatos, and so on and so forth. It is a great appetizer and you can even make it for lunch… have it with pita bread, or have it with Eggplant kebabs, Pork Kebabs, or with other Appetizers…

 It is a healthy appetizer and you will love it. If you have not tried it out, try it out.. you will love it!