Middle Eastern cooking for beginners --Hushwee

As I've grown older my hearing has declined. However, my sense of smell seems to have become more acute. The fragrance and smell of food transports me to specials places, times and memories. I am able to vividly imagine the smell of a favorite dish by simply viewing an item of food. On a recent trip to the grocery I spotted ground lamb. It's a hit or miss item in my local Kroger. Ground lamb is favored in Middle Eastern cooking. When I saw the package of lamb and my brain immediately smelled Hushwee, referred to as 'rice-meat stuffing' by my Lebanese friends. 

Hushwee with cranberry sauce

More than 20 years ago a small pizza shop opened in my Toledo, Ohio neighborhood. The pizza was good, but I discovered they served Lebanese food. My favorite was Popoff's stuffed grape leaves. I became a regular, and the owner Michelle became my friend. During one of my all to frequent visits, I opened the door and the fragrance of cinnamon and allspice wafted through the tiny restaurant. Begging to know the source, I was presented with Hushwee, a Middle Eastern comfort food and a side of laban (yogurt). I fell deeply in love with Lebanese food. Sadly, my favorite little spot closed before I could purloin the recipes for the dishes I craved.

A couple of years later, I met a man of proud Lebanese parentage. We began dating, and I became the grateful recipient of Middle Eastern Sunday dinners lovingly prepared by his mother. Learning to eat raw lamb (known as kibbe) was my proudest moment! During a Thanksgiving Holiday we made a visit to his sister's home near Chicago. Diane prepared Hushwee with our turkey dinner. It was nirvana! And I discovered it didn't need to be covered in laban, but tasted just as good with cranberry sauce. The dating relationship only survived a year, but my love of Lebanese food has continued to grow. My recipe is derived from a Syrian-Lebanese church cookbook purchased while I lived in Toledo, Ohio. My Lebanese friends will be able to smell this dish by simply looking at the photos. For the rest of you; step out of your comfort zone and try this one. You'll love it.

Hushwee (Rice-meat stuffing) Serves 6 as side dish, 4 as main dish

Total time: 40 minutes
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients for Hushwee

Ingredients:
1- 1/2 cups white rice, rinsed. (place rice in bowl of water and soak for 15 minutes, strain)
1 pound ground lamb (or organic ground beef)
3 T butter
1/4 cup pine nuts
3 cups homemade chicken broth (or store-bought if necessary)
1 tsp ground sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp good quality cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice

1. In a large 10-12" saucepan (with a lid), sauté the pine nuts in butter until golden. 

2. Remove with a slotted spoon to a small bowl and set aside. 

3. Add the ground meat to the remaining butter and cook until slightly browned. 

4. Add rinsed rice, browned pine nuts, chicken broth, salt, pepper, cinnamon and allspice.

Combine Ingredients

5. Stir ingredients and bring to a boil. (About 5 minutes)

Hushwee

6. Cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer about 15 minutes until liquid is absorbed.


7.  Serve with laban or cranberry sauce.

Fried Cornmeal Mush

   Our family grew up in Ohio and one of our greatest pleasures was eating Grandma Fletcher's fried cornmeal mush with butter and maple syrup. Cornmeal mush is not to be confused with southern style grits, but rather compared to Italian polenta. A simple explanation is--cornmeal grits are coarsely ground, polenta is a finer grind and mush is made with an even finer ground cornmeal.
   One rule of thumb; don't buy cheap ground cornmeal in a round cardboard container on the grocery store shelf unless you like bland mush with no flavor. If possible, buy from an Amish store. If you must buy from the grocery I would recommend Anson Mills fine ground cornmeal and store in a plastic bag in your freezer.
   The recipe is simple because there are three ingredients: Cornmeal, salt and water.  My grandma used to shred leftover ham and blend it with the mush while cooking. I'm a purist, and prefer mine fried in Crisco in a large skillet, turning once when the edges start to get golden and crispy. My family prefers our fried mush buttered and covered in maple syrup; just like a stack of pancakes. If you prefer not to do it yourself, there is always Bob Evans--but it isn't the same as homemade.

Fried Cornmeal Mush

Ingredients:

1- cup fine ground cornmeal
3- cups cold water
1- teaspoon salt

Directions:

1.  Mix cornmeal in one cup of cold water and set aside.

2.  Boil two cups of cold water in a medium-size, heavy gauge pan over high heat and add salt when water is boiling briskly.

3.  Remove pan from heat (because it is going to bubble up) and slowly whisk the cornmeal/water mixture into the boiling water until smooth.  

4.  Reduce heat to medium and cover. The mixture will continue to bubble. I recommend wearing long sleeves and using a long handled wooden spoon when stirring to avoid getting burned (speaking from years of experience). Continue cooking and stirring frequently for an additional 10-12 minutes until the mixture is thick.  

5.  Pour into a loaf pan rinsed in cold water, or two clean soup cans rinsed in cold water for round loaves. Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.

6.  When ready to cook, remove from loaf pan or soup can and slice thinly. Heat Crisco or oil over medium high heat and add slices of mush to hot oil with a pancake rather than your fingers to avoid getting burned with hot oil. Don't crowd the slices because the edges will stick together and become difficult to flip. I recommend covering with a splatter guard while the mush is frying because it is like frying bacon! When mush is golden around the edges, flip with pancake turner and continue frying until crispy. 

7. Transfer to serving plate and serve with your choice of toppings. (I usually drain on paper towels to removed excess oil before transferring to a serving plate-just like cooking bacon). By the way, fried mush is excellent with bacon...

Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Clusters

Peanut clusters cooling

Last year I posted a recipe for peanut clusters made in a crock pot.  After a good bit of experimentation, the recipe has been revised for chocolate lovers.  The original recipe called for 36 ounces of white almond bark or candy coating and gave the candy a waxy texture. My revision uses only 16 ounces of white chocolate and it is worth the expense to use the real deal, no candy coating.  If you want the taste of chocolate, buy REAL chocolate. I always use a slow cooker liner so the entire bag can be removed and placed on jelly roll pans or a marble slab. If you want to skip the process of making individual clusters; use scissors to cut the bag, spread the chocolate evenly in the pans and break into bark after it has cooled. To form clusters; drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper and allow to cool.  

Place the following ingredients in layers in your lined crock pot:


16 oz. salted dry roasted peanuts
16 oz. unsalted dry roasted peanuts
2 - 8 oz. bars of Baker's German Sweet Chocolate, broken into blocks and chopped
8 oz. milk chocolate baking bar or 1 cup of milk chocolate chips
18 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (3 cups)
16 oz. white chocolate such as Baker's or Ghirardelli

Cover and cook at low temperature until melted, 2-3 hours.  (When you can see the top layer of white chocolate melting, your candy is ready).

Stir with large wooden spoon until the mixture is combined and peanuts are spread throughout.

Place bag on jelly roll pan (prepare an additional pan and line with wax paper) or large marble slab lined with wax paper and cut bag with scissors to spread on pans. For bark, simply cool and break into pieces.  For individual candies, drop by teaspoonful onto wax paper.  Makes approximately 12 dozen individual candies or two trays of bark.

Chocolate and peanut goodness!