I was watching the new TV Show called Tony Shalhoub’s Breaking Bread. He made these Lebanese Pastries called Spinach Fatayer. I found his recipe on the web and I think it was at www.FoodNetwork.com They might have fixed the recipe since I looked but at the time the pastry recipe had a major misprint an didn’t work out many people said. I figure that the recipe for the pastry part is pretty close to pizza dough so I just whipped up m normal batch of pizza type dough. To his spinach recipe I added more spinach and just added feta and mozzarella and a big sprinkle of Alepo pepper but kept the flavors the same. I also added a beaten egg to the pasties for a nice finish. This is only a recipe idea so I didn’t fully figure this out for you. You just have to wing it. But it’s pretty easy anyone can do this and you can even buy pizza dough to make it even easier. I do note that I mixed up the spinach the day before so that it cooked itself.

In a big bowl mix up –

1 8 ounce bag spinach

1 onion – chop fine (I slice thin on mandolin and then chop)

1 large lemon – the fresh squeezed juice

2 heaping teaspoons dried mint

2 teaspoons z’atar (or more to taste)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or more to taste)

This gets mixed well and sits in a ziplock bag in your refrigerator over night.

*******Next Day ********

Set your oven to 375F

Take your spinach mixture and try to leave the liquid in the bag. Add your spinach mixture to a bowl and add 4 ounces of crumbled feta cheese and 16 ounces of shredded fresh mozzarella and set to the side.

Get out your meatball scoop and scoop out a meatball size piece of dough. You might need a little extra flour and roll your dough into a circle. Add a scoop of the spinach and cheese mixture. Fold up three ends of the pastry over the spinach filling. you can leave a small hole in the center if you like. These go on a non stick sprayed baking sheet. Then brush them with a beaten egg. They go in the oven till lightly Browned. (about 25 minutes)

A Special Thanks to Tony Shalhoub so I could make what I got here.

ENJOY!!!!

This Cucumber Salad is easy and quick to prepare. It comes out very tasty so you might want to give it a try. I used four good sized cucumbers so I’m guessing that this makes (depending on the size of cucumbers about 8 servings.

Ingredients for about 8 servings.

4 good sized firm cucumbers. – peel, cut in half longways, remove seed center with a spoon. Slice not too thin about 1/4 inch slices.

1/2 large onion – slice somewhat thin and cut the slices in half.

1 cup water

1 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon mustard powder

1 squirt honey (1-2 Tablespoons)

1 Tablespoon capers

1 Tablespoon dried dill

Directions – just mix everything together in a large bowl.

Enjoy!!!!

I got the idea in my head for Jerk Seasoned Meatballs. I worked carefully on a spice blend and came up with something special. I called them Jerk Inspired because I didn’t make them as hot as real jerk should be. Also “REAL JERK” needs to make made with Scotch Bonnet Peppers that are burning hot. They came out FORKING Fabulous. I think everyone out there would enjoy them. I carefully made up a spice mix. You need to make the spice mix first and 3/4 cup of the spice mix gets mixed into the turkey mixture and the rest flavors the sauce for the meatballs. Serving size is always difficult to determine because I don’t know if you want to make them for appetizers, lunch, or dinner. Today I made the balls a little bigger and got 67 meatballs. I guesstimate 1-2 meatballs per appetizer portion, about three meatballs per lunch portion, and 4-5 meatballs per dinner portion.

Ingredients for Jerk Spice Mix

6 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon dry ground ginger

1 Tablespoon granulated onion

1 Tablespoon granulated garlic

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 ground teaspoons allspice

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 Tablespoon dried parsley

********************************

Jerk Inspired Turkey Meatballs

3 pounds ground turkey

6 eggs – beaten

1+1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

8 cloves garlic – crushed to paste

3/4 cup Jerk Spice Mix

1 cup cooked chopped bell peppers and onions (a couple tablespoons oil)

1/2 cup scallions – chopped

non stick spray

olive oil spray

Directions – Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray sheet pans with non stick spray. Mix together in a large mixing bowl – Turkey, eggs, panko, garlic, 3/4 cup Jerk Spice Mix, onions, peppers, scallions all get mixed together. Ball them out on already non stick sprayed pans and spray the tops of meatballs with olive oil. They go in a preheated 350 degree oven for around 15 minutes.

Sauce-

28 oz can crushed San Marzano tomatoes

Rest of Jerk Spice Mix

Big squirt of honey (around two tablespoons

Either heat up for meatballs or reheat on meatballs.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!]

I’m on a roll creating different flavors of meatballs. I use ground turkey for most of my meatball and meatloaf recipes but you can use whatever ground meat that you want. With this recipe I made about 90 meatballs. I don’t know if you want to use them for appetizers, lunches, or dinners so I can’t determine the amount of servings. I would suggest 1-2 meatballs a person if using for appetizers. 3 meatballs a person could be lunch, and 4-5 meatballs a person can be a dinner serving. They came out really delicious. You’ll be glad to try them. I would suggest serving with hummus and either pitas, rice, or couscous.

Ingredients for about 90 meatballs

3 pounds ground turkey

1 cup panko

1/2 cup chickpea flour

6 eggs – slightly beaten

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 large onion – diced

1-2 red bell peppers – diced

8 cloves garlic – ground to paste

1 bunch parsley – remove leaves from stems and chop

1 bunch cilantro – remove most of stems and chop

1+1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

1 slightly heaping Tablespoon cumin

1 slightly heaping Tablespoon ground coriander

1+1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon

non stick spray

black sesame seeds for finishing

white sesame seeds for finishing

sea salt flakes for finishing

olive oil for spraying

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray sheet pans with non stick spray.

In a sauté pan on medium high heat cook up the peppers and onions or you can cook them off in your oven on a sheet pan but it will take a little longer. When the peppers and onion are room temperature you can add them to you large bowl with the ground turkey, panko, chickpea flour, eggs, garlic, parsley, cilantro, cayenne, cumin, coriander, and cardamon and mix well.

In a small bowl mix together black and white sesame seeds and add some sea salt flakes (I didn’t measure but it seemed like about a cup of sesame seeds and maybe a tablespoon of sea salt flakes)

Scoop the balls and roll them in the seed mixture and place on the pre sprayed pans.

They need about 15 minutes in the oven if you made them the size I made them.

After I made them I froze a good amount. Then I saved some for a gathering and reheated them on a nonstick sprayed sheet pan with dipped in water wonton wrappers and served them up with hummus I whipped up.

To reheat 20-30 minutes in a 350F oven (with or without wonton wrappers) These were a great big hit!

Enjoy!!!!!

This is a twist on Chef Bud Dudhia’s recipe for Tomatillo Salsa. I often have extra Zhug leftover from visiting Mediterranean Restaurants. Zhug is usually a flavor BOMB of Cilantro, Parsley, HOT peppers, garlic, cumin, coriander, and lemon. So naturally it can enhance salsas. This salsa came out FORKING CRAZY DELICIOUS!!!!! I have no idea how many servings it actually makes. It’s delicious you can always freeze some if desired.

4 lbs tomatillos – remove skins, wash, and quarter

2 medium onions – remove skin and quarter

2 Tablespoons or to taste green zhug

2 pickled jalapeños – remove stems and chop

7 garlic cloves – grated

7 oz almonds ground or use almond flour (same thing)]

1 large or 2 medium avocados (remove skin and pit ) chopped

1/4 cup cilantro – chopped

1/2 cup jalapeño brine

1 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

Set Oven to 400 degrees F.

The tomatillos and the onions go on a sheet pan and you put them on the upper rack of your oven for abut 45 minutes or until they char a bit.

Then you blend (hand blender is safer and works better) and blend. Then add all the rest of the ingredients (Zhug, jalapeños, garlic, almonds, avocado, cilantro, jalapeño brine, and sea salt.

It’s FORKING Delicious!

A Special Thanks to Chef Nud Dudhia so I could make what I got here.