Lobster Ravioli with Truffle Oil

I know this is a long due recipe, I have made it a few weeks ago and I even made it another time after before posting (insert ashamed face here :$).

Since I came to the USA, among other things I discovered Costco. I think I can fairly say it is on the list of my favorite stores ever. Especially in the food department; for those of our readers who don’t know Costco (for the simple reason of living across the world), it is a store where you must have a membership to be able to make your purchases because initially it is aimed at small businesses and they sell things in bulk for great prices.

You are probably wondering about this Costco intro, but this is what brings me to my Lobster Ravioli: Costco has the most amazing fresh ravioli… Lobster is one of them, we have bought other flavors since, they were equally amazing. But this is another story…

Lebanese Stuffed Zucchini (Mexican Squash) – Koussa Mehchi

To my surprise, what we call zucchini in Lebanon is called Mexican squash in the USA. The even most surprising part was to see how much veggies eating habits Lebanon shares with Mexico. Tomatoes is an obvious thing, but the most amazing for me was the chickpeas in their pods. It is a snack we eat in Lebanon and it is getting rarer now. It is one of my favorite things to munch on in between meals and you can imagine what a nice surprise it was to see them here.

It is funny how often I see something and tell Clint we eat that in Lebanon and he tells me that it is a food imported by the Mexican community or eaten by them. So you can imagine how funny it was to see that the type of zucchini we eat is called Mexican squash.

Stuffed Opo Squash – Araa

This is a delicious recipe that shows that simple flavors can render amazing results.

I am posting a slide show for the recipe as a variant of photo posting in details as I am also posting the recipe down below.  Enjoy!

My Mom’s Moghrabieh

Since I have posted an info page about Moghrabieh, I noticed that it arose a lot of interest. And since then I have been meaning to post a recipe, but you know my story with taking recipes from my mom.  And I wanted her recipe in particular, because Moghrabieh comes out perfect with her.

Pizza from Scratch (Chicken-Garlic and Pepperoni-Pineapple)

Pizza is probably one of the most consumed dishes of all here in the USA. This is probably because it is relatively cheap and there are such a variety of ways to prepare it that there is bound to be a combination of crust, sauce, and topping selections to please nearly anyone. There are thin, crispy crusts for those who enjoy a New York style pie; thicker, doughier crusts for those who like the West Coast style; and even the infamous Chicago style with another layer of crust on top of the entire pie. Sauces range from pesto to ranch to creamy-garlic to marinara, while the list of possible toppings are too many to list here.

Mandarin Quinoa Stir Fry – An Intercontinental Fusion

Although I like great tasting food as much as the next guy, I do tend to pay attention to my health and diet. All of those college biology courses might be to blame, but I I have also had an innate interest in health since I was just a little tike. Recently I have been on a workout routine that requires me to have a large amount of good quality protein in my diet. As I don’t want to overload myself with too much saturated fat, I began considering adding some plant sources to meet my protein needs and lo and behold I came across Quinoa.

Mloukhieh

I don’t know if any of you can relate to me on this, but getting down a recipe from my mom is like the Mission Impossible of the cooking world.

Mom cooks by feel (I am kind of guilty of it too :$); she just throws in the ingredients the way they seem right. Whether it is the size, the smell or the taste and she ends up having a fantastic result. You would think it could not get better but another time you taste the same thing, she manages to perfect it even more, so much that she earned from me the analogy of the wine: “Mom’s cooking is like wine, it gets better with age”. For those who know me well, they know that this is the ultimate compliment from me and I am not someone to dish out compliments like they were candy on Halloween.

The Italian Lunch

Friday in Dubai is a weekend day or as I would like to call it, “Lazy Day”. I usually spend it at home on the couch watching TV or I hit the pool and lay down under the sun reading gossip magazines. Last Friday, I decided to change my habit and invite my friend, Jana, over for lunch to cook pasta or something nice and quick. After checking my fridge -that turned out to be empty-  I asked Jana to shop while I made the cooking preparations. We decided that our menu would have a salad with cheese and a pasta with tomato sauce.

Halibut with Mango Salsa

I have been feeling the cooking bug this week for some reason. I made a few unique dishes over the course of the week that might have been nice to post, but I have been too crunched for time to snap photos and make a blog entry. Today was a little different. I went to my parents’ house with the kids and realized they were both going to be working for the next several hours. This was the perfect opportunity to prepare dinner for them and to give my cooking fiend mom a night off.

Getting Back on Track: Stuffed Baked Portobello Mushrooms and Cannelloni with Broccoli and Breadcrumbs

It has been a long while since I felt the urge to cook something more intricate than a season salad: I have to admit though that I have been entangled in personal business.

My TB Clint and I got engaged and we were busy with preparations that an engagement entails. We also were preparing for his recent visit in June and my move with him to USA. But some events prevented my move and it had to be postponed.

So now life is back to its normal routine and I think I am back to my Sunday lunch preparation.