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.

Potluck Fatayer

I cannot believe how the weather turned from cold to nice in less than a week. I have been waiting for it for a while now; winter lingered and lingered to the point where I thought it was never going to end.

Fatayer are a Lebanese doughy goodie, perfect for anything. Well, almost anything. They can be great party appetizers, great for lunch and they make an awesome breakfast. In Lebanon they can be sold in the Mana’eesh bakeries in a big size for breakfast or lunch. They are great as holiday food or parties when made at their smallest. As far as the medium size they can be a good variety in any occasion. This is why we chose to make them for Clint’s latest potluck.

Sushi at home

Sushi is one of the items that were on my culinary to-do list. Well it is not an actual to-do list, it is not even virtual, it is a series of dishes that always run through my mind as things that I want to make. Sometimes it is because it is a dish that I particularly like, sometimes it is because it contains specific techniques and some other times it is just because that dish is something plain challenging and it will give me a sense of accomplishment for actually being able to cook it right. Somehow they also are the funnest to cook.

Corn Casserole

First i would like to wish a late Happy Thanksgiving for our Buddy Clint and to all who celebrated; this year I had the chance to share the preparation for this holiday.

Arthur Murray Dance Studio is an American franchise in Dubai, and I have been practicing ballroom dancing there since almost 6 months. The manager is from United States and he invited us all for a Thanksgiving celebration on Wednesday 23rd November where every attendant will prepare one traditional dish.

Apple-Cranberry Fruit Crisp

As we approach the year’s end once again, food seems to gain more and more attention, with desserts in particular gathering the majority of it. My workplace seems to revolve around food to a large degree on a normal basis and so as you might imagine, this time of year requires a huge reservoir of willpower even from the most devout of the health conscious. This week we  exemplified that with our first Autumn potluck in which we had to make a dish beginning with the first letter of our last name (no, I did not orchestrate this). Being as how I had about 4 pounds of Granny Smith apples on hand, an apple crisp was the first thing that popped into my head.

Yay! I Finally Nailed Spring Rolls Making

Attempting spring rolls again has been on my mind for the last few days. Although it was not possible for me to make for dinner since I usually get hungry after coming back from my walk and spring rolls need to be eaten right away.

Also after walking, as a rule, I crave some sort of protein. I know it is not the toughest exercise out there but my body has its word to say and I often listen. It always worked for me that way.

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!

Butternut Squash Cappelletti/Tortellini

I have promised my fiancee Viviane that I will not use my new pasta maker until she arrives to the US. Friday was one of those days where I had a mean craving for some pasta, and that machine was sitting there on my counter all silvery, shining like a new trophy, and just begging for me to break it in. Well, as I am definitely a believer in waiting for a good thing, I resisted using it and took out the rolling pin instead. Viviane had shown me some pictures of pumpkin tortelli recently that looked delicious and since I had just bought a nice butternut squash from the local produce stand, the idea to make something similar to that tortelli came upon me and hence the Butternut Squash Cappelletti idea was born. This is what I did:

Drop Biscuits from Scratch

This morning I happened to be in the baking mood and so I decided to make an old breakfast favorite of my kids, biscuits and gravy. Of course it is easier to make them from a packaged mix like Bisquick or the refrigerated dough tubes, but homemade almost always tastes better. This time was no exception. These biscuits were absolutely delicious! Try them for yourselves and taste the difference!