Liking Lebanese Cuisine

I had my first experience with Middle Eastern food - Lebanese to be exact - this past Thursday with some of my lovely colleagues from work. The privately-owned Lebanese Taverna operates both full-scale restaurants and quick service cafes. Founded by the Abi-Najm family, who escaped from war-torn Lebanon in the 1970s, the place mixes fast service with genuine Middle-Eastern cuisine and an impressive understanding of the gluten free diet. According to the January 2013 issue of the magazine "Gluten Free Living": 

The Lebanese Taverna is a Gluten-Free Resources Education and Awareness (GREAT) Kitchen certified by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. It is committed to food preparation free from cross-contamination and has chefs well-versed in how to properly handle food for those with special dietary needs. The restaurant's goal is to "have guests leave with full stomachs, satisfied appetites and the peace of mind that each plate was prepared safely."

I ordered mouzat (a lamb dish with tomato sauce), a side of redskin potatoes, and an appetizer of baba ghannouge with gluten free rice crackers. I learned two things during my dinner at the Lebanese Taverna Cafe in Annapolis. Lesson one: I found that I don't like lamb, partly because the meat has an odd flavor and partly because I nearly broke down in hysterics when I realized I was eating a baby animal. Lesson two: The cafe's flavorful tomato sauce was soooo delicious that I found I couldn't stop eating the dish anyway!

Mouzat: Braised lamb in tomato sauce.

My ultimate favorite was the baba ghannouge. I had previously tried this dip at a totally American chain restaurant and liked it, so I figured it would be even better at a Middle Eastern joint. Boy, was it! A mixture of eggplant, tahini, yogurt, and fresh lemon and garlic, it is absolutely scrumptious. 

Clockwise from left: Gluten free rice crackers, baba ghannouge, mouzat (the lamb dish), redskin potatoes.

By the way, whatever the cafe used to season the redskin potatoes - fabulous. I'll have to find out what it is! It had a little kick to it, just spicy enough.

Now that I know that I enjoy Lebanese food, I'll have to try this recipe that I found in "Gluten Free Living," the same issue quoted above. It is for Yogurt & Cucumber Salad:

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic, crushed

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon dried mint flakes, crushed

• 1 cup cucumber, diced into 1/4-inch pieces

• 2 cups yogurt

Directions: 

Crush garlic and salt in mortar and pestle. Add dried mint to garlic mixture. Mix cucumbers, yogurt and garlic mixture. Do not over mix, which can water down the yogurt by releasing the water in the cucumbers.

Honestly, this sounds a bit strange, but mixing yogurt, eggplant, and citrus together sounds gross too and that's what is in baba ghannouge. Worth a try.

I don't have a mortar and pestle, but I recall seeing some cool ones at Randy and Steve's, the stylish new General Store in downtown Ellicott City. Shopping trip!

Featured Quote: The Hobbit

"Their feet ruffled among the dead leaves of countless other autumns that drifted over the banks of the path from the deep red carpets of the forest."

The Hobbit (1937)
J.R.R. Tolkein

Above the canal ruins,

Harper's Ferry, West Virginia

Featured Quote: Reading

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one."

George R.R. Martin

Book in a Maryland antique store

New Orleans in California

I have never visited Louisiana. But the thought conjures up images of fog-shrouded bayous, flickering fireflies, banjo and saxophone music, and cuisine with marvelously delectable flavors. Add palm trees, hot California breezes, and a hint of the piratical, you've got Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney. Yep, there are even foggy bayous of a sort, but I'll get to that later.

While visiting kin in Southern California this past autumn, my mom and I enjoyed a sunny afternoon exploring Downtown Disney. As if afternoons in CA could be anything but sunny. After searching Downtown Disney's website for spots to grab a gluten-free lunch, I found Ralph Brennan's:

In the mood for New Orleans cooking? Is that even a question?

Open-air foyer. Love the red walls,
wrought iron chairs, and zany fountain.

Lunch included iced tea, a gluten-free* jambalaya with fresh-tasting shrimp, and salad with balsamic dressing and candied almonds. I also ordered a Bayou Breeze, a drink especially recommended by the chef as gluten-free. A perfect example of classic Southern hospitality. Or is it typical California good vibrations?

The Bayou Breeze

I got a kick out of the drink's presentation, thanks to the emerald-hued Midori at the bottom and the pirate sabre roguishly spearing the maraschino cherry. Cruzan coconut rum, Midori liqueur, orange juice, and cranberry juice comprised the drink, which the waitress recommended stirring together before quaffing. Unless I wanted a full blast of Midori liqueur. Naw.

Crocodile mirror

Oh great, I'm photographing restrooms now. So I've become a total tourist, and loving it. So, here's the foggy bayou. Isn't that a spectacular mirror, despite the mosquito in the corner of the mural? I'd say it was a great specimen of Bayou Bling.

Anyway, I loved eating at Ralph Brennan's: New Orleans cuisine and atmosphere without the humidity and with all the charm. Fabuleux.

* In creating a gluten-free version of their Pasta Jambalaya, Ralph Brennan's simply substituted rice for the pasta. The restaurant has a gluten free menu available upon arrival, though not online at this time.