Family Favorites: From an All-American Family of Lebanese Descent

By Joyce Brown

While growing up in a large Lebanese-American family, Joyce Brown learned to cook at a very young age and made her first complete meal at the age of eight. In Family Favorites, she shares a collection of time-honored, traditional Lebanese recipes that have been handed down for four generations.

Drawing on her years of experience as a caterer and in the home kitchen, Joyce Brown has perfected her familys recipes with precise measurements and easy-to-follow steps for preparation. In her collection she includes a wide range of authentic recipes that include such well-known foods as pocket bread, hummus, and tabouli as well as traditional Lebanese foods like kibbi, kusa, rolled grape leaves, and a variety of lamb and chicken dishes. Accompanied by beautiful color illustrations, each recipe includes simple preparation instructions, serving suggestions, helpful tips, and an occasional personal story that allows others a special glimpse inside Browns loving family.

Family Favorites shares a collection of Lebanese-American recipes that encourages home cooks to bring back the simple joys of cooking and sharing a meal with loved ones.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Aug 16, 2017
• ISBN: 9781489713278

Joyce Brown

Joyce Brown created a coconut-lemon cake that won first prize at the county fair when she was just eight. Later, her Dungeness crab enchiladas won a contest sponsored by Sunset Magazine. Since then, she has spent a lifetime perfecting her delicious recipes. For years, Joyce owned a popular catering business and enjoyed a distinguished career with the government. Now retired, she happily devotes all her time to cooking.

Book preview

Family

Favorites

From an All-American

Family of Lebanese Descent

Joyce Brown

Copyright © 2017 Joyce Brown.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

LifeRich Publishing is a registered trademark of The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.

LifeRich Publishing

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1328-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1329-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1327-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017950058

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 8/9/2017

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This book was written in honor of my mother.

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Mom and Dad on December 2, 1944, when it all started.

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Breakfast

Scrambled Lamb and Egg Omelet

Kibbi Omelet

Zucchini Omelet

George’s Spinach and Eggs

Joe’s Favorite Breakfast Wraps

Sausage and Egg Muffins

Linda’s Blueberry Coffee Cake

Appetizers and Dips

Mezza

Garbanzo Bean Dip—Hummus Bi Tahini

Eggplant Dip—Baba Ganoush

Yogurt Cheese Dip or Spread—Labneh

Sally’s Zata

MaryAnn’s Shortcut Zata

Pocket Bread Chips (Better Known as Pita Chips)

Raw Vegetables

Carrots and Celery

Radishes

Cucumber

Broccoli and Cauliflower

Pickled Vegetables

Salads

Tabouli

Yogurt and Cucumber Salad

Mediterranean Salad

Stuffed Tomato Salad

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Wonderful Summer Salad

Fattoush

Make-Ahead Vegetable Salad

Traditional Coleslaw

My Own Coleslaw

Pineapple Coleslaw

Potato Salad

Blue Cheese Red Potato Salad— A Potluck Favorite

Spinach Salad

Pea Salad

Tuna with Peas

Macaroni and Things Salad

Yogurt and Macaroni Salad

Mandarin Orange Couscous Salad

Fancy Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad

Jell-O, the Forgotten Fun Food

Frosted Lemon Jell-O

Fancy Lime Jell-O

Lime Jell-O with Mint Pears

Mandarin Orange Jell-O

Strawberry Shortcake Jell-O

Vegetables, Rice, and Couscous

Janice’s Fresh Garden Stew—Zahlia

Jamilie’s Ullie Green Beans, Lebanese-style

Cold Vegetable Medley—Umsuhah

Oven-Roasted Vegetables

Mixed Vegetables

Carrots

Red Potatoes

Fresh Yams

Stove-Top Vegetables

Fresh Beets

Sweet and Tart Cabbage

Grilled Vegetables

Potatoes

Asparagus

Grilled Onions and Garlic

Grill-Roasted Vegetables

Steamed Rice

Steamed Rice with Vermicelli

Rice Dressing

Couscous

Lebanese Main Dishes

Traditional Diamond Cut

Raw Kibbi

Basic Kibbi Filling—Hushwie

Cooked Kibbi—Kibbi bis-Sayniyyi

Meatless Potato Kibbi—Kibbit Batata bis-Sayniyyi

Stuffed Kibbi Spheres—Erse

Lamb Balls—Kafta

Turkey and Sausage Meatloaf

Green Beans and Lamb—Loubi bi Lahm

Chuck’s Stuffed Zucchini with Tomato Sauce—Kusa Mihshi Bi Bandoura

Sally’s Rolled Grape Leaves

Meatless Rolled Grape Leaves

Rolled Cabbage Leaves—Mihshi Malfuf

Lebanese Baked Chicken with Rice Dressing

Skewered Barbeque Chicken—Shish Tawook

Meatless Fried Bean Cakes - Falafel

Pocket Bread and Things Made with Pocket Bread

Pocket Bread

Lamb Pies—Fatayer Bi Lahm

Spinach Pies—Fatayer Sbanikh

Open-Face Meat Pies—Sfiha

Casseroles, Soups, and Stews

Baked Chicken and Rice Casserole

Supreme Chicken Casserole

Wild Rice Casserole

Chicken and Crab Delight

Mashed Potato Casserole and Stuffed Potatoes

Hamburger Noodle Casserole

Simple Casserole for Two

Layered Eggplant and Lamb—A Royal Dish

Stuffed Eggplant—Sheikh Al Mihshi

Chicken and Couscous Soup—Moughrabieh

Meatless Lentil and Rice Soup

Lamb, Rice, and Yogurt Soup—Lubin Imu

Lamb Shank and Kidney Bean Soup

Easy Stove-Top Steamed Rice and Lamb

Lamb and Summer Vegetable Stew

Lamb and Barley Stew—Harisseh

Desserts

Best-Ever Carrot Cake

My Special Mocha Frosting

Snowball Cookies

Date or Walnut Crescents

My Own Christmas Fudge

Rice Pudding

Coconut Cream Pie

Chocolate Pudding or Pie Filling

Banana Cream with Vanilla Cookies

Pie Crust

Linda’s No-Bake Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

Linda’s Oatmeal Date Bars

Applets

Cake Mix Lemon Bars

Filo Pastry with Walnuts—Baklawa

Beirut Lebanon Dessert

Mary Ann’s Banana Bread

Zucchini Bread

Dog Food

Health Tips

Preface

Our mother was a holy and devout Catholic and wonderful cook. We encouraged Mom to write a cookbook years ago. She put all our favorite Lebanese and American dishes into print. The problem is that if you didn’t make the dish with her, you cannot figure it out from her book because there isn’t enough detail. Oftentimes, family members, mostly of the younger generations, call me for directions. After I retired from federal service, I decided to test every recipe and rewrite Mom’s book with detailed directions and photos. Mom is in heaven now, but I know she would love that I am continuing the Lebanese and American traditions while adding a few of my own. I mention American because there are also wonderful American family recipes in every chapter.

All four of my grandparents were born in Lebanon and migrated to the United States. My mother was born at Providence Hospital in Seattle and raised in Bellevue, Washington. My father was born at home in Manchester, New Hampshire. They met when Dad was stationed at Fort Lewis. They were married on December 2, 1944.

I grew up the middle child of nine children in Bellevue, Washington. I learned to cook at a very young age, and I liked helping in the kitchen. Growing up, we ate mainly Lebanese food, which is popularly labeled these days as Mediterranean food. All eight of my siblings like to cook, and each one has a specialty. Each has contributed to this collection of family favorites.

When I was in seventh grade, everyone in the class was supposed bring a baby picture into school. Sister Carmel Joseph, our teacher, posted them so we could see who could identify the most classmates. Being the fifth child, this was the only baby picture of me that existed. It was really hard for my classmates to guess this one.

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I’m not sure the exact date, but the year is 1954. From left are Larry, Dad, me, Janice, Michael, Mom, and Chuck.

My brother Michael is one year older than I am. When we were in grade school, all nine siblings were living at home. We had two refrigerators, one for food and one for milk. Those were still the days when milkmen delivered milk. Our milkman was Rudy. He was cool. Sometimes, he would watch cartoons with us. Mom even had him take out the garbage a time or two. It didn’t bother him. Once in a while, he would leave a gallon of chocolate milk. That was an ultimate treat. Rudy came three times a week and filled one refrigerator with milk. One day, just after Rudy had delivered the milk, Michael brought a friend home. His friend’s name was Richard, and he was an only child. Michael opened the refrigerator to get milk, and Richard exclaimed, Wow! My mom only buys a quart a week!

Mom was sitting at the desk. She laughed and said, We spill that much at one meal. No kidding we did!

When Mom went to the grocery store, she took one of us with her because she always needed two carts. Sometimes, two of us would go because she needed three carts. When Mom would spend more than $100 at the grocery store, the manager would give her a gallon of ice cream for free. Can you imagine any store doing that today? I remember coming home from the grocery store one day and helping to put things away. It was time to start dinner, and Mom was exhausted. She took the