If you love labneh, or yogurt spread, as much as I do then you’ll really appreciate this recipe because it takes the simplified version up several very wonderful and delicious notches beyond what you might see or taste.
I made this recipe to go on my Autumn Harvest Table (also can be incorporated into your Thanksgiving table menu, too) spread because the aesthetic is pretty and goes well with all the other dishes on the table. See the full menu here.
It’s easy to make but does require a little bit of planning ahead since the spread is made by draining the yogurt of it’s liquids and needs to be done about 6-8 hours (preferably overnight) in advance.
I use Mountain High Yoghurt to make the spread, and I typically prepare this the night before I want to serve it. I like to use the Plain, Whole Milk version to do this. It’s a halal-certified product and doesn’t have any added ingredients other than what’s supposed to be there, which is a huge relief for people like myself who want to know what’s really in their food.
Start out by getting a cheesecloth or very thin cotton towel, a strainer (colander), and a large bowl that will fit underneath your strainer.
Simply place the towel or cheesecloth over the strainer (be sure to choose a large piece so that there is enough cloth to hold the weight of the yogurt but also to be able to tie it up with all four corners. Put the larger bowl underneath the strainer to catch the liquids from the yogurt. These liquids are called whey proteins and can be reserved to add into things like smoothies.
Add a generous amount of yogurt (I used about two heaping cups) and place into the strainer. Tie up the corners of the towel and use a rubber band to hang the cloth over your kitchen faucet where the strainer and bowl underneath are just below it. Keep it there for about one hour then remove the cloth, place it in the colander with the bowl underneath and keep it in the fridge for the remainder of time, or until it becomes thick and spreadable.
Once it’s ready, plate it onto a serving dish and spread it out evenly with a butterknife. Add chopped pistachio and hazelnuts (or any nuts you prefer), and pomegranates. Then drizzle olive oil on top. Chill until ready to serve.
Serve with pita bread, plain bruschetta or toasts for dipping, if desired.
What I love about this recipe is that not only is it super delicious, but it’s also beautiful to look at and makes a very healthy statement on your dinner table, too.
Part 2
This post was sponsored by Mountain High Yoghurt. All opinions, recipes and photos are generated by the author.
I had no idea what a hit these pita rolls would be. They seemed so easy to make and with such a familiar taste to them, I didn’t even think they would be very interesting to other people. When I instagrammed making these several months ago, so many people were intrigued and wanted the recipe. I totally understand why now- they’re so so easy to make and don’t take too many ingredients to put them together. For people who don’t like tabbouleh or hummus (if they exist), you don’t even really have to put them in the rolls, but they definitely taste better with the two, in my opinion.
Here’s how it goes:
Start with the best quality ingredients you can find, as with all recipes.
The same goes for olive oil and vinegar (i.e. date vinegar or apple cider vinegar). Don’t skimp on the good stuff if you can afford it. There truly is no replacement for real olive oil and the flavor you get with a dark vinegar like date vinegar is unique so if you choose to de-glaze this dish with another type of vinegar (i.e white), it will vary a bit.
You may have questions on the vinegar issue as it relates to halal, I know. So, please visit the vinegar page for what I understand and go by with regards to how I select it. I know
Get a good quality tabbouleh or make it yourself, of course! Here’s a link to my Tabbouleh recipe if you decide to spend a lot of time chopping. It’s quite therapeutic, really.
If you absolutely can’t find the boneless cubes, you can also just get their boneless skinless breast tenders and cut them up, which takes all about 2 minutes for a pound of meat.
Start with a large saute pan and add salt if you’re using a non-stick or a non-cast iron pan. This helps prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan during cooking, which often happens with skinless meats. Add just enough for the recipe to avoid over-salting.
You’re welcome.
Add the oil to pan now gently heat.
When the oil is hot (not burning), add the chicken, freshly ground pepper and any additional salt you think. Cook over medium high heat.
.
Let the chicken brown on one side then flip.
Flip again until they’re really nicely browned on all sides. You may need to stay right in front of the pan to do this, in order to avoid burning or pulling apart of any meat.
Now add the vinegar.
All at once. It will start to steam and evaporate just as soon as it hits the pan. Stay right in front of the pan to deglaze the oil and any scraps at the bottom of the pan with your spoon or spatula.
Keep doing this until all of the vinegar is ‘gone’- it’s really attaching itself to the meat.
It should look this beautiful by then, the deep dark color is due to the vinegar. Don’t worry if there’s a little oil left in the pan. That’s actually good because if you’re not eating this right away, you can store the chicken with this oil and re-heat in it so that it doesn’t dry out.
It’ll also give it a bit of a nice sheen.
This is not a greasy sandwich, but that extra oil is kind of nice if you want to add in the pita roll. We love it like that.
Those bite-size pieces are just wonderful, but you can always cut larger pieces if you prefer.
Here’s a video where I show how the same technique is done, although these chicken pieces are uncut (using boneless chicken tenders):
Now get out the hummus. This is a pre-made one, I know. That’s what makes it extra quick when you need things to be fast.
Take a heaping spoonful and spread it across the underside of one whole pita bread laid flat on a plate.
Now do one more heaping spoonful. It makes the sandwich more moist.
Next is the tabbouleh. Another ready-made version. I said I needed it done fast. But truth be told, I have at times made one thing homemade and store-bought the other. Whatever works for you.
Then, add as much chicken as you’ll like per sandwich. I like to divide the final mixture of chicken into fours so that I know I’ll have four evenly-made sandwiches.
Wanna roll? Or eat it open face? Well, you could do either one, really.
Let’s say we roll this time. Take one side of the bread and fold it completely over the ingredients lengthwise.
And, roll again.
Cut them in half, if you like, or just because you want to take photos. Everyone’s doing that these days….
I think we may find one day that there are more pictures of sandwiches and said pita rolls than there are of children in our families.
Cheese is probably my most favorite food, next to bread. I know, it’s more like an ingredient but I grew up on cheese and carbs, whether it was mac ‘n cheese, cheesy pasta, pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches or some other type of sandwich that had meat and cheese- there had to be cheese or it didn’t feel like a complete meal to me. I’m the same way to this day.
Which can be sort of a problem.
Especially since my tastes have long outgrown the processed cheese blocks of my childhood.
Having traveled extensively throughout France and Italy, I’ve tried so many different and exotic fresh and hard cheeses, it’s difficult to imagine never having them again, especially since they’re so readily available at international markets in the Chicagoland area where I live and in places like Whole Foods Markets where they take great pride in announcing the country of origin in their cheese displays, which makes it a lot of fun to shop for them.
Here’s the problem more so than anything else commonly talked about: the rind.
Yes, the outer part of the cheese, which is edible. In the world of gourmet cooking, this is some of the best part of the cheese to use because it can be thrown into soups and stews for added flavor rather than throwing out parts of it that are too difficult to shred for pasta.
Aside from the issue of rennet and whey, which I address here regarding the overall cheese issue as it relates to halal, the rind can possibly have either lard (pork fat) or wine, which might be used as a ‘wash’ for the rind once the cheese wheel is made.
Are you stunned?
I was. I first learned about this when I spoke at Cornell University last year in April for the Language of Food Conference. After my presentation, we stayed on to listen to local artisans talk about cheese qualities. The topic of lard or wine washes were mentioned very casually, but to me it was a “HOLD ON” moment.
What?
So, I asked, just to make sure I had heard correctly. Basically, it was true- some cheeses are washed with lard or wine in order to carefully cultivate mold in the drying rooms. This is done so that mold will only occur on the rind and is done mostly with ‘natural‘ rinds or ‘surface-ripened‘ rinds.
The takeaway? If you’re concerned about the content of your cheese and are looking for something made without animal rennet or whey, it’s best to look for microbial rennet and enzymes, unless you can find halal-certified cheeses. Then, the next step would be to ask about the rind when choosing hard cheeses, although this can be quite difficult as it’s not often listed on the ingredient lists in most packaging. In that case, you might have to ask the cheese monger and he/she would have to be knowledgeable enough about the specific type of cheese or resourceful enough to find out for you whether or not the rind was washed with lard or wine.
Here is some exact text and below that a few links to pages where you can get fuller, more detailed explanations. (Source: RealCaliforniaMilk.com)
“Natural Rinds are created by wiping the surface of the cheese with lard, vegetable oil, or olive oil so molds carefully cultivated in the aging room will develop only on the rind.”
“Surface-ripened Rinds fall into two categories. Washed Rind: created by washing the surface of the rind with whey, brine, or a beverage such as beer to encourage moisture-loving bacteria, yeasts and molds to colonize on the surface. White or Bloomy Rind: created by adding white mold strains to the curd or wiping the surface.”
A while ago I posted images of this recipe for Lemon Tiramisu, a twist on my Classic Tiramisu recipe, over on my Instagram account when I was preparing it for my monthly cooking classes at the UMMA Center.
I don’t have step by step process photos of this one, but if you follow those for the Classic Tiramisu, they’re almost identical aside from the lemon zest and lemon sugar pearls in this one.
I hope you’ll try it and enjoy it as much as we did!
Other than the Classic Tiramisu, this Lemon Tiramisu (also in the My Halal Kitchen cookbook) and the Strawberry Tiramisu you can find in my Summer Ramadan Cooking cookbook, what other kinds of twists on tiramisu would you like to see from me?
Lemon Tiramisu
Serves 6-8
A fun and zesty twist on my Classic Tiramisu Recipe, this one incorporates fresh lemon zest and edible yellow sugar pearls you can find at most craft stores or bakery shops. You will need one square glass baking dish for this recipe. I like to use glass because you can see through to the delicious layers of the dessert, plus it chills nicely in the refrigerator when you use glass.
Make coffee and set it aside in a large bowl to cool.
Mix mascarpone, milk, crème frâiche, and zest of one lemon. Add powdered sugar and mix well. It should be the consistency of pourable cream; add more milk, if needed (1/2 teaspoon at a time).
Soak each lady finger cookie one by one in the coffee for about 6-10 seconds, or until the cookie has absorbed enough coffee but it’s still firm enough to set flat in the glass pan.
Line the pan with one row of soaked cookies. Next, add the mascarpone mixture and smooth over with a spatula. Repeat this one more time, or until all of the cream and cookies have been used.
Be sure the last layer has a spread of mascarone cream on top. Dust the top layer of the dish with the chocolate shavings, the zest of the second lemon and the yellow sugar pearls.
Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving, or overnight, giving it time to set.
It seems to me that everyone I know is looking more and more towards comfort food , whether in the form of soups, casseroles, pot pies and even desserts. Maybe it’s because of the uncertainty we all live through in today’s world. So many of us live further and further away from family and friends for economic or academic reasons, or we just watch/read the news only to find something else that has rocked our world and our sense of security.
Over the years, what I’ve learned is that every person, irrespective of culture and ethnicity, has comfort foods tucked away in their back pocket, ready to be requested as soon as they’re on the next flight home to mom and dad. Maybe it’s because it reminds them of someone special or a special time in their life when life felt sweet and safe and good. It’s comforting.
For me, oddly enough, it’s the classic pumpkin roll. I say ‘oddly enough’ because it isn’t actually my most favorite dessert in the world ever; it’s just the one that my mom made over and over, every year, every Fall, every Thanksgiving and throughout the winter and she made it better than any others I tasted (and I’ve tasted a lot). She would make three or four at a time and bring them to family and friends because the first time she made one, it got rave reviews. Ever since then she has not veered from the recipe, because it works.
That’s one of the ways I’m different from my mom. I try things once and move on, in the name of adventure and curiosity. I don’t actually like to make the same recipes twice much like I don’t like to see the same movie twice or go to the same place on vacation twice. But, as I get older or as I miss home and family more and more, I long for the things that remind me of what does work in life- or at least what you know you can expect from family traditions- the serenity of knowing your surroundings and feeling safe in them, of places you know and can tell others exactly what they’re like, and the same goes for food and desserts- you know what to expect and you can expect it to be good, and with the first bite you’ll be transported back to that place where life is good and there’s a little bit more certainty in your day, just because you went with what you know works.
I spent the day with my mom and let her make it so I could bring you all these process photos and a few videos, too. I wanted to illustrate that it’s not intimidating (especially the rolling part) and if you are a visual learner, this should help make you feel more at ease about going at it yourself.
Here’s what you’ll need to make the roll (frosting ingredients and process later):
If you’re going to use the canned version of pumpkin puree, be sure to use organic. I got this one at The Fresh Market, but you may be able to find it at Whole Foods, too. If there’s one thing I’ve got my mom to change was to use this kind of puree as opposed to the one ‘very popular brand’ found commercially which is not known to be organic.
Gather all your utensils, too, because things always go fast when you need to mix them in the stand mixer.
You’ll also need clean cloth towels. Don’t skimp on the type of towels- it really does matter. It’s best to use non-ridge, all cotton towels without any pattern.
You can use French tea towels or these pictured below, which are from Ikea for about .79 each.
Here’s why: You’ll need to spray the baking sheet generously with oil (I use the Misto spray pump because then you can use your own oil).
Then cut the wax paper to size and put it on the oiled baking sheet.
Smooth it out
Set this aside. You’ll need to use this as soon as you’re done making the batter for the roll. Off we go to the mixing bowl- add the eggs, salt, baking soda, pumpkin, sugar.
And the cinnamon.
Add the flour and mix well.
Once it’s done, free of lumps, pour the entire batter onto the baking sheet.
So if you’re making more than one roll, each batter (hence each recipe) gets it’s own sheet.
Spread it out and smooth it out completely.
Then it’s ready for the oven.
Bake it for 15 minutes ONLY (that’s how the original typed directions yell at you to make sure you don’t go over the specified baking time).
This is why:
Let it cool for several minutes, but not until it’s cold.
Have the towel ready on a flat surface so you’re ready to use it (you’ll flip it over on top of the towel) when the flat roll is actually ready to be a real roll.
Then flip it over. Onto the very specific type of tea towels I told you about.
This is the moment you’ll be glad you greased the wax paper.
Hit the back gently or just shake it off onto the towel. You must do this on the towel, by the way, because this is where the frosting will be spread, too, then the whole thing rolled up.
Doesn’t it just look like it’ll all peel right off?
Well, it won’t be perfect, but in my mom’s words, don’t worry about ripping the wax paper. It’s not going to hurt anything.
We all want it to come off on one piece or in nice clean strips, but this is typical–and it’s true, don’t worry about it.
This is the side you’ll be filling with cream cheese, anyway.
Back to the mixer to make the cream cheese. Unless you have two, you’ll have to give yourself time to clean this out before moving on.
Here are the ingredients: butter, cream cheese, sugar, alcohol-free vanilla extract.
Because I know many of you might ask, I use the cream cheese from Trader Joe’s and try to get the butter from an Amish farm or Kerrygold, which is a deep and golden yellow and probably my favorite butter out there.
Although you only need powdered sugar if you’re not making it from scratch like I’m about to show you. Yes, it’s possible to make powdered sugar from scratch and after seeing how I do it, you’ll never really have to buy it again unless you’re in a baking emergency and without the necessary coffee grinding device that makes it so possible and utterly simple. This is the powerful dyanamic duo (below):
You can use any type of coffee or spice grinder for this.
First, make the powdered sugar unless you have some already.
Next, add all of these ingredients to the stand mixer.
and mix away until you reach a smooth consistency.
Now it’s time to plop it down onto the baked batter.
then spread it out nicely and evenly, up until about 1/4 inch of the edge.
Now begin the slow roll process shown here- don’t you just love my mom’s blue nail polish?
Continue to roll gently and slowly, about 2 inches at a time.
This is where things can crack so just take your time and see it to the end. If you do see any cracks, don’t worry, there’s always a way to cover them or cut the roll in a way that makes them less apparent. Just see it through to the end and close it properly by pressing down firmly.
Alternatively, you can use the towel as your guide and roll it up with the actual roll.
It looks like a cute bundle this way and I would do this also if you’re not going to save the roll, but serve it all immediately. You could stick it in the fridge this way and cut just before serving.
But most people will want to share it or divide it up, even freeze it, so you need to use aluminum foil or freezer paper if you feel more comfortable with that. Plop the whole roll onto the aluminum and roll it in the same way as the towel.
Wrap it up completely and tightly.
Crimp the edges to prevent them from drying out.
If I make two, I put them both back on a baking sheet and refrigerate. Once they’re firm, I place them in the freezer if I’m not going to be serving them for a while, which makes these great make-ahead desserts for holidays and celebrations.
When it’s time to take them out, remove gently from the foil.
See how gorgeous the bottom is- firmly sealed by pressing down when closing it up + then refrigeration.
But of course they need to be flipped over for cutting- again, very gently.
When it’s time to slice, cut any burnt or unsightly edges off first- don’t worry- it happens.
And so does this- sometimes you might have not gone far enough to the edge of the roll when spreading out the cream cheese so you think your entire roll is going to look like this and not the stuff you find in magazines and Pinterest.
But just keep cutting, you’ll get there. insha’allah.
I may be stating the obvious, but be sure to use a straight-edge knife here so you can get a clean cut- I should have cleaned off the knife to get an even cleaner cut, but I was a bit impatient- I wanted to hurry up and try it, it’s been years since I’ve had my mom’s pumpkin roll, can you blame me?
And then my mom said I cut the pieces too thick, but I clearly remember that her portions were always generous, as opposed to others I’d seen who always cut them so thin and small. Give people something good and in generous portions, I think that’s the best way to be about it. She remembered and agreed…
And of course serve them on something pretty. This tray has been in our family for probably over 25 years. It’s the fancy dessert tray, I suppose. Not real silver but pretty, indeed. To me, the rolls are pretty, too, but they reflect more than just a great dessert on a pretty tray. It’s who they’re enjoyed with- and since they can be cut into so many pieces (I would say up to 12), imagine how many people can enjoy them and be part of the company you enjoy, too. Did you like this recipe and seeing the process of how to make it? Please share your thoughts and tell me if you’d like to see more of things like this on the site.
