Beet Salad

Ingredients

• 600 gr beet roots
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 green onions, sliced thinly  (optional)
• 1 lemon juice
• 2 Tbs red wine or sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 1/4 C water
• 1 Tbs vinegar,  add to cooking water

Directions

1. Rinse well beet roots.
2. Place beets in a pan, cover with water and 1 Tbs of vinegar.
3. Boil beets for about 30 minutes, until almost tender.
4. Drain beets, rinse with cold water and peel.
5. Slice or cut into cubes. You can slice using a mandolin slicer, or cut in the food processor with french fries disc.
6. Place beets in a bowl. Add chopped onions, salt, sugar,  lemon juice, vinegar and 1/4 C water.
7. Refrigerate before serving.

Biscochos ( Cookies)

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 C sugar
• 1 C oil
• 1/2 C orange juice
• zest of orange
• 1 package baking powder
• 1 package vanilla sugar
• 700 gr flour  or  600 gr flour and 100 gr almonds, blanched, finely grind

Directions

1. Mix eggs, sugar, orange juice and oil in mixing bowl.
2. Add flour (optional) almonds , baking powder and vanilla. Knead the dough in the machine for 5-10 minutes into a medium dough.Dough should be smooth and elastic.
3. Place the dough in a large oiled and floured bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Let it rest for about 8-10 hours in the refrigerator.
4. Shape the cookies as thin sticks or rings.
5. If you have a meat grinder, pass the dough through meat grinder fitted with a special cookies accessory. It is also possible to use a pastry bag or cookie press.
6. Line 2-3 baking trays with baking paper.
7. Arrange the cookies on the baking tray.
8. Bake in 190 C preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
9. Store in airtight container.

Focaccia

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 C water 
• 4 Tbs olive oil (1/4 C) 
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 4 1/2 C bread flour
• 2 1/2 tsp dried yeast
• 2 Tbs sourdough  (optional)
• 2 tsp salt

Ingredients for topping

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs coarse salt
• optional (bunch of fresh rosemary)

Directions

1. Combine water, oil, sugar, flour and dry yeast in the mixer bowl. Place the dough hook.
2. Mix in low speed for about 2 minutes. Add sourdough (optional). Mix for a minute.
3. Add salt. Continue mixing for 10 more minutes in medium speed. Mix until dough is smooth and elastic. If dough is still sticky, add a little flour.
4. Form a round dough.
5. Place the dough in an oiled and floured bowl.
6. Cover with plastic wrap.
7. Let it rise 1 hour, until volume doubles.
8. With your hands push down the dough, gently. 
9. Form a ball, or 2 smaller balls with the dough.
10. Flatten each ball with your hands. Stretch it until you reach the size and shape you desire. About 1 cm thick.
11. Place the flattened, shaped dough on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
12. Let rest for 1/2 hour.
13. Press gently with your fingertips to form some holes.
14. Brush with oil and sprinkle coarse salt and (optional) rosemary.
15. Let rest for almost 1 hour.
16. (optional) Put a bowl with a cup of water in the bottom of the oven right before you put the bread.
17. Bake in 210 C preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.

                                                                                 

Tomates Reinados (Stuffed Tomatoes with Meat)

Ingredients

• 8 medium tomatoes
• 1/2 kg ground meat
• 1 small onion , chopped
• 1 Tbs bread crumbs
• 2 eggs (1 for the filling, 1 for frying)
• 3 Tbs tomato paste mixed with water to get about 1 C or 1 C tomato sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• a pinch of pepper
• about 1 C flour

Directions

1. Cut the tomatoes in 2 halves
2. Using a small spoon, scoop out the pulp.
3. Mix together ground meat, onion, bread crumbs, egg, salt and pepper.
4. Stuff the tomato halves.
5. Prepare a baking dish or a large pan. Put a layer of chopped onions at the bottom. Pour over half of the tomato sauce.
6. Prepare a bowl with a beaten egg, and a plate with flour, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper.
7. Dip the top of stuffed tomato half in flour. Shake the excess flour.
8. Afterwards dip in beaten egg.
9. Fry the top side of the stuffed tomatoes in small amount of hot oil until golden brown.
10. Place them in the baking dish or in the large pot.
11. Pour the rest of the tomato sauce over the stuffed and fried tomato halves.
12. Bake, covered in 200 C oven for about 1 hour, Or you can cook them in medium heat, in a large pan covered with a lid.

Layered Eggplant

Ingredients

• 1/2 kg ground meat 
• 6 eggplants, peeled, sliced
• 3 potatoes, peeled, half cooked, sliced
• 2 onions, chopped (1 onion for tomato sauce, 1 onion for meat sauce)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 tomatoes
• 3-4 Tbs tomato paste
• oil 
• cherry tomatoes

Directions for the eggplants

1. Fill a large container with water. Add 1/4 C salt.
2. Slice eggplants, soak them in salted water for about 30 minutes. 
3. Drain eggplants, wash them with fresh water, drain  once more and dry well.
4. Line an oven tray with aluminium foil. Place eggplants on the foil. Brush them with oil.
5. Broil for about 5 minutes each side. Broil until lightly browned. Set aside.

Directions for meat sauce

1. Heat oil in a saucepan. Cook onions. 
2. Add meat. Cook stirring with a wooden spoon to break up into small pieces . Cook until all liquid has evaporated.
3. Add salt and pepper.
4. Turn off heat. Set aside

Directions for tomato sauce

1. Cook onions and garlic in 1 Tbs oil until light brown.
2. Add chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and about 1 C water.
3. Simmer until slightly thickened. Set aside

Directions for layered eggplant

1. Put a layer of thinly sliced and half cooked potatoes in an oiled large pan.
2. Top with a layer of eggplant slices. (1/3 of the  eggplant slices)
3. Cover the eggplant slices with half of the meat sauce.
4. Top with 1/3 of the tomato sauce.
5. Repeat layers: eggplant - meat - tomato sauce - eggplant - tomato sauce.
6. Arrange halves of cherry tomatoes on top.
7. Cover the pan with a baking sheet and an aluminium foil on top.
8. Bake in a 210 C preheated oven for about 45 minutes.
9. Take off  baking sheet and aluminium foil. Bake until top is medium brown.

Whole Rye Yogurt Bread (Bread Machine)

Ingredients

• 3/4 C water
• 3/4 C yogurt
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2  Tbs dark brown sugar or molassa or silan (date honey)
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 3 C white bread flour
• 3/4 C whole rye flour
• 2 Tbs ground flax seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp dry yeast
• 2 Tbs starter (see sourdough recipe)

Directions

1. Add the ingredients into the bread pan in the order listed above. Up to the " starter".
2. Place the bread pan in the machine.
3. The "starter" you add a minute after the machine starts to function.
4. When bread is baked, take it out of the pan.
5. Let bread cool thoroughly before slicing.

Ground-Beef Stuffed Zucchini (Grandma's kitchen from Aleppo)

Ingredients

• 8 zucchini (ends trimmed)
• 1/2 kg ground-beef
• 1/4 C rice, uncooked
• 1 lemon, juice
• 3-4 clove garlic (finely chopped)
• 2 Tbs oil (for the meat filling)
• 2 Tbs oil (for cooking)
• 1 tsp salt and a pinch of pepper
• 1/4 C fresh mint, finely chopped, or 2-3 Tbs dried mint
• 2 Tbs water (for the meat filling)

Directions

1. Cut ends of zucchinis.
2. Cut zucchinis in halves.
3. Hollow out center of zucchinis leaving a thin shell.
4. Put rinsed and drained rice in a bowl.
5. Add ground-beef, salt, pepper, 2 Tbs water and 2 Tbs oil. Mix well to get a soft filling.
6. Stuff the zucchini shells up to 1/2 cm to the top. (Stuffing will expend during cooking)
7. Arrange stuffed zucchinis in a large pan.
8. Sprinkle the zucchinis with mint, garlic, salt and pepper.
9. Pour lemon juice and 2 Tbs oil.
10. Cover the zucchinis with water.
11. Cover the pan with lid.
12. At the beginning cook in medium heat. Afterwards lower heat. 
13. Cook for about 30 minutes.
14. Cook until zucchinis are firm tender, meat is cooked and all liquid is almost absorbed.