Mohamara and babaganoush

Hi Rachel

These recipes are out of my head,so please use them as a guide as I don't have my recipes for them with me,but I have a pretty good idea through making them thousands of times they should work for you.

I hope with the mouhamara you are looking for this one,I believe they are done a few different ways,some with tomato,olive and bread and some done this way,anyway try this

a couple pounds red bell peppers,a small hot chili a cup or so of walnuts (coarsly ground) about a half a cup of crumbled wheat based crackers a few teaspoons pomagranite syrup(I use one from lebanon excellent but very strong) a little toasted and ground cumino,salt,pepper,a little sugar and evoo,lemon juice.
then basically roast the bell peppers and chili to blister the skin,remove from heat cover and let steam.Then skin and seed the peppers.
take all the ingredients except the eppers and the evoo and process in la machine,then when pasty add peppers and process and drizzle in the oil.chill it over night if you can to develope the flavors.you can garnish this with some toasted pistachios and/or pine nuts.


Baba...
I made a batch of what I call "Brads Baba" the day before my sergury for my sister in laws birthday (this is her favorite of all the mediterranean dips)
2 eggplants (skin pricked and roasted whole until very tender)
1/4 cup or so of tahini
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
a bit of zatar (or cumin)
4 large cloves of garlic
salt and pepper
evoo
a bit each of oregano,parsley and mint
1 small shallot
tablespoon of toasted pine nuts.

what I do is have all my prep ready because I like to process everything while the eggplants are still warm to highten the flavor.
So after you can handle your cooked eggplant,cut them in half lenght wise and scoop out the meat,put it in your proccessor with everything except the oil and pulse. (*note earlier in the month I had canned my own pimentoies and oven dried plum tomatoes,I added a small amout of these at this point to give it a little twist)
after pulsing,leave machine on and drizzle in your evoo and that's it.
I serve this with many sides, but toasted pita triangles are my favorite

Please tell me what you did with the pimento.

I have several growing and don't know what to do with them when the are ripe.

Thanks,

Sue

Nothing like a good old fashioned swedish mohamara :)

Rye crisps it is Rachel

Rye crisps...do you mean Wasa Crackers?
I sometimes make babaganoush, but had never heard about mohamara before... it sounds very yummy to me as peppers and nuts are a nice mix (in example, I love a Piemontese appetizer made out of roasted peppers topped with a hazelnut sauce).
My only problem is..."the sometimes fruitless search for ingredients".
CC, could I substitute pomegranate syrup with something else if I can't find it, for a Good Old Fashioned Italian Mohamara?

TIA!

Pongi

Pongi,

I would reduce black figs with a little balsamic vinegar and sugar (not much)then puree when it has reached a syrupy consistency.

The color and flavor will be close(not exact)

I find with the baba ganouch I roast the unpeeled garlic with the egg plant. i serve it with turkish bread.
yum:)

Very good idea judy
that's just the way I make another eggplant dip I love- cut the eggplants in half lenghtwise, cover with tomato and onion slices, season with herbs, salt, pepper and EVOO, bake until tender, discard the eggplant peel and process the rest in a blender to a cream...very yummy

Rachel, can't say this as I've never been in an IKEA shop and don't know if the Italian ones have a food section (it's not reported on our IKEA cathalogs)...but since WASA crackers are just Swedish rye crispbread it's likely they are what you were speaking about...

CC, thanks for the advice, I'll give it a try!
When the fig season it's over, have you any recipe to get pomegranate syrup directly from pomegranates?

Pongi