I peel and shred a seedless cucumber in a big bowl, dump in a big container of plain yogurt (I use nonfat and it’s still great), a drizzle of honey, a nice dose of salt, some pepper, dried mint and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Rice Flour Cookies (Nan-e Berenji)
Rice Flour Cookies (Nan-e Berenji)
Persian Cooking: A Table of Exotic Delights – Nesta Ramazani
2 cups butter, (or 1 cup butter and 1 cup margarine)
¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
2 eggs, separated
4 cups very fine rice flour
2 tablespoons rose water, (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
several tablespoons poppy seeds
Beat the butter well. Add the confectioners sugar gradually, beating it in thoroughly. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating continuously. Stir in the flour until well blended. Add the rose water. Beat the egg whites until stiff, and fold them into the dough. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 24 hours.
Roll the dough out between waxed paper to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Score the tops with the tines of a fork or imprint them with a pattern. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake on a greased cookie sheet in a 325°F. oven for 15 to 20 minutes. These cookies crumble very easily. They should remain white in color.
Some Persian women will make their own rice flour at home by soaking fine quality rice in cold water for 1 to 2 days, changing the water several times, and then draining the rice, pounding it to a pulp, pressing it through a sieve, drying it, and then pressing it through a finer sieve.
MacGourmet Rating: 5 Stars
Persian Tomato and Cucumber Salad (Salad Shiraz)
A very light and refreshing salad that goes well with everything. The longer this stays the better it taste. You will also notice that the liquid increases as the salad sits.
by sdbmshad
20 min 20 min prep
SERVES 4 -6
1 large cucumber
1 large tomato
1 large onion
parsley
salt
1/4 cup lemon juice (can be adjusted to your taste) (2 fresh limes)
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
Basil (2 TB)
Mint (1TB)
Chop all the vegetables (tomato, cucumber and onion) finely.
Mix chopped vegetables with parsley, lemon juice and olive oil.
Salt to taste.