Sage or mint tea. Make as follows: - boil water and pour in to a tea pot containing one tea bag or loose black tea leaves if you have them (it should be weak tea) a big bunch of fresh mint or sage (alternatively dried if you can’t obtain fresh). You can also dry out the fresh stuff to store if you have too much by just lying it out on some tea towels or paper towels on a table until it dries. Add sugar as you like. I put a couple of teaspoons in my pot.
Arabic / Turkish coffee. As follows: - you need a special Turkish coffee pot (called a cezve - sold on amazon / ebay etc). I normally put 4 teaspoons of Turkish coffee, a couple of pinches of cardomom and a few tea spoons of sugar (for those who like it sweet). Pour in cold water to near the top (but not too near!) Put it on the hob at a medium heat, works best on gas, like basically everything! So once it heats up and starts to boil over, take it off of the heat and stir it. Put it back on the heat and once it starts to boil up take it off and stir it again. I usually do this about 8 times. This is to ensure that it isn't too bitty all the way through, it should be pretty smooth until you get to the inevitable dregs. Pour in to little coffee cups, think espresso size.
Labneh (said Leb-an-ee) – strained
To serve : - Olive oil and Za'atar (an Arabic spice made of thyme, sesame seeds, sometimes sumac and salt) should be available in a large supermarket or any Middle Eastern food outlet. Or your corner shop depending on where you live. A bowl of this should be present at the side of any Arabic breakfast for bread dipping purposes. You can throw anything on it, as it is extremely versatile...chilli sauce - there is one called emjadara - that spelling is a total guess, I have never seen it written down. Recipe for that to come later!
You should use the fattiest, creamiest possible yoghurt, 10% fat if possible. I recommend the Greek variety and Lidl do a huge bucket of it for £1.50.
You need to salt the yoghurt and stir it in. You can have it with no salt if you want it to go with fruit or for breakfast with muesli. If you want to preserve it for a long time (it can keep for years when stored correctly.
Old school thinking suggests using cheesecloth or a muslin bag, putting the yoghurt and salt in it and hanging it over the sink. It needs a minimum of 1 day (24 hours) for the water to drain out. I normally try for 1 ½ to 2 days for maximum thickness, but put it in the fridge after a day, otherwise it might go a bit icky. I have done away with the cheesecloth ritual due to the rather messy procedure with the cheesecloth bag (getting soaked through with cheesy smelling water and having to squidge the Labneh out after!)
Instead I put one paper towel (none of that cheap crap it will disintegrate) in the bottom of a sieve (metal mesh kind is best) tip the salted yoghurt in to it and then lay another paper towel on the top. Put the sieve over a bowl to catch the water. Much less effort and mess overall with the same results.
When it is done, tip it on to a plate, create a ‘well’ in the middle for the olive oil and spices and herbs.
Tip – Only oil up as much Labneh as you are going to eat, as it goes kind of disgusting if you try and put it in the fridge with the oil on it.
Storage - if you want to store it add 3 more teaspoons of salt before you strain the yoghurt. After you strain it, separate the yoghurt in to golf ball sized pieces. Place on paper towels and then more paper towels on top too. Leave in a cupboard overnight and then once it is really dry roll into smooth golf size balls. store in a killner jar in olive oil with bay leaves and whole chilli peppers being an attractive addition.
Great sandwich is labneh, cucumber, olive oil and mint
Sahten! (means 2 healths) or enjoy your meal!
