Mama’s OG Fattet Hummus

2 Comments November 17, 2020 Phoebe Rison

This is the second fattet hummus recipe on our blog and to Mama it is ‘Original Gransta’; authentic, old school and exceptional. ‘now this is the way to make it…and eat it!’ says Mama narrowing her lips into anticipation as she scatters beef and nuts over the layered hummus, chickpeas and toasted bread.   

‘on special holidays we were allowed home from our boarding school in Jerusalem.  It was just a 10 minute walk from the convent to our home in the old city and my brothers and sisters and I- dressed in crusader tabards with the Jerusalem cross on them- I mean honestly!- would walk home together hand in hand and my Mama would have this waiting for us.  Still warm and it was delicious.  We were always so happy to be back home.’   Mama tells me.  I have similar home-coming dishes that would always be waiting for me when I got back from university or foreign travels and those memories are just perfect, aren’t they?

Beef Qidreh

Leave a comment July 4, 2020 Phoebe Rison

my favourite restaurant in Ramallah is called ‘Darna’. it is an old house that has been turned into a lovely restaurant with huge trees inside it, traditional stone walls and a gorgeous fire place. there is the obligatory wall of celebrity and famous politician photographs, but that is forgivable. in the summer i like to sit on the lower level beneath the large leafy palms with the sunlight streaming through the large windows as i order maza, but in the winter, i like to sit on the raised level near the fire and order Qidreh. It is traditionally a slow cooked lamb dish with chickpeas and rice all cooked together in a tall terracotta pot over hot coals. when you order it, they bring the terracotta pot out to your table and turn it upside down as the meat, chickpeas and rice come tumbling out in a perfectly delicious mess for you to then spoon onto your plate. this is my version with beef, which i turn up a bit like a maqlooba.

Summer Kufta

1 Comment June 28, 2020 Phoebe Rison

two things i just don’t understand about the English; 1) insisting on being in the garden and sitting in the midday sun in the boiling heat just to ‘make the most of it’ despite it being thoroughly uncomfortable and 2) not ‘fancying much’ to eat when its hot. Maybe this dish can convince you to eat some delicious kufta in the waning evening sun!

Fasoolia wa Laham bil Bandour

Leave a comment June 27, 2020 Phoebe Rison

Green bean and beef tomato stew. This is a lovely fresh and flavoursome dish. during the week we make it without the meat for a quick supper and at the weekend we add good quality beef chunks for a hearty family feast.

Grilled chicken supreme

1 Comment June 26, 2020 Phoebe Rison

for me, the ultimate smell of a Palestinian dinner is chargrilled Chicken. so fragrant and moist. just perfect. this is a very simple way to prepare the chicken which is great considering all the work done on the side dishes.

BBQ Beef Kufta Kebab

Leave a comment June 23, 2020 Phoebe Rison

This is my favourite thing of the BBQ and I have to help myself before my eldest son, Otis gets his hands on them. 

BBQ Chicken Kebabs

Leave a comment June 23, 2020 Phoebe Rison

I love Palestinian BBQ.  Fragrant, herby meats and chargrilled vegetables over smouldering coals, the sound of people chatting, children laughing- it’s the perfect and tastiest family get-together. 

Beef and Pepper Kofta Bake

Leave a comment June 18, 2020 Phoebe Rison

the pepper is king in this recipe. You may be wondering how many kofta recipes Mama and I have up our sleeve. and the answer is a lot. and if you want the full Palestinian culinary experience you have to also learn to eat it at least once a week. which- believe me- isn’t a trial. in Palestine we turn everything into kofta: lamb, beef, chicken, and even fish! As well as the meat variation, there are variations to what vegetables are used and what it is cooked in- dry, tahini, sauce. This kofta is a beef and vegetable mixture baked with lots of vegetables in a sweet tomato sauce.

Kofta bil Warak

Leave a comment June 18, 2020 Phoebe Rison

When my husband and I moved into our house 5 years ago my mother took me out to her garden and using a blunt kitchen knife she pulled and chopped at a few wooded vines on her grape until a few came loose.  She told me to get them into the ground in my new garden before the earth turned cold.  It was mid-October so I was certain it would be too late, but she told me to sit on the earth in my garden and if it wasn’t so cold that I needed to get back up quickly then it was warm enough to plant.   This is an old trick that my mother swears her mother and grandmother both used.  Of course I didn’t sit on the floor, but I did stick the twigs in the ground without much thought or hope and to my surprise the following spring we had new green growth on them.  This year we have had a bumper crop of grape leaves and I am so incredibly happy!  We have been eating nothing but vine leaves so far this summer. 

Dijaj Mahshi

2 Comments December 5, 2019 Phoebe Rison

‘I remember all the family coming over on Christmas eve and gathering around a small fire in the middle of the room, my uncles roasting apples, nuts and eggs on the open flames and my mother, grandmother and aunts telling us kids the story of the nativity and giving us chocolates’, mama beams as she recalls the Christmases of her childhood in the old city of Jerusalem in Palestine. ‘We didn’t have presents, just new clothes to wear for church and lots of delicious food; everything you could imagine and at the centre a glorious stuffed chicken filled with meat, spices, rice and nuts’