Recipes from Muthar Al-Ubaidi

Tabbouleh (a salad)
1/2 cup fine bulgur wheat
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup boiling water
2 cups finely chopped fresh, flat-leaf parsley (from 3 bunches, also called Italian parsley)
2 medium tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
Optional ingredients:
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint
1/2 seedless cucumber, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Stir together bulgur and 1 tablespoon oil in a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over, then cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand 15 minutes. Drain in a sieve, pressing on bulgur to remove any excess liquid. Transfer bulgur to a bowl and toss with remaining ingredients, including remaining 2 tablespoons oil, until combined well.

Makes 4 to 6 side-dish servings.

Baklava
1 pound unsalted (sweet) butter, melted
1 pound frozen filo dough sheets (sometimes spelled "phyllo")
1.5 pounds (24 ounces) chopped blanched almonds
1 pound shelled walnuts
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice or cloves

Thaw the filo before starting. Grind or chop together the walnuts and almonds, and mix together with the sugar, cinnamon and allspice or cloves. Melt the butter. Using a rectangular pan, preferably 9 x13 x 2, brush the pan with the melted butter. Separate a sheet of the thawed filo. Handling it as little as possible, lay a sheet in the bottom of the pan. Brush it with butter. Fold it over if necessary to fit in the pan. Continue to layer sheets until you have 10-12 layers.

Then spread the nut-spice mixture on the top sheet of filo. Cover with another sheet of filo, paint that with butter, and continue layering filo in that manner until you've used it all. In the end, you want about an equal amount of filo sheets on top as you used for the bottom. If you're a little short or a little over, don't worry about it. Too many layers, however, can get a bit gummy. Be sure each sheet is brushed with butter.

Cut across the completed baklava with a sharp knife, into triangles or diamonds. Bake at 350 for about an hour or until evenly browned on top. "Think of a nice golden color like some of the sunsets you saw in Greece," Muthar says.

Pour cooled syrup (see recipe below) over it, and let it sit until room temperature before serving.

Syrup
2 cups honey
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 cinnamon sticks (or 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
1 teaspoon grated orange peel (or to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or to taste) (optional)

Simmer together the syrup ingredients for 10 minutes and strain. Set aside to cool. ("A good time to make this is just after you've put the baklava into the oven.")

Recipes from James and Janice Kellaris

Kourabiedes

Janice Kellaris' recipe for a buttery cookie dusted with powdered sugar, often served at baptisms and weddings.

1 pound unsalted sweet butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1 jigger of Metaxa brandy (or substitute whiskey)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon Amaretto (or almond extract)
6 tablespoons toasted almonds, chopped fine
4 cups sifted flour
~ 2 or 3 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter and sugar a long time, until creamy. Blend in egg yolk, flavorings and almonds. Gradually add flour to make a soft dough. Pinch off pieces of dough, and shape as desired. (Janice makes crescents.) Place on a cookie sheet 1-inch apart. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until lightly browned. Cool. ("This is essential!") Then remove from baking sheet and sprinkle cool cookies generously with powdered sugar.

Servings -- about 5 dozen. ("Or, as the Greeks would say, 'a few servings,'" James explains.)

Moussaka

University of Cincinnati professor James Kellaris' recipe for a Greek eggplant casserole

Ingredients: extra virgin olive oil (EVOO); 6 shallots (or 1 large onion), chopped; 3 lbs. ground lamb (or beef); 1 box Pomi (brand) chopped tomatoes; 1 c. beef stock (or 1 can beef broth); 3 large eggplants, peeled and sliced; butter; bread crumbs

Seasonings: herbs (fines herbes, herbs de Provence, thyme, oregano -- whatever), ground cinnamon, paprika (sweet, not hot), Fleur de Sel (coarse sea salt), coarsely ground black pepper

Topping: 1 stick unsalted sweet butter, 3 tbls. flour, 1 qt. half-and-half (or whole milk), 3 egg yolks, 1/2 lb. of kasseri, kashkaval or asiago cheese (grated)

Give a large skillet a drink of EVOO and a few turns of the pepper mill. Sautee shallots or onion. Add meat, season, brown and drain off excessive fat if desired. Add tomatoes and stock. Re-season. Reduce heat and simmer until thick.

Brush eggplant with EVOO and season. Grill or bake until slightly done. Butter a casserole dish or lasagna pan and dust with crumbs. Layer half the eggplant in the bottom of the pan with pieces overlapping slightly. Add a layer of meat sauce. Place remaining eggplant on meat sauce. Press down slightly to compact. There should be about 2 cm of space for the topping.

To make topping, melt butter in a large pot. Add flour. Whisk until flour is mixed in smoothly and begins to bubble. Add half-and-half a little at a time, and continue to whisk constantly. Allow this to boil and thicken for about 10-15 minutes. Beat egg yolks with a little milk and add gradually to pot. Season with salt and a pinch of cinnamon. When mixture is thick (like pancake batter), ladle over top of moussaka. Sprinkle grated cheese and paprika over topping. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until brown and slightly firm.

"This dish pairs nicely with rustic red wines," Kellaris says, "such as an Italian Primitivo, a Cal-Ital Sangiovese or -- for the adventurous -- a Greek retsina. Cold retsina on the palate after a bite of moussaka is an amazing pairing!"

Recipes from Larry Johnson

Preparing ribs for the BBQ
Cut ribs into three or four riblet sections depending on the size of the individual rib bones. Place riblets in a pot with the bone side down. For every two slabs of ribs in the pot, add a heaping tablespoon of a Cajun spice and a heaping teaspoon of chopped garlic. Cover the riblets with a 50/50 mixture of beer and water. Bring the pot to a boil, and let the riblets boil for 10 to 20 minutes. The more they boil, the more tender the meat; however, if you boil them too long, the meat will fall off the bone. Once riblets are done, they are put on a high grill and BBQ sauce is put on the meat side. Riblets are ready to serve once the sauce caramelizes.

BBQ sauce
University of Cincinnati Dean Larry Johnson's award-winning BBQ sauce

3 29-oz. cans of tomato sauce
2 16-oz. bags of dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups cold water
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 cup finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups Louisiana hot sauce

Combine tomato sauce, sugar, vinegar, garlic, hot sauce, chili powder and cumin in a large pot. Simmer on low for about one hour. After an hour, combine cornstarch in cold water and mix until the cornstarch is thoroughly mixed and all the lumps are gone. Bring the simmering sauce to a slow boil, constantly stirring. (The sauce will burn if you don't keep stirring.) Just before the sauce starts to boil, add the cornstarch and water mixture. Continue to stir for about two minutes, then remove from heat. Quantity: 3 qts. of sauce

Larry says he makes everything in large quantities and usually does not follow strict recipes. He recorded these, however, especially for UC Magazine.

Potato salad
12 medium russet potatoes
6 hard-boiled eggs
1/4 cup yellow mustard
5-6 large celery spines
1 small red onion
3 teaspoons dill
1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons celery salt

Boil potatoes until they are easily pierced with a fork. Peel potatoes and cut them into bite-size chunks, then set them aside to cool. In a food processor, combine the yolks from the hard boiled eggs, mayonnaise, lemon juice, yellow mustard, celery salt and dill. Mix until all ingredients are smoothly combined. Chop celery, onions and egg whites and add them to the cooled chopped potatoes. Pour the sauce over the mixture and stir until everything is thoroughly coated. This is better if it is made the day before and allowed to steep in the refrigerator.

Cole slaw
1 head of green cabbage
1/2 head of red cabbage
6 large carrots
3/4 cup raspberry vinegar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
2 tablespoons of Equal (you can substitute Sugar or Splenda)

Shred the carrots, chop cabbage and mix together in a large bowl. The raspberry vinegar can be made by adding a pint of raspberries (or bag of frozen raspberries) to a gallon of vinegar and letting it sit for two weeks. If you don't want to make the vinegar you can use apple cider vinegar. Mix all the ingredients together and add it to the cole slaw right before you serve it.

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