Recipes: White Bean, Feta, and Za'atar Spread

From my Independence Day Cook-In (all recipes from Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume)

( White Bean, Feta, and Za'atar Spread )

( Za'atar spice blend )

Notes: I didn't soak the beans overnight. Instead, I boiled them for 5 minutes in a lot of water, then let them rest for 30 minutes. Hand peeling them was a pain, and they got an odd flaky texture as they cooked -- which might just have been their age.
t= teaspoon
T= tablespoon

Recipe: Smashed Cucumber Salad

From my Independence Day Cook-In (all recipes from Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume)

( Smashed Cucumber, Mulberry and Pistachio salad )

( Pomegranate Molasses )

Notes: 1/3 cup of lemon juice is about 2 large lemons. The cucumbers should be 5 to 8 inches, and you'll really want to get seedless if you can. Make sure your pomegranate juice is 100% pomegranate if you decide to make your own pomegranate molasses -- there are a lot of blends out there.

Recipe: Jidi Bel Zet -- Veal Shank with Saffron and Seven Spice

From my Independence Day Cook-In (all recipes from Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume)

( Jidi Bel Zet – Veal Shank with Saffron and Seven Spice )

( Baharat (seven spice) )

Notes: We couldn't get veal shanks, so we used 2 lbs of bison stew meat and a small marrowbone, and at the end of the cooking, we scraped out the marrow and mixed in with the rest -- basically, the best sloppy joes in my life. The recipe is actually adapted from a recipe for goat shanks, so if you can get those for a reasonable price, try the recipe that way. Also, grinding the black pepper with a mortar and pestle worked fine -- I got tired of trying to grind 4 teaspoons with my tiny grinder. Baharat smells wonderful and I think it would work with a lot of things.

Recipe: Crunchy Red Swiss Chard Falafel

From my Independence Day Cook-In (all recipes from Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume)

( Crunchy Red Swiss Chard Falafel )

( Tahini, lemon, and sumac sauce )

Notes: We didn't make the tahini sauce, because neither of us could find sumac ... we found za'atar, which contains sumac, but not sumac by itself. Also, I'd make the falafel rather smaller than 'golf-ball' sized, since some of ours were a bit mushy in the middle even though they were crispy brown on the outside -- still tasty, though.

Recipe: Strawberry and Hibiscus Ice Cream

From my Independence Day Cook-In (all recipes from Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume)

( Strawberry and Hibiscus Ice Cream )

Notes: I might modify this for three yolks but no whites, if I do this again. And I'd definitely chop the strawberries finer -- they need to be all but mush or they freeze into rather large chunks.

Recipe: Grilled Zucchini with White Cheese and Zucchini Flowers Salad

From my Independence Day Cook-In (all recipes from Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume)

( Grilled Zucchini with White Cheese and Zucchini Flowers Salad )

Notes: The zucchini cooked up well in my Lodge griddle-grill, but because the burner is a bit lopside, the oil wasn't distributed evenly; the zucchini also came out fried or roasted, depending on where on the grill it was (though still tasty). We couldn't find nigella seeds, but substituting toasted sesame seeds works well. As does foregoing the flowers, if you can't get them. We also used Bulgarian feta -- which the author of the cookbook recommends, though it was a complete coincidence that our feta was Bulgarian.

Recipe: Orange and Vanilla Crème Caramels

From my Independence Day Cook-In (all recipes from Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume)

( Orange and Vanilla Crème Caramels )

Notes: Be very careful making the caramel, as it's easy to burn yourself on bubbling hot, molten sugar. Also, we had to set the ramekins in a small skillet with water to carefully heat the caramel enough to get the crème caramels out when we wanted to eat them; inverting them worked wonderfully.