Lebanese Feast

Eight special dinner guests necessitated a special dinner - an authentic Lebanese feast with no menu item you can find in a restaurant. Menu planning, shopping, six hours of cooking and the feast was ready - it was not as difficult of a challenge as I thought.

 A typical Lebanese feast will start with "Mezza" - a series of appetizers to munch on until the main meal is ready. This dinner's "Mezza" included:
- Labneh; thickened yogurt served with olive oil
- Pickles; home made cucumber and turnip pickles
- Loubieh; green beans cooked with tomatoes, onions and garlic

- Naker; the insides of zucchini cooked with olive oil and garlic
- Tabouleh; parsley (all from jardin) salad with tomatoes and bulger
- Rocca; Lebanese greens with lemon, never seen this weed other than in private gardens
- Humus; made with a twist - edamame beans mixed in
- Maoujadra: cooked lentils, rice and onion made into a dip

 
The "Mezza" was enjoyed with Pita bread and a bottle of Lebanese wine - Chateau Kefraya.

This bottle came directly from Lebanon and is not available in stores in Canada. However, selected BC Liquor Stores that carry VQA wines will have some Lebanese wines. The ones we get here are the award winners and typically cost $35 and up.

And the main meal was served...

Zucchinis stuffed with rice and meat, cooked in tomato and garlic sauce. 

These zucchinis are different than what you you find in stores. They look more like squashes, are very light in colour and cook fast. I grew some this year but those came from a friend's garden.

There was also the rice and chicken cake - layers of rice, ground beef, and chicken topped with fried almonds and pine nuts.

This was served with a lettuce and beats salad with red vinegar and oil dressing.

And, a feast is not a feast without an Anita cake - tonight's was a pumpkin cheese cake with leftovers for breakfast.