Milk Street’s recipes for Israeli Hummus with Spiced Beef Topping and Lebanese-Style Tabbouleh and Cookbook Review: Milk Street: The New Home Cooking by Christopher Kimball

I adore PBS cooking shows, don’t you? Christopher Kimball has a new one, Milk Street, that’s just fantastic. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the book, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street: The New Home Cooking.

A huge thanks to Milk Street for letting me share their recipes for Israeli Hummus with Spiced Beef Topping and Tabbouleh with you! I was wowed by it! Vegetarian friends, skip the spiced beef topping, and go to your happy place. Omnivores, wait til you try that hummus!

(In my pic, 2/3 of the spiced beef topping is at the bottom of the serving bowl, then the hummus, then the other 1/3. The dish is about the hummus, so I didn’t want that covered up by its topping.)

My review of the book with my pics and thoughts of the dishes I tried is below the recipes.

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Israeli Hummus with Spiced Beef Topping

Israeli Hummus (Hummus Masabacha)
Start to finish: 1 hour (15 minutes active), plus soaking
Makes 4 cups

Water
8 ounces (227 grams) dried chickpeas
2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ c sesame tahini, room temperature
3 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice
1 to 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon paprika

1. In a large bowl, combine 8 cups water, the chickpeas, and 2 Tablespoons of salt. Soak for at least 12 hours.

2. In a stockpot over high, bring another 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a boil. Drain the soaked chickpeas, discarding the soaking water, and add to the pot. Return to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium and cook until the skins are falling off and the chickpeas are very tender, 40 to 50 minutes.

3. Set a mesh strainer over a large bowl and drain the chickpeas into it; reserve ¾ cup of the chickpea cooking water. Let sit for 1 minute to let all liquid drain. Set aside about 2 Tablespoons of the chickpeas, then transfer the rest to a food processor. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt, then process for 3 minutes.

4. Add the tahini. Continue to process until the mixture has lightened and is very smooth, about 1 minute. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the processor bowl. With the machine running, and the reserved cooking liquid and the lemon juice. Process until combined. Taste and season with salt.

5. Transfer the hummus to a shallow serving bowl and use a large spoon to make a swirled well in the center. Drizzle with olive oil, then top with the reserved chickpeas, the parsley, cumin, and paprika.

Spiced Beef Topping (Kawarma)
Start to finish: 25 minutes
Makes about 2 cups

½ pound lean ground beef
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 garlic cloves, grated
¾ cup water
½ small yellow onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or mint
1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
Tahini, to serve

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the beef, paprika, salt, cinnamon, cumin, oregano, cayenne, garlic, and 2 Tablespoons of the water.

2. In a 10-inch skillet over medium-high, add the ground beef mixture, the onion, and oil. Cook until the onion is softened and the beef is no longer pink, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Add the remaining water and cook, scraping the pan, until the water has evaporated and the mixture sizzles, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in the parsley and lemon juice. Salt. Spoon over hummus, then drizzle with tahini.

Lebanese-Style Tabbouleh

Start to finish: 15 minutes / Servings: 4

½ cup boiling water
1/3 cup fine-grain bulgur
1 teaspoon ground sumac (optional)
½ teaspoon ground allspice
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons lemon juice (1 to 2 lemons)
1 small shallot, minced (about 2 Tablespoons)
¼ teaspoon white sugar
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 to 3 small, vine-ripened tomatoes, diced (about 8 ounces)
4 cups lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves, well dried then minced
1 cup lightly packed mint leaves, well dried then minced

1 In a medium bowl, combine the water, bulgur, sumac, if using, allspice, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, stir together the lemon juice, shallot, sugar, and ¾ teaspoon of salt; let sit for 10 minutes.

2 Whisk the oil into the lemon juice mixture. Fluff the bulgur with a fork and add to the dressing along with the tomatoes; mix well. Fold the parsley and mint into the tabbouleh, then taste and season with salt, pepper, and additional sumac, if needed. Can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.

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My review of the book….

Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street: The New Home Cooking
by Christopher Kimball
Edition: Hardcover

This book is filled with delicious, homey, globally inspired recipes. Once you have all the ingredients prepped and in place, the dishes are very easy and relaxing to pull together, so I turned up my kitchen radio. I was surprised that there’s an uncharacteristically large amount of chiles and garlic in for Christopher Kimball, but nothing we’ve tried yet has been spicy enough to set off my youngest’s chile alarm. Fun, tasty book. Recommend.

Pictured below:
1) Chicken Tagine with Apricots, Butternut Squash, and Spinach – p 184. Very fragrant and flavorful dish. There’s a ton of produce in this one. It calls for 2 cups of butternut squash. Mine was small and produced about 3 cups. I didn’t want the extra cup to go into the refrigerator and be forgotten, so it all went in.
2-3) Spicy Stir Fried Cumin Beef – p 128. Delicious. It’s not as spicy as it looks. The mild spiciness takes a back seat to the cumin, garlic, onions, sesame, soy, rice vinegar, and cilantro. It’s supposed to be served over steamed white rice, but I was in a mashed potato mood. Delicious stuff.

4-5) Curry Braised Eggs – p 28. Yum. We’ve always loved Eggs in Purgatory and Shakshuka. This is another fantastic one.

6) Shrimp in Chipotle Sauce – p 163. Super yummy and easy peasy.
7) Japanese Fried Chicken – p 150 and Sweet-and-Spicy Ginger Green Beans – p 82. We loved this dinner, especially my teenagers. It’s got a lovely crisp, delicate coating. The recipe instructs to fry at 375. I have a deep fryer, and it was browning too quickly at that temp. I lowered it to 350, and it worked perfectly.
8) Turkish Meatballs with Lime-Yogurt Sauce – p 136. It’s ground beef, but my youngest was sure it was lamb because of the spice profile.
9) Caramel Oranges – p 222. This dessert is so bright and fresh, and positively lickable. The recipe makes no mention of the cream or pistachios, but they were in the photo, so I added them in, too.
10) Brown Butter Cardamom Banana Bread – p 203. Great banana bread. The whisper of sugar on top gives it a lovely finish.

11-13) Israeli Hummus with Spiced Beef Topping – p 140 & 140 and Lebenese-Style Tabbouleh – p 57. Darn good tabbouleh and hummus. I’d never seen the spiced meat added on as a topping, and it’s fantastic. I put 2/3 of it underneath, or you wouldn’t see the hummus, and that’s the main player here. I’m crushing a clove or two of garlic into the hummus next time.

Some others I have flagged to try: Baked Persian Herb Omelet – p 27 * Spanish-Style Eggs with Garlicky Crumbs and Chorizo – p 31 *Georgian Chicken Soup – p 45 * Spanish Garlic Soup – p 51 * Kale Salad with Smoked Almonds and Picada Crumbs – p 63 * Skillet-Charred Brussels Sprouts with Garlic, Anchovy, and Chili – p 70 * Sweet Potato Gratin with Vanilla Bean and Bay Leaves – p 78 * Herb and Pistachio Couscous – p 99 * Punjabi Chickpeas with Potato – p 104 * Cuban Style Pork Shoulder with Mojo Sauce – p 156 * Thai Beef Salad – p 160 * Vietnamese Caramel Fish – p 171 * Caramelized Pork with Orange and Sage – p 176 * Potato and Herb Focaccia – p 196 * Tahini Swirl Brownies – p 207 * Rye on Rye Sticky Toffee Pudding – p 237

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Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street: The New Home Cooking

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