Fig hummus
Hummus is hummus, but sometimes you want to vary a little with it. Completely against the strict hummus rules, of course. But you can also violate those rules from time to time, I think. Fig hummus is an incredibly tasty variation on the theme. Slightly sweet, slightly crunchy and delicious with a mezze that you serve for lunch. Or as we sometimes do, at brunch. But as a starter or snack also completely great.
Smoked eggplant soup with homemade basil oil, cumin and cinnamon
Eggplant at its best. Smoky and soft in the soup. Crispy on top. And the homemade basil oil makes it all a bit fresher and greener.
Sweet potato salad with pecans and dried fig
A salad that gathers softness, crunchyness, sweet, savory and a little spice. Beautiful in color and certainly also delicious as a meal salad to put on the table.
Caramelized potatoes from the oven with prunes
Potatoes at its best. Crispy from the oven. Caramelized by a little sugar. And extra sweet and delicious because of the prunes that go so fantastically with it.
Swiss chard in white wine sauce with tahita sauce on top
Swiss chard is so versatile. I always do my best to make Swiss chard really tasty. Because I naturally find this vegetable less interesting. But prepared in this way, it is really incredibly tasty. So that’s the good news.
Kohlrabi salad Middle Eastern style
Kohlrabi and I do not have a long cooking history to share with you. But in recent years we get along more and more. If you cook seasonal and you work together with a vegetable garden … this is what happens. And that’s great. This salad is deliciously light, perfect for summer evenings, crunchy, flavorful and creamy.
Tastiest eggplant dip with pickled lemon
Okay, there’s baba ganoush. That’s a fantastic dish of course. But then one day you make this dish. Because you want to make something different. And you take the first bite and you cannot believe what you are tasting. And not just you, but everyone who tastes a spoonful of it. Really, unbelievably good.
Flatbread with yogurt and fresh za’atar oil
Flabread is a delicious and rewarding substitute for bread. It’s fluffy, it’s tasty, it’s something else. And a dot of yogurt topped with ‘fresh za’atar’ turns it into something festive.. And those red speckles? That’s a little sumac to top it off.
Red lentil soup with tamarind
An incredibly delicious soup, the tamarind makes it all the way. Along with all the spices. A soup for all year round.
Focaccia à la the Middle East
Bread is not my thing. I don’t really like bread. I don’t know why, but that’s just the way it is. Still, the bread we make at à la Damaris, I eat a few pieces of it every now and then. Because I can’t resist it anyway, because it’s very tasty. This focaccia absolutely is. Very spicy, very fluffy and very tasty.
Broccoli with a slightly spicy gochujan sauce and caramelized peanuts
Well, I just really like broccoli. In any form. But just like with spinach, I’m always looking for new opportunities to give the broccoli an even more amazing stage. Well, that worked out pretty well with this version *she said with a sense of understatement* when I listen to the guests in the restaurant. Try it yourself…
Fresh and spicy potatoes with tomatoes from the oven
Potatoes, whole garlic cloves, various spices and tomatoes. And then from the oven some lime juice and lime zest through it. Look, this does well on a summer night though….
Leek pistachio soup with sumac
Yes, leeks and pistachio and make a soup out of them. It’s a very logical combination, isn’t it? No, not at all. And yet honor if you make it. Because it’s simply delicious. And the sumac, which tops it off wonderfully with that acid in it.
Rice salad of broad beans, sourberries, cranberries and dill
Broad beans, what a great legume that is. I like everything about it. That recognizable taste, the bite, the color, the shape. The firmness. And in combination with sourberries and cranberries, you don’t know what you’re tasting. It’s become one of our favorites here. Guests come to eat him for lunch at à la minute and then come and get him for home in the evening. Thank kind of salad.
Asparagus with a very crunchy other half
We organize a number of asparagus evenings every year. On those evenings I also prepare asparagus with an Arabic twist. This also applies to this preparation. Every year I come up with something new. But I’ll make this one again next year anyway. Too tasty. Too surprising. And then I’m sure ‘everyone’ will come again.
Persian rice cake with spicy filling and surprising topping
Persian cuisine has its own signature. The flavors are full and subtle at the same time. Sourberries always a pleasant surprise, saffron a feast for the eyes. This cake has different layers and therefore also different flavor layers. And that makes it a party on your plate and in your mouth.
Iranian eggplant tomato stew
Chef Abbas has a great cozy Iranian restaurant in Gorinchem. Where he conjures up great dishes on the table. And this stew was one of them. He generously shared his recipe with me and here I share it with you. It’s slow cooking to the max, but well worth all those hours of waiting.
Fesenjan à la chef Abbas
We were on our way back from the coast and wanted to grab a bite to eat somewhere. I searched for Iranian and came across Chef Abbas in Gorinchem. In his cozy restaurant, this passionate chef conjured up one delicious dish after another. Like this Fesenjan. I asked for the recipe. I got the recipe. I made it myself. Delicious. And the guests agreed.
Fesenjan à la chef Abbas
We recently ate at Chef Abbas in Gorinchem in his cozy restaurant. My google search for a Persian cuisine turned out absolutely amazing. Fantastic dishes. A passionate chef. Great. And this fesenjan stood head and shoulders above the rest. I asked for the recipe. I got the recipe. And I made it. Delicious. And the guests in our restaurant agreed.
Spicy, slightly spicy bulgur snack as a starter
Fancy a surprisingly tasty snack. That you haven’t eaten before? That everyone likes. That has a lot of different tasty layers? Well, you’re fine with this recipe then.
Moroccan potatoes from the oven with ras el hanout and pickled lemons
Potatoes boring? Man, make this one once. Tasty firm potato, pickled lemon, garlic, black olives and ras el hanout. A fatal attractive tasty combination.
Addictively tasty spicy shallots
The photo doesn’t quite do it justice, but this is really an incredibly tasty snack. Slightly spicy but not too much. Delicious mouthfeel, the taste lingers but you still want more more. Delicious on softly baked pieces of pita bread in garlic oil. Then it’s perfect.
Arugula soup, yes really
Arugula has a very distinct taste and this soup really comes into its own. Together with the other ingredients it forms a nice spicy soup.
Breaded spicy whoppers of olives
A spicy and tasty crust of pink berries, oregano, salt and pepper (and panko), great big pitted green olives and a quick deep fry. Simply delicious.
Baked red cabbage ‘salad’ with blood orange, kohlrabi and kumquats
Mom, you call this a salad? The answer is: yes. I like salads where the vegetables are not raw. Lukewarm, even better. I just don’t like cold and raw food. So my salads are often already baked or prepared in the oven and then cooled. As far as I’m concerned, the dressing determines whether something can be called a salad or not. And of course there is always something raw. Like now the kumquats and the blood orange. Soooo.
Thick Moroccan tomato soup with fried arugula
I really like tomato soup. Especially if you manage to add a surprise to it. And in this case it certainly is. A delicious spicy tomato soup, thickened with semoulina and topped with fried arugula. Really another delicious tomato soup.
Jacket potato with yogurt fenugreek and star anise spring onions
Don’t you simply want to run into the kitchen when you look at this photo? There is a reason for this. As it is incredibly delicious. The yogurt is made with a very spicy spice mixture and the spring onions are fried together with star anise. Really spectacular.
Bean-tomato salad in tahini dressing
I really like a bean salad. It’s so soft and with some fresh tomato and a nutty tahini dressing it all comes together wonderfully. At the table in the restaurant, the salad also received high praise and pleasantly surprised our guests, who apparently had some mixed feelings about the word ‘bean salad’. 😉
Spicy pumpkin from the oven with dried figs, smoked almonds and pecans
What was your favorite dish tonight? I often ask guests that question. And if this is one of the dishes at the main course, then it often wins over the others. And quite rightfully so.
Avocado dip with sumac and sesame seeds
This is a fantastic snack. Ready in no time and delicious if you combine it with a spicy cracker, such as a chickpea cracker with pul biber – see other recipe. In the restaurant we serve it that way.