I love intuitive, approximate cooking.
Old recipes, where the hand has more authority than any measure.
Simple recipes that hold their ground. The kind that don’t try to impress or seek validation, but stay anyway.
And I’m lucky to have Lebanese cuisine in my heritage.
I kept thinking: I talk about these wild herbs all the time… but what if you’ve never cooked with them? When their smells haven’t shaped your nose, when their flavors haven’t sculpted your palate?
So I started writing down a few recipes, just to put them back on the plate.
The first in this series: Kibbet Batata (potato kibbeh)
Kibbet Batata with Maghdouché
Instructions
- 2/3 to 1 cup fine burghul, rinsed and drained (reserve a little of the water to moisten it)
- 3 to 4 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled, and mashed while still hot
- 1 sweet small onion, finely chopped
- A handful of walnuts, roughly chopped
- Salt and a little black pepper.
- 2 tablespoons of Maghdouché
- A generous amount of olive oil
Method:
- Mix the mashed potatoes with the burghul.
- Add the onion, walnuts, salt, and pepper.
- Add the Maghdouché on top and a generous drizzle of olive oil.
To serve:
On its own, or with pita bread.
Why it works:
The Maghdouché brings freshness, green bitterness, and crunch that balance the potato’s softness and the richness of the olive oil.