al amir greek salad with grilled chicken

i know i know i just wrote a post about how i wasn't going to write about restaurants anymore and here i am writing about a restaurant.  but if you are eating lunch downtown and you are not eating the greek salad with grilled chicken at al amir, you are doing something wrong.  this is definitely my favorite salad to be eaten for lunch downtown and it is only $6.

look at all that deliciousness.  you get lots of fresh greek salad type veggies in a just-made greek dressing with lots of herbs, yummy freshly grilled (not from a freezer) chicken with a cumin rub, and then they also throw in the tzatziki just in case you are not 100% sold.

i had a gyro there once and it was pretty good, and i have heard the falafel is good, but ever since i found this salad i never order anything else.  the ambience is nothing special but the food is delicious and cheap and service is good so what else do you need?

mediterranean foods

the following conversation has happened at least 10 times:

liz: ...but i just have never had a really good gyro in cincinnati.
random person: what??? haven't you been to that little place on ludlow?
liz: yeah, i went there once, but they were only selling baklava.
random person: OH MY GOD. you have to go back. they serve the best gyro i have ever had. in fact, i want it right now. damn you!

so i have known for a while that i needed to eat that gyro. the opportunity just had not come up to do so... until today.

the doorway into gyro heaven

avani and were going to a matinee of rachel getting married (do not see this movie unless you want to be extremely depressed afterwards... which is not saying it is not a good movie. it is.) at the esquire, and we hadn't eaten lunch, so we decided to hit up mediterranean foods. and damn are we glad we did.

the gyro is pretty much all it is cracked up to be. it is fucking good. the meat is spicy, flavorful, juicy, and tender. the yogurt is tasty. it is dusted with chili powder for an extra kick. the pita is chewy and delicious.

little deli, big flavors

we also could not resist trying the hummus wrap, which is simply hummus and tabbouli wrapped up in a pita. this was also ridiculously good. the hummus was very tahini-based, not especially garlicky or lemony (which is now i normally want it), but it was so good. i think the tahini may have been homemade and that is why it was so tasty. the tabbouli was excellent... fresh and lemony.

we tried a dolma and it was just ok. however, i think they may have used fresh grape leaves rather than canned or jarred which i give them points for. i have heard they have good falafel too but we were too full to try this.

i am out of cheesy catch phrases so please just do us both a favor and eat this sandwich

the ambience is basically nonexistent... it's just a small deli with a few tables in the back. but the walls are brightly painted, the guys behind the counter (who are, incidentally, not mediterranean at all but rather bangladeshi) are friendly and helpful, and the prices are right (two gyros, a hummus wrap, and a dolma came to only about $13). they are open mon-sat from 12-9 and on sun from 12-8. they also sell a small selection of middle eastern staples (pita bread, tahini, spices, etc.).

if you know what is good for you (and your belly) (and your wallet), you will get your ass to mediterranean foods ASAP and eat this gyro.

floyd's

i am dedicating this post to my dad's mom, who we call sitty. sitty is lebanese for grandma and all her grandkids call her that. she has been one of the most influential people in my life in terms of my love of food, taste, and cooking abilities.

me and my sister with sitty at her 90th birthday party last month

anyone who has a little old grandma knows that they LOVE food. sitty is no exception. her specialties are sort of slightly americanized lebanese foods. for example, her kibby is made out of beef rather than lamb, and she uses butter rather than ghee a lot of the time. sitty's main goal in life is to stuff everyone she knows with food at every hour of the day and night until they cannot eat another crumb. she accomplishes this by creating dishes that are so delicious you cannot help but eat them until you are ready to explode.

good lebanese food is practically impossible to find in cincinnati. i thought mejana was awful and i think andy's is tasteless and boring. i have extremely high standards, not only because of my sitty but also because i spent a good part of my childhood in the detroit area, which is home to the largest population of middle eastern people outside of the middle east. i have had the privilege of eating a damn lot of really fucking good lebanese food in my life.

i had never tried floyd's before, mainly because i really didn't believe there could be good lebanese food in this city. but when heather of food hussy emailed me about doing a joint blog, i decided it was time to give it a shot. veggie option joined us to give perspective on the non-meat options (which are key to lebanese cuisine).

first, the atmosphere. it is very small and relaxed. a little old lebanese lady (not quite as little and old as my sitty, but on her way) wanders around to find out if you have ordered a chicken. this is key! if you want the spit-roasted lemon chicken for which floyd's is famous, you must order it ahead of time. they run out that fast. fortunately, heather had thought of this and ordered us a chicken.

the service was great. the waitress is (i am guessing) the owner's daughter and she is super nice and helpful and very patient. she even offered to let us come back into the kitchen and look at the sides before we picked. of course we took her up on that, but it only made our decision harder. the prices are very good, pretty much nothing over $15, and most entrees in the $9-12 range.

hummus, pickles, tabbouli, and lots of lima beans

the food was really delicious. i had half a chicken with two sides: tabbouli and lima beans. ok, i am not a lima bean fan (who is, really?), but these were awesome. very soft, lemony, and garlicky. veggie option agreed. the tabbouli (sitty, if you are reading this please stop... who am i kidding, she has no idea how to operate a computer)... it is better than my sitty's. sorry. i had to put that really small in case someone in my family reads this because my life could be on the line. but truly, the tabbouli was amazing. lemony, but not overpowering. oniony. bulghur-y. sooooo good.

on to the chicken. oh my god. the chicken is some of the best chicken i have ever had. it is sooo lemony and juicy and they leave the skin on which is all brown and crispy. the only part i didn't really like was the breast, because it was a little dry and bland, but then i am not really a white meat fan. the chicken is absolutely delicious.

me and heather with the chicken. not pictured: veggie option, who wishes to preserve her anonymity. the chicken on the other hand is a camera whore.

floyd's makes their own pita bread and it is a step above most pita breads. not as good as the syrian bread that i am used to from my childhood, but very flavorful and fresh.

heather got the half chicken with hummus (which i thought was good but not spectacular) and a spinach pie, which was very good. veggie option got the lima beans, some pickled vegetables (turnips, cauliflower, carrot, garlic... yum), and stuffed peppers. she cleaned her plates.

of course being food bloggers, we had to try dessert too. veggie option and i both got the baklava, which was ok but does not hold a candle to my sitty's (there, i am redeemed). heather got the lebanese pancakes which were small, thick crepes filled with whipped cream in a syrup. i had never heard of this before and it was really good. creamy and sweet but not too sweet.

fyi, floyd's does not serve alcohol but they are happy to let you byo, which i love.

all in all, an excellent meal. i had so much fun meeting other food bloggers who share my obsession with photographing their food and who were not embarrassed to order like 5 different things each to try. and i love floyd's and cannot wait to try all their lebanese specialties! i wonder if they will make me raw kibby...

my creamy hummus quest

one of my major food goals recently has been to learn to make really smooth, creamy hummus. i have experimented with a number of recipes and methods over the past year and the secret always eluded me. being lebanese, i felt it was my cultural duty to be able to make really awesome hummus. i picked my grandma's brain and she had no idea how to make it any creamier than hers was (which is yummy but just not that smooth). what was i doing wrong?

the other day, at beth f.'s house, i got my hands on may bsisu's the arab table. (coincidentally, she lives in cincinnati.) finally, the secrets revealed! first, she recommends using dried chickpeas rather than canned. well, i am just too lazy for that and anyway i had like 6 cans of them at my house that i needed to use up. if you are using canned, she says you need to boil them for a couple minutes. and either way, dried or canned, you have to remove the skins. this is key.

this was my eureka moment. i have never boiled the chickpeas or removed the skins. i could not find my grandma's recipe so i consulted a few of mark bittman's and came up with this version, which i feel comfortable calling my own since i made so many changes to bittman's:

liz's super smooth, creamy, lemony, garlicky, awesome hummus!

2 15 oz. cans of chickpeas
juice of 3-4 lemons (depending on size)
6 cloves of garlic
1/2 c. tahini
1-2 T. sesame oil
1 T. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

boil a pot of water. drain chickpeas, reserving the juice, then rinse them. boil the chickpeas for 2 min. drain, rinse, then remove all skins. this will take a while and be really annoying but it's not hard.

put all ingredients into a food processor and blend. add some of the canned chickpea juice or some more olive oil if it is too dry. blend blend blend until it is super smooth and creamy. for best results, leave overnight in the fridge before eating so that the flavors have time to come together.

to serve, spread it over a plate and drizzle with a little oil (olive or chili). then sprinkle a little paprika on the top. serve with pita or veggies and (if you can find them) those hot pink pickled turnips.

i ate my hummus last night spread all over a pita with some store bought rotisserie chicken and pickles. this was awesome and delicious. hummus is also really yummy with hard boiled eggs. actually i'm having a hard time thinking of anything that does not taste good with hummus.

specific food item shout out: meredith dairy marinated feta

ok, this cheese is amazing. i have brought it to book club twice now and everyone raves about it. yesterday i think they voted that this would be my permanent food contribution to book club. that is how good this is.

i am not a particularly big fan of feta (at least not most average feta that you get around here in the US) but this is just on another level. it is sooo creamy and smooth, and it is full of delicious herbs and olive oil. it is not especially sharp but it is extremely flavorful. it is much milder, creamier, and mellower than most fetas. you can eat it by the spoon.

photo source

i get it at whole foods. it is expensive at $9.99 for a small tub of it, but really it is worth it. yum!

mamool cookies

mamool cookies are a christmas tradition in my dad's family and we consider them lebanese. however, i have had more than one heated scandinavian argue with me that these are actually swedish or norwegian. who the hell knows, with a pound of butter there is enough rich deliciousness for everyone. i am making them for my office holiday party tomorrow.

sitty's mamool cookies

1 lb. softened butter
2 c. powdered sugar
3 T. orange blossom water (you can find this at middle eastern or mediterranean specialty stores, or some regular grocery stores)
3 3/4 c. flour
1 c. walnut pieces (broken up but not too much)

mix the butter and 1 c. powdered sugar with a hand mixer (i don't have one so we will see how that works out for me) . then add the orange blossom water and mix. then mix in the flour. then fold in the walnuts. refrigerate until it gets hard. try not to eat all the dough at this point. it is delicious and you will be tempted.

make small balls and flatten them, or if you felt like rolling the dough into a log before refrigerating, slice off cookies from the log. bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are slightly golden brown around the edges. cool the cookies for a while.

sift the other cup of powdered sugar onto a plate. dip each cookie in powdered sugar. eat, or refrigerate, or freeze. i think it's pretty key to refrigerate them soon if you are not going to be eating them within a few days.

readers, you now hold in your hands the key to the universe and world peace. these cookies can work miracles, i am not kidding you.

while i am waiting for my butter to soften i am getting really excited about the holidays coming up. i am going to be reliving my college days in east lansing, then spending time with family and friends in the detroit area (we are going to visit the newly redone detroit institute of arts which i am very excited about), and then partying it up in chicago for new year's.

last year my friend marc had an awesome new year's party. it was truly one of the best parties i have ever been to. here is what i remember of the party:
1. arrive at the party (drunk already from making cocktails in our hotel room)
2. drink more, dance, sing fight song
3. laugh at a guy who looks like a leprechaun
4. david pukes all over the sink and stairs
5. countdown to midnight while cleaning up david's puke
6. avoid annoying nerds trying to make out with me
7. make fun of leprechaun
8. 2-3 hours of dancing and emptying champagne bottles into my mouth
9. pee in bushes
10. lavine photographs me peeing in bushes
11. still more drinking and dancing
12. chase the dog around and try to convince her "i'm not drunk"
13. sit on couch and stare at people and wonder why the room won't stop spinning
14. drive home, "straight" guy makes out with gay "best friend"
15. pass out
16. after the party, friends tell stories of the leprechaun (now referred to as "the midget leprechaun") setting on fire. i don't remember any of this.

partying like it's 2007

marc is going to have the party again this year. unfortunately a lot of people can't make it this year but it should still be fun. i just love new year's, it is possibly my favorite holiday. i always have so much fun. i feel like it is the one night of the year where everyone just totally lets loose and acts completely ridiculous. i plan to celebrate new year's with lots of drinking and debauchery for many years to come. you are never too old to make a fool of yourself!