Embrace Fall with Delicious Comfort Food from the Middle East
Lebanese chef Joumana Accad blends traditions and
seasonal ingredients to create bountiful fall recipes
With shorter days approaching, hours spent by the barbecue are coming to a close. Summer vacation may be over, but the comfort food of fall is just around the corner. Beat the end-of-summer blues with the warmth of simmering spices and comforting flavors. To celebrate fall Chef Joumana Accad joins us with a recipe for Apple Dumpling with Fig Jam . . .
8 servings
from Joumana Accads . . . An apple covered in pie dough is not a Middle Eastern tradition; it is something I discovered in the South. I stuffed the apple with a Lebanese/Levantine fig jam [made from dried figs, anise, sesame seeds, and walnuts], which can be bought at stores specializing in Middle-Eastern or ethnic foods, or made at home quite easily (see following recipe). The apple peels can be recycled into apple-flavored syrup which can be used over several days and stored in the refrigerator.
For the crust:
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup of softened butter
1 egg yolk (from a large egg)
1 or 2 Tablespoons of cream
3/4 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla or rose water or orange blossom water
For the apples:
8 small apples of similar size
8 tablespoons of fig jam
8 pats of unsalted butter
For the fig jam:
The fig jam can easily be made instead of being store-bought and will last several months. To sum it up, here is what you will do: You will cook cut-up figs in a simple anise-scented sugar syrup along with some walnuts, until the figs are totally imbibed with the syrup; you will “finish” it off with a swirl of toasted sesame seeds and a dash of mastic (optional).