Here are a couple of Druze recipies. The Druze are a rather secretive people who live mostly in the northern part of Israel. They serve in the Israeli Army and and are held in good standing. They have their own language and their recipies are hard to come by. Hope you enjoy these. Please write back and let us know how you like them. Bon apatite!

  The recipes are designed to serve 4.

Cheese or meat filled pastries

(Sambusak)

For the dough:

1/2 cup oil

125 gr. butter

1 tsp. salt

1/2 kilo flour, sifted

cheese or meat filling (see below)

clarified butter for shallow frying or oil for deep frying

Make the dough by combining the oil and butter in a large mixing bowl.

Add 1/2 cup of water and the salt, and then add the flour gradually, stirring slowly with a knife

and then with your hands until the dough forms a soft, greasy ball.

(Add a few Tbsp. of flour if necessary). Take care not to over-mix the dough.

Roll the dough thin on a floured board and cut into rounds about 8 cm. in diameter

with a a pastry cutter. Place a heaping teaspoonful of filling in the center of one

half of each circle and then fold the other half over to make a half-moon shape.

Seal by pinching the edges tightly.

To deep fry, heat the oil to about 175 degrees centigrade and bake the sambusak, a few at a time

until they are golden brown.

To shallow fry, heat the clarified butter in a large heavy skillet and fry the sambusak until

they are golden brown, turning once.

For a cheese filling:

1/4 kilo Feta or other salty goats' cheese

1/4 kilo cottage cheese

3 - 4 Tbsp. fresh parsley, dill or chives, chopped fine

white pepper to taste

Crumble the two cheeses together with a fork. Mix in the herbs and season to taste with white pepper.

Work the ingrediants into a paste.

For a meat filling:

1 large onion, chopped fine

2 Tbsp. oil or butter

1/2 kilo lean lamb or beef, minced

2 Tbsp. pine nuts

salt and black pepper

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

In a heavy skillet melt the oil or butter, and in this saute the onions until soft and golden.

Add the meat and continue to saute until it becomes lightly browned. Stir in the pine nuts

and fry for 2 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt,

pepper and cinnamon. Add about 4 Tbsp. of water and cook for a few minutes longer

until the meat is tender and the water absorbed. Serve hot or warm.

Fried chicken balls

(Koftit Ferakh)

2 chicken breasts, cooked,

skinned and boned

2 large slices white bread, with

crusts removed

milk as required !

1 large egg

pinch of turmeric (optional)

salt and pepper

flour

oil for deep frying

juice of 1/2 lemon (optional)

In a food processor mince the chicken meat (or chop it extremally finely if a food processor is not

available). Soak the bread slices in

little milk and then squeeze them dry. In a bowl combine the  chicken, bread, egg and seasonings. Knead well and shape into balls about 1 1/2 cm. in diameter. Roll these in flour and fry in deep hot oil until cooked and dark gold-

en in color. Serve hot or cold, with

few drops of lemon juice  Squeezed Over them.

Sardines in vine leaves 12 large or 24 small vine leaves12 fresh sardines1 bunch of parsley, chopped finely1 bunch of coriander, chopped finely3 cloves garlic, crushedsalt and pepper 3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 lemonIf using fresh vine leaves, plunge them into boiling water just until they change color and  become soft (about 15 seconds). If  using leaves in brine, soak them in fresh water for an hour, changing the water twice to remove the salt.  In a small bowl mix together the parsley, coriander, garlic, salt and pepper, and olive oil.  Scale and remove the heads of the sardines and then wash them well.(There is no need to remove the bones or innards of small sardines). Slit each fish open and fill with a mixture of the herbs. Roll each fish up in one or two vine  leaves and place under a hot grill or over hot charcoals (about 8 cm. from the coals). Cook for 5 minutes on both sides. Serve hot or cold, with a bit of lemon juice squeezed over

Mosaic Masterpieces

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