I was shockingly good about eating at home this week. I even ate all (!!) of the leftovers. Without further ado, let’s eat!
Frarej – Lebanese Lemon Chicken
I adore this recipe. I found it on Pinterest in 2021 and have had it in the rotation since. You can use bone-in skin-on thighs or boneless skinless with a lower cooking time. Either way you get a delicious, lemony chicken and veg one-pan meal! I switched out the tomatoes for red bell peppers this time around and really liked the result. The pan sauce yielded at the end makes a great sauce on top of couscous.
Pizza Our Way
Jackson and I made pizza at home on Valentine’s day! We went on a “fragrance date”, where you pick a perfume/cologne for your significant other to wear. Then stopped by the local Italian market that sells all the make-at-home pizza supplies you could dream of.
I’m a big fan of Detroit / focaccia style crusts and the market we went to has a giant one. We got a can of their pizza sauce, a bag of their shredded mozzarella, and some garlic stuffed olives. I already had a chunk of pepperoni and some red onion at home to chop up. I also love pepperoncinis, so I threw those on my corner. Topped with a sprinkle of Italian seasonings and red pepper flakes. And made with love ❤
Sausage Gravy (& Biscuits)
It’s hard to make sausage gravy look appetizing…not sure I achieved that. My mom’s sausage gravy is the best. It’s simple, sausage forward, and tastes better than any country gravy because it’s not too floury. The eggs and toast beside it were my go-to breakfast everyday this week except for Friday, when I made the sausage gravy. I flex between making vegan biscuits and buying Pillsbury-style tube biscuits. I chose the store bought route this week.
Mary Jo’s Sausage Gravy
1 tube of breakfast sausage
3 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of butter
4 1/4 cups of milk (I use Chobani Extra Creamy Oat milk)
Black pepper to taste
Break up and brown the sausage. Once cooked, add butter to coat all the sausage. Then sprinkle in flour and toss sausage until all coated in flour. Once flour is absorbed, add all of the milk and black pepper to taste. Boil until your desired thickness, stirring often.
Arayes – Grilled Meat Stuffed Pita
If you couldn’t tell, I’ve been on a Lebanese kick this week.
Arayes is incredible and easy for me to make because I live close to a Middle East market, so I have access to raw kafta, a ground beef and/or lamb mixture, rather than having to make it myself.
One of my best friends came up to visit this weekend and she enjoys the abundance of Lebanese cuisine in the area, so we decided to make it ourselves. We popped around to the market and bought the biggest bag of pita possible and raw beef & lamb kafta (ground meat with onion, fresh herbs, and other seasonings).
At home, we two and half pitas into diamonds and gloved up to stuff them with a thin filling of the raw kafta. We had to use my grill pan, since it’s still too cold here to use the full grill outside.
While three stuffed pitas at a time cooked, we made Pat’s Hummus and Fattoush to accompany. We topped the arayes with pomegranate sauce, which really brightens the meat’s natural flavor.
It’s crazy to think we’re 8 weeks into 2024! I really appreciate you for reading this far and for this long. I am so thankful for this outlet and for you, reader, for indulging me in my need to share food! If you have any recommendations or requests, please comment or reach out to share. Thank you and see ya next week!
Love, Maggie
Maggie's Kitchen 