Exploring Iran with Food

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of these cookbooks free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

Last month we explored Lebanon and shared one of the great cookbooks that Tuttle Publishing sent us. This month as part of our exploration of Iran we tried a couple of the Iranian recipes in The Complete Middle East Cookbook by Tess Mallos (this is one of the prizes in the Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Month Giveaway). We also made Havij Polou or Rice with Carrots. Hazel loved the carrots and Steve and I liked the chicken.

 




 We also tried Peach Sauce with Chicken or Khoreshe Holu. (I found the recipes available on-line if you want to try them.)

Overall Hazel and I liked the peaches but none of us really liked the chicken. It was definitely not a family favorite. Steve ate a small bite but did not want any of it.

With the chicken and peaches we had the leftover Salatt Batata or Herbed Potato Salad from An Edible Mosaic by Faith E. Gorsky. I reviewed both of these books and a few others all of which are prizes in the Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Giveaway over at Multicultural Kid Blogs already.  An Edible Mosaic gives general Middle Eastern recipes instead of separating them by country or region. So from this book we made a meal which included Sheesh Taouk or Marinated Chicken Skewers, Salatt Batata or Spiced Potato Salad and  Loubieh Bil Zayt or Spiced Green Beans with Tomatoes. I loved this meal, but my family found it a bit too spicy. I did serve it with our Lebanese Khoubiz or Flat Bread which helped. Steve said he liked everything except the green beans, but he does not really like tomatoes. Hazel liked the chicken when it was wrapped in the bread.

 The recipes in both books were easy to follow and brought a bit of the Middle East to our home. Each has its pluses and minuses, but we enjoyed both! Remember you have a chance to win these books in our giveaway!

Now if you have any Iranian posts to share--crafts, recipes, lessons and more, please share them here!!