Lebanese-turkish food

i enjoy watching the show from ABC (australia broadcasting corporation) called food safari. In each episode, a different cuisine is featured - thai, malaysia, turkish, lebanese, etc).

i picked up some recipes from 2 of the episodes that featured lebanese and turkish food. frankly, i can't tell the difference. to me, it's all about dips with flatbread and grilled minced meat. it's all delicious. who cares?

i tried 2 dips - eggplant & chickpea. for the chickpea dip, i used canned chickpeas (saved me lots of time soaking and boiling). dump the chickpeas into a food processes, add garlic, salt, tahini (sesame paste) and blend till smooth and creamy. before serving, drizzle olive oil, and sprinkle paprika and chopped parsley.

the eggplant dip is made in basically the same way. the only difference is the eggplant has to be cooked 1st. this is done by holding the eggplant with a pair of tongs over an open fire on the gas stove. cook till the skin of the eggplant is charred and the eggplant feels limp. then soak it in cold water to cool. after it's cooled, peel off the skin and drain. then blend in the food processor with garlic, salt, tahini.

both of these dips are yummy but i prefer the eggplant one as it is more runny and smoother and has a nice smoky flavour.

i also fried some minced lamb balls. season the lamb mince with grated onion, salt, pepper, an egg, cumin powder, garlic, chilli flakes. then form into tiny logs and fry in a pan with olive oil. wrap these babies in a piece of pita bread (which i made 1 week ago), together with fresh tomatoes and chomp!