ISO: TNT Armenian Recipes

[*amy*]

I stopped into an Armenian Pizza/Bakery restaurant to see what it was all about. The pastries looked yummy - baklava, individual slices of strawberry-swirled cheesecake w strawberries on top, cones filled with whipped cream & chocolate, etc. I took a look at the menu & asked the gentleman behind the counter about some of the dishes on the menu. We got to chatting, as some of the dishes sounded similar to russian or hungarian foods that sounded familiar. Didn't have much time, so I grabbed a menu.

I've done a google, but would like some TNT recipes. I'm looking for:

Armenian Pizza
Found some googling - sounds like a flatbread/tortilla pizza w ground lamb or beef, green peppers, parsley, tomatoes? etc no cheese

Beoreks - going by the spelling on their menu
Some are filled w spinach, meat, potato, or a combo (similar to calzone?)

There were so many dishes that I'm curious about:

Pastry - Troopka

Russian Patty Plate

Kibby Plate

Zahtar pizza

Will have to go back & try their Pellmini (sp), similar to dumplings with yogurt, (I have a pellmini (sp) recipe & a manti (sp) recipe I want to try), yogurt drinks, Dolma, & stuffed egglant & Armenian coffee.

So... anyone have any TNT Armenian recipes? Thanks a bunch.

[Fisher's Mom]

I don't have any recipes but you're right about them being similar to Russian cuisine. Pellmini is a wonderful dish my Russian friends have made for me many times.

[*amy*]

Originally Posted by Fisher's Mom

I don't have any recipes but you're right about them being similar to Russian cuisine. Pellmini is a wonderful dish my Russian friends have made for me many times.

I have to get my dumpling cookbook out & give these a go, FM. And, a manti(?) dumpling recipe as well. Hope there are some Armeanian cooks out there to give us some TNT recipes. They also had a 36" Armenian pizza, oh my. Everything looked so tempting!

[cara]

Originally Posted by *amy*

Beoreks - going by the spelling on their menu
Some are filled w spinach, meat, potato, or a combo (similar to calzone?)

usually the Boerek is made of puff pastry, or at least thats the one I know..
I use the frozen one and fill it with whatever I like, sometimes plain cheese (like this morning) or with spinach and feta cheese or with ground meat roasted light brown with some herbs I find in my cupboard and feta cheese.. or all of the three toghether...or..or..
no special recipe as you see ;o)

the armenian pizza sounds a bit like the turkey Lahmacun...
I fetch this from a restaurant around, so no recipe..

[velochic]

My dh is Armenian. I don't cook a lot of Armenian dishes, but I've found this online cookbook to have any recipes one would need. If I need help with a recipe, dh can call his sister back in Istanbul. Since dh was born and raised in Turkey, a lot of the dishes that his mother made/sister makes has a Turkish influence. Still, though, a lot of the dishes that you listed, dh says are popular throughout the Middle East, and some he had never even heard of (Zahtar pizza, Pellmini and Troopka, for example, dh has no idea what they are). They probably are Russian influenced, as Armenia was formerly a Soviet state. Manti is actually Turkish/Middle Eastern. It is extremely labor intensive to make. People make it at home only for the most celebrated of holidays. Börek is just dough stuffed with various fillings. I make the cigar Börek all the time at home. Much easier than the folded Börek. I order my dough (Yufka) online, but you can use phyllo dough, too. The dolma are just a rice/meat mixture wrapped in grape leaves and saturated in olive oil... served cold (and I think they are disgusting ). I can get specific recipes, but for so many of these things, they are very specific to family recipes that can vary. Try that online cookbook and you should find plenty of TNT recipes there.

(The pizza is Lahmacun, and although it's popular in Turkey and throughout the middle east the Armenians claim it as "their" food. I eat a lot of lahmacun when we go back to Istanbul to visit family and there are several different ways to make it.)

Here is my quick and easy Lahmacun recipe:

Flour tortillas
finely diced green peppers (they use sweet banana peppers in the authentic recipe)
grated onion, juice included
a couple tablespoons of red pepper paste
a couple of tablespoons of double concentrated tomato paste
1 lb. of ground lamb, very finely minced
chopped cilantro
ground sumac

Mix everything into a spreadable kind of paste. Spread thinly on the tortillas. Bake in a hot oven until the meat is cooked through. Sometimes I finish it off under the broiler. Add additional cilantro and the ground sumac.

[LEFSElover]

best friend in high school was armenian.
her family, grandmothers and mother, were the best cooks EVER.
I loved being invited for dinner which was very often.
she didn't appreciate the flavors that mustered up from their kitchens but I sure did.
I've said before that it was her mother, that taught me way back then, how to make pilaf and I do, that exact way, it was that good.
although not armenian, she made the best pilaf as well as all of her ethnic faires...............
hoping to get some great ideas posted here so I can try and copy, those stuffed grape leaves are to die for.

[deelady]

The zahtar pizza also spelled zaatar is prob just a basic flat bread pizza topped with zahtar which is an herb mixture of: thyme,(most popular,can also use a different herb) sumac, sesame seeds, and salt. Its wonderful with pita bread dipped in olive oil then also in the zahtar, nice lght refreshing snack. but I have often also used it as like a rub for meats or to season ust about any dish!

[deelady]

also you must try some Armenian string cheese with a nice thick piece of pita bread, slightly warmed...yum!

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by *amy*

I stopped into an Armenian Pizza/Bakery restaurant to see what it was all about. The pastries looked yummy - baklava, individual slices of strawberry-swirled cheesecake w strawberries on top, cones filled with whipped cream & chocolate, etc. I took a look at the menu & asked the gentleman behind the counter about some of the dishes on the menu. We got to chatting, as some of the dishes sounded similar to russian or hungarian foods that sounded familiar. Didn't have much time, so I grabbed a menu.

I've done a google, but would like some TNT recipes. I'm looking for:

Armenian Pizza
Found some googling - sounds like a flatbread/tortilla pizza w ground lamb or beef, green peppers, parsley, tomatoes? etc no cheese

Beoreks - going by the spelling on their menu
Some are filled w spinach, meat, potato, or a combo (similar to calzone?)

There were so many dishes that I'm curious about:

Pastry - Troopka

Russian Patty Plate

Kibby Plate

Zahtar pizza

Will have to go back & try their Pellmini (sp), similar to dumplings with yogurt, (I have a pellmini (sp) recipe & a manti (sp) recipe I want to try), yogurt drinks, Dolma, & stuffed egglant & Armenian coffee.

So... anyone have any TNT Armenian recipes? Thanks a bunch.

Amy:

You've quite a melange of dishes at that bakery. There's more to it that just Armenian.foods. I'd like to spend some time there. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

The pelmeni is a Russian ravioli.

The Kibbe is a Near Eastern meatloaf at home in Armenian and other kitchens.

What many folks refer to as Armenian pizza is what I know as lamejun. It is delicious and always a favorite. My mom made it very well. I haven't made it yet. My sister makes it on pita. I had suggested using tortillas to her but she hasn't tried it yet. The Armenian markets here sell it by the dozen.

Manti, or munti, or however you spell it is another favorite of mine. When properly made, it's little pockets of dough filled with a spiced meat mixture and baked then cooked in a broth flavored with mint and finished with yogurt. The quick version is to brown ground beef with onion and garlic and use small shells pasta in the flavored broth.

When my mom made dolma (stuffed vegetables) they were stuffed with rice, lamb, tomato etc. and cooked in a broth. Mom would stuff zucchini, red and green tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants and peppers. Sarma is similar except the filling is wrapped in grape leaves or cabbage.

The beoreks as I know them are turnovers. Think empanada. They are usually cheese or spinach or a combination. Some folks make them in phyllo dough in a baking dish, layering the phyllo and adding the filling the topping with more phyllo.

I've never heard of troopka.

[*amy*]

Originally Posted by cara

usually the Boerek is made of puff pastry, or at least thats the one I know..
I use the frozen one and fill it with whatever I like, sometimes plain cheese (like this morning) or with spinach and feta cheese or with ground meat roasted light brown with some herbs I find in my cupboard and feta cheese.. or all of the three toghether...or..or..
no special recipe as you see ;o)

the armenian pizza sounds a bit like the turkey Lahmacun...
I fetch this from a restaurant around, so no recipe..

Love your idea with spinach, feta & puff pastry, cara. Filed it in my memory bank to try with (maybe) some chopped walnuts, & make (sort of) mini spanokopita appies. The Boreks he showed me looked like bread dough (about 6" long), baked till golden brown. The puff pastry sounds way yummier. Thank you!