finding yourself in the kitchen
Mariam Daud has been in kitchens all her life. When she was a child growing up in Cleveland, her parents owned a restaurant. She and her nine brothers and sisters were often there, sometimes helping, sometimes not. Her parents were Palestinian immigrants, so she learned to cook amazing Middle Eastern food. But once she grew up and started a food blog, she also became obsessed with what she calls “back-pocket” recipes, or recipes for standard dishes that are so good you’ll never have to look up another recipe for that dish again. Her new cookbook, I Sleep in My Kitchen, combines her best family recipes and her best back-pocket recipes to make everyone happy.
Daud hits on everything from breakfasts to desserts, with stops at small plates, soups, pastas, meats and seafood, and even breads. These 100 recipes run the gamut from Shakshuka to Clam Chowder, from Three-Cheese Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese to Lamb Shoulder with Labneh and Fennel Orange Glaze, from Homemade Garlic Knots to Date-Stuffed Butter Cookies called Ma’amoud. If you want something simple, there is the Tomato Soup with Garlic Bread Grilled Cheese. If you need something to celebrate, you can try the Surf and Turf with Filet Mignon and Crab-Stuffed Lobster.
There are no secret family recipes here, because her mother never kept secrets. She was generous with her food and her recipes, so Daud’s family favorites are here, like the Beef and Bulgar-Stuffed Shells (Kibbeh) she helped her mother make when she was a girl to the Flatbread with Chicken, Sumac, and Carmalized Onions (Msakhan) that graces the cover and that her mother usually made for the first meal after Ramadan.
Each of these recipes have been tested thoroughly, as Daud literally slept in her kitchen to be there when inspiration hit in the middle of the night. As a baker as well as a cook, she is just as comfortable with a recipe for Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos with Cabbage Slaw as she is with Fluffy Japanese Milk Bread. And each recipe is accompanied by beautiful photographs, making me want to both make the dishes and eat the dishes because of their vibrant colors and textures.
I was surprised and impressed with the breadth of recipes in I Sleep in My Kitchen. While Daud is deeply devoted to her Palestinian heritage, she is also unashamedly American and loves a Triple-Stack Smash Burger as well as a Baba Ghanoush-Stuffed Eggplant. She includes some Sourdough Basics for bakers who want to dive into the deep end but also has recipes for the basics, like Pita Bread or Hummus (Mama’s Homemade, of course). But for me, all that pales in the light of those three little words I have been waiting to hear for so, so long: Chocolatey Tiramisu Cake. This cookbook is a keeper!
Clarkson Potter provided me with a free copy of I Sleep in My Kitchen, with many thanks, but the opinions are my own.
