Rise and shine.

It's a magnificent morning with manoush and Mama.

Announcer: "Julie Taboulie's Lebanese Kitchen" is made possible by... Man: ♪ Do your thing ♪ ♪ Do your thing, do your thing ♪ ♪ Syracuse, do your thing ♪ ♪ Do your thing, do your thing ♪ ♪ Syracuse, do your thing ♪ [Lebanese music playing] As soon as the thought of manoush comes to my mind, I immediately see my mother.

Ever since I was a little girl, I grew up to the sights, sounds, and smells surrounding me as my mother would be making and baking manoush on our saj, signaling Sunday mornings to me.

And today we are making one of the most famous manoush of all time, manoush frittata, Lebanon's most brilliant breakfast food.

Believed to be good for the memory, these luscious Lebanese breakfast dough pies were always encouraged upon children to eat before going to school, especially before taking exams, because it was thought to wake one up.

These Lebanese personalized pita pies are topped with a Lebanese signature spice blend called zaatar, an earthy and dusty thyme/herb mixture made of up wild thyme, sumac spice, sesame seeds, and sea salt, making for a scrumptious way to start the day.

I may be all grown up now, but my senses still remain the same-- meaning manoush and Mama is magnificent.

Rise and shine, everyone, because it's a magnificent morning with manoush, our Lebanese-style breakfast dough pies and... Mama!

Good morning.

Good morning, Mama.

Good morning.

Are you gonna be helping me with my dough today?

I am here to help you make dough today.

Mama's the best because she's been helping me since day one, ever since I started my "Julie Taboulie" journey, and she's my right hand and my left, and she hasn't left my side.

I enjoy doing it.

[Laughs] So, today we're making manoush, which is our Lebanese-style breakfast dough pie.

And we're also going to be doing some other traditional accompaniments on the table with the manoush that you would typically see and eat in Lebanon and the Middle East... At breakfast time.

...and in America at breakfast time.

We're doing labneh also, which is our homemade, handmade Lebanese-style strained, our nice and thick creamy yogurt.

And it's going to be sort of dressed in a savory way.

That's how we most enjoy our yogurt, savory, not sweet.

Although we're sweet, but... [Laughs] It's breakfast.

And some other traditional accompaniments, too.

But the number one question that we always get asked all the time--we always have so many of you writing in about how to make foolproof Arabic all-purpose yeast dough.

Right?

And that's what we're doing today.

And Mama's gonna help us.

She's gonna instruct me and you along today.

Right, Mama?

Right.

So we're starting with our yeast, right, Mama?

Right.

And for the measurement of how much we make in dough today, we need about 1 1/2 tablespoon.

OK, and then what else?

And we need one tablespoon of flour.

I'm gonna level it out because we're gonna make it nice and precise.

Yeah, we gonna.

Foolproof as possible.

That goes in.

OK, so that was our unbleached all-purpose flour.

Right, Mama?

Always unbleached.

Always unbleached.

And now for one tablespoon?

One tablespoon of sugar.

OK. All right.

And now we have... 1/3 cup of warm water.

Not too hot.

OK, I'm just gonna pour this in.

So we don't want to use hot water because-- Because the hot water would kill the yeast.

And the cold water will-- it will rise, but itl takea longt to get activated.

OK.

Put it to the side.

And while you're doing that, I'm gonna start measuring my flour.

All right.

So Mama is measuring out-- we're gonna be making 8 1/2 cups of flour.

Right.

And I'm measuring just for Julie and you today.

[Laughs] Thank you, Mama.

You're welcome.

OK, so, Mama, we're gonna add salt to this as well.

We're gonna add one tablespoon of salt.

And the reason we're adding it to the flour, because we didn't add it to the yeast because that will kill the yeast if we're trying to have the yeast rise.

All right.

That is also key.

We're adding the salt.

I'm just gonna sort of run the salts through the flour.

And I'm also gonna make a well.

I'm gonna help you a little bit, too, Mama.

You're helping me, I'm helping you.

So I did here good, Mom, on your well that we have?

Yeah, you did.

All right, so I'm going to have you actually mix it for us here at home and for you all at home, too.

I love doing that.

All right, so I'm gonna pour in two cups of water and one more cup.

So we have 3 cups of water.

Just like that.

OK, I'm gonna grab our olive oil, too, Mama.

Right?

Yeah.

We need about 1/3 of a cup.

We're making our well.

[Laughs] Our wishing well.

Right.

Now all we need is our yeast and it looks like it's ready.

OK.

This is nice.

So you can see that it has risen, right?

And it has little bubbly kind of on top.

I'm gonna pour that in for you, Mama?

Yeah.

Thank you.

OK. See how much I'm helping you today, Mama?

And I'll just start digging in and mixing.

All right, how's that?

Thank you.

So, let's walk them through on mixing the dough.

So, basically, Mama's just sort of gathering the flour from around the sides of the bowl and kind of bringing it into our wishing well of liquids.

As you can see, I'm not just kneading the dough till I know it's just right.

Right.

This is looking really nice because there is no more flour on the bottom, and it's not really that wet, and it's not-- I don't have too much flour to go, just a little bit, so I'm gonna start mixing it.

All right, she's gonna start kneading.

And this is really, I mean the dough-making, uh, you know, back in Lebanon in the Middle East, I mean, this is sort of-- It would be like a huge roll of dough.

Yeah, I mean, this is sort of our breath of life, you know, I mean... We sometimes don't bake every day.

We bake for the week.

And we take it to the bakery if you don't have a source of--an oven in your own house or a saj outside, so you would take it to the bakery and they help you bake it.

Yeah, that's really nice.

And that's what you guys would do with this dough, right?

Your mom, my grandmother, and your sisters and siblings there.

It was...a team effort.

Yeah.

A Taboulie team.

And it's all mixed pretty good.

Yeah.

As you can see.

It's nice and pliable.

I'm gonna touch it, too.

Yeah, so it's not too wet and it's not too dry.

It's sort of right in between.

It's moist, basically, and that's what you're going for.

And it kind of has like a pushback on you.

I clean my bowl as I go along.

Cross.

You always make the sign of the Cross.

Okey-dokes.

And we are gonna let this rest and rise on our countertop.

So today we're making our manoush in our oven here in our new "Julie Taboulie Lebanese Kitchen."

But we also have an outdoor oven that what we call a, uh...

It's a saj that we make our bread and zaataran because it does taste delicious on it.

It has a completely different taste and texture than in the oven.

And so I think we should show everybody at home our outdoor oven.

Let's go.

So here we are with Mama and our saj.

A saj is basically an Old-World Arabic apparatus that they use outdoors to bake all of our bread on, right, Mama?

Mama: Right.

And Mama used to bake on the saj back in Lebanon with Sitto and everybody.

With my mother.

So, what was that like?

It was a lot of fun because we need two, three people to operate the whole thing.

Uh, one has to roll the bread, the other one bakes it.

And the best fun is eating it after.

Of course.

It's the tastiest bread ever.

Obviously we bake our bread, our kibbehs, and our manoush and all that in the oven, but there's nothing like the taste that's special.

I remember here now, so you remember in Lebanon and I remember here, you baking the bread with Aunt Marcel.

Right.

She's a great helper.

She's a good baker.

I would roll the dough with the [Indistinct] and on the table, and she would bake it.

And, you know, and maintain the fire underneath because it has to be just a certain temperature.

Uh, we used coal and wood on this one.

Uh, I don't use any propane, so the taste is extra special.

Yeah.

It's just like you, Mama.

Thank you.

Mama, I'm so happy that we were able to share with everybody our saj that we have outside, because I love it so much.

You know, it's one of my favorite things ever.

It is fun to bake on.

And I'm so grateful and thankful that we have it, you know, in our home and we're able to use it.

Yes, we are.

Thank you, Mama, for having the saj.

And without further ado, we have our big, beautiful bowl of dough here.

Look at that, you guys.

It looks awesome.

It does look awesome.

And Mama's gonna help sort of take the plastic off.

It really sort of doubles in size, as you guys can see.

It's beautiful.

So we gonna start cutting it.

You're gonna flour the board, Mama?

Yeah.

And again, we are making our ajin, which is our Arabic all-purpose yeast dough that we make all of our delicious dough pies and dough pastries and all sorts of stuff with.

Mama's gonna take it out of the bowl.

Need it a little closer to you, Mama?

No, I'm good.

I'm good.

Look at that.

I'm a pro with that.

So today, with our Arabic all-purpose yeast dough, we are gonna be making our star dish of the day, which is our manoush.

In our family we call it zuba.

Yeah, or zaatar.

Or zaatar, which are our breakfast dough pies, our savory dough pies.

OK, so we are going to start just by rolling out our dough.

And I'd like to show them just like a nice big size, you know, that you would typically find, uh, in Lebanon and the Middle East and also Lebanese and Middle Eastern bakeries here in the States as well.

Which you can find these delicious dough pies at.

And now we're gonna show you how to make them at home, too.

So we're just gonna start to-- You can roll it like that also.

OK.

Right.

This is the way that I roll it.

I basically have one hand turning, and roll, and kind of keep on moving it around until I have a nice circular shape.

Just like so.

How does it look, Mama?

Good.

You're doing very well.

Mama taught me everything I know, including dough.

Right.

I want to get mine a little bit more round.

Just like that.

OK.

So now we are going to talk about zuba.

Right?

OK. Also called zaatar.

And the word zaatar literally translates to thyme in Arabic.

Right.

And it's basically finely ground, the zaatar and the zuba, and then it's mixed with the sumac, and then we toast the sesame seeds and add sea salt, just like that.

So I have about 3 heaping tablespoons of the zaatar mixture, or zuba, and I'm just gonna stream in the olive oil, like so.

Just sort of gonna eyeball it.

OK, Mama.

If you'd like to do yours.

Trying to be helpers today.

You're helping so much today.

Can't do it without you.

Well, mix.

All right, so look at that and you just sort of eyeball it.

Do you need a little bit more?

A little bit more oil for mine.

OK, some more.

So we don't want it too thick and we don't want it too thin.

We want it sort of right in the middle.

Right.

So I'm gonna show them what we're kind of going for.

See, it's nice and fluid, right, Mama?

That's looks really good.

OK, so let's bring the sheet pan in, actually, so everybody can see it.

You can do that one and I'll do this one.

And then you're just basically going to take... A tablespoon, maybe two tablespoons for these.

Yeah, some people like a lot, some people don't.

Right.

I like it right in the middle.

I don't like too much zuba on the zaatar.

I don't like too little, either.

You know, because this is essentially the main ingredient.

It's a zesty, savory herb pie.

So you want to have, you know, a good amount, but not too much.

It could become a little bitter, don't you think?

Sometimes, if you put way too much.

Then we press it with the spoon, just a little bit like that So it doesn't puff up.

So, Sitto, my mom's mom, and I'm sure many other mothers, they believe that it opened up the brain, right?

Right.

It helps us achieve better in school when we go to school in the morning.

So they can do really well on their exams.

So... And they still think that and do that to this day, I believe.

They do.

It's a healthy breakfast.

You're doing very well.

Thank you very much.

And I'm not trying to show off because I did two already.

Mama's been making dough a lot longer than I have, and she's a lot faster as well.

So, I think these are great as a maza or appetizer or hors d'oeuvres, and they're also really sort of-- I think they're really cute for kids, too.

Yeah, they are.

Sofie and Lola love to do that.

Speaking of kids, my mother's grandchildren and my nieces Sofie Honey and Lola, just love making zuba with us.

And they do a really good job.

They've been making it ever since they were like, I think like 3.

You know?

I'll put the dough right there, then they'll be sitting on their chair watching me and I'll just give them a piece and they'll have flour all over them making it.

[Laughing] So we're gonna get our manoush, our Lebanese-style savory dough pies in the oven as well, uh, with the other two larger ones that we put in.

And then we're gonna get on to making some of our other traditional accompaniments for our Lebanese breakfast together.

I can't wait.

And in the meantime, I want you guys to take another look at our outdoor oven, our saj, and kind of learn a little bit more about it.

So, Mama, why do you have this pillow out here?

Are you gonna take a nap?

I just put this-- I just put this dough on, um, and it's easy to see-- you can see it's all even.

Yeah, so when you put it-- This is called a kado.

Kado.

OK. And when you put the dough on it, it's easy just-- it's a technique that you have to turn it over and put it on.

And then when it's ready, you gotta turn it over, so we gonna try and turn it over.

So you already pressed it down with the [Indistinct].

It looks so beautiful.

So this is called manoush, right?

Right.

And you can make it as thin as possible.

I made it a little bit thicker today.

I just felt like it.

So we make the manoush on the saj.

We make the khubz, which is the Lebanese bread, on the saj.

The manoush right here, Mama, right, which is thin or thicker.

And the palam is in the tanur, what you were saying.

And all of our breads are extra special because they're made by Mama.

[Laughing] You're welcome.

Thanks, Mama.

So the next dish that Mama and I have for you in our rise and shine magnificent morning with our manoush, our Lebanese-style breakfast dough pies, is our labneh.

Right, Mama?

Right.

It's my favorite for breakfast.

It's mine, too.

And you cannot have manoush, zaatar, zuba, however you want to call it out there, without some nice thick homemade strained yogurt that we call labneh.

So we're gonna show you how Mama and I made our labneh for you today.

Julie: To turn your homemade Lebanese unstrained yogurt called leban into thick, creamy, and smooth strained yogurt called labneh, simply open a clean cotton cloth or muslin bag.

Place it into a colander over a bowl and ladle the unstrained yogurt into the bag.

Push the yogurt down as much as you can, close the bag, pressing down on it to release as much air as possible.

Pull the drawstring bag tightly and spin the bottom around while holding the top.

Then tie the drawstring to secure.

Place the bag into the colander set over the bowl and transfer it to the refrigerator to drain for one full day.

After one full day, the majority of the whey will have drained, and, voila, you will have your very own homemade thick and creamy Lebanese strained yogurt called labneh right at home and ready to serve.

Taboulie tip--the longer you drain the yogurt, the thicker and creamier it will become.

Mama, I think the biggest difference between yogurt in this country, in America, is-- compared to like Lebanon and the Middle East, is that here it's-- you know, yogurt is eaten more like sweet.

Because of all the fruits they add to it.

We eat it savory, you know?

With our bread and...

I think it's a delicious way to enjoy it, and I think once you all try these different types of toppings that we're gonna be showing you in just a bit, you're gonna just love the yogurt savory like this.

OK, so we are going to drizzle a little bit of olive oil-- Oh, I love yours, Mama.

It looks really nice.

I worked hard on it.

You can just drizzle some good-quality olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, and just sort of-- You want to swirl that around on the plate, Mama?

It looks beautiful already.

It does look beautiful.

Just like that.

And them I'm also going to get a little bit of sea salt.

Of course.

It makes it taste delicious.

The salt is one of the most important seasonings, actually, when it comes to either the labneh, the thick yogurt that we have, or the leban, which is our unstrained yogurt.

And now I'm so excited for our tasty toppings for are labneh bar that I have right over here.

All ready.

Look at this, Mama.

I prepared it for us.

Easy-peasy here.

Everything is, uh, you know, sort of, finely chopped up.

I have 4 different ways that I want to share with everybody, how we like our kuba or manoush or zaatar.

So, uh, one of them is with garlic.

It's, uh, you know, garlic paste and mint.

Do you want to do that one?

This actually does taste delicious together, that combination.

It is, it's a delicious combination.

So I'm going to do our spicy labneh.

So I have some crushed red pepper flakes.

And then I'm also gonna use a little bit of cayenne.

And then I also have some of our crushed Aleppo pepper.

That's sort of a smokier, sort of more rich and robust.

It's gonna be spicy.

It's gonna be spicy.

I'm gonna have-- I'm gonna wake right up this morning.

Mama, you want to do the zaatar one, the [Indistinct]?

Yeah, I'll do that one.

OK. All right.

I'm gonna do--finish my Aleppo pepper.

And then I have a little bit of paprika, too.

Just to sort of soften and sweeten everything up a little bit.

And then we'll do the last one together.

How's that?

So this one's gonna be all fresh herbs.

So if you want to take thyme... Yeah, I'll do that.

I have some, uh, fresh chives.

All right, and then just a little bit of some fresh flat-leaf parsley, too.

It looks good.

It does look really good.

And so we're kind of giving you all at home 4 different ways that you can enjoy your labneh, your savory-style yogurt.

You can try our toppings, and you can also create your own.

Right, Mama?

Right.

Good job.

Thanks.

So Mama and I are finishing up our final two traditional touches for our Lebanese breakfast this morning, and it is looking absolutely marvelous.

Delicious.

It looks delicious.

I can't wait to dig in.

So, Mama, what are you gonna make?

I'm making ahweh while you're doing whatever you're doing.

[Laughs] That's usually how it is.

Ahweh is our traditional Arabic coffee, also known as Turkish coffee.

And you ground them up, right, Mom, the beans?

Right.

It's all ready.

And what do we call this that we ground the beans in?

This is [Indistinct], and we usually put the whole beans in it and grind it, so it's always fresh, just like the way we make the American coffee.

Yeah, and the Ahweh, the Turkish coffee, needs to be really finely ground, right?

Is that OK, Mama?

All right, so I'm gonna let her do her thing, and I am going to do our Jedoudna, which is our fresh vegetable platter that you always see on a traditional Lebanese and Middle Eastern table, anytime, really, any meal, but especially at breakfast time.

That looks lovely.

Very good.

I have Persian cucumbers, peppers, scallions, radishes, fresh nana, which is always key.

And, of course, Mama, our zaitun.

Of course.

You always gotta have zaitun at the table, especially the breakfast table.

It's delicious in the morning.

All right, so shall I get you a manoush pie?

Yes.

I'll try one.

And I'll get one for myself.

Now, which labneh are you going to go for?

Of course the hot one.

It's right in front of me, too.

Can't miss it.

I am going to go for the fresh herb one, actually, because I want to feel some freshness.

You're just gonna take a little bit.

Yeah.

So this is how you traditionally would eat it.

You'd just sort of scoop up some of the labneh, however you like.

I'm gonna make sort of like a labneh manoush...

Sandwich.

Sandwich.

Exactly.

What do you think of that, Mom?

It looks good.

Hey.

Mmm.

It's good like that.

It's delicious.

And they cooked really perfectly.

They did, Mama.

But not as perfect as you.

Thank you.

I hope that you all enjoyed our rise and shine magnificent morning with manoush, and especially with our special Mama.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mama, for joining me in the kitchen today.

Thank you.

And we wish you and yours to always...

Both: Takloull bil' hanna-- Eat in happiness and sending lots of Lebanese love.

Thanks, Mama.

Beautiful.

Very good.

Thank you for making my morning magnificent, Mama.

You're welcome.

As you always do.

Thank you.

You want me to get you one, Mama?

Just one.

How's that?

That looks good.

How beautiful this is.

Thank you, Mama.

You're welcome.

Mmm.

The smells.

Absolutely scrumptious.

I like rolling it up like that.

Enjoy.

Thank you.

You, too.

Mama, I remember in Lebanon, when I was staying with Sitto, it was like amazing manoush in the morning.

Everywhere I went, all your sisters, all the family, every morning, everybody had the manoush.

It's comfort food.

[Laughs] It's good.

It's morning, but it's anytime.

Here's to you.

Thanks for your help.

Thanks for your help, Mama.

Here's to you and manoush.

Right.

[Laughs] Announcer: "Julie Taboulie's Lebanese Kitchen," authentic recipes for fresh and flavorful Mediterranean home cooking, is now available.

The cookbook offers 125 recipes, hands-on instructions, and tips and tricks to help you make all of Julie's dishes from this season.

Cook, create, and celebrate Julie's authentic recipes right at home.

To order a copy, call... Join Julie Taboulie for fresh and flavorful Lebanese foods for for your family and friends at JulieTaboulie.com.

Find Julie's authentic recipes For the tastiest Mediterranean home cooking.

It's Julie tested and Mama approved.

Visit JulieTaboulie.com today.

"Julie Taboulie's Lebanese Kitchen" is made possible by... Man: ♪ Do your thing ♪ ♪ Do your thing, do your thing ♪ ♪ Syracuse, do your thing ♪ ♪ Do your thing, do your thing ♪ ♪ Syracuse, do your thing ♪