Comptoir Libanais: A Feast of Lebanese-Style Home Cooking

<p>Tony Kitous's seven (and counting!) Comptoir Libanais restaurants in London celebrate the riotous flavors, colors, and textures of Lebanese, Mediterranean, and North African food.</p> Not since the opening of the Ottolenghi food shops in London has that city embraced a cuisine from that region with as much fervor.<br><br>Comptoir Libanais makes this exotic cuisine easily accessible at home, with eighty recipes for dishes that blend traditional cooking with modern flavors. Comptoir Libanais covers everything from a wide range of mezze -- small dishes -- including salads, dips, and hot dishes to grills and barbeques such as Lamb and Pistachio Kofta, to Tabkhat -- one-pot homestyle dishes like Cumin-braised Neck of Lamb -- to spectacular recipes for soups, breads, pastries, beverages, and desserts, while ensuring that each dish uses readily available ingredients and basic kitchen equipment. Each mouthwateringly delicious -- and healthy -- recipe is illustrated with the striking food photography of Dan Lepard. Comptoir Libanais satisfies readers' yen for delicious, stylish, and simple recipes, and is perfect for fans of Jerusalem and Ottolenghi. <br><br> Can't wait to get started? Try Tony's recipe for fig jam, which he recommends as the perfect accompaniment to a savory mezze selection -- it's particularly good with labneh! Combine one cup of roughly chopped figs with the juice of one lemon in a medium pan. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for five minutes to soften the fruit. Add one cup of sugar and heat gently until it dissolves. As soon as the sugar has dissolved, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for about five minutes until the mixture is jammy. Enjoy!