Do not be alarmed by the number of ingredients: this recipe knows what it's doing and does it well. Creamy, tangy, and rich in flavour, Chef Mehyo combines traditional labneh methods with local Ontario fruits to create a stunning summer dish that is worth every step of the prep.
About the Chef
Mehyo el Jawhary is a chef from the south of Lebanon who specializes in Levantine cuisine, particularly dishes that have strong ties to family and culture. With over 12 years of industry experience, he has cooked in many different countries and practiced even more cuisines, including French, Italian, Syrian, Palestinian and Egyptian. He began mostly in restaurants, then transitioned to private and humanitarian work, then consulting, and now works as a partner and chef at a small restaurant called Aleb in Beirut.
For the labneh:
Mix yogurt with a generous pinch of salt, then strain the mixture in a fine mesh sieve plus a cloth over night. The left over whey is pure protein and I usually give it to my dog and is really good for humans as well.
Mix the labneh with a finely chopped dill, I use a full bunch for each 1L of labneh and pickling liquid from a pickled jalapeños jar and the smallest amount of maple syrup/ sugar to taste and adjust salt as needed.
For the plums:
Lacto ferment them a week in advance. The weight of the plums + the weights of the water that will cover them in the jar completely x 2%, the number you get will be the salt needed to ferment (make sure not to use iodized salt).
Make sure the jar is sterile and clean, dissolve the salt into the water and then add the plums and store for a week, making sure to "burp" (release the gas) the jar every 3 days or so.
For the pistachio lime dukkah:
Toast the sesame seeds, pistachios and sunflower seeds in a cold pan with no oil for 5-8 mins until fully toasted. Then toast the cumin and coriander seeds separately, they take less time, around 3 min max.
Add everything to a food processor along with the black lime salt and Aleppo chilli, give it a mix and store in an airtight container (it lasts for over a month).
For for the peaches and apricots:
Slice them in quarters and keep a nice chunk to them. Grill them on the stove top with some olive oil and with a tiny sprinkle of sugar to give them a nice caramel color and then let them cool.
To serve:
Start with a generous spoon of your labneh mix. Top off with the sliced fruits and fermented plums to your desire, then add a generous sprinkle of dukkah and finish with olive oil (or coriander oil).
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