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Recipes from Nan

Nan Farhat's kitchen — from cheeseballs and chili to molten chocolate cakes and Lebanese salad dressings.

The Cookbook All Sections
Appetizers & Party Foods11 recipes Breads & Baked Goods4 recipes Main Dishes19 recipes Soups, Salads & Sides16 recipes Desserts18 recipes
Chapter 1 Appetizers & Party Foods
🧀
Cheeseball
Classic party cheeseball with cream cheese, sharp cheddar, and green onion rolled in pecans
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🥩
Hot Beef Dip
Warm chipped beef and cream cheese dip — baked until bubbly and served with crackers
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🥬
Spinach Dip
Classic cold spinach dip with sour cream, mayo, and Knorr vegetable soup mix
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🥚
Deviled Eggs
Creamy deviled eggs with mayo, mustard, and a dash of paprika
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🌶️
Chile Cheese
Baked chile and cheese appetizer — layered green chiles, eggs, and cheddar
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🫑
Chilled Mexican Dip
Layered chilled dip with refried beans, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and cheese
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🌿
Spinach Balls
Savory baked spinach and stuffing balls — a perennial party favorite
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🍢
Rumaki Sauce
Sweet teriyaki-style dipping sauce for rumaki and appetizers
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🍆
Baba Gannouj
Lebanese smoky eggplant dip with tahini, lemon, and garlic
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🫘
Humus bi Tahini
Authentic Lebanese hummus — chickpeas, tahini, lemon, and garlic
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🍗
Chicken Riggies
Utica-style rigatoni with chicken, peppers, and spicy tomato cream sauce
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Chapter 2 Breads & Baked Goods
🍞
Popovers
Light, airy popovers — a simple batter baked in a hot oven until golden and hollow
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🍞
Giant Popovers
Oversized popovers baked in large muffin tins — crisp outside, eggy and hollow inside
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🍮
Bread Pudding
Virginia's classic bread pudding with brown sugar, raisins, and vanilla — baked in a bain-marie
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🍮
Cinnamon Bread Pudding
Chef Hilton's — white bread soaked in heavy cream, eggs, and cinnamon; 325°F then 350°F; 12 servings
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Chapter 3 Main Dishes
🍗
Robert's Restaurant Chicken
Pan-seared in clarified butter, baked at 400°F, finished with lemon-bouillon pan sauce
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🍗
Rice Crispy Chicken
From Ida — chicken breasts coated in Rice Krispies and seasonings, baked at 350°F
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🍗
Teriyaki Chicken
Honey-teriyaki marinade with garlic and ginger — roasted skin-down then flipped at high heat
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🍗
Stuffed Chicken & Hushwa
Virginia Farhat's Lebanese stuffed chicken — rice, pine nuts, and meat under the skin
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🍲
Rosa Yahnee with Peas
Virginia's Lebanese yakhnee — braised chicken with baby peas in spiced tomato broth
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🥩
Beef Stroganoff
Tender beef with mushrooms and onion in a sour cream sauce — do not boil after adding cream
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🥩
Nan's Meatloaf
Ground sirloin with Lipton onion soup, Italian bread crumbs, egg, and ketchup; 350°F 1 hour
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🥩
Ann's Meatloaf
Beef and pork with milk-soaked bread, egg, and Worcestershire; 350°F 1½ hours
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🥚
Egg Bake
From Ida — layered bread, ham, cheese, and vegetables in egg custard; overnight prep; 12 servings
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🧀
Mac and Cheese
Roux-based sauce with Velveeta and cheddar — single batch or 4× party batch
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🧀
Cheese Pita with Phyllo
Lebanese fillo pastry with cottage cheese, feta, and eggs in clarified butter; 375°F 1 hour
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🍝
Nan's Spaghetti Sauce with Meat
Ground sirloin, celery, onion, garlic, tomato sauces, and Parmesan — a family staple
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🍝
New York Spaghetti Sauce
Meatless tomato sauce with whole tomatoes, garlic, shallots, basil, and olive oil
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🍕
Pizza Sauce
Norman Farhat's pizza sauce — onions, garlic, oregano, and whole tomatoes; boil 30 min
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🍤
Dipping Sauce for Shrimp
Colman's dry mustard, Hellmann's mayo, Worcestershire, A-1, and cayenne — keeps 1 week
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🍋
Citrus Sauce for Chicken
Mike Smalley's honey-lime-lemon-OJ marinade with chili powder — 24-hour marinade
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🌶️
White Chili Specialty
Slow cooker — Great Northern beans, chicken, green chiles, cumin; Low 10–12 hrs; 8–10 servings
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🌶️
White Chili
Slow cooker chicken chili with canned beans, bell peppers, and jalapeños; 8 servings
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🌶️
Nan's Chili
Ground sirloin with McCormick chili mix, celery, onion, hot beans, and crushed tomatoes
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Chapter 4 Soups, Salads & Side Dishes
🥗
Syrian Salad Dressing
Lebanese salad with cucumber, tomato, and onion; Mazola oil, apple cider vinegar, and mint
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🥗
Greek Salad & Dressing
Iceberg, feta, olives, and cucumber with olive oil, wine vinegar, and oregano dressing
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🥗
Seven Layer Salad
From Vincent Farhat — lettuce, peas, water chestnuts, sour cream dressing, bacon and cheese topping
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🍊
Tete's Fruit Salad
Tete Farhat's — mandarin oranges, pineapple, cherries, and marshmallows in sour cream
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🥦
Broccoli & Cauliflower Salad
Florets with white raisins, onion, and mayo-vinegar dressing; top with toasted almonds at serving
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🥗
Caesar Salad
Classic Caesar with coddled egg, anchovies, garlic, lemon, Worcestershire, and Parmesan
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🥗
Slaw with Chicken
Asian-style slaw with cabbage, toasted almonds, crushed ramen, and oil-vinegar dressing
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🫘
Baked Beans
Slow-baked with bacon, Vidalia onion, molasses, and brown sugar; 250°F 6 hours
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🍞
Bread Dressing
Tete Farhat's — toasted bread, celery, sausage, mushrooms, eggs, and sage; stuffs 2 chickens
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🧀
Cheese Sauce for Vegetables
Rich roux-based sauce with sharp cheddar and Velveeta — pour over steamed vegetables and bake
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🥕
Baked Carrots
Barefoot Contessa-style oven-roasted carrots with olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper; 400°F
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🍠
Sweet Potato Casserole
Creamy mashed sweet potatoes topped with brown sugar and pecan crumble; 350°F 45 min
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🫘
Meatless String Beans
Virginia Farhat's — green beans with Vidalia onion, tomato sauce, and Syrian spices
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🥔
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Creamy mashed potatoes with roasted garlic, whipping cream, and butter — finished in toaster oven
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🥔
Potato Gratin
Williams-Sonoma — russet potatoes in garlic cream, baked golden in individual bakers; 4 servings
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🥣
Squash Casserole
Baked squash with cheddar, evaporated milk, and saltine crumbs; 350°F 45–60 min
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Chapter 5 Desserts
🍫
Molten Chocolate Cakes
Individual warm chocolate cakes with a flowing center — serve straight from the oven; 8 servings
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🍌
Banana Cake
Moist buttermilk banana cake — chilled in the freezer 45 min, topped with cream cheese frosting
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🎃
Pumpkin Spice Cake
From Marina Farhat — warmly spiced pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting; 350°F 30 min
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🍍
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Tete Farhat's cast iron classic — brown sugar, pineapple, cherries, and separated egg batter
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🎂
Red Velvet Cake
From Karen Duncan Hitt — classic red velvet with cocoa and buttermilk, cream cheese frosting
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🍮
Éclair Cake
No-bake graham cracker and vanilla pudding cake with chocolate frosting — refrigerate 24 hours
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🍫
Texas Sheet Cake
Rich chocolate sheet cake — frosted while hot with a poured cocoa glaze with chopped nuts
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🍰
Cheesecake
From Vincent Farhat — cream cheese filling baked in a water bath, topped with sour cream; 375°F
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🍪
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Classic butter and brown sugar cookies with milk chocolate chips; 375°F 9–12 min
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🍪
No Bake Cookies
Cocoa, peanut butter, and oatmeal — boiled exactly 1 minute then dropped on wax paper
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🥜
Peanut Butter Cookies
From Mary Farhat Mariarity — refrigerate dough 1 hour, then bake at 375°F 8–10 min
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🍪
Russian Tea Cookies
From Vincent Farhat — butter, flour, and chopped pecans; rolled in powdered sugar; 400°F 10–12 min
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🍫
Nan Bars
Graham cracker base with dark chocolate, butterscotch chips, and drizzled condensed milk; 350°F 20 min
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🍰
Red Velvet Bars
Food Network — German chocolate cake mix base with a cream cheese layer; baked 40–45 min
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🍫
White Chocolate Brownies
From Ida Farhat — white chocolate morsels, butter, eggs, and macadamia nuts; 325°F 30–35 min
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🍎
Taffy Apple Dip
From Ida Farhat — cream cheese, brown sugar, and Planters peanuts; chill and serve with sliced apples
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🍎
Deep Dish Apple Pie
Virginia's apple pie with Crisco crust — Granny Smith or McIntosh apples, cinnamon; 350°F 1 hr
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🌿
Grasshopper Pie
From Kathryn Farhat Kramer — Oreo crust, marshmallow cream, and crème de menthe; chill overnight
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