Sankhkare's Spicy Chickpeas
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
thinly sliced bell pepper
3 tomatoes, chopped
2 (15 ounces) cans garbanzo beans, drained
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 onion, chopped

Instructions
In a large pot over low heat, warm oil and cumin. Heat until cumin turns a darker shade of brown. Add salt, chili powder and lemon and pepper seasoning. Mix well. Stir in tomatoes. Once the juice begins to thicken add chickpeas and mix well. Add in lemon juice and mix well. Add onions and bell pepper and stir until they become soft. Remove from heat and place into a serving bowl. Serve immediately.

Herky Turkey Jerky
(Adapted from an Egyptian recipe)
If using turkey... use the meat from the breast only. You can also use venison, antelope, gazelle, elk or good mutton, hippo and beef as the ancient Egyptians did. Never use pork.

The meat is cut into strips no more than a quarter inch thick by about a half or three-quarters inch wide and six or eight inches long. Cut the meat across the grain like you were slicing a brisket. If the meat is frozen to the point where it just has ice crystals in it, it's a lot easier to slice. You can either freeze it or thaw it to that point. Use a sharp knife. Remove all fat. Do not re-freeze.

Marinade (for approximately 1 kilo of meat)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 drops Tabasco
4 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced

Mix all and put in zip-Lock bag with meat. Do not leave out the salt, as this is the drying agent. Massage to get meat well coated. Refrigerate overnight.

The easiest way is to dry the jerky in your oven. You will need a wire rack for the jerky to rest on. Place oven proof baking paper in the bottom of your oven to catch the drippings. Set the oven at 140 degrees and leave the door partially open. It will take six to eight hours to cure the jerky.

Jerky is "done" when it has turned nearly black and when you bend it, it will crack but not break.

Storage
When your jerky is done, let it cool completely. Then place it in zip-lock bags or airtight jars. Oven home-dried jerky can be stored up to one month in the fridge. Sundried - one week.

If you are game and want to try making jerky the ancient Egyptian way and want to try sun drying the jerky, you will need to find something to hang it on where the pieces of meat do not touch. Put a little cotton string in the top of each piece to hang it by. The meat goes into a location where it will get sun all day. You will need to cover it with cheesecloth to keep the bugs off. It will take several days to dry. You have to bring it in at night to keep the morning dew off.

Jerky is "done" when it has turned nearly black and when you bend it, it will crack but not break.

NB: Special considerations when making homemade jerky from venison or other wild game - Venison can be heavily contaminated with fecal bacteria, the degree varying with the hunter's skill, wound location, and other factors. Deer carcasses are typically held at ambient temperatures during transport, potentially allowing bacteria multiplication. Remember...beef is best.

Medjay Mirjam Lamb
The Medjay were a nomadic people from the Nubian desert. They were often employed as scouts and warriors in Egypt from the Second Intermediate Period and beyond.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pound lean lamb meat without bones
2 medium onions, chopped fine
Fresh ground black pepper
6 cups water, PLUS"PLUS" means this ingredient in addition to the one on the next line, often with divided uses
3/4 cup water, divided
1/2 cup rice
1/4 cup ghee or butter, PLUS"PLUS" means this ingredient in addition to the one on the next line, often with divided uses
2 tablespoons ghee or butter, separated
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup wine vinegar

Instructions
Cut lamb into 1 inch cubes and place in a large pot with 6 cups of the water. Bring slowly to a boil, skimming occasionally. Add onion, salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender yet not falling apart. Meanwhile wash and drain the rice. In a medium saucepan boil one cup of water, add 1 tablespoon of ghee and 1/2 teaspoon of salt then the rice. Bring back to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cover and simmer over low heat 15-20 minutes until tender. Using a slotted spoon remove meat from cooking liquid. In a separate skillet melt 1 tablespoon of ghee, add the meat and fry it a few minutes. Remove from heat. Set aside and keep warm.

In the same frying pan used for the meat melt 1/4 cup of ghee over medium high heat. Add the garlic and saute until it begins to take on color. Remove skillet from heat. Stir vinegar into the skillet. Return to heat and boil a few seconds. Set this mixture aside. Spoon some of the garlic mixture over the bread then add half of the cooked rice. Pour some of the soup broth over top of this. Place second round of toasted bread then the remaining rice. Place fried lamb cubes on top the fried lamb. Top this off with the remaining garlic mixture.

Pour the remaining soup broth over this. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

Note: adding a clove to boiling water will help to cover the aroma of boiling lamb if desired.

Thutmose Relish Toman
Adapted from a modern Egyptian recipe given to Sementawy by a Bedouin woman cooking the relish inside a Cairo cemetary. The recipe was translated from Bedouin into Arabic then into French, finally into English as Sementawy, seated on a tombstone and sipping sweet Bedu tea, wrote it down as her feet were painted with henna.

When a person stops to eat out in the desert, the done thing is to throw pebbles into the shade before sitting down. This is to scare away spirits, the djinns/efreets who might like your food and curse it to give you stomach aches.

Ingredients
½ cup chopped onion
¼ cup oil
2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 cups peanut butter
1 cups cooked peas
1 cups finely chopped green beans
1 kilo water

Instructions
In a 2-kilo saucepan saute the chopped onion in the oil until light brown. Add the tomatoes and the peanut butter and saute for 5 minutes. Add the peas and beans and the water. Simmer for ½ hour or until mixture has thickened. Serve with roasted game meats, bread for dipping or sweet potatos. Relish for eight persons (yield : 1 kilo).