I’ve been watching Chef John for many years, and I love that he says, cold fresh water. Like what kind of water does he think we’re using? Old stale water? Water from a swamp. You’re the best Chef John.

@SgtMjr

Ай бұрын

Cat bowl water.

@lfcbpro

Ай бұрын

Old rain water?

@janet5610

Ай бұрын

Well....some people??? You never know.

@whokilledkenny4586

Ай бұрын

@alveus8205 he says this so people don’t use hot water from the tap which isn’t fresh. It’s been heated.

@alveus8205

Ай бұрын

@@whokilledkenny4586 makes sense, but what does “fresh” mean then?

Our house filling - ground beef, fresh coriander (1/2 cup chopped), fresh parsley (1/2 cup chopped), 2 cloves garlic, 1 onion minced, salt, black pepper, turmeric powder My mom used to make it in a panini press 🥹

@Moglidor

Ай бұрын

That sounds really good!

@soulbot119

Ай бұрын

dude that sounds perfect. I finally have an excuse to buy a panini press

I always have to watch till the end because I can’t miss Chef John’s outro… “and as always, enjoyyyy!” 🤩

@soulbot119

Ай бұрын

his terrible singing has evolved over the years. he used to just say "enjoy" with an audible smile, but over the last decade or so he's taken to this completely off key talk-singing. don't quit your dayjob, chef.

@kralevic3297

Ай бұрын

@@soulbot119 You don't know what "off-key" means.

@Josh_Fredman

Ай бұрын

Same! I love the "Enjoy!" at the end.

"First of all, I'll do the jokes," almost had me spew coffee out my nose, and the adding Judy Bloom made me smile! Thanks, Chef John!

@ARFallaha

3 күн бұрын

I completely missed the Judy Bloom joke because the pro tip made me laugh more than it should have :D

Finding out this is a regular dish, this is one of those things where I say "Why am I just finding out about this NOW?" - this is everything I love!! I can't wait to try!

As someone who made this dish for many years: Do yourselves a big favor and consider making more than 2 pieces per person. Trust me on this, I never met a person who ate only 2 halves! (including myself)!

@jacques42

16 күн бұрын

Does one really not pre-cook the meat before filling the pitas? I'm concerned the meat will be not well done.

@SubtitledArabicSongs

22 сағат бұрын

@@jacques42 you dont precook, the layer of meat is thin so it cooks well very quickly. you can always use a thermometer. and if you want to precook you can do that I guess but you will be losing juices soaked up by the bread and cooked. you can also cook these in the oven.

I used to work in a Lebanese restaurant that made these, except we added cherry sumac and a dash of cinnamon to the beef mixture, as well as a handful of toasted pine nuts. We (the staff) also experimented on our own stuffing with some extra onions, or tomatoes. It was very delicious, and I'd highly recommend trying to find or use cherry sumac in this, as well as pine nuts.

@WyldeStarrTheWexican

Ай бұрын

Any time I've had these, it's had pine nuts & mint (def not parsley)

@faithsrvtrip8768

Ай бұрын

Cinnamon added to a savory dish is a food sin.

@unimaginaryemily

Ай бұрын

@@faithsrvtrip8768 Sometimes it just works! It can remind someone of a comforting memory. Like a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese.

@MajorZeuz

Ай бұрын

@@faithsrvtrip8768 It can work fantastically in plenty of various spice blends, though usually at such a small amount that the final dish doesn't taste of cinnamon outright, but it plays well with many other things. It's a staple spice in flavoring Chinese chili oil, and can do beautifully in a pork chop glaze.

@anggrekbulan100

Ай бұрын

​@@faithsrvtrip8768 Many savory dishes in Asia use cinnamon.

Welcome back Chef John, hope your vacation was a relaxing and memorable one 🙂

We love you Chef John! On a more personal note; during the pandemic you really helped to demystify cooking for me--and I got to love cooking at home so much that 4 years after beginning my "learn to really cook" journey, I'm opening a restaurant!

@Josh_Fredman

Ай бұрын

Congrats, and good luck!!

I've eaten food from all over the world but the food made by the Lebanese/Palestinians/Egyptians is just on another level 👌❤️ Cannot wait to try this!

@curiouslyme524

Ай бұрын

Same here. But I'll substitute ground beef for the ground lamb.

@bennyattar8862

Ай бұрын

Probably because they don't put cheese/mayonnaise/sugar on everything and ruin it.

As an Afghan I suggest dicing onion, tomato and cucumber with lemon or lime juice and opening the pita up and adding that in there. Probably have to cook the meat first if you want to do this though!

just moved down the street from a lebanese place that has this, and it is AMAZING

Looks delicious! I did notice that Chef John kept increasing the amount of sauce with each bite. My kind of man!

I ate Aryas basically in every gulf country and egypt and it seems different but the same for every place you visit and all are awesome.

Arayes look extremely delicious, but I've always been hesitant to try making them. Maybe this is a sign, thank you for the recipe Chef ❤

@HopALongSassidy

Ай бұрын

Sometimes people try to speed up the cooking process by using hot water.

Chef, I hope you had a blast on vacation!! So glad youre back😋

These have been popular here for a while. I'm used to pitas being thicker than this, that's probably why they'd have more meat, and also my friends usually make them on the grill. Great, fun food to eat.

@luau5974

Ай бұрын

They're like hamburger pockets!

I adore one-pan recipes. I am SO making this one. Brilliant! 💯

I started watching food wishes in lockdown spend months watching the video then life started again I’ve come back today and the nostalgia I feel is unreal I love it

What on earth these look delicious!!

Thanks, Chef John, for introducing me to some amazing food. You always do a great job of making a recipe easy for novices like me to follow. I have to try this!

Merci Chef John.

Chef John's voice is my ASMR

These were so delicious! As always, Thanks Chef!

That looks incredible! Thanks so much!

I'm glad I bought that package of grass fed, finished ground beef because a cheeseburger Arayes seems on the horizon. But, I love lamb so I foresee getting some of that, as well! Welcome back, CJ! By the way, I bought an 8 pound sack of CA oranges that came with 8 oranges meaning each orange was 1 pound! Softball sized oranges!

@coolcanoechic

Ай бұрын

Wow! What are you going to do with all those oranges?

@davidcarbone3385

Ай бұрын

@@coolcanoechic Hi! I love oranges, so I'll be eating one a day!

Great pita idea, gives me some ideas for future dishes. Thanks.

It's like a Middle Eastern quesadilla!

Omg I was about to make this. Stop reading my mind

This looks absolutely delicious Chef! I'd love to try it with Kafta filling. 😋

Fantastic! Chef ❤

Brilliant idea. Thank you!😊

After all, you are the Bill and Ted of your meat stuffed pita bread.

They look delicious 👍

Thanks for this !

Yum. Going to enjoy your recipe

Great idea

Aaaw... The Judy Bloom reference made me smile ❤

Looks amazing thank you

This looks tasty. Thanks for sharing it!

omg i saw bisan posted this so ofc i had to make it LOL. will try your version now, chef

@sherrygrace960

Ай бұрын

Free Palestine !!!

Got a bunch of pita on hand, I’m definitely going to try this!

If you place the pita between 2 cutting boards when pressing, you can reliably avoid cracks and also exert more pressure. 👍👍

This looks good! And also leaves lots of room for variation and experimentation too.

This past month I made a recipe with pita bread, something I never eat and from now on..pita bread will always be on my grocery list

That is something i need to try

Magical

Poetic culinary perfection!!!

You're the best, Chef John!! Amazing bruh, I'm 100% making these

You are the BEST!

Love Arayas. Especially when they’re grilled

I tried this after seeing a video of middle eastern man say it was better than borgers. It is good, definitely worth trying.

Good stuff🎉✌️

I’m about to go full-nerd here but, as to the stuffing, I think it might work better if you took a pita to use as a guide and then cut a circle from parchment paper that’s slightly smaller than the pita itself. Then, you put a piece of plastic wrap over the circle of parchment to use as a template for how much meat should go into the pita. Then, you divide the meat into two semi-circles and the stuffing should fit into the pita halves fairly easily, I would think. Alternately, maybe try placing little balls of the mixture in all areas of the pita half, like down in the corners, etc. Then, when you press, you’re only pressing a little bit of the mixture at a time and there’s less chance of ripping the bread. The balls of stuffing will kind of spread out, meet in the middle and the entire pita will get an even layer.

Why was this so satisfying to watch. Lol

Looks very tasty, given the spices it sort of reminds me of an american style taco meat quesadilla, but in a good way lol. I really like the idea of an italian style arayes as well, served with a bit of marinara on the side mmmm. I bet you could serve these with some golden rice too, not gonna lie I have made golden rice a dozen times since you posted that video, lord have mercy on my waistline.

Hi, Arab here: my family BBQs these, along with some kebabs ans chicken legs, and served with salad 😋

My Arayes is a little bit different. I usually include some kind of chopped nut (preferably pine nuts, although walnuts and pecans would also do), and I use smaller pitas and stuff them thick enough so that you could stand them on the exposed meat side. After tossing the prepared stuffed pitas with the meat in some olive oil, I fry it in olive oil and then bake it standing up on the exposed meat, on the bottom rack of my oven. That gets me a nice toasting on the top, but a perfect and uniform crust below.

I'm going to try this with ground pork and Mexican seasonings.

It felt kismet when this popped up on my subscription feed since I'm making them tonight. I always feel more confident after seeing a Chef John video.

YUMMMMM !

Awesome recipe chef, please show Arabic Areeka recipe please 🥺 please

"It's well worth a few tears." Indeed.

I’m definitely going to make these mmmmmmmm……

Nice.

Fresh pickled veggies on the side would be nice too 🤗

This looks amazing. I feel like a cheese element of some kind may be worthwhile. Perhaps feta, or even manchego.

crispy flatbread, thin meat filling suitably spiced with a tangy yoghurt based dip? HELL YES !

We coat it with oil and then grill it over embers. Your method is good. You can cut it into quarters just before serving

🤣🤣🤣yup Chef John they are definitely extra krispy!!

Hello chef John. What kind of frying pan do you use?

I'm the Judy Blume of this bride and groom? Pretty sure I'm the *doom* of this bride and groom, but Arayes, here I come. Let's give you a try. Thanks, Chef!

I made this (as I did many of Chef John's recipes/techniques). It was delicious, pitas crispy, meat flavorful (I changed the recipe a bit) sauce good. But my supermarket pitas soaked up a lot of oil. And I mean A LOT. I ended up making the pitas as per packaging instructions and filled them with the meat mixture that I pan fried. Not as crispy but also less oily.

I've had this before from a local Lebanese bakery and it's fantastic. Definitely worth a go.

@bennyattar8862

Ай бұрын

It's only a "local" Lebanese restaurant if it's in Lebanon. You mean a Lebanese restaurant in your locality.

@yourpt7161

2 күн бұрын

a local, Lebanese, restaurant..

Chef!!! I NEED you to cook m'beyu, an argentinian-paraguayan recipe, I think it may be an interesting flavor and texture to try, some people stuff it with ham & cheese (w/ afternoon tea or coffee), capresse stuffing, etc. Please give it a try!

There is a very fine line between this Lebanese recipe and the Mongolian Khushuur that my wife makes. I would suggest substituting finely chopped meat instead of ground. It adds an extra chew factor to it that blends with the crunchy texture of the wrapper.

I bet this would taste great with Chef John's filling of his Cheeseburger Garbage Bread

Yummmmm, I a little ground meat with my spices! 🔥

Can you make something Nicaraguan? That's my food wish. ❤

In Egypt this is called "Hawawshi" and it could be baked as well.

Try adding sumac to the tahini sauce, also pot-set yogurt adds a great tang.

😂 Italian American me with falaffel waffle breath and a weak Middle Eastern game.... ok so kinda meatball with kinda Mexican spices cooked in pita, dipped in Greek sauce? Yup! Making tomorrow!

it’s so delicious, with tee zay tee zai kai,

I want to this stuffed with crab and cheese!

@GiselleMFeuillet

Ай бұрын

Crab Beirut?

@GrumpetteJV

Ай бұрын

I do it with cheese and tuna.

@sylviasee7147

Ай бұрын

@@GrumpetteJV or maybe shrimp?

I cut up a steak into small peices after I BBQ it. I toast the bread over the fire until golden brown. Cut in half put some steak and a garden salad=lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, onions, and red radish. I make a vinegarette=1cup apple cider vinegar, 1&1/2 cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon dry onion flakes, 1 tablespoon of dry garlic flakes, 2 tablespoon of horseradish mustard, a teaspoon of pepper a half teaspoon of salt. Wisk everything together except the oil. When well combined wisk the oil in slowly. For best results let sit over night refrigerated. I keep this on hand year round as this is also a good marinade.

Do you think it would be possible to do a tuna melt in pita bread?

AKA The Levantine Quesadilla

Does anybody have a link or name for this pan he used?

CJ, can you please do some beef tongue and beef liver recipes?

😋🥰

Could these pitas be stuffed, brushed with olive oil and baked?

Finally an Arabic dish

Not only the smaller containers look better on video, they take up less space in the fridge, so I too prefer the smallest container possible method haha

As I recall, the Arayas I've eaten in Lebanese restaurants also contained pine nuts.

Egg Foo Young video please!

Pita the horse is here

Looks very similar to a Turkish gozleme

Could these be made on the grill, or would we lose fork-don’t-lie crispiness?

I was getting worried during that FDL test if we are only gonna get the fork scraping action and none of that fork tapping action..

Has anyone tried making these yet? If so.. do they truly cook all the way through.. and.. can you recommend a side dish?