As the COVID-19 quarantine has extended into May, many have joined the ranks of our growing cooking community, making valiant attempts at their grandmothers’ recipes and sharing their progress on social media. Our family is growing this week with the addition of a budding Dandeegeen documenting her journey as I have. This newly-found free time with our families has afforded us a small gift to channel the adventurous side that we never have time for. I have the pleasure of sharing Shakeh Dagdigian’s adventure making lahmejun with her daughters. I have known Shakeh since she was my camper at Camp Haiastan in Franklin, Mass. back in the mid-80’s. She is now a mother of two and venturing into the Dandeegeen ranks in the Armenian Weekly. Enjoy her cooking chronicle.
Being quarantined, I find myself mostly either in the kitchen or on my laptop. As a second grade teacher and mother of two, my days are now spent creating lessons for my students, checking schoolwork, helping my daughters with their online work and of course—COOKING!
As many dandeegeens know, preparing three meals a day for your family can become a tedious task, especially when you find yourself rotating through a somewhat standard menu. When I saw Heather’s column “Dandeegeen Diaries,” I was inspired to try some new recipes. I began reading The Armenian Kitchen (St. Stephen’s Ladies Guild cookbook) and marking pages of recipes I thought my family would enjoy.
I decided I would tackle lahmejun, a favorite of both my daughters, Anya (age 13) and Lily (age 11). After finally finding more yeast and flour at the grocery store, I was excited to continue my cooking journey. I had never, EVER made my own dough. My excuse had always been that I didn’t have enough time to let the dough rise. (What kind of dandeegeen was I?) So, I studied my cookbook, researched recipes online, watched a few how-to videos on YouTube (side note: what did dandeegeens do without the internet?) and dived right in.
Making the topping was a lot like making dolma. I used my favorite seasonings from all the recipes I had read (lots of garlic, cumin and cayenne pepper) and blended it all together in the food processor. No problem. Then I was pleasantly surprised when all went well with the dough. I wondered why I had been so hesitant to make my own before.
My recipe said to cut the dough into 12 parts and roll each into seven inch circles. Well, that didn’t happen! There is only one word to describe ours: amorphous. Some resembled triangles, others were oval, and some were even rectangular. Lily suggested we trim the crusts to make circles. But she was vetoed. We were already a few hours in and anxious to bake the lahmejun. We spread on the topping and popped them in the oven for about 20 minutes. I could only bake two at a time (that’s all that I could fit on a tray). I definitely need to get more cookie sheets. I may be the only dandeegeen to own just two!
We all agreed that the finished product was worth the time and effort. The crust was thin and crisp, and with a splash of lemon juice, it was scrumptious. What better way to spend an afternoon than cooking with your daughters and passing on traditions?
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