Mashed Potatoes with Meat

Mashed Potatoes with Meat

Ingredients:

6-7 medium potatoes apx 2kg, 1 medium onions, 200g extra  lean minced meat, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/5 cup breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup pine seeds, Salt to taste.

Preparation:

Wash, peel, and boil the potatoes in water and salt.  In the mean while prepare the meat filling. Place the meat with finely chopped onion, oil, spices, pine seeds, and salt in a frying pan. Cover and cook for apx 20 mins. Stir occasionally. When the potatoes are done they’ll be soft and easy to be mashed. Drain the water and mash the potatoes with salt and white pepper.  Divide them into two parts. Spray an oven-safe tray with vegetable oil and spread slightly less than half the quantity of the potatoes in it. Wet your palm with water and pat the mix down in the tray to create an even surface. Spread the meat filling then add another layer of potatoes. The lower layer of potatoes must be thinner than the top layer. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on the surface and put in the oven (400°F) for about 30 minutes. Serve warm with green salad or cabbage salad.

Recipe: Traditional Lebanese Kitchen

Preparation time: 3 hours

Serves: 6 persons.

Dandelion with Onion (Hindbi)

Dandelion with Onion

Ingredients:

2500g fresh dandelion

5 medium onions

½ cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons olive oil

3-4 gloves garlic

Salt

Preparation:

Boil the dandelion parcel for about 4-5 mins. Drain the hot water and squeeze the dandelion to remove as much water as possible. Cut the dandelion into strips and set them aside. Chop the onion into thin strips and fry them in oil until they turn golden brown. Add a sprinkle of salt and flip them couple of times. Remove the onions and let them drain on a piece of kitchen towel. Keep apx 2 tablespoons of fried onion in the frying pan. Add the dandelion, the olive oil, the crushed garlic and salt to taste. Flip the mix and cover it to cook for 5-10 mins. Once done, set the mix in a serving flat plate and decorate it with the golden brown fried onion. Serve cold with slices of lemon.

Recipe: Appetizer - Traditional Lebanese Kitchen

Preparation time: 2 hours

Serves: 5 persons.

Vine Leaves with Meat and Rice

Vine Leaves with Meat and Rice

Ingredients:

250g Vine Leaves

150g Egyptian Rice
200g Low fat minced meat

2 medium onions

1 large red tomato

1 cinnamon stick

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Wash the rice. Cut one onion into small pieces and cut the other one into four quarters. Grate half the tomato and cut the other half into slices. To prepare the filling, mix the meat with, rice, the small cut onion,  the grated tomato, ground pepper, ground cinnamon. Use the mix to Fill and Wrap the Vine Leaves In a pot, place the onion quarters, the tomato slices, and the cinnamon stick in the bottom. Then, tie the wrapped leaves in bundles and place them in the pot. Cover with 2 cups of water and put on slow fire  for about 30-40 minutes. Serve hot with plain yogurt. Traditionally this dish is served with stuffed Zucchini as they both use the same filling.

Recipe: Traditional Lebanese Kitchen

Preparation time: 2 hours

Serves: 5 persons.

How to Wrap Vine Leaves

Flatten the vine leave and snip off the stem. 

While the back of the leaf is facing you, put a bit of the filling in a the shape of a line toward the base of the leaf.

Fold the left and the right wings of the leaf toward the center to cover the filling.

Fold the base over the folded wings and wrap tightly.

Gently squeeze the wrapped vine leaf with your palm to remove any excess fluids. 

Place tightly in a pot or the wrapped vine leaves in bundles with a cotton thread.

Hint: If you are using fresh vine leaves soak the leaves hot water for few minutes before wrapping. This makes folding them much easier.

Modardara

Modardara

Ingredients:

100g Lintel

150g Basmati Rice

1 cup vegetable oil 

5 large onions

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Wash the lintel and make sure it is free from small pebbles or dirt. Boil the lintel in 2 cups of water on slow fire. In the meanwhile, cut the onion into thin strips and fry it in oil until it turns golden brown. Remove onion from oil and put it on kitchen towel to drain the oil and stay crispy. Leave just a bit (a spoonful) of the onion in the pot and drain half the oil quantity. Continue frying the left onions until they are turn dark brown. Add 2 cups of boiling water to the onion mix (important use boiling water) and let them boil. Wash the rice and mix it with salt and spices. When Lintel is slightly soft (not very soft), drain any excess water and add the rice to the lintel. Add the onion and water mix to the the lintel and rice mix. Mix gently, cover the pot and let the mixture simmer on slow fire until the rice is done. If needed, gradually add small quantities of water. When done turn off the fire and leave the pot covered for 5 minutes. To serve, set the modardara mix in a serving dish and decorate the top with the golden brown onion strips. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe: Traditional Lebanese Kitchen

Preparation time: 1 hour

Serves: 4 persons.

Roast Beef with Potatoes

Roast Beef with Potatoes

Ingredients:

500g large cubes of beef

500g baby potatoes 

3 table spoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion

¼ cup lemon juice

1 table spoon flour

4 cloves garlic

1 cinnamon stick

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Cut the onion into four quarters. Put the meat in a pot on slow fire along with onion, garlic, cinnamon stick, and the vegetable oil. Flip occasionally in the oil till the meat is fried from all sides. Add 3 cups of boiling water. Increase fire and boil the meat stew till the meat is tender and edible. If water level drops below meat add more water. In the meanwhile, peel the potatoes and boil in water with a bit of salt until they are slightly soft. Drain the water and stir fry the potatoes in vegetable oil until they are slightly brownish. When the meat mix is done,  add the potatoes. In another container, mix the flour with the spices and salt, then mix with the lemon juice.  Add the flour mix gradually to the meat and potatoes stew and distribute on the pot gently. Let boil for 10-15 minutes until the sauce thickens. 

Serve hot. 

Recipe: Traditional Lebanese Kitchen

Preparation time: 1:30 minutes

Serves: 4 persons.

Spinach with Meat

Spinach with Meat

Ingredients:

200g low fat minced meat

500g spinach leaves

3 table spoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion

4 cloves garlic

¼ cup pine seeds

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Put the minced meat in a pot on slow fire for few minutes. Drain the meat to remove excess fat. Chop the onion and the garlic cloves into thin strips and add them to the meat along with the vegetable oil, pine seeds, and spices. Let them cook for 10 minutes until the meat is cooked. Add 1 cup of water let them boil on medium fire. Chop the spinach and add it to the mix. Let it cook for 15 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Recipe: Traditional Lebanese Kitchen

Preparation time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4 persons.

How to stuff Zucchini or Squash

Cut the top stem of the zucchini. Using a zucchini corer, gently carve a hole inside the zucchini by spiraling the corer in and out repeatedly. Then wash the zucchini with fresh water and fill 3/4 of the hole with the filling. This allows the rice to cook without breaking the zucchini.


Hint: When carving the zucchini, make sure that they are at room temperature  because if they were in the fridge they'll be too cold and prone to cracking when carving.


For locking in the filling, use a piece of tomato or a roll of vine leaves.

How to prepare Chickpeas for cooking

Preparation:

Wash and soak dry chickpeas overnight in fresh water with 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. After soaking, dispose of the soaking water, wash the chickpeas again, then add fresh water and boil for 20-30 mins till they are mildly soft but not mushy.

Now the chickpeas are ready to be cooked with other ingredients. 

Bulgur with Chickpeas

Bulgur with Chickpeas

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Bulgur (coarse crush), 2 cups prepared chickpeas, 2 large onions, 200g minced meat, 3 Tblspn vegetable oil, salt to taste, black pepper 1/4 tea spoon, 1/2 tea spoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 tea spoon Cumin.


Preparation:
Cook meat for about 10-15 minutes in the vegetable oil. Peal and cut the onion into small pieces (apx 3x3cm). Add chopped onion to the meat mix and cook till onion is soft and slightly yellow but not burnt. Add the chickpeas and mix gently. Let simmer for 3-4 minutes. Wash the bulgur and mix it with the spices then add to the meat mix. Mix gently then add water just enough to cover the mix (apx 1 cup). Cover the pot and let simmer till water dries out. If bulgur is still hard, gradually add small amounts of water and cover again to simmer for extra few minutes. Serve warm along with green salad, radish, or plain yogurt.


Recipe: Lebanese Traditional Kitchen
Preparation: 1 hour
Serves: 4-5 persons