Lebanese Cooking with djohnsto77

My grandmother was a Lebanese-American and a great cook, so I'm looking to share some of her recipes here, with the help of my relatives as well as my own take on what I've sampled from cookbooks and restaurants.

No one can discuss Lebanese food without first dealing with Kibbe, so I guess that where I'll start...the problem though is there are practically as many different recipes for Kibbe as there are families in Lebanon, so I'll give you two variations on my own family's.

I'll begin with the fried football type.

Take 2 cups of finely ground bulgar wheat (Note: You may need to get this from a middle eastern specialty grocer or order it on the Internet, most bulghar wheat sold here is too coarse for this recipe, but can be used in the pan version to follow), place in bowl, and cover with at least an inch or two of water:



As the wheat soaks, measure out about a handful of dried mint, a Tablespoon each of cinnamon and allspice and a teasoon of both salt and black pepper.



After the wheat has been soaking for 45 minutes to an hour, clean hands and squeeze excess water from wheat and and place in food prcessor bowl along with mint, salt, pepper, cinnamon, allspice and about 2 -3 cleaned, skinnned roughly chopped onions. Use blade attachment to chop finely. Add a pound of ground beef or lamb and continue to process until a fine paste is formed.



Set aside paste, and rinse out food processor bowl.

Now use the pulse feature to roughly chop another 2 -3 medium onions using food processor. You should end up with between about a cup and a half to two cups:



Now, in a medium sauce pan melt a few tablespoons of butter until it just starts to sizzle then add chopped onions and a half cup of pine nuts or sliced or slivered almonds. Stir until browned then add a tablespoon each of cinnamon and allspice, and another handful of dried mint. Stir and fry for a minute or two.



Add a pound of ground lamb or beef, salt and pepper to taste, and continue to cook until browned.



Wash hands in cold water and begin shaping paste outer shell around a few spoonfuls of the stuffing. Continue until all stuffing and crust is used...any leftovers you may improvise cooking in a pan.



Meanwhile, heat a few inches of oil in a wide, deep pan over high heat. When oil is hot, fry the kibbe in batches until well browned on the outside, about 10 minutes.



Then drain in a container lined with plenty of paper towels and serve.



Serve with a middle eastern salad, sauces, spiced green beans, and for dessert, sweatmeats. (some of these recipes will hopefully follow )

[edit on 9/15/2006 by djohnsto77]

WOW!
Thanks DJ

My Grandmother was Lebanese too!
She passed away before my mother was even old enough to cook, so not much of anything has been passed down.

I look forward to more from you..
Thanks a lot!

My contact with Lebanese food has been less than minimal.

A child that was on my baseball team this passed summer, came to the ballfield with some Lebanese food one day and alls I can say is it smelled delicious.

So between dj's recipe and the smell I can remember, I am excited about giving this a shot some day.

[edit on 15-9-2006 by chissler]

Very hard to get a proper recipe for Lebanese food. Most of it is done by eye and taste. Handful of this, pinch of that and so many people add their own things as well. I've seen a few cookbooks but they never come out right. They wanted My mom to do some of her restaurant recipes but since nothing was in proper measures it was never done. DJ those are some messy lookin Kibbee balls man! LOL J/K Supposed to close the ends up and make them like little footballs LOL Still look yummy tho.

Did you ever try just using the Kibbee meat (Not the filling) and make it into a Hamburger? Its great! Just slap it in between Pita pocket and some of our customers throw some Fatoosh or even Tabouleh on it and its like a Healthy lebanese hamburger. Kibbee Naya (Raw Kibbee) is good too!

I miss my moms cooking.

Originally posted by ThePieMaN
DJ those are some messy lookin Kibbee balls man! LOL J/K Supposed to close the ends up and make them like little footballs LOL Still look yummy tho.

Yeah I know, my grandmother and mother usually just made the pan version with the diamond cuts in it (I'll post more about that later) but living in New York and exposed the football type I've been trying to cook it more and more often lately. They may look perfect, but they do taste good if I must say so myself

Originally posted by djohnsto77

Originally posted by ThePieMaN
DJ those are some messy lookin Kibbee balls man! LOL J/K Supposed to close the ends up and make them like little footballs LOL Still look yummy tho.

Yeah I know, my grandmother and mother usually just made the pan version with the diamond cuts in it (I'll post more about that later) but living in New York and exposed the football type I've been trying to cook it more and more often lately. They may look perfect, but they do taste good if I must say so myself

Yeah thats Kibbee Sinia (kibbee Tray) usually made in a round pan and its baked. It can be a little greasier but just as good. Kibbee in leban is good too..Kibbee balls in hot homemade yogurt sauce with some fresh mint is yummy too.

Pie