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Lebanese Food Recipes


sonnetjie

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Lebanese Food Recipes:

These recipes are intended for 2 people, please increase for more people and amount of each ingredient may vary depending on type or brand used.

Filling for Kebah balls:

Ingredients:

½ KG of Mince Meat

1 Onion

1 Teaspoon of dry mint

1 Teaspoon of mixed spice

1 Teaspoon of black or white pepper

1 Teaspoon of salt

Either ½ capsicum or a couple of fresh chilies (depending if you like it spicy or not).

Method:

Put raw mince meat in a saucepan and fry, once the meat is cooked, strain all the fat/oil off. Sieve the meat in a strainer with paper toweling to remove any extra fat/oil, and put to one side for now. Cut up the onion and capsicum or chilies really fine, fry in a saucepan (e.g. canola or veggie oil, don’t use olive oil)

Put strained minced meat into pot with onion and capsicum/ chilies. For 5-10 minutes let it simmer stirring occasionally.

Add all the spices and salt to the mixture, again simmer for 5-10 minutes and stir occasionally.

Let the filling cool down, this filling may also be freezed for future purposes.

Sambousik:

Description: Pastry with minced meat and herbs

Ingredients:

Using the above filling for this dish.

½ KG of gf flour mix or plain flour

Little bit less then a quarter cup of oil

1 Tablespoon of salt

1 ¼ Cups of Water

Method:

Mix the flour with the oil and salt, first.

Add water a little at a time to see if it needs all the water, you may need more or less, but you must end up with a dough mixture.

Kneed the dough and let it sit on the side for at least ½ hour to 1 hour.

Flatten the dough with a rolling pin until the dough is completely flat, like a flat pizza base.

Using a glass make holes of circles in the dough and add the above filling, 1 teaspoon per case.

Gather the casing together with the filling inside and fold over edges using hand decorations or with a fork press the edges.

Fry the Sambousik in oil (preferably veggie or canola oil)

Ready to eat when Sambousik is golden brown

You may also freeze the unfried Sambousik for future purposes.

Kebah:

Description: Fine minced meat with crushed Buckwheat/Bulgar and filled with mince and herbs

Ingredients:

The filling for Kebah

½ KG fine minced meat from a specialty butcher (It’s called Kebah meat, usually sold by Lebanese butchers only)

½ KG fine crushed buckwheat/ bulgar or 3 cups

1 Teaspoon of mixed spice

A few leaves of mint & basil

½ an onion

1 Tablespoon of salt

1 Teaspoon of salt

Method:

½ an hour previous to starting wash the fine crushed buckwheat and put aside for it to expand.

Grind the mint, basil and onion in a blender or use the pestle and mortar.

Mix the wet and expanded crushed buckwheat with the fine mince meat and grounded herbs plus mixed spice and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Add the other tablespoon salt to the ingredients and kneed the mixture like dough.

Keep adding water to the mixture until it is slightly soft and ready to mould into kebah balls.

Put a plate of water near you and start by getting a little ball of meat at a time and wet hands.

Shape the kebah into ball looking case and add one teaspoon of the filling, then close around the ball.

Deep Fry the kebah balls, the kebah is done when it is brown in colour.

Any left overs may be freezed for future purposes.

Tahini Mixture:

Ingredients:

1 Lemon

1 Teaspoon of salt

½ cup of water

1 cup of tahini (sesame seed paste)

2 cloves of garlic

Method:

Crush the garlic, and pour tahini over it with salt in a bowl. Add the lemon and mix it well then start to add water a little at a time until mixture is nice and smooth, if this mixture needs water just keep adding it in until it forms a tahini paste.

Hummus:

Hummus: White dip made of chickpeas and Tahini

Ingredients:

250 gram can of hummus chickpeas (purchased from a Lebanese delicatessen)

½ the tahini mixture added to the hummus and mix well to make a paste, then ready to eat.

You may like to add a little bit of parsley on the top as a nice decoration. Freeze any uneaten hummus for next time.

Baba Ghanouj`

Description: White dip made of Tahini and smoked Eggplant

Ingredients:

2 Medium or 1Kg of Eggplant.

1 Tablespoon of salt.

Method:

Cook the eggplant, skin and all (Poke holes first to allow it to breath), by either putting it on the gas hot plate or under the grill. The eggplant is ready when it is black and soft on the outside.

Put the eggplant under the cold tap water and remove the skin, make sure to remove all the black skin and any black bits, as these are to bitter to eat in the Baba Ganouge`.

Cut up the eggplant and mash really well, then add ½ the tahini mixture as above. Ready to eat.

Freeze any uneaten mixture for next time.

Tabouli

Description: Parsley, tomato, shallots, lemon and other ingredients too (Authentic Lebanese Salad)

Ingredients:

2 bunches of parsley (Lebanese/Italian parsley – it is flat not bushy)

¼ (1/4) bunch of mint

¼ (1/4) bunch of shallots (green part only)

¼ (1/4) KG of tomatoes

1 small Lebanese cucumber

1 Tablespoon of fine crushed buckwheat or bulgar

½ (half ) Teaspoon of salt

½ (half) Teaspoon of pepper

2 Tablespoons of veggie or canola oil

1 lemon

Method:

Soak the fine crushed buckwheat in water, make sure it’s at least ½ (half) an hour before you mix the salad.

Cut finely the tomatoes, be sure to remove the excess tomato juice.

Cut the parsley, mint, cucumbers, shallots all really fine.

Add all the vegetable ingredients together in a bowl with the crushed wheat.

Pour oil, salt, pepper and lemon on top and lightly toss the Tabouli with your hands, be careful not to put too much pressure on the mixing because it will make Tabouli mushy.

NOTE: If you like your Tabouli sour add all the lemon or half if you don’t like it too sour.

Chicken Kebabs:

Description: Skinless Breast of chicken pieces marinated with garlic and lemon

Ingredients:

2KGs of skin-less breast of chicken

4 cloves of garlic

½ cup of vinegar or lemon juice

¼ cup of veggie or canola oil

2 Tablespoon of salt

2 cups of water

1 lemon

1 Capsicum

¼ KG of mushroom

Method:

Cut the chicken into cubes. Mix the crushed garlic, vinegar, oil, salt, water and lemon together and then add the chicken.

This must be put into a container and then marinated for at least 1-2 days for best results, put into the fridge.

After the chicken has finished marinating for 2 days, drain of all the juices and then put aside ready to place on kebab sticks.

Using the thin kebab sticks, place chicken then diced mushrooms and capsicum onto the sticks.

BBQ or Grill these until the chicken is cooked, or nice and tender, do not over cook the kebabs as the chicken will dry up.

These are ready to eat now, but do not freeze any uneaten kebabs only freeze raw chicken in it’s marinade.

Keftah (Kebab)

Description: BBQ style Mince Kebabs with parsley and herbs

Ingredients:

½ KG Mince Meat

1 Bunch of Parsley (Flat style)

A few leaves of Mint and Basil

1 Hot Chili (Optional)

1 Onion

1 Teaspoon of Cumin (Spice)

1 Teaspoon of salt

1 Teaspoon of mixed spice and pepper

Thick Skewers – wooden or other

Method:

Put all the greens in the blender, excluding the mince meat.

Once the greens are blended add the mixture to the mince meat with the spices

Kneed the mixture until they are fully blended into the mince meat.

Using a plate of water and thick kebab skewers, put the mince meat onto the sticks, ensuring the kebab meat is evenly spread out with room to remove off the BBQ without burning your hands.

Make sure to thin the meat out on the stick otherwise the meat will not cook on the BBQ the inside will remain raw, so make an even spread on the sticks.

BBQ or Grill the kebabs, they are done once the meat is brown on the outside, but also check to make sure the meat is cooked on the inside.

Dolma:

Vine Leaves with rice filling (Vegetarian style)

Ingredients:

½ (half) KG of Medium Grain rice (Also used for Risotto)

½ (half) bunch of parsley (flat one)

½ ( half) bunch of mint

½ (half) bunch of shallot

1 Teaspoon of mixed spice

1 Tablespoon of salt

2 Tablespoon of oil

½ (half) a lemon

½ (half) KG of Vine Leaves (Purchase from Lebanese Deli – comes already to use, however make sure to wash the leaves properly from all the salt)

2 Tomatoes

Method:

Wash the rice properly, cut all the greens finely and add to the rice.

Add the spices, oil and lemon to the mixture, mix well as a base to fill the vine leaves.

Spread the vine leaves out on the chopping board, the vine leaf must be facing up and on it’s wrong side up too.

Add the veggie mix in, not too much as you will need to roll the vine leaf around the veggie mix.

Fold the vine leaf around the veggie mix and put to the side.

Do all the vine leaves and put to one side.

Cut the tomatoes up into slices and put into a large pot on the bottom, spread evenly

Add the dolmaties one by one into the pot, be sure not to squash or push them into the side, be gentle.

Add Water on top of these until the dolmaties are covered in water and then add a plate firmly placed on top of the dolmaties in the pot, don’t cover the pot yet.

Put the stove on high and when the water boils, put the cover on the pot and reduce heat to simmer for at least 1 hour, check and if it needs more then put back onto stove, still on low heat for an extra 10-20 minutes.

The dolmaties are done when the rice is soft on the inside.

Kebah Trohib:

Description: Dough with crushed wheat in herbs and spices with lentils, lemon and garlic (Vegartarian hearty Soup)

Ingredients:

½ Cup of Green Lentils

½ Cup of fine Crushed wheat

¼ cup of plain flour

1 teaspoon of salt

¼ bunch of mint

1 teaspoon of pepper

1 small onion

2 Tablespoons of oil

2 Lemons

4 Cloves of Garlic

Method:

Soak the fine crushed wheat in water, ½ an hour before you start.

3 Litres of water in a large pot (pot to be 3/4 full).

Wash the lentils and add to the water in the pot on high.

Cut the onions and mint really fine, add these to the crushed wheat and salt and pepper.

Mix well together and then add the plain flour to the mixture.

Kneed the mixture really well and add about ¼ cup of water slowly to the mixture until it becomes a dough.

Start making the dough mixture into small balls, the smaller the better, eg size of a 5 cent piece is best.

Put the balls into the pot by adding boiling water onto them into the lentil mixture, pour boiling water over the balls so they don’t stick to the plate, they will fall easily into the water.

Crush the garlic and add into the pot, reduce the heat to low but let the soup boil for an hour, you may want to remove the top film on the pot as this is excess froth.

Then add the lemon juice, wait 10 minutes and finally add the oil on top.

If you think the mixture needs salt add a little more, depending on your taste buds.

Let the soup boil for an extra 5 minutes and then the soup is ready to eat.

Serve with toasted Lebanese bread, (Toast bread under the grill).

All the best with Lebanese cooking!

Edited by sonnetjie
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OH MY WORD, thank you for this, :blush: sounds yummmmmmy!!!!!! will definitely be trying these recipes!

briggs

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Wow,thanks. This is great, and it sounds like food that even my children will eat. I will definitly try it.

Tahini, that is sesame seed paste?????????? Is it easy to find stuff like that? I tried to find Tahini here in South Africa, I had a recipe for hammous. I could not find it any where. I asked at the Indian shops, but now I realise, Hammous is Lebanese food, the poor Indians did not have a clue what I wanted. And ofcourse we do not have Labanese shops, not that I know of anyway.

Cheers Audrey

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Audrey

Here is a recipe for Tahini- sesame seed paste http://mideastfood.about.com/od/dipsandsau...ahinirecipe.htm

I usually just buy a jar of Tahini at Woolworths Hommous & Baba Ghanouj etc is readily available you can buy it at your local green grocer. In Oz you very much spoilt for choice.

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Thanks... I am always on the lookout for making something different for dinner..

Yummy!

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