Middle Eastern Rice with Ground Lamb

This rice dish can be served with a variety of main dishes it is rich in ingredients and served with roast leg of lamb, roast turkey or simply by itself with some plain yogurt on the side. For Christmas I make it for my family with roast turkey.

Serves 6


2 cups of long grain basmati rice

3 cups of water

1 pound of ground beef or lamb (chopped mushroom for vegetarians)

½ cup vegetable oil

½-teaspoon allspice

1teaspoons salt

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp saffron (optional)

½ cup of almonds

½ cup halved walnuts

½ cup pine nuts



Wash the almonds and soak in boiling water for three minutes; this makes it easy to remove skin, skip this step if you have them already skinned.

Fry the almonds on low heat in the vegetable oil until golden in color. With a slotted spoon remove almond to a small bowl and set aside. Now fry the pine nuts in the same pot until gold in color. Remove onto a separate bowl and set aside. Then the walnuts, be careful not to over fry them they will burn easily. Remove and put in a separate bowl.

In a large skillet put the ground meat and stir add salt, allspice, cinnamon and saffron and brown on all sides. Wash the rice and drain well add to the ground beef. Add water and simmer for 30 minutes.

Serve on a platter and decorate with the fried nuts. Sahten!

Sauteed Dandelion

Mom makes the best dandelion dish with crunchy caramelized onions. I never got to make them as crunchy but they are great just the same. She gave me the tip to add some flour when sauteing the onions after they turn gold. Good luck if you try that!!




Ingredients:



2-pounds dandelion washed stems removed and chopped 1inch thick

1 bunch cilantro washed and chopped

¾ cup olive oil

2-onion julienne

2 garlic sliced (optional)

2-lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt





Prepare dandelions and transfer to pot and cover with water, cook for 5 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and squeeze excess water. Use the same pot to sauté onions with the olive oil till golden brown. Remove and set aside. Place cilantro in the same pot and sauté until wilted add dandelions, garlic, and salt. Finish with lemon juice and garnish with the sautéed onions.

Serve with pita bread.

Steamed Blue Crabs

After a long vacation in the old country, with fantastic food and great company it took some time to get the kitchen organized and ready for cooking. Although I was on vacation, I got myself to make home cooked meals several times. One night my brother-in-law sent us some beautiful crabs I immediately had dinner ready! If you like crabs don’t be afraid to steam them they are easy to make and fun to eat!!


Ingredients:

2-3 blue crabs per person

Salt

Pepper

Cajun seasonings or Old Bay Seasonings

Splash of Vodka

2 bay leaves



Place the crabs in a large bowl and rinse them well. Keep in cold water until ready to steam. Put a round raised rack that is tall enough to clear the liquid into the pot. Bring the liquid to a boil. Add vodka and bay leaves. Place a layer of crabs on the rack in the pot. Sprinkle with a generous coating of the seasoning. Working quickly, continue layering and seasoning the crabs until all the blues are in the pot and you have used up a generous amount of the seasoning. Put on the lid and steam over medium-high heat until the crabs are bright red, about 25 to 30 minutes. If shells are dark red or have reddish-green patches, then the crabs aren’t yet fully cooked.Remove the crabs with tongs. Place on a large platter and sprinkle lightly with the dry seasoning mix.

Serve hot. Leftover crabs may be refrigerated and either eaten cold the next day or picked for crabmeat to use in your favorite recipe.

Samke Harra, Spicy Sauce With Grilled Fish

This spicy sauce comes from north of Lebanon a city called Tripoli. It’s great addition to any white fish flakes. You can grill a whole fish and flake it or just buy fillets of any white fish you like. If you like garlic and spice this is for you, double the recipe if you have company. I have been doing this recipe for many years and it reminds me of wonderful times I enjoyed it with my friends.

Ingredients:

1 whole or fillets of red snapper or striped bass

½ tsp salt ½ bunch of cilantro chopped

1 lemon sliced

For sauce:

1-cup tahini

1-cup lemon juice

½ cup water

1 tsp tomato paste

5 garlic smashed

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp coriander powder (put seeds in skillet brown till they crash and grind)

½ tsp red pepper

For garnish:

½ cup pine nuts fried golden

½ cup walnuts fried golden

½ cup blanched almonds fried golden

½ cup olive oil

Wash the fish and blot dry add salt and stuff with cilantro and slices of lemon. Drizzle fish with olive oil and grill in 450degree oven for 20 minutes depending on weight.

Sauté the nuts separately with olive oil and keep in separate bowl. Fry the garlic until gold in color. In a small bowl combine all seasonings, Add to garlic and remaining oil for 1 minute.

Mix tahini with ½ cup water till becomes soft paste add lemon and tomato paste and put over medium heat with the garlic and seasonings. Bring to boil for 5-10 minutes.

Serve fish whole or fillets cover with spicy sauce and garnish with the sautéed nuts.

Rice Pudding

This is classic rice pudding recipe. Enjoy!


Serves 4-6

1/2 cup Arborio or short grain rice

4 cups milk

¼- cup sugar

1/4 tsp miski ground with 1/4tsp sugar (from Mediterranean stores)

1 Tablespoon orange blossom (from international food isle)



In a large saucepan, place the rice and milk. Bring it to a gentle boil and then turn it down to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom, for about 30 to 40 minutes. Taste the rice to check for doneness. The rice should be very soft and plump. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve 5 more minutes. Take the pudding off the heat and stir in the Miski powder and orange blossom. Pour into dessert bowls cover with Saran wrap and chill. Sprinkle with pistachio nuts before serving or cinnamon powder.

Pasta with Eggplant

This is an easy recipe that can be made very quickly. When I have little time to spare I skip putting the salt on the eggplant and letting it stand for 20 minutes. The pine nuts and eggplant make this dish very Mediterranean. Enjoy!


Ingredients:



1 eggplant cut into ½ inch-thick slices

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

1/4-cup pine nuts toasted

1 (8) ounce can diced tomatoes in juice

1-pound fusilli or farfalle pasta

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup chopped fresh basil



Place eggplant slices on large baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt. Let stand 20 minutes. Turn eggplant slices over. Rinse eggplant. Drain; pat dry with paper towels. Cut eggplant into ½ inch cubes, set aside.



Heat olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion sauté until golden, Add garlic sauté one minute, and add eggplant sauté until tender about ten minutes. Add tomatoes with juices; bring to simmer. Season with salt and fresh pepper.



Meanwhile cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Return pasta to pot and add eggplant mixture ¼ cup cheese and basil.

Potato Salad

This is a different version of the “potato salad”. We had barbeque for Memorial Day and to make it more traditional I made a potato salad. I added jalapenos (uncontrollable) and lots of cilantro it made it so yummy!


Ingredients:

1 pound potatoes scrubbed and washed (peeled or unpeeled) cut in 1-inch cubes

2 avocados sliced and cubed

2 scallions rinsed trimmed and chopped

1/2 bunch of cilantro chopped



Dressing:

Salt

Pepper

½ cup lemon juice

½ cup olive oil



Place potatoes in a pot and bring to boil with some salt. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain and let cool. Put the potatoes in a large bowl add the avocado cubes, the chopped scallion and the cilantro. Mix dressing and pour over potatoes. Serve.

Cheese in fillo dough - Soubereg

Soubereg is a great appetizer. It’s a mix of different cheeses and layered with thin sheets of dough. In Lebanon and its regions they still do it the old fashioned way. The dough is made and rolled very thin and cooked it in boiling water before layering it onto a baking dish. Well I have taken the shortcut and use phillo dough that you can buy ready made. This dish is a winner with my guests and family. Thank you Sylvia for sharing this recipe. I made it my own by removing the butter completely and making it healthier. Enjoy!


Ingredients:


1 pack fillo dough

1 pack shredded mozzarella

1 pack Akawi cheese or (feta) diced

1 pack soaked haloumi cheese diced

2-3 scallions or 1 onion diced

1 bunch of parsley chopped

1 jalapeno finely diced (optional)

2 eggs slightly beaten

Salt if needed (taste mix before adding eggs)

Pepper

1-cup warm milk

Oil spray



In a bowl mix onion, cheeses, parsley, egg, salt and pepper. Defrost and divide fillo dough in half cover 2nd half with warm moist towel.

In a deep baking dish, spray bottom and add a first layer of dough and spray with oil. Spray each layer and continue till half of dough is covered add ½ the milk. Layer the cheese mixture on the dough and with second half cover and with each layer and spray with oil.

Bake at 350°for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully with a serrated knife slice into serving 3inch squares. Put back in oven and continue baking till golden color.



· Note you can make a Calzone with pizza dough with the cheese filling.

Serves 6-8