Baked Kibbeh - A Terrific Levantine Arabic Dish

Kibbeh is considered a Levantine Arabic dish, but it is popular throughout the Middle East and North Africa. It comes in many cooked variations and shapes, and at least one raw version. The main ingredients are lean ground meat (normally lamb, but alternatively made with beef, goat, or camel), bulghur wheat (burghul in Arabic), onion, and spices. For a thorough introduction to Kibbeh, see the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbeh.

My mother used to make at least three versions, including the raw version. I loved them all. I decided to try the baked version. It turned out to be fantastic, and much easier than I anticipated.

For a dinner menu with Kibbeh as the main dish, I recommend the following accompaniments - tabouleh salad, hummus and pita bread, laban (Arab yoghurt), and baklava for dessert. Laban can be found at Middle Eastern grocery stores. Buy pita bread at a Middle Eastern grocery if possible, not a supermarket. There's a world of difference. Another nice accompaniment would be Armenian or Syrian string cheese. It is mild, delicious, and pulls apart in string-like pieces.

Although I had several recipes in Middle Eastern cookbooks at home, I decided to try a YouTube search to see if I could find a chef making Kibbeh. I found several, but one in particular was terrific. I strongly recommend viewing it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dxTr1iOeNc. The chef - Kamal - is terrific. His home page is http://www.cookingwithkamal.com/. He has written a Lebanese cookbook called Classic Lebanese Cuisine.

Baked Kibbeh is known in Arabic as Kibbeh be Saniyeh or Kibbeh bi Sinniyeh, which means, "Kibbeh in a pan."

Below is the recipe Chef Kamal and others use for Baked Kibbeh. The version below has a few changes I made - I used ½ pound of lamb in the filling instead of ¼ pound. I used almonds instead of pine nuts. Pine nuts are traditional, but I don't care for them.

As indicated above, it can be made with some meat other than lamb. Chef Kamal also mentions chicken.

Chef Kamal mentions that both cooked and uncooked Kibbeh can be kept in the freezer. Consequently, you can prepare it in advance.

The recipe below can serve 8. I think I could devour half.

Baked Kibbeh has three layers - a layer of dough, covered by a layer of filling, covered by a top layer of dough.

Dough Ingredients

1&1/4 cups bulghur fine - soak overnight with 1 cup water, (Bulghur wheat comes in different levels of fineness. Use level 1, which is the finest. If you can't find it at a local store, it is available on Amazon.com.

1 & ½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

½ tsp allspice

¼ tsp cinnamon

½ lb lean ground lamb - ground very fine (Do not use a meat processor. I do not have a meat grinder, so I used two different approaches, both successfully - 1. Ask your butcher to grind this portion of lamb as fine as possible. The butcher at Publix was happy to do this. 2. The second time I made the Kibbeh, I bought a package of Australian minced lamb. It worked perfectly.)

¾ cup coarsely chopped yellow onion

1/3 cup olive oil

Filling Ingredients

1 & 1/2 tbsp toasted pine nuts / almonds

1 tbsp olive oil in frying pan

½ lb coarsely ground lamb

¾ cup diced yellow onion in 1/4 " pieces

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

¼ tsp allspice

1/8 tsp cinnamon

Dough directions

Put spices in large bowl

Grind onions very fine in food processor (be careful not to purée)

Mix onions with lamb - massage them together with the spices

Put kibbeh in bowl and aggressively massage ingredients together

Divide dough in half - one half for bottom and one half for top

Filling directions

Put olive oil in skillet

Preheat skillet over medium high heat

Put lamb in skillet

As lamb is cooking, break it into very small pieces with wooden spoon until lamb is no longer pink

Add spices & onion and mix with lamb

Turn heat to low and sauté until onions are translucent

Directions for combining dough and filling

Place one half of dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and roll flat into circle with rolling pin. Roll from the center to the outside.

Take off and keep top sheet of plastic wrap (for rolling of second half of dough)

Pick up the dough with the remaining sheet of plastic wrap in flip into bottom of 9" pan

Place a small bowl of cool water next to the pan

Put a little water onto the bottom dough and pat it down and up against the sides of the pan

Spread filling on top of bottom dough, being careful not to let filling touch the sides of the pan (to keep from burning filling during cooking).

Sprinkle nuts across filling.

Roll second half of filling in the same way as the first, making sure it's large enough to cover the top, and even a bit larger.

Use water to press down top.

Using a knife, separate the kibbeh from the sides of the pan

Cut kibbeh into quarters

Score top of kibbeh into squares or diamond shape

Pour olive oil over the top. Tilt pan so entire surface is covered with olive oil.

Baked at 400 for 35-40 minutes

Recut the ¼ pieces. Then recut into smaller pieces.

Andrea's Italian Restaurant in Sarasota - I Love It

The other night, my wife and I joined two other couples for dinner at Andrea's (http://www.andreasrestaurantsrq.com/), an intimate and authentic Italian restaurant on Siesta Drive in Sarasota. All of us enjoyed our meals. Mine was superb.

Andrea's had been recommended by one of the couples who joined us because of a previous delightful dining experience there.

I tried and loved two Italian dishes I had long wanted to try - Vitello Tonnato and Veal Ossobuco. They were fantastic. My wife had the Veal "Three Musketeers" Milan style - three types of breaded veal cutlet. She enjoyed her meal, but did not consider it exceptional.

The Vitello Tonnato appetizer is an interesting dish - a very thin slice of veal in a creamy, tuna-flavored sauce. It is from the Piedmont (Piemonte) Region of northwest Italy. The dish sounds strange, but it is fantastic. I can't wait to have it again. Andrea's offers it in two sizes - small for $15 and large for $30.

The Ossobuco with Saffron Risotto was absolutely incredible. This is another traditional dish from the Piedmont, specifically from Milan. It comprises veal shanks braised with vegetables, white wine, and broth for $30.

The three types of breaded veal in my wife's main course were - with parmesan cheese, with caperberry and lemon, and with fresh greens and tomato. It was $23.95. She also ordered a delicious side of roast potatoes for $3.95. 

Andrea's is known for its wonderful ravioli. One of our fellow diners let me try one of hers. It was terrific.

Another fellow diner really enjoyed her veal saltimbocca topped with fresh sage and parma ham, and cooked in white wine, for $23.95. (Saltimbocca means, "jumps in the mouth.")

The wine list at Andrea's includes a nice mix of Italian wines, but prices are on the high side. However, I found a reasonably priced and tasty Langhe Nebbiolo - a 2012 Damilano Marghe for $50. The Langhe is in the Piedmont and is the best wine growing area of northwest Italy. Nebbiolo is the wonderful grape used in some of Italy's best reds - Barolo and Barbaresco. (I have read that Andrea's charges a $25 corkage fee.)

After dinner, I had a very nice espresso for $3.

Andrea's pastas are home-made, and the restaurant offers a special ravioli-of-the-day.

The reason that so many of the above dishes and the wine I had are from the Piedmont is that owner and chef Andrea is from the Piedmont town of Pallanza on Lake Maggiore.

In addition to dishes from the Piedmont, Andrea's offers dishes from other parts of Italy; e.g., Florentine T-Bone Steak (Bistecca alla Fiorentina) and Pappardelle with white truffle and wild mushroom cream sauce. (Pappardelle originated in Tuscany.)

I would strongly recommend making reservations if you plan to try Andrea's.

A Tuscan Menu with Florentine Focus

Last Sunday, I prepared a Tuscan meal with Florentine focus for 13 members of our family, including three visitors from the frigid north. (Given the warmth of our visitors' personalities, I'm surprised the north is so cold.)

The menu I created was Tuscan and Tuscan influenced. Three key dishes were Florentine style. I chose dishes which were relatively easy to make and delicious. I also chose several I could make in advance.

The following is the menu I created:

Appetizers / Antipasti ("Antipasto" means "before the meal." The plural form is "Antipasti.")
- Crostini with soft goat cheese, fig jam, prosciutto and basil leaves.
- Crostini with olive "pâté" (a mixture of chopped black olives, lemon, and olive oil - prepared a day in advance.)

Primo (First course)
- Carabaccia - Florentine Onion Soup, which some say is the predecessor of French Onion Soup. (Prepared the previous evening.)

Secondo
- Arista alla Fiorentina - Florentine-style pork roast

Contorno - vegetable
- Carote in Stufate - braised carrots with pancetta

Dolci - Dessert
- Semifreddo alle Fragole - Strawberry Semifreddo (Prepared several days in advance.)
- Schiaciatta alla Fiorentina - Florentine-style cake

Formaggio - Cheese
- Tuscan pecorino cheese from Vicchio in the Province of Florence. I found it at the fantastic cheese department of Mazzaro's Italian market in St. Petersburg, FL.

The wines I served were
1. Red
- 2012 Redi Argo et Non Briareo Rosso di Montepulciano (from Montepulciano in Tuscany, not Montepulciano d'Abruzzo)
- 2011 Vecchia Cantina Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (The same winery which produces the first wine.)
- 2011 Antinori Peppoli Chianti Classico
2. White
Michele Chiarlo Le Madri Roero Arneis (This white is from the Piedmont. If I'd have given it some thought, I would have picked up a Vernaccia di San Gimignano from Tuscany.)

The coffee I served was an Italian roast from Mazzaro's Italian supermarket.

Schiaciatta alla Fiorentina - A Florentine-Style Cake

The other night, I prepared a Tuscan dinner with Florentine focus for wonderful family visitors and local family members. I decided to do a double dessert - Strawberry Semifreddo, which I've mentioned in earlier postings, and Schiaciatte alla Fiorentina - Florentine-style Schiaciatta. I thought the two worked very well together.

Schiaciatta is a dessert bread/cake. It used to be served at Carnival time, but is now served year round. ("Schiaciatta" is pronounced - "Ski ah chat tah." "Sch" in standard Italian is pronounced like the "sch" in "school," not the "sh" in "shine.")

The recipe I chose was from a web site called, "Under the Tuscan Gun." - (http://underthetuscangun.com/food/desserts/12-schiacciata-alla-fiorentina/). In addition to the recipe, the couple who created the web site have also made a video of how to prepare this recipe. I recommend watching the video before baking the cake.

The recipe is pretty straight forward and easy. I have made it twice and it turned out fine both times. When serving the bread you can use a variety of toppings. The traditional way is with powdered sugar. Alternatively, we tried strawberry jam. We also topped it with whipped cream.

I plan to try other recipes from this web site.

Recipe

Ingredients

- 2 1/2 cups of flour (all purpose, unbleached)
- 1 cup of sugar
- 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 7 tablespoons of warm whole milk
- 3 eggs
- the juice and zest of an orange (I used a blood orange.)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking powder
- confectioner's sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 360⁰ Butter well an 8&1/2 by 12 inch baking pan. I used a ceramic dish. If you use a ceramic dish rather than metal, reduce the cooking temperature by 25⁰.

2. Separate the yolk and egg whites.

3. Scrape the orange zest and squeeze the orange juice into a large bowl.

4. Place the egg yolks and all remaining ingredients except the egg whites into the bowl with the orange zest and juice.

5. Using a blender, whip the egg whites until the become a thick foam and fluff up. Then add them into the bowl. Work the mix very well, making sure there are no chunks of flour remaining.

6. Pour the mix into the buttered pan and bake it uncovered in the oven for 30-35 minutes. (Our oven took 30 minutes.) At 30 minutes, test the cake by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean and dry, the baking is complete. If not, continue cooking for another 5 minutes and test again.

7. After removing the cake from the oven, let it cool for half an hour. After the cake cooled, I turned the cooking dish over and put the cake into a serving dish. You can now top the cake and serve it. Instead of putting the toppings on myself, I put powdered sugar, whipped cream, and jam on the table, and let our guests apply their preferred topping.

Za'atar / Zaatar - A Pleasant and Flexible Middle Eastern Spice Mix

Za'atar is a very tasty and easy-to-use Middle Eastern spice mix. There are a number of variants; e.g., Palestinian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Egyptian, and Israeli. Za'atar typically includes some or all of the following spices and herbs - thyme, sumac, oregano, roasted sesame seeds, salt, and roasted wheat. You can buy it already made or you can make it yourself. Za'atar is available at Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Middle Eastern grocery stores, etc. Recipes are easy to find on the Internet.

When I was a child, my mother used to mix it with olive oil and spread it on pita bread.

I recently decided to use it in various dishes I was preparing. I bought a 1 pound bag of Ziyad Brand Green Za'atar at Oasis Cafe in Sarasota for $4.99. This version contains roasted wheat, roasted thyme, ground sumac, and salt.  I have used it in three ways - as a rub on a rib eye steak, on roasted chicken thighs, and on grilled sweet peppers. Each time, I mixed it with olive oil. Each time, it was very tasty and very easy to use. The next time I use it, I will probably add oregano. 

One of the ways I intend to use it is on green beans.

I will probably also try it on pita bread soon. The Ziyad package has the following recipe for use on two pieces of pita bread - sprinkle 2 tbsp of za'atar on the bread, drizzle olive oil on the bread, then bake the bread at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.

By the way, the pita bread typically sold in supermarkets does not begin to compare to the pita sold at good Middle Eastern stores. There is a world of difference.

Sauteed Green Beans - Tasty & Super Easy

It never ceases to amaze me how many very easy delicious dishes there are. I recently used this tasteofhome.com (http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/sauteed-green-beans) sauteed green beans recipe as a side dish for a New York Strip Steak. The two dishes paired very well, and with the Chateau de la Huste Bordeaux Fronsac I served.

The only change I made was to use fresh green beans instead of frozen.

Ingredients

- 1 package (9 ounces) frozen cut green beans, thawed. I used fresh green beans, which I trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths.
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes

Directions

In a large skillet, sautée beans in butter for 4-5 minutes.

Add the onion and seasonings. Reduce heat; cook and stir for 5 minutes or until heated through.

While this is supposed to yield 4 servings, it was so good, the two of us finished it off.

Lamb, Mushroom, and Onion Stew

This delicious and easy lamb stew recipe is a modification of a recipe I found in the Sahtein Levantine cookbook, which I mentioned in an earlier posting. The next time, I will try modifying it even more by adding raisins. The modifications I made were to add garlic and to replace the water with wine. (I suppose I shouldn't say, "changing the water to wine.")

It is served over cooked rice.

This version serves two, but you can easily scale it up. 

Ingredients

- 2 tbsp butter or margarine. (You could also do olive  oil.)
- 8 oz fresh mushrooms, washed and cut if too large
- 1/2 to 1 lb lamb cubed (I prefer 1 lb)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic
- juice of half a lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, and allspice (or adjust to your taste)
- 3/4 cup of water or red wine (I used a Barbera d'Alba, which worked fine.)

Directions

Brown meat & onions in a pan over medium heat until light brown - about 5 minutes.
- Add mushrooms and simmer for 6 minutes. (Taste a piece of lamb after 6 minutes to be sure it is tender and cooked through.)
- Add lemon juice.
- Serve over rice.

Doesn't get much easier than that.