A friend recently asked for the recipe for kibbee ibsaniyeh. When I checked my recipe book, I realized I had not made it in years because the spices were measured in palmfuls and dashes. The recipe was filled with my mother in law’s voice - teaching me how to make her delicious Lebanese food. She had never measured or timed the baking, it was just . . “it’s a palmful of allspice, or a dash of cinnamon” and when asked how long a dish should stay in the oven - she would say, “well, it’s done when it’s done”. I remembered that I had decided to make it again before entering it into my recipe collection. Over time, I too have ended up using a dash of this and a palmful of that, enjoying the memories of my wonderful, loving mother in law.
I believe, traditionally, that kibbee ibsaniyeh was made with lamb, but my mother in law used beef, not so fatty and had a better taste. Although she kept that a closely guarded secret.
Ingredients
2 1/2 lbs. ground beef (ground chuck)
1 Spanish onion chopped
2 3/4 cups finely cracked wheat (bulger)
2 cups beef broth
Allspice
Salt
Pepper
Cinnamon
Olive Oil
2 tablespoons pinenuts
2 tablespoons leban (thick Greek yoghurt)
Lemon juice (or pomegranate juice)
Directions
Make the filling first
Chop 1 large Spanish onion
Use 2 tablespoons olive oil to cover frying pan, heat oil and sauce the onion until golden brown
Add 2 generous tablespoons (1/2 cup) pine nuts.
Add 1/2 lb. ground beef, a shake of pepper, a tablespoon of allspice, a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt. Mix well together and continue to fry until the meat is brown. Keep stirring continuously.
Remove the meat mixture with a slotted spoon, tipping the pan so as to get rid of any excess oil and place meat mixture in a bowl.
Leave aside to cool.
To Make the Kibbee
You need a large bowl and a smaller bowl.
Pour 2 cups beef broth into the large bowl (I used to use Campbell’s Beef Broth but hard to find now)
In the small bowl, measure 2 1/2 cups finely cracked wheat and cover with water. Pour water off very slowly into the sink, trying not to lose too much of the cracked wheat.
Add cracked wheat to the beef broth, squeezing out any excess water with your hands.
To the cracked wheat and beef broth, add 2lbs. ground beef,
a palmful (3 tablespoons) of allspice,
a palmful (3 tablespoons) of salt,
half a palmful (1 teaspoon ) pepper
a dash (1/2 teaspoon ) of cinnamon.
Dip your hand into cold water first and mix all together with your hands. The damp hands help the spices to be thoroughly mixed into the meat.
Use a pyrex dish or baking pan (I used a six 13 x 8 pyrex dish). Wipe olive oil all round the inside of the pyrex dish.
Take a handful of kibbee meat and make into flat, thin hamburger pates.
Place and shape to corners of pan, continue in this fashion until the entire bottom of the dish is covered. The bottom layer should be thinner than the top layer.
Spread meat filling over bottom layer
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons (1/2 a lemon) freshly squeezed lemon juice over filling (or 2 tablespoons pomegranate juice)
Spread 2 tablespoons leban (thick Greek yoghurt) over filling
Make top layer of the kibbee meat in the same way you did the bottom layer, except this layer is a little thicker.
With a little olive oil in your hand, smooth and seal off any empty spaces and cracks on the top layer of the kibbee meat.
Score top layer gently with a knife, just touching not cutting all the way through. You can make any design you desire.
Make one insertion right through the centre with the knife and then go round the edge of the dish. This allows the oil to circulate during cooking.
Pour a little oil over the top of the kibbee dish, approximately 1/2 cup olive oil.
Bake at 350 degrees F. till golden brown - about 50-55 minutes.
As kibbee starts to brown, pour off all oil, put back in oven and continue to bake until kibbee is a deep brown- about 10-15 minutes.
Serve with yoghurt and salad.
Freezing
Freeze partially cooked, that is cook the kibbee and remove just before it starts to brown on top.
When removing from freezer, heat up oil first in a frying pan, put hot oil over kibbee (this way the oil doesn’t soak all through the meat) place in oven, turn oven on at 350 degrees F. - DO NOT PREHEAT OVEN - or your pyrex dish will explode! As kibbee turns brown, pour all oil off and continue to bake until golden brown.
