Kibbee Ibsaniyeh (Kibbee in the Tray)

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.

Swiss Chard with Garlic

 

Ingredients

1 Bunch Swiss chard
3 Cloves garlic
Olive oil
White wine
Lemon Juice

Directions

Wash the leaves, and layer the leaves on top of each other then slice through the layers so you have leaves in strips. Chop 3 cloves garlic and place in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Heat the olive oil and garlic, once the garlic starts to sizzle, add the Swiss chard, mix the leaves so the oil covers the swiss chard. Simmer covered for 5 minutes, then stir again and add 1/4 cup white wine. Cover the pan and continue to simmer until the swiss chard is tender.
Drain in a colander and put on a platter, sprinkle with fresh lemon juice.

Roasted Chicken Balsalmic with Tomatoes

This is an easy delicious chicken dish, we serve it with pasta, roasted tomatoes and mushrooms. It is light and very tasty.
Inspired by Allrecipes, I used chicken thighs rather than chicken breasts. I also did not get boneless or skinless chicken. Allrecipes called for cherry tomatoes, but I used fresh tomatoes, roasted first. Recipe for that below.

Ingredients

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4-6 chicken thighs with skins
1 lemon zested and juiced
Roasted tomatoes (see recipe below) or 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved.

Directions

Mix balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mustard and garlic together in an oven safe baking dish, season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken thighs in the vinegar mixture.

Marinate chicken in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit

Roast chicken in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, add tomatoes to the baking dish and continue cooking until the chicken is not longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 10 minutes more. Thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sprinkle lemon zest and drizzle lemon juice over the chicken.

Recipe for Roasted Tomatoes

This is easy and can be used as a sauce for pasta which we did and served with the balsamic chicken. It is very light and tasty.
I used the tomatoes we had grown in the garden, toward the end of the season our tomatoes had tougher skins and were all different sizes, but any tomato works with this recipe which came from food.com . I use more garlic than their recipes and of all the sites, they were the only ones who called for laying the tomatoes flesh side down. This way it was easier to pull off the skins and everything kind of got married together while roasting. We had masses of pasta left over with the delicious sauce, we added some mushrooms, and reheated. You can freeze this and use later.

Ingredients

2 lbs tomatoes
8 garlic cloves roughly chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil or fresh basil, leaves torn
1 teaspoon thyme
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Tomatoes from the Farmer's Market and our odd sized home grown tomatoes.

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
Slice tomatoes in half
Pour 3 tablespoons olive oil onto a large baking sheet and spread it around the sheet.
Scatter evenly, 8 cloves garlic roughly chopped, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon basil or fresh basil leaves, 1 teaspoon thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon sugar over the oil.
Place the halved tomatoes cut side down onto the baking sheet.
Roast for 30-40 minutes or until the skins start to lift from the tomatoes.
Allow to cool.
Remove the skins and put the sauce into a large bowl, break up with a fork or potato masher.
Reheat sauce if using immediately
 

Pot Roast

We used to be able get a chuck roast with the T-Bone, hard to find now. Chuck roasts are mostly sold boneless.

Ingredients.

1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Spanish Onion chopped
1 package Liptons Beef and Mushroom diluted with 3 cups water - I use Lipton’s Mushroom and Onion or Lipton’s Beef and Onion. Beef and Mushroom hard to find.
3 Cloves Garlic chopped
2 Stick Celery cut in half
2 Carrots cut in half

1/2 cup red wine
Chuck Roast weighing approximately 4 lbs.
 
Directions

Spray a baking pan with Pam, place the chuck roast in pan.
Add all first six ingredients and spread over meat. Add 3 cups water and a 1/2 cup red wine so that the liquid is halfway up the side of the chuck roast.
Seal the pan thoroughly with silver foil
Bale at 300 degrees Fahrenheit till meat is tender and falls away from the bone. The slower you cook the meat the more tender it becomes.

Serve with potatoes and broccoli/cauliflower/beans or a salad

Grilled Mediterranean Swordfish

I found this recipe on Mediterranean Dish.
Get steaks that are 1 inch thick. One steak weighs a little over 1 lb., enough for two people. Grilled swordfish hold up well on the grill - treat it like a beef steak using high heat to sear it on one side for 5 - 6 minutes, then turning the fish over and grill for another 3 minutes.
The fish is ready when it flakes easily with the touch of a fork.
This is a quick dish, you can marinate the fish for no longer than 15 minutes.

Ingredients

1 lb. swordfish steak one inch thick.
For the marinade
12 garlic cloves peeled
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 lemons squeezed
1 teaspoon coriander
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika (pimento)
Salt
Pepper

Directions

Blend all the ingredients for the marinade in a food processor until smooth for about 3 minutes..
Wash the fish and dry with a paper towel. Place the fish in a pan with sides and apply the marinade generously on both sides. Set aside for 15 minutes while you prepare the grill.
Grill the fish on high heat for 5-6 minutes on one side, turn over once and grill on the other side for 3 minutes. The fish should flake easily while maintain firmness.
Finish with a splash of fresh lemon juice.

Pan Seared Salmon with Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce

 

Last Saturday we bought fresh salmon at the Farmers Market, I thought we had too much but it was so tasty there was only a portion left over, it was even good cold the next day. I was thinking the leftover salmon would make a good salmon salad, but it was gone by noon!
Cafe Delite provided the recipe, I highly recommend this site! I’ve changed some of the amounts slightly. My sister in law, Portia, took the pictures, she thought they looked so beautiful in the pan with the lemon slices.

Ingredients

2 lbs salmon filets (we bought with skins on and cooked it that way)
Salt and pepper to season
6 tablespoons lemon juice divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoon butter
8 cloves garlic finely chopped
4 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves chopped, divided
1 lemon cut into slices.

Directions

Wash the salmon and pat dry with paper towels. Season all over with salt and pepper Squeeze 4 teaspoons lemon juice over each filet and rub all the flavor in. Let stand till the fish is at room temperature.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat until hot. Place salmon filets skin side down, pressing them lightly so the entire surface is in contact with the pan. Sear undisturbed for 4 minutes until crispy and golden.
Flip the fish and sear the other side of each filet for 2 minutes. Add in the butter, chopped garlic, 3 tablespoons parsley, 4 tablespoons lemon juice and lemon slices. Stir the butter and garlic around each filet.

Pan Seared Lemon Garlic Scallops

 I’ve lately been looking for good fish recipe sites - cafedelites.com has fabulous recipes and they work! This one for scallops is excellent. It is Seared Lemon Garlic Butter Scallops. They describe the scallops coated in a “deliciously silky lemon garlic butter sauce” “The ultimate treat!” I made this for our wedding anniversary.


Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 lbs scallops
3 tablespoons butter
5 large garlic cloves minced (or 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Directions
Have everything ready before frying the scallops, the 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic, the wine measured in 1/4  cup, the 4 tablespoons lemon juice squeezed and the 1/4 cup of  parsley chopped.
If there is a side muscle attached to the scallops, remove. Rinse the scallops and pat dry with a paper tower.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pan or skillet over medium high heat until hot and sizzling. Add the scallops in a single layer without over crowding the pan. (work in batches if needed)
Season with salt and pepper and fry for 2-3 minutes on one side until a golden crust forms underneath. Then flip and fry again for 2 minutes until crisp, lightly browned and cooked through (opaque). Remove from skillet and transfer to a plate.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the same pan, scraping up any browned bits left over from the scallops. Add in the chopped garlic and cook until fragrant for 1 minute.
Pour in the 1/4 cup wine and bring to a simmer for 2 minutes or until wine reduces by about a half. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter and 4 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Remove pan from the heat and add the scallops back into the pan to warm through slightly, garnish with parsley.

You can serve the scallops over pasta, rice or crispy bread, nice with steamed broccoli, or zucchini.