Search Results for: awarma

Sep 29, 2012

Awarma (Preserved Meat a La Libanaise)

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The winter season in Lebanon is very cold, especially in the mountains. Back in older times, villagers used to preserve the meat cultivated in the summer to cook it during the cold season. Awarma can last for one year when kept in the fridge. Although people are no longer isolated enough to worry about it, especially in the city,  Awarma is still found in many homes. It is usually cooked with egg, kishk or even over hummus.

It is very important that everything you use for cooking is very dry. Make sure to keep away from water while cooking and preserving.

Ingredients:

  • 1 kilo lean beef, cut into very small cubes (about 1/2 cm)
  • 1/2 kilo sheep fat, (the best part is the fat found in the tail area, but if not available, you can use other part)
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper or seven spices

Preparation:

  • In a pot, and on a low fire, place the fat and let it melt very slowly; when the fat is halfway cooked, add half the salt
  • When the fat is completely melted, add the meat, and cook stirring always, to allow the meat to cook evenly
  • Season with salt and pepper, cook on a low fire until the meat is well cooked
  • When cooked, place the meat in jars, and keep in cold dry place. You can refrigerate it also.

After it is prepared, you can store it for several months. It is best eaten alongside something else. I prepared it with scrambled eggs 🙂

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT..

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Pantry · Tagged: , , , ,
Apr 9, 2012

Home Made Shawarma

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I think a lot of people are familiar with Shawarma, the one we see in the shops who make these delicious sandwiches, where the meat is fixed into a large skew turning on itself electrically to let the meat cook from all sides. The smell of the added spices gives the meat its appetizing aroma. The only problem is they add a lot of fat to the meat to soften it.

Since my children like Shawarma a lot, and so do I, I learned how to make it at home from my mother years ago. Everytime I prepare it I remember my small son when was three years old, and whenever I used to ask him what he would like to have for dinner he would say”Chamara sandwich”, because at his age he couldn’t pronounce the letters properly. Until now to make a joke out of this story , we still name it chamara. So, enough talking and here is my recipe for a home made chamara, sorry I mean “Shawarma”.

Ingredients:

  • 1 kilo of sirloin steak ( faux fillet)
  • 2 tablespoons of shortening
  • 1 1/2 cup of red vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • juice of one lemon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon seven spices
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon of wole cardamon
  • 1 teaspoon of clove
            

Preparation:

  • In a saucepan heat the shortening and fry the steak until they turn into a nice brown color, and place them when fried on a kitchen towel to absorb the excess of shortening
  • Cut the fried steak into fine strips, place them in a tray. Cover them with the oil, vinegar and lemon and put all the spices
  • Cover in aluminium oil and place the tray in the fridge for few hours
  • Preheat the oven to 220 C, place the tray and leave it for 30 minutes with the aluminium foil on, then remove it and leave the tray in the oven for another 10 minutes or until the meat is tender
  • Remove the Shawarma pieces from the tray without all the spices

Now the Shawarma meat is ready. To serve it, cut onions into wings and sprinkle sumac over them, slice tomatoes, wash few leaves of parsley and fresh mint, and some cucumber pickles.

The most important thing to have Shawarma with is the “taratour dip”, which is a mixture of one cup of tahini, and one clove of garlic crushed with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and juice of one lemon, to be mixed all together with water until they have the consistency of yogurt.

You can have the Shawarma in pita bread as a sandwich with all the vegetables topped with the taratour dip..And roll it.

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT..:)

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,
Oct 26, 2012

Batenjan Makdous (Preserved Eggplants in Olive Oil)

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It is the season of Autumn, and now is the right time for preparing the Mouneh (pantry). A few weeks ago I showed you how to prepare preserved meat, Awarma.  Now I’m going to show you how to preserve eggplants, using a recipe I learned from my mother-in-law years ago. It takes about ten days for the Makdous to have been pickled properly. After it has been prepared, the eggplants can be eaten as a appetizer, side dish or can even  be put in a sandwich alone. You will find many ways to enjoy it by playing on your own. Personally, I like to eat it for dinner with labneh (yoghurt) and cheese on the side; it makes for a lovely and easy to prepare dinner.

Ingredients:

  • 1 kg baby eggplant
  • 200 grams whole nut
  • about 15 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon rock salt
  • 1 teaspoon chili paste (optional)
  • about 4 cups olive oil

Preparation:

  • Wash the eggplants, remove the stem
  • Place the eggplants in a pot full of water, leave it on fire for about 10 minutes (not more); the skin of the eggplants when tested should be soft
  • When the eggplants are cooked place in a strainer and wash with cold water. Make a small slit lengthwise in the eggplant, sprinkle with salt, put them back in the strainer, slit facing down, place a weight over them and leave it for about two days. This helps any remaining water to come out of the eggplants

  • Meanwhile, prepare the filling by roughly crushing the nuts and mixing it with garlic, salt and chili paste if desired
  • With you thumb widen the slit, fill each eggplant with a spoon from the nut garlic mixture

  • Place the filled eggplants in a jar, turn the jar upside down on a plate at a certain angle to release the remaining water, leave it for 2 days until no more juice comes out from it

  • Return the jar after 2 days to upright position, and fill it with olive oil. After five days the eggplants are ready to be consumed

ET VOILA.. C’EST TOUT! 🙂

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Pantry, Side dish, Starters, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,