Feb 24, 2012

Kafta with Potatoes + New Blogger Award Nomination

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Do you know Kafta? It is minced meat mixed with parsley and onion with salt and some spices. I remember when I was young, when my mother made kafta for lunch, everybody would rejoice. I should mention that besides my parents, we were 6 children: 4 boys and two girls. My mother used to make 3 main dishes for lunch to please us all. But when she decided to make Kafta with Potatoes, she would have to make a very large tray, bigger then our oven at home! My father had to take it to the bakery to cook it, after preparation at home it took 5 minutes to cook. Today I made a medium size tray and I cooked it at home but it took about half an hour to get cooked in the oven.

Ingredients: 

  • 500 g minced meat
  • 1 cup of chopped parsley
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 4 potatoes
  • 2 large tomatoes sliced,
  • 1 onion sliced
  • 1 tbsp  tomato paste
  • salt, seven spices
  • frying oil, cooking oil

Preparation:

  • Mix the minced meat with chopped parsley and chopped onion in a food processor (or you can take it ready from the butcher if he knows how)
  • Season with 1 small tsp salt and 1/2 tsp seven spices
  • Mix the meat by hand very well, take a small hand full and make a ball shape with it and flatten it then place it on a slightly greased oven tray
  • Preheat the oven to 200C
  • When all the meat is ready, place the tray in the oven for about twenty minutes, making sure to turn it over halfway through
  • In the meantime, peel the potatoes and cut them into slices then place into frying pan with oil; remove and drain when golden
  • Place the potatoes over the meat, then sliced onions and tomatoes on top
  • In a small bowl mix the tomato paste with about 2 cups of water, and season with salt and seven spices then place it over the meat and the potatoes in the tray
  • Cover the tray with aluminium foil and place it in hot oven for 20 minutes
  • Remove the foil and keep it in the oven for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens
  • Serve with rice

 

ET VOILA.. C’EST TOUT!

By the way, I’ve been nominated for the New Blogger Award by this really interesting blog called Creative Noshings. Check it out and thank you all for your support 🙂

BON APPETIT

Filed Under: Arabic, Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , ,
Feb 23, 2012

Bulgur with Tomatoes

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For centuries, and especially during WW2, bulgur (or burghul in Arabic) has been a main ingredient in Lebanese cuisine. It is made out of whole wheat and has a lot of vitamins it is very nutritious.

In Lebanon you can find many kinds of bulgur (e.g., fine grain, rough, white and dark). The recipe I made today is also suitable for people fasting during Lent. It is a very old recipe popular in the villages mainly.

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 2 red tomatoes peeled and cut into small dices
  • one cup of rough white bulgur
  • 1 tbsp of tomato paste
  • salt, pepper, and a dash of black spicy pepper
  • 2 tbsp of olive oil

Preparation:

  • In a pot heat the olive oil, fry the onion
  • When the onion start to take color, add the tomatoes and let it cook slowly on a low fire
  • Add the bulgur over the onion and mix all the ingredients well
  • Put the tomatoe paste, the salt and the spices
  • Cover with 2 cups of water, let it boil, then cover the pot and let it simmer on low fire untill all the grains absorb the water
  • Serve it with salad and vegetables.

ET VOILA.. C’EST TOUT.

Filed Under: Lent, Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , ,
Feb 20, 2012

Cauliflower Gratin

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Cauliflower Gratin

On this occasion I would like to wish all Christians a blessed Ash Monday! Ash Monday, or the first day of Christian lent, marks the beginning of forty days of fasting where Christians should avoid meat, chicken and even fish and they should eat only vegetables and fruits. Tomorrow I will post something related to lent and an applicable dish for the occasion.

Today however, the dish I made is taken from French Cuisine, and is made from cauliflower, white sauce and cheese. While it contains no meats, the milk and cheese may be unsuitable for those strictly following lent.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cauliflower, about 1 kg
  • 80 gs of butter
  • 4 tablespoons of all purpose flour
  • 4 cups of milk
  • salt, dash of nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup of mozarrella cheese and 1/2 cup of emmenthal cheese both shredded

Preparation:

  • Wash the cauliflower and cut it, boil to half cooked in a casserole with salted water, then drain the cauliflower
  • In the meantime prepare the white sauce: put the butter in a pan and melt it, add the flour and mix well with the butter, then slowly pour the milk over, mixing well with a manual beater until the mixture start to thickens
  • Put the fire off and season with salt and freshly grounded nutmeg
  • Preheat the oven to 180C
  • In an oven tray put the cauliflower and cover it with the white sauce and then on top of it put the cheese
  • Put the tray in the oven and bake for about half an hour

ET VOILA .. C’EST TOUT:)

Filed Under: Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,
Feb 18, 2012

Potato Salad with Eggs

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Vegetables, potatoes and eggs. All children need their greens, but they never eat them! Because they’re stubborn and don’t know what’s good for them. But momma knows best 🙂

Use this for a side dish with steak or chicken.Personally I just have it as a light dinner, like I did tonight. You’re probably going to have these ingredients lying around in your kitchen so there’s no complication, and it won’t take you any longer than twenty minutes to prepare. Great for a lazy night in front of the TV.

Ingredients:

  • 3 potatoes
  • 3 eggs
  • some leaves of lettuce and Iceberg
  • 1 large tomato
  • 1 green pepper

Preparation:

  • Peel the potatoes, cut them in medium size cubes and boil with salted water
  • Boil the eggs
  • In the meantime wash the vegetables and cut them and put in a big serving bowl
  • Prepare the dressing for the salad by mixing one teaspoon of salt, a tbsp of mayonnaise, juice of one lemon and three tbsp of olive oil
  • When the potatoes and the boiled eggs  are cooked add them to the vegetables
  • Put the dressing and mix well.

ET VOILA C’EST TOUT…:)

BON APPETIT

Filed Under: Main dish, Salad, Side dish · Tagged: , , , , , ,
Feb 17, 2012

White Beans with Meat and Rice (Fasoulya)

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This stew is a traditional Lebanese dish. When my youngest brother went to a boarding school in Lebanon for a few years, they used to serve it to the students with white beans, meat and rice every Wednesday, and as he got homesick sometimes, this dish made him remember his home and made him feel good.

He’s a lot bigger than he used to be then, but even now when he knows I have it for lunch, he gladly invites himself over to eat. But I have to make bigger portions. A lot bigger.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of dried white beans
  • 300 gs of beef meat cut into large cubes
  • 5 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 cup of chopped fresh coriander
  • 1 tablespoon of ground dried coriander
  • 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
  • Juice of one lemon
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
  • Cooking oil

Preparation:

  • Soak the white beans with the bicarbonate of soda and cover with water, overnight
  • The next day the beans double in volume – drain them form the water and wash them
  • In a casserole put 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and fry the meat then cover it with water, cook for about one hour until the meat is tender (to save time you can use the pressure cooker)
  • In another casserole boil the beans until it is almost tender, then drain again the water
  • Put the beans over the meat, add the tomato paste, salt and pepper, cover with water and let it boil on low heat in the covered casserole
  • Crush the garlic with salt, add the fresh and dried coriander and mix all the ingredients well
  • In a small saucepan, heat some oil and fry the mixture of garlic and coriander then add it to the casserole of beans with meat
  • Finally, you can put the lemon juice
  • Serve this delicious food with cooked rice.

ET VOILA ..C’EST TOUT:)

Filed Under: Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , ,
Feb 16, 2012

Lasagna

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The first time I ate lasagna was 20 years ago when I was still living in Abu Dhabi, and my friend invited me to her palce to have lasagna for lunch.  I thought at the time that making lasagna was complicated so I asked her for the recipe and, and she explained to me the way she did it. Since then, I have made some modifications to her recipe, and my children just love  lasagna I make. I am glad to share it with you today:)

Ingredients: The meat sauce

  • 200 gs of minced meat
  • 2 large onions
  • 4 red tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
  • salt, pepper
  • 2 tablespoon of cooking oil

The white sauce:

  • 100 gs of butter
  • 4 tablespoons of all purpose flour
  • about 4 cups of milk
  • salt, 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup of shredded emmental cheese, and 1/2 cup of mozzarella

Preparation:

  • Heat the oil in a casserole and fry the onion chopped finely
  • Add the minced meat to the onion and fry until the meat is cooked
  • Cut the red tomatoes in small pieces and add it to the meat with the tomato paste
  • Season with salt and pepper and put the sauce aside

Now prepare the white sauce:

  • In another casserole melt the butter and add the flour, mix well
  • Pour the milk gradually and keep mixing with a whisk
  • When the sauce thickens put the fire off and put the salt and the nutmeg

Finally:

  • In a deep oven tray, put a large tablespoon of white sauce to cover the bottom of the tray
  • Put one layer of lasagna, cover it with meat sauce and then put the white sauce, repeat this until the tray is 3/4 full
  • On the top after the last layer of the white sauce sprinkle the cheese and put in hot oven for about 30 minutes

My son was with me in the kitchen while preparing the lasagna, and he came up with the idea to put the lasagna in a aluminium foil cup cake, he did, and it turn out to be beautiful. I think it is a good idea to make a “cup cake lasagna” if you have a party.

ET VOILA.. C’EST TOUT. BON APPETIT!

Filed Under: Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,
Feb 16, 2012

Spaghetti with Meat Escalope

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Who doesn’t like spaghetti??

This is the most popular meal in the world and everybody loves it: children, young people and even the elderly. This is a meal I keep as a backup, because I have the ingredients always ready in my kitchen. When I don’t have escalope, I just use minced meat in the pasta sauce to make it bolognese sauce.

Ingredients:

  • 250 gs of spaghetti
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 5 red tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, basil
  • 1 tablespoon of ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
  • 2 pieces of meat escalope

Preparation:

  • In a casserole, boil water with a tablespoon of salt and a tablespoon of cooking oil
  • When the water is boiled, put the spaghetti and boil it. When it is cooked drain it from the water
  • In another casserole, heat the olive oil, chop the onion and fry it, then add the crushed cloves of garlic
  • Put the tomatoes in boiling water for few seconds to peel them and chop into medium size cubes (if you want you can use a small  can of crushed tomatoes)
  • Add the tomatoes to the mixture of onion and garlic and let it boil on low heat
  • Season the tomato sauce with salt, pepper, and a small teaspoon of each of: thyme, oregano, basil
  • Now add ketchup and a half cup of water, cover and let it simmer for 15 minutes on low heat
  • Fry the escalope until the meat is well cooked
  • To serve, put the spaghetti in a plate, cover it with the tomato sauce and place the escalope alongside
  • You can serve it with a vegetable salad

ET VOILA.. C’EST TOUT:)

Filed Under: Main dish · Tagged: , , , ,
Feb 13, 2012

Maaloube Batenjein (upside down eggplant with meat and rice)

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This is a lebanese main dish, made from eggplant, minced meat and rice. I remember the first time I tasted it was at my in-laws house. I asked my mother-in-law how she made it, and she told me “the most important thing is not to stir it, so when you turn it looks neat like a piece of cake”.  It is a nice dish, and today I would like to share my mother-in-law’s recipe with you.

Ingredients:

  • 400 gs of large eggplant
  • 200 gs of minced meat
  • 1 onion chopped finely
  • 2 cups of long grain rice ( or basmati rice if you prefer)
  •  frying oil, cooking oil, salt and seven spices
  • pine seeds fried with a small spoon of butter

Preparation:

  • Peel the eggplant and cut it into thin slices, fry them in a frying pan with the frying oil until they become brown then drain them
  • In a medium size pot, heat the cooking oil and fry the onion, add the minced meat and fry it with the onion until is well cooked then season it with salt and seven spices
  • Put 2 cups of rice in 2 cups of boiling water for about half an hour in a bowl until the rice absorbs all the water
  • In the pot keep the fried meat with the onion, and take care that you press them in the bottom of the pot with the back of a spoon
  • Put over the meat, the fried eggplant, and then the rice
  • Cover with 2 cups of water and cook on a very low heat, WITHOUT STIRRING
  • When the rice is completely dry, put the fire off, and let it set in the pot for few minutes
  • Turn it upside down in a serving plate and decorate it with the pine seeds fried
  • Serve it with yogurt mixed with cucumber and garlic, with a pinch of dried mint

ET VOILA.. C’EST TOUT:)

Filed Under: Main dish · Tagged: , , , ,
Feb 12, 2012

Chicken with Cream and Vegetables

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It is Sunday and the sun is high in the sky, the snow is clear white and shining like crystals under the sunlight. It got me in the mood for white cream, so I decided to get playful with some chicken and vegetables, using what I could find in my fridge, with boiled pasta on the side. It turned out to be very yummy!

Ingredients:

  • 500 gs of fillet chicken
  • 1 onion chopped finely
  • 2 cloves of garlic(optional)
  • 1 green pepper, 1 red capsicum, both cut into fine strips
  • 1 can of mushroom sliced
  • 4 carrots peeled and sliced
  • salt and pepper, cooking oil
  • 250ml of fresh and thick cream

Preparation:

  • Cut the chicken filet into medium size cubes and fry it in a casserole, until light brown
  • Remove the chicken and put aside on a plate, then fry the onion in the same oil, with the garlic if used
  • Add the carrots and fry for few minutes, then the mushroom
  • Put the fried chicken back, season now with the salt and pepper, cover with a small cup of water and let it boil, then cover the casserole and lower the heat and let chicken cook gently with the vegetables
  • When the chicken is tender, put the fresh cream , the green pepper and the capsicum, let it cook for 5 minutes, and it is ready
  • Serve it with cooked pasta

ET VOILA.. C’EST TOUT 🙂

Filed Under: Main dish · Tagged: , , , , ,
Feb 10, 2012

Spinach and Rice

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It’s a very simple meal to prepare, and it pleases all the family. I remember when my son was about 5 years old, he used to hate the spinach and refused to eat it. I was determined to make him eat it, knowing the benefits of the spinach, so I used to show him the “POPEYE” cartoon. Before you knew it, my son wanted to take the spinach directly from the can too!

Ingredients:

  • 500 gs of chopped frozen spinach
  • 200 gs of mined beef
  • 1 onion chopped finely
  • 1 tablespoon of all purpose flour
  • salt and seven spices
  • juice of lemon if desired
  • cooking oil, about 3 tablespoons

Preparation:

  • Heat the cooking oil in a casserole and fry the onion, when it becomes light brown add the meat and fry it until its well cooked
  • Add some salt and seven spices, then add the spinach followed by one cup of water and let it cook on low heat and cover the pot
  • Mix flour with a half cup of water and add it to the pot as soon it starts boiling and cover the pot again
  • Let the spinach simmer on a very low heat, stirring occasionally
  • Adjust the seasoning, and add the lemon juice if you like
  • Serve it with white rice

ET VOILA… C’EST TOUT

Filed Under: Main dish · Tagged: , , ,
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