Oct 16, 2012

Chicken Stew With Olives

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From time to time, I like to try new recipes, especially when I want to make chicken. A friend of mine who lives in a village, invited me once for lunch. And among the food she prepared, she made this chicken stew with olives as a main dish which we enjoyed a lot. I took the recipe and tried it at home. It was so good and so I decided to share the recipe with you today.

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole chicken for about 1.5 kilo
  • 1 bunch fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • 1 bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 3 or 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon saffron
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 tablespoon dried basil
  • juice of one lemon
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • about 10 baby onions
  • 1 cup black olives, seed removed and sliced

Preparation:

  • Mix the coriander, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, saffron, turmeric, basil, lemon and marinate the chicken with this mixture for around 10 minutes
  • Heat the oil in a pot and fry the chicken from all sides until it becomes golden
  • Add the onion and the olives, cover the chicken with about 4 cups of water and let it cook on a medium heat, when the water starts boiling, reduce the fire, cover the pot and let it cook until the chicken softens (to save time you can use a pressure cooker)
  • When cooked, place the chicken in a plate with all the vegetables with olives around
  • You can drain the remaining water and use it to cook rice with this stock, the rice will be flavorful

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT..

Filed Under: Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Sep 30, 2012

Potato Stew With Meat

By · 2 Comments

When me and my siblings were young, and for as long as I remember my mother used to make this meal at least once a month. She liked to have HEALTHY children. And by healthy I mean she wanted us to be  fat!

Regardless, there is nothing more comforting than tucking into a bowl of hot stew, especially as the warm weather starts to cool down and we need crave some warming comfort food. We Lebanese always serve our stews with rice, but if you feel that you would rather not it tastes just as good without.

Ingredients:

  • 1 kg potatoes
  • 200 grams beef cube
  • 1/2 cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon dried coriander
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon seven spices
  • 1 tablespoon tomato puree
  • oil for frying
  • 2 tablespoon canola oil

Preparation:

  • In a large pot of pressure cooker, heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the meat, add 1 teaspoon salt, half teaspoon seven spices, cover with 6 cups water and cook until tender
  • Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes
  • Heat the frying oil, fry the potatoes until golden, remove the potatoes from the oil and place on a kitchen towel to absorb the excess of oil
  • In a pot, place the cooked meat, cover them with some of the meat stock, add the potatoes and the tomato puree, and let it cook on medium fire
  • In the meantime, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a casserole, mix the crushed garlic with the fresh and dried coriander, fry them in the casserole
  • When the stew starts boiling add the fried garlic and the lemon juice and let it cook on low fire or further 5 minutes
  • Serve with cooked rice

ET VOILA… C’EST TOUT.

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,
Sep 19, 2012

Kabsse ( Chicken With Rice – Arabian Gulf Way)

By · 7 Comments

After living in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for more then twenty years, I learned a lot about their culture and some of their cuisine. Their food is somehow similar to our Lebanese food, but they use more spices. Kabsse is a very popular dish in Abu Dhabi, and it can be cooked with chicken, meat or even fish. Today I prepared chicken with rice the Arabian Gulf way “Kabsse”.

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole chicken
  • 3 large onions, cut in wing shape + one small onion peeled
  • 5  cloves
  • 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 large tablespoon tomato puree
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • spices: cumin, dried coriander, black pepper, salt, ground cinnamon, lime salt
  • cinnamon stick
  • 3 cups basmati rice ( long grain from pakistan)
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 4 whole cardamon
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 medium onion chopped roughly
  • 4 or 5 celery stick, cut into small cubes
  • 2 red tomatoes, chopped
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • pine seeds, handful
  • peeled almonds, handful
  • cashews, handful
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon corn oil

Preparation:

  • Wash the chicken and cut into 8 pieces
  • Mix 1 tablespoon of each: salt, cumin, dried coriander, black pepper, ground cinnamon, lime salt and place in a small jar
  • Put the chicken pieces in a bowl and rub with one tablespoon of the spices mixture, soak with the 1/4 cup lemon juice and the half cup of olive oil. Soak overnight
  • Next day, in a large pot heat the 2 tablespoons of oil and fry the wings of onion until light brown, remove half of the fried onions and put aside ( you will use it later for the decoration)
  • Fry the chicken pieces over the remaining onions in the pot, until brown
  • Put the 5 cloves on the small peeled onion and place it over the fried chicken with the cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves, 2 cardamons
  • Put over the chicken 1 tablespoon of tomato puree, cover the pot and let it cook on a very low fire for about 5 minutes
  • Put the rice over the chicken, cover with about 5 cups of water ( or chicken stock if you prefer), when it start boiling place the pot on a very low heat, cover it and let it cook gently until the rice absorbs all the water
  • In the mean time prepare the sauce : in a small pot, heat the remaining oil, fry the onion, the chopped garlic and the celery sticks  and the tomatoes, add the remaining tablespoon of tomato puree, cover with 3 cups of chicken stock and let it boil gently
  • Add one tablespoon of the spices mixture, one cinnamon stick, 2 cardamon, 2 bay leaves
  • When the vegetables are well cooked remove the cinnamon stick, the bay leaves and cardamon, puree the vegetables with a hand mixer

  • In a small saucepan heat the butter with the oil and fry the pine seeds, almonds and cashew
  • Place the chicken with rice on a serving plate place fried onions on the top and decorate with the pine seeds, almonds and cashew, and few leaves of celery
  • Serve the sauce with the rice and enjoy.

ET VOILA… C’EST TOUT…

Filed Under: Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Jul 19, 2012

Red Lentil Cakes

By · 13 Comments

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve written something, but the summer feeling has taken over, and family get-togethers and trips are filling up my days leaving me very little time to write much. I hope you’re all enjoying these hot, lazy summer days 🙂

This is a recipe I adapted from a french magazine (Nous Deux) and although the original recipe was well-made, the spices had to be modified to suit my young grandchildren.  It’s a lovely, filling recipe and makes a great vegetarian dish.

Ingredients:

  • 400 grams red lentil
  • 2 carrots, grated
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 150 grams flour
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 dash paprika
  • 2 tablespoons chopped coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:

  • Boil the lentils in a large casserole filled with water, for about 10 minutes
  • In the meantime, In a casserole heat one tablespoon of oil and fry the carrots, the onion ad garlic for 5 minutes
  • When the lentils are cooked, drain them and add the cumin, paprika and coriander, then season with alt and pepper and puree them with a hand mixer
  • Add the flour to the mixture, form a medium sized balls with your wet hand
  • In a saucepan heat the remaining oil and fry the balls of lentils about five minutes until golden brown, then place on a kitchen towel to absorb the excess of oil
  • Serve them with plain yogurt, it is so refreshing in this hot weather

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT.. BON APPETIT.

Filed Under: Lent, Main dish, Side dish, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
Jun 15, 2012

Lentil Soup With Pasta (Rachta bel Adas)

By · 15 Comments

The Arabic version of the name may sound weird at first, but this seemingly simple soup is actually delicious! In the old days, my mother used to make pasta at home because she liked to make dough at home, and since she didn’t have a machine to help, she would make it all by hand. Today I also prepared the pasta at home, but these days I use a pasta machine to roll and cut it. It can also be made with ready made pasta; either way this soup is delicious.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of lentils
  • about 200 grams pasta
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1/2 cup chopped coriander
  • 1 tablespoon dried coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt+1 teaspoon for boiling the lentils
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 tablespoon corn oil+ 1 teaspoon to fry the garlic

Preparation:

  • Boil the lentils in about 1 liter of water, when tender discard the water
  • In a pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the onions until transparent, add the lentils and cover with water
  • Add the pasta and let it boil until the pasta is cooked (if using fresh pasta it will take only 2 minutes to cook)
The fresh pasta
  • In a small saucepan fry the crushed garlic with dried and fresh coriander and a teaspoon of salt, until light golden
  • Put the garlic over the lentils soup, and let it simmer for two minutes
  • Finally add the cumin to the soup

ET VOILA ..C’EST TOUT . BON APPETIT 🙂

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Lent, Starters · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
Apr 14, 2012

Shish Barak

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This is a dough stuffed with meat and cooked with Yogurt. The Shish Barak is the Lebanese version of Italian  Tortellini. My grandson loves to wear his Tarboush which is our traditional hat for men, this is why my daughter tells her son the Shish Barak is small Tarboush swimming in yogurt 🙂

To make this Shish Barak, you need to prepare first the dough, then the filling which is made from onion and meat,and last the cooking of the yogurt.

Ingredients for the dough:

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 cup of water ( more or less depending on the kind of flour)

Preparation of the dough:

  • Sift the flour with the salt, add the vegetable oil and mix well by hand
  • Add the water little by little and mix well by hand until you have a soft dough. It will not rise because it doesn’t have any yeast

Ingredients for the filling:

  • 200 grams minced meat
  • 2 medium onions
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon even spices
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preparation of the filling:

  • Chop the onions finely
  • In a saucepan heat the oil and fry the onions until light golden color
  • Add the meat to the onions and fry it until well cooked
  • Season with salt and spices

Preparation of the Shish Barak:

  • Roll the dough on a floured surface and cut into small circles about 4 cm diameter
  • Put 1/2 teaspoon of the filling in the dough, close it tight, then seal the edges together tightly
  • Preheat the oven to oven to 180C
  • Brush a tray with oil and place the stuffed dough in the tray and bake for about 20 minutes, until it becomes light golden color

Ingredients for cooking yogurt:

  • 1 kilo of Yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons of corn flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 bunch of fresh coriander
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon of dried coriander
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preparation of the Yogurt:

  • Dissolve the corn flour with one cup of water and add it to the Yogurt
  • Place the yogurt in a pot on fire stirring constantly
  • Crush the garlic with salt, mix it with the 2 coriander, then fry with oil in a small saucepan
  • When the yogurt starts to thickens add the cooked dough ( you will need to use half of them, the remaining can be eaten like Sambousek or frozen for later)
  • Let the yogurt boil for about five minutes, at the end you add the fried garlic with coriander

Serve with cooked rice.

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT.

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 13, 2012

Okra and Beef Stew ( Bamye with Meat and Rice)

By · 6 Comments

The Okra stew is a very popular dish in the middle east, especially in Lebanon. When my eldest daughter was young she used to tell me that okra has a “Moustache”, and she wouldn’t eat it. And I remember when she grew up and introduced me to her friend, who later became my son-in-law, I had cooked Okra stew for lunch. I told him that if he wants me to accept him in the family he should eat and like the Okra. This is what he did 🙂

Ingredients:

  • 500 grams of fresh okra (or frozen)
  • 250 grams of beef cubes
  • 200 grams of baby onions
  • 2 red tomatoes
  • 1/2 bunch of fresh coriander
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon seven spices
  • 1 teaspoon dried coriander
  • 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 4 tablespoons sunflower oil

Preparation:

  • If you are using fresh okra, you have to remove the top by a sharp knife, wash it, drain it. Fry in deep oil, and let it drain on a kitchen towel from the excess oil. But if you are using frozen okra you skip this step.
  • In a pressure cooker, heat 2 tablespoons of Mazola oil and fry the meat until brown, cover with water and cook for about 15 minutes
  • In a pot, heat one tablespoon of oil, peel the onion and fry until golden brown
  • Cut the tomatoes into small dices and add to the onion, cook for about 3 minutes
  • Add the okra to the mixture of onion and tomatoes. When the meat is tender put it over the okra with the meat stock, add 1 teaspoon salt, seven spice, the tomato paste, let it boil, then reduce the fire and let it simmer gently
  • Crush the garlic with 1 teaspoon salt, chop the fresh coriander and add it to the garlic with the dried coriander, fry this mixture in a small saucepan with 1 tablespoon of oil, until the garlic becomes light golden color
  • When the okra is nearly done, add the oil coriander mixture to it and leave it for about 5 more minutes, and add the lemon juice
  • Serve it with boiled rice

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT.

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 10, 2012

Peas With Carrot And Meat (Bazella with meat and Rice)

By · 2 Comments

It is not always easy to please children with a single main course, but when it comes to peas with carrot and meat with rice on the side, they all like it. We call them green footballs! What do you call them?

Ingredients:

  • 700 grams of frozen peas
  • 200 grams minced meat
  • 1 medium onions finely chopped
  • 2 carrots cut in small dices
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon seven spices
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoon tomato paste

Preparation:

  • In a pot heat the oil and fry the onion until light golden and add the meat to cook evenly, stirring occasionally, season with salt and seven spices
  • Add the diced carrots and cook for another 5 minutes
  • Add the peas and cook in the pot with cover on and low heat for 5 minutes
  • Dissolve the tomato paste with a cup of water and pour it over the peas, and add enough water to cover them
  • When it starts boiling cover the pot, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until the peas are soft
  • In the meantime mix the crushed garlic with a pinch of salt and the fresh coriander, fry in a small frying pan with one teaspoon of oil until the garlic turns golden color
  • Add the garlic-coriander mixture to the peas in the pot
  • Serve it with cooked rice

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT.

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,
Mar 11, 2012

Couscous With Chicken

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The first time I ate couscous was at a newly-wed couple’s house in Abu Dhabi, a Lebanese man married to an Algerian lady. Of course, couscous is originally a Moroccan dish, but there are variations of it in different countries and she had prepared it the Algerian way. This was 25 years ago and at the time I though it must be very difficult to cook. Since then, I’ve learned that there are many ways to prepare this plate; it is a very flexible recipe and the choice of vegetables is completely up to you. It can even be cooked with meat, chicken or seafood. It is a very playful dish and I encourage you to add a bit of your own personality when cooking it.

Today I prepared couscous with chicken, my way. Use this recipe as a guide to finding your own favorite way of making it.

Ingredients:

  • 200 grams of chicken fillet
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 1 red tomato peeled and diced
  • 1 large carrot sliced (or two medium sized carrots)
  • 1 cup of frozen peas
  • 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 teaspoon of dried coriander
  • 1/2 cup of chopped fresh coriander
  • salt, 7 spices
  • 2 tablespoon of corn oil

Preparation:

  • Cut the chicken into medium size cubes
  • Heat the oil in a casserole and fry the chickens until nice golden color then remove the chicken from the casserole
  • In the same oil fry the chopped onion for about 3 minutes
  • Add the carrot and tomato, cover the casserole and leave it for 5 minutes
  • Put the chicken back with the onion, carrot and tomato
  • Season with salt and seven spices as desired
  • Add the tomato paste and add water until it is enough to cover the chicken and vegetables
  • Let it boil on a high fire
  • Now put the peas, reduce the fire and cover the casserole
  • In the meantime heat some oil in a frying pan
  • Mix the crushed garlic with the fresh and dry coriander then fry them for 3 minutes
  • When the vegetables are tender, add the fried garlic with coriander over the vegetables and chicken
  • Prepare the couscous as instructed on the package (it is sometimes different depending on the brand, but usually very simple)
  • To serve put the couscous on a plate, and pour the chicken vegetables over

ET VOILA.. C’EST TOUT 🙂

Filed Under: Arabic, Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Feb 29, 2012

Chicken Stew with Potato

By · 2 Comments

The traditional Lebanese potato stew is made with meat and tomato sauce. My mother use to cook it the that way, but at some point my father started to get a stomach pain due to the tomato sauce, according to his doctor, and had to stop eating things cooked in it. Since he used to like the potato stew a lot, my mother had to make a few changes to the recipe: she replaced the meat with chicken and the tomato sauce with garlic and coriander. It was an instant hit with me, my brothers and sister. These days, I am making it for my children and they seem to like it too. Try it! 🙂

Ingredients:

  • 500 gs potatoes
  • 500 gs chicken fillet
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 3 clove of garlic
  • 1/2 cup fresh coriander chopped
  • salt, seven spices, 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick
  • one lemon’s worth of juice
  • 1 tablespoon of flour
  • frying oil

Preparation:

  • Boil the chicken in a pot of water, add salt, allspice, cinnamon stick and  bay leaves
  • When the chicken tender, drain from water and put the chicken aside. Keep the water for the stew
  • Cut the potatoes into cubes and fry them until golden
  • Put a little oil in a casserole and put the chicken with potatoes, cover with the water used to boil the chicken
  • Dissolve the flour with 1 cup of cold water and add it to the casserole of chicken and potatoes
  • Crush the garlic with 1/2 teaspoon salt, then mix with the fresh and dried coriander
  • In a small saucepan, fry the mixture of garlic and coriander until the garlic starts taking color
  • Add the garlic to the chicken and potato stew, lower the fire and cover the pot; let the food simmer for 15 minutes
  • Finally put the lemon juice and season with salt and allspice

This dish is best served with rice. You can enhance the flavor of the rice by adding a cup of the water used to boil chicken when cooking the rice.

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT! 🙂

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,