May 15, 2012

Baked Mashed Potatoes With Meat

By · 13 Comments

This is a very smooth dish, easy to digest and generally liked by all. Boiled potatoes, mashed  and baked in the oven with cooked minced meat. We enjoy it best when eating with a good salad.

Ingredients:

  • 1 kg potatoes
  • 150 grams minced beef
  • 1 medium onion
  • salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon seven spices
  • a handful of pine seeds (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon grenadine molasses
  • 1 tablespoon corn oil
  • 2 tablespoons soft butter
  • about 1/2 cup bread crumbs

Preparation:

  • Boil the potatoes until tender, peel and mash, if the potato is dry you may add a little of water while mashing it, season with 1 teaspoon of salt
  • Heat the oil in a casserole and fry the onion for two minutes then add the pine seeds (if used) until it turns golden and finally add the meat and fry it until brown, season with 1 teaspoon of salt, seven spices and the molasses (this is a key ingredient for the flavor)
  • Preheat the oven to 180 C
  • Butter a tray, place half of the mashed potatoes in the tray, with a wet hand flatten the surface of potatoes
  • Place the cooked meat, then cover it with the remaining mashed potatoes with wet hand
  • Brush the soft remaining butter on the top of potatoes then sprinkle the bread crumbs
  • Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes until it turns golden color

As for salad, today I mixed chopped cabbage with sliced cucumber and tomatoes. For the dressing I crushed two cloves of garlic with salt, mixed with one lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil… DELICIOUS..

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT.. 🙂

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Main dish, Salad · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 21, 2012

Spinach Fatayer+ Award

By · 6 Comments

Another Award nomination…:) I would like to thank The Burlesque Baker for the Versatile Blogger Award. Her blog includes good recipes as well as many other interesting topics. Please have a look at her blog if you are not yet familiar with it. I am very flattered by all these nominations, I realize how nice fellow bloggers are, and really this encourages me to do my best always. Thank you again to “The Burlesque Baker”.

I will not say anything about myself today (I think I did a lot:))

My nominees are:

1-simplydelicious

2-becomingmadame

3-dinutrition

4-acorinmyktichen

5-rocksalt

Fatayer is another kind of Lebanese pie which uses the same dough as Sambousek, but filled with spinach, or it can be filled with swiss chard, or even with purslane. It is also a dish from our Lebanese Mezze.

Ingredients for the dough:

  • 3 cups of all purpose flour
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of instant dried yeast
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup of water

Preparation of the dough:

  • Sift the flour with the salt, mix with oil, add the yeast
  • Add the water, mixing by hand until the dough is soft
  • Rub it all with oil , place it in a bowl and cover with a clean towel and leave it for about 2 hours to rise

Ingredients of the filling:

  • 1 kilo of fresh spinach
  • 1 large white onion chopped finely
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon seven spices
  • handful of pine seeds
  • 1 tablespoon of grenadine molasses
  • juice of one lemon
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon sumac

Preparation of the filling:

  • Preheat the oven to 180
  • Cut the spinach and wash, keep in a strainer, add all the remaining ingredients to the spinach keeping them in the strainer. The spinach will wilt
  • Roll the dough very thinly on a floured surface, and cut into 7 cm circles
  • Put in the center of each circle 1 teaspoon of filling and pinch the dough to form a triangle
  • Place all the Fatayer on a oiled tray and bake for about 30 minutes until golden, or if you want you can deep fry them instead

Makes about 60 pieces.

ET VOILA…C’EST TOUT:)

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Lent, Side dish, Starters · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
Apr 21, 2012

Meat Sambousek

By · 9 Comments

Sambousek is a kind of small pie served in our Lebanese Mezze, as well as Baba Gannouj , Hommos, Stuffed Vine Leaves..etc. The ones I prepared today are filled with minced meat. But they can also be filled with cheese, labneh or vegetables. They take only a few steps to make: preparing the dough, cooking the meat and assembling then frying or cooking in the oven. Working with the dough of this Sambousek is fun, so get working 🙂

Ingredients for the dough:

  • 3 cups of all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of instant yeast
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup of water

Preparation of the dough:

  • Sift the flour with salt, mix it with the oil then add the yeast
  • Add the water, mixing well by hand until you have a soft dough
  • Put in a container, rub it with oil all around and cover with a clean towel, and let it rise for about 2 hours

Ingredients of the filling:

  • 200 grams minced beef
  • 1 large onion thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon seven spices
  • 1 tablespoon grenadine molasses
  • handful of pine seeds
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preparation of the filling:

  • In a saucepan heat the oil and fry the onions until transparent
  • Add the pine seeds and fry for about 2 minutes then add the meat and cook
  • Season with salt , seven spices and the molasses and allow to cool

Assembling of the Sambousek:

  • On a floured surface roll the dough to about 3 mm thick, cut in circles of 6 cm
  • Place 1 teaspoon of the filling in the center and close tightly, then twist the edges or press with a fork
  • To cook them, you can do it one of 2 ways. Deep fry them until they’re a nice golden color and drain on a kitchen towel to absorb the excess of oil. OR bake them on an oiled tray in a preheated oven until lightly golden. You can serve with yogurt or salad.

Makes about 40 pieces

ET VOILA.. C’EST TOUT..

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