Lebanese Food Recipes

Serves 6:

• 1 lb. ground meat
• 1 onion large
• 1 cup chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• a dash of pepper, cinnamon

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 3/4 cup tahinah
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil for browning the nuts
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pine nuts

Peel and finely chop the onion.  Mix the ground meat parsley, onion and seasoning and knead well.  Grease a round (40cms) baking dish.  Place the meat mixturein the baking dish and pat down until smoothand covers the bottom of the baking dish.  In a deep dish, beat with a fork the water, vinegar, salt, tahinah and lemon juice.  Pour the sauce onto the meat and garnish with the browned pine nuts.  Bake in a hot over for 30 minutes.  Serve hot.

Serves 4:

• 1 lb. small eggplants
• 10 oz. minced meat
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 2 cups vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil to fry the pine nuts
• 2 lbs. tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• a dash of pepper, paprika and cinnamon
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil to brown the bread
• 2 cups yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 cups toasted arabic bread cut into small pieces.

Lightly brown the pine nuts in the vegetable oil.  Remove and drain.  Saute the minced meat in the remainig oil.  Season and let simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.  Wash the eggplant and scoop out the pulp leaving a shell 1/4/cm. thick.  Wash again.  Mix the sauteed meat with half the amount of pine nuts and fill the eggplants with the stuffing.  Saute the stuffed eggplants in the oil.  Place the peeled, chopped tomatoes in a large ovenproof dissh.  Arrange the sauteed eggplants on top of the tomatoes.  Add one teaspoon salt to the eggplants and allow to come to the boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes.  Brown the bread in the oil and drain.  Crush the garlic with a dash of salt and add to the yogurt.  When the eggplanlts are done, remove from the tomatoes and set aside.  Add 2 cups tomato sauce to the browned bread pieces and place in a large serving dish.  Pour the yogurt mixture over the bread and tomato sauce.  Arrange the eggplants over the yogurt mixture.  Garnish with the remaining browned pine nuts and their oil.  Serve immediately. 

Serves 5:

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup long grain rice

Wash the rice in several waters then drain.  Boil the required amount of water, then drop the rice gradually in to the water.  Add the salt and butter tothe rice and stir slowly.  Cook covered over low heat for 20 to 30 minutes.  If the rice becomes too dry add 3/4 cup of boiling water.  Uncover the pot for the last 5 minutes of cooking and separate the grains by shaking the pot or fluffing the rice with a fork  

Servies 8:

• 2 lbs. spaghetti, cooked
• 2 lbs. minced meat
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4  cup tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• a dash of pepper, a dash of cinnamon
• 3 1/2 cups white sauce
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups grated parmesan cheese

White Sauce (1 cup)

• 2 trablespoons butter/margarine
• 2 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• a dash of pepper
• 1 cup milk

Melt the butter over low heat.  Stir in all the ingredients except the milk.  Cook the sauce until bubbles form on its surface.  Remove from the fire and stir in the milk.  Return the sauce over the fire and cook until thick (2 minutes).

Prepare the white sauce first.  Remove from the fire and stir in 1 cup parmesan cheese.  Add the lightly beaten eggs and set aside.  Saute the pine in the butter until light brown in color.  Remove the pine nuts and saute the onion and the minced meat over medium heat for 15 minutes.  Add the seasoning, water and tomato paste to the meat.  Cover and simmer over gentle heat for 15 minutes.  Place half of the boiled spaghetti in a greasted ovenproof dish.  Top with minced meat and cover with the remaining spaghetti.  Pour white sauce on top and spread to cover the spaghetti.  Sprinkle the remainig cheese on top and cook in a moderate oven for 20  minutes until golden brown.  Serve hot.

Serves 6:

• 1/2 lb. spaghetti, boiled
• 1 lb. minced meat
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon salt
• a dash of pepper
• a dash of cinnamon

Saute the pine nuts in the butter until light brown in color, then remove them and place the meat and onion in the pan.  Saute the meat for 5 minutes.  Dissolve the tomato paste in 1 1/2 cup of water and stir into the meat mixture.  Remove from the fire, and add the pine nuts and seasoning to the meat mixture and sit well.  Place the boiled spaghetti in a baking dish and por the meat souce over it.

COmbine the ingredients well and place the dish in a hot oven for 25 minutes. 

Serves 5:

• 1 chicken (1 lb.) boiled
• 1/4 lb. spaghetti, boiled
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 3 1/2 cups white sauce

White Sauce (1 cup)

• 2 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• a dash of pepper
• 1 cup milk

Melt the butter/margarine over low heat.  Stir in all the ingredients except the milk.  Cook the sauce until bubbles form on its surface.  Remove from the fire and stir in the milk.  Return the sauce over the fire and cook until thick ( 2 minutes).

Prepare the white sauce first.  Remove from the fire and stir in the cheese immediately.  Set aside.  Cut the meat from the bones of the boiled chicken.  Place 1/3 of the boiled spaghetti into a greased baking dish, then sprinkle a 1/3 of the amount of shredded chicken meat over the spaghettiand cover the meat withhalf the amount of white sauce.  Repeat the procedure and finish by covering the ingredients with the remaining amount of the white sauce.  Place the dish in a hot oven for 20 minutes.  Serve hot. 

Server 4:

• 1/2 lb. spaghetti, boiled
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, slivered
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1 tablespoon minced parsley
• a dash of pepper
• a dash of salt

Saute the garlic slivers in the oil until light brown in color.  Stir in the yogurt, parsley and seasoning.  Remove from the fire, pour over the boiled spaghetti and serve immediately.

Serves 10:

• 2 chicken, cut into pieces
• 5 cups rice
• 1 cup oil
• 5 onions, sliced
• 2 1/2 cups yogurt
• 3 potatoes, blanched
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon cornflour
• teaspoon each blak pepper, cumin, dried coriander, cardamon, saffron and cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tablespoon salt orto taste
• 1 tablespoonchopped garlic
• 10 cups water
• 3 mastica pieces

Wash the chicken pieces and rubjwith salt, wash again.  Place the chicken pieces in a pot with the mastica water and salt and cook for 40 minutes or until tender.  Remove the chicken pieces and set again.  Beat the egg and cornflour, then beat in the yogurt.  Add the spices and 1/2 tablespoon salt to the yogurt and set aside.  Saute the onions in the oil until golden then remove from the oil.  Place the onions on the chickenthenplace the potatoes on top of the chicken.  Pour the yogurt over the potatoesand set aside.  Pour 8 glasses of the stock ina pot.  Wash the rice and add to the stock with the oil the onionswere fried in.  Set aside until the rice absortbs all the liquid.  Place the rice over the yogurt mixture and place the pot in a pan 1/4 filled with water.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Invert into a serving dish and garnish with the fried nuts.

Makes 70 small turnovers:

• 6 cups plain flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon yeast dissolved in a cup of lukewarm water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water

Stuffing:

• 4 lbs. fresh spinash
• 14 onions
• 1/3cup sumac
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons salt

prepare and knead thedough as you would - Meat Pie Pastry.  Let the dough stand for one hour before stuffing.  Meanwhile, finely chop the spinach leaves and wash in several waters.  Drain.  Chop the onions and add the salt.  Set aside for 5 minutes.  Squeeze excess water from spinach.  Squeeze out the onions and add to the spinach mixture and mix well.  Add salt to taste.  Divide the dough into several balls, and roll out each ball to a thickness of 2 mm onto a floured marble table.  Cut the rolled out dough into squares.  Fill each square with one tablespoon of filling and secure edges together by holding them over and pressing firmly together.  Place in well oiled baking trays and bake in a hot (350 degrees F) oven for 20 minutes.  Serve cold. 

Serves 10:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• a dash of salt

Stuffing:

• 1 lb. mutton, finely minced
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• a dash pepper, cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried mint
• 1 cup flour for rolling out the dough

Cooking the Yogurt:

• 2 lbs. yogurt
• 2 tablespoons cornflour dissolved in 1/2 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 garlic cloves

Pies:

Sift the flour with the salt.  Then mix with the milk and waterto form a dough.  Knead the dough for 10 minutes.  If the doghis too thick and dry, moisten your hands a little.  Set the dough aside for a half an hour.  Brown the pine nuts in the butter.  Remove and drain.  Saute the minced meat and chopped onions inthe remaining butter.  Season and cook for 15 minutes.  Remove the meat mixture from the het.  Add the pine nuts and chopped parsley and mix well.  Roll out the dough on a large pastry board or marble table, after sprinkling a little flour first.  Roll the dough thinly and using a bicuit cutter os coffe cup, cut into circles about 4 cms. in diameter.  Place a teaspoonof the fillingon one sideof the circle, then fold the other side of the circle over the top, proessing the ends together to form a crescent-shaped pie.  Sprinkle one cup of flour on a large tray and arrange the crescent-shaped pies on it.  Let stand for a while.  Cook the yogurt.  When it comes to the boil drop each crescent-shaped pie into the yogurt.  Cook the yogurt with the pies for 10 minutes.  Crush the garlic with the dried mint and add to the yogurt one minute before serving.  Serve hot with boiled rice.