Lebanese Lamb And Rice Food

LEBANESE LAMB AND RICE

Steps:

• Brown lamb in a bit of butter and set aside.
• Saute' onion in rest of butter, until tender.
• Add the rice, then saute' until rice is barely golden brown.
• Add the water, pinenuts, cinnamon, allspice, cooked lamb and salt.
• Bring to boil, cover and reduce heat to low, cook 30 minutes or until rice is done.
• NOTE: This can be used with lamb that is cut up in bite size pieces also.
• If there is a bone in the lamb, you can add more flavor to the dish by browning the bone and letting it cook with the rice, then remove the bone when serving the dish (but of course you know that).

LEBANESE LENTILS, RICE AND CARAMELIZED ONIONS (MUJADARA)

Steps:

• Throw the lentils into a medium saucepan. Fill with enough cold water to cover the lentils by about an inch. Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn down to a simmer and cook until the lentils are tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, as the lentils cook, grab a large skillet. Pop it over medium-high heat and add the oil. Allow the oil to warm for a minute, then drop in the cumin seeds and cracked peppercorns and cook, shaking the pan once in a while until the cumin seeds darken a touch, about 1 minute.
• Add the onions, sprinkle with a dash of salt and cook until they turn dark caramel brown, stirring often. This will take about 15 minutes. Splash the onions with a little water if they stick to the bottom of the pan. You'll know they're done both by their deep chestnut color and by the slight crispiness developing on some of the onions.
• Using a slotted spoon or spatula, remove about half of the onions to a paper towel-lined plate; these are for garnish later. Sprinkle in the ground cumin, cayenne and then add the cinnamon stick; saute about 1 minute.
• Add the rice and cook, stirring often (but gently so you don't break the rice!) until some rice grains start to brown. Quickly, add the cooked lentils, 3 cups of water and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt; bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low so that the pan is at a simmer, cover and cook 30 minutes. The water should be completely evaporated and rice should be tender. (If there's still too much water in the bottom, put the lid back on and cook for another 5 minutes.)
• Turn off the heat, keep the lid on, and allow the rice to steam undisturbed for about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts, if using, in a small skillet over medium-low heat, shaking often, about 5 minutes.
• Taste the rice for seasoning. Serve with the reserved caramelized onions, toasted pine nuts, if using, and a little squeeze of lemon juice. I also like to serve this with some dollops of Greek yogurt.

SYRIAN LAMB WITH GREEN BEANS AND RICE

Steps:

• Saute the chops in butter so they are brown on both sides. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, red pepper and seasoning and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the green beans and tomatoes. Cover and cook for 1 hour on a medium fire checking occasionally to be sure the lamb mixture is not boiling too rapidly. The beans will be cooked more than we are used to but they will be bathed in the lamb tomato mixture which is divine.
• For the rice pilaf: In the melted butter saute the vermicelli, bay leaf, and red pepper until the noodles are golden. Watch carefully and add the garlic so it sautes too. Noodles should be golden. Be careful not to brown. Add the rice and cook for a minute. When ready to serve add the chicken stock and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 25 minutes.

LEBANESE SPICED LAMB CHOPS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 550 degrees F.
• Place lamb chops in a 9 by 12-inch glass baking dish. Combine 1 tablespoon of salt, garlic and lemon juice. Pour over lamb chops. Combine 1 tablespoon of salt, pepper, paprika and "7 spices" to form a rub. Rub both sides of the lamb chops with this mixture.
• Place chops back into the baking dish and add 1 1/2 cups of water gently on the side of the dish so as to keep the spices on the lamb chops.
• Cover the dish with foil and seal well. This will ensure the chops stay juicy. Place in the oven at 550 degrees for 30 minutes. Then lower temperature to 400 degrees and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
• The recipes for this program, which were provided by contributors and guests who may not be professional chefs, have not been tested in the Food Network?s kitchens. Therefore, the Food Network cannot attest to the accuracy of any of the recipes.

LEBANESE STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the ground beef, rice, garlic powder, allspice, salt, pepper, and cinnamon, and set aside.
• Rinse grape leaves several times. If the leaves are small, leave them intact, but cut out the large center vein. If the leaves are large, cut them in half vertically, cutting out the large vein in the process. Place a small amount of the ground meat mixture at the end of each leaf. Roll up egg-roll style.
• Pour the oil into the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Lay the chops over the oil. Lay the tomato slices over the chops.
• Place the stuffed grape leaves seam-side down on top of the chops. Pack the leaves tightly and begin a second layer when necessary. Place whole garlic cloves randomly between the rolled leaves; plenty of garlic on each layer.
• When you are done stacking, pour the lemon juice over the leaves, and add water to the pot to about 2-inches above the rolled leaves. To prevent the leaves from unrolling during cooking, place a plate on top of the stack of leaves and place a heavy object on top of the plate.
• Simmer the leaves over low heat for about 2 hours.
• Invert the entire Dutch oven into a large platter with high sides (i.e. a 12-inch round cake pan). Or, remove the leaves from the pot with tongs. Serve rustic style, with plenty of Arabic bread on which to spread the garlic!

LEBANESE CHICKEN WITH RICE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil over high heat in a pan.
• Sauté the chicken on both sides until golden brown.
• Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
• Add the onion and ground beef to the same hot pan.
• Cook until the onions and meat is beginning to brown, then add the garlic and cook another minute or two.
• Add the cinnamon, allspice, cayenne pepper (or chilli flakes) and salt; sauté two minutes while stirring.
• Stir in the rice making sure that it is fully covered with the oil and spices, place the chicken in the rice.
• Add the pine nuts.
• Pour in the stock or water and cover. Cook slowly for about half an hour. Stir occasionally and as you do so allow the chicken to break up. You may need to add extra hot water if the rice gets a little dry.
• Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle with minced parsley.

LEBANESE LAMB MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Place the onion, parsley and mint in a food processor. Blend for 30 seconds until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients.
• Blend until thoroughly mixed together. Divide this mixture into 24 portions. Using wet hands gently shape into rissoles.
• Preheat the grill. Place the rissoles on a preheated, lightly oiled baking sheet. Grill for 5-6 minutes or until browned on all sides and cooked through.
• Serve hot or cold.

LEBANESE LAMB MEATBALL AND RICE SOUP

Steps:

• Make balls the size of a hazelnut from the kafta.
• Heat the clarified butter in a saucepan and add the meatballs; brown.
• Add the tomato puree and bring to a boil. Add the rice, chicken stock granules and the water, stir lightly to combine and simmer over low heat.
• Cook until rice is tender and add salt to taste.

LUBEE (LEBANESE GREEN BEANS AND LAMB)

Steps:

• Heat butter and olive oil in frying pan over medium-high heat. Add lamb and onions and cook until lamb begins to brown and onion begins to turn translucent.
• Stir in garlic, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low.
• Stir in green beans. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and water. Cover pan and cook over low heat about 1 hour, or until lamb is tender.
• Serve over cooked rice.