Roasted Leg of Lamb

This is an aromatic and delicious recipe that my family always enjoy. Sometimes I add crushes tomatoes while baking, but not in this recipe. You can always add it to the pan instead of adding 1/2 cup of water.When you purchase the boneless leg of lamb, it is wrapped in a net to keep a nice shape of the lamb.

Remove the net and rinse the lamb under cold water. Pat it dry with paper towels. Place it on a cutting board and follow the directions.

In my recipes, I mention the Arabian Spice which is a combination of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves and black pepper.

1 (3 pounds) lamb, boneless

6 cloves garlic

6 whole cardamoms

6 whole cloves

6 whole allspice

1 stick of cinnamon, cut in 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon Arabian Spice (7 spices or Syrian Spice)

2 table spoons salt

2 onions, slices

3 large potatoes, sliced

Preheat oven at 400 degrees F.

Trim off the layer of fat, but keep a little to crisp up while roasting. Make 1-inch slits in the lamb. Make

clusters of cardamom and garlic, or cinnamon and garlic and insert in these slits.

Brush the lamb in oil and season with salt and Arabian spice. Arrange the potatoes and onions on a

baking pan. Lay the lamb over the potatoes, and pour ½ cup of water. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees  F.. Remove from the oven and cover with foil and bake at 325 degrees for 90 minutes. Remove from oven and uncover. Bake in the oven for 30 more minutes to crisp up the top.

Remove from the pan and serve on a platter surrounded by the potatoes. Pour in some of the juices over the lamb.Skim off the fat before serving.

Serve with saffron rice.

Lamb Fritters- Irooq عروك

This is a very delicious snack that we serve as an appetizer, light dinner or for picnics. We call it Shitfayat in Mosul dialect, but it is known as Irooq. You will need diced lamb or ground lamb. You can use beef if you prefer.

1 small onion chopped

½ cup Italian parsley, chopped

½ cup scallions, chopped

2 eggs

¼ cup water

1 pound ground lean lamb

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon Arabian spice (bahar-black pepper,cinnamon,allspice,cloves,cardamom)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup vegetable oil for frying

In a large bowl, put all the above ingredients except the oil, and stir. It should have the consistency of thick batter. You could add more water if needed and stir.

Heat oil in nonstick pan. Take a tablespoon of the batter and drop it in oil. Spread the batter with a spoon, and leave it to cook on one side. Then turn it to the other side to cook until crispy. Remove from oil, and drain the fritters on paper towel. Continue with the rest of the batter. Do not crowd the pan. Fry three at a time. When cool, you can put them in freezer bag and freeze them, or serve them immediately with tomatoes and pickles.

Make sure to heat them in the oven before you serve them for a crispy bite, otherwise you can serve them at room temperature.

Makes 12

Stuffed Grape Leaves-Vegetarian ورق عنب ملفوف ونباتية

Every family has its own stuffed grape leaves recipe. My mother always cooked it during Lent, but you can cook it and serve it at a room temperature as an appetizer or for picnics. It could last a few days in the refrigerator. 
If you are using fresh grape leaves from your garden, make sure to rinse them and put them in a bowl of hot water to wilt for 10 minutes. Drain them in the colander, and rinse them in cold water.

If you are using the grape leaves from a jar, remove leaves from the jar and rinse them and put in colander to drain.

Ingredients

¼ cup olive oil

1 cup chopped onions

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Arabian spice (combination of allspice, cinnamon and black pepper)

1 medium tomato, chopped

½ cup chopped dill weed (optional)

½ cup frozen peas

¼ cup golden raisins

¼ cup pine nuts

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 cup white rice

Juice of 2 lemons

In a skillet, heat oil and sauté the onions and garlic. Add salt and spices. Add chopped tomatoes, dill, and peas and stir. Add rice, pine nuts, raisins and tomato sauce and stir for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. (You can prepare filling the day before).

Remove the grape leaves from the jar, rinse them and put in a colander to drain. Arrange the leaves the top side down on the cutting board and spoon a tablespoon of the filling on the stem side of the leaf. Roll the leaf over the filling. Turn the sides of the leaf towards the center, and roll the leaf to the end.

Arrange in a deep pan. Pour 1 ½ cup of water and lemon juice over the grape leaves.  Place a heat proof plate on top of the leaves to keep them submerged while cooking. Bring to a boil covered, and reduce heat to a medium. Cook for 25-30 minutes until the rice grains are cooked.

Iraqi Tea-Chai الشاي العراقي

The most popular brands of tea used in Iraq are Assam black tea, Ceylon Black tea, and other brands. They are dark and strong when brewed. Sometimes we add a stick of cinnamon to the teapot or a few pods of whole cardamom to falvor the tea.

There is other variety of teas that we serve in Iraq, and they are dried lime tea, and chamomile tea. Hibiscus tea is more popular in the South. These teas are used for medicinal purposes.

We usually consume tea throughout the day, and you can find tea stalls and vendors everywhere. We drink tea with milk in the morning for breakfast. Other times of the day, we drink it black.

You need a teapot, and a kettle with boiling water

Preparation:

2 teaspoons loose black tea or (Lipton loose tea)

2 cups boiling water

Granulated sugar, or sugar cubes

Put tea in the teapot and pour the hot water. Place the cover on top of the teapot. Cover the teapot with a towel to keep the teapot warm and steep for 10 minutes. We traditionally put the teapot on top of the kettle to steep.

To serve it, we put 1 teaspoon or more of sugar in the istikan, or tea cup. Pour tea to half full, and add boiling water to top of the cup. Stir the tea cup and drink. Be careful, the istikan can be very hot. We do not strain the tea as we pour it. Tea leaves settle to the bottom of the istikan.

Sometimes we serve sugar cubes on the side.

Note: we add boiling water to the tea when we pour tea in a cup to dilute it. Tea can be very strong, and gets bitter as it sits longer on top of the kettle.

Spinach with Black Eyed Peas

For this recipe, you could use frozen spinach. You can use lemon juice or dried lime which you can find at Persian and Middle Eastern grocery stores.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 (6-ounce) bag fresh spinach

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 (15.5-ounce) can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed

Juice of ½ lemon or 1 teaspoon crushed dried lime

In a deep pan, sauté the onions and garlic in oil. Add salt and pepper and stir. Add the spinach, lemon juice and back eyed peas and stir. Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and serve it with plain white rice or a side dish.

You can cook this dish with stewing lamb or beef. When the meat is cooked on top of the stove, follow the above recipe and add 1 cup of water and 2 tablespoons tomato paste. Serve it with rice.

Swiss chard Soup. شوربة السلق

For this recipe, you could add chopped carrots or chopped zucchini.

1 medium onion, chopped

4 large cloves of garlic, crushed

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup cooked white rice

1 teaspoon salt

1 bunch of Swiss chard, washed and chopped

3 cups of water or broth

 Juice of one lemon

1 teaspoon dried mint

Heat oil in a deep pan, and sauté the onions and garlic for three minutes. Season with salt. Add the swiss chard, rice, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add lemon juice and mint. Simmer for ten more minutes.

Serve it with toasted bread.

Kabab Erbil-Kabob. كباب أربيل

1 pound ground chuck
1 pound ground lamb
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons flour

Mix all the above in a bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Take a handful of meat and insert the skewer in the meat. Shape the meat around the skewers. Wet your hands with cold water while working with the meat.
Grill on the charcoal grill for five minutes on each side. When done, remove them from the grill and sprinkle summac over the kabab. Serve with tannour bread or nan bread.
You can grill tomatoes, onions and other vegetables too.
Serve kabab with pickles, fresh basil, fresh parsley and sliced tomatoes.
If you are not using a charcoal grill, place the kabobs on a tray and put in the oven under the broiler for 5 minutes on each side.

Lamb Shank with White Beans Stew-Fasulia Beitha

4 lamb shanks

1 large onion chopped

1 pound white dry beans

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper or Arabic spice(Baharat)

2 dried limes (noomi Basra) optional

8 cups water



Soak the white beans in water overnight. Drain the beans. In a pot, saute the lamb shanks in oil. Add onions,water and beans and bring to a boil for 20 minutes. Lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes. When shanks are tender, add tomato paste, noomi basra, salt and spices. Cook for 30 more minutes. You could add more tomato paste if needed.
Serve with white plain rice.

You can buy dried limes from Middle Eastern markets. Wash them before using them. Crush them and remove the seeds. Drop them in the soup and leave them to boil for 15 minutes. They will add a sour flavor to the sauce.

Potato Kibbi-Potato Chap بطاقة جاب

You can make these kibbis and freeze them before frying or deep fry them and freeze them. Then you can reheat them in the oven before serving.

4 large Yukon Gold potatoes boiled
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
Filling:
½ pound lean ground chuck
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Arabic spice or
a combination of(allspice, black pepper, cinnamon and cloves)
1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Place the potatoes in the food processor and pulse until well mashed. Place it in a bowl and add the cornstarch, breadcrumbs and salt, and set aside.

Prepare the filling. Sauté the meat in oil and add the onions and spices. When cooked, add salt and chopped parsley, and set aside to cool.

Form the potato patties
Take a small piece of potato the size of an egg. Form a cup in your hand and stuff the middled with the meat mixture. Close the pattie and flatten it. Make sure to wet your hands in vegetable oil while forming the patties. Place the patties on a tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes or freeze.

Heat oil in the pan and drop in the potato patties. Add more oil as needed. When golden brown, turn to the other side. Drain on paper towel. Serve hot as an appetizer.

Baked Fish-Samak Maskouf السمك المسكوف العراقي

We usually buy fresh fish and have the fish opend along the spine to lay flat in the tray. Do not remove the skin. You can cut off the head.
Wash the fish and salt the inside of the fish. Put it in the colander to drain for 30 minutes.

5 pounds whole fish (trout or blue fish)
1 large onion, sliced
2 large tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup chopped parsley
5 cloves crushed garlic
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil for the pan
1/4 cup oil for the paste

Combine the tomato paste with the lemon juice, garlic, 1/4 cup oil, salt and spices to make a paste. Oil the baking pan and place the fish flat on the tray. Cover the cavity of the fish with the paste. Top it with the sliced tomatoes, onions and chopped parsley.
Place in the pan in a 400 degrees oven for 30-40 minutes.
Serve with plain white rice or saffron rice. Serve with pickels and Arabic salad.

Okra with Lamb Stew- Bamya

This is a very popular dish in Iraq. When you serve it in soup bowl with bread, it is called Shourbat Bamya, which is okra soup.

1 pound fresh or frozen okra
1 pound stewing lamb or beef
2 teaspoons oil
1 (16-ounce) can tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic, sliced
½ cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups of water

Rinse the meat and drain in a colander. Heat oil in a pan and saute meat for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, water and tomato sauce, and simmer on low heat for 40 minutes, until the meat is tender. Add the okra and salt. Cook in the sauce for 20 minutes. Add the lemon juice and simmer for 10 more minutes.
Serve it with white plain rice.

When using fresh okra, make sure to cut off the stem side of the okra.

Bulgur Wheat Pilaf البلغر المصلاوي

We usually add bulgur to cooked chicken or lamb and they both finish cooking together. With this method, the outcome of this pilaf is sticky. I found a better way to cook bulgur and that is to drop it in boiling water for a few minutes and strain it to discard the starches, then add to the sauce or vegetables you have prepared to finish cooking together. The outcome is fluffy.

1/2 cup onions, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 cups water
1 1/2 cup coarse bulgur
1 teaspoon Arabic Spice( mixture of 7 spices)

Saute onion in olive oil and add salt, spices and tomato sauce. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes.
In another saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil and drop the bulgur and stir. Cook for 10 minutes. Pour in the bulgur in a colander to drain. Add bulgur to the onions mixture. Add 1/2 cup of water and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff. Serve with yogurt cucumber salad or pickles.
You can use 1/2 cup chicken stock instead of water.