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.

Kibbi Yakhni-Rice Kibbi,Kubba كبة بالرز كبة تمن

We usually make these dumplings for Easter Lunch.
Soup
3 pounds lamb shanks, or stewing lamb with bones
1 large onion, chopped
6 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 (16 -can) chickpeas
Place the lamb, water and onions in the pot. Bring to boil and leave it to simmer for 90 minutes until lamb is tender. Skim off the fat that develops on top. Add more water if needed.
When the meat is very tender, add the salt and chickpeas. Simmer and then drop the rice kibbi in the soup. Leave it to boil until kibbi rises to top for about 15 minutes. Adjust the salt and add more water to the soup before dropping the kibbi, if needed.
To Form the Kibbi:
Stuffing
1 pound ground lamb
1 onion medium, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Arabian Spice or Bahar(combination of cinnamon,allspice, blackpeppr)
Mix all the above and taste if it needs more salt. Set aside.

Rice Kibbi
1 pound cream of rice ( You find it by the cereal section in the grocery stores)
1/2 pound ground chuck or lamb
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup water or more as needed to make a soft dough
Mix all the above the ingredients in a bowl. Put half of the mixture in the food processor. Pulse it, and add few tablespoons of water if needed to make moist dough. Pulse the other half, and mix together.
Take a small piece of this dough the size of a walnut. Shape it like a cup and place the stuffing inside and close it. Make a pattie or a football design of kibbi. Make sure to wet your hands while shaping it. Makes 24 kibbis.

Fava Beans with Rice-Timman Bagila باقلة بالتمن

You can find bagila in the frozen section in the Asian supermarkets or Middle Eastern stores.

You can use fresh fava beans, but you will have to peel every pod and bean.

¼ cup oil

1 onion, chopped

1 pound peeled fresh or frozen fava beans
1 cup fresh dill, chopped (shbint)
1 ½ cup basmati rice
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup water
2 cups cooked and shredded chicken or stewed lamb
Sauté onions in oil and add fava beans and dill. Add salt and pepper and ½ cup of water. Stir in the cooked meat or chicken. Leave it to simmer for 5 minutes. In a separate pot of boiling water, pour in the rice and bring to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, and boil for 10 minutes. Remove rice from the stove and pour in a colander to drain. Add rice to the fava beans mixture. Stir it well and leave it to simmer on low heat until the rice grains are cooked.
Serve with yogurt and cucumber salad.

Lentil Soup-Shorbat Adas. شوربة عدس

This is a vegetarian soup. My mother used to cook lentil with chicken or lamb, but his recipe is fast, easy and delicious!

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup red lentils

1/4 cup rice

6 cups boiling water

Place the lentils and rice in a bowl and rinse in warm water. In a nonstick pot, sauté the onions in oil and add the spices. Pour the hot water over the onions and simmer for 5 minutes.

Strain the lentils and rice and add to the onion mixture. Bring to boil and simmer for 25 minutes. Skim off the scum that develops on top. Stir the lentil to make sure it does not stick to the bottom of the pot. Add the salt and more spices if you like. You could fry some onions and add them to the soup before serving. Serve this soup as a side dish with kabob or with toasted bread.

Zibibiya-New Year Soup

We usually make this soup for the New Year, and drop rice (kibbi-kubba) to cook in the soup.

1 pound stewing lamb with bones

10 cups water

1 tablespoon salt

1 cup dibis(date syrup)

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup walnuts

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 cup pited dates

1 cup dried figs

1 cup dried apricots(optional)

2 tablespoon syrup

whole spices: 6 cardamoms,6 cloves,1 cinnamon stick, 6 allspice

1 tbs dried mint

1 tbs dried parsley

Place the stewing lamb and water in a big pot. When it comes to boil, simmer for 40 minutes until the lamb is tender. Add the dried fruit, syrup, salt and nuts. Reduce heat and simmer the lamb sauce for 30 minutes.

Drop the rice kibbi and boil for 20 minutes, until they rise to the top of the soup; add mint and parsley.

Happy New Year

Lamb Chickpea Soup-Shorba

1 pound lamb shank or stewing lamb

2 medium size onions, sliced

2 (15/1-ounce) cans chickpeas

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Arabic spice (mixture of clove, cinnamon, allspice and black pepper)

6 cups water

Wash the lamb and saute it in the pot for 5 minutes. Add onions, water, salt and spices. Bring the pot to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until lamb is tender and falls off the bone.

Drain the chickpeas and add to the soup. simmer for 20 minutes; add more salt if needed.

If you are using dry chickpeas, soak them overnight in water. Drain the water and add to the meat and onions to cook together for an hour.

You can substitute the meat with chicken and you could add dried limes (noomi basra) to the soup to give it a sour flavor.
Serve it in soup bowls with toasted bread. You could place bread in a boul and ladel the soup ove the bread. Then we call it Thireed.

Makes 4 servings.

Coconut Macaroons-Joz il-Hind معجنات جوز الهند

For this recipe, you could add 2 tablespoons of rosewater if you prefer.

3 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconuts
4 large eggs (egg whites)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons cornstarch or flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Put the coconut in a bowl and add flour, baking powder and cardamom. Whisk the egg white and add sugar and beat for 2 minutes. Pour over the coconut and mix by hand and shape into a walnut size balls.
Line a pan with parchment paper. Arrange the macaroons on the paper. Bake for 20 minutes
Remove the pan from the oven and leave the macaroons to cool for 10 minutes.

Make 3 dozens