Ground Beef and Eggs Omelet-Makhlama. مخلمة

This is a very filling omelet that you can prepare for a brunch or a light dinner. You can always prepare the meat mixture ahead of time and refrigerate. Reheat the meat and crack the eggs. You could scramble the eggs if you prefer.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canola oil

½ pound ground lean chuck or lamb

1 small onion, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon Arabian spice or black pepper

1 medium tomato, chopped

3-4 eggs

Heat oil in non-stick pan. Sauté the meat and add the onions. Season with salt and spices. Add the tomatoes and stir. When the meat mixture is cooked and tomatoes are soft, crack the eggs on the meat mixture and cover for 4 minutes until the eggs are set. Serve in a pita bread or bread on the side.

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.

Saffron Rice with Meat Dressing الرز بالزعفران

We usually decorate rice with sautéed almonds and raisins for special occasions. The meat dressing follows the recipe.

¼ cup vegetable oil
2 cups basmati long grain rice
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
a pinch of saffron threads or powder
4 cardamom pods

2 tablespoons rosewater (optional)

Pre wash the rice and strain it in a colander.
Heat oil in a pot, and sauté rice for one minute. Add salt , saffron and cardamom and pour the water. Bring it to boil. When the water is almost absorbed lower the heat, add rose water and leave it to steam for 20 minutes. Stir it and serve it on a plate. Decorate with almonds and raisins.

Meat Dressing
2 tablespoons oil

1/2 pound ground lamb or ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup blanched almonds or pine nuts

1/2 teaspoon salt
In a deep pan, sauté the meat in oil and add the onions and stir for a few minutes until the meat is cooked. Add salt and spices.
In a pan, heat one tablespoon of oil and sauté the almonds. When almonds are toasted, add the raisins and sauté for one minutes and pour the mixture in a plate until ready to spread over the rice.

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.