Bulgur Pilaf with Ground Beef

Tags

burgol, cracked wheat, ground beef, middle eastern, pilaf, برغل مفلفل

For a hearty main meal, accompany your meat or chicken dish, with a side of bulgur pilaf.

Ramadan is here. For me, it’s the most beloved month of the year, a very special month. We as Muslims, celebrate it in every way possible. Thus, there is a lot of things that makes it special. Ramadan is great because you will experience the hospitable and spiritual acts of our culture, a blissful month, the family gathering. A lot of memories about Ramadan are engraved in our hearts, and will be from year to year. I would like to share with you why is it special for me, one for every post through the end of the month, beginning with childhood memories.

I now believe that the more technological the world becomes, the greater the nostalgia for the days when life was simple. When those past never return days became the sweetest things in your life, where I have fond memories for charming Ramadan nights. Every night we agreed to meet after Iftar (the meal eaten by muslims after sunset), me and my best girlfriends. Celebrating Ramadan nights on our way, making fireworks from some kind of kitchen scrupping sponge and Not like todays fireworks.
How many times we burned our hair, our clothes…
Yes, but it has special kind of happiness, not even my kids nowadays will feel it, may be because it related with the past simple life we had.

If you’re looking for something lighter, healthier than rice, this will be perfect. This pilaf makes a delightfully different accompaniment to my roasted chicken. Nutty and little spicy but not hot. The ground meat adds more value to the pilaf, make it perfect for family gatherings, but you can make it with the meat too. I used the extra coarse grains, first pick it from any possible stones or dirts, then wash and soak for about 5-10 minutes. Sauté the grains first in olive oil for couple of minutes to add a toasty nutty flavors, then add the water. Continue with cooking like you cook rice.

What is Bulgur?
Bulgur is a kind of cracked wheat that is first boiled and then dried and roughly ground to produce the semi processed wheat known as bulgur.
It comes in different colors and grades. Fine, medium, course, and extra coarse. It can be bleached or unbleached.
Bulgur can be steamed or boiled, moistened with butter or oil. It’s texture is a little like brown rice, and it has a nutty, earthy favor.

How to use Bulgur?
The bulgur carries a lot of traditional Arabic flavors and makes an exciting change from your average rice dish. It can be almost as versatile as rice. Its high nutritional value makes it a good substitute for rice or couscous, too. It features in everything from pilafs to stuffings. The coarsest grade is usually cooked like rice and used to make pilafs and stuffings. The finest grade is used in salads such as Tabbouleh, as well as being a key ingredient in the Lebanese national dish, Kibbeh.

Where to find bulgur in U.S.?
It can be found in natural food stores, Middle Eastern specialty grocers, and some traditional grocery stores. In large stores, like Wal-Mart, it can be found in specialty grain sections.

Bulgur Pilaf

Ingredients

•  1 cup course bulgur soaked in water for 5 minutes
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup ground be
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup pine nut, toasted
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon sumac
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

Rinse the Bulgur well in cold water and then put it in a heavy pot with 1 1/2 times it’s volume of fresh water and 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to boil and then simmer, covered, on low heat for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a skillet, add 2 tablespoon oil then the ground meat and onion, sauté on medium heat, cook for 10 minutes, add salt and pepper and the rest of spices, toasted pine nuts and chopped parsley.
Add the meat mixer to the cooked wheat pilaf, stir gently to mix together, serve warm.
Serve with cardamom and oregano roasted chicken

البرغل المفلفل بخلطة اللحمه المفرومه
١ كوب من البرغل الخشن منقوع بالماء لمدة ٥ دقائق
٣ ملاعق كبيره زيت زيتون
١ كوب لحمه مفرومه
١/٢ كوب بصل مفروم
ملح وفلفل
١/٢ ملعقه صغيره بهار حلو
١/٤ ملعقه صغيره هيل مطحون
١/٤ ملعقه صغيره سماق
١/٣ كوب صنوبر محمص
٢ ملعقه كبيره بقدونس مفروم ناعم

نغسل البرغل جيدا وننقيه من الحصى والاتربه. في طنجره نضيف البرغل و مقدار مره ونص من الماء ونتركه يغلي، اي الكوب يحتاج ١ ١/٢ كوب ماء، نضيف ملعقه من الزيت والملح والفلفل . على نار هادئه ، نغطي الطنجره ونتركه ينضج، يحتاج ١٠ دقائق تقريبا
في مقلاه نضيف باقي الزيت واللحمه والبصل ونقلب ونتركه ينضج على نار متوسطه مع التقليب بين الحين والاخر، تحتاج لعشر دقائق لتنضج تماما، نضيف البهارات الباقيه
نضيف على خليط اللحمه الصنوبر والبقدونس المفروم، نخلط المقادير مع بعضها
ونضيفها الى البرغل المفلفل ونخلطها
تقدم وهي ساخنه

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Tagine of Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Tags

Comfort food, dawood basha, dinner meals, ground beef, Healthy meals, kids friendly, lunch meal, meatball stew, meatballs, middle eastern, Soups and Stews, tomato sauce, Turkish, vegetable meatbals

Adding vegetables to your meatballs to enhance the flavor and add a nutritional boost to your hearty comfort meal.

Getting your kids to eat their vegetable is a challengeable mission lots of moms have.
How many time I forced them to eat veggies?
How many hours spent lecturing on how veggies are good for their health and bodies?
I asked myself if there is a way to end this dilemma?
So why not to make tricks and think out of the box?

Sneaking some vegetable into their favourite food is a good way to start with.
Why not to add some cauliflower, or spinach to the meatballs! Some carrots is  good too!

Tagine of Meatballs in Tomato Sauce – a well known dish called Dawood Basha, it has been told that it’s originally from turkey and where it took it’s name – is one of the classic comfort foods that enjoyed all over the levant countries. The basic recipe is only meatballs with pine nuts fried then simmered in the oven with tomato sauce.

Nothing Better Than a comfort hearty meal to enjoy in weekdays also to gather the whole family at weekends, baking the meatballs instead of frying make it light and fresh, adding the vegetable to the meatballs was a great idea to boost up more nutrient to the meal. Any vegetable available is very welcome, I tried to add spinach, cauliflower, and carrots. Make sure to shred or chop them very fine so they can mix in easily with the ground meat.  The vegetable wasn’t noticeable though, it’s all blended in with the herbs and spices that added to make it more flavorful, tender, and juicy. For a bonus, I like to add potato to the stew, since the original recipe can be served along with mashed potato instead of the rice.

Serve with rice pilaf.

 

Tagine of Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

To make the meatballs:

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1/4 cup chopped cauliflower
1/4 cup minced parsley
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon of each: dried coriander, cinnamon, all spice
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the tomato sauce:

4-5 ripened tomato
1/2 cup chopped onion
2-3 garlic Cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 tablespoon tomato paste

To make the stew:

2-3 potato cut into medium cubes
Cooked rice pilaf to serve

Preheat the oven to 400 f.
In a bowl, mix the ground beef lump with the vegetable add the onion, parsley, spices and oil, and work with your hands, don’t over mix. Roll into a small ball the size of walnuts.
Arrange the meatball in an oven tray, bake for 15-20 min until little browned.

Meanwhile, cut the tomato, add onion, garlic and liquidate them in the blender. Add spiced, herbs, and tomato paste, blend in. Put the sauce in a pot on low heat to simmer and thicken.

Fry or bake the potato with a little oil, add to the simmering tomato sauce along with baked meatballs and don’t forgot to add the meat juices, it adds more flavor to the stew.

Adjust the seasoning and continue simmering for 15-20 more minutes.
Serve along with rice pilaf. You may add some toasted pine nut on top.

Baked Kofta with Tomato

Tags

baked kofta in tray, Beef mince, ground meat, Kofta, tomato, Tomato paste

kofta is the middle eastern version of meatloaf, fast and healthy super dish.

A Well known dish that is versatile in the way of preparing it, and every country has it’s version, but the basic recipe is simply ground beef mixed of minced onion, parsley, and ground spice mix.

Kofta can be fried, baked, or grilled. Shaped into burgers, pressed into skewers for grilling, rolled into balls to use in soup, thin fingers, or layered and baked usually with other element like tomato or tahini or vegetables.

One of my memories came when I used to go with my father to the market and stop by the butcher to order the meat, he was so punctilious to follow butcher’s work on preparing our kofta the way my mom recommened. Beginning from choosing the right meat then grinding the meat a couple of times along with the onion and parsley. That will ensures the flavors and textures will blend together. Then take the kofta and head to the local oven, not like the electrical ovens nowadays, it was stone oven heated by burning wood. There, he spreads the kofta in the tray that first seasoned with a mix of spices and bake it on hot ground of the oven, then sprinkle it with generous amount of chopped tomato. That kofta’ taste will never leave my tongue. The juicy, and smoky flavored meat.

Baked Kofta in tray with tomato is one way to introduce kofta, it’s called “kofta bil seniyah”. Where the kofta spread evenly into a tray of any shaped, sometimes I like to make an indentation in the kofta with the tips of my fingers as a decoration, the way my grandmother used to make. Sometime I like to grind potato with the meat, this will give it more flavor and became more tender and juicy. Another important step when preparing the kofta is not to over mix it, this will keep it more tender after baking.

Serve the kofta with mixed vegetable salad and flat bread for a satisfying weeknight dinner.

Baked Kofta with Tomato 

1 lb ground meat (1/2 kg)
1 onion finely minced
1/2 cup fresh finely chopped parsley
salt and pepper
1\4 teaspoon of each ground cardamom, dried coriander, and cinnamon.
1\2 teaspoon ground all spice
2 tablespoon olive oil
4 medium tomatoes chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Mix the onion, ground meat, parsley, salt, pepper, oil, and spices in your hands to make the kofta, don’t over mix.

Spread the mixture evenly in an oiled baking tray (use any that is available for you, I used the pyrex ). Gently patting the surface until the bottom of the tray is fully covered and smooth.
With your finger tips, make an indentation to look as a decoration to the surface, also this will help it cook better.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake the kofta at 400 degrees farenheit, until the meat is 3/4 cooked for 1\2 an hour.
Spread the chopped tomatoes on top on the baked Kofta, sprinkle salt, pepper and cinnamon to taste.

Mix the tomato paste with 1/2 cup water and add it to the tray. Bake uncovered in a 375 degrees F oven for another 20-30 minutes, until tomatoes are well cooked.
Enjoy!

Cauliflower and Beef stew with Yogurt Sauce

Tags

beef stew, cauliflower, chuck roast recipes, cooked yogurt sauce, laban, laban recipes, main dish, Middle East, middle eastern recipes, stew, yogurt recipes

Delicious family style recipe for meat smothered in yogurt sauce, flavoured with garlic, cardamom and spices, and perfect middle eastern dish to enjoy cauliflower stew.
My children simply adore any dish that is done using cooked yogurt. I wanted to share with you this easy way to add variety to your daily dishes.

In middle eastern countries, Stews are basic fare for every day family cooking and are always served with vermicelli rice or plain rice. They are popular because they provide a wide range of nutrients from the meat, the vegetables and the rice. They also have the advantage of being economical as a relatively small amount of meat can go a long way into feeding a large family.

Yogurt is essential to middle eastern cooking. For eating and making Labne (the yogurt cheese) low-fat greek yogurt is just perfect for your health matters. For cooking it’s preferable to use the full-fat yogurt.Just make sure it has no gelatin in it, since it’s no need Goat yogurt is the most  kind  used for making the yogurt sauce in the middle east.

Actually, the Levant Cuisine depends on two ways to prepare and use of yogurt sauce; the cold yogurt sauce that is served over salads, or cold appetizers or as a dip to many mediterranean finger food. While the hot or the cooked yogurt sauce is the base for many recipes. That requires cooked yogurt can be used with vegetable stews. Usually many choices of vegetable will be perfect to company with the yogurt sauce. This sauce is good also over stuffed vegetables (what is known as Mahashi in the middle east). While many meat dishes directly depends on the yogurt sauce, where is the stuffed kibbeh balls or dumplings stew with yogurt sauce is one dish that resembles how delicious is the cooked sauce.

Middle eastern dishes often go by the same name as many arab dishes, but the preparation of them can be quite different, as similar dish can be prepared in different ways through out the middle east.
Some of the dishes that depend on the yogurt sauce is :The Jordanian Mansaf (it’s considered the national dish in Jordan), Laban Immo (the well-known dish in Lebanon), while the same dish called Shakrieh (the Syrian famous cooked yogurt and meat dish), in Palestine it’s named as Laban Tabeekh.

Making the cooked yogurt sauce is very easy and tricky at the same time. While you need to get the creamy texture and thickly yogurt sauce, it’s a very important step to stabilize the yogurt for cooking, you will need to add cornstarch and/or egg whites to the yogurt before cooking. continuous stirring of the sauce while it’s simmering is a very essential step too in making the sauce, this will end up in very successful, thick and creamy yogurt sauce.
The old traditional way to prepare the yogurt sauce is with the dried yogurt, either what is called Jameed (the dried yogurt balls) or the Keshek (the powdered dried yogurt), this was the old way to store the yogurt for a long time, and still used especially for the Jordanian Mansaf recipe. Since that will take a very long process in preparing the yogurt, dry it, then used it as base for the sauce. Nowadays, where the fresh yogurt is available all the time, cow’s yogurt is perfect to make the cooked yogurt sauce.
The lamb meat is usually the kind of meat that is popular in the middle east in almost all dishes recalling the use of red meat, and where the cooked yogurt famous with.  But you can use the beef or even the chicken. I used the beef chuck roast in making this dish.

The aromatic spices also play a very big rule in the middle eastern cuisine, the flavour of cardamom and gloves lend an exotic flair to this enticing beef and cauliflower stew. To add what is essential in cooking, the flavour of sauted garlic paste with coriander gives the best flavor we all adored.

Finally,  the yogurt sauce is considered one of many sauces that is stable mark for many of stew dishes in the middle east, other sauces used like the tomato sauce, and the tahini sauce, are very popular in many dishes too.

For me, the stewed cauliflower and beef with yogurt sauce is one of my favorite ways to enjoy cauliflower and the cooked yogurt, as well. Some people like the tahini sauce instead of the yogurt, especially for the cauliflower stew, but the yogurt sauce is also perfect.

For the meat:  

2 teaspoon olive oil, divided
2 pound boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 cup chopped onion
1\2 teaspoon of each ground: cardamom, cumin, coriander, black pepper, all spices
3-4 bay leaves
1 stick cinnamon

whole cauliflower head, cut into large floret
vegetable oil for deep-frying the cauliflower

basic yogurt sauce:

1 container 32 oz (2 lb) yogurt, all fat, sour is the perfect.
1 tablespoon corn starch
1\2 teaspoon cardamom
2 tablespoon minced garlic
coriander leaves, minced or ground dried coriander seeds
salt and pepper

To prepare the meat:

Season the meat pieces with ground spices like:black pepper, cardamom, coriander, cumin, don’t add salt at this time, it will toughen the meat, the salt will be added after cooking the meat.
In a pressure cooker, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat, saute the beef pieces, this process is important; it’s not only give the meat extra flavor but also help trap all the juices inside the meat and this will end with very tender meat after cooking. Add the onion and saute for 2-3 min. Add cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and cover the meat entirely with water. Close pressure cooker cover securely.
Cook for 20-30 minutes at highest pressure at the beginning, then lower the heat to medium.
Strain meat broth and keep aside for future use (It is a good idea to use meat broth instead of water when cooking rice). Throw cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and reserve meat cubes.

For the cauliflower:
heat the oil in the deep fryer, wok, or large sauce pan, drop in the cauliflower floret, a few floret at a time and deep-fry to golden brown, turning the floret in the oil so they cook evenly, all will take 5 min. Remove with the skimmer or slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper towels. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and  cumin.

For the yogurt sauce:
In another cooking pot, add the yogurt, dissolve the corn starch with 1\4 cup cold water the add it with the yogurt in the pot. Whisk into a thin yogurt, beat until smooth, in most of the time I use the immersion blender, it makes the process more easier. Place pot on medium heat, stir continuously with big spoon in one direction, bring to boil (you will see the bubble on the top while string), lower the heat and continue stirring until the yogurt is thick and creamy. It is important to stir continuously for the yogurt not to stick to the pan, and to help thicken and prevent it from getting grainy taste.

To finish the recipe:
Fold in the meat pieces, the cauliflower and some of the meat juices or stock, one cup at a time, stir to  adjust the thickness of the yogurt, add some more once it need it.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil or ghee in a small skillet add the minced garlic and coriander, sauté for 1 min on low heat.
Stir the garlic coriander mixer into the simmering yogurt, adjust the taste add salt and some more cardamom if you like it. Allow to simmer for five minutes before removing from heat.
Serve hot with rice pilaf, of vermicelli rice.

Cardamom Flavoured White Rice

2 cups of long grain rice
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 1\2 cups cold water or the meat broth
1\4 teaspoon cardamom

Rinse with cold water until water is clear. Drain. heat the oil in 1 1\2 quart sauce pan, add the rice, saute for 2-3 min while stirring.  Add hot water or the broth. Bring to a boil. Lower heat until pan can be covered without boiling over. Simmer covered 15 to 20 minutes, until water is all absorbed. Fluff rice with fork. Cover and allow to stand in a warm spot until serving.