Middle Eastern Kibbeh

Kibbeh is a Middle Eastern dish comprised of a fragrant minced lamb and pine-nut filling encased in a crunchy dough made from Burgul wheat and lamb processed together into a dough.  These deep fried balls of deliciousness are a perfect quick lunch or dinner and when served with a fresh salad are an impressive meal indeed… A dollop of sour cream on the side – what a treat…

We have an Arancini Mould so our version was a bit bigger but took almost no time to prepare.  using the mould we got 16 balls out of 1 kilogram of minced lamb. If shaping by hand you will probably get around 25 as they will be smaller…

Fry the lamb mince with pine nuts, onions and spices

All shaped and ready to go

Lovely golden crispy Kibbeh

Ingredients:

1 kg finely lean minced lamb

500g fine bulgur cracked wheat

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon cumin

2 medium onions, 1 finely chopped, and 1 coarsely chopped, divided

½ cups toasted pine nuts (optional)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Vegetable oil for frying

Sour cream on the side

Method:

In a medium bowl, soak wheat for 30 minutes in cold water. Remove and drain. Remove excess water by squeezing tightly through a clean tea-towel

Place into medium bowl and combine with 500 grams meat, coarsely chopped onion, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper

Combine well and place small amounts at a time in food processor until dough-like consistency

Add in a little water if mixture is too dry

In the meantime prepare Kibbeh Stuffing

In a medium frying pan, sauté the finely chopped onion in olive oil

Add pine nuts if desired

Add minced lamb and break up well with a wooden spoon or spatula to ensure the meat is crumbled

Add allspice, salt, pepper, and cumin

Once lamb is light brown, remove from heat. Allow to cool for 10 minutes

Take an egg sized amount of shell mixture and form into a ball

With your finger, poke a hole in the ball, making a space for filling

Add filling and pinch the top to seal the ball

Shape it into a point, or football shape, or leave as a ball

Fry in 350 degree oil on stove top or in deep fryer for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Drain on paper towels and serve with a dollop of sour cream and your favourite salad

Kibbeh can be stored in the freezer for about 3 months.  Don’t fry them prior to freezing

 

Bon Appetit!   🙂

 

Sicilian Style Curly Fettuccini

I found this recipe on a Jamie Oliver Youtube channel – he cooked it on camera and I was salivating just watching him eat it.  It is so very simple but so tasty – it’s actually surprising how delicious it is considering there are few ingredients…

The crunch of the pinenuts and the sweetness of the raisins contrast wonderfully with the tang of the garlic and anchovies.  Curly fettuccini is another lovely discovery.  The sauce clings to the beautifully textured ribbons of pasta…  Jamie’s recipe called the breadcrumbs Pangrattato but his version didn’t have oil or garlic included.  They were just dry crumbs so I did the same but used panko crumbs.  The result is a lovely crispy crunch added to your pasta.  We added some parmesan to the top but it is optional…

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, finely sliced

50 g anchovies (small tin or jar), finely chopped

1 small tub tomato paste (about 3 tablespoons)

Water

1 tablespoon pinenuts

1 tablespoon raisins

1 teaspoon sugar

pepper to taste

½ cup breadcrumbs

Freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Curly fettuccini

 

Method:

Gently fry the garlic and anchovies in the oil until the anchovies break down

Stir in the tomato paste and a little water to soften the sauce

Throw in a handful of pinenuts and raisins

Add sugar and pepper to taste

In the meantime cook some curly fettuccini until al dente

Add a ladle of the pasta water to the sauce if too thick

In a dry pan, toast the breadcrumbs until golden brown

Toss the sauce through the drained pasta

Serve topped with a generous sprinkling of breadcrumbs

Add some parmesan cheese if required

 

Bon Appetit!  🙂

 

 

Warm Roasted Pumpkin & Spinach Salad with Dukkah, Pine Nuts & Persian Feta

Dukkah is a wonderful mixture of herbs and spices and can be readily bought at most supermarkets.  I use a pistachio and almond based one which gives a lovely nutty flavour to the dish.

We rarely eat pumpkin any other way these days.  This wonderful warm salad is so versatile and very, very tasty.

You can add or omit ingredients as you wish – it’s lovely with rocket leaves if you prefer the peppery taste.  You can also add in red onion or peppers – it just depends on what you have to hand…  I always use Persian Feta as it is beautifully rich and creamy and is marinated in herbs.  The taste is divine…

Delicious on its own or as a side dish, we also pile it on top of sourdough bread the next day for lunch – heavenly…

Ingredients:

Half a butternut pumpkin

I cup of fresh continental parsley roughly chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons of Dukkah

A couple of big handfuls of baby spinach

2 tablespoons of toasted pine nuts

Persian Feta to sprinkle on top

 

Method:

Cut the pumpkin in to even size cubes

Throw into a non-stick roasting pan and add the parsley, oil and dukkah

Toss well and roast for about 30 minutes on 180c fan-forced

Shake occasionally to prevent sticking

When cooked, place in a bowl and throw in the spinach and toasted pine nuts

Put a lid on the bowl and shake thoroughly,

The heat of the pumpkin will wilt the spinach

Serve topped with crumbled Persian feta to taste

 

Bon Appetit   🙂

 

Chicken Satay on Skewers with Peanut Sauce

There is nothing more delicious than a big plate of Chicken Satay. We love it and eat heaps of in the summer as you can throw it on the BBQ and whip up a peanut sauce in minutes. There are many variations of this terrific dish – you can thread pineapple in between the chicken pieces or use other vegetables like red peppers or baby onions…
This same recipe applies for using meat -use fillet steak but only cook for a few minutes to ensure juicy, tender Beef Satay…

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken thighs
½ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
Couple of tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Sesame Oil
Bamboo skewers

Method:
Cut the each of the chicken thighs into about six pieces
Mix together the soy, honey & Sesame Oil and marinate overnight in the fridge or at least for a few hours
Thread onto bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water for a couple of hours. The soaking prevents the wooden skewers from burning on the grill
Sprinkle with brown sugar – this will caramelise when cooking and gives a lovely flavour
Pass to husband to expertly deal with the cooking on BBQ grill
Ensure they are cooked through – around 15 minutes or so
Serve with peanut sauce
Makes about 20 or so skewers

Lizzie’s Peanut Sauce:

1 cup of crunchy peanut butter
2 generous tablespoons of honey
1 250g tin of coconut milk
½ cup of water
Juice of ½ a lemon
1 tablespoon of Hoi Sin sauce
1 teaspoon of hot chilli sauce (more or less to taste)

Put all of the ingredients into a heavy based pot and slowly bring to the boil while stirring.
Once it boils – take off the stove – it will thicken on cooling.

Bon Appetit! 🙂

Candy’s Breakfast Sprinkle

Just back from a few days in Adelaide with the family and my health conscious sister-in-law introduced me to a fabulously healthy mixture she sprinkles on her cereal each morning. Made up of seeds and nuts, it is delicious and can be made in bulk and stored in the refrigerator for several weeks.

The recipe below is the one she gave me but she also stressed it’s up to you how much of each ingredient you use. I played around purely because of the size of the packets I could find. So instead of 100 grams I have used 150 grams and so forth.

The end result tastes great, it’s very good for you and it took only minutes to do using the large jug from my Ninja Processor…

This only takes minutes to make using a Ninja Processor

A delicious mixture of nuts and seeds to sprinkle over your breakfast cereal or porridge

Make it in bulk and store in the fridge for several weeks

Ingredients:
200 grams Sunflower Seeds
200 grams Pepitas
400 grams Walnuts
100 grams Cashews
500 grams Almonds
200 grams Brown Linseed (Flaxseed)
100 grams Brazil Nuts

Finley cop or crush in a food processor and put in container in the fridge.
Add a couple of tablespoons to your breakfast cereal or porridge each day.

Bon Appetit!