The Makings of a Great "Kibbeh Party"

There are TWO essential recipes for any food-making party to be successful. 

Grab a few great friends

Add a beautiful setting, in our case, our friends’ gorgeous house

Sprinkle on a good amount of sunshine

Finish with the consummate labor-of-love meal, in this case Kibbeh Lebanese Meatballs

Pair that with a beautiful bottle of wine

Enjoy!

Sarah (pictured) and Pat graciously hosted the party

I’m lucky to have all these elements in my life here in San Francisco.  A couple of weeks ago, we decided it was time for another Kibbeh party.  It was our most successful one yet! 

The luscious combination of freshly-ground lamb from our favorite butcher in North Beach (San Francisco’s Italian neighborhood), imported pine nuts from Lebanon, Bulgur cracked wheat, a staple in Mid-Eastern cuisine and a stovetop onion and spice mix kept the kitchen smelling sweet for days.

The fixins: pine nuts, stuffing and shell mixture

So, grab a few of your friends (and other key ingredients) and throw yourself a fabulous Kibbeh party that you will soon not forget!

Kibbeh – Lebanese Meatballs. 

For the outer shell:

2.2 lbs. (1Kg) ground red meat, I prefer Lamb

2.0 lbs. (just under 1 Kg) fine bulgur wheat, #1 grade

2 medium onions, grated

3 Tbsp. cinnamon

3 Tbsp. Lebanese or Middle-Eastern spice mix, also called Bhar

1 Tbsp.  cumin

Salt

For the stuffing:

1.1 lbs. (1/2 Kg) ground meat: If you have lamb for the shell, use lamb for stuffing

2 onions, chopped very finely

2 Tbsp. Labneh, Lebanese or Greek yogurt

2 Tbsp. cinnamon

Generous pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

1 cup of pine nuts, toasted stovetop with a Tbsp. olive oil

Salt

Peanut or corn oil for frying

Outer shell:

Cover and soak the bulgur in cold water for 30 minutes.  Drain, squeezing the water out with your hands.  Add to a very large bowl.  Grate the onions and remove the excess liquid.  Add to bowl.  Add meat, cinnamon, spices, and a very generous pinch of salt.  Knead by hand in the bowl for about 10 minutes until all ingredients are well incorporated and the mixture comes together like bread dough.  Set shell mix aside.

Stuffing:

Sauté the meat in a large pan until all the liquid evaporates.  Add onions and sauté until pale.  Add the labneh, salt, spices, cinnamon and nutmeg and cook for 2 minutes, incorporating well.

When ready to stuff, it’s good to remember to have a finger bowl handy to keep your fingers wet; it will be easier to shape the balls this way.  Grab a portion of the shell mixture the size of a Ping-Pong ball, roll it in your hands to form an evenly shaped ball. 

Holding the ball in the palm of one hand, puncture a hole in the middle of the ball with your other hand’s index finger.  Turn the ball in a circular motion in the palm of your hand.  As you turn, continue to gently push with your finger to form a larger hole for the stuffing, almost but not all the way through.

Stuff the now-hollow shells with a heaping teaspoon of the stuffing.  I like to add 3-4 pine nuts into each shell along with the stuffing.  Close the top of the shell with your hands to form a conical shape.  This takes a bit of practice, but with some patience, you will easily master this step.

Set the formed shells on a baking sheet for frying, or freeze the shells until hard, then pack into freezer bags. They can keep for up to 5 months in the freezer.  Frozen shells can then be fried without thawing, as per below until they turn golden-brown, about 10 minutes. 

Forming the meatballs with friends is a fun labor of love

Frying: set the oil temperature to 350F (about 175C) and fry the freshly made shells for 6 minutes or until deeply golden brown.  Make sure you have enough oil to cover the shells for deep frying.  When done, drain on a plate covered with paper towels.  Serve with a fresh salad or your favorite Labneh or Greek yogurt.

Note: for a healthy alternative to frying, use the fresh or frozen meatballs in your favorite soup or broth.  I like to serve the meatballs with chicken soup.  Just cook them in the soup until done.

Makes about 60 meatballs.

Tabbouleh salad pairs beautifully with Kibbeh, so does good wine and sunshine!

A Hearty Winter Meal for All Seasons.

I belong to a small legion of people who don't mind Winter.  In fact, I am going to go as far as saying I enjoy it.  I usually cook with intent focus when I'm spending time indoors during cold weather, but not this year.  I was traveling a lot for work and just could not find the time.  I think most people would agree with me that soups, stews and roasts just don't taste the same in warmer weather and for that, I'm going to have to wait another year. Although, the two recipes below are definitely exceptions to that rule.

We had a wimpy season in San Francisco this year, but I felt the full force of Winter on a recent business trip to Switzerland.  I visit the country twice a year to lecture at a hotel school and while I was there last month, my dear friend Karin invited me to cook a meal at her place in the beautiful lakeside town of Vevey, and I was happy to oblige!

My plan was simple: to put together a proper meal for a cold day.  That morning, the temperature had dipped below freezing and Karin and I were both in the mood for something hearty and comforting for dinner.  On the menu was Hummus (naturally!), followed by "Loubieh bi Zeit", French Green Beans cooked in Olive Oil and stewed, juicy tomatoes.  For the main course, I made a Lebanese potato and meat stew called "Yakhnet Batata" and for dessert, we had Ghirardelli chocolate squares I had brought over from SFO!

"Loubieh bi Zeit" (Green Beans Cooked in Olive Oil). Serves 4 - 6.

1 kg. (2 lbs.) frozen French green beans (haricots verts). Fresh greens beans work well, just cut the stems off from each end.

4 large ripe tomatoes (or 2 large cans diced tomatoes)

1 large onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 small can (about 3 tbs) tomato paste
1 tbs salt & 1 tsp pepper

Once the onions have sauteed, in goes the bag of frozen beans

Next you add the tomatoes, the spices and the paste before adding water and cooking everything on low

Heat the olive oil in a large pot and fry the onions and garlic on medium-high heat until pale in color.
Add the beans and continue cooking until the beans turn a pale green color.
Add salt, pepper, paprika, tomatoes, tomato paste and mix well.
Cover the beans mixture with hot water and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the beans are softened, about 35 - 40 minutes.
Serve warm as is or with your choice of cooked rice.  Brown rice tastes great with this dish.

"Yakhnet Batata" (Potato Meat Stew).  Serves 4 - 6.
I prefer chicken as the protein for this dish.  Although traditionally, it is made with lamb, which is also excellent.  

1.5 kg (48 oz) potatoes, peeled, washed and cubed
600g (20 oz) boneless chicken breast or thigh meat (according to your preference), cubed
1 entire head of garlic, peeled & crushed
2 1/4 tbs unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 1/4 cups fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tbs salt
1.5 tsp allspice
1 tsp pepper
6 cups water

Heat vegetable oil in a large pan and fry the potato cubes over medium-high heat until golden.  Remove onto a paper-towel lined plate.
Fry coriander and garlic with 1 tbs butter in the same pan over low heat. Stir till fragrant for about 2 minutes.  Set aside.
Add butter to a large pot and fry chicken cubes until golden brown.
Add water to the chicken and bring to a boil over high heat.  Skim any foam that accumulates on the surface.  Reduce heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes (or 2 hours if using lamb).
Add fried potatoes, salt, allspice and pepper to chicken and stock. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat. Cover. Cook for 15 minutes.
Add coriander and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes.
Serve warm with a rustic loaf or your choice of bread on the side.

Note: the Kibbeh meatball making party I wrote about in my last post was a huge success.  The girls and I had a fantastic time cooking together and catching up.  We made lots of meatballs and ate some that night.  The rest we froze.  

The fried meatballs were a huge hit at dinner that night, and I am going to post the recipe sometime this Spring and I'm even planning on a second Kibbeh party with more photos, so stay tuned!

What Really Matters.

January is a time when most people tend to check up on their life.  A new year is beginning, so we start reflecting on our past, taking stock of where we stand.  We scrutinize our achievements and the progress of our careers.  We examine our health and look more carefully at the figures in our bank accounts.  We also ponder our relationships with friends and loved ones and seek new ways to improve and reconnect.

Personally, I am no stranger to this process.  Every January, like clockwork, I sit down with a pen and paper to give my life the yearly physical.  I think about what I would like to achieve and I put together all sorts of to-do lists and plans for the months ahead.  I categorize, prioritize and monetize my entries.  The longer the list, the better I feel.  But as I grow older, I'm noticing that the content of my lists is definitely changing. While I still think that having serious career and life goals is key, my approach to list-writing is slowly morphing to reflect what's really becoming important to me.

For example, this year I created a new list that I titled "Things That Make Maroun Happy".  Hands down, my favorite list so far!  It came about because I felt that my goals seem to focus mostly on money and my career, and that bothered me.  I needed to balance that by creating simpler, less rigid life aims for myself.  Something more intrinsically enjoyable to me.  So, with that criteria in mind, I started thinking of some of the things that I would REALLY like to do this year to spice things up, and I came up with a few objectives.

Speaking of cooking with a group, I'll be doing that this weekend with two very dear friends of mine, Pat and Sarah at their gorgeous home in San Francisco.  The basement is spacious and perfect for such a project.  It has French doors that open up onto a beautiful urban garden, in which grows an amazing variety of organic herbs, fruits and vegetables.  There's even a hot house where tomatoes thrive in the winter time!

The girls and I are going to make a huge batch of Kibbeh meatballs.  A labor of love, no doubt, but well worth the effort.  Kibbeh is a recipe for Lebanese meatballs, made with Bulgur wheat and stuffed with pine nuts and spiced lamb and then fried.  Absolutely delicious.  We'll probably make around 300 meatballs, divvy up the batch between us, have some for dinner that night and freeze the rest for another time.  (Kibbeh meatballs freeze beautifully).  I'll snap a few pics of that and post them in the next issue.  I'll also share the easy recipe, which requires just a few simple ingredients.

Borough Market, London.  I could spend all day here!

I haven't been writing here for a while, so I thought I would also share a few photos that I took of me, my friends and my family.  The photos span a couple of years back and depict various themes of people cooking, eating and drinking.  So, in case you were wondering what I've been doing since I last wrote in this blog.  Well, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!

One of several daily Lebanese coffee breaks

Thanksgiving at home in San Francisco

Quality Control by our Moms

Lunch at Im Sherif, Beirut with two amazing people

Visit to the Lavaux Hillside Vineyards, Montreux, Switzerland

Dinner in the heart of a working salt mine in Bex, Switzerland

Cooking with friends in Paso Robles Wine Country, California

Paul enjoying a small cocktail at Palmilla, Los Cabos, Mexico

Seafood lunch with the family in Beirut

My brother Wael manning the Barbeque

The Holidays

Whether it's Halloween, Christmas, The Eid, Winter Solstice, New Year's Eve, or any which one of the holiday celebrations in the Middle East, you can be sure that you will get to savor a delicious array of special-occasion food.  Just like the rest of the world, the people of the Mediterranean are willing to go to great lengths to impress others with their food, and that is especially true during the festive season.

Now, I was a fat kid, and fat kids are constantly thinking about food. I remember, I used to sit in church on Christmas Eve, dreaming of the meal that was to follow that never-ending Mass!

Of all the special-meal occasions of the year, Christmas Eve's dinner was by far the most sumptuous and memorable dinner event at our house.  The worst thing about that night is that dinner did not begin until after we come back from Midnight Mass. I don't know why they don't just call it "Christmas Morning Breakfast" instead. Believe me, though. It was worth the wait.

Upon returning home, a really grand meal awaited those who were patient!  From Zucchini Fritters to Shish Barak, an intensely flavored dish of very small meat-stuffed turnovers, smothered in a rich yoghurty gravy and so much more.  And for dessert, the traditional Christmas Log Cake, fashioned after the French holiday dessert by the name of "Buche de Noel".  I'd stuff myself with all that is savory, sweet and delicious, to the point of delirious content.   Nothing bad could happen to me after that meal and I would sleep like a baby in anticipation of the gift opening bit the following day!

I wish you a wonderful time cooking this fun, festive season and I hope that you get to make some of your favorite recipes, as well as try out new ones.

Happy Holidays!

M

Zucchini Fritters

1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon salt
4-6 yellow onions
1 pinch pepper
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 cup zucchini pulp, mashed
5 eggs
3/4 cup self-raising flour
3/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint or 1 teaspoon dried mint
olive oil

Crush the garlic in a bowl with salt. Mix in the onions, pepper and allspice. Add the mashed zucchini and the eggs. Beat well with a beater, and then thoroughly mix in the flour. Add parsley and mint.

Spoon the mixture into a pan of hot oil and fry until the fritters are golden brown on both sides. Repeat this procedure until all the mixture is used.
Makes 8-10 appetizer servings

Shish Barak

Filling

2 Large Onions
3 Tablespoons of Sunflower oil (or vegetable)
75g (2.5 oz) Pine Nuts
500g (1.10 lbs) Lean minced Beef/Lamb
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1-2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses*
*click on the previous blog for a list of grocers that carry it, its bottle is pictured there too.

Pastry

6 sheets of filo pastry(about 170g)
85g (3 oz) Butter, melted

Sauce & Garnish

700g (1.5 lbs) Plain Yogurt
salt
2-3 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of crushed dried mint

For the filling fry the onions until golden. Add the meat, salt, pepper, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, then pomegranate molasses and cook for a couple of minutes. In a small pan fry the pine nuts in a drop of oil for a short time then add the meat and let cool.

Cut the filo pastry sheets into half, into 2 rectangles approx 30×24cm (12x9.5 in)and pile on top with long side nearest to you. Brush the top sheet with melted butter. Put a line of filling about 3-4 tablespoons, along the long edge, to about 2cm (3/4 in) from each end, and roll up into a long thin roll. Then shape the roll into a tight coil, creasing it a little as youo do, so the pastry does not tear, and place it on a piece of foil (not greased) on a baking tray. Repeat with the remaining filo and the filling, placing the coils next to each other so that they are held tight. Brush the tops with melted butter.

About 30 mins before you are ready to serve, bake the pies in an oven pre-heated to
(200 c) 400f gas 6 for about 25 mins until golden.

For the sauce, beat the yoghurt with a little salt and the garlic, for the garnish, mix the olive oil and the dried mint. Serve the pies as they come out of the oven. Pour about 3 tablespoons yoghurt over each, and dribble a little of the minty olive oil.
Makes 6 main-course servings