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Authentic Lebanese Recipes - Page 7
Vegetable Dishes
Stuffed Grape (Vine) Leaves
MAHSHI WARAK AREESH
Authentic Lebanese Recipe
1 Ib. fresh tender vine leaves
2 cups ground or chopped meat, preferably lamb
Several meat bones
1 1/2 cups rice
2 whole garlic Bulbs (a bulb is the whole head
of garlic)
8 garlic
cloves crushed with salt
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups cold water
2 medium
sized tomatoes, sliced
1 medium sized tomato, chopped (optional)
1 tsp. dried mint
Cinnamon and mint seasoning make this version of a popular eastern Mediterranean food typically Lebanese.
Soften and blanch vine leaves by dipping a few at a time in boiling, salted water. Set aside. Wash rice and mix with ground meat, chopped tomato, salt, pepper, cinnamon and one half cup cold water. Stuff one leaf at a time. Place a teaspoon of stuffing in the center of each. Fold the bottom of the leaf up over the stuffing, then fold from each side to the middle. Roll tightly to form a cylinder about three inches long and somewhat thicker than a cigar (see accompanying illustration below).
Blanch grape leaves and lay them on a plate. Roll each one
as the diagram shows below
Grape Leaf rolling method
Place layer of bones in pressure cooker and cover with sliced tomatoes and the whole garlic. Arrange rolls side by side in layers on the tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and lemon juice. Add water. Cook under pressure 12 minutes. Simmer uncovered to reduce sauce. Mix one half cup of the sauce with crushed garlic and mint. Sprinkle this over the mahshi and simmer a few more minutes to enhance flavor. Remove mahshi carefully from cooking pan. Cool fingers in cold water to facilitate handling the hot rolls. Arrange on platter. Serve hot with boxl of the sauce.
Arrange the grape leaves in a pan as shown above
Cook without pressure if you prefer. Prepare
as above. Arrange mahshi over layer of bones and
sliced tomatoes. When all has been added, press down
firmly with palm of the hand.
Add water to cover, salt, and cook about an hour, or until
leaves are tender and the stuffing is well cooked. Sprinkle
with lemon juice, minced garlic and dried mint. Simmer
for a few more minutes.
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Stuffed Vine Leaves in Oil
MAHSHI WARAK AREESH BI ZAYT
Authentic Lebanese Recipe
1 Ib. fresh tender vine leaves
1 1/4 cups rice
1/2 cup hummus (chik peas) (nuts may be substituted)
1/2 cup
chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped mint
1/2 cup minced scaltions
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp.
pepper
1/2 cup lemon
juice
1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tomato, sliced
2 whole garlic bulbs (a bulb is the whole head of Garlic)
Wonderful finger food for buffet suppers, picnics or with cocktails. An appetizing dish for a meatless day.
Soften leaves by dipping in boiling salted water for a minute. Drain and pile in deep dish while preparing stuffing. Wash and drain rice. Crack hummus {which has been soaked overnight) with rolling pin and remove skins. Make stuffing of rice, hummus, parsley, mint, chopped tomatoes, onions, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and oil. Add seasonings to taste. Struff one leaf at a time, following method described in the above illustrations accompanying recipe for Mahshi Warak Areesh bi Lahm. Use a heaping teaspoon of stuffing for each leaf. Fold bottom of leaf up over stuffing, then fold in from each side toward middle. Roll up like a cigar. Rolls should be about three inches long and somewhat thicker than a cigar. Place layer of tomato slices with whole garlic in bottom of pressure cooker pan. Cover with mahshi (the stuffed grape leaves), arranged side by side in layers. Sprinkle with salt and lemon juice. Add water. Cook under pressure for 12 minutes. Open cooker and simmer uncovered until sauce is thickened. Taste sauce. Add more lemonand salt if necessary. Allow to cool in sauce. Drain sauce into serving bowl. Lift rolls out one by one and arrange on serving platter, or turn out onto the platter. Serve cold. Prepare a day ahead, if possible, for best flavor. Cook without pressure if you prefer (see above under the recipe for stuffed vine leaves with meat).
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Stuffed
Swiss Chard Leaves
MAHSHI SILQ BI ZAYT
Authentic Lebanese Recipe:
3 Ibs. Swiss chard
1 1/4 cups rice
1/2 cup hummus (chik peas) (nuts may be substituted)
3/4
cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped mint
1/2 cup minced scallions
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp.
pepper
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup lemon juice* (see footnote)
1 tomato, sliced
Several
garlic cloves
Several small white onions
This dish is similar to the stuffed vine leaves but more zesty. Remove chard stems. Soften leaves by dipping one at a time in boiling, salted water for a minute. Drain and pile in deep dish while preparing stuffing. Wash and drain rice. Crack hummus (which has been soaked overnight) with rolling pin. Discard skins which come off during rolling. Mix rice, hummus (or nuts), parsley, mint, chopped onions, tomatoes, salt, pepper, cinnamon, oil and most of the lemon juice or sammak water (see footnote). Reserve small amount of lemon juice to sprinkle on chard rolls near end of cooking. Stuff one leaf at a time using a heaping teaspoonful of stuffing. Fold up from bottom over stuffing and fold in from each side to center; then roll up like a cigar. Place in layers with open end down in pressure cooker, over the sliced tomatoes, onions and garlic. Sprinkle lemon juice or sammak water and half teaspoon salt over top layer. Pour in water to cover. Cook under pressure 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer to reduce sauce. Turn out onto serving platter. Serve cold. Cook these without pressure if preferred. Prepare as above. Cook gently in covered pan until stuffing is done—probably about 45 minutes.
* Sammak (or Sumac) water is often substituted for lemon juice. It is an infusion of locally obtained sammak (sumac) seeds and water. It is somewhat more astringent tasting than lemon juice.
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Stuffed Eggplant
MAHSHI BATINJAAN
Authentic Lebanese Recipe
Eggplants are abundant in the Middle East. They grow in Lebanon in the summer and fall. In the winter and spring they flourish in the Jordan Valley and are exported widely. They are cooked in a variety of ways but mahshi (stuffed)is the most famous method of preparation.
Select the small cylindrical type of eggplant for mahshi. Hollow them and prepare a stuffing as for Kousa Mahshi. Syrians substitute one-half cup sammak water (sumac water) with half a teaspoon of sugar for the lemon juice called for in the kousa recipe. Sometimes a stuffed green pepper is added to the stuffed eggplant. Serve hot.
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Stuffed Eggplant with Oil
MAHSHI BATINJAAN BI ZAYT
Authentic Lebanese Recipe
25 small batinjaan (eggplant)
1 1/4 cups rice
1/2
cup hummus (chick peas, Garbanzo) or chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped
parsley
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 1/2 chopped tomatoes
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cups water
2 large tomatoes, quartered
Soak hummus overnight. Wash batinjaan, cut thin slice from one end and hollow carefully with small spoon, or an apple corer (see stuffed kousa). Place soaked hummus on board and crush with rolling pin to split the peas and work their skins loose.
Make a stuffing of rice, hummus, parsley, onions, chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper, green pepper and olive oil. Moisten with one half cup water. Stuff the eggplant. Place layer of the quartered tomatoes in bottom of pressure cooker. Cover with 1 1/2 cups water. Place stuffed eggplant on top of tomatoes in neat layers. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Cook under pressure 12 minutes, then simmer uncovered until tnahshi are very tender and the sauce is reduced. Turn onto a round serving platter. Serve cold.
These mahshi may be cooked without pressure. Prepare as above, but increase water to cover mahshi. Cook covered until tender. Simmer uncovered to thicken sauce.
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Eggplant Stuffed with Meat
SHEIKH EL MAHSHI BATINJAAN
Authentic Lebanese Recipe
20 small cylindrical eggplant
1 1/2 cups minced lamb or
beef
1/4 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup minced onions
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cups fresh tomato juice, or diluted tomato paste
1 cup water
1 cup (or more) samneh, (or other shortening)
Clean eggplant and trim stems to about half an inch. Do no remove hulls. Partially peel, leaving lengthwise strips of alternating peel and flesh. Fry eggplant until soft in hot samneh. Drain into shallow baking pan or pyrex baking dish. Fry chopped onions in samneh until yellow. Add meat, pine nuts, salt and pepper and fry until meat is well done. Slit each eggplant lengthwise to form a pocket. Gently press several spoonfuls of stuffing into the slits. Cover with tomato juice, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Simmer on top of stove 15 minutes and then bake 15 minutes in hot oven to brown the tops. Serve hot in the baking dish. Good with Lebanese rice.
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Stuffed Eggplant Au Gratin
SHEIKH EL MAHSHI BATINJAAN
Prepare Sheikh el Mahshie Batinjaan according to recipe. When it is cooked, cover with 1 1/2 cups medium white sauce. Sprinkle with toasted bread crumbs and grated cheese. Bake in oven until well heated and brown on top.
In Lebanon, the hard toasted rolls known as ka'ak kurshalli are crushed and used on au gratin dishes.
Stuffed Cabbage Leaves
MAHSHI MALFOUF
Authentic Lebanese Recipe
1 medium sized cabbage
1 1/2 cups ground meat
1 cup rice
1 chopped tomato (optional)
1 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
8 garlic cloves
1 tsp. dried mint
Separate leaves from cabbage head. Cut each into several triangular pieces, cutting away stems. Dip leaves a few at a time in boiling salted water until they become pliable. Prepare stuffing of meat, rice, tomato, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Place tablespoons of stuffing on each triangular leaf, fold sides toward center and roll up from bottom into a cigar shape (see illustrations with stuffed vine leaves). Press together firmly. Place layer of meat bones to form a rack on bottom of pressure cooker. Add two whole garlics. Put cabbage rolls in layers over the bones, placing them close together so that they will keep their shape. Add water, lemon juice and sprinkle with more salt. Cook under pressure 20 minutes. Open cooker and sprinkle mahshi with the cloves of garlic which have been crushed with the dried mint and salt. Sprinkle with half a teaspoon of sugar if desired. Simmer several minutes more. Add lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve hot. This amount makes about 50 rolls.
To serve, pour off the sauce and carefully turn the cooking pan upside down so that the cabbage rolls are turned onto a platter, or dip fingers in cold water to facilitate handling the hot rolls, and arrange the rolls one at a time on a serving platter. Cook without pressure if desired. Prepare as above and simmer gently until rice is tender in barely enough water to cover.
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Stuffed Marrows (Squash)
KOUSA MAHSHI
Authentic Lebanese Recipe
15 medium size marrow squash
1 1/2 cups ground meat
1 cup rice
1 1/2 cups tomato juice
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tomatoes, chopped (optional)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
(optional)
Scrub marrows well. Hollow from one end with apple corer or small spoon. Mix rice, meat, seasonings and half of the chopped tomato. Stuff squash three-quarters full. Lay several meat bones on bottom of pressure cooker and cover with the remaining chopped tomato. Arrange stuffed marrows in layers over bones. Add tomato juice, water and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Cook under pressure 20 minutes. Open cooker and simmer to reduce sauce.
Kousa mahshi may be cooked in an ordinary saucepan. Prepare as above. Cover the saucepan and simmer for an hour, or until squash is tender. Uncover and simmer to thicken sauce. In Syria this dish is flavored further with mint and garlic. Crush a teaspoon of dried mint with several garlic cloves and two teaspoons of salt. Mix in the juice of half a lemon. When the squash is tender, sprinkle it with this sauce and allow to simmer a few minutes more.
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Stuffed Squash with Laban (yoghurt)
KOUSA MAHSHI BI LABAN
Stuff 18 small marrow squash according to the recipe for Kousa Mahshi. Cook them under pressure for 15 minutes. Add one recipe of cooked laban and simmer uncovered about 12 minutes, or until squash is very tender. Crush several cloves of garlic, salt and one teaspoon of dried mint. Fry these together in a spoonful of samneh and add to the laban sauce. Add salt to taste. Serves 6.
Swiss Chard with Chick Peas
SILQ BI HUMMUS
3 Ibs. fresh Swiss chard
1 cup hummus (chick peas)
3/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onions
6 cloves garlic
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 spring green kizbara (coriander), chopped
2 lemons
Wash chard well. Chop stems and leaves separately. Cook chopped stems with quarter cup water in pressure cooker for four minutes under pressure. Reduce pressure, open cooker, add chopped leaves and cook together eight minutes. Meanwhile roll hummus (soaked overnight) with rolling pin to split and remove skins. Remove chard from pressure cooker. Cook hummus in water to cover 12 minutes under pressure. Drain chard well, pressing out water. Combine chard with hummus. Fry onions in oil until brown. Add crushed garlic and kizbara. Add these to chard and peas and simmer on low fire until heated through and flavors are blended. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Chill.
If you wish, this dish need not be prepared in a pressure cooker. Boil hummus until tender. Boil chard stems until nearly tender, add leaves and finish cooking. Drain chard well and combine with hummus. Saute onions, garlic and kizbara. Combine everything, heat well. When flavors are blended. Sprinkle with lemon juice, simmer, pour into serving dish and chill.
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Stuffed Artichokes
ARDISHAWKI MAHSHI
10 large artichokes
1 1/2 cups minced meat
1 cup minced onions
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tsp. flour
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. butter
1 tsp.
salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Water
Cut off stems of artichokes close to heads. Remove tough outside leaves. Separate leaves and push apart slightly to form a cup. Pull out the choke from the center. Rub each artichoke well with a cut lemon and place in a bowl sprinkled with several tablespoons of flour until ready to cook them.
Heat one cup samneh or other cooking fat well. Fry onions until yellow. Add meat, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Fry until meat is well cooked. Boil artichokes until tender (fifteen minutes under pressure). Arrange them in a shallow pyrex dish. Stuff each with the meat mixture. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and lemon juice, and dot with butter. Mix flour with half a cup of water and pour into bottom of cooking dish. Bake in moderate oven until meat is well cooked. Simmer on top of stove if sauce seems excessive. Serve hot with rice.
Artichoke
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Vegetable Stews
YAKHNIE
Combinations of vegetables with meat and usually with rice are popular one-dish meals in Lebanon, particularly in large families where a small amount of meat must be stretched to feed a number of people.
All stews are prepared in much the same manner although the vegetable ingredients will vary seasonally. Favorite stews are made with kousa (squash), batinjaan (eggplant), loubieh (green beans), banadoura (tomatoes), baamieh (okra), malfouf (cabbage), and sbaanikh (spinach). Dried vegetables such as peas and broad beans are boiled and added to the meat stew in winter. Potatoes are fried and combined with the stew when it has nearly finished cooking.
Most stews are prepared according to the recipe given for green bean stew (yakhnit loubieh). Okra and artichoke yakhnie are prepared in a slightly different way.
Rice is always served as a side dish. Minced meat and chopped onions may be substituted for cubed meat when preparing these stews. See below for these recipes.
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Artichoke Stew
YAKHNIT EL ARDISHAWKI
10 artichokes
2 cups cubed meat
1/2 cup samneh (or
other shortening)
3 chopped scallions (bulbs only)
2 medium sized onions, chopped
1 1/2
tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. flour
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. sugar
2 cups water
Clean artichokes well in running water. Trim off tough leaves. Cut stems close to heads. Remove outside leaves and choke from center and cut remaining heart into quarters. Cut each artichoke into quarters. Fry meat in samneh, add onions and scaliions and fry until yellow. Add water, salt and pepper. Cook under pressure for 20 minutes. Open cooker. Add artichokes, lemon juice and more salt if it seems necessary. Cook under pressure another 10 minutes. Open cooker. Simmer uncovered until most of sauce has evap¬orated. Add lemon juice; correct seasoning. Serve hot with rice. Makes about eight portions.
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Green Bean Stew
YAKHNIT LOUBIEH
3 1/2 cups fresh green string beans
1/2 cup minced onions
2 cups
cubed meat
Several meat bones
3/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cups fresh
tomato juice, OR
1 Tbsp. tomato paste with water,
to make one cup
1 cup water
Wash, string and cut beans in half. Select meat with some fat for flavor. Fry meat with bones until slightly browned. Add onions and fry until they are yellow but not browned. Add beans and fry until they are slightly tender. Pour in the tomato juice or the paste diluted with water, and the additional cup of water, salt and pepper. Simmer until meat and vegetables are very tender and the sauce has been reduced by half. This stew may be cooked under pressure. Fry meat with bones. Add onions and fry until yellow. Add tomato juice, salt, pepper and water. Cook 20 minutes under pressure. Open cooker. Add beans on rack and cook under pressure for 12 minutes. Open. Simmer until sauce thickens. Serve the stew with rice.
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
Okra Stew
YAKHNIT BAAMIEH
3 cups tender young okra
2 cups meat, cubed
Several meat
bones
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup lemon
juice
8 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. kizbara (coriander)
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 cup
fresh tomato juice
1 cup water
1/2 tsp. sugar
Crush garlic with salt. Add kizbara and crush together. Trim hard stems from okra. Wash well and dry in a towel or in the sun. Fry okra in deep fat until light brown. Drain and put aside. Fry meat and bones, add crushed garlic, salt and kizbara seeds for several minutes. Add tomato paste, tomato juice, lemon juice, salt, pepper and water. Cook under pressure for 30 minutes. Open cooker and add okra. Cook under pressure another eight minutes. Open cooker and add sugar. Simmer until sauce is somewhat thicker. Correct seasoning, adding more lemon juice if necessary. Serve hot with rice.
This stew may be prepared in an ordinary pan. It must be cooked for over one hour. Add lemon juice at the end and simmer.
If you use these recipes, please link to this website and help us share the Lebanese heritage with the world. Thank you
More Authentic Lebanese Recipes - several pages. Click here for
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Thank
you to everyone who contributed recipes and photos in the past
years to help us share Lebanon's
beauty with the world and to help
perpetuate the Lebanese culture
across the globe.
Thank you especially to Aunt Maheeba's friend (sorry I
forgot her name) who was originally from Saghbine (Lebanon)
but who lived in Brooklyn and gave me many of these authentic
recipes
that she had saved from the old
country. She shared them with
all the young Lebanese wives
who grew up here in the United
States and did not have access
to authnetic Lebanese recipes
or training in Lebanese cooking
"the right way". May she rest in peace.
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