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Ingredients of Lebanese Food

Tabbouleh
Ingredients: Tabbouleh Libanaise 1/4 cup burghul, fine cracked wheat 2 cups finely chopped parsley 1/2 kg (16 oz) firm red tomatoes, washed and finely chopped 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves 1/4 cup finely chopped onion 1/2 cup lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt (as desired) 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil . How to: Wash chopped mint and parsley then drain well. Wash the burghul several times and drain. Soak it in chopped tomatoes for 20 minutes. Rub chopped onion with salt. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Add olive oil and lemon juice, toss the mixture well. Serve Tabbouleh with crisp lettuce leaves, or fresh cabbage leaves
Samkeh Harrah
	Ingredients: Samkeh Harrah Traboulseyeh A delicious main Lebanese dish. Poissons Piquants Tripolitains 1 kg (32 oz) fried or grilled fish, flaked 1 cup finely chopped onion 1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper ½ cup finely chopped coriander ½ cup ground pine nuts, almonds, and pistachio nuts 3 cups sesame paste sauce (Taratour) 1 tbls dried coriander a dash of ground paprika ½ tspn ground chili (red pepper) ½ tspn ground cumin ½ cup olive oil ½ tspn salt How to: Fry in hot oil onion, bell pepper, and coriander until soft. Stir in spices, salt and ground nuts. Pour sesame paste sauce over the mixture, stir constantly on medium heat until the oil’s bubbles appear and the mixture thickens. Pour mixture in serving platter. Garnish with fish flakes, lemon wedges, fried pine nuts and some chopped parsley.
HUMMUS
Arayess Kafta
	Ingredients Grilled Lamb Meat ½ kg (16 oz) kafta 1 ½ pitta bread, cut into 12 pieces 2 tbls butter How to: Spread some butter on the inner part of bread pieces. Divide kafta into 12 portions. Spread over buttered bread. Put pieces in a grill or an oven at 200°C for 5 minutes or till kafta is cooked. Serve hot with cold yoghurt.
Falafel
	1 lb. 10 oz. soaked foul 10 1/2 oz. soaked chickpeas 1 lb. red onions and green onions (all chopped together making 1 lb.) 4 bunches parsley 3 bunches green coriander 3 cloves garlic 1 pod hot green pepper 4 tbs. salt 1/2 tbs. white & black pepper 6 tbs. flour 1 pot frying oil How to: Chop fine all the ingredients mentioned above by running them through a food chopper. Rub them with salt, pepper and flour and allow to rest for two hours. About a half hour before they are to be served, make into small patties and fry in hot oil. Arrange on a platter when fried and garnish with chopped parsley.
Kibbi Nayye
	2 1/5 lbs. lamb pure lean and completely free of all fat 8 1/2 oz. burghul (ground wheat) 4 oz. onions 2 1/2 tbs. salt 1 tsp. pepper How to: Grind meat and onions coarsely in a food chopper. Then put this mixture into a "Cutter" and add salt and pepper. Blend in "Cutter" for about 10 minutes. As cutter turns, add small cubes of ice to be ground with the mixture. This helps give the meat more consistency. At the end of ten minutes start adding the burghul. Continue blending ten minutes longer after all burghul has been added. Put mixture into a bowl and garnish. Serve cold
Fattouche
	1/2 lb. pita bread toasted and broken into small pieces 2 1/5 lbs. chopped cucumbers 10 oz. onions finely chopped 2 lbs. tomatoes, cut into tiny pieces 6 oz. olive oil 8 1/2 oz. lemon juice 1 clove garlic mashed with salt 2 tbs. salt How to: Toast and break bread into small pieces. Sprinke cold water over it. Chop all the vegetables and add them to the bread. Mix well. Add mashed garlic, lemon juice and oil, and toss well.
Lahme be Ajin
	2 1/5 lbs. flour 1 pt. water 1 1/2 tbs. salt 1/2 oz. yeast (1 cake commercial American yeast) 1 lb. butter that has been melted and cooled 2 1/2 lbs. lean lamb, chopped fine 2 lbs. red onions, finely chopped 1 stick of butter to fry the chopped meat 4 oz. snobar (pine nuts) 2 tbs. salt for the meat 1 1/2 cups of vinegar or labni 1/2 tsp. pepper How to: Sift flour, melt yeast in water and add salt. Pour the yeast mixture gradually on the flour kneading all the while. Allow dough to rest 3 hours. Melt butter and work it into the risen dough. Form dough into small balls. Prepare filling: Fry chopped onions in butter until it is a golden brown. Add meat, spices and snobar and stir occasionally. After a few minutes add vinegar and let cook a little longer. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Roll out balls of dough with one finger (in order to remain round). Put some of the filling on the flattened pieces of dough and arrange in a baking pan. Bake in hot oven for a few minutes. Serve hot with yoghurt.
Stuffed Grape Leaves
	1/4 stick of butter/marg. • 1 teaspoon of salt • 1 cup rice • 1 lb. of chopped beef • 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon • 3 tablespoons of lemon juice • 1/2 teaspoon of allspice Stuffing - wash rice - melt butter. Mix rice, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Add melted butter and stir. Ten add chopped meat a mix well. Wash grape leaves and lay flat with dull side up. Stuff with meat and roll.(Place a small amount of meat near stem section of leaf. Curl over the leaf to cover meat, fold in the sides and roll the leaf into a cigar shape.) On the bottom of pan place either meat bones or unstuffed grapleaves in pan and add water until grape leaves are covered. Add 2 tablespoons of butter/marg. Cook on high until water boils, lower heat and let cook for another hour or until rice is cooked. place a dish on top of grape leaves while cooking to keep them down. When grape leaves are cooked add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Nut Pastry BAQLAWA (Lebanese) In the Lebanon the famous pastry called Baqlawa is made of many layers of paper-thin dough with a filling of crushed nuts and sugar between layers. The best samneh is used for this dough. Sugar syrup is poured over the pastry when it comes hot from the oven to give it a translucency and a rich honey flavor. The pastry is difficult to make at home for it must be rolled very thin. Sheets of it can be bought at pastry shops selling oriental sweets. Squares of baqlawa are sold at the shops where made, from large trays. They may be eaten there, or taken home. Shops specializing in Arabic sweets box them for shipment around the world. Among the different kinds of baqlawa are Kul we Ishkur (eat and praise), Zibd es Sit (the lady's wrist).
Rice Pudding RIZ BI HALEEB Here is another rice pudding loved by Lebanese children. 1 qt. milk 3/4 cup rice 1 1/4 cups sugar 1/2 tsp. ma'el ward (rose water) 1/2 tsp. ma'ez zahr (orange blossom essence) 1/4 tsp. powdered mustikah (gum Arabic) 1 cup cold water Wash rice well in several waters to remove loose starch. Add cold water and rice to milk which has been brought to the boil. Boil for half an hour over a medium flame. Stir well and gradually turn up the cooking flame. When pudding has thickened add the sugar, rose water and orange blossom essence. Continue boiling until bubbles break through the pudding. Pour into individual serving dishes. Decorate in the traditional manner with a design of blanched almonds, pistachio nuts or pine nuts.
Pounded Rice Pudding Muhallabieh 1 qt. milk 1/4 cup pounded rice 3/4 cup water 3/4 cup sugar 1 tsp. ma'ez zahr (orange blossom essence) 1/4 cup chopped blanched almonds and skinned pistachio nuts This Lebanese pudding is a favorite both summer and winter, especially liked by children and always served to invalids. In the Middle East the rice may be purchased already pulverized. It could also be pulverized at home with a mortar and pestle or in an electric blender. Mix rice with water and add to milk which has been brought to a boil. Stir and cook until thickened and then add sugar. Continue cooking and stirring until mixture coats the spoon. Add flavorings and bcil a few minutes longer. Pour into individual serving dishes and decorate with chopped nuts.
Cream Cheese LABNEH The arabs relish this cheese at any time, but particularly for breakfast with black olives, olive oil and bread. start the preparation of labneh by adding to the laban enough salt to taste. pour into a cheesecloth or a coarse cotton bag. let hang overnight to drip dry and remove the whey.
Yogurt LABAN 1 quart milk 1 Tbsp. laban starter Laban (yoghurt) is essential to the Middle Eastern diet. It goes under many names but whatever it is called, it is ever present. Its acidity makes it a diet regulator. The laban culture is kept going in the Leb anese kitchen at all times. Family members who emigrate usually take a laban culture along with them to their new country. To preserve the culture they soak a clean handkerchief in fresh laban, let it dry carefully, wrap it in clean paper and put it in a safe pocket. When preparing laban, temperature conditions must be exactly right and the culture must not be disturbed while it is working. Scald milk and cool to almost lukewarm. Stir the starter, which has been saved from a previous batch, until smooth. Thin with several tablespoons of warm milk. Stir starter into rest of milk. Mix well. Cover bowl with a china plate and wrap in a heavy wool cloth or blanket. Leave undisturbed in a warm, but not hot, place. In summer laban usually clabbers in about three hours; in winter it requires an hour more. When completely clabbered place in refrigerator. Do not jar the laban and thereby disturb the curd. Serve cold. Many ways of serving laban are described in this book. It is equally good with meat, vegetables or fruit. It is never served with fish, however.
KHUBZ Arabic Bread In the Middle East bread is not only the staffof life, but often fork, spoon and plate as well. The typical bread of Arab countries and Turkey is a flat, round loaf which is only slightly leavened. Its flavor is best when fresh from the oven, because it contains no milk or shortening and dries out quickly. Peasants and villagers prefer this bread for its chewy texture and they also like the convenience of the flat loaves. They can stuff it with meat, cheese or vegetables for a hearty sandwich. They can break off bits to dip into hummus bi taheeni, or they can use pieces of it to clean the last of the stew from their plates. Towspeople have been conditioned to different ideas about bread by the light loaves introduced by foreigners and available in the larger towns. The true bread of Lebanon and its Arab neighbo?s is made without shortening or milk. It is flat loaf about 10 inches in diameter which puffs roundly in the oven but falls as it cools. It is easily pulled open and the pocket thus formed can be filled with whatever the appetite demands. In towns a good housewife makes bread at home. Often she may send the raised loaves to the commercial oven for baking. To prepare the dough the housewife or her maid put her dough ball (the leavened "starter" saved from the preceding batch of bread) to dissolve in a pan of salted water. Into this liquid she mixes enough wheat flour to make a soft dough. She then covers the pan of dough and leaves it until the next morning when she turns the dough into a tub. Kneading in more flour and salt water she works the dough into a smooth, elastic mass. She usually puts the tub on the floor and kneels before it, pounding the dough alternately with her fists. Finally she shapes it into a long roll on a low table. From the roll she cuts neat slices which she shapes into balls and arranges on a clean, white cloth. One loaf is put away as a "starter". Next, the home baker rolls her dough out with a wooden rolling pin into flat, round loaves which she places in rows upon a cloth, spread over a piece of carpet or blanket. Now the bread is ready to be carried to the bakery on a big wooden or straw tray. An errand boy from the bakery makes the rounds of the neighborhood kitchens each morning, to carry the loaves to the bakery. Now housewives can buy ready made bread in bakeries and that saves them the trouble of making it at home. From tnis bread an especially tasty open-faced sandwich called manakish is made in Lebanon. Oil and spices (particularly thyme are spread on the dough before it is baked. Children also love the dry rolls sprinkled with sesame seeds called ka'k kurshalli. These rolls are small and either round or oblong in shape. In the towns of Lebanon a long crusty loaf somewhat like French bread and called khubz franji is popular. Also, a loaf called butter bread is baked in the bigger towns, like Beirut and Tripoli, purchased principally by foreigners. The mountain people of Lebanon bake a delicious paper-thin dark bread called khubz markouk, meaning "stretched " or "patted". The women who make this bread are artists at their craft. The technique of manipulating the loaf of dough so that it becomes a paper thin circle several feet in diameter can be mastered only after years of practice. Mothers teach their daughters. The mountain bread maker starts her baking in the same way as the town woman. When the dough has risen for the second time she moves to a sheltered spot outdoors where she has a fire burning in a ground hearth. The bread is baked on a concave sheet of black iron called a sajj. The woman sits crosslegged before a low wooden table, shaping the dough balls into rounded loaves with a quick motion of her hands. She takes them one by one between her palms, patting and pressing the dough as she shifts it deftly from one hand to the other. Her arms move faster and faster as she pushes the dough out into a widening circular shape. When the dough is paper- thin and almost as big as the sajj she flips it onto a round pillow and streches it to an even circular shape. Then she flips the sheet of dough quickly onto the sajj. It bakes in several minutes. When it is slightly browned she peels it from the baking pan, and lays it upon the stack in a cloth lined basket. Fresh flat round "town" loaves are to be found in an the other Arab countries. The flour is usually rather coarse although the degree of its refinement veries. Turkish peasant bread is moist and firmer than the Arab bread. It has a thick crust, may be either round or oblong, and is called frangola.
Milk Ice Cream BOUZA BI HALEEB 1 qt. milk 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/2 tsp. sahlab (cornflower) 1/4 tsp. mustikah (gum arabic) 1 tsp. ma'es zahr (orange blossom essence) Middle Eastern hostesses sprinkle chopped pistachio nuts over this ice cream when serving it to guests. Dissolve sehlab in one cup of milk. Bring the rest of the milk to a boil with the sugar. Add the cold milk and starch mixture slowly to the hot milk, stirring constantly. Pulverize the mustikah and mix with several teaspoons of sugar. Add to the cooking milk mixture. Boil gently over low fire for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from fire. Stir occasionally while cooking. Flavor with ma'ez zahr. Freeze either in crank type freezer or in refrigerator trays. When mixture is frozen in refrigerator trays it should be removed and beaten three times during freezing to break up ice crystals. Just before serving, take the trays of ice cream from the freezer unit and allow to rest several minutes in the chilling part of the refrigerator
Green Beans in Olive Oil LOUBIEH BI ZAYT 1 lb. fresh green string beans 1/2 cup chopped onions 3/4 cup olive oil 2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped 2 whole cloves garlic 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper These succulent beans are served tepid or cold and could be prepared a day in advance. Heat olive oil in pressure cooker. Fry in it the chopped onions and whole garlic. When yellow, add beans, salt and pepper, and fry gently for 10 minutes stirring frequently. Add tomatoes and one cup water (substitute 11 cups fresh or canned tomato juice if desired). Cook under pressure 10 minutes. Simmer uncovered to allow beans to absorb sauce completely. Season to taste. Cook without pressure if preferred. After vegetables are sautéed, simmer in tomato juice until tender. Serves 4.
Stuffed Marrows KOUSA MAHSHI 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 sirnmer a few minutes more.
Fried Fish SAMAK MAQLI The Mediterranean waters bordering Lebanon yield many succulent fish. Of these, the Lebanese prefer one called the Sultan Ibrahim which they usually pan-fry and serve piping hot with a sauce. Fish sauces include mayonnaise, taratour bi taheeni (a sesame flavored sauce), or a mixture of pine nuts crushed well together with lemon juice, garlic and salt. Lemon wedges always accompany fish, no matter what other sauce is served. Clean and scale the fish. Leave the head, but remove the eyes. Sprinkle inside and out with salt. Place the salted fish in the refrigerator for several hours. Let it return to room temperature before cooking. Dredge fish in flour. Fry in half inch olive oil until browned, shaking pan gently during cooking to prevent sticking. Turn fish once. Fry pieces of Arabic bread in the same oil and use them to garnish the fish, along with radishes and green onions. Fish is often served with bits of fried vegetables such as squash, eggplant or cauliflower. It also combines well with hummus bi taheeni and baba ghannouj.