Recipes+For+Middle+Eastern+Food

__**Stuffed Cabbage, Green Peppers, Tomatoes, Zucchini, Squash**__ __Stuffing: (no meat)__

2-cups rice 1 large onion (diced) 1/4-cup olive oil 1-teaspoon salt and pepper 1/4-teaspoon cumin1/4-teaspoon Italian seasoning 1 lemon (squeezed) 3 tomatoes (finely diced) 1 bunch of green onions (diced) 2 cloves garlic (diced) 1/4-cup wine (optional)

Mix all ingredients and let stand for 1/2 hour- mix thoroughly before using.

__Stuffing: (with meat)__

In a pan, add olive oil, onion, garlic and 93% extra lean ground beef, and brown until meat is done. Add wine and lemon, stir well, and then add the rest of the ingredients (rice, salt, pepper, etc.- as mentioned above). Mix well and let it stand for 1/2 hour. Mix thoroughly before using.

__Cabbage Preparation-__

2 heads of large green cabbage

Put water in a pot (1/4 height or less) with a tablespoon of vinegar. Take cabbage head and put it upside down in the water, and cover the pot. Wait for the water to boil for 5 minutes. Uncover pot, turn cabbage head upside down, and make a slit where the leaves are attached to core until the leaves are loose. Go down 2 rows, then cover the pot and leave it to boil for 5 minutes. Uncover pot, take loose leaves out and put them in a tray. Repeat this process until all leaves are done. Do the same for the second head of cabbage.

For each leaf, depending on size cut out the thick piece in the middle of the leaf and partition leaf into 3 parts. Repeat this process until all leaves are done. You are now ready to stuff them.

For each leaf, put it flat in your hand and place a spoon of stuffing mixture in it. Spread this across the leaf. At one end of the leaf, roll it like a cigar and squeeze it over the pot. Place the roll in the pot, and then repeat this process for all the leaves. Once you finish one layer with all rolls facing one direction, begin the second layer placing the leaves perpendicular to the last layer. Repeat this process until all leaves are complete.

In a separate pot, boil 4.5 cups of water, salt and pepper, lemon, wine, and olive oil (tablespoon). Once the mixture boils, pour it gently over the rolled leaves. Place the cabbage pot on the stove at high heat and wait until it comes to a boil before turning the heat to medium low. Keep the pot on the burner until all the water is gone or the cabbage melts in your mouth. (about 1.5-2 hours boiling time)

__Green Peppers-__

Take the core out & throw it away. Clean the inside as much as possible. Take the stuffing mixture and fill the pepper 1/2 way up. Place it face down in the pot. Repeat this process for the rest of the peppers. Dice 3 tomatoes and put them over the stuffed peppers (if used 1 cup of rice boil 2 cups of water, and add salt, pepper, lemon, wine, and olive oil (tablespoon)). This will take about 1-1.5 hours.

__Zucchini, squash and tomatoes-__

Core out and use the insides for the bedding in the pot to place the stuffed zucchini, squash and tomatoes. Fill the cored zucchini, squash and tomatoes 1/2 full and place in the pot (should be flat). (Tomatoes are cored from the side)

__Cucumber Yogurt Salad__

4 cucumbers (diced) 3 cloves of garlic (diced) 1 bunch of green onions (diced) 1-teaspoon salt and pepper 1 quart of plain yogurt (regular) 1/4-cup olive oil

Mix cucumber and spices in a bowl. Add garlic and green onions and mix. Add yogurt and olive oil and mix well. Let it sit over night to marinate, and then eat.

__**Hummus**__ 4 cans of chickpeas (drained) 1-teaspoon salt and pepper 3/4-cup tahina sauce 3 lemons (squeezed) 1/3 parsley bunch (diced)

In a bowl, mix tahina and lemon until blended. In a blender, blend the chickpeas and add to the bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. If needed, add a little water for consistency.

__**Kidrek**__

2-cup rice 1 lb. 93% ground beef 1 can drained garbanzo beans (chick peas) 1 large head of onions (diced) 2 cloves of garlic (diced) 1-teaspoon salt and pepper 1/4-teaspoon turmeric 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1/4-cup olive oil 1/2-cup wine (optional)

Out onion and garlic and olive oil in a pot and brown. Add meat and brown. Add wine and spices. When meat is done, add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add the rice and wait until it boils, then turn the heat to “lo” and keep it until liquid is gone.


 * __Lahmet wa-Ajien__**

__Dough-__

4-cups flour 1-teaspoon salt 1-teasppoon sugar 1-teaspoon baking powder 1/2 package of dry yeast 1/2-teaspoon Italian spice 2 eggs 1/4- cup olive oil

Pour yeast and sugar in a cup and add 1/2-cup warm water. Stir well and wait until yeast rises to top of cup. Mix flour, salt, spices, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add eggs, oil, warm water and yeast to flour mixture. Work flour mixture and kneed it until dough is non-sticky. Cover it and wait for it to rise (about 2 hours)

__Filling-__

2 lbs ground meat (93% lean) 1-teaspoon salt and pepper 2 large onions 1 bunch green onions 1/2 bunch parsley 1/4-cup olive oil 4 lemons 1/2-teaspoon cumin 1/2-cup tahina sauce 1/4-cup wine (optional)

Finely dice onions, parsley, and garlic. Add meat, olive oil, salt, pepper and cumin- mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, add lemons to tahina sauce and stir until smooth. Add very little water to mixture and stir (do not make too liquid- should be pasty). Add resulting mixture to meat mixture and mix thoroughly (do not make too liquid- should be pasty).

__Final Preparation-__

Grease flat pans. Once dough has risen, with your palms under the dough, shake it down several times to lessen the rise. Take a tablespoon, dip it in water, and cut a ball of dough out and place it on a tray. Use a teaspoon and take some meat mixture. Press the meat into the center of the dough. Shape the dough in the form of a square with the meat in the center by pressing the meat into the dough. Add more meat if necessary. Repeat this process until all the dough and meat is finished. Once trays are filled, put a dab of butter on each “little pizza” and wait about 2-3 hours for the dough to rise again. Preheat oven to 350, then bake and wait until the dough is light brown, then take out of oven.


 * __Parsley Tahina Salad__**

5 bunches of parsley (diced) 2 garlic cloves (diced) 1-teaspoon salt and pepper 1/4-cup olive oil 3/4-cup tahina sauce 3 squeezed lemons

In a bowl, mix tahina and lemon until blended. Add a little water to make it a little liquid. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well. Let it sit over night. Stir the next day and eat.

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