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Spicy Beef Turnovers (Hawawshi)

2 Mar

I woke up this morning undecided on what cooking adventure I would take today. Fellow blogger Malaka mentioned the word hawawshi and I couldn’t get it out of my mind! The last time I had hawawshi was probably 8 years ago in Egypt and it was unforgettable. As one article put it: “It’s a cross between a hamburger, a Mexican gordita and a South American empanada.”  In Egypt, they are made with baladi bread, which is small pita pockets.  You put the raw meat in the pocket, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes.  However, I came across a forum discussing that with the bread crisis in Egypt, more restaurants and home cooks are making their own dough and baking the hawawshi.  The picture on the right was made with dough we made at home.  However, it took a long time to knead the dough and wait for it to rise.   I also tried a version using Trader Joe’s fresh pizza dough, which sells for 99 cents.  The result – deliciousness! If someone tries stuffing pita pockets with the meat mixture below, let me know how it turns out.  

Spicy Beef Turnovers (Hawawshi)
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

2 packages of Trader Joe pizza dough
1 pound of lean ground beef (I used 95/5 and you could get away with less than a pound)
1 onion, diced
1 roma tomato, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup of fresh chopped parsley
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (add more if you like it spicy!)
1 1/2 tsp seven spice (blend of cinnamon, clove, allspice, etc.)
1/2 tsp allspice
1 1/2 tsp salt
PAM or similar oil spray

(1) In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef with the tomato, onion, garlic, parsley and spices. Knead well with your hands.
(2) On a large flat surface, remove two balls of dough – about the size of a baseball. Flatten into two large circle. You can use a rolling pin to get them to spread out quickly. Pizza dough will usually shrink back to the ball shape, unless you roll it out well.
(3) Once you have two circular shapes of dough, spoon about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture onto one of the circles. Spread the meat out thinly across the bread, leaving a small border.
(4) Take the circle of dough without the meat and place on top of the one with the meat. Press the edges together, and with your hands, flatten the entire patty. You can try to use the rolling pin, but I found my hands worked better for pounding it together. Place onto a greased cookie sheet.
(5) I also used a meat tenderizer to pound the dough out again on the cookie sheet. It creates little holes in the dough, which allows the moisture to escape from the meat as it cooks. If you do not have one, then use a fork to poke some holes in the dough. Spray the top of the patties with PAM, or lightly brush with melted butter.
(6) Place the cookie sheet into a 420 degree oven for at least 20 minutes. Check the bottom of the patty to make sure that the dough is cooked underneath. Once you have a golden color on the top and bottom, remove and enjoy!

Variations: My sister swears that there is suppossed to be green peppers in here.  I think this would taste great if you added finely diced green pepper, or for even more flavor, diced poblano or cubanelle peppers.  Yum!

Baked Kibbeh with Pomegranate Molasses Caramelized Onions

24 Feb

Kibbeh generally comes in three forms: raw (yuck), baked, and fried. Of course, the fried version is the best, but it takes an incredible amount of time to form perfect miniature meat footballs stuffed with beef and nuts. The baked version takes out all of the hassle and results in a similarly delicious meat concoction. The traditional Lebanese recipe only uses allspice in the meat and they tend to use only lamb for both the shell and the filling. In this recipe, I use some ground lamb, however, if you are not a fan of the game-like taste of lamb, feel free to just use ground beef. I also use a lot more than allspice to spice the meat. For example, I use pomegranate molasses in the sautéed onions, which makes for delish and tangy onions. Although the ingredient list looks long, it is mainly a lot of spices. This is a fairly easy dish to make!

Baked Kibbeh with Pomegranate Molasses Caramelized Onions
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Bake Time: 45 minutes

Shell
1/2 lb ground beef
1 lb of ground lamb
1 onion
1 cup bulgur wheat (fine cut)
1 tbsp seven spice
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Filling
1 lb ground beef
3/4 cup of pine nuts
2 onions
1 tsp pomegranate molasses
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp seven spice
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp salt

Olive Oil

(1) In a small bowl, rinse the bulgur wheat well. Fill the bowl with water until the bulgur wheat is covered in water. Set aside.
(2) In a food processor, pulse one onion until it has a liquid texture. Add the ground beef and lamb in batches and mix well with the onions.
(3) In a large mixing bowl, use your hands to combine the meat mixture with all of the spices.
(4) Drain the bulgur wheat and remove all excess water. Add the bulgur wheat to the meat mixture. The meat should have a soft texture.
(5) For the filling, cut one onion into large slices. Dice the other onion.
(6) In a saucepan, melt a small pat of butter and brown the pine nuts. Set aside.
(7) In the same saucepan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add the slices of onion and the pomegranate molasses. Saute until the onions become soft. Remove and set aside.
(8) In the same saucepan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add the diced onion and minced garlic. Once the onions become soft, add the seven spice and quickly stir it into the onion mixture.
(9) Add the ground beef and salt. Cook thoroughly. Remove and add parsley.
(10) In another large bowl, combine the ground beef, pine nuts and sautéed onion slices.
(11) Now you are ready to assemble the kibbeh. In an oven proof casserole, lightly butter the bottom and sides of the pan. Take half of the lamb/beef mixture and press firmly into the bottom of the pan. Lightly brush with olive oil.
(12) Add the ground beef mixture on top of this layer.
(13) Press the remainder of the lamb/beef mixture on top of the ground beef layer. Lightly brush the top with olive oil.
(14) Cut the kibbeh in diagonal slices. I added a small slivered almond on top of each diamond but it is not necessary.
(15) Place in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. For the last few minutes, turn on the broiler to brown the top of the kibbeh. Enjoy!

Summer Squash with Bechamel (Koosa bi Bechamel)

28 Jan

In Egypt, bechamel sauce signifies a home cooked meal – one that will surely fill you up and knock you out and the same time.  Over the years, I have tried to find a way to enjoy bechamel without the guilt.  I use a butter substitute, such as Olivio or Smart Balance, and use either fat free half and half or skim milk.  The result is a light and creamy topping that would fool any Egyptian :)

Koosa bi Bechamel
Prep Time: 45 minutes.
Cook Time: 45 minutes.
Serves: 6

Preheat over to 375 degrees.
6 summer squash (green or yellow)
1 lb of lean ground beef
1 large onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp seven spice
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cardamom powder (optional)
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter substitute (Olivio or Smart Balance)
1/2 cup of quick mixing flour (or regular flour)
4 cups of warm skim milk or fat free half and half
1 tsp allspice (or nutmeg)
Olive oil
salt
fresh ground black pepper

(1) Take the onion and slice half of it and dice the rest. Set aside the diced onion.  Slice the squash into 1/4 inch thick slices.
(2) In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and squash. Add a dash of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix well and add more olive oil, if necessary, to coat the mixture.  Cover and let cook for 10 minutes, or until squash is fork tender.
(3) In another saucepan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Add diced onion and minced garlic. Saute.
(4) As the onion and garlic cook, add 1/2 tbsp of seven spice and 1 tsp of cumin to the mixture. Once the mixture is cooked, add the lean ground beef and mix well. Add 1 tsp of salt (or more) to the ground beef mixture. Cook the meat all the way through.
(5) Once the meat is cooked, add the can of tomato paste, 1/2 cup of water, remainder of seven spice, and black pepper.  Let the sauce simmer over medium heat. Once the sauce is done, add the parsley, stir and remove from heat.
(6) To make the bechamel sauce, in a 4 qt saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Slowly add the quick mixing flour in batches while vigorously whisking the mixture. It should have a slighlty yellow/golden hue.
(7) Add the warmed milk or cream in batches and continue whisking to prevent clumps. Once you have added all of the milk, add the allspice and a pinch of salt. Continue to let the bechamel sauce bubble until it has thickened and no longer has a liquidy texture.
(8) In a 10 inch bake pan, add the squash mixture.  On top of the squash mixture, add the beef sauce then the bechmel sauce. 
(9) Cook in an oven at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Turn on the broiler for the last 5 minutes to obtain a bubbly browned top.

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