Loobie (Green Beans and Lamb in Tomato Sauce)

Loobie Louie, oh, no, baby! Loobie is mmmhmm, delicious from first bite to last. You may serve it over rice pilaf, or with stuffed eggplant or koosa, or just eat it alone. The lamb will be fall-off-the-bone tender, and the flavor will be one your mouth won't want to stop tasting.

1 lb fresh green beans
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 or three meaty lamb neck bones
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 diced onion
salt
Syrian pepper, or ground Jamaican allspice

Wash the green beans and snap off the stem end. Then snap them in half.

Put the olive oil in a pan on medium heat.

Salt the lamb bones on both sides. When oil is hot, add the lamb bones and brown on both sides.

Then add the onions and the chopped garlic.

Wait for onions to turn translucent, then add the green beans.

Add the diced tomatoes, the crushed tomatoes salt and pepper.

Stir all ingredients in the pan. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
I love mine over rice pilaf. You will fight over the lamb meat, so get yours first, and then take more when no one is looking.

Lubne bil Khyar (Yogurt and Cucumber Salad)

This is the most refreshing thing to eat on a hot summer's day. It'll cool you and it's good for you, too! Make sure you use fresh mint when making this. It'll delight your senses. Yes, if you must, you can use low fat yogurt, but it's best with whole milk yogurt.

32 oz container of plain yogurt
1 large cucumber, cut into bite size pieces and seeded (just scoop those babies out with a spoon)
1 large clove of garlic, minced. If you love garlic, make it two cloves.
3 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint

That's it! Just combine all of the ingredients and you're done! Even if it's 100 degrees out, have a sweater handy when you eat this, because it will cool you right down to your bones.

Izhjee (izh-jee) or The best Lebanese breakfast you will ever have

Izhjee has no known way of spelling in English. I just guessed at it. But don't worry about pronouncing it. It has a taste of its own and it's the best breakfast this side of Lebanon. If you read the koosa recipe, and it said to keep what you scoop out of the squash, this recipe is why.

Serves 2:

4 eggs
insides of squash, mashed or chopped a bit or use a grater

1/4 cup flour
2 tsp. baking soda
salt
Syrian pepper or ground Jamaican allspice
1/4 cup scallions, chopped
one big beautiful garden-fresh tomato, sliced
butter for griddle
Middle Eastern bread or Syrian bread or Arabic bread and if you can't find these, pita bread, but using pita is almost sacrilegious...just sayin'...

The insides of the squash will look similar to this:

Arabic or Syrian Bread:

Pita Bread: ( see how thick it is?)

Beat the eggs:

Chop and add the onion:

Add baking soda and flour:

Add squash:

Mix it up!

It should look like this, pancake bater consistency:

Scoop pancake size portions onto a heated, buttered griddle. Cook about 1/12 to 2 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom, and flip, repeating the same.

Cut the Syrian bread into quarters. Put one of the izhjee's in. Top it with a fresh sliced tomato. Bring to your mouth and believe.

Hummus beh Tahini ( Chickpea Dip with Tahini Sauce)

Sometimes, all you need is love. Other times, all you need is hummus.

                       


Hummus is known world-wide and is not only delicious, but a great source of protein. And it is hard to stop eating, filling, and just plain delicious. I have a secret in this recipe that makes it smoother than you have ever had. That is, if you like smooth. Some people don't and if you are one of those people, just skip that step.

2 1/2 cups canned chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans which is more fun to say), drained and rinsed
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon
1/4 cup tahini (which is made from sesame seeds)
2 cloves of crushed garlic
1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
Syrian Pepper OR ground Jamaican allspice
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup water
garnish such as parsley or olive oil or paprika or all of these



First: the secret step. Skip this step if you don't like your hummus really smooth. Add the chickpeas to 6 cups of boiling water and boil until the outer shells falls off. They're clear, but you can still see them. Drain the chickpeas and toss the outer shells.

Place the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and water in your food processor or blender. If you are using a blender that has the blades at the bottom, add the liquid ingredients first. If you have a blender with two levels of blades, do whatever you want.

Blend until it become the consistency you like. I blend mine for at least a minute in a two blade level blender because I like it like that.

Add ins: You may have noticed in the food markets all kinds of hummus with add-ins, like roasted red pepper, pine nuts, etc. You can add these to your hummus at the end. Just cut anything big to small sizes, and mix into your hummus.

Scoop onto a dish, and make swirls in it to hold the olive oil you are going to garnish it with. Then drizzle some olive oil on. You may sprinkle lightly with paprika and top with some sprigs of parsley. Pretend to save some for someone else by putting it, covered, in the refrigerator.

Koosa Mehshee (stuffed squash) Warm those bones!

My mother used to let my two sisters and I  hollow out this squash. The kind of squash we used was only available through our family gardens. It is now available commercially. The squash is a greenish/yellow colored 6 - 8 inch squash. It is lovely and tender and what you scoop out from the inside can be used for a recipe for breakfast (called iszhee). The scoop is a long curved utensil...kind of "u" shaped with a pointy end. If you have one, use that, being careful not to poke through the closed end of the squash like I have done on so many occasions. If you don't have one, use a small spoon, being careful not to break through the skin of the squash.

This is a great dinner on a cold night when you just want to warm your bones.


Serves 6 - 8

1 dozen koosa squash
1 can tomato puree
2 cups water
1 clove garlic, chopped

Stuffing:

1 cup Uncle Ben's long grain rice...(yes, only Uncle Ben's)
1 1/2 lbs 80% lean ground lamb
1/4 stick melted butter
1/2 cup canned tomatoes
Salt
Lebanese or Syrian pepper (again, you can use ground Jamaican allspice)

Combine the stuffing ingredients.

Cut off the stem end of the squash, just below the stem. If the stem end is narrow, cut a little further down so you can get a utensil in there to scoop out the insides. Then gently scoop away. Try to scoop so that you leave about 1/4" of squash with skin intact.

Wash them with cold water and put aside to dry. Stuff the squash with the filling, leaving 1/2 inch opening unfilled to allow for the rice to swell. Place all of these tender little lovelies in a baking dish, preferably in a single layer.

Mix tomato puree and water. Add salt and pepper. Pour this over the squash. Cook at 350 degrees for 35 minutes and serve over rice pilaf. If your cold weather bones don't immediately warm up from this dish, have another one!