Mediterranean Pot Roast Beef and Mushrooms

Preheat oven 225°F
Melt butter with olive oil in a heavy, medium / large size casserole, add finely chopped carrot and and diced onion, stir it for 2 -3 minutes, then add the meat and brown it evenly over moderate heat.

When meat is thoroughly browned all over, add herbs and tomatoes. Pour in beef stock and wine and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to simmering point over a low heat. Cover pan tightly and transfer to the oven. Cook for about 2 hours.

When meat is tender, remove it from the pan and keep it hot. 

Skim pan juices of excess fat if necessary, and rub juices and vegetables through a fine sieve. Pour back into the casserole and boil vigorously, stirring, until the liquid reduced by one half.

Return meat to the casserole together with sliced mushrooms. Bring to simmering again. Reduce the heat all the way and very gently and simmer about one hour or longer to finish allowing the flavor to develop solely. 

Just before serving, lift out the meat, drain back the juice into casserole. Slice meat thickly and arrange on a heated serving platter.

Ingredients:

Serves 6-8

• 4 Pound top round beef
• 1/2 stick of butter about 3 tblspn
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 large carrots, finely chopped
• 4 onions, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoon parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 small bay leaves
• 4 medium size tomatoes.
• 3 cups beef stock
• 1 cup red wine
• Salt and pepper
• 1 pound mushrooms, thin sliced
• 1 teaspoon fenugreek
• 3/4 cup table cream
• 3 tablespoon lemon Juice
  

Cauliflower and Sun Dried Yogurt

Food I make Kitchen calling for this very old dish. The recipe or the base of it, goes few hundred years in history and more! This is what originally called "Mansaf" is based on, this dish is famous at some part of the Middle- East, where you find sheep milk and yogurt. The yogurt must be dried under the month of July's sun! So the yogurt became just like a hard stone, and this what we call it "Jameed" or "Ketha".  The old time people use to live on this substance, in the winter time, and they store it throughout the year, and kept it for the time of cooking for long time of course "no fridge". Therefore the "jameed" used to be the base and the sauce for many different dishes, and the most famous among it is the "Mansaf". Rich earthy smell and taste, you will never experience any taste like it... wow!!
Now " Jameed " or "Ketha" could be found at some of the Middle-Eastern stores, However I can easily label it, as a commercial production and you know the rest. My "Jameed" is always brought as a home-made. I'm still in the process to make it locally at my "FoodImake" home and waiting for the recipe!

Mashed Potato Tray with Beef صينية بطاطا مع اللحم

Potato Puree with Meat and Cheese

 بطاطس بالصينية  

This is a simple delicious dish for potato lovers, who doesn't like potato!! Oh may be my friend Jessica.. the topping texture give the dish a balanced contrast and texture, as turned the smooth potato melted in you mouth with the delicate chewing of the cheese taste. Here I use the gruyere cheese and mozzarella, however using a gouda cheese is also a good choice, but I like it with first more!! I used a frozen green peas for this recipe and cooked very short time with the meat mixture to maintain the texture of the peas. Also the ground beef I used is lean about 8% fat. The oven time is short just to make the topping brown  as well as to incorporate the taste of the ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of Ground beef or about 1/2 pound
• 1 cup of green peas
• 4 potato medium size about 2 pounds
• 1 cup of bread crumb
• 1 onion minced
• 1 cup of milk
• half of a cup of cheese (Gruyere and mozzarella)
• 5 tbsn of butter- 3 for cooking and 2 for bread crumb
• 1/4 cup of pin nuts 
• Seasoning: Black pepper / cinnamon / cayenne  

Method

Chop the onion onion minced, melt the butter and  sauté the onion while it's coking add the cinnamon and black pepper. Just before the onion gets golden and brown it's about 4 min, add the beef and stir very well after adding more black pepper and some salt, cook for another 5 min stirring very well normally about 5 min. Add the green pees and the pin nuts and cook for extra 1 min only, try not to over cook the pees.

mash the potato adding generous amount of salt and the milk with dash of cayenne, then spread half of the potato in a medium size oven tray as the first layer, add the cooked beef mixture in the middle, then add the rest of the potato third layer. 

Add two tbspn of melted butter to bread crumb and mix them well, spread the bread crumb on the top of the potato adding the cheese.

Bake at 350F for about 15 min.... Enjoy 

Mediterranean Syrian Meat Pie Beef on Flat bread Sfeha

Ingredients:

• Pita bread dough (Recent recipe)
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 peeled chopped tomatoes
• 1 tspn of each salt, pepper and oregano
• 1/2 tspn of each cinnamon and white pepper
• 1-1/2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/3 bread crumb
• 1/3 cub of milk
•  2 tspn lemon juice

Method:

Combine all ingredients together and mix it very will for the topping.

cut the dough in to small pieces and put them in a greased pan

spread the dough and add 2 tbsp of the topping and press it firmly by spreading it to cover all the dough.

bake it in the oven for 5-7 min  until done.

Spaghetti Garlic Noodles with Beef and FreshTomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 chopped onion 
• 3 tomatoes
• 3 gloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tspn salt
• 1 tspn pepper 
• spaghetti 

Method:

Cook spaghetti according to package directions, drain, and set aside.

Spaghetti sauce:
 in a large saucepan over medium heat saute onion in olive oil  for 10 min add garlic mix it then add the beef after 5 min add the tomato paste and fry for 5 min add salt and pepper tern the heat to law.
blend the tomatoes until smooth then add to the pan tern the heat to high until boiling then let it simmer for 5 min.

transfer the spaghetti to baking dish and top with spaghetti sauce put in the oven for 25min.