Shawerma

Ingredients


1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbl lemon juice
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, black & white pepper, dry fine oregano and salt
2 bay leaves
2 cups yogurt
1 tomato
1 1/2 lbs of lamb or beef sliced 1″ x 2″


Directions

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a bowl and marinate the lamb (or beef) in it for 6 hours.
Grease a saucepan with oil and heat.
Add the marinated lamb (or beef) and cook until tender.
Serve it with Pita bread and tahini sauce (see below), mint leaves, tomatoes and onions. (Alternatively, you may hook the pieces of meat on small wooden skewers and grill on charcoal until tender).

Shorbet Al Khodar - Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb beef stew of lamb
1 zucchini diced (about 1/4 inch)
1 small chopped onion
1 carrot sliced (about 1/4 inch)
1 cup of celery cut into pieces (about 1 inch)
1/2 medium chopped green pepper
1 small peeled potato cut into small pieces
1 chopped tomato
1/4 tsp nutmeg, black pepper, and salt


Steps:
Cut the meat into big cubes and put it in a medium caldron.
Pour cold water over it and put on the stove at high heat.
When skim appears, take it off and throw it away.
Put all the cooked pieces of meat in a clean saucepan and mix in all the above ingredients.
Clarify the broth of the meat and add it to the saucepan.
Put it on low heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Fassolia Khadra - Green Bean Stew

Ingredients

1 kg (2 pounds) cubed beef or lamb
bouquet garni
1 large onion, diced
50 ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
500 g (1 pound) green or wax beans, cut up (fresh or frozen)
7ml (1 1/2 tsp) salt
2ml (1/2 tsp) black pepper
2ml (1/2 tsp) allspice
dash cinnamon
1 156 ml (5 1/2-ounce) can tomato paste

Directions

Cover meat with water. Add the bouquet garni (a small onion, bay leaf, piece of celery, sprig of parsley) and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer until meat is tender (at least one hour). Spoon the meat onto a plate discarding the flavoring vegetables. If your cut of meat is a very tender one it won't need this cooking stage, so omit it and begin here.

In a cooking pot, fry onion in oil until wilted. Add the meat and fry, turning over a few times. Add beans and sauté for five minutes. Cover with boiling water, add salt, spices and tomato paste. (If the meat has been cooked beforehand, use meat stock instead of boiling water.) Lower heat, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes.

Adjust spices to taste. (You may use less black pepper or omit it altogether but allspice is essential.) Serve with rice.

Makes 4-5 servings