Tag: beef
Lebanese Peas and Carrots Stew
Lebanese Peas and Carrots Stew
In Arabic cultures, beef stews are quite popular. This recipe is a Lebanese stew called bazella w riz: “peas and rice”. Beef stew meat is browned, then stewed with onions, garlic, peas, and carrots in a tomato based sauce. The stew is served over Lebanese rice with warm pita.
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef stew meat
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp Lebanese 7 spice
- 1 small onion diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup carrots diced
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Sauté the beef for 5 minutes; seasoning with the 7 spice, salt and pepper. Remove from the pan.
- Add in the onions, garlic, and cilantro. Sauté for 3 minutes.
- Add the tomato sauce, water, beef, peas, and carrots. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.
- The liquid should reduce to less than half the amount.
Lebanese Rice
Rice with fine vermicelli noodles didn’t start in San Francisco. This style of rice is a staple in the Arabic world; eaten with most meals. The base of this recipe is only 3 ingredients: rice, vermicelli, and olive oil. Additions of cinnamon and parsley enhance the flavor. Sometimes you will find almonds or pine nuts used as a garnish.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup dry vermicelli
- 2 cups basmati rice washed
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 4 cups water
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté the vermicelli for 3 minutes until browned.
- Add in the rice. Sauté for 5 minutes. Season with salt and cinnamon.
- Pour in the water. Bring to a boil.
- Cover. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
Hummus and Ground Beef
Hummus and Ground Beef
You probably have never seen hummus topped with ground beef before, but it is a popular dish in Lebanese cuisine. The hummus is a basic recipe with garbanzos, lemon juice, garlic, and tahini; all puréed in a food processor. The ground beef is browned and seasoned with Lebanese 7 spice. The beef is then place in the center of a mound of hummus; garnished with pine nuts, fried garlic, parsley, and a drizzle of olive oil. You can serve as an appetizer or as a main course with pita as a scoop.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
Hummus
- 1 can garbanzo beans
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
Ground Beef
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Lebanese 7 spice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Garnish
- olive oil
- parsley chopped
- fried garlic
- toasted pine nuts
Instructions
- Purée all of the hummus ingredients in a food processor. Place in a bowl and set aside.
- Add the olive oil is a small sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté the ground beef until cooked through.
- Turn off the heat. Season with 7 spice, salt, and pepper.
Birria Tacos
Birria Tacos
Over the last 6 months, there has been a huge trend in the Mexican culinary world. All of a sudden, every Mexican restaurant is carrying birria tacos. So what is a birria taco? Birria originated from the Mexican state of Jalisco; also home of pozole and menudo. It all started with caldo de birria, a meat stew in a pepper broth. Traditionally goat and lamb are used, but beef can be substituted. I used a combination of all 3 meats. Corn tortillas are dipped in the birria broth, then assembled with the meat, onions, and cilantro. The tacos are folded over and grilled on a griddle until they are crispy. The tacos are served with a side of the birria broth to dip the taco in; just like a French dip sandwich. I chose to use an Instant Pot to make the birria. It only took 90 minutes to prepare. You can make this in a Dutch oven or a crockpot if you don’t have a pressure cooker. It will take anywhere from 4-6 hours to get the meat tender enough to shred. Either process will get you the same results.
Servings: 24 tacos
Equipment
- food processor
- instant pot
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs beef chuck cubed
- 1 beef shank
- 1 1/2 lbs bone in goat shoulder cubed
- 1 lamb shank
- 3 dried ancho chilies
- 6 dried guajillo chilies
- 3 roma tomatoes
- 1/2 medium white onion sliced
- 6 garlic cloves
- 4 whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1/2 tsp marjoram
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- salt to taste
- 2 cups water
- corn tortillas softened
Garnish
- white onion finely chopped
- cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Dry toast the dried peppers in a sauté pan over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Place the peppers in a bowl of hot water for 20 minutes.
- Dry toast the cumin seeds, cloves, and cinnamon stick for 2 minutes. Remove from the pan.
- Dry toast the tomatoes, onions, and garlic for 10 minutes.
- Place the rehydrated roast peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic, whole spices(except the cinnamon stick), oregano, marjoram, vinegar, and salt in a blender.
- Purée until smooth.
- Arrange all of the meat in a glass baking dish.
- Pour the sauce from the blender over the meat. Cover with foil and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
- Place all of the meat and sauce in the Instant Pot along with 2 cups of water. Toss in the cinnamon stick. Turn the function to pressure cook on high for 90 minutes. Put on the cover and push start.
- Remove all of the meat and bones from the Instant Pot.
- Keep all of the birria juice warm.
- Pick out all of the bones from the meat. Place the meat in a large sauté pan over medium high heat.
- Cook down the meat until the majority of the liquid has evaporated.
Birria Taco Assembly
- Dip the softened corn tortillas in the birria juice.
- Top the tortillas with the meat, onion, and cilantro.
- Place the tacos on a griddle over medium high heat. Fold the tacos over.
- Grill the tacos for 3-4 minutes a side until the tortillas are crispy.
