Oozy Palestinian Middle Eastern Recipes

OUZI LAMB

Steps:

• For the lamb: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven and sear lamb all around until nicely browned. Remove to a roasting pan and drizzle with apple cider vinegar.
• Add diced garlic, then onions to the Dutch oven and cook until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add Burgundy, Marsala, sherry, salt, allspice, pepper, cinnamon and 1 1/2 quarts water and let it simmer a few minutes.
• Add tomatoes, bay leaves, rosemary and the contents of the Dutch oven to roasting pan with the lamb. Cover it tight and roast until tender, 3 to 3 1/2 hours.
• For the ouzi rice: Meanwhile, add ground beef to a hot pot and cook, stirring and mashing constantly, until cooked, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
• Place oil and onions in same pot and cook until tender. Add the rice and stir all together, then add the ground beef, salt, allspice, cinnamon, pepper and 4 1/2 cups water. Cover and cook on really low heat for 40 minutes.
• For the beurre noisette: Cook the butter in a small saucepot until it starts to brown, then add almonds and pine nuts and continue to cook until toasted.
• Serve chunks of lamb over ouzi rice. Top with beurre noisette and serve with yogurt.

FOUL MUD A LA ALFANOOSE

Steps:

• Rinse and drain well fava beans and chick peas.
• Chop tomatoes and drain (draining is not required, but will get rid of some extra liquid in the dressing).
• Combine all ingredients and let marinate overnight in refrigerator, if desired. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

SHAWRBAT 'ADAS MAA BANADOURA (LENTIL AND TOMATO SOUP)

Steps:

• Place lentils and water in a saucepan and bring to boil. Cover and cook over medium heat for 25 minutes.
• In the meantime, in a frying pan, heat oil and sauté onions and garlic until they turn golden brown. Stir in remaining ingredients, except lemon juice, and sauté for another 5 minutes.
• Stir the frying pan contents into the lentils and bring to boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes or until rice and lentils are well-cooked. Stir in lemon juice and serve hot.

KA'AK BI AJWA (DATE RING COOKIES) PALESTINIAN, MIDDLE EASTERN

Steps:

• Mix smeed, flour, salt, sugar, and butter/oil in a large pan. Cover and leave for ten hours, or overnight.
• Dissolve the yeast in 2 tablespoons water and a dash of sugar. When it rises, add to smeed mixture.
• Dissolve mahlab and miska in cold water. Add to smeed mixture.
• Combine warm water and milk. Pour gradually while mixing all the ingredients together. (Do not knead, just stir the mixture to have a moist crust rather than a dough).
• Mix dates, nutmeg, cinnamon, and butter in a pan and warm to soften dates. Knead well.
• Roll dates in 1/3 inch thick balls. Cut a piece of dough, one at a time, the size of a walnut. Spread lengthwise, 4" by 1". Fill with date ball and roll, sealing the sides together to form a ring.
• Pinch the rings with a cookie tweezer to decorate (so powder sugar will stick to it). Place on baking sheets and bake at 400 degrees in a preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until light gold. (Place baking sheet on top rack).
• *NOTE* This is one way to do it, but I also take a round piece of dough, slightly bigger than the date ball, and push my thumb in it, then place the date ball inside and spread the dough around the date ball completely covering it. Then using a ma'amool cookie mold I place the dough with the date inside in the mold and tap the mold upside down so the finished cookie will fall out. Baking instructions are the same for either variation!
• When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar. When completely cool, freeze or store in tightly covered jars.

MIDDLE EASTERN CHICKEN WINGS

Steps:

• Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl or large ziploc bag.
• Throw the wings inches.
• Cover or seal in a ziploc bag and let marinate for 2 hours to overnight.
• Cook on a BBQ/hibatchi/grill until done.
• Serve hot.