Recipe Talk

There is a Palestinian restaurant in Toronto named "Jerusalem" that serves a dish called "Sanieh bi Tahena" (ground meat with tahini). It's served in a pan resembling a miniature cake pan, about 6 inches around and 3/4 inch deep. The meat (lamb, I would suppose) is mashed flat on the bottom of the pan, and it is covered with tahini (ground sesame seed) and sprinkled with pine nuts.
That part I think I could handle, but the meat itself has a wonderful seasoning that might take forever for me to reproduce. The flavor is memorable, to say the least. It has been several years since I've had it and I still crave it from time to time. Any ideas?

Soutzoukakia Smyrneika (Ground Meat Sausages, Smryna Style

Servings [Reset] Keys : Meats Minced Ground Greek Greece European Mediterranean
Ingredients :

4 tbl Butter, melted
1 lb Tomatoes, peeled
1 tsp Granulated sugar
Salt & freshly ground pepper
3 x Garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup Dry white wine
1 sm Bay leaf
1 lb Lean ground beef
2 slc Bread, crusts removed, soaked in water, and squeezed dry
1 tsp Ground cumin
1 x Egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp Parsley, minced
1 tsp Salt, (or more to taste)
1 pch Freshly ground pepper
Oil for frying

Method :
Combine the melted butter, tomatoes, sugar, salt & pepper, 1 clove of garlic, wine, and bay leaf in a saucepan. Simmer for 30 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve or food mill. Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and knead thoroughly. (The mixture should not be stiff.) Pinch off pieces a little larger than a walnut and shape with the hands into elongated egg shapes about 1 x 3 inches. Fry them lightly on all sides in hot oil and then drain on paper towels, or arrange them on a baking dish and bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes, turning once.
Drop the soutzoukia in sauce and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with a steaming grain dish and fresh, cooked vegetables or salad.

Kibbet batata bi sanieh - potato kibbi

Yield: 8 servings

6 md Potatoes Water

1 1/2 c Fine burghul

1 md Onion; grated

1/2 c Finely chopped parsley

1 ts Dried mint

1/2 ts Ground cinnamon

2 ts Salt; more to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 c Flour, optional

1 lg Onion; halved then sliced

3/4 c Olive oil

TO FINISH Scrub and cook potatoes in boiling, salted water until tender. Peel and mash. Place burghul in a fine sieve and rinse with cold water. Press with back of spoon to extract moisture, then turn into a large bowl and leave for 15 minutes. Add potatoes, grated onion, parsley, mint, cinnamon, salt and plenty of pepper. Mix, taste and add more salt if necessary. Knead well with hand, moistening it occasionally with water. If mixture is too soft add enough flour to make a firm paste, kneading well. Put sliced onion and half the oil in a 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 inch) baking dish or 30 cm (12 inch) round dish. Dot potato paste over onions, then spread evenly with a spatula. Cut into diamond shapes using an oiled knife. Pour remaining oil evenly on top and bake in a hot oven for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in dish, then serve at room temperature with salad. Good served hot, in which case cool for 10 minutes before serving. Source: The Complete Middle East Cookbook - by Tess

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Hummus Bi Tahini

vegetarian

19 oz can chickpeas

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoon tahini

1 each garlic clove, chopped

1 juice of 1 1/2 lemons

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon cold water

1 tablespoon pine nuts

1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine chickpeas with their juice with baking soda & bring to a boil. Immediately remove from heat, drain & rinse thoroughly. In a food processor, combine chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, salt & 1 Tb of water. Blend till creamy. Add rest of the water if mixture apears too thick. Refrigerate. Heat olive oil & fry pine nuts till golden brown. When ready to serve, sprinkle over hummus. Serve cold with pita bread. "The Hamilton Spectator", July 1993

Yield: 6 servings

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Sanieh bi Tahini recipes ground meat with tahini

Two ways with Ground Meat

Here are two classic ground meat dishes as prepared by Chef Badia Chaia of Al-Barmaki Restaurant, Beirut.

Kibbeh bi Sanieh

(Baked Kibbeh loaf)

1/2 kilo lean lamb from the leg

1/2 kilo cracked wheat

1 medium onion

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. allspice

1 cup butter

bowl of water with ice

Kibbeh stuffing

14 oz. ground lamb from neck

2 medium onions

3/4 cup pine nuts

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. Pepper

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Wash cracked wheat and squeeze out the water. Put the lamb through the fine blade of meat grinder and then pound it to a paste. Chop onion very fine and pound with sail and allspice. Put onion and meat through the grinder once together. Knead meat mixture with cracked wheat, dipping hands in ice water to keep meat smooth. Put mixture through grinder, adding ice water as required for smoothness. Set aside and prepare stuffing.

Stuffing: grind lamb once and mix with minced onions and spices. Sautee in skillet with vegetable oil. Sautee pine nuts until brown. Butter a large round baking pan and pat in a smooth layer of kibbe about half an inch thick. Spread stuffing in a second layer over the kibbe. Shape a second slightly thicker layer of kibbe on a large plate and place layer on top of stuffing. Score surface of top layer with a knife to make a diamond pattern. Poke a hole with finger in middle of loaf. Run a knife around the edge of pan and pour melted butter around sides. Dot surface with butter, place in hot oven for about 20 minutes, or until browned. Garnish with pine nuts. Serves six.

Kiftah Yoghurtliya

(Meat balls in yogurt sauce)

2 pounds coarsely ground lamb

1 large onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup minced parsley (flat leaf)

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. hot pepper

1/2 tsp. allspice

2 pounds yogurt

2 cloves garlic, mashed

4 sprigs mint, minced

1 tsp. cornstarch

3/4 cup pine nuts

points of toasted Arab bread (optional)

3 tbls. butter

1 beaten egg

Mix meat, onion, parsley and spices and form into walnut-sized meatballs. Sautee in butter. Keep hot. To make sauce, mix corn-starch in a little water until smooth and add to yogurt with the garlic, mint, egg and salt. Put on fire and stir clockwise until it bubbles. Let it sit for a few minutes while you arrange meatballs on individual plates ringed with toast points. Pour sauce over meatballs and garnish with toasted pine-nuts and a little chopped mint. Serves six.

This article appeared on pages 8-12 of the November/December 1975 print edition of Saudi Aramco World.

Soutzoukakia smyrneika (ground meat sausages, smryna style

Categories: Ethnic Ground beef Beef Sausages

Yield: 20 servings

4 tb Butter; melted

1 lb Tomatoes; peeled

1 ts Granulated sugar

Salt & freshly ground pepper

3 Garlic cloves; crushed

1/4 c Dry white wine

1 sm Bay leaf

1 lb Lean ground beef

2 sl Bread; crusts removed, soaked in water, and squeezed dry

1 ts Ground cumin

1 Egg; lightly beaten

2 ts Parsley; minced

1 ts Salt; (or more to taste)

1 pn Freshly ground pepper

Oil for frying

Combine the melted butter, tomatoes, sugar, salt & pepper, 1 clove of garlic, wine, and bay leaf in a saucepan. Simmer for 30 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve or food mill. Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and knead thoroughly. (The mixture should not be stiff.) Pinch off pieces a little larger than a walnut and shape with the hands into elongated egg shapes about 1 x 3 inches. Fry them lightly on all sides in hot oil and then drain on paper towels, or arrange them on a baking dish and bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes, turning once. Drop the soutzoukia in sauce and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with a steaming grain dish and fresh, cooked vegetables or salad. From: "The Food of Greece" by Vilma Liacouras Chantiles, Avenel Books, New York.