Saturday, April 28, 2012

Lebanese Lamb or Beef Supreme with Mint and Yogurt

Here is a delicious recipe (Laban Ummu)  I learned from my husband's Lebanese sito (grandma). I bet that even if you have never had Lebanese food before, you will love this! It is tangy and hearty and has just the right amount of garlic and onion, and the mint is refreshing. Middle Eastern recipes often call for lamb but lamb is both expensive and some people who are not used to it find the taste to be quite strong. Feel free to substitute beef, which, in my opinion, is equally delicious. When I made this yesterday I used an inexpensive breakfast round steak, which I tenderized with the meat cleaver before cutting into bite sized pieces. Let me know how you like this!

You will need three separate cooking containers- one large frying pan, one large pot, one small frying pan for sautéing, in addition to the container you cook your rice in.

INGREDIENTS:

2- 3 lbs lamb or beef (round steak, breakfast steak or similar), tenderized if necessary and cut into bite-sized pieces

1 large container (quart) of plain yogurt (I use Stonyfield organic)

Handful of mint leaves, washed, de-stemmed, and chopped. (If you buy these in the store, look in the organic herb section)*

1 clove of garlic, minced or garlic salt

2 large onions or 4 small, cut up rather small, but not diced

2 eggs

1/4 c butter

salt to taste

Place meat which has been cut into bite-sized pieces into the large frying pan with the cut-up onions. Add water until it barely covers the top of them. Cook thoroughly.




In the large pot, empty the yogurt container along with two eggs. Whisk thoroughly and cook under low heat until bubbly.



In the small frying pan, place the garlic, butter, chopped mint leaves and salt.  Saute.



Pour the sautéed mix and yogurt mix over the meat and cook about 10 more minutes until bubbly. Serve over hot, buttered rice.  I like to serve this with a simple fresh, organic vegetable like the green beans here.  It's a nice flavor contrast. Another good side dish is a fresh green salad with iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, mint, tomatoes and a dressing of oil and lemon juice with salt and pepper.


Enjoy! 






*Here's the package I bought of organic mint. If you're going to use a lot of mint and live where you can grow it, do that! I also buy organic garlic cloves.





THIS WEEK I RECOMMEND:
*Check out this food blog: http://zibaldoneculinario.blogspot.com/ with Elena
*You may also like to peruse this site for links to many food blogs: http://cookalmostanything.blogspot.com/2008/09/whb-year-four-recaps.html