Beef | Bewitching Kitchen

Growing up in Sao Paulo I often enjoyed great Middle Eastern food. Thanks in part to the huge inflow of immigrants from Lebanon in the 20’s, paulistas have an abundance of Middle Eastern restaurants to choose from. I was spoiled on kibbe, sfiha, hummus, tabouleh, fattoush, kofta… delicious cuisine! Only after I left Brazil did I realize that those delicacies aren’t available at every corner of the planet. And… I miss them.

Whenever I return to Sao Paulo to visit my family it seems like I’m too busy enjoying Brazilian food, mostly home-cooked, to seek out restaurants, so Middle Eastern food gets postponed until “next year.” Because this “next year” pattern has recurred for more than a decade, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I’ve had this recipe since 2000 – from one of my visits to Sao Paulo, when a friend of mine gave it to me, straight from her Lebanese neighbor. It’s hard to accept that it took me a decade to make it, but it’s better late than never, and I’m sure glad that I did!

You can make kibbe (or, as we spell in Brazil – quibe) in two basic ways. The first is to shape the meat around the filling as individual portions, with a classical torpedo shape. In this case, the kibbe is fried. The second approach is to bake it in a tray, with the filling in a middle layer. I opted for the latter, which was always my favorite.

BAKED KIBBE
(from a Lebanese-Brazilian)

For the bottom and top layers
2 pounds ground round steak
1 cup bulgur wheat (tabouleh type)
1/2 onion, grated
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 T fresh parsley, minced
1 T fresh mint, minced
dash of cinnamon

for the middle layer (filling)
3/4 cup ground round beef
1/2 T olive oil
1/4 cup grated onion
1/2 cup pine nuts, slightly toasted
dash of cinnamon
salt and pepper

Soak the bulgur wheat in cold water for 30 minutes and drain well. Add it to the other ingredients of the top and bottom layers and mix very well with your hands, and then set the mixture aside.

Prepare the filling by sauteeing the ground beef in olive oil with the other ingredients (except the pine nuts), until cooked through. Drain off the excess fat, mix in the pine nuts and set it aside to cool.

Assemble the kibbe: divide the meat/bulgur mixture in two and spread half on the bottom of a baking dish, forming a layer 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Add the cooked meat/pine nuts mixture over this layer, then cover it with the remaining meat/wheat mixture. Cut into squares appropriate for single servings (this step makes it a lot easier to serve later).

Place the dish in a 325F oven for 35-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of your kibbe. You can increase the temperature to 400F for the final 5 minutes, or run it under the broiler to brown the top. Allow the kibbe to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

(to print the recipe, click here)

Comments – Kibbe is not a light dish; it quickly fills you up as a result of the bulgur wheat, so it calls for a light side dish. We had it with white rice and cucumber salad with a yogurt-based dressing.

This composite photo (click to enlarge it) shows the addition of the filling (cooked ground beef), the addition of the top layer (raw beef/bulgur), and the kibbe right out of the oven.

One simple variation of this dish is to only bake the meat/bulgur, without the middle layer. It’s also quite good, but this version is more traditional and, in my opinion, better. Don’t omit the pine nuts! Their crunchy texture and nutty flavor are essential.

Now that I’ve recalled my gastronomic memories of Middle Eastern food, I’m craving sfihas! We’ll have to do something about that too… 😉

Ossobuco milanese is perfect for cold evenings, and great for company, as you can prepare it in advance and re-heat it when your guests arrive. Like most braises, it gets better with a day or two of rest in the fridge. Traditionally, it’s served with a saffron risotto, but this time I made it with mashed potatoes. The sauce is so luscious, and mashed potatoes are also a perfect match.

When preparing such a classic dish, I avoid “simplified,” “easy,” “quick,” “low fat,” or “light” versions. My favorite recipe for ossobuco comes from Marcella Hazan, a respected authority on Italian cooking. I scaled down her recipe, which is posted below, and cooked only 4 veal shanks. But, the dish is satisfying, and the original recipe is certainly enough for 6 to 8 happy folks.

OSSOBUCO MILANESE
(from Marcella Hazan, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking)

6 – 8 veal shanks
Salt and pepper
Flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp butter
1 cup diced onion
2/3 cup diced carrot
2/3 cup diced celery
1 cup dry white wine
2 strips lemon zest
1 cup chicken stock (I used beef stock, homemade)
1 + 1/2 cups diced tomatoes
1 tsp fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
3 – 4 parsley sprigs

for gremolata
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp finely minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced Italian parsley

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Tie each shank tightly with a piece of twine to prevent them from falling apart during cooking. Lightly season the shanks with salt and pepper, then flour both sides of the meat and brown them in a skillet with very hot olive oil. Set the meat aside, discard most of the oil, deglaze the pan with 1 cup of white wine, and set it aside.

Add butter to an oven-proof pan with a tight-fitting lid (like a Le Creuset pan) large enough to hold the meat in a single layer, and saute the onion, carrot, and celery mixture for about 6 minutes, until translucent. Add the lemon peel and cook for a couple more minutes, then add the meat to the sauteed veggies, pour the wine from deglazing the skillet over it and add the stock, the tomatoes, bay leaves, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring the contents to a simmer, cover and transfer the pan to the oven. Let it cook for 2 – 3 hours (depending on the thickness of your shanks), until the meat is fork tender. If the pot gets too dry, add a few tablespoons of water.

Add the gremolata on top of the meat and sauce a few minutes before serving, and don’t allow it to cook for a long time. Cut the twine around the meat, and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

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Comments: The ideal thickness for veal shanks in ossobuco is 1.5 inch. Mine were slightly thinner, which made it difficult to tie the string around them, but the meat cooked faster: a little over 2 hours was enough.

I expected that the string wasn’t going to stay tied during the cooking, but I decided to use it anyway. Another important tip from Marcella: don’t remove the silver membranes around the shanks, they help preserve the shape of the meat as it braises.

Cutting the veggies: for this recipe, I diced them by hand, as uniformly as possible. Since they are so prominent in the sauce, using a food processor or other gadget compromises the presentation.

Marcella advises to add liquid up to 3/4 of the height of the shanks; I added a little more, but I didn’t have to adjust the amount until the end. Every half an hour or so I flipped the shanks in the liquid, and made sure that it wasn’t boiling too furiously. During the final 45 minutes I lowered the temperature to 325F.

We had it with a nice slice of homemade sourdough bread, anointed with some of the bone marrow – it was pure bliss! I can hardly wait to enjoy the leftovers later this week!

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