Lebanese Feast!

[pikawicca]

Candy, myplateoryours and I have just finished the first day of our Lebanese cooking marathon. Tomorrow night, husbands and a few select friends will be treated to some seriously good chow. Today we trimmed and ground the lamb for three different kinds of kibbee. I made tabouli. Candy stuffed and rolled grape leaves. Myplate made an experimental (and delicious) potato kibbee. Tommorrow, Candy is making Toum, myplate is doing a smoked eggplant dip, and I'm marinating chicken for shish tawouk. We'll spend the better part of the day tomorrow making the kibbees, as well as a few other dishes -- I think we're doing about 20 dishes altogether. I suspect that Candy will post photos.

[Candy]

It has now been a full week since the Lebanese food blow out at My Plate or Your's? home, I think I am recovering. She does not have her photos and the menu posted on the blog,http://www.myplateoryours.typepad.com/ but with the semester ending and finals and grades she's been busy. Check her blog in a week or so for explanations of all that we wrought. But here are a few photos and maybe Pikawicca will chime in with names. There were 3/4 kinds of kibbeh, one was baked and sliced, one was a ground lamb shell that was stuffed with more lamb and pine nuts and other goodies. The potato kibbeh was wonderful. All of it was wonderful. Too bad I am not a cow with 3 stomachs.

[Rubee]

Nice pics - looks like a wonderful meal!

[scubadoo97]

Kibbeh naye. Yum!! Actually it all looks fantastic. Incredible job Candy

[Candy]

Oh, Pikawicca made that. I was in charge of thoum and was aide to whomever needed help. Mainly did a lot of KP. Believe me, it was needed!

[pikawicca]

It certainly was! Without Candy's heroic washing-up efforts, the entire affair would have been buried beneath a mound of dirty dishes. We really made a mess, but it was oh so worth it.

[MMRuth]

What's the dish in the third photo from the left?

[pikawicca]

That's kibbee nayeh -- lamb scrupulously trimmed of all fat, mixed with some soaked fine bourghul, salt and a light touch of cinnamon. Drizzled with some fine olive oil and eaten raw.

[MMRuth]

That was my guess! We both love it - was hoping to have some in London this week but had to send husband off on his own due to client commitments! I'm going to have to check my ME cookbooks for a recipe. What cut of lamb was used, if you know?

[Candy]

We used a leg of lamb,actually 2 total in the entire meal. The kibbee nayeh was triple ground after carefully removing any vestige of fat. Pikawicca mentioned pressing the lamb through a fine sieve like a tamis but we made do with what we had in hand

[pikawicca]

I've never known of any cut but leg used in this recipe. It's lean, but for the raw kibbee, you have to meticulously trim ALL fat. If you're doing baked or fried kibbee, you leave more fat.

[Carb Lover]

Thanks for sharing your menu and photos; looks like a great spread! I've never heard of this raw lamb dish before, but it sounds intriguing. Where did you get that recipe from?

All this talk is making me want to check out Arabesque from my library again...

[pikawicca]

The raw lamb is a classic Lebanese dish. I learned to make it many years ago from friends who had lived in Beirut. You won't find it on menus in most Lebanese restaurants in the U.S. because Americans tend to avoid raw meat.

[Rubee]

A Lebanese feast with 20 dishes! Wow does that sound great! My husband's best friend is Lebanese and oh, can he cook. He made me fall in love with fatayer, tabbouleh with pomegranate seeds, kibbeh nayeh, kousa, kofte, and backlawa (similar, but not the same as Greek baklava) with pistachios and rose water.

Yay! I can't wait to hear what you what you're serving, learn some great recipes, and see delicious pictures .....I think my stomach just growled ; )

[pikawicca]

Well, the event has come and gone, and I'm just about comatose from all the food. Standouts were the Arabesque Sliced Eggplant with Yogurt and Tahini, and myplate's hummous with fried lamb on top. The potato kibbee was a surprise hit, and Candy's toum went well with everything. We made way too mcuh food (as we know we would), and sent everyone home with doggy bags. Many photos were taken, so theyn should show up here. I'll post a full list of the dishes we made, once I've recovered.

[MMRuth]

Any particular recipes or cookbooks that you are cooking from? I've never tried making kibbe but my husband (1/8th Lebanese!) loves them - and they are very popular in the Dominican Republic.

[pikawicca]

The eggplant dish I'm making is from Arabesque. Myplate and I have been cooking Lebanese food for many years, so recipes for kibbee, tabouli, and humous aren't needed. The muhamara recipe is from Spice. A number of the recipes (including the potato kibbee) are from Christine's grandmother's church cookbook.

[Candy]

My back is hurting and we go back for more tomorrow AM . Photos to come, we are using several sources. My Plate or Yours is using a cookbook her grandmother had and we are using several others. I went home, only to go back tomorrow AM to finish up before our guests show up. I am in charger of the Toom (Thoum?) may leave it to Doug to take care of while we finish. If CH hadn't existed we would not have not been doing this banquet!

[pikawicca]

You're so right about the Chowhound connection -- it all started when I posted on the Midwest board, asking about Vietnamese restaurants in Indy and you replied. We met, then you introduced me to myplate and she and I discovered that we share a keen appreciation of Lebanese cuisine. Chowhound rocks!