Easy Arabic Stuffed Chicken

Here's a really yummy dish, and it really began as one dish which turned into two over time (using the leftovers)

What we call "mince meat rice" in our household is one of my mothers' most favourite recipes to whip up whenever she is short on time and has a bit of mince meat (ground beef) around, even the smallest amount of meat works for this dish and stretches it for a medium sized family.   Normally we serve it with yogurt on the side and kids just LOVE it!

If you make 2 cups of rice it makes a pretty big amount, I'd go with 1 or 1 1/2 cup if you have a small family or want to serve it as a side dish.

Begin with the basmati rice, Tilda is a good brand, rinse it well and let it soak in cool water.

- Minced onion (optional!)
- Mince meat (ground beef, as much as you'd like to use)   -  I used about 3/4 lb of extra lean meat.
-  Salt
- 1/8 tsp ground allspice
- 1/8 tsp ground clove
- Black pepper to taste
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional)
- 1/8 tsp turmeric (I love to add it anywhere I can for health benefits!)
- 2 cardamom pods

- Boiled water or chicken/beef stock (heated)

- 1/2-3/4 cups frozen peas, pour some boiling water over them to warm up.

- 3 tbsp oil

Before beginning drain your rice and set aside, and boil your kettle.

In a medium sized pot add the oil, heat and add the mince meat (and onion if using), begin to fry it well until it is browned then add the spices and season the meat with some salt to taste.

Add the rice, fry it around briefly (not too much so it doesn't break, especially if it starts sticking to the bottom)
Now add your stock or boiling water.

For every 1 cup of rice I add 1 3/4 cups liquid and 1 tsp salt.

Now cover and reduce heat.  It will take about 15-30 minutes to cook depends on your stove and such but after 20 minutes take a peek and if the water dried up and the rice grains look done (taste!) then you're good to go.

Remove from heat and use a large spoon to bring the rice from the bottom to the top or gently fluffing it.  You could pour it out into a casserole at this point to cool without sticking together.

Serve and enjoy! :)

Now if you have leftovers a couple of days later and some chicken in your fridge you can revive this dish from the fridge and create something fabulous!

I began here by removing the breast from the whole chicken (I buy whole chicken, it is cheaper! and I can make stock out of the carcass too, also the legs are delicious just grilled up for later)

Slicing through the breast horizontally I was able to create a flat piece of chicken with relatively the same thickness throughout, I left the skin on too because it will crisp up.

With two chicken breasts now well flattened I seasoned them with salt, black pepper and a drizzle of lemon juice (this will ensure a tender chicken,  to be honest I can't eat chicken without a fresh lemon marinade on it, and I'm not a fan of chicken breast at all because I find it dry so this will help to keep it moist)

Wrapped it up and set in the fridge until ready to use.

Meanwhile I roasted/toasted up some almonds (you can use whole, halved, or sliced) toasted in a tiny bit of oil until brown (keep a close eye on it as they burn quickly)  and then setting them on paper towel for the excess oil to drain away.   Now the same process (but a little quicker) for the raisins, they tend to blow up in the oil and from the heat, don't let them burn because they are sugary and burn quickly.

Set aside and prep the thread, I used butchers twine, divided the thread in 3 and threaded a fairly large needle (had a pack of them from doing some ribbon embroidery)

Mix the amount of rice (about 3/4 - 1 cup) in a bowl with some of the nuts and raisins.

Remove the chicken breast from the fridge, set one flat (skin side down) on a cutting board and begin to stack up the rice mixture into a mountain on top of the chicken, now add the second piece on top (skin side up) and begin stitching using large secure stitches both pieces together around the side until it's like a large shut clam.

Prepare a small oven safe baking dish or casserole with a bit of oil and 1 tsp of butter, add your stuffed chicken "ball" and then top with another 1 tsp of butter and bake at 450 F for 10 minutes and reducing the temperature to 425 until the chicken is cooked, you need to flip it from time to time, and I broiled mine at the end to crisp up the skin at the top.

It must be cooked properly to be safe to eat, I wouldn't want anyone to get food poisoning so use a thermometer and insert it inside and follow proper chicken cooking guidelines.

Once it's out of the oven, allow it to cool, then slice and serve! Don't forget to gently snip a piece of the thread with a sharp scissors and pull it out of both pieces so you or your guests don't choke on the twine.  Your guests will be impressed with this dish, I assure you.  Each "ball" made out of 2 breasts can serve 2 people so you could made another one if you want to serve 4 or depending on how many people your cooking for.

I really hope you enjoy this recipe.  I served mine with a spinach salad (with nectarines in it)  I would have used apricots if they were in season because they complement chicken very well but you could chop up some dried apricots and use it in the rice stuffing if you like, I may try that next time!

Oh and one more thing...  I just wanted to mention that back home in the middle east women (including my Kurdish grandma) are incredibly skilled, they can debone the entire chicken and then stuff it with a rice mixture and stitch it back up beautifully before roasting it, it is an art but of course I'm not so talented (although I can debone a quail, think I just got some practice after prepping them for my cats) hopefully some day I can try to learn how to do it, at least once in my life! ;-)  

Shfta - Kurdish meat patties

This is Shfta, a Kurdish meat patties that is popular all throughout Kurdistan and in Kurdish homes around the world.

It is perfect picnic food and for sandwiches! I remember discovering it the first time when a kid in my class brought it to a school picnic, then later I identified it from time to time wrapped in a bread as packed lunch by kids at school.

After we learned what it was my mother (who is not Kurdish) made it for us at home frequently, sometimes she would soak old bread in milk and then squeeze out the excess liquid and mix that into a nice dough with the meat, I believe there is a German recipe that is similar and her mum used to make it that way.

I used to think this recipe was a good poor man's type of dish because you could stretch the meat a bit between the family members but I don't know if that's true or not.



Shfta:

- 1.5 lb Ground meat (I think it's usually beef but it could be whatever you like)

- 1 small finely chopped onion

- 2 medium cloves chopped garlic
- 1 small bunch chopped celery leaves (the good green leaves of the celery is a traditional ingredient!)

- 1 small bunch chopped parsley (not sure if it's a traditional ingredient but I love it!)

- Salt & black pepper

- Pinch of cumin

- 1-2 tbsp tomato paste

- Few tbsps flour (or you could use a mashed boiled potato! And a bit of flour to keep it together)

- Oil for frying

Knead the meat with all the chopped vegetables until it's like a dough, add the flour and knead, when you're able to form a patty and it sticks and does not fall apart then you're good to go.

Form little patties, usually they are longish and not thick like burgers but flat.

Begin frying them in batches flipping in the oil until browned all over and crispy.

Enjoy with lots of fresh greens, tomatoes and fresh bread.

Mahshi - stuffed vegetables

Sometimes the most time consuming recipes can actually be the most relaxing to make. Today I spent a fair bit of time in the kitchen, but it was all well worth it and very enjoyable.

I made " summer time grape leaves" (my summer blend is just herbs, garlic, olive oil and rice, no heavy tomato paste, meats and spices like the winter version)

Another summer version I make is using yogurt but lately

I've preferred them like this as the leaves stay fresher in the fridge this way (and they make yummy snacks all through the night)

I can serve with a mint/yogurt sauce on the side though!

A trip to the arabic grocer the other day had me hauling quite a bit of stuff home, well it's Ramadan and there are so many specials! :)

These little white eggplants were the cutest, so fresh and their skins tender and pearly, I've never cooked with them before but my mother has mentioned using them a long time ago.

I restrained myself and only got 2 because eggplants cause a throat allergy for me so I figured this would be a treat that hopefully would be ok.

I reserved less than a third of the rice blend and added fresh dill to that and then stuffed the vegetables and cooked them off in a small pot separate from the other grape leaves. I stuffed a few grape leaves with the dill mixture in the vegetable pot though :)

For photo instructions on how to roll the grape leaves refer to my older post here

Guess I don't have to cook tomorrow! And now I'll leave you with a photo sequence of putting together my mahshi dish.

Baghali Polo

Here is a familiar dish that I recently learned had roots in Persia. My mother was introduced to this dish by my sister's childhood Kurdish friend when her mother brought a plate of it over to our house. It's a dill and fava bean rice, known as Baghali Polo in Persian Cuisine.

Favas in Arabic are Baqila, and they are very popular all over the Middle East. In Iraq they are known as Bajila and the dry form is boiled and served as a nice soup - introduced to you hopefully in another post sometime - and the green form is also cooked in this Persian style rice.

All that said I doubt they are as pouplar anywhere as in Egypt, where it is a hearty rustic dish that everyone is familiar with and known as "foul mudamas"

Just like peas and mint are a pouplar combination favas go beautifully with Dill, Shbint in Kurdish or Shibitt in Arabic and Farsi or sometimes Sheveen in Farsi too.
The rice my mother knew was made with a round calarose type rice in Kurdistan but upon searching almost all the Persian recipes were made with a nice fluffy basmati, and being my favourite rice I thought to go with it.

I've combined two recipes that I found online but it's a simple recipe.

-Lots of chopped fresh dill

-Shelled green baby favas (I had thawed from frozen)
-Soaking basmati in salted water for a few hours

-Took the recommendation from one recipe to sautee the fava with some garlic and set aside

-Bring Basmati to a boil for 10-12 mins in a big pot of salted water, drained and rinsed.

Then it was all assembled layering the rice over some oil and a few drops of water and then adding dill, fava and more rice until the last layer was rice. Making holes in the rice and steaming on high for 8 mins or so then adding a bit of water (less than half the amount of rice) and steaming with a lid covered in a kitchen towel for 40 mins or so on a low setting.
A little melted butter can be added to the top when it's done then flipped out onto a pan and gently arranged for serving.

Next time I'd like to add more dill, lots more and see what other things I can do to learn how to perfect the cooking process. I'd also like to add more chopped dill to it after it's cooked because I like the fresh taste.

Any tips and ideas are welcome, feel free to comment and let me know what you think.

Bamia (okra)

Bamia (okra)
Originally uploaded by Adventuress Heart.

Haven't had much to post lately, the weather seems to be changing day to day, two days ago it was sunny, then cloudy and now rainy, typical spring weather I guess.

Thank you all for your kind - get well soon - wishes :) I'm feeling a lot better and hopefully by next week this flu will be completely gone.

Today I've decided to post some mini video clips on a simple dish I prepared a while ago, the photo as usual went up on flickr. Okra is not something that most people are familiar with or enjoy, however in the middle east it is VERY popular and one of my favourite dishes since childhood, It's fairly simply and very yummy, usually made with beef stewing chunks but can also be made vegetarian.

Types of Okra (known as bamia in arabic) are fresh, frozen, canned or even dry.

Fresh okra can be boiled in a light salt water for a bit before adding into the sauce or can be added directly, canned should always be strained well and added at the very end because they're already cooked. Frozen can be added at boiling point and right before simmering.

Ingredients:

- few tbsp Oil
- 4 medium garlic bulbs, skinned and slivered.
- 1 package frozen okra
- 1 jar of strained tomato
- salt/black pepper


Rice:

- Oil
- 3 cups Calrose rice
- 1/2 cup Vermicilli noodles
- Salt

1 3/4 cup water per cup of rice.

If you're going to add stewing beef, saute/brown it with the garlic and then add tomato and boiled water then allow to simmer until it's done. Once the meat is tender add the okra and simmer a little bit more for the flavours to blend.