Baked Kibbeh - has anyone else made it?

[IWhound]

I love middle eastern food, so I was excited to see all the recipes for Lebanese in the October issue.

I made the baked kibbeh (the ground lamb dish) last Friday and it turned out very dry. Almost to the point of inedible. The top layer of the kibbeh was definately not moist enough.

It seems to me like the recipe left something out. Like adding water or broth, cooking the bulgur first, covering the dish while cooking ...

I even measured the amounts of onions, weighed the lamb, and made sure that I was using the right size pan. I left out the pomegranate molasses, since I didn't have it at home. Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.

IWhound

p.s. The yogurt-tahini dip and shawarma are great. (for the shawarma, I used lamb chunks and browned them first before baking - it turned out fine)

[misstapioca]

i made the kibbeh yesterday. Yes it was very dry http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/mad.gif i followed the recipe to the T. i should have known better about the bulger because i made the Taboulleh and it had alot of crunch. i really think that the Bulger wheat will need to be cooked for this recipe.
I ate mine warmed up in the microwave with a little water sprinkled on top to make it moist. helped a little bit..it's to bad because i love the cinnamon,allspice, lamb combination.

[SandyDee]

A friend of mine borrowed my issue of CL that has the recipe in it so I can't compare it to my family recipe to see how it differs. My guess is the last 2 steps of my recipe are missing. Perhaps to lighten it a bit you could use cooking spray or maybe 1/2 of the oil that it calls for. At any rate I hope this helps.

Filling: 1 pound of lamb, coarsley ground
1 tsp butter
3/4 cup onions, chopped
3 tbsp. pine nuts
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice and a dash of black pepper

In skillet add meat and butter and fry on medium heat until half done and most of the liquid disappears. Stir in remaining ingredients and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and set aside.

make Kibbie: 2 1/2 cups fine bulgur wheat
2 pounds lean lamb
1 medium onion
4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp black pepper

Wash burgur wheat, drain and set aside for 1/2 hour. Grind lamb and onion through fine meat grinder. Add seasonings to meat and mix. Then add the bulgar wheat, mix well and grind all together twice. After grinding, knead the meat well with your hands adding a little ice water to soften. Taste and adjust seasoning.

To spread Kibbie;
Grease well a 10X14 inch baking pan with rendered butter. Divide the kibbie in half. Spread the first half over bottom of pan, dipping your hand in ice water frequently to help smooth out layer evenly. Now spread the filling evenly on top of first layer. Finally spread the second half of kibbie over filling by forming patties in palms of hands covering enitre surface using ice water to make a smooth top layer.

Score the kibbie with a knife into diamond shapes. Run knife around the edge to pan to loosen kibbie away from side of pan. Make a hole in center of kibbie with fingertip . Let kibbie rest at least on hour before baking.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Pour 2/3 cup mazola oil over top of kibbie, or use half oil and half rendered butter on top. Bake on lowest shelf until bottom is brown, about 40 minutes. Move to middle and broil until top is brown, 5 to 10 minutes.

[MaryH]

SandyDee

I'm curious. Have you always baked your kibbeh - or is that a lower fat version (v. frying it)?

[Wendy w]

Here is the 4th attempt to post this!!

SandyDee,

Thank you very much for your post as I am hosting my cooking club on Friday night and we will be having a Middle Eastern menu.

I will be making the roast chicken with yogurt sauce and the kibbeh and will be using some of your tips when I make it (with the exception of the meat grinder one as I don't have one.

Some of you who have tried the kibbeh may have used too a too coarse grade of bulgur-there are 4 grades.

In addition to the roast chicken and kibbeh, we will be having:
white bean hummus (from May)
eggplant dip (from the recipe search), tabbouli (Oct. issue)
fattoush (from the recipe search because it looks like a better recipe)
fresh oranges with rosewater

I will post a review next Monday to let you all know how it went.

Thanks again Sandy Dee! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/cool.gif

Wendy


[This message has been edited by Wendy w (edited 10-24-2000).]

[SandyDee]

Wendy I am with you this is my 4th attempt to respond. I am eager to hear how your Middle Eastern dinner turns out. It sound wonderful, what a great menu. I am jealous, but I will be with you in spirit. You must let us know how it turns out. Good luck http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

Mary, There are 3 traditional forms of Kibbeh. Baked, fried and raw. We have always baked ours because that is our preference. Fried is actually my least favorite way to prepare it. But that isn't to say I don't like fried, Kibbeh in any of it's forms is a winner with me!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[emilycat]

Okay guys, I've been following this post out of curiosity, but I don't eat red meat, so how would you suggest I make a version of kibbeh that doesn't violate my eating habits?

[SandyDee]

I am not to familiar with tofu, do you think if you used tofu in place of lamb or beef and seasoned it the same that would work? I really have no other idea. Do you eat turkey, perhaps you could use ground turkey with all of the same seasonings. These are only guesses. I really couldn't say for sure. I would be interested to see what you try and how it turns out.