Recipe of the Day

Kibbeh Nayeh - Fresh Tartare

posted on: Dec 8, 2014

Kubba Naya was one of these tasty kubba dishes that I feasted upon in my adolescent years. Anyone who has a taste for French or Australian Tartare will enjoy this dish that can be served as a main entrée or as an appetizer.

• 1 1/2 pounds. fresh lean beef or lamb
• 1 cup fine burghul, soaked for 15 minutes in warm water, then drained by pressing water out through a fine strainer.
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon crushed dried mint leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• a few sprigs of fresh mint
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Place meat in a food processor and process until well ground, then add remaining ingredients, except mint and olive oil, and process into thick paste. Spread on a platter then decorate with mint sprigs. Sprinkle with olive oil just before serving.

Note: The way that I enjoyed eating this dish as a youth was to scoop the kubba with round, pliable loaves of Arabic bread, freshly cooked by my mother. We would tear pieces of this bread, then fold in a form of a tiny shovel, to scoop the Kubba Naya into the mouth.