Recipe: Some Recipes from IRAK for John

Red Lentil soup

4 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 stalk celery with leaves, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 1/2 cups lentils
7 1/2 cups water or meat stock
1 Teaspoon salt

In a large pot, heat the oil. Add onion, celery, and carrot, stir until soft. Add the lentils, water or stock and salt. Bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce heat to medium. Stir. Let cook with continuous stirring for 3/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Press lentil lumps that might form against the side of the pot to break them up. At this point, if you like, add a little lemon juice and cumin.
Add more water if the soup thickens too much. Let cook until lentils become soft.

To serve: Place dried pieces of Pita bread fried in oil in the bottom of the individual serving plates, then scoop soup over them. Let bread soak for few minutes before serving.

Okra Stew (Bamia)
An Iraqi favorite. Tradition has it that it be made with a whole head of garlic, a lamb shank, and lots of lemon juice (traditionally, crystallized citric acid is used in lieu of lemon juice, but this book uses lemon juice because citric acid is not readily available in the Western countries).

1/2 pound cubed lamb (or beef)
1 lamb shank (optional)
1/2 cup water
6 whole cloves garlic
1 large diced tomato
1 pound frozen okra (if fresh okra is used, remove cone tops)
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups water
4 tablespoons lemon juice

In 2-quart pot, place lamb (or beef), shank (optional), and 1/2 cup water. Cook, covered over medium heat until all water evaporates. Let meat brown for few minutes. Stir with the meat the garlic, diced tomato and okra. Let cook for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce, salt and remaining water. Cook covered on medium heat for 30 minutes or until meat and shank are done. Add lemon juice, cook on low heat for 10 minutes more. Serve with basic cooked rice and/or bread.

Basic Cooked Rice
Prepare rice according to package directions. If you buy bulk, or have no directions, follow these steps. Remember, the amount of water, and simmer time vary based on the type of rice you use. For recipes in this book, I recommend Basmati brand long grain rice. Basmati rice requires about twice as much water as rice, e.g., two cups water to one cup of rice. Most other long grain rice brands require equal amounts of water to rice (change amount of water to fit your taste).

1 cup long grain rice
2 cups water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

In 2-quart pan, mix water, salt and oil. Bring to a boil on high heat. Add rice. Bring back to a boil then lower to medium heat. Let cook uncovered until most of the water is absorbed. Mix from the bottom up, lower heat to low, cover and let simmer for at least 15 minutes or until meal time. Mix again bottom up before serving.

Beriani
This is an old time favorite in the Middle-East. You can find this dish in many Middle-Eastern restaurants, the ingredients however, may vary. Experiment, find the combination of spices and ingredients that you like. If you do not like spicy (but not necessarily hot) dish, Beriani is not for you. Salad adds a wonderful flavor to this dish. This dish is easy to make if you plan your activities. To avoid spending a long time in the kitchen, organize your equipment and thoughts before you start. Plan on spending at least two hours in the kitchen the first time you make this dish.

1/2 chicken, cut into serving pieces
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
6 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon
2 clove garlic, minced or pressed
6 whole black pepper seeds
6 whole cardamom seeds
2 cups rice, washed and drained
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 medium potatoes, washed, pealed, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon Middle Eastern spice
1 teaspoon curry
4 hard-boiled eggs (shelled)

In a 5-quart pot, combine chicken, water, salt, cloves, cinnamon, garlic, pepper, and cardamom. Bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook until chicken is tender. Remove chicken from broth and let cool, then remove skin and bones and shred the meat. Add rice to the broth and cook the rice according to the instructions in the Basic Cooked Rice recipe, substituting the broth for the water (add more water if needed). In a large frying pan, heat oil. Fry potatoes in hot oil until golden brown. Remove potatoes onto a plate with paper towels to absorb excess oil. In the same oil, fry onions until soft, remove to the paper towel with the fried potatoes. Discard oil. In the frying pan, combine chicken, fried potatoes, fried onions, Middle Eastern spice, and curry. Stir to coat, cook on medium heat for few minutes or until warm and well blended. Place chicken and potato mixture and the hard-boiled eggs in the pot on top of the rice. Cover. Simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat, let stand for 10 more minutes.

To serve, remove the eggs, mix well, and spoon onto a large platter and garnish with the eggs. Serve with green salad.

Stuffed Egg rolls (Boorek)

1 pack egg roll shells (found in grocery stores in the oriental food section)
1 pound ground lamb (or beef)
1/4 cup minced parsley
1/2 cup minced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Middle Eastern spice
1 cup vegetable oil

Let the egg roll shells reach room temperature.
To make the stuffing, combine the ground lamb (or beef), parsley, onion, salt and Middle Eastern spice and mix well. Cook stuffing on medium heat until meat is done. Let cool. Working on a flat surface, place an egg roll shell in front of you. Place one teaspoon of the meat stuffing onto the shell on the side closest to you. Leave about 1 inch on each of the right and the left edges. To roll, wet the far edge, fold the right and left edges onto the stuffing, then roll away from you. Place on a plate edge down, then proceed with the next roll. Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Drop one at a time in hot oil. Do not over fill the pan with egg rolls. Turn over once. Remove when golden brown. Place on a platter covered with paper towels to absorb excess oil. Serve warm.

Lemon Chicken With Bulgur
It does contain a variety of very typical Middle Eastern spices. Try it, you will enjoy the taste of cardamom, coriander, and cumin.

1 chicken, skinned and cut into serving pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 chopped onions
2 cloves pressed garlic
11/2 cups bulgur
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon lemon rind
juice of one lemon
3 cups boiling chicken broth

Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a 4-quart pan, heat oil, then brown chicken on all sides. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. In the pan, brown the onion and garlic. Add more oil if needed. Add the bulgur, stir mixture to coat. Add cardamom, coriander, cumin, lemon rind, and lemon juice to the bulgur and onion mixture. Mix well. Remove mixture from pan. Arrange chicken in bottom of pan, spoon bulgur mixture on top of chicken. Pour boiling chicken broth over the chicken and bulgur, cover, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 60 minutes or until chicken is tender.