INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 kg Lean Goat or Lamb, Leg Meat, no fat
- 1/2 cup Fine Brown Burghul, cracked wheat
- 1 small White Onion, pureed
- Leaves of Green Mint
- Leaves of Green Marjoram, Mardakoush optional
- 1/2 teaspoon of 7 Spices
- 2/3 teaspoon of Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Optional sides of Greens, including Green Mint, White Onions, Radish, etc…
PREPARATION METHOD
Place the meat in a food processor along with about 5 cubes of ice, 1/5 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (no more), and spin it for about 3-5 minutes until it becomes very fine. Important: stop the food processor every 1 minute or so and feel the temperature of the meat and make sure it’s not warming up otherwise its color and taste would change. If you feel that it’s warming up, add a bit more ice or 1/4 cup of icy water and spin again.
Place the Burghul in a small bowl and rinse it with cold water, then squeeze it to get rid of as much water as possible. Place it aside.
Put the green pepper, mint, marjoram, onion, salt, cayenne pepper, and 7-spices in the food processor and mix them well.
Place the ground meat in a large bowl, add the wet Burghul and the spice mix, and mix it well with your hands for a few minutes to make sure that all ingredients have well infused in one another. While mixing it, you can water wet your hands every now and then in a bowl of icy water that has a tiny bit of ground cinnamon in it.
Serving and Presenting the Kibbeh Nayyeh
Kibbeh Nayyeh needs to be served cold, so you need to keep the dish in the fridge until serving time.
When ready, make the Kibbeh mix into rounds the size of a baseball and line them up along your serving dish.
Spread the kibbeh rounds on the dish with your hands or spoon, until it’s no more than 3/4 inch thick. Make some patterns on it if you wish.
Notes
Add a lot of high-quality olive oil to it.
Serve with optional sides including mint, radish, green peppers, green chili peppers, hot peppers, green onions, white onions, etc….
Kibbeh Nayyeh can be eaten with a fork or wrapped in pita bread.
Kibbeh Nayyeh should always be grounded on clean blades
Don’t even think about using the pre-ground meat in the supermarket display case
Of course, grinding the meat yourself at home is a surer way to know your meat is safe.
“Clean meat; clean blades. No fat or gristle. I don’t want to see any white.”
