Food blogging

Two quick and easy Lebanese recipes.

Hummus

1 can of chick peas (16 oz)
2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 tbsp lemon juice (I had a bit less than that in the picture since I ran out of lemons)
1 1/2 tbsp tahini
1/4 tbsp salt
2 cloves of garlic, smashed (or 1 if you have to meet people afterwards)

Put all the ingredients in a mixer, and mix till smooth! One word of warning though, leave some of the liquids out at first, then add them gradually until it reaches the right consistency. Once you've put too much liquids into the mixture, you end up with watery hummus... And that's not good.

The ingredients

The final result

Kafta patties

Usually these would be made in the shape of a hot dog and grilled over charcoal, but I don't have a grill. You can make any shape you want, of course.

Ingredients:

This is one of those recipes that I don't really measure.. So the numbers here are approximated by looking at the picture after the fact :)

One onion, finely diced
700g ground meat (lamb or beef)
2 tbsp Lebanese 7-spice mix (very important!)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups chopped parsley

Mix all the ingredients well, and form into the shapes you want. Heat up some oil in a pan and fry the meat for a few minutes. Then transfer to a heated oven (at, say, 200 degrees Celsius) and leave it there for 15-20 minutes.

The ingredients
The raw patties
The end result

You can eat the meat in pitas, with hummus and slices of tomato inside. Or just use them as meatballs. It's all good!

PS: The 7-spice mix is a pre-made mix of different kinds of pepper, cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, coriander...