Oct 8th, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 8 Comments
One of my favorite traditional Lebanese stews is Loubia. Its very healthy, very simple and easy to make. When you make it once you will want it again! You can use frozen green beans, and to be honest, that saves aLOT of time getting the beans ready. I love anything fresh so I usually get the beans ready the night before while watching TV.
I like to use 1lb of beans. Will feed 4, I just love leftovers 
Just pinch off the stalk side of the bean Then snap them in half.
I love to prepare this in the pressure cooker, because it cooks in 15 min!
Sautee 1 medium onion.
Add 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon 7 spice blend, 1/4 teaspoon sage, 1/4 teaspoon thyme. Salt.
Add 1lb cubed meat.
After browning the meat, add the green beans then add 1 can Diced Tomatoes (add the whole thing w the liquid). Alot of people add tomato sauce or paste, I never use the stuff. I always use these diced tomatoes. Keeps everything light and refreshing. Just close the lid on the pressure cooker. Set it to high for 2 min. Once the pressure builds up, put it on low and cook for 15 min only!
While the beans are cooking. I add oil to a pot, brown some vermicelli, and add rice and water.
The meat is melt in your mouth no matter what cut it is because of the pressure cooker. The natural juices of the beans come out and soak up in the rice beautifully.
At home we always dine family style.
I love to eat this with pita bread. Mop up the juices. Wrap my mouth around the juicy chunks of meat. This also makes a very healthy dinner. Your kids will love it. I did as a kid, and I still am addicted to it
Feb 2nd, 2010 by ++Mira++ | Comment
I have never made this before. I’ve seen it once and funnily enough bobby flay made it this week on iron chef, though in a slightly different way
So, what i used was lemons, red snapper (1 lb each), salt,lots of salt,lol, and bay leaf and seasoning.
i cant live without lemons, i looooove them…yum
i ended up using 3 salt boxes/cans, i think u can get away with 2
i filled the bottom of a pan with it, NOTE, wet the salt and make it stick to each other
red snapper is one of my favorite fish, its sooo delicious and easy to eat
I actually like my fish whole, i just get it gutted and de-scaled, however NOTE that i read that its better to leave the scales on the fish, so the skin peels off easier with the salt. If i had read tehis before i wouldve tried each fish one way
in tony montana voice: say hello to my little friend…
stuff with lemon, seasoning and bay leaf
wet the salt with water
so its this consistancy, dont mind the writing on my hand, thats my to do list.lol. if i write it on paper i lose the to do list so i forget what i have to do.lol
mound the salt around the fish. NOTE bobby flay and martha stewart both add a couple egg whites to the salt instead of water and bobby also put some parchment paper over the fish before covering with salt. I would reccomend this because if you are not careful preparing this parts of the fish exposed to the salt can be too salty
i baked at 350 for 30 min, its really 15 min per pound according to martha.
I struggled a bit with “uncracking” this and revealing it, and salt flew everywhere! haha..so be careful.
Ta dahhhhh!
also, u need to peel the skin right off
So here it is! sorry for the plating but my camera was running outa battery so i had to hurry lol
It was really cooked perfect inside, just make sure you get all the salt off before plating it(because i made the mistake of not wetting all the salt)…hehe..so enjoy..if u make this let me know of any tips!
also, this is a great book: Martha Stewart’s Cooking School and they have this recipe in it so i’m giving a new copy away!
To enter you must be a US resident, You can either tweet an entry @MiraUncut, RT to your followers, or comment here, or do all and it counts as 3 entries!
====> to enter just tell me what your favorite cook book is!
this giveaway will end on friday by 5 pm ET and i’ll announce on saturday. good luck!
UPDATED TO ADD: the winner is KATE from thisamericanwife.net! yay!!
Feb 2nd, 2010 by ++Mira++ | 2 Comments
Have you ever had leftover baked, mashed or other potatoe. Well, this is a reason to make sure you do have leftovers. Some yummy easy potatoe pie for the next day!
The beauty of this is you can add whatever you want into this, even top it off with marinara sauce at the end. Here is what you need.
ingredients
===========
leftover mashed potatoes, potatoes…
1 lb ground beef
italian herbs
1 carrot finely chopped
1 onion chopped
2 tablespoon vinegar
salt pepper to taste
crushed croutons/ bread crumbs
optional: marinara sauce
1) whatever leftover you have, it needs to be mashed and made thick and creamy.
Spread half the potatoe mix at least 1/2 inch thick along the bottom of the pan and smooth it out
season it VERY well
flavor the potatoes with aLOT of seasoning and herbs or it will come out bland. I dont do bland:)
2) sautee the onion, add the carrot and ground beef. Add the vinegar and salt n pepper to the meat.you can add tomatoes too if you like, or any other veggie
3)the ground beef should be spread on top
4) spread the rest of the potatoes on top of the beef this can be tricky. Put a huge dollop of potatoes then slowly spread with a spoon without picking up meat
5) after its all ready, pop in the oven for 20-25 min at 350
6) top with the crushed croutons about 10 min before taking it out of the oven.
7) take a slice out and enjoy with a vinegerette salad (this is a must!). The sour of the salad pairs great with this
my hubby had never had this, and he loved it. My mum used to make it for me on those cold school days. And it always just makes me feel at home. What did your mum make for you that made u feel cozy and warm and puurrrfect?
