KKF Had a Little Lamb

When I was home in Iowa for Christmas, a very sleepy baby took a long nap in my lap. A few months later, her mom supplied me with a couple of recipes that will become staples in the KKF household. Little Hannah will eat well as she grows up, this I am sure!

I’m not sure how we got on the subject, but Sara gave me a recipe for Mahkloubeh and Baba Ghanouj/Baba Ghanoush. Maybe it was all the eggplant I was getting from my CSA. Anyway, the recipe sat in my “Recipes” folder for a long time until I was looking for something to do with the one pound of ground lamb in my freezer.

I had never had lamb before. I ordered it from my CSA on a whim, then let it sit there for a number of months (a KKF habit). It turned out for the best, because this recipe made great use of the lamb and I ate the whole thing (not all at once).

Mahkloubeh (Upside Down Meat Dish)

1 lbs, cubed or ground meat (beef, lamb, chicken, turkey)(I’ve made it with beef and venison, the lamb is good too, but I have never personally cooked it with lamb)

2 Medium onions chopped

1 Eggplant or small head of cauliflower

2 Cups rice (long grain or basmati)

4 cups boiling water

½ cup pine nuts

salt and pepper to taste

Slice eggplant I ½” slices and peel (break cauliflower into flowerets. With a little oil brown the eggplant slices or the cauliflower and set aside. Cook onion in oil until soft but not brown, Put meat into pan with onions and brown meat. Place meat/onion mixture in Dutch oven or other heavy pan with straight sides. Arrange eggplant slices or cauliflower on top0 of meat mixture and cover with rice. Add salt and pepper then the water and bring to boil then simmer on low heat for 45 minutes. DO NOT LIFT THE LID. Let stand for about 15 minutes and while it is standing sauté pine nuts in a little butter or oil stirring constantly so as not to burn the nuts.

Turn the pot with the Mahkloubeh upside down on a platter, so the meat is on top and sprinkle pine nuts over the food.

It can be served to eat with plain unflavored yogurt or ketchup on it. (I’ve never had it with ketchup)

I (obviously) used my lamb, I had only one small onion so I used that, several Asian eggplants from the CSA box and 1 ½ cups of rice (adjusted the water to 3 cups due to the rice reduction). This smelled great as it boiled away. It didn’t flip over very pretty but once I started digging in it didn’t matter. Also, I forgot about the pine nuts but I guess it was not a deal breaker since I plowed through it without a second pignoli thought. This was absolutely delicious and so simple. I had a little lamb…and it was tasty.