It shouldn't surprise you in the least...

It shouldn't surprise anyone that I again made Middle Eastern food this weekend.  This time it was a delicacy called Kifta (or Kefta).  It is a simple, easy food to make and tastes so amazingly awesome that it took every bit of will power I had to not over stuff myself to the point of my stomach exploding.  LOL!!!

So, I saw kifta on the menu at both of my favorite cafes, Shahrazad Cafe and Cafe Medina.  But I didn't order it for myself.  I did bring some home to my baby brother from Shahrazad.  And my older brother says he loves kifta.  So I just had to try making some.  I was not disappointed.

On one of my sopping excursions at Shahrazad Market, I found a bottle of Kefta spice.  The ingredients for the spice read as follows... "garlic powder, black pepper, allspice, hers and a proprietary spice blend".  Okay, so they won't tell me what ALL is in it.  Heh!  Oh well.  As long as I can buy bottles of it, I am fine with not making my own.

And this is how you make it...

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. ground beef or lamb (I used 93/7 ground beef)
• 1/2 cup of Ziyad brand Kefta Spice
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1/2 cup of parsley (I used dried, fresh would be better)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1-1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I omitted this and just sprayed my grill pan with extra virgin olive oil)

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Shape into patties or form the meat on a kebab skewer.
3. Grill over medium heat until desired cooking temperature is reached.

And that was all there was to it.  I served it with za'atar (see previous post for this recipe) and some light and fluffy basmati rice.