A Yemeniyah's Recipes

This was my first attempt at meatballs in red sauce after a recommendation from my best friend Iqbal.  It turned out pretty good. My husband loved it, and he hates ground beef. So, now I know how to make him eat it.

1) 1 pound of ground lamb or beef

2) freshly ground pepper

3) salt to taste

4) 1 tblsp of ground oregano

5) 3 ripe big tomatoes-peeled and finely minced

6)1/2 small can of tomato paste–more if you like.

7) 2 tblsp finely chopped cilantro

8 ) 4 cloves of garlic finely minced

9) optional–green chilly pepper sliced horizontally for flavor

10) 4 tblsp of olive oil

11) medium onion diced

Combine the ground meat, with 3 gloves of minced garlic, 1tblsp of oregano, salt, pepper, and 1 tblsp of olive oil. Roll into balls–about the size of a quarter–and lap on a baking sheet and bake at a preheated 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Don’t bake them more than 15 minutes of else they will get hard. Note: you can fry them as well if you like, but I prefer baked to fried.

In the meantime, while the meatballs are baking, make the sauce. In a pot, under medium heat, add the rest of the olive oil and brown the onions. Add the garlic and sautee  a little. Then add the peeled and diced tomatoes and salt and let cook until the tomatoes are softened. Then add the tomato paste, pepper and add 2-3 glasses of water, depending on how  thick you want the sauce to be. Let simmer, and once it starts bubbling add the meat balls and let simmer until the oil rises to the surface. Turn off and garnish with the cilantro. Serve either on a bed of white rice, angel hair pasta, or bread.

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This is a fast and easy dish cooked in the oven for the most part. Serve with bread or rice. You will need:

1) 1 bag of frozen okra (about a pound) [I get mine from the Middle Eastern store because theirs are small and the tips has been peeled as if with a carving knife]

2)  1 lb of lamb, bone , cut into medium size pieces

3) 5tbls Olive oil

4) 1tsp of ground cumin

5) 1 cup chopped and peeled tomatoes

6) 4 tblsp of tomato paste

7) 1/cu of water

8 ) salt to taste

9) 1/8 of tsp freshly ground pepper

10) 3 tlsp of finely chopped cilantro

11) 1/2 tsp of chilly powder

12) medium sized onion diced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. In a pot under medium heat, add 2 tblsp of the oil. Once it heats up brown the meat on all sides. You do not want it to cook through, just browned on each side. Take out and place in a casserole dish. Reduce heat, and add the onion and fry until browned. Add the cumin, tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and water and stir well. Once it starts simmering turn off and add on top of meat, sprinkle black pepper, cover with foil, and place in oven for an hour and a half.

After an hour and a half, take the okra, place in a pot and add the rest of the olive oil. Fry for about 3 minutes under medium to high heat. Add onto the meat and sauce, cover and place back in the oven for another half an hour. Place a frying pan  under medium heat and add the rest of the olive oil, cilantro and chilly powder. Fry for a couple of minutes and sprinkle on top of the dish and serve hot with either rice or bread.

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