The Best Meal I Ever Ate was Shawarma and Hummus at Byblos in Fort Worth!
LB's Lebaneezer-Pleaser:
Not much of a story here...there's a really good Lebanese place in Fort Worth, called Byblo's...food, hookah, belly dancing, and beers. The food is always awesome, but everytime I go, I can't help but think how good it would be with chiles involved in the process. So...here's my attempt!
Ingredients
1.5# sirloin steak
1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper
3 onions
1 huge-ass garlic head, or a couple smaller ones
3 roma tomatoes
6 baby-bella mushrooms
1 bunch cilantro (or mint)
6 med. potatoes
2 cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
4-5 lemons
1 bag of fresh spinach
Feta Cheese
Pita bread
sesame seeds
Chiles - 5 fresh cayennes, 2 fresh caribbean reds, 6 fresh serranos (these were little, so 2 big ones from the store would do), 2 jalapenos, cayenne powder, crushed/flaked scotch bonnets
Spices - Nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, caraway seed (substitutd for fenugreek), ginger, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, cayenne powder, Greek oregano, and Hungarian paprika. Also need 2 chicken-cubes.
Prep:
Dice bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes, place in a bowl, set aside
Slice mushrooms, set aside in bowl
Peel garlic, and fine chop in processor, set aside in bowl
Fine chop cilantro, set aside in bowl
Sirloin Shawarma:
1.5 pounds of sirloin sliced ultra thin, rubbed down with traditional Lebanese 7-spice, modified:
Nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, caraway seed (substitutd for fenugreek), and ginger. Mod'd to add garlic powder, onion powder, and a pinch of sea salt. Rub, mix thouroughly and add olive oil before packing tightly into plastic wrap for 6 hours.
Heat wok to as hot as it can possibly get, add olive oil, brown garlic, drop meat and baby-bellas in and sear it all. Remove meat, set aside, and repeat, but sear the majority of the bell/roma mix, leaving some for later. Toss in diced red habaneros. Once seared, drop the meat back in for a few minutes. Squeeze an entire lemon on this, during each step. Serve on toasted pita bread with hummus.
Hummus:
Take a chunk of minced garlic, mix with package of sesame seeds, and a handful of fresh spinach, and toss in an iron skillet heated on medium, with olive oil. after a couple of minutes, crank heat up to high for a couple more minutes. Stir regularly as not to burn the garlic. Remove from heat, and scoop into food processor. Open 1 can of garbanzos, and add the liquid to the mix, then puree. Remove liquid from 2nd can of garbonzos, then dump in both cans in, with a pinch of sea salt, pinch of black pepper, a pinch of caraway seeds, and some dried and flaked scotch bonnets. Squeeze in half to a whole lemon, and add a little more olive oil. Blend well, but take care to leave a little lumpiness. Remove, set in bowl, mix in a fistful of cilantro, cover, and set in fridge for a couple hours.
Batata Harra (Spicy Potatoes):
Heat oil in a cast iron pan and fry potatoes in it until crisp like french fries, remove, then drain. Now, add more olive oil and put onions, garlic, bell pepper and jalapenos in it. Saute it for a minute. Then, add potatoes back to it along with salt, pepper, cilantro, and lemon juice. Stir it all up, and cook for a couple more minutes.
Abas Bi Hamoud (lentil/potato/spinach stew):
In a pot, add 4 cups of water, bring to the boil, add lentils and let them cook for about 12 minutes. Then, tear up a bunch of spinach, and add that to the cooked lentils. In a pan, cook the onions, about a dozen slices of mushroom, and garlic with olive oil until light golden then add them to the lentils and spinach. After that you add the potatoes, caraway seeds, allspice, salt, pepper, and let it cook for about 10-12 minutes then you add the lemon juice and the cilantro and shut down the heat.
Here it is...and damn it was GREAT!
You can't beat a towering sandwich and a 22 oz Yuengling Black'n'Tan for under $10!
