Orange Blossom Water

My mom learned this recipe from a book, unfortunately the book didn’t mention the origin of this dish. Jilantin Al-Lahem is prepared from ground meat, onion, chopped parsley, bread crumbs, nutmeg, and egg, mixed together then formed into a log then wrapped and cooked in water. I served it with sautéed potatoes, and I’ll share the recipe of the potatoes in this post.

Let’s make Jilantin Al-Lahem:

1. Put ground meat in a bowl.

2,3. Using coarse grater, grate onion.

4. Hold a sieve above the ground meat and put grated onion and squeeze so you get the juice only, then discard the shredded onion.

5. Finely chop parsley leaves.

6. Transfer chopped parsley to the bowl that contains ground meat.

7. Add bread crumbs.

8. Add ground nutmeg.

9. Add salt and black pepper.

10. Make a well in the center, and add egg.

11, 12. Mix all the ingredients until well combined.

13. Prepare a white clean cotton cloth.

14. Dust the cloth with flour.

15, 16. Roll the mixture into log, I got three logs.

17. Wrap the log in the cloth, and tie with strings and twist the ends together and tie with the strings.

18. Fill a pot with water, and add onion quarters, whole nutmeg, salt and black peppercorn, bring this water to boil.

19. Once water is boiling vigorously, add the wrapped logs, the water should cover the logs.

20. Cover the pot, and cook on medium-low heat for one and a half hours to two hours, but make sure during this time to check every once in a while and if you noticed that the water level is decreased, you have to boil extra water and add it to the pot, you have to keep the logs covered with water all the time.

21. After one and a half hours to two hours, it should be cooked so turn off heat and drain.

22, 23. Unwrap the logs.

24. Let them cool then slice and serve cold.

Sauteéd Potatoes

25. Choose small potatoes, and peel the potatoes.

26. Fill a pot with water and salt, add potatoes, and boil for 7 – 10 minutes, what we did is called parboil (to cook partially by boiling for a brief period).

27. Drain the potatoes, and allow to sit for a moment to dry out.

28. In a pan, heat butter and corn oil.

29. Add potatoes and sprinkle with a dash of salt and black pepper, remember to stir/toss throughout to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the pan. Half way through the cooking, turn them over. You know when to turn them over when they are light golden.

30. When both sides are light golden remove from pan and transfer to a baking dish.

31. To the potatoes, add the butter corn oil mixture that remained in the pan.

32. Cover the potatoes with aluminum foil, and cook in the oven at 302 °F (150 °C )  for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for 5 minutes more, just until potatoes become golden from all sides.

33. Garnish with chopped parsley leaves, and serve Jilantin Al-Lahem cold with sautéed potatoes, Arabic flat bread and lemon wedges.

Jilantin Al-Lahem

From: Family Recipe / Servings: 4 People
PDF Text Only / Print With Images

640 g fat free ground lamb meat 1 medium red onion, grated then squeezed to get the juice 3/4 cup finely chopped flat parsley leaves 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp bread crumbs 2 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1 egg Flour, for dusting For Cooking Water 2 medium onions, cut in quarters 1 whole nutmeg Salt Black peppercorn Sauteéd Potatoes 17 small potatoes Water, for boiling potatoes Salt, for boiling potatoes 20 g salted butter 1 tbsp corn oil Dash of salt Dash of black pepper Garnish Finely chopped parsley leaves To Serve Arabic flat bread Lemon wedges

Put ground meat in a bowl. Using coarse grated, grate onion. Hold a sieve above the ground meat and put grated onion and squeeze so you get the juice only, then discard the grated onion. Finely chop parsley leaves. Transfer chopped parsley to the bowl that contains ground meat. Add bread crumbs. Add ground nutmeg. Add salt and black pepper. Make a well in the center, and add egg. Mix all the ingredients until well combined. Prepare a white clean cotton cloth. Dust the cloth with flour. Roll the mixture into log, I got three logs. Wrap the log in the cloth, and tie with strings and twist the ends together and tie with the strings. Fill a pot with water, and add onion quarters, whole nutmeg, salt, and black peppercorn, bring this water to boil. Once water is boiling vigorously, add the wrapped logs, the water should cover the logs. Cover the pot, and cook on medium-low heat for one and a half hours to two hours, but make sure during this time to check every once in a while and if you noticed that the water level is decreased, you have to boil extra water and add it to the pot, you have to keep the logs covered with water all the time. After one and a half hours to two hours, it should be cooked so turn off heat and drain. Unwrap the logs. Let them cool then slice and serve cold. Sauteéd Potatoes Choose small potatoes, and peel the potatoes. Fill a pot with water and salt, add potatoes, and boil for 7 – 10 minutes, what we did is called parboil (to cook partially by boiling for a brief period). Drain the potatoes, and allow to sit for a moment to dry out. In a pan, heat butter and corn oil. Add potatoes and sprinkle with a dash of salt and black pepper, remember to stir/toss throughout to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the pan. Half way through the cooking, turn them over. You know when to turn them over when they are light golden. When both sides are light golden remove from pan and transfer to a baking dish. To the potatoes, add the butter corn oil mixture that remained in the pan. Cover the potatoes with aluminum foil, and cook in the oven at 302 °F (150 °C ) for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for 5 minutes more, just until potatoes become golden from all sides. Garnish with chopped parsley leaves, and serve Jilantin Al-Lahem cold with sautéed potatoes, Arabic flat bread and lemon wedges.

Notes and Tips

I do not recommend using aluminum foil or plastic wrap instead of the cotton cloth, I did a test and found that the best method for cooking this is to wrap it using the cloth, the foil and the plastic wrap changed the taste and wasn’t tasty.

I learned the recipe of sautéed potatoes from a Lebanese chef on TV.

I like to sprinkle the sautéed potatoes with cumin.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 31st, 2010 at 1:50 AM and is filed under Syrian Cooking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.