Ground Beef & Onions with a Lebanese Touch

This is a throw-it-all-in-one-pan recipe from my mother-in-law. When she had the money, it would be made with a pound of chopped lamb meat.

Break up the ground beef in a saute/fry pan. Add the onions, cut in large chunks. Add salt and pepper, allspice and cumin. Stir around till ground beef is cooked—you don’t want the onions to become too soft, but it’s ok if the chunks start to separate. Now make a well in the middle and add the butter and the pignoli nuts. Let them brown a little bit in the butter, then mix it all together. You might find you want to add a little more cumin and/or allspice; take a taste and see.

Serving suggestion:

I serve this with rice pilaf, which in my case is a handful of orzo browned in butter for a few minutes. Add a cupful of Uncle Ben’s white rice, washed first, and stir around in the butter. Add a tablespoon of salt and enough water to cover the rice by about an inch; cook over medium heat, covered, till water is gone. And you have to have Syrian/pita bread to scoop up the ground beef mixture. A can of peas mixed in the rice before serving is nice, too.