Libyan Boureek and Lebrak with a side of Mb'atten
It had four compontents
Stuffing
I used the recipe from the Mb'batten recipe for the stuffing for all 3 of these dishes.You can vary the stuffing mixture ingredients to suit. The remaining mix of meat and herbs can be flattened into small burgers, dipped into white flour and then fried to make Kofta.
Lebrak
Lebrak is a dish made of stuffed vine leaves (locally called esselk leaves). I used green cabbage leaves as I could not source vine leaves in time, and its on Kevins hate list of food that I want to encourage him to eat. Really nice cold too.
Boureek
The Libyan basic boureek, also written as bourik, burik or bourek, is a very simple and deliciously crispy pastry parcel, stuffed with meat mixture. In other North African countries, like Algeria, the shape of the boureek is like a "spring roll" or a sausage roll. Kevins Uzbekistan recipe used Spring roll shapes with a similar mix, and i actually used his left over pastry as the recipe I used didnt specify how to make the pastry.
Mb'atten
Mb'atten is really a Libyan specialty dish, prepared on special occasions, celebrations and festivities, often with Kofta and couscous. It is a unique dish never to be found anywhere else in the world (according to the webiste that I used). They can be cooked for a further few minutes in a saucepan with a bit of tomato sauce, as follows: place all the remaining potato pieces that were left over from the slicing in the saucepan, place all the stuffed potatoes on top, pour in a bit of tomato sauce, cover the saucepan, and heat over a very low heat for about ten minutes. This turns the fried potatoes into soft and sauce-covered delicious chunks, just like adding a bit of ketchup to chips. Serve warm with couscous or salad. If there is a lot of mixture left over, then roll into small balls, flatten onto a plate containing white flour, then fry in olive oil as koftas. The stuffed potatoes are also great cold, after being kept in the fridge overnight.
