# Beef Shawarma



## deelady (Dec 2, 2008)

*Beef Shawarma*
2 lbs, finely sliced fillet mignon or tenderized beef ( I used sliced chuck roast)
½ cup finely sliced onion
1/3 cup finely sliced bell peppers any color 
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic minced
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tsp. seven spices (I substituted Garam Masala)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt or to taste
½ tsp ground black pepper

Let all ingredients marinate for 4 hours or overnight. Place in 2 inch pan and cover with aluminum foil, place in 400 degree preheated oven for 40 minutes. Pour off excess liquid and remove foil, cook in oven for an additional 20 minutes. Serve with tahini sauce over pita bread or rice. Top with choice of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives.
*Tahini sauce:*
1 cup tahini paste
1 to 2 cloves garlic minced
½ cup lemon juice
½ tsp salt
½ cup water
1 tsp chopped fresh parley
Mix all ingredient except parsley, to your desired consistency, if to watery add some tahini, if to thick add some water. After mixing, sprinkle parley on top and serve with shawarma.


Sooo so good! Enjoy!!


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## sattie (Dec 2, 2008)

That sounds good Dee... saving it for one day down the road!


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## deelady (Dec 2, 2008)

The slicing of the meat was the hardest part of the dish! So fast and easy, It was definately a fool proof dish! I will definately be making it again!


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## sattie (Dec 2, 2008)

So a whole chuck roast... slicked it how thick?


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## deelady (Dec 2, 2008)

Well I sliced two boneless roasts because I had guests but one would be more than enough plus left overs (just as good the next day!) I sliced it pretty thin,as if you were making philly cheese steaks. I partially froze it to make it easy to slice.


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## buckytom (Dec 2, 2008)

good stuff, dee. thanks. 

copied. pasted.


if you like lamb, but it's a bit too pricey, try saving the fat from the next hunk of lamb that you get to make. add that to the marinating beef. it'll empart a good lambey flavor to the beef. my favourite diner in the city does that, calling it a "mixed grill". it's hard to tell what's beef and what's lamb, especially after the marinade.


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## deelady (Dec 2, 2008)

I LOVE lamb BT !!! But you are right, I don't buy it as often as I would like because it can be pricey but that is a great tip, thanks!

Funny that you mentioned that tip because I did the same with the beef fat when I made this, there was so much when I was slicing it but I thought I could find some way to use up all that flavor!! Should I have just CHUCKED it....lol get it chucked it....anyhoo.....have you ever saved beef fat like that? I was thinking I could maybe put it in a soup or something...??


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## buckytom (Dec 2, 2008)

lol, chucked.  

nope, never saved beef fat. just pork and lamb. i guess you could render it just like any other fat, then use it for things like home fries or as the starter oil for things to be browned for soup.

we just bought a new fridge for the downstairs kitchen, so i was forced to chuck out my odd bits of bones and fat that i had been saving for who-knows-what. oh well, time to start saving new chuckables.


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## deelady (Dec 2, 2008)

LOL ok ok I get the hint....I won't quit my day job!


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## ChefJune (Dec 2, 2008)

I never heard of Shawarama made with beef.  only lamb.  Lots of Middle-Easterners don't eat beef.  the sacred cow and all that.


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## deelady (Dec 2, 2008)

Yes but just as many DO eat beef. The lady I got the recipe from was Lebanese, and I also was recently at an Israeli restaurant where they not only had beef but also sold turkey shawarmas! Also I grew up with an Arabic family (my best friend who lived accross the street) and they often ate beef. It all depends on what Religion they are, if they practice Christianity chances are they eat beef 
Plus I think its India that considers the cow a sacred animal....


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## Yakuta (Dec 2, 2008)

Actually ChefJune, Indians and only Hindus don't eat cow.  That's because they worship the cow and consider it to be a source of sustainence like a mother.  Most of the Middleeastern's are muslims and they eat beef.  I am from India but I am a muslim and I eat beef.  So while lamb shwarma may be popular it's not unusual to make it with beef.  One of the better shwarma's I have had was in Egypt and it was made from beef.


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## radhuni (Dec 2, 2008)

> Actually ChefJune, Indians and only Hindus don't eat cow. That's because they worship the cow and consider it to be a source of sustainence like a mother.



Thats right, We don't eat beef. Thats why I am asking can I prepare Shawarama with mutton?

Yakuta, Bakri-Ed is coming. What will you prepare on that festival.

Do you know in my childhood my sisters and I waited for Ed especially Bakri-Ed. Because our neighbours and friends gave us so much foods that our fridge became filled with semai, halwa & mutton.


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## deelady (Dec 2, 2008)

You can prepare it with any meat that you care for. You just need to make sure it is sliced thin so you can chew it easily in the sandwich after it is cooked.

May I ask what/who is Yakuta, Bakri-Ed? I have never heard of it before


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## Yakuta (Dec 3, 2008)

Hi Radhuni, yep Eid is almost here.  I am not a huge meat eater.  It's very rare (maybe a half a dozen times in a entire year) that I eat red meat.  Like I tried the beef shwarma in Egypt or I will eat lamb or goat once in a while, even if I cook it regularly for my hubby and kids. 

This Eid I will be making haleem with goat meat (purchased from a butcher in Chicago  not like how things were in India).  I am pretty grossed out with that entire process.  

Hi deelady, bakri eid or Eid ul adha is a festival that is celebrated by muslims the world around.  It is celebrated after the completion of the Hajj pilgramage.  You can read about it on wikipedia -> Eid al-Adha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## jennyema (Dec 3, 2008)

After all this talk, I'm headed down the street for a Shwarma Greek Salad for lunch!  Yummmmm!


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## Yakuta (Dec 3, 2008)

Lucky you jennyema, if I lived close by I would join you since I am working from home today. 

Radhuni, you can make shwarma with chicken as well.  You can substitute chicken breast, marinate it with all the spices and roast it in the oven, slice it thinly and use that in place of mutton.  It may not be traditional but I have tried that as well in Dubai, just a bite from a friend's shwarma (in Dubai they sell shwarma in road site stalls and they are like a street food and very good).  

I also like to give shwarma my own twist, which I forgot to mention before.  I like to make it spicy.  

I like to make a spicy red sauce that I like to put on my shwarma and I also add some chili powder to the onions, cucumber and tomato mixture that I make (I cut them up and put some lime juice, sugar and chili powder).  

For the spicy red sauce here is how I make it.  I like to soak some dried red chilis overnight and then toss out most of the water.  put them in a blender with like handful of garlic cloves and some cilantro and vinegar and a tiny bit of gud (or brown sugar).  Blend and let it sit for an hour before using.  It makes a killer sauce for falafel's and shwarmas and any other wrap type sandwiches if you like spicy.


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## radhuni (Dec 3, 2008)

I love 'haleem'.

I often bought haleem in the time of Ramzaan, but I don't know how to prepare.


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## Yakuta (Dec 3, 2008)

It's not hard to make haleem, it just takes some time.  If you are interested in learning, send me a Private message and I will send you my recipe.


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## lyndalou (Dec 10, 2008)

Thank you so much for this recipe. I made it for DH and friends last night, and it was a great hit.


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## deelady (Dec 10, 2008)

Glad to hear your family enjoyed it as much as mine! 

Did you make the tahini sauce to go with it? Also what kind of meat did you use for it?


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## interwebmaniac (Dec 16, 2008)

this certainly sounds interesting, im gonna have to try it sometime


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