January Jeliciousness: Lebanese Messy Malfouf

My ex-husband's family is Lebanese and there are many excellent cooks in the family. It is the main reason that I am now so fond of Mediterranean food and often cook in that style.  However, many of the recipes, including my husband's crazy-delicious Lebanese rice with vermicelli and pine nuts, are secret, so I feel incredibly honored that Suzi has shared this recipe with us. -- MsW

traditional Lebanese Mafouf, on which this is based

Suzi says: I love it because it tastes just like my mother's traditional Lebanese cabbage rolls, but it only takes minutes to make, instead of hours. This is my original recipe as an alternative to stuffed cabbage rolls. This takes minutes to put together, and is delicious! Set it up like a lasagna (3 layers...cabbage, meat/rice mixture, cabbage)

One Cabbage...shredded
1/2 cup rice (I use Mahatma because it splits, but I have also used brown rice and quinoa for this recipe)
1 lb ground turkey 93/7, or lean ground beef, or you can use lamb,
Allspice (giant pinch=about a tablespoon)
Salt (to taste= another tablespoon)
Pepper (a couple cranks on the pepper grinder)
One cup water
Now get a rectangular baking dish (to make in oven) or you can get a giant frying pan (to cook stove-top)
Spray with Pam ( I once met the girl who's father invented Pam...her name was Pam, but that's another story)
Put half the shredded cabbage on the bottom of the vessel...
Mix the rice, meat, allspice salt and pepper with half a cup water and spread over the cabbage...
Top with the remainder of shredded cabbage...and the other half cup of water.
Then mix about three cloves of crushed garlic, juice of a juicy lemon and a palmful of dried mint and salt...spread on top.
Cover...cook until rice is done. Serve with salad and yoghurt.