Green Vegetable and Lamb Stew

Lamb comes from sheep under 1 year;  from 3 to 5 month old they are called spring lamb. The meat of spring lamb is pale pink and mild, lamb from older sheep is of a darker pink and has a stronger flavor. Though most lamb is grass-fed for good flavor, the lamb from sheep that graze on salt-marshes has a very distinctive taste. I always liked lamb, and when a Persian friend gave us this recipe we just had to make it. It was truly, superlatively, tasty!

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless stewing lamb
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 cups diced potatoes
• 1 cup chopped spring onion tops
• 1 1/2 cups chopped spinach
• 1/4 cup chopped coriander
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley1/4 cups
• 1/2 garlic clove, crushed

Directions

1. Trim meat and cut into 3/4 inch cubes.
2. In a heavy pan gently fry onion in half of the oil until transparent. Add turmeric and fry for 2 minutes longer.
3. Increase heat, add meat cubes and stir over high heat until meat changes color and begins to brown. Reduce heat.
4. Add the water water and lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is just tender. Time depends on type of meat used.
5. Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan and add potatoes. Fry over high heat until lightly browned. Add to stew, leaving the fat in the pan. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Add greens to pan and fry over medium heat until wilted. Add to sauce, add the half garlic clove, cover and simmer for an additional 20 minutes or until meat and potatoes are tender. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Kashmiri Lamb – Rogan Josh

Exotic, delicious, Indian dish with just enough spice to keep it interesting:

Ingredients

• 5 cloves garlic roughly chopped
• 1 0nion roughly chopped
• 1 inch piece ginger root, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 lb lamb, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 10 cardamon pods, slightly crushed
• 1 1/4 cups water

Directions

1. Put the garlic, onion, ginger root, ground spices, salt, tomato paste into a blender and pulse until smooth.
2. Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole dish, add the lamb and cardamon pods. Fry over high heat to brown the meat on all sides.
3. Add the blended paste and cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Pour in the water and simmer, covered for 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender.
4. Serve over rice with some warmed naan bread.

Indian Style Rice

(from: simplyrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 2 cups long-grain rice
• 8 cups water
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 cloves
• 2 cardamom pods
• One 2-inch piece of cinnamon
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp dark mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp chile flakes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 chopped garlic cloves
• 1/4 tsp turmeric

Directions

1. Place rice in a sieve and run cool water through it to rinse it until the water runs clear. Soak the rice in cool water for 30 minutes. Drain.
2. Bring 8 cups of water and the salt to a boil in a large pot. Add the rice and stir. Add the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste the rice, and test if it is done to your taste; rice can take more or less time to cook depending on how old it is. If still too firm, cook a few minutes longer
3. When the rice is cooked to your liking, drain the rice into a colander and rinse with cold water to stop if from cooking. Remove the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and discard. Set the rice aside to drain.
4. In a pan large enough to hold the rice, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the mustard and cumin seeds and the chile flakes. Cook until the mustard seeds start popping, then add the onion. Sauté until the onion begins to brown, about 5-7 minutes.
5. Add the garlic and sauté another 2-3 minutes. Add the rice and mix well. Sprinkle the turmeric over the rice and mix well. Cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring often.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Stuffed Lamb Shoulder

[A few Shabbatot ago, I had lunch at some Sephardic friends’ home; I asked for the recipe of the delicious Lamb Shoulder we had and Mrs. Alma Ohayon emailed me this one. CS]

Serves 6

Photo by: Alma Ohayon

Ingredients

• 1 shoulder of lamb, weighing about 5 lb 8 o, boned and trimmed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp flour, blended with 1 tbsp water
• 1 cup beef or chicken stock

Stuffing

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 cup lean ground lamb
• 1/2 cup long grain rice
• 1/2 cup water
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 12 no-soak dried apricots, chopped
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Prepare the stuffing. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until it begins to soften. Add the garlic and ground lamb and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring to break up the meat. Stir in the rice and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until translucent, stirring frequently.
2. Stir in the water, salt and pepper, and cumin. Cook covered over medium-low heat for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is just tender. Remove the from the heat. Add the remaining stuffing ingredients.
3. Open the meat out flat, skin side down. Spread over the stuffing roll. Roll up tightly and secure with string. Brush with oil. Place on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast for 50 minutes for medium. Brush with honey 15 minutes before the end. Transfer to a serving plate to rest, tented with foil for 15 minutes.
4. Pour of all except 2 tablespoons of the fat. Set the pan over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour mixture, stock and vinegar. Bring to a boil while stirring; simmer for 8 minutes, or until thickened. Serve with the lamb.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

French Country Casserole

Growing up in Uruguay, my mother used to make many a delicious dish for dinner that became favorites. This one most certainly qualified as comfort food. For a long time I tried to remember the ingredients, while my experiments usually worked well they never quite approached the flavor as I remembered it.

Recently, I came across a recipe that does full justice to my memories. Slightly adapted from MMMM… CASSEROLES (published by Parragon Books Ltd in 2010):

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp corn oil
• 4lb 8oz boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 6 leeks sliced
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup rose wine
• 1 1/4 cups chicken stock
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint, plus extra sprigs to garnish
• 1/2 cup chopped plumped dried apricots
• 2 lb 4 oz potatoes sliced
• 3 tbsp melted unsalted margarine
• salt and pepper to taste

Photo from: Mmmm... CASSEROLES, page 49

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Heat the oil in a large, flameproof casserole. Add the lamb in batches and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 5-8 minutes, or until browned. Transfer to a plate.
3. Add the leeks to the casserole and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, or until softened. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Pour in the wine and stock and bring to a boil, stirring. Stir in the tomato paste, sugar, chopped mint, and apricots. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Return the lamb to the casserole and stir. Arrange the potato slices on top and brush with the melted margarine. Cover and bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours.
5. Increase the oven temperature to 400 F, uncover the casserole, and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until the potato topping is golden brown. Serve immediately, garnished with mint springs.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Yummy Grill

It may be small and unpretentious, but don’t let that fool you. This hidden jewel, Yummy Grill (543 Kings Highway – off East 4th; Brooklyn, NY; Tel: 718.375.7557), serves up delicious food featuring Cavcasian and Israeli cuisines.

A partial view...

Chef/Owner Eli Hizkiyahu graduated, as Chef, from Israel’s famed Tadmore Hotel School in Herzliya. He arrived on the American shores about 19 years ago and made a successful career using food as his canvass. From fashioning Tfillin out of watermelons, to birds about to take off in flight – out of fruits and vegetables, he’s done it all as he travelled the length and breadth of the US plying his trade of food decoration at numerous catered and private affairs. About 9 months ago, Chef Eli and his wife opened up their current venue.

My companion RN and I stopped by for lunch, recently. She started out with a Lamb Soup…

Lamb Soup

It was nicely presented, spicy and very savory; in fact, it could have served as a complete meal by itself. It contained a few lamb bones, slivers of lamb and rice. Excellent! She described it as perfect comfort food for a winter day.

I started with an Avocado Salad. I have never been a fan of avocado, but the taste of this one was exceptional. Colorful, nicely but subtly spiced, it contributed to change my mind about avocado.

We then shared a platter of Baby Lamb Chops…

Baby Lamb Chops

They were tender, juicy and had a very attractive aroma; came with a side dish of mixed Grilled Vegetables, consisting mostly of mushrooms, onions and peppers grilled to perfection.

We followed with a plate of Baby Chicken Kebab…

Baby Chicken Kebab

Tender, juicy delicious, it also came with those superb Grilled Vegetables (we just couldn’t enough of them!). All was served us in whimsically shaped but practical china, a delight to the eye. I washed it down with an Israeli malt. RN finished her meal with a delightful Tea w/Nana (mint leaves), while I had a coffee.

Ample portions, superb flavors, and very reasonable prices… isn’t it time to visit Yummy Grill?

CS

Cooking with Lévana – Part 5

It’s no secret to anyone who regularly peruses these pages (here, here, here, and here) that both SYR and I are enamored with Lévana’s cooking and teaching styles. Often defying the tried and true, she combines many an ingredient in ways that conventional wisdom might sometimes question but the results are always delicious! She does, time and again, prove that cooking for a crowd need not be a whole day affair, she invariably comes up with shortcuts that save hours of work, nerves and sweat.

This past Monday, after just over a month of being unable to do much, I found my way to Lévana’s Dinner and Show, this week. She covered Sephardi Finger Foods; the menu consisted of the following:

Lamb, Pine-Nut and Raisin Grape Leaves
Spicy Chicken Cigars
Mushroom Borekas
Fishballs in Lemon Sauce
Spicy Marinated Olives
Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini and Eggplant
Nut Truffles

"Let's start now, OK?"

It’s hard to choose just two of the recipes, but since this week we’ve been covering mushrooms we will include this one where she uses them:

Mushroom Borekas

Filling:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound mushrooms, chopped
¼ cup fresh bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Good pinch nutmeg
½ teaspoon dry thyme or tarragon
2 pounds puff pastry sheets, kept chilled
1 egg, mixed with a little water

Preparing the filling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add the mushrooms and sauté until all liquids evaporate. Add the remaining filling ingredients, and combine thoroughly. Cut the puff pastry to desired size. Place the filling in the center and close on all sides, pressing all around the sides with a fork. Place on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Bake about 30 minutes, or a little longer, until golden brown and puffy. Serve hot.

Hot and delicious

Hot and delicious

The Spicy Marinated Olives were superb (and those who know me, know I’m no big fan of olives), with very subtle hints of anise. Unusual, delectable!  The Spicy Chicken Cigars were the best I’ve ever tasted; the Fishballs in Lemon Sauce, superbly delicious, didn’t taste fishy at all!

The Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini and Eggplant looked great and tasted supreme. The excellent Nut Truffles dessert, was just sweet enough without the sweetness drowning out any of the other flavors.

The pièce de résistance, for me, was the Lamb, Pine-Nut and Raisin Grape Leaves dish:

Lamb, Pine nut and Raisin Grape Leaves

Filling
1/4 cup olive oil
4 large cloves garlic1 large onion, quartered
1 small bunch flat parsley
¼ cup mint leaves, packed
1 pound ground lamb
1 large tomato, halved, seeded, and diced small
1/2 cup golden or black raisins
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted (325 degree oven. 10-12 minutes)
Good pinch saffron
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pepper to taste
1 15 ounce jar grape leaves, separated and rinsed
1 cup pomegranate or cranberry juice
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Heat the oil in a skillet. In a food processor, finely grind the garlic. Add the onion, parsley and and mint, and grind coarsely. Add the ground mixture to the skillet, and saute until translucent. Add the lamb and tomato, and cook 2-3 more minutes. Add all remaining filling ingredients and mix thoroughly. Place a tablespoon stuffing at the bottom center of a leaf (smaller leaves: Make them overlap to get a larger more workable surface). Roll once, fold the sides towards to center, and roll all the way up. Place seam side down in a pan just large enough to fit the leaves snugly in one layer. Repeat with the remaining leaves and stuffing. Whisk the juice, tomato paste and oil in a little bowl, and pour evenly over the leaves. Bake about 40 minutes, until the juices are reduced and the leaves look nicely browned on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Lamb and Pine-Nut Stuffed Grape Leaves - ready to be baked

All in all, it was a cooking demo and dinner to remember.

CS

Cooking Lamb at the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts

Just over a month ago we spoke about the Baking and Pastry Arts course at CKCA, now we turn to their Culinary course. I recently attended a session given by Chef Avram Wiseman – one of two Senior culinary instructors. This particular session dealt with cooking lamb.

Chef Avram Wiseman

Chef Avram demonstrated various techniques for preparing lamb.

Covered in pastry

With potatoes Anna

CKCA’s students prepared lamb in a variety of ways over two days. The ones I was lucky to sample had a captivating aroma, great taste and were very juicy and tender.

Chef Avram has graciously shared his recipe for Asian Lamb Chops:

Asian Lamb chops

Yield: 2 portions

Ingredients:

6- Single cut rib lamb chops
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 Tablespoon shredded ginger root
1 Tablespoon finely minced garlic
3 tablespoons honey
3 oz. low sodium soy sauce
3 Tablespoons chicken stock
¼ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
3 scallions cut ¾ inch bias cut (white and green)
½ Teaspoon Cracked peppercorns

Procedure:

Season the lamb chops with the cracked peppercorns according to your taste. Lightly coat the chops with canola oil. Heat a large, heavy bottomed sauté pan. Place the lamb chops in the hot pan and quickly sear the lamb over high heat. Turn the chops and sear the second side. Cook until lamb is nicely golden brown. Remove chops from pan. Reserve some melted lamb fat in the pan. (If lamb chops are double cut or extra thick they may be placed in the oven for 7-10 minutes)

Place the ginger and garlic in the pan. Add a drop of oil if needed. Cook over high heat. Add the honey before the garlic burns! Continue cooking and let the honey bubble up and begin to color. Add soy sauce and de-glaze the honey. Add chicken broth. Return the chops to the sauce and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the sesame oil and scallions and mix well. Serve immediately.

I tried the Chef’s recipe at home, besides tasting at CKCA, it came out great. I loved it!

Next week will be back with CKCA’s Culinary course taught by Chef David Ritter, he’ll be sharing his recipe for Steak au poivre  (Peppercorn Steak).

CS