Armenian Lamb with Sauteed Peppers and Onions on Walnut Couscous

A couple of weekends ago, I was out camping at a large historical re-creation event. I camp with a group that of people that are mostly enthusiastic cooks. At this event, however, we are all busy with the myriad activities available, and so meals tend toward simple and quick to prepare. Another reason to keep it simple is that sometime this site has an abundance of wasps. The less time raw meat is sitting around, the easier it is to avoid attracting their attention.

This is not to suggest, however, that the food is less than tasty. We are all kinda picky that way. Simple and fast can still be good.

One of our go to meals is something we dubbed Armenian burritos. Basically, it is an Armenian style sautéed ground lamb, served with spiced, sautéed onions and peppers, wrapped in pita bread or lavash (a soft flat bread). It is served with various condiments and add-ons, including diced green chilies, sliced black olives, minced cilantro, parsley, and/or mint, sliced pepperoncini, feta cheese, and home made yogurt cheeses (this year I made roasted garlic, and cucumber). Both the lamb and peppers are seasoned with garlic, parsley, allspice, paprika, and black pepper.

Well, the spouse did not get to camp this year, so I claimed some of the left over lamb (which is awesome in an omelet, but that's another post) for her. We had a giant bell pepper that needed used, so I sliced it up and sautéed it with onion, and spiced it up with cumin, fresh thyme, and cayenne. The couscous is a simplified version of the walnut butter couscous I've made before. I served it with some of the cucumber lebni.

Recipes

Armenian Lamb

2 lbs. ground lamb
1/2 cup fresh parsley

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tsp. paprika

2 tsp.  allspice

2 tsp. black pepper
salt to taste

3 Tbsp. olive oil

Mix all ingredients except olive oil. Add oil to a hot wok, then cook lamb quickly, stirring constantly.

Spiced Bell Peppers and Onions

1 large ripe bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 medium yellow onion, cut into thin strips
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves, minced
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne powder
salt to taste

In a large skillet over medium to medium high heat, sauté onions in olive oil for two minutes. Add peppers, spices, and salt. Cook until vegetables are tender.

Walnut Couscous

1 cup dried couscous
1/2 cup ground walnuts
pinch salt
hot water as needed

Place couscous in a bowl. Stir in walnuts and salt. Pour over couscous enough water to cover. Mix well, let stand five minutes.

Cucumber Cheese

1 lb. lebni
3 small Persian cucumbers
1 tsp. coarse sea salt

Peel and shred cucumbers. Place in a colander over a bowl, sprinkle with salt. Let stand 30 minutes to allow cucumbers to release most of their moisture.

Stir cucumbers into lebni. Best if refrigerated for at least a day before use.

Happy Eating!

Valentine's Day Dinner: Cocoa Rubbed Sirloin, Spicy Couscous, Asparagus with Hollandaise, and ChocoVine Sabayon

As a rule, the spouse and I do not go out of our way to celebrate Valentine's Day. We try to do little romantic gestures each and every day, so having a day set aside for romance seems silly. Still, I was in the mood to go all out at dinner, so I thought I'd make it special. Besides, I knew the spouse was going to have a trying day at work, so thought I would help with stress relief.

As a starter, I made a simple salad, with bronze leaf lettuce, ripe bosk pear, and chopped pecans. I made a simple vinaigrette of date vinegar, sesame oil, and a little sugar and salt.

While simple, the vinaigrette really highlighted the sweetness of the pear, and the pecans added a really nice textural contrast to the pear and the lettuce.

This was a nice opener, really whetting the palette.

For the main course, I grilled sirloin steak that I rubbed with a mixture of cocoa powder, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, and kosher salt. I love bitter chocolate with beef. I think it helps create a super nice crust, and really compliments the heartiness of the beef.

For starch, I made couscous flavored with onion, parsley, and berbere, an Ethiopian spice mix. Berbere is wonderfully complex, and fairly hot.

The spouse had picked up some wonderful asparagus. This is just about our favorite vegetable. I just lightly grilled it, to get a little char, but keep it al dente. I do not like my asparagus limp. I went with a classic, and made hollandaise to go on the asparagus. It was the first time I have tried it, but I followed this recipe by Tyler Florence, and it was really easy.

I had been gifted with a bottle of ChocoVine, a kind of cream liqueur flavored with red wine and chocolate, made in Holland. I used it to make a sabayon, adapting the recipe from the Moscato Zabaglione I made for my wine class last November. I garnished it with some ripe strawberries macerated with a little sugar, and piped a heart of dark chocolate.

The acid in the strawberries helped cut the heaviness of the sabayon a bit. The dark chocolate brought out more of the chocolate flavor of the ChocoVine.

All in all, I was very satisfied with this meal. I got the steak cooked to a perfect medium rare, the hollandaise had a nice tang, and really complemented the asparagus well. The sabayon was thick and creamy, and not too sweet.

Recipes

Date Vinaigrette

4 Tbsp. date vinegar
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Whisk all ingredients vigorously until an emulsion forms.

Cocoa Rub

4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. chili powder

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Liberally sprinkle on steaks at least five minutes before grilling.

Simple Hollandaise

4 egg yolks
2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
pinch salt
1/2 cup melted butter

In  a double boiler over barely simmering water, whisk together egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt until thick and doubled in volume. Slowly drizzle in melted butter while whisking, until butter is incorporated and sauce is thick and smooth.

ChocoVine Sabayon

6 egg yolks
3/4 cup ChocoVine liqueur
1 cup heavy cream
3 large ripe strawberries, sliced thin
2 tsp. sugar

In a small bowl, mix together strawberries and sugar. Set aside.

Whip cream to medium stiff peaks. Set aside.

In a double boiler over barely simmering water, whisk together egg yolks and ChocoVine together until thick and smooth. Place bowl with egg mixture  in an ice bath, continue to whisk until room temperature. Fold cream into egg mixture. Pour or spoon into serving containers. Garnish with strawberry slices.

Happy Eating!

A Medieval Islamic Dinner

A couple of friends have been enthusiastically asking me to cook for them for awhile. We finally found a mutually acceptable date, so the spouse and I went over to their place, and I had the pleasure of cooking for them. I'd been wanting to try some dishes that I'm thinking about for a feast I am co-ordinating in November. I wanted to give them maximum bang for their buck, so to speak, so did the full meal thing: appetizer, main dish, dessert.

For the appetizer, I made a chickpea paste with pita bread. This is an ancestor of humus, but without tahini. It's flavored with preserved lemons, white wine vinegar, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and served with fresh mint and parsley, and olive oil. I really liked it. The pickled lemons gave it a unique tang. I did have to run the food processor longer than I usually do to make humus, the lemon was resistant. The fresh herbs added a nice contrast.

For the main dish, I made spice rubbed sauteed beef cubes with almond stuffed dates, on a bed of walnut butter couscous, with fried eggplant with a sweet and sour sauce. The beef is a London broil, cut into cubes. I tossed it with a spice rub of coriander, cinnamon, black pepper, ginger,and kosher salt. It was sauteed with dates stuffed with whole blanched almonds. The sweet dates added a nice contrast to the spicy beef.  I cooked the beef just to a nice medium rare. It came out juicy and tender. The walnut butter couscous was rich and fragrant, I'm particularly happy with it. The eggplant was fried in shallow oil, until brown. It was dressed with a sauce of lemon juice, white wine vinegar, sugar, cilantro, parsley, mint, garlic, black pepper, ginger, and cinnamon. The acid of the sauce helped cut the richness of the beef and couscous.

For dessert, I kept it simple. I made fried bananas with pistachio syrup. The bananas were fried in a little butter on the griddle, until golden brown. The syrup was a simple syrup of sugar and water, with a little salt, and rough chopped pistachios. For all it's simplicity, it was very good. It was missing a cold component and a little acid, though. I think next time I will serve it with a little cardamon-honey creme fraiche.




All-in-all, I'm very pleased with this meal. I feel I'm starting to get a handle on plating. I felt really good about timing and multi-tasking to get all the components of the main dish to finish at the same time. I think the balance of flavors, and textures was spot on.

Recipes

Chickpea Paste with Preserved Lemon

1 8 oz. can chickpeas
1/2 a preserved lemon
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. chopped mint
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
2 tbsp. olive oil

Drain chickpeas, reserving 1/4 cup of liquid. Place chickpeas, chickpea liquid, lemon, vinegar, spices, and salt into a food processor. Process until smooth. Place on a platter, sprinkle with fresh herbs, drizzle with olive oil. Serve with wedges of flat bread, like lavosh or pita.

Sauteed Beef with Dates

1 1/2 lbs London boil
8 oz. pitted dates
1/3 cup blanched whole almonds
2 tbsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. whole coriander seeds
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. olive oil

Carefully insert an almond into the cavity of each date, set aside. Cut beef into 3/4 inch cubes. Grind up coriander in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. In a small bowl, mix salt and spices. Toss beef cubes with spice mix until well coated. In a frying pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Add dates, saute for a couple of minutes, then add beef. Cook until meat is browned, but still pink in the middle.

Walnut butter couscous

2/3 cup walnuts
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. kosher salt
2 cups dried couscous
4 cups boiling water

Place walnuts in a food processor. Process, drizzling in olive oil until walnuts are a thick, peanut butter-like paste. Set aside. Place couscous in a bowl, pour on boiling water. Let sit 10 minutes, until water is absorbed. Use a spoon to fluff up couscous. Add walnut butter and salt, stir until butter is incorporated.

Fried Eggplant with Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 eggplant
juice of 1 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. chopped mint
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
canola oil for frying

In a small saucepan, simmer juice, vinegar, spices, herbs, salt and sugar over medium-low heat. Cook until sugar dissolves, and garlic is tender.

Slice eggplant into 1/2 thick slices. Put a thin layer of canola oil into a frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, fry eggplant on both sides until brown, place on paper towels to drain. Plate eggplant, drizzle with sauce.

Fried Bananas with Pistachio Syrup

3 bananas, sliced diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices
1/2 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
1 tbsp. butter
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt

Place water, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer until sugar and salt are dissolved, let cook until slightly thickened. Stir in nuts, set aside.

Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium heat. When hot, lightly coat with butter. Fry bananas on both sides until bananas are caramelized, and softened. Plate sauce, arrange bananas on top.

Happy Eating!