Eating Dinner With My Family

My darling husband chose a lamb tagine tonight. It was great. I did have some trouble with the chestnuts; I assumed they were peeled and they weren't. Yeah, big pain in the butt!  I also have issues with the woody parts of pomegranate arils, but despite that, it was wonderful. My husband liked it at first, but with every bite, he grew more and more enamored with the dish.   If you haven't tried Moroccan food, you just have to!  Put it on your menu right now, I'll wait, go on, do it. :). Moroccan food does have a lot going on flavor wise, but it's magical how all the pungent, salty, sweet flavors just work.  Now that I have built it up, I'm going to add a but...  But, since I have set your expectations so high, it can't meet them right?  And, but, you also need to be mindful of how our minds deal with new flavors. New flavors are interpreted often as bad. An unexpected boon from doing all these new recipes was that we are training our brains to have new mea...

This dish was frought with problems from the get go. The sausage!  Oh the dang sausage. Merguez wasn't going to be found in town but I had high hopes on the chorizo. Well they had the raw Mexican kind at publix and not the cooked Spanish kind that this recipe called for.  I settled for a hot Portuguese sausage.  (chorico?) that they had at the store.  I don't really like this sausage.  The instructions to cover the lentil with an inch of water was way, way too much!  I didn't even get a whole inch over the top, and almost none evaporated.  This made the tagine very runny and I cooked it longer to try and fix that by cooking is some with out the lid on.  The flavors were ok, and I would be willing to try it with the proper sausage, but it didn't wow me, but with merguez it might. (oh and less water;) Chorizo Tagine with Lentils and Fenugreek 2 tablespoons olive oil or ghee 2 onions chopped 2 garlic cloves chopped 1 pou...

I thought I would surprise my husband with another tagine tonight.  He could not stop raving about how awesome the Lamb Tagine with Dates, Almonds and Pistachios was, so I thought another was in order.  I wanted to do one that wasn't quite as sweet.  I picked this one.  I happened to really like it, as much as the last one, my husband thought it was good, but preferred the sweeter first one.  I did have one small issue, I didn't have any couscous!  Now it was recommended to eat this with a bread for scooping up, but as I am not a baker, and I assumed I still had couscous, I didn't shop or plan for anything beyond the tagine itself.  Fast forward to the end of the cooking time for the tagine, and I am getting ready to make the couscous that I discover I don't have.  My husband suggests that we throw in the butternut dumplings we had earlier in the week.  So, I throw those in for about 15 minutes just to heat them up.  It worked, but next...

I gave my husband a list of possible dinners for tonight and he chose this one.  I, for one was totally happy he did!  I couldn't find truffled pecorino cheese.  My local wine and cheese shop, The Ormond Wine Co. had one at one time, but they said they had been having trouble getting it in so, I did the next best thing.  I used truffle oil in place of the olive oil that got brushed on the dough as the "sauce" layer.  We only had one issue, and it was my fault.  It said season with salt and pepper, and I was thinking that as the leeks and lamb would be the only place with seasoning, I should season liberally.  I forgot to take into account that the pecorino is very salty, so the end product was a bit salty.  Even with the over seasoning, it was really great. I cooked the pizza a bit longer and only made one pizza rather than the small ones.  I also only used a pound of pizza dough, so I had some leftover toppings.  The toppings come off e...

I got the most beautiful tagine as a gift from my MIL.  I have been wanting one for a long time.  Now I am not timid in the kitchen, but I was a little nervous about using the clay vessel with the glass top stove, so after a bit of poking around on the Internet, I ordered a heat diffuser and a cookbook about cooking in these clay vessels.   The heat diffuser was recommended by the makers of my tagine but didn't say required, but I figured for 12 dollars it was worth the insurance.  I should have checked to see if my tagine fit inside my cast iron skillet, but too late:).  This is my first recipe out of the cookbook I ordered Tagines & Couscous .  If this recipe is the only one we like, the book was worth it.  We had some wonderful friends over, who didn't mind being guinea pigs to our first attempt with the tagine as well as the recipe;).  The only ingredient that I couldn't find at my local publix was the ghee.  The cookbook ...

Don't let the length of the recipe daunt you!  It was less of a process than it appears, and even if it was difficult, it was pretty much worth it.  If I were to make any criticism of it at all was that the reduced braising liquid was still pretty runny and the sandwich was a huge dripping mess.  Correction a huge, dripping, tasty mess.  My husband wanted something crunchy in the sandwich, but that didn't stop him from having 2 ;).  We all agreed it was a solid 4 stars.  The only possibly difficult ingredient to procure is the pomegranate molasses.  If you can't find it locally, you can get it on line but I made my own.   I had made it for a Lebanese fried fish  ages ago, and finished it off tonight in this Shawarma.  The tahini sauce was wonderful and I am looking forward to having it on my sandwich at lunch tomorrow. Braised Lamb Shawarma For the lamb 4 bone-in lamb shoulder chops (about 10 -oz. each) 1 Tbs. vegetable oil mor...

These were good burgers.  I am starting with that because now I am going to nit pick the issues I had and want to get it upfront that they were good;).  The English muffins were great for bread, but they got soggy fast with the drippings from the burgers. (I even used 85% lean)  I also would have liked a bit less meat per burger.  The lamb/beef combination, however, was really nice, and the caper remoulade was really tasty. The boy loved the burgers; we all did.  It is just that we have had some outstanding burgers and this one was just really good. Beef-And-Lamb Burgers With Cheddar And Caper Remoulade   4 cornichons coarsely chopped 3 Tbl parsley leaves coarsely chopped 2 Tsp drained capers 1 garlic clove 1/2 Cup mayonnaise 1 Tbl whole-grain mustard 3/4 Lb ground beef preferably 80 percent lean 1/2 Lb ground lamb Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 English muffins split 4 thin slices of aged cheddar Tomato slices and thinly ...

Well it is St. Patrick's day and to make it a bit of a celebration, I opted for an Irish dish.  I wanted to try making colcannon but I figured this would be better received by the family.  While I have never made colcannon, I did love these Blarney Cakes, so colcannon sounded delightful.  Most of my crew still is a bit leery of greens, so instead this Martha Stewart recipe.   I halved the recipe and I threw the large bones in while the stew was cooking, but those are the only changes I made.  The boys loved it!  I thought it tasted pretty good but it was a bit greasy for me Irish Stew   3 Lb small Yukon gold potatoes peeled 2 medium onions (about 1 pound), halved lengthwise and c 2 1/2 Lb lamb shoulder cut into 1-inch cubes 2 1/2 Tsp coarse salt Freshly ground pepper 2 Tsp coarsely chopped fresh thyme 3 Cup homemade lamb stock or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock 2 Tbl finely chopped fresh curly- or flat leaf parsley 1...

I let my husband pick tonight's recipe and he did really good job of it!  I loved the lamb alone much less with a bit of the garlicky tahini.  It was a perfect medium/ medium rare. (the pieces weren't perfectly uniform in size) I let the lamb marinate for  about 2.5 hours.  I think the longer marinade time is necessary.  I didn't have dried mint so I dried some in the oven to go in the marinade. I always make a salad with dinner, but instead of our usual oil and balsamic reduction, I made a miso and tahini dressing that I fell in love with.  I still had a bit of miso to use up and I thought this would go well with dinner.  (it did;) Turkish Shish Kebabs With Garlicky Tahini 6    garlic cloves,crushed 3 T  extra-virgin olive oil,plus more for brushing 3 T  fresh lemon juice 1 t  kosher salt 1 t  freshly ground pepper 1 t  dried mint 1 t  dried oregano 1 1/2 lb trimmed boneless leg of lamb...

You are probably  thinking what I was when I saw the title of this recipe, "uh isn't that called a gyro?"  And you know what we would be right, but a gyro is pretty darn tasty,  This is a basically gyro except the lamb is in crumbles.  It was very tasty but I do prefer the more laborious gyro meat.  I have never been a fan of ground meat broken apart and cooked so I may be a bit biased.  I thought the meal was tasty and my husband, who has no such bias, loved it.  The one thing I found annoying, was the order of the instructions really should be reversed.  I had scanned it, but neglected to notice that the relish was to be made an hour ahead of time.  It all worked out as my husband was late coming home and I was waiting to cook the meat until he arrived, but really it should gone at the beginning so I am moving it;). Greek Taco Lamb 1 T  olive oil 2 lb ground lamb Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/2  ...

In anticipation of our next neighborhood progressive dinner, in which the theme with be burgers, I decided to try another burger recipe.  It was really good.  It wasn't as spicy as I thought it would be considering how many peppers are in it, but I did make sure to remove all seeds and ribs which contain most of the capsaicin. I didn't make 6, I made 4 burgers.  I have a recipe program called accuchef that I really like that will recaculate the recipe for you, but I wanted to share it in it's original form.  (I like my accuchef but it costs, pepperplate  is a free on line recipe management program that I have but I use accuchef the most) I also had some corn that I needed to use. (yes the epic struggle between a cook and her fridge is still in full swing.  I needed to use up some yogurt, hence the burger I chose to try)  I remember seeing Aaron Sanchez on The Best I Ever Ate talking about a grilled corn with cheese and lime.  I found this recipe ...

Everyone made their own with the toppings they liked Well I knew this gyro would never come close to my beloved gyro at Santorini in Deland, but happily it was still pretty good.  I didn't think that the recipe could be easily halved because I was cooking it like meatloaf (maybe it would be ok on the rotisserie?), so I invited friends to be Guinea pigs along with my family to try out my first stab at a gyro.  Everyone seemed to enjoy their food.  It was a lovely night and we ate outside which was fun too:).  I only made one deviation from the recipe and that was in the Tzatziki sauce.  The yogurt I bought was plain Greek yogurt at 10% milkfat and almost as thick as peanut butter so I didn't think it needed to drain like regular ole plain would need to in order to thicken up. (Which was a nice time saver too) The meat was perfect.  It looked like the gyro meat you get from a restaurant.  (Its an Alton Brown recipe so no surprise there) I bet f...

Another try at a new take on a burger.  They are always popular and ever so tasty.  This was surprisingly good.  I am a loaded burger kind of gal.  (everything but mustard) I need mayo, tomatoes, pickles and onions(I just do.), and am happy to add everything else. (just not mustard lol)  I am finding that there is life beyond those toppings.  This burger is very flavorful.  I was even happy with just the relish as a condiment.  It needs a lot of the relish to help keep it moist, but YUM! Everyone wolfed theirs down.  I did make 2 small deviations: 1) they were cooked in a skillet inside not on a grill. 2) I did not grind my own coriander seeds. The salad was a bit of a miss for me.  I improvised a dressing using the rest of the yogurt I had with some lemon, Dijon, salt and chives.  The burger is a keeper! Middle Eastern Lamb Burgers 1 lb ground lamb 1/4 c  minced white onion 1    medium garlic clo...

It is super bowl Sunday, and we are going to a friend's house.  We alternate who's house we go to.  Our hostess had the brilliant idea to have a pasta bar, and as her husband is a vegetarian, I am going to do a meat that can be added to the pasta dishes.  My husband did not like that I wanted to do a dish we hadn't made before; I said that we can blame the blog;).  He decided he liked this new dimension to the blog, blame for bad new recipes.  I'm not too worried. It is an Alton Brown Recipe and at worst it will to just ok. I have wanted to try this recipe for a while as I am a fan of meatballs.  I did find one that I thought was pretty great (9/1/11), but I still am looking for the OMG recipe. This one was a good one.  I like the cooking technique, but I thought the meatballs were a tad dense.  That is most likely my fault and I am going to try them again.  The star, among many gems, was the hostess' Gorgonzola sauce.  I liked it m...