Lamb Kofte part II

Lamb Kofte with yogurt sauce and Muhammara








Ok so go there to see the original recipe. I've changed it some but I will so do this again.

Ingredients

Yogurt Sauce

• 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

I mixed this altogether with a little sugar. I had meant to pick up some tahinni and next time I will make the effort because I think it would be really good. This was good but I have a thing about yogurt, I love it but the whole savory yogurt thing still seems a little weird to me. I ended up liking this just the way it is a whole lot.

Köfte

• 2 pounds ground lamb
• 1/4 cup coarsely grated onion
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 12 5- to 7-inch-diameter soft round Middle Eastern flatbreads (preferably with no pocket)
• 2 tablespoons (or more) olive oil, divided
• 2 large onions, halved through core, cut crosswise into 1/4- to 1/3-inch slices

I didn't grate the onions. Someday I may try that but it sounds like a horrid tear producing event so I'm gonna pass for now.

Now the paprika and cumin. Here's how I do it and I find this to really make a difference and it doesn't take all that long. I dump the powdered spices in a non stick pan and toast them just a bit. It releases whatever oils may still be left in these powdered spices. I try to keep my spices current and fresh but I never know how long it's been since they've been in their natural state. Any way, toast them a bit until you can smell them. Now I have to say that I think 3 tablespoons of paprika would be way too much. I rarely use paprika because I sort of think it doesn't really add anything to a dish. It's got a rather dusty flavor thing going on that's just sort of bla to me. I decided that in this large quantity I would go ahead and do it. And it was terrific. I may have underestimated this whole paprika thing. I didn't have any cayenne which I still can't believe I don't have any cayenne so I added some blazing hot garlic chili sauce.

And the mint. I'm quite sure the mint would be lovely in here but I forgot to pick some up and my mint plant has been left in the side yard to die so I didn't use any. Eating to much mint make me feel like I've swallowed mouthwash.

Muhammara

• 1/2 cup finely chopped drained roasted red peppers from jar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons (or more) pomegranate molasses**
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

• *Available at some supermarkets, natural foods stores, and Middle Eastern markets.
• **A thick pomegranate syrup; available at some supermarkets, at Middle Eastern markets, and from adrianascaravan.com.

You really must have the pomegranate molasses and before you get all whiny about what the heck it is and where in the world you would get it let me give you the recipe.

4 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Boil this down till it's reduced to about 1/2.

There, that wasn't so hard was it? And it's so worth it as I think you could use this in a dozen other dishes. Also if you enjoyed that whole plating thing you could drizzle this on in pretty patterns. Right? Yeah, me either.


The preparation was fairly easy and not all that time consuming. I was a little worried that this didn't have any egg or filler. I thought they'd be a little dry. They wern't fall apart in your mouth moist but I wouldn't call them dry either.

IMHO It's a do over for sure!

Preparation

yogurt sauce

• Stir all ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Cover and chill.

köfte

• Line large rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Gently mix lamb and next 8 ingredients in large bowl. Using moistened hands and scant 2 tablespoonfuls for each, roll meat mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs. Arrange on sheet.
• Preheat oven to 300°F. Place large sheet of foil on work surface. Heat large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add flatbreads to skillet 1 at a time; cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Enclose in foil; place in oven to keep warm.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer onions to 1 side of large rimmed baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm.
• Add 1 tablespoon oil to same skillet; heat over medium-high heat. Sauté half of meatballs until just cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet in oven. Repeat with remaining meatballs, adding oil to skillet if dry. Reserve skillet.

Muhammara

• Add roasted peppers to reserved skillet; stir 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup water and 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses. Bring to simmer, scraping up browned bits. Cook until reduced to 2/3 cup, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Mix in parsley. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more pomegranate molasses, if desired. Transfer to small bowl.
• Arrange onions and meatballs on platter. Serve with warm breads, yogurt sauce, and muhammara.

Happy St. Puggy's Day

Pugalug Pug Rescue Has this cute little pic. Pugalug is a Pug Rescue in Toronto, Canada.

Darn cute pic












How do they get hats to stay on? They always end up under their chin.














These would be cute to have. I may have to get some for next year. Go here.







And that is the extent of my St. Puggy's day celebration. My name may be Irish but there's not a drop of known Irish blood in me. I would forget it altogether if it wasn't for the Irishman at work. So I'll wear something green other than my eyes and I'll throw a corned beef into the crock tonight and that'll be that.












Lamb Kofte with yogurt sauce and Muhammara








Ok so go there to see the original recipe. I've changed it some but I will so do this again.

Ingredients

Yogurt Sauce

• 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

I mixed this altogether with a little sugar. I had meant to pick up some tahinni and next time I will make the effort because I think it would be really good. This was good but I have a thing about yogurt, I love it but the whole savory yogurt thing still seems a little weird to me. I ended up liking this just the way it is a whole lot.

Köfte

• 2 pounds ground lamb
• 1/4 cup coarsely grated onion
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 12 5- to 7-inch-diameter soft round Middle Eastern flatbreads (preferably with no pocket)
• 2 tablespoons (or more) olive oil, divided
• 2 large onions, halved through core, cut crosswise into 1/4- to 1/3-inch slices

I didn't grate the onions. Someday I may try that but it sounds like a horrid tear producing event so I'm gonna pass for now.

Now the paprika and cumin. Here's how I do it and I find this to really make a difference and it doesn't take all that long. I dump the powdered spices in a non stick pan and toast them just a bit. It releases whatever oils may still be left in these powdered spices. I try to keep my spices current and fresh but I never know how long it's been since they've been in their natural state. Any way, toast them a bit until you can smell them. Now I have to say that I think 3 tablespoons of paprika would be way too much. I rarely use paprika because I sort of think it doesn't really add anything to a dish. It's got a rather dusty flavor thing going on that's just sort of bla to me. I decided that in this large quantity I would go ahead and do it. And it was terrific. I may have underestimated this whole paprika thing. I didn't have any cayenne which I still can't believe I don't have any cayenne so I added some blazing hot garlic chili sauce.

And the mint. I'm quite sure the mint would be lovely in here but I forgot to pick some up and my mint plant has been left in the side yard to die so I didn't use any. Eating to much mint make me feel like I've swallowed mouthwash.

Muhammara

• 1/2 cup finely chopped drained roasted red peppers from jar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons (or more) pomegranate molasses**
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

• *Available at some supermarkets, natural foods stores, and Middle Eastern markets.
• **A thick pomegranate syrup; available at some supermarkets, at Middle Eastern markets, and from adrianascaravan.com.

You really must have the pomegranate molasses and before you get all whiny about what the heck it is and where in the world you would get it let me give you the recipe.

4 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Boil this down till it's reduced to about 1/2.

There, that wasn't so hard was it? And it's so worth it as I think you could use this in a dozen other dishes. Also if you enjoyed that whole plating thing you could drizzle this on in pretty patterns. Right? Yeah, me either.


The preparation was fairly easy and not all that time consuming. I was a little worried that this didn't have any egg or filler. I thought they'd be a little dry. They wern't fall apart in your mouth moist but I wouldn't call them dry either.

IMHO It's a do over for sure!

Preparation

yogurt sauce

• Stir all ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Cover and chill.

köfte

• Line large rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Gently mix lamb and next 8 ingredients in large bowl. Using moistened hands and scant 2 tablespoonfuls for each, roll meat mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs. Arrange on sheet.
• Preheat oven to 300°F. Place large sheet of foil on work surface. Heat large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add flatbreads to skillet 1 at a time; cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Enclose in foil; place in oven to keep warm.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer onions to 1 side of large rimmed baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm.
• Add 1 tablespoon oil to same skillet; heat over medium-high heat. Sauté half of meatballs until just cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet in oven. Repeat with remaining meatballs, adding oil to skillet if dry. Reserve skillet.

Muhammara

• Add roasted peppers to reserved skillet; stir 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup water and 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses. Bring to simmer, scraping up browned bits. Cook until reduced to 2/3 cup, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Mix in parsley. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more pomegranate molasses, if desired. Transfer to small bowl.
• Arrange onions and meatballs on platter. Serve with warm breads, yogurt sauce, and muhammara.

Lamb Kofte part I

Lamb Köfte with Yogurt Sauce and Muhammara

This is not my picture. By the time I'm done cooking I'm starving and plating is something I need to learn.






This was one of the two of the 5 AMAZING meataball recipes that I was dying to try. I'm not much for Indian cuisine but I really love Moroccan and Mediterranean foods.

This recipe claims 'The Middle East on a flatbread: Turkish meatballs, a tahini-spiked yogurt sauce, and muhammara, a Syrian red pepper spread.'

But here's the catch, it's made with ground lamb.

That may not be an issue where you live but here in the L of E you will not find ground lamb. Most of the year you will not find any lamb. But now that Easter is upon us lamb has cropped up in most markets. I thought there was a chance I would find it locally.

I thought wrong.

However, while visiting the folks in the OC I told them I wanted to catch the Persian market down the road from where they live. A great little market while kind of on the dirty side has many items that I use in large inexpensive quantities and all the Middle East items I can find no where else.

It's closed it's doors since I was there.

humf!

Oh wait! the old people say, there's that Whole Food store we told you about, they'll have what you want there.

The peeps have been mentioning this Whole Food store for several months. It started by them saying it was a store that had 2 words in the name. Then they thought it was Whole Food something. So I said 'Whole Foods?' cuz you know that's a store and everybody sort of knows this. And they say no, it's like Whole Foods but not Whole Foods. This may sound a little frustrating unless you've actually met my parents. And then you'd get it. And it would be funny!

So they take us there and it? Is fantastic! They have a fabulous cheese counter with cheeses from all over. I bought a pound of Bulgarian Feta. Bulgarian Feta! Who knew Bulgarians made feta? It's a lovely sheep milk feta with a sharp flavor and creamy texture. I picked up a ginormous jar of cracked green olives for about 3 bucks. A half gallon of grapeseed oil, half a dozen exotic spices, some tea. Oh the tea isle!! Tea tea tea. I picked up a box of Earl Grey, 100 count, for the same price as Numi Earl Grey 20 count. I'm quite sure it's not organic. But it is delish. Then headed over to the dairy case. I've been wanting to try some nice Greek yogurt for some time. My store has it but it so wickedly expensive that I've yet to pick some up. Persian market is where I wanted to go for selection and price. And it did not disappoint, Greek yogurts, Indian yogurts in several brands, huge sizes and at the same price as our domestic brands. I didn't get any as the expiration dates were rather close. So I guess it did disappoint. The bulk bins had couscous, several varieties of rice and some rather exotic looking dried figs. The figs were sweet and chewy. I should have bought more.

And then. . . on to the meat counter. Meat counters rather scare me a little. Especially if I don't know what I want. You got a guy standing there waiting to measure some meat for you and there are other people waiting and it just all gets a little stressful for me. Except that day, that day I spied ground lamb. I flagged me down a meat man and grabbed a couple of pounds of ground lamb and then, right next to the lamb was osso busco. I've been meaning to make some so I grabbed four of those.

Now I was set for my next AMAZING MEATBALL RECIPE!!!

. . . . . to be continued . . . . .