Lamb Stew. 100 Days of Recipes: Day 14

Lamb Stew, a la Tagine

A Tagine is a dish from North Africa, named for the conical earthenware pot used to cook it. The conical lid allows for a very moist atmosphere in cooking, and the results are just as mouth-watering. 

I have yet to make myself a ceramic tagine - it's on the list, but I can approximate the results in my large, enameled cast iron stock pot, and that's what I did recently for our studio Annual Meeting that I hosted at my home.

The original serving, over cauliflower couscous with roasted sweet potatoes

As soon as I do make that tagine pot, I'll make the recipe again, and then I can give a good comparison. But given how abso-friggin-lutely good this came out in my stock pot, I'm not sure I'll be rushing to make the pot or the comparison (but it is still on the list)!

Lamb Tagine (serves 4)

Preheat oven to 300 (day of cooking!)
Marinade for the 3 pounds of lamb* (do the day before):

2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground allspice

*I used 3 pounds of boneless leg of lamb, with excess fat trimmed and chopped into 1" cubes.

Place the lamb in a bowl, sprinkle the dry marinade on top and massage it thoroughly throughout the lamb. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight. 

Take the lamb out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you're ready to start - by the time you prep the rest of the ingredients for the tagine, it'll have warmed up just enough.

In a large cast iron or other heavy-bottomed pan, heat about 1 TBSP of olive oil to med-hi heat. Add as much of the lamb as you can without crowding it - it should all be a single layer with room (in a 10" pan, that's about 1/3 of your lamb). Brown the lamb on all sides, and remove it to a large stock pot (mine is an enameled cast iron pot, like Staub or Le Creuset). Repeat with the remaining lamb, adding more oil as needed.

Leftovers become even more tender, with even richer flavors.

To the stock pot, add:

1 TBSP freshly grated ginger
1 head of garlic cloves, smashed and roughly chopped
1 large onion, grated
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
6 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced in half or left whole if small
2 28-oz can diced or crushed tomatoes
2 cups of stock (lamb or chicken)
10 dates, cut into 1/3's
8 dried apricots, cut into 1/4" slices
2 TBSP honey


Cover pot and place in 300 degree oven for 3-4 hours* Lamb will be SO tender, and the fruit and vegetables will make a thick, luxurious sauce. Remove it from the oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes before removing from pot. Serve over couscous, or to be gluten free, cauliflower couscous (this recipe will show up soon, too).

*Ovens vary, and cook time will also vary depending on how consistently you cut the lamb.

One more note: I had intended to include sweet potatoes in the pot with the lamb, but one of my studio mates offered to bring some as a side dish, so she roasted sweet potato chunks in a dry marinade similar to what I used on the lamb. Had they been in the pot, they would have melted into the sauce with the other veg and been delicious, but having them roasted separately made them a perfect compliment to the rich tagine, with the lightness of the cauliflower couscous making a trifecta of deliciousness!

If you love it, put an Egg on it! 100 Days of Recipes: Day 13

If you love it, put an Egg on it!


Most times, when I'm planning a recipe or a meal, I'm thinking ahead to the leftovers - how the flavors will continue to develop in the second or third serving, and what else I might do with the original meal or element. And if I've made something that really makes my mouth and soul sing, one of my favorite ways to enjoy it again is under an over-easy egg. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner - it's a winner!

My handbuilt bowl is the perfect vessel for my
leftover lamb tagine (that will be in a future recipe posting)
with all it's warming spicy goodness, under a velvety egg. dang.

That's today's recipe - if you have leftovers from a meal that made you happy, put an egg on it! 

Recipe for Refreshment. 100 Days of Recipes: Day 12

Recipe for Refreshment

Belgian Style Pale Ale by Ponysaurus Brewing (Durham)
in a Salt Yellow 'Fine Brew' tumbler.

I think the picture pretty much sums up today's recipe. It was a lovely day outside, but we were consistently busy in the gallery all day so I didn't see the sky until just before dusk. It felt like the end of a busy week when i got home, so the recipe creation part of my brain just decided it needed a night off. I did manage a lovely salad of all sorts of odd and end greens, veggies, fruits, and nuts, but I was so hungry I ate it before really thinking of it as a recipe. :)

Sweet Potato Crostini. 100 Days of Recipes: Day 11

Sweet Potato Crostini


This has become my go-to staple for impromptu entertaining or just those days when I'm not sure what I want to make. While slices of sweet potato grill on the Foreman Grill, I prepare a variety of toppings, and in both sweets and toppings, a little goes a long way, so it's also a pretty inexpensive way to put together an enticing platter of goodies!

Assortment of sweet potato toasts.
Photo by Laurie McCarriar/Artist Geek

And of course, the variety of toppings is only limited by your imagination, and your pantry!

Sweet Potato Crostini

Amounts of course will vary based on how many people you're trying to feed. In general, you want to use skinnier sweet potatoes that will give you nice disc shapes when you cut across the middle. Cut them as thick as you like, but all should be of even thickness to cook well in the Foreman Grill. Skins off or on is your choice, and no seasoning is necessary before they go on the grill.

Cook time will also vary depending on thickness, but give them a check after about 3 minutes and flip them if you want marks on both sides. They're done when they're fork tender, but with a slight char on the skin.

Suggested Toppings

Sliced hard boiled egg and sliced pickled garlic with sriracha squirt
Thin slice of braised pork belly with jalapeno jelly
Chopped tomatoes, olives, and pickled garlic
Guacamole
Mango sriracha hummus and candied bacon
Goat cheese and smoked salmon
Dark chocolate and toasted marshmallow (GF S'mores - don't judge till you try it!)

Matzoh Pizza. 100 Days of Recipes: Day 10

Matzoh Pizza

I'm having fun finding different ways to enjoy the yummy matzoh from OWL Bakery, and tonight I made an impromptu pizza of sorts. I toasted the matzoh lightly in the oven, then topped it with a homemade tomato basil hummus, chopped boiled egg, avocado, fresh basil, and hot sauce.

I love how the beautiful toast in the matzoh just about perfectly matches
the textures in my salt yellow glaze (eating with my eyes, first!)

The matzoh wasn't perfectly flat, so before I added the toppings, I pressed it flat, breaking it into several large pieces. Spreading the hummus on first held it together, and then it also made eating it easy as I could just pull out smaller, broken pieces. 

Matzoh Pizza

for the Hummus, place the following in a food processor:

1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
2 tsp. lemon juice
4 cloves chopped pickled garlic
1/2 tsp. pickling juice (you can also just increase the lemon juice)
small bunch of basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBSP tomato paste

Pulse to mix ingredients, then set to puree. Drizzle olive oil in while it blends until it becomes a consistency you like. I like it smooth, but not completely lump-free - a little texture is nice! 

Other toppings:

1 hard boiled egg, chopped
1/2 avocado, chopped
4 large basil leaves, thinly sliced
hot sauce

Spread the hummus on the matzoh, add toppings, enjoy!

Grilled Chicken and Citrus Salad. 100 Days of Recipes: Day 9

Grilled Chicken and Citrus Salad


Today I am the 'gallerina' at The Village Potters, and on those days I usually bring foods to prepare in our studio kitchen. My studio mate Sarah is working hard to finish glazing a kiln load of pots and load it later today, so I told her I would bring food to prepare us lunch, and that it would fit within her preferred eating regimen, which is basically protein with fruits and vegetables, no refined grains, sugars, or saturated fats.

Chicken in the marinade.

To me, that says salad with a protein! I put the chicken breasts in the marinade at 7am, and they were perfect for the George Foreman grill by noon. The marinade and salad portion of this recipe reflects what I had on hand, paired with things from Sarah's shelf in the studio fridge - as is usually the case with the recipes I provide, you may adjust to your own tastes and what's in your pantry!

That moment when you realize you've completely failed as a taking-pictures-
of-your-food-for-social-media member of society.

The result was so good, and we were so consistently busy in the gallery, that I forgot to take my usual "plated" shot, but remembered just before I took the last bite of chicken.

Literally, the last bite of chicken.

worth it.

Grilled Chicken and Citrus Salad

Serves 4

Marinade for the chicken:

2 cups white wine, or rice wine vinegar
1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
3-4 cloves pickled garlic, sliced
generous pinch of sea salt
1 tsp. turmeric
small bunch parsley, chopped
small handful of basil, chopped
1/4" nub of fresh turmeric, grated
1/2" nub of fresh ginger, grated
2 large chicken breasts, no skin, no bones

Mix all marinade ingredients, then add chicken and let marinate 4 hours or overnight.

I used a Foreman Grill - you can use a grill pan, or even a grill! Get it hot, and grill approx. 7-8 minutes per side. If you close the Foreman grill, that amount of time just about does it - it all depends on the thickness of the chicken breasts. Remove them from the grill, but don't cut them until you're ready to plate them on the salad.

for the salad:

1 head of Romaine
2 cups mixed baby greens
1/2 cup baby carrots
1/2 yellow pepper, sliced
3 large crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 grapefruit, sectioned
1head broccoli, lightly steamed
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1 avocado, chopped
1 hard boiled egg
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 sweet onion, thinly sliced

Salt
Balsamic Vinegar

Toss salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and balsamic vinegar. Slice the chicken into strips or chunks, and place on top of the salad. Enjoy!

Charoset. 100 Days of Recipes: Day 8

Charoset

Passover began last night, and there are many traditional dishes that will appear on Seder tables this week. Life events here changed my plans to host a seder, but I've been peering over various recipes, so I'll share some for this week's part of the 100 Day Challenge.

On the Seder table, charoset represents the mortar used by slaves in Egypt. The word 'charoset' comes from the Hebrew word cheres, which means clay. No wonder it's always been my favorite dish on the table!

Over the years and in the various cities where I've lived, I've enjoyed the hospitality of many different Seder meals, and while the traditional dishes are always on the table, each cook will impart a unique twist on most recipes. This is I think doubly true for charoset. 

my chunky charoset

The base ingredients of charoset are basically fruit, nuts, spices, and sweet wine with perhaps some other sweeteners. Apples are almost always included, sometimes with dates, figs, raisins, sometimes just the apples. Some include walnuts, others almonds. Some just cinnamon, others add cloves, or ginger. Some use honey, others might include brown sugar. Sweet, red table wine is most often a staple, but apple cider vinegar can also be used. The possibilities are endless!

For this simple version, I pretty much eye-balled it for the ingredients on hand, so forgive the lack of an exact recipe - if you look them up, you'll see how basic it is and you can create a version based on your own tastes. For mine, I've used pink lady and gala apples, with walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, fresh grated ginger, honey, and apple cider vinegar. I like a chunkier version, because I like to eat it by itself, but I'll also chop some up finer so it sits nicely on a matzoh. 

Wishing everyone a Happy Passover, and a coming Happy Easter!