Moroccan Lamb Stew with Apricot Couscous

My Aunt is sort of a Granola.  Sort of a Little Miss Sierra Club.  But that’s good, because she keeps me on my toes as far as being conscious of the effect that I have on the world.  Unlike her, I am not exactly a gardener, but what I CAN do is cook.  So I have resigned myself to the fact that the most effective way that I can help out plant life is to make it into something yummy.

My Aunt  also likes to obtain her meat products locally, and as organically produced as possible.  There just so happens to be such a meat place relatively near here, and I always like to accompany her when she goes there.  The main reason for this is that I have found that I don’t handle red meat very well, due to all of the hormones, antibiotics, and other crap that they shoot into the meat.  It most definitely affects my physical and emotional well-being when I eat Abused meat products.  So, when I go to this organic place, I load up on organic meat, and then I strategize for a few months about what to cook with it, while it sits in my freezer.

The lamb used in this recipe was obtained from the meat place that I mentioned above.  So no being locked in a dark box, being fed cardboard, and being shot up with Buddha-Knows-What.  Yes, it’s a baby animal, but I’m sure it had a good life.  And what better tribute could I pay to this poor little creature that gave its life for my dinner, than to make it into something that is entirely, unbelievably awesome?

Yep.  Don’t you love my jacked-up reasoning???

So anyway, here is a completely amazing recipe for Moroccan Lamb Stew, made in my trusty slow-cooker, accompanied by Apricot Couscous. 

Keepin’ it real, baby…

Moroccan Lamb Stew

 

Ingredients:

• 1-3 lbs lamb, cubed
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 3 cups cubed peeled yams  and/or carrots (1 inch)
• 2 cups thinly sliced onions
• 1 cup pitted prunes (Yes, PRUNES.  Now just shut up and throw them in there!  You won’t even be able to tell, I promise!)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1 can (10 oz) beef broth
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• (1-2 Tbsp Moroccan spice mix, if you have it.  This mix includes cinnamon, parsley, black/red/white pepper, and spearmint.  Mine is from Pendery’s Spices.)
• 1 cup red wine  (ONLY cook with wine that you would drink!  Always!)
• 2-3 Tbsp honey

Directions:

1. Put lamb in a 4 to 5 quart (4 to 5 L) slow cooker, and dust with flour.  Stir to cover all pieces. 
2. Top with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or until meat is tender.
4. Increase to high heat setting and remove the top for 30 minutes-1 hour if the stew needs to thicken.
5. In the meantime, bask in the yummy, heavenly scents filling your entire house…!!!

 

And, to accompany the stew….

 

Apricot Couscous

Ingredients:

• Couscous of your choice  (Mine was from a box.  If you are using bulk couscous, the couscous/water ratio should be about 1:1.)
• 6-8 dried apricots
• OPTIONAL:  Ras-el-hanout spice mix

Directions:

1. Soak the dried apricots in very hot/boiling water for one hour.  (This is so that later, when you are eating your couscous, you won’t think that you are gnawing on gummy bears.)
2. Chop apricots.  I like to get my pieces to the size of raisins.
3. Add apricots to the water that you will use to make couscous, and boil the water.  Add Ras-el-hanout if you have it.  If not, no biggie.
4. Stir couscous into water, cover, remove from heat, and let sit for 5 minutes.
5. Serve lamb stew over couscous.***

 

***  My husband said that this stew is one of the TOP TEN things I’ve ever made for him.  EVER!  So I guess it’s pretty good?

 

This is greatness.

Here is a video created by my friend Rich Kronfeld.  (You may have seen him in SIX DAYS IN ROSWELL.)

Enjoy!

 

Hooray for Pumpkin Bread!

Fall is finally here, and with the cold weather comes the best time for BAKING!

So to start the season off right, last night I made Pumpkin Bread!

For the recipe, I used the Official Libby’s Pumpkin Bread recipe, with a few minor alterations…

Ingredients

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil (feel free to replace with applesauce for lowfat version.)
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten  (replace with 2 mashed bananas for vegan version)
• 16 ounces canned unsweetened pumpkin
• 3 1/2 cups flour (I used whole wheat flour)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ***NOTE:  For the above spices, I used 3 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice***
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• zest and juice of 1 orange
• ***OPTIONAL***   assorted nuts for sprinkling
• ***OPTIONAL***   1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 9 by 5 loaf pans. Stir together sugar and oil. Stir in eggs and pumpkin. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. Blend dry ingredients and water/orange juice into wet mixture, alternating. Divide batter between two loaf pans. Top with nuts if desired.  Bake for ~1.5 hours, or until cake tester comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool.

YUM!

 

I am SO making this!

The Sassy Radish makes SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI!!!

http://www.sassyradish.com/2009/10/sweet-potato-gnocchi/

 

 

Remembrances of Birthdays Past…

In case you weren’t aware of this yet, I am the current Cupcake Queen of my department at work.  What that means is, whenever someone has a birthday, I bring in cupcakes.  I actually volunteered for this job, because I like to cook, and when the former Cupcake Queen left our department, no one else wanted to take over her duties.  So I sort of crowned myself.

 

Yesterday was a coworker’s birthday, so I had to bring the cupcakes.  While shopping the day before, I was totally agonizing over what kind of cupcakes to make, because although usually I can drag some sort of creative response out of the Victims as to what flavor cupcakes they want, this girl gave me absolutely no clue.  So I just kind of had to wing it.

 

I had seen an interesting recipe in a cookbook for marble swirl cupcakes with dulce de leche icing, and it looked easier to make than the carrot/cardamom cupcakes that were also in the book.  Also, I thought that more people might like the marble cupcakes, instead of some differently-spiced (cardamom) cupcakes with a flavor that they probably couldn’t identify. 

 

In the interest of both time and budget, I had already decided to get a box mix, instead of making everything from scratch.  I dunno.  Call me lazy.  So I went to the grocery store to get supplies.   I saw ONE box of marble cake mix there, and it looked kind of…sad.  It was a mostly yellow cake, with very minute flecks of fudge in it.  Not marbly at all.  So I looked for Plan B.

 

I ended up getting a box of spice cake mix.

 

…Cue a trip down memory lane…

 

When I was a very little girl, my mom used to get me birthday cakes of whatever I was totally obsessed with at the time.  Before the age of 5, I remember having a Holly Hobbie cake, a Raggedy Ann cake, and another cake with some sort of Sesame Street character (Big Bird?).  Those were all well and good, but the best birthday cake ever was still to come…

 

After my parents divorced, my sister and I lived with my mom.  As I recall, she was pretty broke.   But that didn’t stop her from making me the best birthday cake ever!

 

Back in the late 70s, you could get boxes of cake mix that included a little tray to bake the cake in.  The tray was about the size of the box, and I think it included a packet of cake mix and a packet of icing.  So it was pretty much an all-inclusive cake experience.

 

So anyway, my mom got this cake kit and baked me a cake for my birthday.  (I think it was my 5^th or 6^th.)  The flavor was Spice Cake.

 

As I recall, she did the hard part—reaching up to turn on the oven, (Which was electric.  Very sad…) mixing the batter, and putting the cake in to bake.  I, however, got to do the fun part!  I got to knead the packet of icing, and then I think I even got to ice the cake!

 

And let me tell you, eating a cake that you made with your mom, fresh out of the oven, is pretty much the best way to celebrate a birthday.  Store-bought cakes may be pretty, but homemade cakes are full of LOVE. 

 

Tastiest.  Cake.  EVER.

 

My mom gets kind of freaked out that I remember EVERYTHING, but maybe she’ll feel a little better knowing that I remember the good stuff, too.  ;-]

 

Oh, and about the cupcakes:

Everyone LOVED the spice cake cupcakes with the dulce de leche icing!  It was the first time EVER that I didn’t have to take any leftovers home!  Yay, me!

 Recipe:

• 1 box spice cake mix
• (+ whatever ingredients the box says to get)
• 1 container cream cheese icing
• 1 tsp cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
• Caramel sundae topping (Or caramel Magic Shell)

1. Bake cupcakes according to directions on box
2. Let cool for at least 30 minutes
3. Mix 1 tsp cinnamon into icing
4. Ice cupcakes
5. Decoratively apply caramel to tops of cupcakes.  My original intent was to squirt in stripes, then drag a toothpick to make a sort of marble effect.  This did not work.  Instead, I had caramel everywhere, and I sort of tried to salvage the design as well as I could.  But the ugliness did not deter the consumers.  So I guess it doesn’t matter what they look like anyway… 
6. Sprinkle tops of cupcakes with more cinnamon.  Because more is more…

 

Some Engrish for You

I love my local Korean market!!!

 

The State Fair Food Report!

HOWDY FOLKS!

Yesterday I took my annual trip to the State Fair of Texas, mainly to consume as many different kinds of fried foods as possible, with my aunt and my dad.  (It was Seniors Fly Free Thursday, and I had an empty Coke bottle to get $4 admission.  Hooray for discounts!!!)  And at the request of several people who begged and pleaded with me for a food review of this godforsaken place, I have created the blog entry that you are reading right now.

And before I start, I would like to state a couple of things:

1. NO, I DID NOT TRY THE DEEP FRIED BUTTER.  From what I heard from others who tried it, it wasn’t that big of a deal.  It was more like a fried biscuit.  And I had better things to waste my money on.
2. (From a previous visit):  DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT GET THE DEEP FRIED GUACAMOLE.  Unless you enjoy having intestinal distress to go along with the funky, badly-spiced-guacamole flavor that will linger in your mouth for hours.  HOURS.  Just don’t.

And so, On to the reviews…

My first foray into the Wild and Wonderful World of Fried Foods was this:

The deep fried strawberry chocolate waffle ball!

Strawberries covered in chocolate, then dipped in waffle batter and deep fried!  What more could a girl ask for?  I only had one of these, and my dad ate the other one.  And since he is all about Quantity over Quality, he didn’t much care for these, but I thought they were amazing.   Perfectly sweet, with none of the bitter aftertaste that is so typical in other non-waffle batters.  I give this a thumbs UP!

Next up was lunch.  Since I am following a vegetarian diet this month, I couldn’t have my annual Fletcher’s Corn Dog (*sniffle!*), but instead, I got this:

Spanakopita!

And a beer.  (Did you know that beer in the food court is $1-$2 cheaper than the beer outside at the other food stands?  And you know what that means???  More money to spend on fried food!!!)

Oh yes, the review part:  The spanakopita was perfection.  Instead of being in slices, it was wrapped in a phyllo pocket.  The phyllo was perfectly cooked, not too flaky (and therefore not too messy), and the inside was perfectly chewy.  The spinach and feta were well-balanced and seasoned, and I would not hesitate to get this again.  Great job, Greek food kiosk people!

And my dad, once again proving himself to be the Quantity Over Quality guy, got THIS:

Blech!

In case you can’t tell by looking, this is a baked potato from some BBQ joint in the food court.  A baked potato with EVERYTHING.  Including a heaping mound of brisket.  And yes, my dad ate it ALL.  (And no, he’s most definitely not a big guy.  He just eats one HUGE meal a day.  And apparently, this was it.)

After a bit of shopping, we arrived at the Embarcadero and tried this tasty little number:

Fernie’s Deep Fried Peaches & Cream

According to bigtex.com:

 Sweet juicy peaches are coated in a delicious batter of cinnamon, ginger, coconut, graham cracker crumbs, eggs & milk, then deep fried to a crunchy golden brown on the outside, while luscious and sweet on the inside.  Served on a plate drizzled with raspberry sauce, lightly dusted with powdered sugar and topped with a cool dollop of whipped cream.  A side of vanilla butter cream icing is provided for dipping. 

These were SO good!  The peaches on the side were obviously canned, but the ones that were fried were most definitely fresh, and still a bit crunchy. The dipping sauce on the side was a little watery, though.  My aunt and I LOVED these, but my dad wasn’t too impressed.  And although my aunt and I thought they were great, we thought we could do them better.  Maybe with a sweetened/spiced tempura batter, and a thicker dipping sauce, sweetened condensed milk with bourbon and/or cinnamon, perhaps?  I dunno.  But I do know that if I have the chance to try these again, I definitely will!

So after eating, we went to look at sculpturey things…

Look!  OMG TURTLES!!!

And OMG A STATUE MADE OUT OF JUNK!!!

Owls and acorns!  Oh my!

We ended our day at the Fair by doing what every good Fairgoer MUST do:  We took a ride on the Texas Star!

WHEEE!!!

And no, we didn’t spit on anyone from the top.  This time.

 

Veggie Pizza!

From September 22 to October 22, The JohnnyCakes and I are being vegetarians.  After that, I’m going to try to go macrobiotic, just for funsies.

So, to keep with the vegetarian theme, last night I made a vegetarian pizza.  And it was crazy good.  And because I’m such a nice person, I am giving you the recipe….

Ingredients:

• 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1 cup of broccoli florets
• 1 summer squash, sliced
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 1/2 cup shredded or julienned carrots
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• pizza crust of your choice
• pizza sauce of your choice (When I can find it, I like to use sundried tomato pesto.)
• Pizza seasoning and/or dried oregano and basil
• 2 cups shredded mozzerella cheese

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 425, or follow directions for your pizza crust.
2. Saute garlic in olive oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add pizza seasoning.
4. Add zucchini, carrots, and summer squash and saute until slightly tender.
5. Add mushrooms and cook until tender
6. Add broccoli, turn off the heat, cover the pan and let sit for 3 or 4 minutes.  This is so that the broccoli doesn’t overcook.  You will thank me later.

  7.   Shmear pizza sauce on the pizza crust

  8 .   Top with cheese

   9.   Top with veggies.  If you have extra, save it to put on top of rice,  quinoa, polenta, or pasta later on.

  10.   Place tomato chunks on top of the pizza.  Ooooh…Pretty!

  11.   Throw that puppy in the oven and find something to do for 15 minutes…

  12.   After 15 minutes, you will hopefully get THIS:

NOM!

 

Stephan Pyles, part deux

Last night, the JohnnyCakes and I went to Stephan Pyles…Again!   It’s currently Restaurant Week (actually Restaurant MONTH for some places), which is always a good time to check out some really great restaurants for Cheap. 

Here is the menu at SP for RW:  http://www.stephanpyles.com/events.asp

Go ahead and look over it.  I’ll wait…

 

…And now that you’ve looked over the menu, let’s get on with the show…

(Note:  We got the wine pairings.  Because you just have to.  You do.)

 

First Course

Local Heirloom Tomato Salad with Paula’s Bocconcini, Fried Avocado and Balsamic Gelée*

 

 Wine pairing:
Mulderbosch Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch 2008

This was my choice for the 1st course.  It was amazing.  The tomatoes were perfectly ripe (Do they have a huge window that they set the tomatoes on to ripen every day?  Wouldn’t it be cool if they did?), and the panko-encrusted avocado provided a crunchy, sweet foil to the flavors of the tomatoes and the balsamic gelee cubelets.    The bocconcini was like a bonus layer of creaminess to the dish.  (Note to self: make panko-encrusted avocado. )

 

Scallop and Pork Belly Carnitas with Sweet Potato Hash, Smoked Onion Confit and Plum Purée

Scallop and carnitas

Wine pairing:
Catena Chardonnay, Tupungato, Mendoza 2007

This was Johnny’s first course.  But I tried it, of course…

The waiter had detailed the entire 57-step process of getting the pork belly just right, from the roasting, to the peeling off of fat and forming the pork into a Jimmy Dean Sausage-shaped Tube.  But whatever.  All that really mattered was whether all of that was worth it.  And it was…

I’m not normally a fan of cooked scallops (Although I LOVE scallop sushi!), but this was really tasty.  It had a perfectly bacony flavor, the scallop was not rubbery at all, and for me, sweet potatoes in general can do no wrong.  So no complaints on this one at all…

 

Extra Course – Central Market Coupon

Red Snapper in Thai-Red Curry Masa with Veracruzana Sauce and Caramelized Fingerling Banana

The snapper 4th course

Wine pairing:
Van Duzer Estate Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2006
 

We had to get this.  Even though we didn’t have the Central Market coupon. 

Holy crap it was good.

This was a slab of snapper, on top of coconut rice, with sort of a curry tamale on top.   On top of that was a Veracruzana (think sweet, oniony stewed tomato) sauce.  On the side was half of a carmelized fingerling banana, and then the whole shebang was drizzled with creme fraiche.

(Note to self:  Make bass or some other kind of meaty white fish with  carmelized banana.  And avocado.)

This was like another dessert.  And probably my favorite course of the evening!

 

Second Course

48-Hour Braised Beef Cheek with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Baby Squash

Wine pairing:
Hook and Ladder “The Tillerman” Red Blend, Russian River Valley 2006

 This was the most yummy cowface I’d ever had.  It was like a carmelized pot roast. Sweet, fork-tender, and slightly crispy.  OMG I’m drooling just thinking about it…

Some people are afraid of eating Animal Face, but really, it’s usually the most tender and sweet meat on a critter.  Try this with fish (hamachi kama) the next time you eat sushi.  You will thank me.  Trust.

 

Pan-Seared Salmon with Hoja Santa Pesto, Corn Griddle Cakes and Clay Pot Black Beans

Wine pairing:
Latour “Domaine Valmoissine” Pinot Noir, Coteaux du Verdon 2007

 Meh.  Mine was better.  (Johnny got this, and it tasted pretty much like it looks.)

I could make this.  It’s like they didn’t even try.  And the streak of pesto just makes the salmon look, well,  diseased…

 

Third Course

Mexican Chocolate Fondant with Fleur de Sel Caramel and Kahlúa Crema

Wine pairing:
Marenco Brachetto D’ Acqui “Pineto” Piedmonte DOCG 2008

 For our dessert orders, I had asked the waiter to just randomly give us the chocolate dessert and the cheesecake.  So at first, this was my dessert.  Again, I can’t say I’m a fan of cake.

So we traded.

This tasted like a brownie.  (And that’s probably why Johnny LOVED it!)

The wine that was served along side the brownie was a Piedmont, which was sort of a fizzy Pinot Noir.  This wine might have done better with a ganache or something smooth like that.  Because again, I am not a fan of cake…

 

Unless it’s CHEESECAKE…

Deep Ellum Goat’s Cheesecake with Thyme-Infused Cherries Jubilee

Wine pairing:
Lillypilly Noble Blend, New South Wales (Riverina) Australia 2006

 Who but Stephan Pyles would think to make a cheesecake with goat cheese (and not screw it up)?  And then make it look like a cherry cobbler with ice cream?

To be honest, I was expecting the standard baked, triangular slice of cheesecake, maybe with some cherries baked into it.  Maybe a little browning or crustiness on top…  But certainly not this!

(I totally got the best dessert.  After I traded with Johnny, anyway…  Yay, me!)

The cheesecake was perfectly smooth and creamy, and the cherries were perfectly cooked and seasoned with thyme.  Accompanying the cheesecake/cherries was a liberal sprinkling of (graham cracker crumbs?) on the side.  It was basically a deconstructed cherry cheesecake.  And I need to remember to add more herbs to my cobblers…

And as for the wine, the Lillypilly rocked it.

 

All in all, the JohnnyCakes and I were once again very, very impressed by Stephan Pyles.   I’m pretty sure this is our new favorite restaurant. 

 

*All photos were taken by my iPhone, because although I was prepared to look sort of geeky taking photos of my food, I didn’t want to look Japanese Tourist geeky with my honkin’  big DSLR slung around my neck. 

 

Hooray for Polish food!

Last night, I made the ultimate in comfort food, and the ultimate in Polishness….The lowly Pierogi…

Behold the yummy goodness!

My Polish/Ukrainian grandmother used to make these from scratch and send us piles of them.  But since I no longer have this grandmother, and because I’m both busy AND lazy, I prefer to just get the pierogies frozen.  (You can also make these sort-of from scratch, using wonton/gyoza wrappers.  I might do that when I’m craving some sort of crazy, off-the-wall filling, but for now, plain old frozen potato/cheese pierogies will do…)

Come to think of it, you can make ravioli with wonton wrappers as well…But that’s for another time…

The ingredients:

• Box of frozen pierogies
• 1 or 2 onions, diced
• butter
• 8 or 16 oz container of sour cream (I used the 16-ouncer, since sour cream is pretty much a food group for us Polocks.  Feel free to use the lowfat stuff, since you won’t be cooking with it, and there is therefore no danger of it falling apart and turning to a pathetic, watery mess.)

The pierogies:

1. Grab a huge saucepan/soup pot and fill it 3/4 of the way with water.  Enough so that the pierogies have room to float when they are done.
2. Boil the water.
3. Throw in the pierogies and boil for 5-7 minutes (or whatever the box says to do).  They should float when they are done.
4. When the pierogies are done, fry them in a big skillet, in butter.  They should be just browned on both sides.

The Sour Cream:

1. Saute the onions in a skillet with butter until they are at least clear, and you can even go all the way and carmelize them if you want.  Feel free to also add salt and pepper. 
2. Throw the cooked onions into a bowl with the sour cream and mix them together.
3. Serve over pierogies.  YUM!