Rice Pilaf with Nuts and Dried Fruit

Oh, my, this is good! Friend Eve brought it to the last community group supper. If she followed the recipe her dried apricots opened up to be juicy as fresh! This is a keeper. https://www.recipetineats.com/rice-pilaf/

Kilby's genius Lamb Curry for baked potatoes

Kilby made this for our supper last night here in her little English village. A wonderful supper on a chill night. Ingredients are listed in order of quantity (most of the first ones, least of the last ones); when she can, or I figure it out, I'll come back here and add quantities. If you're a cooking genius like Rebekah, you can figure it out yourself.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

fennel seeds
coriander seeds
mustard seeds
fenugreek seeds
cumin seeds
cardamom pods
peppercorns
cloves
tumeric
garam masala
curry leaves
bay leaf
cinnamon

butter
ginger
garlic
onion
red dal lentils

lamb
water
salt

potatoes
sour cream

Directions:

Heat wok or pot on medium low. Add all spices. Toast about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove whole spices, leaves, and cinnamom and set asie. Grind others to fine powder.

Toast one more minute with whole spices over medium high.

Add butter, stir to melt. Add aromatics, stir fry 5-10 minutes til soft and starting to brown. Raise heat to high.

Add lamb & brown thoroughly.

Barely cover with boiling water and add salt. Simmer covered for 2-3 hours over medium low.

1 hour before serving, bake washed and pierced potatoes at 400 degrees.

Remove lid from curry, raise heat to medium, simmer open til reduced & thickened. Adjust flavor with salt & garam masala. Remove whole spices & leaves.

Serve over open baked potates with sour cream and chutney. We had these with delicious mango-chili chutney and an Indian IPA ale.

Lamb and Potato Curry

Somewhere along the line, I lost my conviction that every meal must include a green vegetable. Tonight, as I thought about what to make for dinner, I realized the only food in my house was meat, potatoes, salad vegetables, and one butternut squash. No greens. But that's all right! I could bake the butternut squash and then fill the halves with some delicious concoction including the ground lamb I had leftover from the other night's stuffed peppers. Visions of curried lamb with chunks of potato soaking up the spices filled my hungry brain and I set to work.

What I used:

• 1/2 c ground lamb
• 2 irish potatoes
• 12 ounce can of diced tomatoes (which had added salt, so again, I didn't use any extra salt)
• 1 large onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 T fresh ginger
• 1 chili pepper, halved
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 t cumin seeds
• 1 t dried mint
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t ground cardamom
• 1/2 t ground fenugreek
• 1 T fresh cilantro

What I did:

Peel and cube the potatoes, cover them with water, and bring them to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside.

Dice and mince the onion, garlic, and whatever else needs chopping. (Leave the bay leaf whole and the chili pepper halved.) I got all my spices and herbs (except the cilantro) together on a cutting board, ready to go all together into the hot butter.

Heat a skillet on high and add a good 2-4 tablespoons of butter, ghee, or vegetable oil. Ground spices absorb lots of moisture. When the grease is sizzling hot, but before it browns, add all the herbs and spices except cilantro, turn the heat to medium or medium-high, and toss for about 5 minutes, until everything is tender and slightly browned.

At this point add the can of tomatoes + a can full of water. (If you'd rather use fresh tomatoes, fine; you'll probably want to peel and dice about 5 large tomatoes and add about a cup of water. That was too much work for me tonight and I'm saving my tomatoes for salads and sandwiches.) Stir to combine, then cover and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Add the ground lamb in spoonfuls and break apart the chunks. (You can also use pan-seared lamb cubes, which would be a nice pairing with the potato chunks, and probably more flavorful. I only had ground lamb.) Bring the heat back up to high and simmer uncovered until the meat is fully cooked.

Drain the potatoes and add them and the cilantro. Taste the curry at this point to determine what extra spices you may need. Mine was perfect as it was. Cover again and turn the heat to low for another 5 minutes, giving the potatoes time to finish cooking and the cilantro time to infuse everything with awesomeness.

Serve hot over basmati rice or on its own with naan. Or do something weird like I did and go for a low-carb meal with winter squash.

Makes about 4 servings...if people aren't pigs.

Greek Fajitas

Heat a heavy skillet until a splash of water spits, then turn down the heat to medium and add a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil. Let the oil heat till it slides over the pan easily as you tip it to evenly coat the skillet bottom.

Add about 1/2 tablespoon each of cumin seeds, dried or fresh oregano, thyme, and parsley to the oil and stir quickly to prevent burning, especially if you're using dried herbs.

Toss in thin slices of 1/2 red pepper, 1/2 large red onion, 1-2 cloves garlic. Lower the heat if necessary to keep from scorching, and sauté until all the vegetables are tender and browned.

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of allspice over the sauteed veggies, then sweep everything to a pile at side of the pan and turn the heat back up to high.

Add 1 cup of thinly sliced meat (can be beef, chicken, lamb, or, if you can get it, gyro meat) to the skillet and toss over high heat until browned/seared, about 45 seconds.

Turn down the heat and mix the vegetables with the meat and cook on medium or low until the meat is done, about 5 minutes.

Prepare 2 pitas by warming them in a preheated oven, wrapped in a damp towel. Slice in half and gently separate. Spread a spoonful of mint sauce (optional) inside each pita, then crumble feta cheese into the bottom of the pocket. Spoon the fajita mixture over the cheese, drizzle with red wine vinegar, and serve warm with yogurt or tzatziki.

Serves 2.

Then leave the skillet on the stove overnight with the leftover skim of oil and herbs. For breakfast, heat the skillet very hot to kill any germs that might have collected, and then crack a few eggs in, scramble them up with the herbs, and turn off the heat so as not to overcook the eggs. Crumble some more feta cheese into the eggs, and serve on wholegrain bread or toast.