HARIRA

Today we will travel to the North of Africa. Harira is a delicious soup/stew, similar in a way to the Spanish Cocido but in fact, closer to a soup than to a stew. It should be cooked with lamb but you can use beef if you want. It can also be made without meat. The results are also delicious. This recipe is for a pressure cooker. An easy and convenient way to cook it. And good. Try. You’ll see.

Ingredients:

1 cup chickpeas

½ cup lentils

½ chopped onion

1 chopped carrot

½ cup chopped celery

1 clove of garlic, chopped

½ pound lamb, cut in not very small pieces

Some extra virgin olive oil

8 oz crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon parsley

1 tablespoon cilantro

Some salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

½ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon powdered ginger

A pinch of powdered cinnamon

A pinch of saffron

Some flour

1 egg, beaten

Some fine pasta, like fideo or vermicelli

The first thing to do is soaking chickpeas and lentils on water overnight.

The next day put some oil in the pressure cooker. When it is hot, add the lamb and sear it for about three minutes. Then add the vegetables, cut and prepared previously (onion, carrot, celery and garlic). Add the chickpeas and lentils to the cooker too. Add the crushed tomatoes but reserve one tablespoon more or less. Then add the parsley, the cilantro, the spices and the saffron. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Let it cook for about two minutes and then cover everything with water. Close the pressure cooker and follow the instructions for your cooker. With my cooker, I wait till it starts steeming and then I have it cooking for 20 minutes at a lower fire.

In the meantime, mix half a cup of hot water with a tablespoon of flour and the tablespoon of crushed tomatoes we had reserved.

When you can open the cooker, add the vermicelli, the mixture with the flour and the beaten egg. Go on cooking at a low fire. The Harira will be finished while the pasta is being cooked.

And then it will be ready. A wonderful dish. Harira. Serve hot. Enjoy!

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KOFTA

Ground lamb with spices. A recipe, with many variations, well known around the world, from the Mediterranean to India. Wonderful.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 cloves

1 teaspoon cardamom seeds

10 black peppercorns

A pinch of cinnamon

A pinch of nutmeg

½ teaspoon hot pimentón

½ teaspoon salt

½ small red onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon parsley, chopped

1 pound ground lamb

Start preparing the wooden skewers. It is highly recommendable to soak them in water for half an hour at least.

Then prepare the spices. Put in a mortar the coriander, the cumin, the cloves, the cardamom and the pepper. When it is well ground, add the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the hot pimentón and the salt. Mix well.

Prepare the onion too. Chop it. Do the same with the garlic. Then, in a bowl, mix the ground lamb, the ground spices, the onion, the garlic and the parsley. Let it rest for 20 minutes.

And then start preparing your Kofta skewers. Take a piece of ground meat, already mixed with the spices, and make a cylinder around the skewer. Go on doing this, about three pieces per skewer, making sure that are firmly attached to the skewers.

The ideal thing is cooking the skewers on a grill, but you can also do it in an oven. If you do it in an oven, put the skewers on the brim of an oven tray. The oven must be preheated to 350ºF. Cook the Kofta in the oven for about 20 minutes. Do not overcook, though. Be careful.

You can serve it with pita bread and alioli sauce. Delicious. Enjoy!

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ARAGONESE LAMB

Back to my roots. The ideal thing would to cook this with Ternasco de Aragón, a very tender young lamb from Aragón, my home land. But as I could not get that, I will cook it with the lamb I could get in the supermarket. Let’s go to the kitchen.

Ingredients:

½ lb lamb steak

2 potatoes

Some extra virgin olive oil

1 clove of garlic, chopped

½ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon thyme

½ teaspoon rosemary

½ teaspoon parsley

¼ teaspoon sage

Some salt to taste

Some freshly ground black pepper

To start with our recipe, wash and peel the potatoes. Then slice them. Get ½-inch slices. Heat some extra virgin olive oil in a pan, and when it is hot, start frying the potato slices. Do it in both sides but do not fry them completely because they will go to the oven later. Get rid of some of the oil in the potato slices.

Then put the potato slices on an oven tray. The lamb must go on top of the potatoes. Add some salt, black pepper and some drops of olive oil. The oven must be preheated to 350ºF. Let it cook and have a look from time to time. If you see that the meat is too dry, you can add some drops of water or more olive oil. The lamb will be ready in 30-45 minutes, depending on how thick the pieces are. Always have a look to the meat in the oven. You do not want it too done.

Meanwhile you can prepare a seasoning with some extra virgin olive oil, the garlic and the herbs and spices: oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage, salt and black pepper. Mix this well. Five minutes before the lamb is done, add the seasoning to the meat, on top of it. Make sure the herbs are not burned.

Serve the lamb with the potato slices. Something delicious. Enjoy!

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MEATBALL CURRY

More meatballs! This time with an Indian influence. A delicious Meatball Curry that will show you that meatballs can be served in many ways, with different flavours and different influences. To make the meatballs tastier we will mix the meat with some spices that will turn our meatballs into something really good. Don’t forget the cardamom. My favourite spice!

Ingredients:

8 green cardamom pods (without the pods)
12 black peppercorns
1 tablespoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
3 cloves
½ cinnamon stick
A little piece of star aniseed
A pinch of asafoetida
1 red chilli
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
½ lb ground lamb or ground beef
1 egg
1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 big potato
Some flour
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped green pepper
½ cup green beans
½ cup squash
½ cup chopped mushrooms
1 small chopped tomato
1 chopped green onion
1 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
Some cooked basmati rice

Curries are very rewarding. The same as meatballs. Let’s make a rewarding curry then.
We will start preparing the spices. In a mortar we will grind the cardamom seeds, the peppercorns, the coriander, the cumin, the cloves, the cinnamon, the star aniseed and the red chilli. We will add the asafoetida to this mix.
Now we will mix the meat, some salt, half the spice mix, the egg, the breadcrumbs, half the garlic and half the ginger in a container. We will mix this so that we get a consistent mix. If we need it, we can add more breadcrumbs.
As for the potato, we will peel it and cut it in small pieces. Then we will boil these potato pieces. When they are ready, we will reserve them.
Now we will start making our meatballs. We will shape our meatballs with the help of some flour. Heat some oil in a frying pan and cook the meatballs. They do not need to be completely cooked because we will finish cooking them later. When they are brown, reserve them on kitchen paper towel.
Now we will take a wok and heat some oil in it, not much. When the oil is hot, we will sauté the onion and the green pepper. A bit later we will add the squash, the green beans and the mushrooms. When this is a bit done, we will add the rest of the spice mix and the rest of the garlic and ginger. Of course, it is important to be stirring and moving the wok. Now we will add the tomato and after one minute, we can add the coconut milk and the turmeric. Stir and add the potatoes that we had reserved.
Finally we will add the meatballs to the wok. We will let them simmer at a low temperature for some minutes. Just before serving, add the cilantro, the lime juice and the green onion. Add some salt to taste if necessary. Serve with basmati rice if you want. And enjoy your Meatball Curry!

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MOUSSAKA

I discovered Moussaka in Greece many years ago. It was something good. I was travelling in Greece by myself. I remember being in Mycenae, the old archaeological site in the Peloponnese. I was in the porch of a restaurant. And I ordered Moussaka. It was good, really good! I loved it.
Cooking Moussaka takes time and work, but it is not hard. Eggplant is the main ingredient. Ground lamb should be used to make Moussaka but I normally use ground beef. It is good too. And this time, use extra virgin olive oil. It will give a special taste to our Moussaka. I love cheese, so my Moussaka will have loads of cheese. Maybe this is not very orthodox, but it is delicious.

Ingredients:

Some extra virgin olive oil
Some salt
3-4 potatoes
1 eggplant
½ lb ground or chuck beef (or ground lamb)
Some tomato sauce
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Some ricotta cheese
6 gruyere cheese slices
Some grated parmesan cheese
Some grated romano cheese
Some milk
Some flour
A pinch of nutmeg

Cooking Moussaka takes time, as I said before, but it is worth it. We will start preparing the potatoes and the eggplant. We will peel the potatoes and cut them into ¼-inch thick slices. A bit thicker if you want. To know how many potato slices I need, what I do is putting the potato slices in the tray that I will use later with the Moussaka in the oven. In that way I will know the amount of potato slices I will need for a layer of potatoes. Once I have the potatoes I will fry them in a frying pan in two batches. The potatoes must not be completely done. Leave them on kitchen paper towel because we do not want too much oil. Then we will do the same with the eggplant. After washing it, we will slice it in the same way. We will slice enough eggplant for a layer. Then we will fry the eggplant slices. We will need more oil for the eggplants, but it is a good idea not to use too much. We can fry them using a wooden spoon. Press the slices with the spoon so that they get enough oil. Once fried, leave the eggplant slices on kitchen paper towel.
The next step will be the sauce. We will put the meat in a frying pan and we will start cooking it. When the meat starts browning, we will add the tomato and cook it in a low heat for about ten minutes. Then we will add the spices (cinnamon, oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley, basil, salt and pepper). Keep cooking it for a while in a low heat. And then we will take the tray and start layering the Moussaka. First of all, we will grease the oven tray. Then the first layer will be the potatoes. On top of that, a layer of the tomato sauce with the meat. Then the eggplant slices. At that moment we put the tray in the preheated oven to 400ºF for about ten minutes.
We will prepare the sauce now, a Béchamel Sauce. To do this, we will put two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and we will heat it. We will add three tablespoons of flour. Stir continuously and add some milk, little by little. We will add the nutmeg now. We have to get a creamy Béchamel Sauce so we will have to be adding milk to get the sauce we need. Stir and do not let the sauce get too thick. Once it is done, remove it from the fire.
Now we will take the tray out of the oven. And now the cheese. First we will spread some ricotta cheese. On top of that the gruyere cheese slices. Then we will top it with the béchamel sauce. Then we will put some parmesan and romano cheese. You can use some mozzarella cheese if you want too. And then back to oven so that the cheese melts and makes a really creamy Moussaka. Some fifteen minutes will be OK, but you can check the oven to see when the Moussaka is ready. And enjoy! I can’t wait to make it!

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