September 2010
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Aug
	1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30

Archive for the main course Category

Rockin’ Moroccan Lovers’ Lamb in a Clay Tagine

January 8, 2010 by Nathalie Herling.

Lover’s Lamb Tagine

Rockin’ Moroccan Lovers’ Lamb Recipe
An aphrodisiac dish of succulent lamb shanks tagined slowly with pungent fresh ground ras el harout, rose petals, pommes d’amour, almonds and spicy toasted bird peppers, bedded down on grilled honeyed figs and nestled in a menage a trois of rose water, saffron couscous and sultanas.

Lots of Ingredients - much you might just have around the house and can feel free to make your own by substituting… this is a forgiving recipe.

Serves 2 - If you have a larger tagine or cooking pot you could double or triple this recipe… but that’s a very big tagine! I sometimes make the lamb in patches 2 shanks at time, or 2 tagines going at once and mix it all together. In one pot, off the bone, this can feed a lot of people as an appetizer or meal.

Two Lamb Shanks - Bone in

For the Marinade

4 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 tablespoon of Bird Peppers Crushed or any hot pepper
3 Tablespoons of Ras El Honout Spice Blend (This blog Spicelines has many including Paula Wolfert’s wondeful recipe)
1 minced clove of garlic
2 Tablespoons Rose Water

Cooking Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Salted Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 medium onion halved then quartered
3 cloves of garlic whole but smashed
Remaining marinade
2 Tablespoons of Ras El Honout
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 teaspoons of Salt
1.5 teaspoons of Ground Pepper
1 teaspoon of Cumin
4 crushed Bird Peppers
2 Cups of Vegetable Stock
1 Tablespoon of Rose Water (optional)
1 8 oz can of diced Tomatoes
1/8 Cup of Blanched Almonds (optional)

Ingredients for the Grilled Figs

9 Fresh Figs with stem cut off and cut in half from stem to bottom
1/8 C of Honey (or Agave Nectar)
2 Teaspoons of Ras El Honout

Couscous

1/8 C of Plump Golden Raisons or Santanas
1/4 Cup of Rose Water
Few threads of Sapphron
2 3/4 cups of Water or Vegetable Brouth
1 1/2 cups of Couscous

Start by blending all the marinade ingredients. Marinade the two lamb shanks for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Cut the stems off your Fresh Figs and slice your Fig in half from stem top to stem bottom. Toss the cut figs with the honey and spice mixture. Let marinade for 2 hours or overnight refrigerated.

If you have a stove top Tagine (or Dutch Oven) follow the directions below.
If you would like to cook this dish in the oven, brown the meat first, then transfer to an oven dish. Cook in oven the same amount as the stove top tagine at 350 degrees.

Place olive oil, butter in a tagine or a dutch oven. Over medium heat, add the shanks and spices, onions, garlic and hot peppers. Once the lamb is braised on all sides, add the remaining marinade, two cups of water (or vegetable stock) with the rose water (optional). Bring the meat liquid mixture to a light boil then reduce the heat to low and cook tightly covered for 2.5 hours. You should check from time to time to make sure you have a good amount of liquid in the pan. Feel free to add more water or stock if necessary.

While your meat is cooking, grill the figs, skin side down with the flesh of the fruit towards the flame. Broil over low for approx 4 min. Long enough to get soft but not mushy. Set aside to cool

When your meat is well cooked and practically falling from the bone, approximately 2.5 hours, remove from heat, with the Tagine lid still on and set aside. The meat and the figs could be prepared a day ahead.

Soak the Santanas in the Rose Water and Saffron

Remove the meat from the broth and continue to simmer down (in the original cooking pan/tagine). You will want at least 1 to 2 cups of broth to pour over the meat and couscous. The broth should be liquidy and flavorful. Once cooked down you will want to have the consistency of a brothy gravy. At least 20 min should be good for this step. (if you are going to be removing the lamb meat from the shank, I would put the bones in with the broth and let my broth cook for about an hour. If you are in a rush you could taste the broth and season and serve as soon as the meat is ready.
While reducing the broth (or near it final stages), boil the water/broth for the couscous. Once boiling, add the couscous, the soaked sultanas, saffron, rosewater blend and almonds. Cook for one min. Then set aside tightly lidded or move to a tightly covered serving tagine to let the couscous absorb the moisture.

You can serve this Rocking Moroccan Lovers Lamb a few different ways.
If you would like a Romantic Meal for two (great recipe for Valentines Day), you could leave the meat on the shank. Place a good size mound of couscous on a plate setting the shank on top, nest the grilled figs in the couscous surrounding the shank and sprinkle with a couple of gently torn rose pedals.

If you would like to take the meat off the bone, you could combine the broth and meat in a serving dish. Place the figs decoratively nested in the couscous and let everyone combine the two dishes.

Lamb Rose petal aphrodesiac appetizers

For bite size Lovers Lamb you can serve this dish as an appetizer. Take a rose petal, and use it like an edible dish. Placing a teaspoon of couscous on the petal, nest a seasoned grilled fig in the center of the couscous and top with shredded lamb, topped with a blanched, seasoned almond. An impressive bite size presentation and burst of flavor.

This recipe was featured at the 2009 Lamb Takedown created and hosted by the none other magnificence, Matt Timms. See his other Takedowns and attend if you can. Great fun and fabulous food!! One of these days I will post my winning Chili Recipe, here is a vegetarian Chili recipe to keep you warm in the meantime.

Lamb Takedown New York City

I made this lamb dish for the competition in a couple of these La Souk http://www.lesoukceramique.com/ stove top tagine from Tunisia. I Highly recommend this Tagine. Nice bowl on the bottom and handled my gas stove and oven very well. Easy to clean, very pretty and resonibly priced… Check out their fabulous serving Tagines!! Big on my wishlist! Be very careful which Tagines you use… many are loaded with lead including easy to buy ones here in the US. I will write about this soon. If you would like to know where to buy these Tagines please email or send me a comment.

Stove Top Tagine from Tunisia made by Le Souk

Posted in Tagine, main course, recipes | No Comments »

Spicy Paprika Chicken Stew

December 30, 2009 by Nathalie Herling.

I like to think of this Paprika Chicken Stew as a comfort food for Spice lovers.This Spicy Paprika Chicken Stew was featured on the Dish Reality TV show Webisode #1 http://www.ellenandashleytv.com so if you would like to see my kitchen, meet the fabulous Ellen Gafney and Ashley Wood and watch this dish being made along with a Carrot Almond Soup and Goat Cheese tart please watch.

Gently roasted paprika and garlic are the key to the sauce and flavors in this main meat dish.

5 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

1 lb of skinless chicken breast and thighs but in bit size pieces.

3 to 4 Tablespoons of Hot Hungarian Paprika

1 teaspoon of salt and pepper

Chicken Broth 1 large onion chopped1 green pepper, half chopped fine and the other half in bite size chunks.1 red or yellow pepper, half chopped fine and the other half in bite size chunks.2 Tablespoons of flour


2 teaspoons of butter
In 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, saute over medium heat for about 5 min a lb of skinless and boneless chicken breasts and thighs cut into 1.5 inch pieces. A heated clay pot on the stove does this very nicely. Lighty brown all around and add 3 Tablespoons of Hot Hungarian Paprika (key ingredient) . Turn and coat the pieces of chicken in the paprika allowing the paprika to lightly toast in the olive oil. Add half a teaspoon of cayenne if you really like it spicy. Gently squeeze out the soft garlic meat of a roasted full head of garlic (chopped garlic can be substituted)  into the pan of sauteing chicken and paprika. Cook for about 4 min more, add another Tablespoon of olive oil heat for a min or two and then sift or sprinkly over the chicken about 2 Tablespoons of flour, cook for couple minutes more to get the flour blended and heated and set aside, covered to keep the moisture and flavor steaming in. The heat in the clay pan will keep cooking the contents of the pot slowly, so you might want to lightly stir once or twice.
In another pan... preferably a clay cooking pot because I love what it does for breaking down the vegetables softly and the clay works to make a very velvety  sauce, saute 1 chopped onion in 2  Tablespoons of oil. Saute slowly and let the onion completely break down to you have a caramely like sauce, you can speed this step up but the more you cook the onions the more complex the flavors of your dish will be. Chop finally half a red and half a green pepper. Cut the other half of each of the peppers in to medium chunks. We will save the chunks to add later. Combine with the cooked onions a half of the finely chopped green/red pepper mix and continue to saute. You will want to let these pepper onion ingredients get very soft. They are going to be a part of the smooth part of your paprika sauce.  Cook for about 10 min, more covered... longer time, slower the cook, lower the heat the better. Patience makes a great stew particularly in a clay pot. Add 2 cups of chicken broth and the chicken mixture, the larger green and red pepper chunks. 1 teaspoon of salt and black pepper.  Cover and simmer for 20 min. or as mentioned before Long, Slow, Low. In the last couple of minutes of cooking add 2 teaspoons of butter to add a nice gloss and flavor.
Vegeta (not recommended because of MSG content) can be used to give it a quick jolt of flavor and is a staple in many Slavik homes.
Serve immediately or reheat later. This recipe can be made and refridgerated a day in advance allowing the flavors to really develop.
Rice is my personal favorite side dish for this stew or boiled potatos could also be served to compliment this spicy chicken stew well.
Visit Ellen and Ashley's website http://www.ellenandashleytv.com/

Posted in videos, main course, recipes, la chamba cookware | No Comments »

Ajiaco Colombian Chicken and Potato Soup

April 15, 2009 by Nathalie Herling.

Ajiaco Soup in a Traditional La Chamba Chicken pot

Columbians love soups, every region with its various natural resources has a unique comfort food type of soup. Ajiaco is a delicious classic you would find in the country’s capital city Bogota. It is very simple to make, wonderfully addictive but requires at least one special ingredient to separate it out from most chicken and potato soups, it the herb Guascas. A delightful kind of citrus herb, that grows like a weed, and is sometime called the Valient Soldier! You can buy it online* or if you are in a Columbian neighborhood any where in the world ask for it in the local stores and delis. They will usually have it. I also recommend using all the garnishes when serving your soup. The capers, cilantro and cream really offer a fabulous taste treat.

In this picture the Ajiaco is served with the garnishes, rice and some Farmers Cheese Fritters. A very filling meal.

Ajiaco Chicken, Potato, Corn traditional Colombian Soup

2 chicken breasts and 3 large legs - skin removed

3 large cloves of garlic chopped

1 large onion chopped

3 -4 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

12 sm yellow potatoes - I like the finger potoatos

3 medium yukon gold cut up in one inch cubes

8 small red potatoes cut in half

Chopped bunch of cilantro plus 1/4 cup of leaves for garnish

8 T of dried Guascas

2 T of salt

1 T of Pepper

3 Ears of Corn cut in wheels

10 Cups of a Chicken Broth.

1 Cup of Sour Cream or Mexican Crema if available.

1 Avocado Sliced

1 cut up lime

1/8 cup of capers

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot. A classic La Chamba, Colombian clay pot would be idea but any dutch oven or large soup pot will work. Saute the chopped onion and garlic until golden. Remove the onions and save to the side. Next saute and cook the in the same oil/liquid as the onions. When cooked through re add the cooked onion mixture, chicken broth, spices and herbs. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat for about 20 mins. Add the cut up potatoes simmer for about 40 min. Add in the wheels of corn. Colombian corn would be added earlier since the traditional corn from this are for this dish would have larger slightly tougher kennels than the tender yellow typically found in the US. Cook the corn in the broth for about 12 - 15 min.

Serve the soup with bowls of the condiments, capers, sour cream, cilantro leaves and the sliced avocado.

Bowl of Ajiaco Columbian Soup in a clay bowl from Colombia

Yummy!!!

* Online Source for Guascas

http://www.amigofoods.com/kigu10gr.html cool website for all kinds of special ingredients.

Posted in Stove to Table - One Pot Meals, main course, latin, recipes, la chamba cookware | 1 Comment »

Corned Beef made in a clay pot for St Patrick’s Day

March 12, 2009 by Nathalie Herling.

Corned Beef Made in a La Chamba pot

A recipe shared by Leonard Abrams for using his new La Chamba lidded pot… Ideal for cooking an anytime or a St Patrick’s special corned beef meal. The Clay Pot, a La Chamba lidded pot, is an great Dutch oven like piece of cookware for a very moist corned beef.

“Took a 3-1/2-lb hunk of corned beef, put it in a pot with some water, about 12 oz of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer [the hipsters will love this], about a tablespoon of pickling spices, which were premixed in a jar and were in the cabinet when I moved in 8 years ago [still potent though], an onion halved & a few cloves of garlic, then cooked it for maybe a couple of hours, then added four or 5 red potatoes and a couple of carrots, cooked it another 20 mins and added half a head of cabbage cut in four, boiled it till the cabbage got soft, et voila, le corned beef. served it with brown mustard, horseradish and plenty of PBR.”

Thank you Leonard… can not wait to try!!

Posted in Stove to Table - One Pot Meals, St Patrick's Day, main course, european, recipes, la chamba cookware | 2 Comments »

Drunken Paprika Beef Stew

January 18, 2009 by Nathalie Herling.

Strong, powerful sauce for over pasta or rice. Not a gentle sauce kind of recipe but great when a pepper head is seeking a strong beefy pepper fix.

1/2 C Red Wine

1 lg onion chopped med fine

2 T Olive Oil

1.25 lbs of Sirloin cut in bite size pieces

7 Cloves of Garlic Pressed

1 t of flour

1 t of Balsamic Vinegar

1 dried Mulatto Pepper dried with stem and membrane removed then crushed

3 T fof Dried Hot Hungarian Papika

juice of half a Lime

1/2 C of water

Sauted the onions in Olive Oil slowly over medium low heat, stirring regularly, dropping heat to low as they get translucent and limp, deglaze the pan with quarter portions of the wine, slowly cook the onions… longer the better…even up to an hour if you are patient and can watch to make sure the onions don’t burn. Add meat and crushed garlic to the onion, wine mixture. Continue to saute and brown the meat, garlic, wine mixture, coat meat with paprika and flour, saute briefly, then add the Vinegar, lime juice, water and crushed pepper.

Add water if necessary to keep a a nice considence to the stew. Depending on how tight the lid of the your clay pot will determine how much water you will want to add. This is a very thick, dense stew, kind of like a mole. Great when you are in the mood for a pepper punch of flavor.

Serve over bow noodles or pasta of your choice.

Posted in main course, european, recipes | 1 Comment »

Information about clay cooking

Retailers of Clayware