BIRTHDAY TREATS

 What do I want for my birthday? No chocolate, thank you very much. No cake, no steak. No fancy dinner out. For the same money we would pay at a fine dining establishment, I can buy myself a day’s worth of treats. And, so I did.

These are a few of my favorite things. I adore lamb, so that’s what I want for a main course. Roasted medium-rare, please. My second choice is a toss-up--magret de pato, duck breast; a whole, roasted fish such as mero, grouper; or perhaps a succulent piece of fresh ibérico pork.

For starters, I’ve got a real luxury, zambuiñas, very small scallops (Chlamys varia). But, on my splurge shopping spree, I couldn’t resist buying jumbo shrimp (langostino) as well (one shrimp cost $10.00!), so I´m having that for lunch and the scallops with dinner.

I´m also resist treating myself to ibérico ham, so with toast and tomatoes, that’s my birthday breakfast.

A “few of my favorite things” from the song sound pretty good too—“crisp apple strudels and schnitzel with noodles.” But, for dessert, I’ve got, not strudel, but my beloved raspberries. 

Breakfast--sunshine, flowers, clementine juice with bubbly cava and ibérico ham on toasts with olive oil and tomatoes.

This ibérico ham is from a packet, not sliced to order. Still pretty delicious. 

Lunch--jumbo grilled shrimp and a glass of cava. 

Jumbo shrimp is chewy, so flavorful. With a sauce made from the shrimp roe.

Copita of cava. I buy a 3-pack of benjamínes, small bottles.

To finish off the cava--a sauce for the zamburiñas, small scallops. What a treat.

Zamburiñas are exceptionally flavorful.

Dinner--tender lamb, roasted potatoes, zucchini and tomato mélange, red tempranillo.

Capers add zest to pan gravy.

Sauce for Shellfish

Salsa para Mariscos

Jumbo tiger shrimp has dark-colored roe.

Roe turns pink when cooked.

When I split the jumbo tiger shrimp open, I discovered a thick line of dark “gunk” inside the shell and head. I scooped it out and poached it one minute. The gunk turned bright pink, like lobster coral. This flavorful stuff mixed with mayonnaise and lemon makes the sauce for the grilled shrimp. 

2 tablespoons cooked shellfish coral roe

1 tablespoon chopped scallions

1 tablespoon grated tomato

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/8 teaspoon smoked pimentón picante (hot paprika)

Salt

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Keep covered and refrigerated up to two days.

Scallops in Cava Sauce

Zamburiñas en Salsa de Cava

Zamburiñas are small scallops. (The larger ones are called vieiras.) These are raw.

The scallops can be prepared in advance and reheated under a broiler until they are lightly browned.

Serves 2.

8 small scallops (about 4 ounces shelled)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 shallot, chopped

2 tablespoons grated tomato pulp

¼ cup cava or white wine

¼ cup cream

Salt

Pinch of hot pimentón or cayenne

If scallops are small, leave them whole. If very large, cut them in half. Brush a heavy skillet or grill pan with oil. Sear the scallops on all sides and remove them

Add remaining oil to the skillet. Add the shallot and sauté for 2 minutes, without letting them brown. Add the tomato pulp and cook 2 minutes. Add the cava and let the alcohol cook off. Add the cream. Season with salt to taste and pimentón. Cook gently until the sauce is slightly reduced and thickened, 2 minutes. 

Return the scallops to the sauce and heat gently. Divide the scallops and sauce between two shells or ramekins.

Caper Marinade for Lamb

Adobo con Alcaparras para Cordero

The brine in a jar of capers is a flavorful marinade for meat. Use some of the capers as well.  

Caper brine and herbs.

Fresh thyme

Fresh rosemary

¼ cup chopped parsley

4 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup caper juice + a few capers

Strip the leaves from the stems of the thyme and rosemary. Add the leaves to a mini-processor with the parsley and garlic. Process until finely chopped. Add the oil, lemon juice, pepper and caper juice and process again. 

Roast Leg of Lamb with Caper Gravy

Pierna de Cordero Asada

This is spring lamb (recental), not baby lamb (lechal). I had the shank (jarrete) removed. The remaining leg weighed in at 4 pounds. It was done to medium-rare in about 65 minutes, but roasting time will vary depending on size of the piece of meat. 

Marinate the meat overnight or about 8 hours. 

1 leg of lamb, about 4 pounds

Caper marinade

1 cup water

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon capers

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Remove and discard excess fat from the piece of meat, but leave the “skin” or covering membrane. Spread the marinade on all sides of the meat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate 8 hours.

Unwrap the meat and bring it to room temperature. Do not remove the marinade. Preheat oven to 400ºF. 

Roast the lamb with the marinade for 20 minutes. Pour ½ cup of the water around the meat and lower the oven temperature to 350ºF. Roast 30 minutes longer. Test for doneness. (Medium-rare should register 145ºF when tested with an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the meat.) Return the lamb to the oven until the it reaches desired doneness.

Allow roasted meat to stand 10 minutes before carving.

Remove the meat to a cutting board.

Drain all of the pan juices into a saucepan. In a small bowl combine the cornstarch with the remaining ½ cup of water. Stir until it is smooth. Stir the mixture into the pan and cook on moderate heat until the gravy is thickened and beginning to bubble. Stir in the lemon juice, capers and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the gravy alongside the meat.

CALDERETA—A TRADITIONAL LAMB STEW

 

Lamb stew with potatoes and herbs.

    I´ve been craving lamb stew, the sort of aromatic, slow-cooked meal that’s perfect for cold weather. 

    

    Shoulder meat would be ideal for stew, but I can never bring myself to cut up a gorgeous shoulder or leg of lamb for stew meat. So I boned out several lamb shanks, using the bones to make broth and cutting the meat into chunks. Other possibilities for stew are necks, lamb riblets, flank or breast meat. 

     Caldereta is a very traditional lamb stew, found all along the shepherds’ migratory routes from Aragon and Navarra to La Mancha, Extremadura and Andalusia. A caldereta is a “cauldron” or iron pot for cooking on a woodfire. In its rustic, shepherds’ versions, the stew, eaten with bread, is chunks of meat, lamb or young goat, braised with wine and wild herbs with the possible addition of wild mushrooms or wild artichokes. Domesticated, the stew usually has onions and peppers as well and is served with potatoes as well as bread.  

Typically, the stew is thickened with pieces of fried lamb’s liver, mashed to a paste with garlic. If you can’t get lamb’s liver, substitute chicken livers. Or thicken the sauce with a slice of bread, fried in oil and processed to a paste.     

Stew is brown. Maybe that’s what inspired me to scatter a handful of ruby-red pomegranate kernels on the finished dish. And, once that was part of the plan, why not add a spoonful of tangy-sweet pomegranate molasses to the stew? No, this is not authentically Spanish. Pomegranates are used in Spanish cooking, but the thick, dark syrup is a Middle Eastern product. 

Pomegranate adds a pop of color to lamb stew with a side of fried potatoes.

Lamb simmers with wine and aromatic herbs until very tender. The sauce is thickened with a paste made of lamb's liver blended with garlic and spices.  

Lamb Stew

Caldereta de Cordero

Fried liver (top) to thicken the stew.

Serves 4-6.

2 pounds boneless lamb

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup olive oil plus additional for frying potatoes

4 ounces lamb’s liver or a slice of bread, crusts removed

4 cloves garlic

1 ½ cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped red and/or green pepper

1 ½ teaspoons smoked pimentón (paprika)

½ cup grated tomato pulp

¾ cup white wine

3 cups lamb broth or water plus additional for the blender 

2 bay leaves

Sprigs of thyme

Sprigs of rosemary

Peppercorns

2 cloves

2-3 potatoes

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (optional)

Chopped parsley

Pomegranate kernels to garnish (optional)

Cut the lamb into 2-inch chunks, discarding excess fat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet or stew pan such as a Dutch oven. Cut the liver into 1-inch pieces and fry it on moderate heat until browned. (If using bread instead of liver, fry the bread until crisped.) Remove the liver from the pan and put it in a blender..

Lightly crush the garlic, but do not peel the cloves. Add them to the oil with the lamb. Fry the meat on moderately high heat until nicely browned. Skim out the meat and garlic cloves. Peel the garlics and put them in the blender with the liver. Reserve the lamb.

Fresh herbs flavor the stew.

Add the onions and red/green peppers to the pan. Reduce the heat and sauté gently until onions are quite soft, 8-10 minutes. Stir in the pimentón and fry 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato pulp. Cook 2 minutes, stirring. Add the wine. Raise the heat and cook off the alcohol, 2 minutes. Return the pieces of lamb and any juices to the pan. Add enough lamb broth to almost cover the meat. Add the bay leaves, thyme and rosemary. Season with salt to taste. Cover and cook the stew 15 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaves, thyme and rosemary. Continue cooking the lamb until tender, about 25 minutes longer.

While the stew is cooking, crush the peppercorns and cloves in a mortar. Add the crushed spices to the blender with the liver and garlic. Add enough additional stock or water to allow the blender to function, about ¼ cup. Blend to make a smooth paste.

Potatoes fried in olive oil.

Liver blended to thicken sauce.

    Cut the potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Heat oil in a skillet and fry the potatoes until they are browned and just cooked through. Drain the potatoes on absorbent paper. The potatoes can be finished right in the stew or served as a side.

Pomegranate molasses.

   When the lamb is tender, stir the blender mixture into the stew. Stir in the pomegranate molasses, if using. If desired, add the fried potatoes to the stew or serve them as a side. Cook the stew, uncovered, 10 minutes more until the sauce is thickened. Stir in a handful of chopped parsley.

Serve the stew with the fried potatoes, garnished, if desired, with pomegranate kernels.

More recipes for lamb stews and braises:

Lamb Stew with Red Peppers (Caldereta).

Lamb Stew with Peppers (Chilindrón).

Lamb Shanks with Prunes.

Lamb and Bean Stew.

Lamb Riblets with Garlic Sauce.

BURGER WEEK!

Lamb burgers on split Moroccan bread with tomato-pepper salad and spicy harissa.

Burger week began on Memorial Day with a lack of imagination—your usual ground beef from the supermercado, packaged buns, name-brand ketchup and Ben’s fantastic square-cut olive-oil fries. (National Burger Day was May 28.)

Mid-week, a cache of ground lamb in the freezer inspired me to light the grill and make Moroccan kefta. Only, I remembered that kefta, shaped like a sausage on a skewer, was never very satisfying outside the narrow lanes of the medina in Tangier.  Mainly because, with my rendition, the meat tended to fall off the skewer into the fire. But, burgers would work, on the grill or on the stove.

Serve the bread in wedges or slice it open for burger buns.

Instead of buns, I served the burgers with Moroccan bread, khobz, a round, flat loaf that is cut in wedges. Sliced open horizontally, the wedges make perfect buns for kefta or burgers. All they need is a squirt of hot harissa and Moroccan tomato-pepper salad-relish.

We’ll finish the week with fish burgers—hake cakes (like cod cakes) served on toast, slathered in garlicky green sauce.

Harissa red chile paste is a spicy accompaniment to lamb burgers.

Salad-relish of chopped tomatoes, peppers and preserved lemons to heap on the burgers.

Burger is served with the relish and hot harissa.

Toast the bread or not.

Lamb Kefta Burgers
Hamburguesas de Cordero

Lamb cut from the leg or shoulder is best for these burgers. I like my lamb medium-rare so I shape the burgers really thick. With thick burgers and a hot grill pan, cooking takes only a few minutes. Shape them to suit yourself and adjust cooking time to your tastes.

Skewered kefta.

If you prefer to make keftas, take a golf-ball sized piece of the burger meat and shape it around a metal skewer, pressing to make a compact sausage. Cook the skewers on a grill or under the broiler.

Makes 4-6 burgers.

Ground lamb patties with spices and cilantro.

1 ½ pounds ground lamb
¼ cup finely chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Pinch of dried mint
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sweet pimentón (paprika, not smoked)
½ teaspoon smoked pimentón
1 teaspoon cumin
Olive oil for grilling the burgers
To serve:
Bread or buns
Tomato-pepper relish to accompany
Harissa chile paste to accompany

Place the lamb in a bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients except the oil. Use a fork to lightly mix the meat. Allow to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. 

Shape meat into burgers of desired size and thickness. 

Prepare grill, if using, or heat a plancha grill pan or heavy cast iron skillet. Drizzle or brush the burgers with oil. Cook them, turning once, to desired doneness, 2-4 minutes, depending on thickness. 

 Serve the burgers on quartered Moroccan bread, split horizontally, or on burger buns. Accompany with tomato-pepper relish and harissa chile paste.

Burger bun is a quarter of round loaf, split horizontally.

Tomato-Pepper Relish
Ensaladilla de Tomates y Pimiento

Preserved lemon.

Brine-cured Moroccan preserved lemon adds a special tang to this relish. Use the chopped rind, with or without the flesh and membrane. If preserved lemon is not available, use chopped green olives plus grated lemon zest. 

The salad can be prepared in advance and refrigerated, covered, until ready to serve. The salt draws the liquid out of tomatoes and cucumbers. Use a slotted spoon to serve the salad. (Use more bread to mop up the juices remaining.)

Add hot harissa to the salad or serve it on the side for everyone to add to taste.

Add caption

Makes enough for 4-6 burgers.

1 cup finely chopped tomatoes
¼ cup finely chopped spring onions
¼ cup finely chopped green pepper
¼ cup finely diced cucumber (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped preserved lemon
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Harissa chile paste (optional)

Combine the tomatoes, onions, green pepper and cucumber, if using, in a bowl. Add the cilantro, preserved lemon, oil, salt, lemon juice and harissa, if using. Toss lightly. 

Relish can be made in advance and refrigerated, covered, for several hours. Use a slotted spoon to spoon it onto burgers.

Harissa Chile Paste
Salsa Picante

Moroccan “ketchup.” This spicy- hot condiment is available in jars and squeeze tubes from specialty food shops. It’s made with ground chilies. However Spanish “hot” pimentón picante (paprika, not smoked), makes a perfect substitute for grinding peppers. It is way spicier than ordinary sweet pimentón/paprika but not as hot as cayenne. It’s usually served in small pots with any Moroccan meal.

1 tablespoon hot pimentón (paprika, not smoked)
2 tablespoons boiling water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil

Place the pimentón in a small, heat-proof bowl. Stir in the boiling water until smooth. Stir in the salt and oil. Store, refrigerated, for up to a week.

Moroccan Bread (Khobz)

Pan Marroquí

Not a flatbread, but a flattened loaf with a springy crumb.

This flattened round loaf, cut into wedges, is served with every Moroccan meal. It is traditional with all kinds of tagine.

I’ve used fresh yeast because that’s what I’ve got. You can substitute 1 envelope active dry yeast.

Makes 2 (9-inch) round loaves.

1 ounce pressed fresh yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ¼ hand-hot water (1l0ºF)
3 cups bread flour + additional for the board
1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil + additional for oiling bowl and pan
Semolina for baking sheet
¼ teaspoon aniseed (optional)
2 teaspoons sesame seed (optional)

Crumble the pressed yeast into a small bowl. Add the sugar and ¼ cup of warm water. Stir to dissolve the yeast and allow it to stand for 5 minutes until bubbly.

Place the two kinds of flour in a large bowl. Stir in the salt. Make a well in the center. Pour in the yeast, the remaining warm water and olive oil. Use a wooden spoon to gradually mix the flour into the wet ingredients. 

Once the dough comes together in a mass, turn out onto a lightly floured board. Knead the dough 5-10 minutes until smooth and stretchy. Add only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking. It will become less sticky with kneading. Gather the dough into a ball. Invert the mixing bowl on top of the dough and leave it on the board for 15 minutes (or up to 1 hour). 

Knead the dough again until smooth. Knead in the aniseed, if using. Lightly oil the mixing bowl. Divide the dough into two equal-sized balls. Roll them in the oiled bowl.

Press the ball of dough to flatten it.

Prepare a rimmed baking sheet by oiling it lightly and sprinkling with semolina. Place the balls of dough on the sheet. Pat them into rounds approximately 2 inches thick. If using sesame, sprinkle it on the tops and press it into the dough.

Cover the dough with a clean dry cloth and leave in a warm place to rise for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 400ºF.

After rising, prick the dough with a fork before baking.

Prick the rounds of dough with a fork. Bake until the breads are golden and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, about 40 minutes.

 

Cool the bread on racks. Serve it, cut into wedges, in a cloth-covered bread basket with any Moroccan-style meal. 

References for Moroccan food:
Moroccan Cuisine by Paula Wolfert (Grub Street; 2004)
The Scent of Orange Blossoms—Sephardic Cuisine from Morocco by Kitty Morse and Danielle Mamane (Ten Speed Press; 2001).

Taste of Maroc by Christine Benlafquih.

More burgers:

Best-Ever Veggie Burgers.

Tofu Black Bean Burgers.

More buns:

Sweet Potato Buns.

Sandwich Buns (Molletes).

More recipes to serve with Moroccan bread:

Kefta Tagine.

Eggplant Salad (Zeilouk)

ROAST LAMB, A SMALL FEAST

Buying a leg of lamb, on a whim, I asked the butcher to bone it for me. He removed the long leg bone without opening out the meat, leaving a pocket for stuffing. Now, what to stuff it with?

I recalled many years ago hosting a mechoui party. Mechoui is the Moroccan roast lamb. I bought a whole lamb and my friend, Dominique, who grew up in Morocco, was in charge of roasting it.

We stuffed the lamb’s cavity with a mixture of cous cous and parsley, maybe some chopped onions. I don’t remember exactly. Once sewed up, the animal was trussed, brushed with olive oil and positioned on a stout stick over smouldering coals. This was an August afternoon. Dominique and his pinche, Mark, turned the lamb for hours, basting it occasionally with salt water to keep the skin crisp. Dripping with sweat, Dominique stripped to his skivvies and turned the garden hose on over his head.

The meat was succulent and deliciously wood-smoke flavored. I served an array of Moroccan and Middle Eastern salads and vegetable dishes to accompany the lamb. What a feast.

Dominique is French photographer Jean Dominique Dallet (http://www.jddallet.com/) He grew up in Fes (Morocco), studied and worked in France and Denmark, before setting up home base in southern Spain, where I got to know him. Dominique clocks around 100,000 miles a year, traveling in search of new images, on assignment for magazines and books worldwide. I rode shotgun on several of Dominique’s forays through La Mancha, where we collaborated on magazine articles.

Traditional mechoui, whole lamb roasted in clay oven. (Photo by JDDallet)

Dominique tells me that traditionally mechoui was cooked (no stuffing) in a vertical clay oven, “until the meat is falling off the bones, so that you can eat it with your fingers, without a knife.” Men cook the mechoui, women serve it. Kebabs of liver wrapped in fat might precede the lamb, Salads are the only accompaniment to the roast lamb.

Today in Morocco, he says, a typical mechoui is sent to roast in the neighborhood  bread oven.

Whole roast lamb--mechoui--with accompanying salads. (Photo by JDDallet)

It was the memory of that mechoui party that inspired me to stuff the leg of lamb with cous cous. Here's my version, boned leg of lamb stuffed with cous cous, chard and pistachios.

Boned leg of lamb is stuffed with cous cous, chard and pistachios.

Roast lamb, a small feast.

Stuffing soaks up meat juices. You may need a spoon to serve it.

Roast Leg of Lamb Stuffed with Cous Cous
Cordero Asado Relleno con Couscous

My boned leg of lamb weighed about 2 ¾ pound. (In the US, lamb is marketed much larger, so a boned leg might weigh more than 4 pounds.)

The meat has a deep pocket where the bone was pulled out. Another way to bone the leg is to butterfly it, by cutting it open, removing the bones and cutting horizontally through the thick sections to create a slab of meat that is more or less of equal thickness. The stuffing is spread on the meat and rolled up. Either way, the meat must be tied to keep the stuffing in and give the roast shape.

Cous cous and chard stuffing.

For the stuffing:
½ cup cous cous
½ cup boiling water
2 teaspoons + 1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped chard or spinach (to make 1 cup cooked)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 clove chopped garlic
¼ cup seeded raisins
¼ cup shelled pistachios
¼ cup chopped parsley or fresh cilantro
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Press stuffing into pocket of lamb.

For the lamb:
2 ½ - 3 ½ pounds boned leg of lamb
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil

Place the cous cous in a heat-proof bowl. Pour over the boiling water. Add 2 teaspoons oil and salt. Cover and let steam until cous cous is tender, 10 minutes. Fluff the cous cous with a fork.

Cook the chard or spinach in a little water until it is tender. Drain, well.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet. Sauté the onions and garlic until softened, 8 minutes. Add the chard and sauté until moisture evaporates. Add the raisins, pistachios, parsley or cilantro, ½ teaspoon salt, pepper and lemon zest. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of the steamed cous cous.

For the lamb:

Combine crushed garlic, salt, coriander, cumin, black pepper and 1 tablespoon oil. Rub this mixture on the lamb, inside and out. 

Stuff the lamb pocket with the prepared cous cous and chard. (Or, if using butterflied leg of lamb, spread the stuffing on the meat and roll it up.) 

Turkey skewers and twine to close the pocket.

Use skewers and kitchen twine to close the pocket’s openings. Tie the meat so that it keeps its shape.

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Place the lamb in the oven and lower temperature to 350ºF. Roast the lamb, basting occasionally. Use additional olive oil for basting if the lamb does not have much fat. The lamb is done (medium-rare) when it reaches an internal temperature of 140ºF when tested with an instant-read thermometer. (My 2 ¾-pound roast needed only 50 minutes; a larger piece of meat will take longer.)

Roast vegetables with the lamb.

Allow meat to rest before slicing.

Remove lamb to a cutting board and allow it to rest for 20 minutes before cutting in thick slices. The stuffing will be loose and may need a spoon for serving.

Thanks to my friend Dominique Dallet for his photos of traditional Moroccan mechoui. See more of his work at http://www.jddallet.com/.

More lamb recipes:

Lamb Shanks with Prunes.

Lamb Riblets with Garlic.

Lamb Stew with Red Peppers.

Lamb and Bean Stew.

Grilled Leg of Lamb with Onion Marinade.

Braised Lamb with Quinces.

Roast Lamb with Spring Herbs.

Lamb Roll Wrapped in Chard