Shawarma

In 1995, my folks dropped me off in Greenwich Village for college at NYU. I had a Cadillac meal plan, with enough food to keep me fed three times a day. The food was a-plenty, but it sure was tiresome. For the first time in my life, I was counting on salt just to provide the remembrance of flavor. Fortunately, a block away on MacDougal Street, my introduction to street food was about to begin. I believe that the best food I've purchased in my life has cost me either less than $5 or more than $30. Knishes, pizza, pretzels, falafel, tortas, tacos, halal meat, okonomiyaki, fresh papaya... you name it and an ethnic group sells it on the corner (or in a take-out shop) for a few bucks. One fall afternoon in 1995, I walked into King Shwarma and my life changed. I ate my first shwarma sandwich. Was it Turkish? Or Lebanese? I don't know. I never found out the origin of the shwarmas that The King used to make and I probably never will know (King Shwarma is now closed forever). And the hot sauce was outstanding too! It will also remain a mystery lost in time... Anyhoo, here's an inferior online shwarma recipe (sorry, I lost the source). It makes 6 pita sandwiches. I haven't tried it yet, so I may need to revisit this recipe.

--1 1/2 lbs boned Leg of Lamb (in a Middle Eastern restaurant, the lamb would be on one of these vertical rotating spits, a slowly cooking meat-cone)
--2 cups thinly sliced Onion
--1/3 cup fresh Lemon Juice
--1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
--1/2 tsp ground Allspice
--1/2 tsp Black Pepper
--1/4 tsp Salt
--5 Thyme Sprigs
--(several online recipes also swear by using Mace to spice your shwarma)
--6 (7-inch) Pitas
--Yogurt-Tahini Dip or my mom's hummus
--1/2 cup Onion slices (Red or White), separated into rings
--1/4 cup chopped Fresh Mint or shredded Lettuce
--12 (1/4-inch-thick) slices Tomato, halved
--3 Gherkin Dill Pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise
--Hot Sauce such as Sriracha

Trim fat from lamb. Combine 2 cups onion and herbs and spices (onion through thyme) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add lamb to bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 2 hours (better yet: overnight), turning occasionally. Remove lamb from bag; discard marinade. Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Place lamb on a broiler pan; insert meat thermometer into thickest portion of lamb. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until thermometer registers 145° (medium-rare) to 160° (medium). Let stand 15 minutes. Slice lengthwise into thin strips. Spread each pita with about 2 1/2 tablespoons Yogurt-Tahini Dip (or hummus). Divide lamb, red onion, mint (or lettuce), tomato, and pickles evenly among each pita. Serve immediately.

Mexican Cornbread Casserole

This makes a nice supper, just by itself.

1 onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 lb. ground beef

Salt, pepper, cumin, chile powder to taste

1 cup of corn (you can use creamed corn, or just canned or frozen whole corn)

1 can of diced tomatoes and green chiles

Additional green chiles, if you wish

Grated cheese--about 1 cup

Your favorite cornbread recipe--this one is mine

Saute the onion and garlic in a little oil until they are a bit transparent. Add the beef and seasonings and cook until there is no more pink showing. Add the corn, tomatoes, and chiles. Stir well, heat until simmering, then remove from heat.

Mix up the cornbread. Spread half of the batter in a greased 2-quart casserole or a 9" x 13" pan. Sprinkle the meat mixture evenly over the batter. Sprinkle on the grated cheese, then top with the rest of the cornbread batter.

Note: If you want a less bread-y meal, you can prepare a half-recipe of cornbread and just spread it on the top of the meat mixture, and proceed with the baking.

Bake at 350˚ for 35 to 40 minutes.

Hash Browns

This is the kind of breakfast dish you prepare in the years before you start seeing a cardiologist. Hey, maybe this kind of breakfast dish is why I see a cardiologist now, what do you think? Now that I've reached the time of life where I count out the eggs we are allowed to eat each week (maximum of four!), I am willing to make all kinds of deals, meal-wise, to allow myself to continue to live long enough to really enjoy this wonderful retired life.

Ah, well. We used to eat this stuff with our eggs in the mornings. You decide what to do with your own breakfast menu...

To make lovely, crisp hash brown potatoes, scrub several russet potatoes and dry them carefully.

Heat a large griddle and butter it (I'm warning you, I'm pulling out all the stops and telling you the truth here).

When the griddle is good and hot, grate the unpeeled, clean potatoes directly onto its surface. Don't grate the potatoes ahead of time, because they will turn an unlovely pink. You don't want that.

Dab the grated potatoes here and there with more butter (!), and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. and a little paprika, if you wish.

Turn the heat to medium. Cook the potatoes slowly, turning over in sections and adding more butter (that's it, I'm done making excuses) as "needed."

When the potatoes are all crispy and brown and well cooked, serve them with eggs, any style. And some homemade bread, lightly toasted. And, what the heck, spread a little more butter on your toast. Just remember the warning above about the cardiologist, and don't eat like this too often.

Cranberry Muffins

This version comes from About.com: Southern Food

• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel

Preparation:

Toss cranberries with 1/4 cup of sugar in a bowl; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1 cup sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine eggs with milk; stir into flour mixture until just moistened. Gently fold in nuts and orange peel and cranberries. Fill paper-lined muffin tins two thirds full. Bake at 400° for 20 to 25 minutes. Makes about 18 muffins.

Cranberry Bread

This recipe comes from Allrecipes

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon grated orange zest 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries

1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped 1/4 cup margarine, softened 1 cup white sugar 1 egg 3/4 cup orange juice

	Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in orange zest, cranberries, and pecans. Set aside.
	In a large bowl, cream together margarine, sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in orange juice. Beat in flour mixture until just moistened. Pour into prepared pan.
	Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the bread springs back when lightly touched. Let stand 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Wrap in plastic when completely cool.

Red Chile

Red Chiles Drying (Library of Congress)*
This post first appeared on my other blog, The Zees Go West, long before I had a recipe blog. It makes sense to duplicate it here.

If you travel around New Mexico during harvest time you are bound to see ristras (strings) of red chiles hanging outside to dry in the hot sunshine. Down in Mesilla, south of Las Cruces, we saw them spread out on rooftops and up north in Chimayo they were hanging everywhere.

You can buy fresh green chiles in the summertime and the dried red ones later in the fall. They both come from the same plant—the red ones have just been allowed to ripen longer on the plant before being dried. They have an earthier flavor to me. When I grew my own chiles in Las Cruces, I couldn’t get over how many wonderful chile colors could be found on a single plant—sometimes all at once--the greens at first, and then as the chiles ripened they ranged through yellow and orange to red.

We make a very simple version of Carne Adovada at our house. We brown pork strips with onions and garlic, then simmer all in red chile sauce (below)** until the pork is tender and well done. I know that traditional versions call for a long marinating period, but the kind we make is absolutely delicious.

For some good basics to get you started, see Chile Colorado (Red Chile).

Visit the Focus New Mexico web site for information on both red and green chiles, where to find them in New Mexico, and how to use them. Be sure to check out the rest of the web site, too, for travel information.

**For a good Red Chile Sauce Recipe:http://www.pepperfool.com/recipes/southwest/nm_red_sauce.html

*Library of Congress photograph: I do not know of any copyright restrictions associated with this photo. If you do, please notify me via the comments section of this blog.

Posole

Photograph from Library of Congress*
This post first appeared on my other blog, The Zees Go West. That was way back before this recipe blog was started. It makes sense to duplicate it here.






Posole defined:

1. Kernels of corn that have been soaked in lime water, hulled, and dried.
2. Hominy and pork stew flavored with red chiles



Posole stew is a New Mexican tradition and can be ordered as a side dish in many New Mexican restaurants. You can order some real NM posole from the resources below, or you may substitute yellow or white canned hominy in the recipes.

Blue Corn Posole recipe, resources, and a wonderful memory about eating posole at San Ildefonso Pueblo

A nice collection of New Mexican Posole Recipes

Posole Recipe courtesy of Comida de Campos farm and cooking school, Embudo, N.M.

Posole recipes from the Santa Fe School of Cooking

Posole Stew, A New Mexico Holiday Tradition

If you have a moment, take time to read this evocative New York Times article--In Pueblo Food, Deep Respect for the Earth, which includes a recipe for posole. They might spell" chile" as “chili” but they know how to make New Mexican food sound delicious.
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*The Library of Congress knows of no restrictions on the publication of this photograph. If you do, please let me know via the comments section on this blog.

Onion Dip

In our younger days, several years after Ben was born. That's our Dee on the left.

If you have been reading this blog for any time, you know that it is a mother and son collaboration. In order to agree on the recipes presented here as family history, there is a lot of correspondence back and forth about food memories. Some of Ben's questions really make me laugh, such as this one:

Do I crave onion dip because you ate it when I was in the womb or is there something to it beyond a mix packet?

If we went by what I ate while carrying the pre-born Benjamin, he would be eating a lot of herrings in sour cream right from the jar (imagine!) and throwing up instantly at the smell of spiced tea. Sorry to talk about throwing up right in the middle of the recipes.

The Onion Dip that Ben is so fond of is the same one that everyone else makes, and comes right from the box of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix (or right from Lipton's website):

1 envelope Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Onion Soup Mix
1 container (16 oz.) sour cream

1.	In medium bowl, blend all ingredients; chill if desired.
2.	Serve with your favorite dippers.

Ask Andy: BBQ Sauce

My friend Andy and I liked to experiment with food when we were growing up. Our foray into outdoor cooking occurred sometime around the 7th or 8th grade, with "The 1st [and ONLY] Annual Hot Foods Festival." Despite the rain, the event was a success, with four boys choking down fiery food and sweating profusely. Most of the food was successful, except for the Tabasco cookies. The chemical structure of the dough broke down, leaving behind wafer-thin crispy discs.

As adults, Andy and I continued our experimentation whenever we were in the same town... At my first job out of college, I discovered that a coworker grew Scotch Bonnet Habenero Peppers (this discovery was both intriguing and alarming because "What kind of person would plant THOSE?!"). I wrapped them up safely for a trip to New Hampshire where I handed them to Andy. We spent several hours making a wicked BBQ sauce out of only molasses, onion, and Habenero pepper. I damaged my stomach a little, but man (!) it was wonderful stuff.

A few years ago Andy attended culinary school, where he acquired some serious knowledge, but his most valuable skill in the kitchen is patience. He has spent years testing and experimenting with sauces and rubs. He once told me about how he spent an entire weekend roasting turkey bones, then boiling them into a stock with a bunch of veggies (and cognac I think), then reduced and reduced the stock down so much that the liquid could be frozen 12 tiny ice cubes. "Instant Flavor Cubes" he called them.

We still pick each other's brains about food whenever we see each other. The other night, he passed through New York, and we talked about some of our old BBQ sauces. I asked him what makes a perfect BBQ sauce. He listed, "Caramelized Onion, a can of Tomato Paste, Molasses, and Bourbon should do you just right." And, of course, lots of time and patience...