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.

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Back when we raised sheep in Washington state, we used to make this hearty breakfast with sheep sausage. Not lamb sausage, mind you, but actual sausage from mature mutton. It was absolutely delicious, because our home-grown mutton and lamb was always very delicately flavored. 

Stir fry a chopped onion in some olive oil in a large pan, just until transparent. Brown 1 pound of crumbled sausage (pork is good, too) in a large pan. 

When the sausage has been cooked through, sprinkle it with some all-purpose flour--about 1/4 cup. Stir the flour in well. When there is no more white flour showing, add about a cup of milk. Stir over medium heat, adding more milk as things thicken up.  You be the judge--some like a very thick gravy, some like it thin. Once it is the consistency you like, simmer it a bit over low heat so the sausage flavors the gravy. Taste for seasoning, adding a bit of salt and a lot of freshly ground black pepper. 

Serve on warm split and buttered Best Biscuits.

Heaven only knows how we got away with eating such hearty breakfasts without suffering any consequences. However, when I think back to that time, I realize that we were both holding down full time jobs., raising several children, doing mountains of laundry, remodeling an old farm house, raising a farm yard full of sheep and goats and poultry, milking goats, and keeping up a large garden. We needed all the energy we could get. Plus, we cooked everything from scratch, including granola, yogurt, cheese, and bread. Oh, and I spun and wove the wool from the sheep, after they were sheared (we even tried hand shearing a sheep, but only once).

It's making me tired to think about it.

Forfar Bridies

You can't not make this recipe, with its wonderful name. I was reminded of it when reading Espresso Tales, by Alexander McCall Smith, and the Scottish place name Forfar came up.

These are little pasties, a meal in the hand, that the Scots probably buy fresh down at the local shop. Too bad for us, but at least we can have the pleasure of preparing, eating, and saying the name of our very own Forfar Bridies.

You can read about the name and history of this dish at Scotland's Enchanting Kingdom, where you will also find another version of the recipe and a photo, as well. This version (below) came originally from Welcome to My Scotland.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Yield: 8 to 16 pastries

12 ounces lean ground lamb or ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt, freshly ground pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons beef broth or stock
Pastry for a double-crust pie
1 egg white, frothed lightly with a fork

1. Cook meat until it is no longer pink; drain thoroughly and add onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and just enough stock or broth to moisten the mixture.

2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll pastry on a floured board to a 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into rounds; depending on preference, they can be from 3 to 6 inches in diameter.

3. Spoon filling onto the bottom half of each circle; fold over and crimp edges tightly. Brush lightly with egg white and cut three slashes in top of each.

4. Place on flat baking sheet. Bake until golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Serve hot.

Oma's Persian Meatloaf

1 1/2 lbs. ground lamb

1 slice stale bread

1 large onion, chopped

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

1/4 cup parsley, chopped 

1/4 cup celery, chopped

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 eggs

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tbl. lemon juice

Soak bread in some warm water for two minutes, squeeze out moisture. Break bread into small pieces, add to meat. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Form into a loaf and place in a greased 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pan. 

Bake for 70 minutes at 350. Drain loaf, cool, cover, and chill. Slice thin. Serves 6. 

Oma says: "Is nice warm too!"

South African Dried Fruit Curry (Bobotie)

1 cup dried apples
½ cup dried pitted prunes
½ cup seedless raisins
1 ½ cups water
1 ½ lb. cubed lamb or stew beef
1 tsp. salt
2 tbl. vegetable oil
1 cup finely chopped onions
2 tbl. Madras curry
2 tbl. red wine vinegar
1 tbl. lemon juice
Chopped peanuts
Sliced bananas

Soak dried fruit in water at least one hour. Sprinkle lamb with salt, brown in oil, remove from pan. Brown onions, return meat and its juice to pan. Add curry powder, stir over low heat 2 minutes. Add fruit and soaking water, vinegar, and lemon juice. Partially cover and cook about one hour, adding more water if necessary. Most of the liquid should be cooked away at the end of the hour.

Serve over rice garnished with banana slices and chopped peanuts.