Moorish

I was given Greg Malouf's book Moorish for Christmas and was inspired to a week of Middle Eastern delights in the kitchen. First we had lamb steaks with a lentil risotto. He seems to use risotto as a side dish quite a bit. This was a basic risotto - just onion, rice, stock & Parmesan. The lentils were just boiled with a finely chopped onion & a bayleaf then added to the rice near the end before the Parmesan was added. Top with caramelised red onions and serve with a carrot salad.

Shred a carrot or 2 and serve with a dressing comprising:

1 clove garlic crushed

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp chilli powder

juice of lge lemon

drizzle of honey

2 tbsp olive oil

splash of orange blossom water

The real find was labne. Wrap about 500g yoghurt in a piece of muslin. Suspend over a deep vessel, supported by a wooden spoon. If your dish is too shallow the yoghurt will rest in the dripping whey. Leave in the fridge overnight. I only had about 6 hours but it worked satisfactorily. You will end up with a thick curd. Blend about 100g of ordinary youghut with a handful each of fresh mint & flat leaf parsley leaves until you have a pale green paste. Season the curd ball with a tsp dried mint & a little salt. Swirl through the green paste so that there are streaks of green - not mixed right through. This is so delicious you will be looking for reasons to eat it.
The next night Phoebe was out and this is always an excuse to have shellfish. We made a mussel soup with a preserved lemon risotto. Saute onion, garlic & leek until soft then add the cleaned mussels & 1/3 cup white wine, turn up the heat & steam until they have all opened. About 3-4 minutes. Remove the mussels from their shells & add the meat back to the pan. Add a teaspoon each of turmeric, chilli, coriander, cumin, ginger and a good bunch of chopped parsley with 2/3 cup of cream. Bring to the boil & mix well.

Meanwhile prepare a basic risotto (you'll only want a small quantity) adding a preserved lemon (peel only) thinly sliced half way through. Put a spoonful of risotto in a soup bowl & pour over the mussel soup.

I served this with a sort of vegetable fattoush. Tomatoes, Lebanese cucumbers. spring onion, yellow capsicum, baby fennel, black olives and croutons of Turkish bread, tossed with a vinaigrette of oil, lemon & garlic, then sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.
I had most of a loaf of Turkish bread left over so the next night we had Turkish burgers. I made mini lamb rissoles - 500g lamb mince, 50g soaked bulgar wheat, 4 tsp each dried mint & oregano, 1 clove of crushed garlic & lemon zest. We toasted the Turkish bread on the grill & served with labne, hummus, and other accompaniments I found in the fridge. We each made our own version.

The next night I made a Spanish omlette with left over potato, chorizo & prawns. Saute the filling items, then remove & wash out the pan. Lightly whisk the eggs with saffron & season. Mix with the potato mixture & pour back into the pan. Cook on a high heat for a few minutes until the egg has started to set then add some crumbled feta and either turn down & cover until cooked or finish under the grill. You want this to be quite thick & sliceable so don't use too wide a pan. Finish with a sprinkling of parsley.

Then I got a fancy for lamb with pomegranate. When we don't get our lamb from our butcher - Bill at Gipps St Butchery, we buy Wai-ora lamb at the market. You can order ahead & pick up on the day. It is beautiful. We substituted turkey stock for the pomegranate juice and used Pukara Estate Pomegranate balsamic vinegar which we bought at the Food Show. We sprinkled pomegranate seeds over the cooked, sliced lamb and served the pan juices as gravy. We served with roasted potatoes from the garden & baby kumara. And the first crop of peas with baby carrots. Washed down with a glass of rose. The perfect end to the holidays. Back to work tomorrow.

Phoebe filled tartlet cases with the last of the caramel & some chocalate icing. These are known as Chocolate Caramel Delights.