Moroccan Lamb and Chickpea Stew

I've been on a chickpea (garbanzo) kick recently, since they're high in protein and flavor, and low in fat and cost.  But I can't quite kick the habit of including a delicious meat with the chickpeas yet, so those tasty legumes are still more of an additive than a replacement.  But whether you're on the garbanzo wagon or not, this stew was incredibly hearty and delicious despite being a fairly low-fat dish, and it came together easily.

Invest in a good dutch oven to make this, and definitely start with dried chickpeas, not canned.  There's a huge difference in flavor.  And read the directions thoroughly before you start - you need to soak the chickpeas overnight and then boil them for an hour, and since the rest of the dish comes together very quickly, that needs to be done pretty much first thing.

Moroccan-Style Lamb and Chickpeas
Cooking Light, December 2011

Yield: Serves 4 (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)

• 1 pound lean ground lamb
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups vertically sliced onion
• 1/2 cup (1/4-inch) diagonally cut carrot
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon rind
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight OR 1 (15 1/2-ounce can) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• plain yogurt, to garnish

The day before, soak your chickpeas in a bowl of water and cover.  Approximately 1/2 cup of dried chickpeas will swell up to the same amount you'd find in a 15-oz can.  Before cooking, drain and rinse the chickpeas, and place in a pot of boiling, lightly salted water for an hour.  Drain, rinse, and have at the ready while you're getting the rest of this together.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add lamb to pan and cook for 6 minutes, stirring to crumble.  Remove the lamb from pan with a slotted spoon, and discard the drippings. Add the olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat.  Add onion and carrot to pan and sauté 4 minutes.  Add cumin, cinnamon, coriander, and pepper; sauté 30 seconds, stirring constantly.  Add reserved lamb, broth, and next 5 ingredients (through chickpeas); bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes or until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat.

Saute the meat, then add the vegetables, then aromatics for 30 seconds, then everything else.  Pretty easy.

You don't cook this for very long - it's not a full braise, since the meat starts off ground and doesn't benefit from long cooking times.  Start to finish is less than 20 minutes after the chickpeas are ready.

Just before serving, stir in cilantro and lemon juice.  Garnish with a spoon of plain yogurt, and serve over long-grain rice.  In the picture we used a saffron-infused rice, which was delicious here, but you could probably manage basmati or just plain ol' white rice.

Pad Prik Khing Gai (Thai Stir-Fry with Roasted Chile Paste)

Okay everyone, time for a crash course in ordering from Thai menus.  You may think you understand it, but I have concluded that none of us westerners really know.  Well allow me to clear at least a couple of things up, in a section I like to call:

Culturally Insensitive Language Training

In Thai, there are a number of words which are used strangely, and a small number which you can always hang your hat on.  I think I've finally got a small piece of this figured out.  So let me lay some words on you, and you can try to remember them so you don't make the same restaurant ordering mistakes that I did:

"Pad" - stir-fried.  Not an especially helpful word.

"Gai" - chicken.  Pretty straightforward.

"Prik" / "Phrik" - chile peppers.  Got it.

"Khing" - ginger.  Wait, galangal.  Wait, all of the above.  Ah, here's the problem - people who try to translate this don't know what they're talking about!  What they mean to say is that "khing" most likely means rhizome, which in turn encompasses both ginger and galangal.  In this context, it means galangal.

So, when you see the phrase "prik khing", you may think you're getting chile and ginger sauce, when in fact you are not.  This is even more confusing when you consider that there is a dish called "pad khing", which IS a dish of stir-fried ginger and other vegetables (recipe coming soon).  But no, prik khing refers to a paste made of roasted chiles and assorted aromatics, to include galangal and lemongrass.  If you just pick up a can of the stuff, you will see an almost identical list of ingredients compared to red curry paste, but this paste is prepared in a completely different way, which I know nothing about, but which I gather involves roasting the chiles first, much like you would do to create chipotles from jalapenos or anchos from poblanos.

Moving on.  This is a very common Thai dish, and strongly resembles a curry but without the use of coconut milk.  And since the name gives away very little, it is almost always a stir-fry of green beans (or long beans), often with meat, and usually with some kind of fresh pepper in there.  I absolutely love this dish, and until recently had been making it with red curry paste.  It was probably about 80% as good as if you use prik khing curry paste, but if you can find it I say go for the real thing because it has a certain complexity that red curry paste doesn't have.  And definitely don't hold back on the use of the paste, either.  I used a whole can, and didn't feel like it was overpowering at all.

This dish comes together really quickly, and despite having a relatively short list of ingredients it packs a wealth of complex flavors.  I guess that's because the work was already done preparing the curry paste; be thankful I'm not asking you to make your own... yet.

Pad Prik Khing Gai
By numerous sources

• 1 4 ounce can prik khing curry paste (Maesri brand is fairly common)
• 1/2 cup chicken, sliced thinly
• 2 cups green beans (or Chinese long beans), cut into 1-2" pieces
• 1/2 cup water
• 3-4 kaffir lime leaves, sliced thinly
• 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tbsp white or palm sugar
• 2 Thai chiles, sliced thinly (optional)
• 1 tbsp canola oil

Gather up the fairly short list of ingredients.  Feel free to switch out the meat or the peppers for others, but definitely include green beans or long beans

Heat oil over medium high heat.  Add the prik king chili paste and fry for 1-2 minutes.  Now add the chicken (or whatever protein), coat with the chili paste, and let them cook until they are done.  If the pan gets too dry while the meat is cooking, add some water, a few tablespoons at a time.

Stir-fry the curry paste to bring out the flavors, and attempt to gas your friends out of the house.

Add the meat and stir-fry in the paste

Add the green beans, Thai chiles, and bell pepper slices and some more water, again a little at a time, until they are almost cooked.  Add the kaffir lime leaves, sugar, and fish sauce.  Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.  Once the beans are fully cooked, serve over jasmine rice.

Stir-fry the remaining ingredients for a few minutes, adding water as necessary, then add the sauce components and serve immediately

Yum Woon Sen (Chile Lime Glass Noodles)

My first encounter with chile lime noodles was at a vegan food market, where it was framed as a gluten-free, animal byproduct-free meal.  As I ate it, I thought "this would be much better with some animal byproducts in it."  But all of the recipes I found were somewhat bland, Americanized versions of this dish.

Enter the real deal - yum woon sen, which is a Thai salad using mung bean noodles.  You've probably seen these before - they start off pale white, and when you cook them they turn translucent, earning them the name "glass noodles".  They're fairly easy to find, and not to be mixed up with rice vermicelli, which will cook up white, and though they are the same diameter, that's about all they have in common.  Glass noodles are chewy and have a much more neutral flavor, making them perfect for this dish.  And the Thais don't mess around with the whole animal byproduct thing - they thrown in fried, dried shrimp, and often ground pork (which I didn't add here, to try just the standard dried shrimp version).

In addition to getting to buy two new ingredients I had never purchased before, which is always fun, this dish surprised me by how easily it came together.  You don't really cook anything, in the traditional sense.  You basically just soak the noodles in boiling water, then crisp up the dried shrimp and peanuts, and toss everything together.  I was waiting for the stir-fry step the first time I made it, but it never came.  The end result was very healthy and fresh as a result, so now I see why this dish became popular.

Yum Woon Sen (aka Chile Lime Glass Noodles)
From ThaiTable.com

• 5-6 sprigs cilantro
• 1 2 ounce (dry) bundle mung bean noodles (aka glass noodles, clear noodles)
• 1/4 cup dried shrimp
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon fried garlic
• 1-2 limes
• 1/2 sliced onion
• 1/2 cup peanuts
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 3 Thai chili pepper
• 1 cup cut Chinese Celery, or regular celery if you can't find Chinese

If you can't find the Chinese celery above, just use regular celery.  But do at least keep the tops

This single bundle is all you need for the recipe posted here.  Don't get carried away, it will throw off the balance of ingredients

Rinse your vegetables well, and chop them to the right sizes.  They won't end up being cooked, so it has to be bite-sized and ready to go.

Take one of the 2 oz bundles from the noodle pack, and place in a large bowl with boiling hot water for 6 minutes. Strain the noodles and drain, then pour the noodles into a large mixing bowl and cut them with scissors randomly to make the strands easier to serve and eat.  Cut the Chinese celery into 1 ½ inch pieces. Slice onion, top to bottom to get crescent pieces. Chop cilantro and chili peppers.  If making your own, make the fried garlic by placing 6 cloves of garlic in a microwave-safe bowl and cover with 1-2 tbsp neutral oil, then microwave on high for up to 2 minutes, 30 seconds in 30 second increments until nicely browned and fragrant.

If using raw peanuts, fry peanuts in 1 teaspoon of oil over low to medium low heat until light brown and cooked, about 5-7 minutes. Remove peanuts and set aside. Fry the dried shrimp over medium heat until crispy and brown, about a minute, depending on the size of your shrimp. When the shrimp turns whitish, remove from heat and set aside.

Dry-fry the dried shrimp - this was a new one for me.  I found these in the refrigerated section of the Asian grocery store

Make the sauce / dressing - 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 5 tablespoons of lime juice, and 1/2 tsp (or less) of sugar.  It should be more sour than salty; you should also take into account how salty the shrimp are. The role of sugar here is to round the flavors.

Add a tablespoon of fried garlic to the noodles and mix them. Fried garlic gives the noodles flavor. Add 5 tablespoons of the dressing to the noodles and mix well, reserving the last tablespoon to add only as necessary. Add the peanuts, dried shrimp, onion, Chinese celery, chili peppers and cilantro to the noodles. Toss well and taste. You may need more dressing, depending on water content of the noodles and the concentrations of your seasonings.

Toss all ingredients to combine, and you're done!  Minimal cooking necessary

Beer and Cheddar Soup

It may not be German, and it's certainly not healthy, but this was one of the most delicious soups I've ever eaten.  Made by a special friend, it was put together with precision, to ensure that everything came out perfectly.  With ingredients like beer, cheddar cheese, cream, and bacon, I'm not sure how this dish could possibly be bad, but thankfully it delivered on flavor, where it lacked in nutritional value.  Highly recommend this at an Oktoberfest party, or on a cold winter's night.  And definitely look for smoked cheddar if you can find it - it makes a huge difference in the flavor.

Beer-and-Cheddar Soup

From Food & Wine, Contributed by Jonathon Erdeljac

• 1/3 pound piece of slab bacon, sliced 1/3 inch thick and cut into 1/3-inch dice
• 1 celery rib, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 large jalapeño, seeded and chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
• One 12-ounce bottle lager or pilsner
• 2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 pound sharp yellow cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded
• 4 ounces smoked cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Garlic-rubbed toasts, for serving

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon over moderate heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp, 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a bowl. Add the celery, onion, jalapeño, garlic and thyme to the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, 8 minutes. Add half of the beer and cook until reduced by half, 5 minutes. Add 2 1/4 cups of chicken broth and bring to a simmer.

In a small skillet, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Whisk this roux into the soup until incorporated and bring to a simmer. Cook until thickened, about 8 minutes. Add the heavy cream, cheddar cheeses and the remaining beer and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and creamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the bacon and season with salt and pepper. Add a few tablespoons of broth if the soup is too thick. Serve the soup with garlic toasts.

The cheddar soup can be refrigerated overnight. Rewarm gently and thin with additional broth.

Spicy German Mustard

This mustard accompanies my soft pretzel recipe, both of which were made this past week for an Oktoberfest party.  I was amazed with how easy this process was - soak the mustard overnight in a few spices and vinegar, then blend.  Good lord, why have I been buying mustard at the store?  I know one reason - I hadn't felt like chasing down two different colors of mustard seeds until I decided that I had to try this, at least once.  And now mustard seeds will become a staple in my pantry, because I want to be able to make this at all times.

I thought this mustard was tasty - a bit tangy, slightly spicy, just a hint of sweetness.  I was expecting a darker, sweeter mustard, so I might tinker with this a bit to adjust the flavors to what I was hoping for.  But this was delicious in its own right, so I'm excited to pass this along to everyone with the pretzel recipe.

Spicy German Mustard

By Diana Rattray, About.com

Makes about 1 1/2 -2 cups

• 1/4 cup yellow mustard seed
• 2 Tbsp. black or brown mustard seed, heaping
• 1/4 cup dry mustard powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
• 1 small onion chopped
• 2 Tbsp. firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 garlic gloves, minced or pressed
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp. dried tarragon leaves
• 1/8 tsp. turmeric

In a small bowl, combine mustard seed and dry mustard. In a 1- to 2-quart stainless steel or nonreactive saucepan, combine remaining ingredients. Simmer, uncovered, on medium heat until reduced by half, 10-15 minutes. Try to be patient and cool the mixture as much as possible before pouring over the mustard mixture; it turns out that both heat and acid will dull the pungent heat developed by mustard seeds, but my guess is that heat will do it faster, while also killing a lot of the flavor.  From About.com:

"It is the chemical reaction between two compounds, myrosin and sinigrin, that combines to turn up the heat when the cells of the seeds are broken and mixed with cold water. "

So my suspicion is that the use of cold vinegar will allow for a slow reaction between these compounds for a while, but eventually it gets in balance, and can be kept refrigerated until the reaction peters out, yielding a stable final product.  If you want to experiment with this (and you can bet I do), try soaking two small quantities in water and vingear, pureeing both and tasting the difference.  I also plan to try experimenting with warm vs cool vinegar liquid poured over the seeds, as well as the total soaking time, to see if these things make a difference.

Anyway, let mixture stand, covered, at room temperature for 24 hours, adding additional vinegar if necessary in order to maintain enough liquid to cover seeds.  Process the seeds and mixture in a blender or food processor until pureed to the texture you like, which can take at least 3 or 4 minutes.  If it gets too thick after a few days, stir in additional vinegar.  Scrape mustard into clean, dry jars; cover tightly and age at least 3 days in the refrigerator before using.

Mustard, in 3 easy steps: 1: Mix up the vinegar with spices

2: Pour over the mustard seeds, and let sit for a few hours (up to 24).

3: Puree.