Order Up: Spiced Lamb Burgers . . . Hold the Ketchup!

I love lamb burgers, they go way beyond the regular grilled hamburger, offering a unique flavor that can be easily complimented with a variety of spices and the right condiments.  My favorite combination of spices are inspired by a recipe in my River Cottage Meat Book by  Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.  This book is my meat bible; well one of them, definitely my favorite - the pictures are amazing, he writes (and shows) everything about all types of meat.  If you want to know how to properly cut up a piece of meat, learn how to cook a pigeon and other wild game, or need an education on the different parts of a cow, then this is your book.

So let's begin with what you need (makes 4, 6oz burgers):

• 1 1/2 lb  of ground lamb (I got mine freshly ground at the Meat House in Arlington Heights)
• 1 Ripe Avocado
• 4oz of Feta cheese
• 2 Red Bell Peppers sliced long-ways into 1/2" wide sticks (mine were already sliced and waiting for me in the freezer from a few weeks ago***)
• 2 medium cloves of garlic minced
• 2T Olive Oil
• 2T Curry powder
• 1/2T Cumin (I love cumin and find there is not enough in Curry powder)
• 1/2T Paprika
• 1/2T Lava salt (clink link to uncover a world of salt)
• Fresh ground pepper 
• Whole Wheat buns or slices of Rustic bread

Before you start the grill:

1. Combine with the lamb the minced garlic and all the spices (I do this part an hour or two before cooking so the flavors combine). Then form then into relatively thick patties, you don't want these guys to be over cooked!
2. Mix together the avocado and the feta until you get a creamy consistency (it's ok if it's not perfectly smooth, mine wasn't)  Try adding a hint of lime by adding a squeeze or two of juice. Or try adding a bit of fresh mint to the mix. Play around, it is your condiment!   

Grilling Time:

1. Start the grill and keep it on high. We have a gas grill but charcoal would be great for these burgers too. . .
2. While the grill is heating, heat up a saute pan with 2T of olive oil, then add sliced peppers until desired firmness is right for you - some like their peppers crunchy, I like mine cooked until they are really soft. 
3. Grill your burgers until they reach your required temperature, I cooked mine about 3-4 minutes on each side. 
4. A few minutes into the grilling I placed the slices of bread on the top rack of my grill to toast them. 
5. Slather the bun with the feta and guacamole spread, top the burger with the sauteed red pepper and Enjoy!

The finished product was the best Lamb Burger I have ever made! I served the burgers with a side of grilled asparagus, which I tossed in jalapeno-citrus olive oil, salt, and fresh ground pepper. I also served up some boiled corn on the cob garnished with a dusting of paprika.

*** When you freeze peppers, they loose all firmness when you allow them to defrost, so in this situation, I simply wrapped my peppers in foil and put them on the grill to heat up - they were perfect.

Grammy's Split Pea Soup

About a month ago Eric and I hosted a Mexican dinner for the Connecticut vs. Kentucky NCAA championship basketball game (we all know who won that one).  I made a very delicious Tomatillo Pork Braise with Pickled Chilies; the recipe is out of Rick Bayless's Mexican Everyday.  This book is great and I highly recommend you add it to your cookbook library. Moving along . . . the recipe required a large shoulder of pork and after cutting off most of the meat I ended up with a huge pork bone. I put this in the freezer and forgot about it until last week when I raided my freezer for broth ingredients. I had been craving pea soup, my Grammy used to make it when I was little - although I suspect it came from a can - however, it was still delicious and the memories are as warming as the soup. I think the last time I had her pea soup was during a visit home from college when I had the unfortunate experience of having my wisdom teeth extracted. She always knew how to make me feel so much better with her soups. 

The Pork Broth
Raiding the freezer is so refreshing, I love to clean it out and make space for new food! I managed to find my pork shoulder and a large bag of vegetables: garlic cloves, onion, celery, carrot and bell pepper discards,and even an artichoke that was too sad looking to be eaten as a side dish, but still good enough to put in a boiling pot of water to add flavor.

I put just enough water in the pot to just cover the scraps. I then brought the pot to a boil and lowered the temperature to a simmer for 2 1/2 hours.  After the broth is done, I let it cool in the pot and then strain the liquid into a bowl and put in the fridge over night.  The fat in the broth will congeal at the top as it cools in the fridge so it can easily be removed with a spoon. the amount of broth made was about 8 cups.  I placed two cups in the freezer for another day. Now the broth is ready for the peas! 

The Soup

1lb of dried split peas (soaked overnight in cold water to reduce cooking time)
6cps of Pork Broth and 1cp of vegetable broth *
6oz Canadian Pancetta cubed (purchased at Capone Foods in North Cambridge)
3 Cloves of Garlic diced
1cp diced yellow onion
Salt and Pepper to taste

Diced Canadian Pancetta

Add to the broth all the ingredients and bring to a simmer in pot - I use my favorite 5.5 quart Le Creuset Dutch Oven

After 2 hours on the stove simmering the split pea soup is finished. Peas should be very tender, depending on the type of pot you are using, the time may vary. Once it is ready to eat, I suggest a side of some type of rustic bread. If you are feeling adventurous try making your own using the The Bread Baker's Apprentice as your guide.

*  A note on the broth, I added a cup of vegetable broth I had ready (and thawed) in the fridge because I needed to use the vegetable broth so not to waste it. Vegetable stock is made the same way as any meat stock - but without the meat and more vegetable scraps. I have to say it greatly added to the flavor of the soup. Eric had this soup for dinner three nights in a row and we were both sad to see it so quickly disappear!

Stuffed Pasta Shells with Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

This dish was a regular growing up, and recently I decided to recreate the dish because of a what I call a memory food craving.  It has now become a regular dinner dish at our house, and one of Eric's favorites.  There are so many different variations that can be produced out of the basic ingredients:

15 Large pasta shells ( I always make this amount for leftovers for lunch or freezing for a lazy day meal)
1 jar of pasta sauce like Bertolli's or make your own sauce using a 15oz can of whole-peeled tomatoes
1 1/2 cps fat free Cottage Cheese 
3/4 cp fat free Ricotta Cheese

Sauce Add-on's (choose one or more to add to simmering jarred or *homemade sauce):
3 handfuls of Spinach
Broccoli crown, medium
Bell peppers
*Yellow onion (or other sweet onion)
*Spices/Herbs: red pepper flakes, , paprika, thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage (also add to cheese mixture)
*Garlic
*Sherry

 
Stuffed Shells with Red Pepper Pasta Sauce:

1. Make the sauce:  

• 1 can of Hunts whole tomatoes - Drain 1/2 of liquid in can and squish with bare hands in mixing bowel (be careful they squirt) or put them in a blender (less messy but also not as fun)
• 1cp of red bell peppers (I raided my freezer for previously chopped and frozen veggies)
• Garlic
• Sage, Oregano, salt and pepper to taste (fresh herbs are best, I used dried herbs from my summer herb garden)
  
• 1/4 cp Sherry

Combine the above and simmer about 45min (stirring occasionally) to thicken the sauce

2.   While the sauce is simmering, Cook shells, drain and wash off with cold water (for handling purposes)

3. Mix together the cottage cheese (1 1/2 cup) and ricotta (3/4 cp)

4.  Add herbs (in this case: dried sage leaves, rosemary, thyme and red pepper flakes) to the cheese mixture

 

5. Cover the bottom of a baking dish with a thin layer of sauce

6. Stuff the noodles with the cheese stuffing and layout along the bottom on the dish

7.  Cover the noodles with remaining sauce and  top with grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Bake at 350F for 25-30 min covered with foil

Hope you enjoy!  

Duck, Duck, Soup!

Oh my! It has been a while since my last entry, I found this waiting it the "Draft" section, a bit old, but still delicious:

Eric and I hosted a small Christmas dinner party and I decided to make roasted duck for the event.  The dinner was potluck style, so the pressure to do everything was off my shoulders.  I picked up two ducks at Wholefoods, to serve 7 people, and was faced once again with quartering one of the ducks for oven space purposes.  Last Christmas I quartered a duck and it turned out quite well, this time not so much - my knives are horrible and I hope to gain a new set of knives when Eric and I "tie the knot" . . . anyway, it was quite the task, but in the end it was ok, just a little messy.

I first pierced the skin of the duck with several tiny holes using a toothpick, careful not to prick the meat of the duck.  This is very important; duck is highly fatty and this technique allows the fat to run out, otherwise you will have a very greasy duck. I then lathered the whole duck with grape seed oil - this oil has a higher burn temperature, unlike olive oil which is quick to burn the skin in the oven if not carefully attended to, and with my brain in a scatter for the party I thought it best not to take chances. I then rubbed in fresh rosemary, salt and fresh ground pepper.  I used a broiler pan to roast the duck, this allowed the fat and dripping to run off to the bottom of the pan so the duck does not cook it its own fat. I pre-heated the oven to 450F and when ready put the duck in at this temp for 20min, then lowered the temp to 350F. The duck was taken out when my thermometer read 170F and let rest for 30min (this took an hour).

All the while the duck was roasting, I turned my attention to the quartered duck - which I seasoned the same way as the whole duck.  I also cut several long incisions into the skin to enable the fat to drain out. I heated my large All Clad fry pan with a drizzle of the grape seed oil and pan fried the duck (first skin side down, then turned over) until the skin turned a nice golden brown. 
 

I then placed the duck in a glass pan and put it the oven on the rack below the whole duck - I left the quartered duck in for about 45min.

 While the duck was in the oven, I worked on the sauce, based off a recipe in Cooking by James Peterson:  


The rosemary infused raspberry sauce was a perfect compliment to the roasted duck.  I simply simmered:
2 cups of fresh raspberries
3-4 Tbsp of confectioners sugar
4 Tbsp homemade veal meat glaze
One large sprig of rosemary
4 Tbsp of butter
1/4 cups of sherry vinegar

I added salt and pepper to taste, and served the sauce on the side.

The end result was tender, juicy duck meat served up with a delicious assortment of sides and wine brought by our guests!

Now, of course my bones, fat, skin and juices from two ducks did not go to waste! The next day I made Duck broth (see Chicken broth).  I let the broth cool over night, and the next day I was so happy to see a two inch layer of duck fat congealed on the top.  I scrapped that all off (2 cups worth) for a rainy day and have it stored in my freezer. Why you ask? Well, I plan to make Duck Confit (duckcooked in it's own fat) for a traditional French country dish - Duck Cassoulet.

The soup was bascially made up of anything I could find leftover in the fridge and pantry: carrots, onions, potatoes, and peppers.  It was very warming for a chilly Sunday evening.