a few months ago i bought some locally produced lamb shanks at the nashville farmers market and then tucked them away in my freezer for just the right day. and then yesterday, on a whim i sat them out to defrost and began snooping around the interwebs for some inspiration. i wound up on food52′s site and glanced at 2 different recipes – and then i was off. within a minute i had found just what i needed, and based on what was in the pantry and the refrigerator i got to cooking.

the shanks got salted and peppered and well-browned in olive oil. the meat was removed from the pot and in went a dice of onion, garlic, carrots and fennel. when it was all softened and just barely starting to color i added some pimenton, red chile flakes and fennel pollen. after a minute or so i added some of my chicken stock along with about 2/3′s of a bottle of decent zinfandel. i let that simmer for about 2 hours.

when the meat was easily removed from the bone, into the pot went the flesh of one navel orange and 3 tangerines along with some of the grated zest. and then to finish i added some diced up dates, preserved meyer lemons and green olives.

then i called it a night and everything went into the refrigerator.

and tonight it was dinner. and really, a stew such as this does well with an overnight rest. everything melds together and somehow the flavors deepen. it’s a given. we all know it, and we all do it. right?

a few months ago i also bought a package of yellow grits. it was an impulse buy. i liked the look of the labeling and i am a huge polenta lover and i just figured, why not? grits are pretty standard fare down around these parts but i never really make them. no reason. i’ve just not hit a ‘grits phase’ yet. for those of you who may have wondered, the difference between grits and polenta is twofold. the grind and the type of corn used. the following is taken from the anson mills site:

Dent or Flint?

a sampling of some fresh picked wine berries, huckleberries and wild blackberries – a gift from my friend jack on my birthday last month

it’s not that i’m not cooking. because i am. there are gatherings of friends and just plain hungriness resulting in well, dinner. i even sometimes whip out the nikon and snap a few lame shots but these days not so much. and i’m not sure what’s come over me. but just the thought of posting on ceF was beginning to feel like ‘work’ and god only knows we wouldn’t want that to happen to a nice woman like me… after all, my lack of ambition is my greatest luxury. (i stole that line from my friend emily and have been using it ad nauseum but only because it is SO TRUE.)

but we’ve been to chicago and then i went to cleveland. dallas is this week and seattle comes next. i’m doing the 4 day cooking gig again come the first of october and then i’m off to nyc…  and all i want is to go back to italy. is that asking so much? IS IT? but honestly, i’m not complaining. it’s a charmed life. the past week or so has pretty much revolved around trips to the park in much appreciated cooler than normal temps, so after a 9 week hiatus i’m back on the bike and fighting the fat (albeit somewhat of a losing battle).

but mostly – if i could just say, i’m so deeply grateful for this amazing life that i get to live that i could cry. for those of you that read the sunday ny times magazine section yesterday, we are the fortunate ones…

ok – back to food…

presenting… a summer dinner. grilled corn with flaky maldon salt and a squeeze of lime. grilled tomatoes with thyme and a farro salad with a slightly overcooked poached egg on top. i’ve got just a vague recollection of what was in the farro salad but i’m thinking it was pequillo peppers and goat cheese – and something else but remembering is difficult…

best beans ever. rancho gordo cannellini’s with grape tomatoes, basil, thyme, lemon zest and juice, some potlikker, finely minced anchovy, a very good olive oil, salt and pepper. i think that was it but i’ve no idea because i can’t recall a damn thing.

lamb meatballs with a cherry sauce over whole wheat couscous finished with mint leaves. a lot of ingredients went into that sauce until it was nicely balanced and pretty damn impressive tasting. but i’m not sure exactly what i did – because of my memory…

all cary ever really wants for his birthday are two (2) angel food cakes with his grandmother’s ’7 minute boiled icing’. the icing becomes slightly hard on the outside and then yields to a slightly marshmallow like goo on the inside. ruhlman’s angel food cake from his bestseller ‘ratio‘, takes this cake to where it needs to go – from spongy and boring to totally delicious. in my opinion it’s all in the weighing of the flour and then using both lemon juice and vanilla. for your viewing pleasure i give you 4 pictures as they were all so awful i just couldn’t choose… this is the whitest cake in america and despite the absence of any fats and the overabundance of sugar, somehow it just works.

my icing technique is legendary. obviously.

moving on…

i phone pics before i bought the 3Gs. but this is the wonderful donnie madia pictured at his flagship restaurant blackbird. for my money, he and eduard seitan are the best restaurateurs in chicago with blackbird, avec, the publican and the newest addition, a tacqueria opening very soon. donnie’s attention to every detail is second to none with a modern sensibility that slays me, as i am highly susceptible to such things. with executive chef and partner paul kahan at the helm of the kitchen, it continues to be a recipe for greatness. we were in chicago for only 4 nights and ate at avec, then publican and then blackbird – finishing up with an anniversary dinner at tru, a gift from my mother. and for a whopping $425 that included only one glass of wine, it paled in comparison by such a long shot that i can’t even begin to explain the differences in the food except to say that in the end, blackbird kicked tru’s ass – big time. tru is supremely elegant and the room is lovely. it’s quiet and serious and the servers are ON IT. but dinner at blackbird was once again phenomenal. oh AND best negroni ever – hands down.

so, a few things… and please again – forgive the poor photo quality.

salad of endives with crispy potatoes, basil, dijon, pancetta and poached egg = sheer perfection. not kidding. this salad was incredible in every way.

chilled cuttlefish noodles with green garlic, red onion jam, trout caviar, nasturtiums and buttermilk = amazingness. i loved it.

wood-grilled california sturgeon with english peas, braised peanuts, crispy bacon and bourbon caramel = seriously impressive.

cary had the organic pork belly and crispy sweet shrimp with chinese broccoli, preserved green tomato and black pepper. he started with the pistachio gazpacho with ahi, watermelon confit, sea beans and cocoa. both were smashing.

this was my idea. sorry.

desserts were wonderful. donnie brought us three and each one was greatness. ricotta fritters with compari, rhubarb and pine nut ice cream, pistachio panna cotta with a raspberry consommé and brown butter ice cream and a torn black sesame cake with pineapple that looked a little something like this that was  – out. of. this. world…

avec, a bit more down to earth, is my favorite restaurant in all the land. and at the publican, albeit a bit on the loud side, we had an abundance of seriously excellent food. beer, oysters, fish and pork. just splendid.

chicago is such an extraordinary food town… thank you donnie.

south west of chicago. mies van der rohe’s masterpiece – the farnsworth house. i wept in its presence. it is genius if not impractical.

no tinkering with picassa was going to help this photo taken through the door of my oven. it was shredded zucchini and yellow squash with minced garlic, chiles and ricotta. i stole the idea from city house restaurant here in nashville. their’s was far better and i’m going to work on this because it was frustrating that i couldn’t replicate it. i need to call chef tandy wilson and ask for help. plus my chiles were so strong that they almost hurt. so, fail, although not in an epic way…

the project – buy 20 lbs of balaton cherries from earthy.com and use 10 to make some cherry bourbon hooch. i’ll get back to you in 6 weeks on how it turns out and if you’re on the short list, it’s what’s for christmas, so no surprises here. the other 10 lbs. became a salted cherry vanilla bean balsamic compote.

oh, and jack’s arm after blackberry picking. the things friends do for friends…

one of the best meals that i have ever had, as in EVER, was not surprisingly at a restaurant owned by the stellar batali/bastianich duo, along with chef nancy silverton. the dinner was spectacular. it was one of those nights when the kitchen must have been firing on all cylinders, unlike my dinner six nights later at babbo where we had a somewhat disappointing culinary affair. but osteria mozza was a solid 9+. it was truly a near perfect dinner. i distinctly recall the simply prepared and impeccably grilled octopus with potatoes, celery and lemon, the calf’s brain ravioli (that absolutely blew me away) as well as the crisp and ultra tender duck that came served on a wooden plank with a wonderful pear mostarda. all three dishes were exquisite. somehow i can only barely remember the rest, but to begin with there was ’mozza’s’ obligatory and creamy burrata, ours served with a leeks vinaigrette – and to finish, a torta with pine nuts and honey along with some bombolini and lemon curd. absolutely smashing.

being an east coast oriented kind of person, i was somehow not aware of nancy and the famed ‘la brea’ and ‘campanile’. and all the cookbooks and the awards and various accolades, i was in the dark… until last year when i fell upon a book called ‘a twist of the wrist – quick flavorful meals with ingredients from jars, cans, bags, and boxes’. but before you gasp at the very notion that i’ve gone all sandra lee on you, let me assure you that this is nothing like that. or maybe it is, except the jars, cans, bags and boxes that silverton suggests are the very kind that line my pantry. most of which are mail ordered or bought at specialty stores. most of which might be considered ‘high brow’ or ‘pricey’ or just not what most people are used to seeing. and so if you know me then you would easily understand that i LOVED the idea of this book when i heard about it because well, i am only willing to go so far with my cooking. but i am, if nothing, a fanatical fan of the finest…

and i was excited enough about this book to want to spread the word. so one afternoon, not long after owning ‘twist of the wrist’ a friend stopped by and began curiously flipping through its pages. so i sent her home with the book – if only to prove the "convenience" point. i haven’t seen it since (although i was truly and duly thanked) and i’ve been remiss in buying another.

but just the other day i was fortunate enough to come across this recipe on the new food & wine website. and with a jar of beautiful piquillo peppers and a can of chickpeas along with some fage greek yogurt - all already owned by moi, i made us a spectacular dinner served over instant italian organic polenta. and dear readers, we were eating a superb dinner that was prepared in about 30 minutes from start to finish.

lamb meatballs with piquillo peppers and chickpea sauce
adapted from nancy silverton’s ‘a twist of the wrist’ via food & wine 

*cook’s note - after the meatballs were browned, i drained off probably 3/4 of the oil and fat in the pan before adding the peppers, stock and yogurt.

1/2 cup roasted piquillo peppers from a jar
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup whole-milk yogurt, preferably greek, plus more for serving
2 pounds ground lamb
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup minced flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
4 teaspoons (i suggest using 3) kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups chickpeas from a jar or can, drained

in a mini food processor, puree the peppers. transfer the puree to a bowl and whisk in the broth and 1/2 cup yogurt. in a large bowl,

combine the lamb, eggs, garlic, 1/4 cup parsley and the thyme and smoked paprika. add the 4 teaspoons kosher salt. using your hands, gently mix, then roll into sixteen 2-inch meatballs. in a very large skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. add the meatballs and cook over moderately high heat until browned all over, about 8 minutes.

slide the meatballs to one side of the pan. add the red-pepper sauce and the chickpeas and bring just to a boil. (*see cook’s note above)

simmer the meatballs over moderately low heat, stirring and turning them occasionally in the sauce, until the sauce reduces slightly, 10 minutes. season with salt. transfer the meatballs and chickpeas to a platter,

spoon the pepper sauce on top, garnish with parsley and serve with yogurt.

as of tonight, ‘twist of the wrist’ has once again been ordered. if you come by the house, i’ll be keeping an eye on my copy…

 

polenta is a much loved staple in my home.  i see it as a perfect food, versatile beyond measure, lending itself to main courses, side dishes and desserts.  plus i’d never get the pizza off of the peel if not for my polenta.

awhile back i remember watching a molto mario episode where he made a polenta dish and added one part coarsely ground buckwheat flour into two parts cornmeal. mario has never led me astray so i decided to give the combination a try.  

after about 45 minutes and a lot of stirring, the two grains become polenta-esqe and i threw in a hunk of butter and some diced up tallegio cheese. mario went ahead and baked his taragna and i believe served it with a veal, sage and pancetta dish.  the bastardo…

alas, using only what was in my pantry and refrigerator, i sauteed a large spanish onion until golden, sliced a lonely looking yellow bell pepper and then added my ground lamb.  after the meat was just browned, i added some fresh chopped tomatoes, cooking for about more 5 minutes.  this was seasoned with oregano and a shot of very good balsamic vinegar to finish.  

i opted to keep my polenta taragna in more of a thick porridge like state.  again, rustic being my middle name (rustic substituting so wonderfully for unattractive and/or lazy) this suited my dinner purposes just fine.

ok ok.  i know what many of you are thinking.  there’s cornmeal, polenta, grits and somehow variations on each of these.  and now i’ve gone and thrown buckwheat flour into the mix. questions? go to anson mills. their elegant site will clue you in on everything you ever wanted to know about eating dried corn – and more.  

mario can inspire me like no other.  well except gabrielle hamilton.  

but she’s doesn’t have a tv show…

because that would be so very boring.  so very uninteresting.  even downright plebeian.  but if i were to tell you that this was one of the very best things that i have made in as long as i can remember, well – you would just have to take my word. because this bean dish was incredibly delicious. a perfect melding of flavors and textures. and the true test of how good this really must be? it’s that i’d feel pretty damn fine serving this to gabrielle hamilton any day.

i have decided after great thought and inner debate that gabrielle is ‘my chef’.  everyone who cooks is supposed to have ‘that one’ –  that one who inspires them on a level that gets them thinking in the kitchen a certain way.  now, please realize that it’s a serious toss-up between gabrielle and mario.  but mario is decidely italian - all the way and through and through.  and even though i lean heavily in that direction, gabrielle’s food is just simple, rustic perfection that’s really regionless.  i absolutely love the way she cooks - and i feel drawn to her food.  so it’s official, i have declared my loyalty.  and i just know that gabrielle would covet these beans…

rancho gordo’s giant white lima beans are absolutely the best lima’s that i have ever eaten.  they’re so good that after i made this dish, i immediately ordered 5 more bags of the giant white and 3 bags of the christmas lima’s.  because i was afraid that they might run out.  and then i’d be lima bean-less.  and well, we just couldn’t have that.  not after this…

not your average lima bean salad

soak for however long, and then low boil in salted water until the bite is right.  drain and add the following:

your best olive oil
minced garlic
chopped parsley
thinly sliced red onion
lemon zest and some of the juice
pimenton (i use sweet)
cayenne
salt

it’s one of those dishes where your friends will say to you, "hey (insert your name) what’s in this? because these beans are INCREDIBLE", and you will rattle off the ingredient list and still, they will be perplexed.  because it all sounds way too simple for anything so damn good.  but you see, it’s those RG beans.  they’re dense and creamy - and well, again i declare that they are bean perfection.  and ah, i just now checked their site?  and ummm, they are all sold out.  sorry.  love you.  mean it.  kiss kiss.  come on by and i’ll make you some – cause i have pahlenty!

the buddha is all about the lima beans…

oh, and did i mention the little lollipop lamb chops?  because they were totally the perfect side dish for these lima’s…

this was a great way to use up a lot of ingredients. the last of my sweet peppers and parsley, along with a bag of israeli cous cous and some lamb sausage that i’d bought and frozen awhile back. i know i know – house made merguez is on the short list – i just need to buy the casings. the israeli couscous cooked in my chicken stock along with some garlic, cumin and pimenton. it was plated with a sprinkle of feta and the much adored poached egg.

just one dinner. no bigee. nothing flash. thought i’d share…

(thanks to the italian dish for the inspiration)

february 17. new york times sunday magazine. the way we eat. ragu’s are featured in an article called, ‘slow food’, and i am all about making a ragu, especially after my lunch at a voce. their lamb bolognese is a thing of perfection, so i was on one of my missions – to attempt to make one of a similar kind, meaning ‘as good’. i had bought what was called for – a few very basic ingredients – some vegetables for the mirepoix, the meat, tomato paste, rosemary and thyme. and then the next morning we had some snow – in essence, a perfect day to cook up some slow food. if there had been a rub, it would’ve been this.

my house gets cleaned on tuesdays – and this was wednesday. it is the day i am least likely to cook anything because i like to bask in the cleanliness of my countertops and floors, my stovetop and my sink… i like to revel in the orderliness and calm of my wonderously spotless kitchen. i like to invite friends over for dinner on monday. monday is by far the best day to hit my kitchen hard. so because it was wednesday, i vowed to keep it in all its pristine glory. i got out the vegetables and roughly chopped the carrots, onion, garlic and celery, carefully transfering them to the food processor, carefully throwing away the scraps, including any little bit of celery leaf that had hit the floor. after making my chunky mirepoix paste i added this to some olive oil waiting in a hot pan and while that browned for awhile, i washed the food processor bowl, blade and cover and then i put it back together. i was actually getting some smug satisfaction out of all this.

after the liquid was absorbed from the vegetables and there was a sufficient amount of browning happening, i carefully added the lamb and then tossed the butcher paper. my house was starting to smell really good and it looked like a food network set. spotless. perfect. amazing. who knew you could even do this? after at least 30 minutes of browning, in went the tomato paste – the cans immediately going into the trash, the bottle of wine now emptied into the meat following right behind them. the rosemary was chopped and the stems were quickly discarded.

this was all too good to be true. i even tied the thyme into a bundle with butcher string… yep. i know. too much. but i did it. and it was sooooo adorable.

but then here’s what happened. after it was all said and done – after the low 3+ hour simmer and the numerous additions of water – not to mention the copious amounts of care and attention… when i tasted the ragu, i thought it was too tomato-caramely sweet. and it bothered me on a deep and meaningful level.

this was not what i had in mind. but i was done with it for the day, so i put the ragu into containers, let it cool down, and then i popped ‘em in the fridge and i let it go…

until the next day. when i ran to the store. rebought all the ingredients – except the tomato paste – and did it all over again, unwilling to accept a ragu that mario would not.

but today i was in a time crunch and and since it was now thursday, the kitchen proceeded to get hammered. totally. hammered. but there i was… browning, forming a crud and scraping it off the bottom. browning, forming another crud and scraping it off the bottom. it’s the way you get the big flavor. crud. you gotta embrace the crud. and then i mixed the two together. and i had it. a very tuscan lamb ragu. this is anne burrell’s recipe, the chef at ‘centro vinoteca‘ in nyc. it is done the same way that bill buford describes in his book ‘heat‘, the very technique he was taught while an apprentice at ‘babbo‘.

anne, bill and mario all did their time cooking in tuscany – watching very closely – and this is how it’s done. it is all about the browning and the scraping of the crud. and then – browning and scraping off the crud some more. and then the long, slow simmer.

and this right here, this is the classic brown food of tuscany.

Lamb Rag
adapted from anne burrell at centro vinoteca

1 large onion
chopped 2 carrots
chopped 3 celery stalks
chopped 4 cloves garlic
chopped Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
3 pounds ground lamb leg or shoulder
1 cup tomato paste
3 cups hearty red wine
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
3 bay leaves
1 bunch thyme, tied in a bundle
Freshly ground black pepper
Pici, bucatini or pappardelle, cooked al dente

1. Using a food processor, puree the onion, carrots, celery and garlic to a coarse paste.

2. Coat a large pan generously with olive oil and set over medium heat. Add the purred vegetables, season with salt and cook until all the water has evaporated and the vegetables begin to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir frequently and be patient. (This is where the big flavors develop.)

3. Add the lamb, season generously with salt and cook until it is browned, about 25 to 30 minutes. (Brown food tastes good; don’t rush this step.)

4. Add the tomato paste and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in the red wine, rosemary and bay leaves. Cook at a lively simmer until the wine has reduced by half. Add the thyme bundle and enough water to cover the lamb by about 1 inch. Simmer for 3 to 4 hours, stirring and tasting frequently and adding more water as it evaporates. Skim the fat off the surface. Remove the bay leaves and thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss with al dente pasta and serve with grated Parmesan.

i’d halve the tomato paste for sure. and for my pasta, i used a pretty sizable rigati and i also opted for a dollop of ricotta as opposed to the grated parmigiano that anne’s recipe calls for. ‘a voce’ serves theirs with fresh sheeps milk ricotta. and i used polly-o. because i live in nashville.

i know.
no really, i know.
so just leave it alone, ok?

i can so read your minds…

3 hours? who the hell has 3 hours to make polenta? ummm, me? you see, i’m reading "heat" by bill buford. he’s the guy who was senior editor at ‘new yorker magazine‘ and left his job to work in batali’s kitchen at ‘babbo‘. there is a chapter in the book about a fund raising dinner that batali and his boys did here in nashville a few years ago – and he goes on about the polenta. but not just your everyday polenta, about perfect polenta and perfecting the art of making this batali perfected polenta. and well, perfection is my life…

anyway chapter 14 is all about buford’s quest to thoroughly understand not only how to make the dish, but the history behind it. buy the book. it’s a fun ride. lamb shanks i can make. you salt them and then brown them in some olive oil. remove the shanks from the pot and add some chopped onions, carrots – and celery if you like. you let the vegetables cook for a solid 10 minutes and then i added a can of san marzano tomatoes, a bottle of red wine, the last of my dried bottarga, the last of my thanksgiving turkey broth (goodbye for now, i will miss you) and a handful of fresh thyme, salt and pepper. i think that was it. no real recipe here.

i added the shanks back and let it all do its thing for 90 minutes or so. the shanks are then removed to prevent the meat from totally falling off the bone, the sauce is cooked down and then blended till smooth. it was quite good, most definitely in the "what’s not to like" category. unless you hate lamb and then well, we can’t be friends because there is something terribly wrong with you. but the polenta… it’s just 3 ingredients. as in salt and water – and the corn. and it seems that making good polenta is kind of like a metaphor for life. time improves it and it can’t be rushed. it will become what it needs to if you just tend the pot for about 20 minutes or so by constantly whisking and adding the necessary hot water until it can absorb no more – and then just leave it alone, coming by to give it a quick stir every 15 minutes or so.

whereas risotto is needy but faster, polenta just wants to do its own thing, letting the heat almost caramalize the corn, releasing the depth of flavor. or so buford says. and batali told him. and i’m just assuming that they really know. my polenta was moretti polenta – bramata, the coarsest grind. from an italian family that’s been grinding it since 1922 in the town of… yadda yadda yadda… and really? i dunno. it was good but even after 3 hours i didn’t think it was that different than other polenta i have made. the whole "perfect polenta experience" has evaded me but i am going to try again with a different brand. like next month.

but i must say, as you can see in the picture, our dinner could have really used a couple of brussels sprouts. if only for color.

dinner tonight was for my guy and his boy.  i’m backing off food for now so i’m in “cooking/not eating” mode which is always an interesting reality check that appears more in the form of a personal ultimatum.  but i look at it this way:  it’s my choice and there’s plenty more lamb chops where these came from.  i’ll be fine, if not finer, if only i can keep this up for awhile.

in case you’re wondering why i’ve been over-posting, i decided to join in with the ‘NaBloPoMo‘ craze.  and although i still can’t quite figure out why or what the deal is, somehow i have managed to post every single day this month.  the concept seemed like a good idea at the time and i am determined to see it through.  but boys and girls, if you are getting saturated with me – i totally understand.  usually we visit 3 or 4 times a week at best.  and now here i am attempting to charm you on a daily basis.  and we’ve got 19 days to go…

as for dinner, tonight was a major ‘eating down the house‘ experience.  the only thing i picked up from the market was a head of garlic and a lemon.  the loin chops had been in the freezer for at least 2 months and the israeli couscous had been hanging around the pantry waiting for the right moment to shine.  the 2% fage greek yogurt that i love so very much was 3 days past its suggested ‘eat by’ date.  and i still have a kitchen full of vegetables in varying degrees of health and wellness.  so i opened the fridge, grabbed a cucumber and one each of the last of my green, white and purple peppers – all from my wonderful csa, delvin farms.  and now that this csa  the very one that presented me with huge challenges week after week is finally FINISHED, thank god, i am free to shop at my own free will.  really, i love this farm and think so highly of the delvin’s.  it was a true pleasure to get to see these great folks each week.  but my weekly share worked me over.  and i say, never again.  i just want to go to the farmers market from here on in and pick and choose what’s coming home with me.  every saturday morning i’d  get my box of vegetables in the house and on to my kitchen table and began unloading.  and i swear, it was like clowns in a volkswagon… 

so i marinated the chops in olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt and garlic (pressed – sorry bourdain) - a total winning combination in my book.  the yogurt got hit with some cumin and salt, along with the diced and seeded cucumber.  the peppers and onion were roughly chopped and sauteed with olive oil and salt, and the israeli couscous was simmered in chicken broth with a dash of pimenton.  had i thought harder about what i had that ‘worked’ i might have thrown in some greek olives.  it would have tasted great and added to the visual.  after 11 straight days of me, i owed you some olivey eye candy.  i was even going to add some minced cilantro but as quickly as it crossed my mind, i forgot that too.  a little fresh greeness would have gone a long way.  please accept my apologies.  i’m just one woman on a diet.  not quite myself, i fear.

so once again, not the sexiest plate.  certainly not the most beautiful.

but totally solid…

the farro was soaked for about an hour, drained and then boiled in fresh water for 30 minutes and drained again.  i added a great olive oil from chianti in tuscany (the rest of the address still unknown) and some salt and pepper.  then with inspiration from josh friedland of the ‘the food section’ i chopped some buffalo mozzarella and some fresh tennessee tomatoes.  please look at his picture shown below because mine really was the near identical plate.

but then…

i made a gremolata of fresh parsley, crushed garlic, microplaned lemon peel, olive oil, salt, pepper – and included fresh basil because it felt right.  all of the aforementioned were minced and combined.  then i salted the 9 chops and threw them on a 900 degree grill for about 90 seconds a side.  honestly there were only 8 chops, but that kinda had a nice ring to it…

so, ok.  you with me?  here’s where i need your creative participation.  my plate has a layer of farro, then down one side of the farro is the white mozzarella, down the other side the chopped red tomato.  but now in the center we have a small mound of the green gremolata with 3 chops rising above it all standing in a leaning teepee formation.  i invented this last part.  so now we’ve got a co-written recipe here except jeff has no idea that i exist in the universe.  (hi jeff!)

the dish was totally fabulous.  and i am making it again soon so i can snap a shot.  just for you.

but in the meantime, here is proof of how the dinner began… with a good multi-grain crusty loaf, parmegiano from zingerman’s and truffle honey from market hall.  folks, this combo is not to be missed.  it’s a wow.

i liken this experience to a computer crash without any back-up files. 

it rarely happens twice.

<sigh>

it was mediterranean night tonight.  the kids love all this kind of food.  and i gotta say, i love kids who love lamb.  i even love kids who’ll just eat lamb.  it makes their stock go up and well, anything helps when it comes to kids in my mostly non-kid world…

as a rule, lamb is not big here in the south which has been a bit of a thorn for me when cooking for many of my friends.  but not anymore.  i have been saved by these kids and their dad.  and not that kinda saved, although there’s surely more of that kinda saved going on around these parts then there is of the lamb eating kind down here in the buckle of the bible belt.  i’ve just no longer been relegated to a life of eating lamb beyond my kitchen.

so quite simply here’s what happened.  elsa helped dice the vegetables.  this is an 11 year old that wields a mean knife – her technique so impressive that i’ll put her up against anyone 13 and under.  (takers?)  and the louis child helped carry the tray of kabob’s outside along with the olive oil and salt and then back in again.  he wanted to do it on his unicycle but i just couldn’t go there. and then on cue cary pulled up just in time to warm the pita in the just turned off grill.

a little familial bliss… 

lamb kabobs – cut from the leg
red and vidalia onion kabobs
zucchini and red pepper kabobs
greek yogurt sauce – 2% fage, garlic, cumin, diced cucumber and a little red onion
tabouli – bulgur wheat, green onion, tomato, cucumber, garlic, olive oil
hummus – store bought sabra brand – very good – not proud
pita bread – whole wheat mini’s

in the end we were all well fed and quite pleased with the group effort.  and really, i’d probably still love these kids even if they didn’t love lamb.  but sometimes we need all the help we can get…

and may i now say, god bless all her little lambs…

if you’re reading this post then there is a good chance that like me, you probably really look forward to the wednesday edition of the ny times. their dining section is a veriable wealth of information filled with great writing, great sources and inspiring ideas. not to mention the recipes. so on wednesday, june 13 i spotted a particular recipe that had me ripping out the page. and for two months it sat around on my foyer table amidst some incense, a few postcards a banana republic offer of extra points if i shop on or around my birthday – and the usual assortment of keys, pens and sunglasses. it was folded to size and slightly ripped. waiting patiently to show off its stuff.

with a little luck all good recipes have their moment to shine, and this recipe for the national dish of both lebanon and syria – had its nashville premiere last night in my kitchen. perhaps an assumption, but i live on a long road and i’m the only times subscriber, as well as what seemingly feels like the only non republican.

so. kibbe. really, it’s kind of like meatloaf gone arabic. cumin, cinnamin, allspice and a touch of cayenne mixed with diced onion and soaked bulghur – and lamb!!! i so very heart lamb. it’s my favorite meat, hands down.

this recipe is melissa clark’s from her article ‘kibbe raw (good) and cooked (better)‘. and i did try it raw. and it is good. but broiled til crisp with a garlicy yogurt sauce on top… i’m telling you now that this is a fine recipe.

individual mini football patties were the shape of choice. the broiling smoked up the house in a big way but my range hood saved the day. when we sat down to eat there was a lot of mmmm’ing going on we declared that it needed to go into regular rotation.

kibbe who knew?