Algerian Style Lamb Stew

Paul loves to browse estate sales and sometimes he picks up some treasures, for instance, he picked up a cookbook – Real Stew. Being a stew loving kind of guy, that fifty cent cookbook was right up his alley. We looked in the lamb stew section together and decided on a spicy white bean and lamb pot o’ stew. It was delicious, and since Paul had pressure canned white beans last summer and I didn’t necessarily feel like cooking dried beans from scratch, well you know what happened. It calls for Harisa, a North African spice paste that you can make from scratch or buy a tube, like I did. Here’s my version of this Algerian housewives stew. Enjoy.

1 ¾ pounds boneless lamb shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut in ¾ inch pieces
1 tablespoon salt, more to taste if needed
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Harisa paste (available in Mediterranean markets)
1 ¾ pounds onions, coarsely chopped
1 ½ pounds tomatoes, chopped (I used 1 pint home canned)
1 cup water
½ cup chicken broth
2 cups cooked white beans
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

Season the meat with salt, pepper and cayenne. Brown in a heavy pan – I used a 3 ½ quart enameled cast iron pot. Brown the meat with the bones if you have them. Add the harisa, stir, then add the onions and tomatoes, water and chicken broth. Cover and cook in 350° oven for 2 hours.

Add beans, stir, put back in the oven until meat is tender, 1 to 1 ½ hours. Taste for seasoning. Serve with cilantro.

No pictures this time, but I did put together a short lamb stew making video, my first attempt. I hope you don’t get bored!

 

You may not have heard of Jonathan Waxman, but he’s a chef of great renown. And he’s really renown for his roast chicken, of which he is an acknowledged master. Recently I was reminded of this and decided to roast me up some chicken after finding his recipe online. Mainly he splits the chicken down the middle, removing the spine, salts and peppers it and roasts it in a hot oven. Now, I like my chicken really tender so I ended up reducing the heat and roasting it longer. When I make it again I plan to roast at 425° for 30 minutes and 350° for 30 to 45 minutes. Now what really makes this chicken sing is his salsa verde. It’s a sauce of garlic and several herbs and olive oil, etc. It does include tarragon, not usually a favorite, but it does give an interesting flavor. Leave out anything you hate. I used it for pizza sauce on my thin crust pizza. You can get the recipe here. Try it, I dare you!

Thin Crust Pizza

I have loved thin crust pizza from the very first bite. Who needs all that crust? Bring on the toppings! More places are offering thin crust now; Amici’s in the Bay Area is one of my favorites. The Red Grape in Sonoma tickles my palate also. I had been on a pizza making kick for a while; I have a baking stone and a pizza peel. But I didn’t know how to make a thin crust, admittedly not actually looking for a recipe, just sighing a bit.

One of my favorite cooking shows is America’s Test Kitchen, which I love for its great tidbits of information, and its sister show, Cook’s Country. Recently on Cook’s Country there was a rerun episode on St. Louis Pizza, with thin crust. Huzzah! Looked good to me, so I wrote it down and this week I tried out just the dough recipe. The rest was my own doing. So I made it the other night, but unfortunately my baking stone still has residue on it from past projects which tend to, shall we say, smoke up the house at high temperatures, which, shall we say, really ticks Paul off. There is nothing like having to open up all the doors and set up fans at night in February.

So my darling husband rather huffily scrubbed the stone and I said I was going to try it again at lunch and pre-open the doors. Whereas he hated the first try because of the smoke, miraculously he liked the second one because of less smoke. And I must agree it was delicious, great toppings with a nice thin golden crust.

What makes this dough different is the leavening; yeast has been shown the door. Baking powder is in. The addition of cornstarch makes a crisper crust.

Yields dough for 2 each 12 inch pizzas

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons water

Whisk together dry ingredients. Mix liquids together then add to dry, stir together. Knead into a dough ball and divide into 2 pieces. A little bit sticky is good. Roll into 12 inch circles on sheets of parchment. Arrange toppings, bake on parchment 475 degrees for 9-12 minutes until golden and cheese is bubbly.

If using a baking stone, preheat stone in oven for 30 minutes. A stone makes a crisper crust. Sliding your pizza laden parchment onto a peel and then slipping it onto the stone makes it easy. Use the peel to remove it also. If you don’t have a peel, use a baking sheet.

For your toppings you can purchase pizza sauce or you can make your own. I chose to use some of the tomatoes I canned last summer. I pureed a pint of tomatoes. In a small sauce pan, I sautéed some chopped red onion in a little olive oil for a few minutes along with some red pepper flakes. I added a clove of crushed garlic, and cooked until fragrant and then added the pureed tomatoes. Some oregano (I had dried), a sprig of rosemary and a bay leaf, and let it simmer for 15 minutes to concentrate. Easy and delicious. You are welcome to use canned tomatoes.

The rest of the toppings are cook’s choice. I used what I love – prosciutto, provolone, red onion and oil cured olives. Next time I’ll try something different. Maybe I’ll try the Trentino, my fave pizza at Amici’s!

Mangia Mangia! Baked Fontina

Paul and I eat pretty simply most of the time, partly for nutritional reasons and partly out of laziness. The times I really love cooking are when I am planning a fabulous dinner party or trying out a new dish for a gathering. Almost a year ago I printed out a Barefoot Contessa recipe, Baked Fontina. I love Saganaki, a cheese dish flamed with alcohol at a local Mediterranean restaurant. This dish seemed like it could be just as good so I filed it away for future use.

Italian Fontina is called for, which I used, but Danish Fontina would be a less expensive, probably almost as delicious alternative. Since I (gulp) paid over $15 a pound for the Italian, I will probably try the Danish next time. Since I was taking this to a birthday party, I talked myself into the Italian. Need I say it was an unqualified hit? People (including me) were standing over the dish and indulging themselves. In the original recipe a crusty baguette was specified. I decided to toast a sliced baguette in the oven. I will give you those directions too.

Baked Fontina

1-½ pounds Italian Fontina, rind removed and 1-inch diced
¼ cup good olive oil (I like California extra virgin)
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (it helps to use a garlic slicer)
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 toasted baguettes (see below)

Preheat the broiler and position the oven rack 5 inches from the heat.

Distribute the cubes of Fontina evenly in a broiler proof dish. I used an 8 ½ x 10 ½ glazed earthenware dish. Drizzle on the olive oil. Combine the garlic, thyme, and rosemary and sprinkle it over the cheese and olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and place the pan under the broiler for 6 minutes or so, until the cheese is melted and bubbling and starts to brown. I kept peeking to make sure I didn’t burn the cheese!

Serve right out of the oven with a bowl of toasted baguette slices. Mangia!

Toasted Baguettes

Slice baguettes ½ inch thick. Brush with olive oil on one side. Spread out on baking sheets oil side up and bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes, until light golden and crisp.