Paisano: Schawarma

Strange Connections



In 1970 I spent Thanksgiving in Beirut, Lebanon. It ended up being a tragic visit.

At the time I was living in Egypt and attending the American University in Cairo and some of my fellow students and I decided to enjoy the week-long school break visiting what was then known as "the Paris of the Middle-East." Beirut was, indeed, a cosmopolitan city and after several months in the decidedly non-cosmopolitan Cairo we had a wonderful time visiting clubs, restaurants, and shopping (at any rate, the women enjoyed shopping and the guys were young enough to still enjoy following good-looking women around).

I returned with a love for Beirut's then-most-popular street food, the schawarma that has haunted me ever since.

We had been there for about three days when one night one the girls had an asthma attack and died. She had no history of asthma and the hospital she was rushed too was apparently very good - of European caliber - but by the time she arrived at hospital it was too late. We cut short our trip and returned to Cairo the next day under a shround of sadness.

Nevertheless, I returned with some good memories as well and a love for Beirut's then-most-popular street food, the schawarma that has also haunted me ever since.

The schawarma is a Middle-Eastern version of the Greek gyro made with chicken, turkey, or lamb. In either sandwich the meat is meltingly tender, partially because of the marinade and partially because it's pre-sliced and then packed back together before roasting on a vertical spit in front of a layered fire. But my efforts to duplicate this have failed in the past and I finally figured out why, it was because I was cooking the meat too quickly. So I slowed it down by giving the meat an hour to cook in a low oven and achieved as close to perfect as you can get without a vertical rotisserie.

Schawarma
Serves 4.

Marinade:
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic - crushed
1 teaspoon ground sumac
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Sandwich:
2 lamb leg steaks (~ 2 pounds)
2 tablespoon olive oil
4 loaves flat bread or pita
thinly-sliced tomato
lettuce
Sauce:
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons Tahini
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground sumac
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Thoroughly mix all marinade ingredients in a bowl. Pour into a large zippered bag and add lamb steaks. Toss to coat thoroughly and refrigerate for 8 - 24 hours, Tossing every now and then to redistribute marinade.

Heat oven to 225F.

Remove steaks from bag, discarding marinade, and wipe dry (more or less) with paper towels. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, lidded sauté pan over medium-high heat. Brown steaks on both sides in pan (about 3 minutes per side).

Pour off excess oil, cover sauté pan, and cook in the oven for 1 hour. In the meantime, combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

Remove from pan and slice steaks thinly across the grain. Spoon sauce down the center of a loaf of flat bread or pita. Add tomato and a leaf or two of lettuce. Add lamb, roll up, and enjoy.

Oh, and save those juices in the sauté pan and sop bread in them for an amazing treat.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | sandwiches | lamb | middle-eastern

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Kufta

Biblically Incorrect



I haven't been cooking a lot lately, at least nothing interesting. In the past month and a half I've taught four classes, done three parties, and worked on a bunch of stuff for Cooking for Two and I just have haven't felt like cooking for me.

But I got an urge for something middle-eastern the other day and did some searching. I finally decided to make kufta. It turns out kufta is roughly the same thing as kibbeh, but by searching on that name I found more variations and so more ideas. One idea I particularly liked and that appears to be Armenian in origin is layered with potatoes and tomatoes. However, the first version of this variation amused me to no end. It was a on site named Cooking with the Bible and the recipe was listed under King David's Nuptials.

It's strange to imagine King David eating a BLT with fries, even if the B is made with goat.

What amused me was the inclusion of tomatoes and potatoes, both foods that evolved in the New World and certainly wouldn't have been available during King David's time. To be fair, the site owners admit to including some modern foods in the recipes (and specifically mention tomatoes as an example). But still, it's strange to imagine David eating a BLT with fries, even if the B is made with goat.

Kuftah
Serves 6

2 lb ground lamb
1 slice bread, crust removed
1/2 c milk
1 md onion
4 garlic cloves
1 c minced parsley
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp mace
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp sumac
2 3-inch diameter potatoes
2 3-inch diameter tomatoes

Turn on broiler. Soak bread in milk until all milk is absorbed, then mash into paste

Process parsley in a food processor. Dump in a large bowl with ground lamb and set aside. Process onion and garlic until very finely chopped. Add to bowl along with bread mixture. Add spices and mix gently until ingredients are well-combined.

Put mixture in a casserole dish and place under broiler until browned.

Remove from oven and reduce heat to 375F. Add a layer of potatoes to meat and cover with a layer of tomatoes. Cover casserole with aluminum foil and cook in middle of oven for 40 minutes.

Note: I discovered sumac a few weeks ago in this recipe.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | lamb | main dish | middle-eastern

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