More Mezze: Moroccan Preserved Lemons and What to Do with Them

The final mezze project that I attempted was preserved lemons.  I absolutely love Meyer lemons and they were actually in season and available at Trader Joe's, so I went for it.  I found a variety of preserved lemons throughout the internet and decided to stay close to home, once again using From Tapas to Meze (this book obviously earned its spot on the shelf after this past project) to keep things simple.

The recipe calls for juicing the lemons and placing the rinds and flesh into a jar with bay leaves, cinnamon and loads of salt.  The juice is poured over the lemons to cover and like magic, in a couple of weeks, you have preserved lemons! It really can't be easier.

What isn't so easy, however, is finding a way to use them.  Every recipe I found said that they tasted great in all manner of salads, dressings and other dishes.  Without really giving me a road map to what those other dishes might be.  Luckily, my Mediterranean handbook had a recipe for a Preserved Lemon, Tomato and Red Onion Salad. 

The salad seemed like something that would be beautiful in the summer and not so much in the winter.  In order to capture the best flavors, I hunted down some heirloom greenhouse baby tomatoes in a variety of colors to maximize flavor and visual appeal.  I tweaked the dressing a bit because of available ingredients in the rest of my kitchen and in the end really liked the result.

I have to admit that I tasted the preserved lemon on its own and a sweet lemon is turned into something more caustic with the salt and bay, but as an ingredient, it added a special layer to the salad dressing.  I do have another recipe coming using these preserved lemons, so we'll see if I can develop more ways to use these beautiful fruits.

Moroccan Preserved Lemons (adapted from From Tapas to Meze)

• 8 Meyer lemons (these are available from Jan. - Mar.)
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 4 bay leaves
• Additional freshly squeezed lemon juice, if needed

1. Cut lemons in quarters, keeping the sections attached at the stalk end (do not cut all the way through.  Squeeze the juice from the lemons and set aside.
2. Cover lemon quarters with good sprinkling of salt. 
3. Place 1 tablespoon salt in the bottom of a canning jar.  Pack in the lemon quarters, pushing them down and adding tablespoons of salt, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves between the lemons. 
4. Cover lemons with juice.  Add more if needed to cover lemons, leaving a bit of headspace in the jar.
5. Place lid on jar and let lemons sit in a warm place for about 3 weeks, turning the jar upside down periodically to distribute salt and juices (do not store upside down, simply turn and replace).
6. When using lemons, remove from the brine with a clean utensil.  Remove pulp (it will peel easily off), wash peel and use as directed.
7. Will keep for up to 1 year.

Tomato, Red Onion and Preserved Lemon Salad (adapted from From Tapas to Meze)

• 2 pints heirloom cherry tomatoes, diced (the more colors the better)
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 1/2 preserved lemon, diced
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint (cilantro would also be great)
• 3/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine tomatoes, onions and preserved lemons in a bowl.  Set aside. 
2. Whisk together remaining ingredients.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
3. Toss vinaigrette with tomato mixture and marinate at least 30 minutes (not more than 1 hour) at room temperature.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Meatless Monday: Apple and Cheddar Quesadilla with Passion Wasabi Mustard

One year, I will be set up in both my larder/freezer and local food connections to take part in the Dark Days Challenge.  I'm finding some interesting ideas as I watch others follow through and trust me, locavores, I am taking notes.

For now, I take the day-by-day ingredient-by-ingredient approach to keeping things local and seasonal.  One recent lunch got me pretty close.  Upon examining the fridge and the pantry, I realized that I had New York apples, New York Cheddar and a jar of Passion Wasabi Mustard that was purchased for us locally in Hawaii.  My tortillas were from Trader Joe's, although a product of some far off place.  Altogether, not an unsuccessful impromptu local meal for a cold dark season. 

Apple and Cheddar Quesadilla with Wasabi Honey Mustard

• 2 whole wheat tortillas
• 1 tbsp Passion Wasabi Mustard (or other favorite mustard)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup freshly grated New York extra sharp cheddar
• 1 medium crisp tart apple, cored, halved and sliced 
• olive oil, in mister

1. On one tortilla, spread mustard within 1 inch of edges.  Sprinkle half of the cheese.  Top with apple slices.  Add remaining cheddar cheese and top with second tortilla.
2. Lightly mist a nonstick frying pan with olive oil and heat to warm.  Place quesadilla in pan and heat until slightly melted.  Flip and repeat. 
3. Enjoy!

Dinner Improv: Thai-inspired Red Curry Meat Loaf

DSC00954
Originally uploaded by Brooklyn Forager

Can something really be Thai and meat loaf at the same time? I might have argued against this proposition at an earlier time, but with a little creativity and a Tim Gunn "make it work" attitude, anything can be done!

The inspiration for this little adventure came from my husband's response to 75% of the American or Northern European dishes that I make - this is good...but I bet it would be better with Asian flavors. While I don't always agree (just as good maybe...but different), I thought I would indulge him this time around which also gave me a chance to play with food. Always fun.

I combined my traditional turkey meat loaf recipe from the Barefoot Contessa with one I found for mini meat loaves on Cooking Light (check reference). From there, I went wild. Rather than Ina Garten's onions with worcestershire and thyme, I sauteed garlic and onions in olive oil with a dash of fish sauce, oyster sauce and lemongrass.

The next step was how to handle the ketchup. It can't be meat loaf without the ketchup, but how Asian is that? Herein lies the genius of my recipe. I replaced a small portion of the ketchup with Thai red curry paste. Some of the ketchup mixture gets combined with the meat and some is spread on top as in a traditional meatloaf.  I combined the onion mixture, the ketchup mixture and panko breadcrumbs to keep with the theme.  I separated the meatloaf into four mini loaves and baked at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

At the end of the day, this was a great experiment.  The flavors were fabulous and it was a great twist on an old classic.  The downside is that the flavors did overpower the really great grass fed organic beef which we've started using.  I know meat loaf was practically designed to make less lovely ground beef more lovely, but that's something to work with along the way.  I might temper the curry flavors a bit the next time around and would definitely keep the flavor levels for a ground turkey version, but here's the basic recipe:

Thai-inspired Red Curry Mini Meat Loaves

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste
• 1 pound ground sirloin (preferably grass-fed, organic, local)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup sliced leeks (white and light green parts)
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon lemongrass
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 large egg lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium heat.  Saute onions and leeks until soft and fragrant.  Add lemongrass, oyster sauce and fish sauce and continue to saute for another 3-5 minutes. 
3. Combine ketchup and curry paste, stirring well with a whisk.  Reserve 2 1/2 tablespoons ketchup mixture.
4. Combine remaining ketchup mixture with beef, onion mixture, salt and pepper, bread crumbs and egg. 
5. Divide beef mixture into 4 equal portions.  Shape each portion into a 4x2 1/2-inch loaf.  Place loaves on a jelly roll pan lighly coated with cooking spray. 
6. Spread reserved ketchup mixture evenly over each loaf.  Bake for 25 minutes or until done.
7. Enjoy!

Meatless Monday: Rustic Curried Butternut Squash Soup

For this Meatless Monday, I borrowed a recipe from a friend's mother, so really I should call this Mama Russell's Rustic Curried Butternut Squash Soup.  I did tweak a bit here and there; alas it is a bit of a collaboration. This recipe is wonderfully simple, although there is a good deal of chopping.  The great thing about a "rustic" soup, however, is that the roughess of the chop makes it more beautiful and tasty.

I peeled and seeded one large butternut squash - about 1 1/2 lbs.  The squash was cubed and gently steamed until tender, about 20 minutes.  The squash could also be roasted to give additional depth and flavor, although this would take a bit longer and required heating up the oven.  So the steaming is simple, more energy efficient, and keeps a clean pure taste in the squash. I then pureed the squash and set aside.

In the meantime, I melted some butter in a stock pot and added 2 teaspoons curry powder (I tried with both a West Indian and Spicy Indian blend - use your favorite and experiment!)and 1 teaspoon cumin.  Cook this briefly - 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Add 1 cup finely chopped red onion (Mama Russell does not specify type of onion), 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger, 1 large apple roughly chopped (granny smith, gala, honey crisp all work well) and 1 clove of garlic.  Sautee about five minutes, or until soft.

Once the rustic items are ready, add the pureed squash and 2-4 cups of chicken broth depending on desired thickness.  For a main dish, I used only about 2, although when I made it with 4 cups, it was a lovely accompaniment to a larger meal.  The final touch is about 1/4-1/2 cup coconut milk (another departure from Mama Russell's recommendation of cream).

Served with bread and a green salad, this made a lovely fall meal and was even better the next day.  I made this several times straight out of the pantry since I like to keep the fresh ingredients on hand generally.  I will absolutely keep this recipe on hand for rainy weekends when I don't want to leave the house for a shop.

Prepping for One Local Summer

In less than a week, I'm starting the One Local Summer challenge which requires one meal a week that is completely local (oil, salt, pepper and spices are allowed to be non-local). Participants will blog about their entries and share them on the main site over at http://www.farmtophilly.com/, the hosts of the challenge.

I'm in the midst of clearing out my fridge and keeping it chiefly local or organic or some approximation thereof as the farmer's market gets into full swing. Tonight, I grilled up a flank steak (which was not particularly local, but taking up valuable space in the freezer) with a marinade made of garlic, cilantro, salt, pepper and local scallions. I served this with grilled local sweet potato half-moons tossed in sea salt and chili powder. The real centerpiece, however, was an all local/home-grown green salad (although the vinaigrette required transgressions, of course). I used red and green leaf lettuces from our container garden, as well as home-grown basil and mint. I tossed these with farmer's market scallions, radishes and carrots.

It will take some major steps to turn that meal into a One Local Summer-eligible one, but it felt good to be able to throw together a mostly local dinner using what was available to me already in my fridge. That's the ultimate goal - to make these meals so effortless that I won't even consider the take-out option.

Local items: carrots, radishes, scallions, sweet potatoes

Home-grown items: lettuces, basil, mint

Could do better: meat, garlic, cilantro

Non-local staples: olive oil (from local shop that supports local farmers), vinegar, salt, pepper, chili powder