Purba Feasts

Kibbeh casserole, with ground meat and bulgur, had been a staple for super bowl for years, with roaring success. But I diversify this year, but remain still in the same geo. This recipe landed in my inbox and I was fascinated by the parchment rolling technique as a domestic substitute for the restaurant vertical spit. Moreover, it fits well into my minimalist approach. The result was astonishingly good!! Enjoy.

SPECIAL TOOLS:

Food processor with grater and mixer blade; Mechanical rolling pin; Baking tray with wire-rack.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lb ground lamb + 0.5 lbs grated veggies (nappa cabbage)
• Aromatics: 2 medium onion, diced + 4 pods garlic, crushed + (1.5 tbsp each of oregano, cumin powder, red chili powder, paprika) + 1 tbsp black pepper + salt to taste
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• To serve: yogurt, lemon wedges and salad (tomato+onion+lettuce)

METHOD

Fit the grater blade and grate the veggeis. Remove the grater blade and fit the mixer blade and add all the aromatics with the yogurt and mix well. Then add the ground lamb, little at a time, till all are well mixed.

Make four portions of the mix. Work with one portion at a time. Place the portion on parchment, the size of your wire-rack. Cover with another parchment and with the mechanical rolling pin gently roll till very thin. Gently peel off the top parchment and roll the meat with the base parchment into a long roll and place on the wire rack. For the next one, you can reuses the last top parchment as the next bottom. Make the other three rolls.

At 400 F, bake on a wire-rack on the baking tray for 15 mins; rotate and bake for another 15 mins.

Let cool. Peel off the parchment and let the liquid collect in the tray. Cut up the long rolls into 5-6 inch lengths. Serve with salad, pita and yogurt.

NOTES, HINTS, TIPS:

1. Adapted from the NYTimes’s Sheet-Pan Döner Kebab.
2. The two main changes I make is that I add veggies to the meat and completely remove any additional oil (since lamb is already so fatty).
3. I bake on a wire-rack- so collecting the run-off liquid is easy as well.

Last time I was at Taipei, I visited a few tea estates, and not surprisingly, I brought back some excellent oolong teas. But in the mountains of the tea estates I saw that the restaurants specialized in using tea (leaves) in the food. Then I discovered the Burmese tea leaves (fermented) salad dressing!

When I make the high mountain oolong tea, I see the tea leaves unfurl and get their original shape back. They continue to be very fragrant even after multiple fusions; so it seemed such a waste to just toss them. So I decided to use these tea leaves here. Influenced by my visit to the tea gardens in Taiwan and and not to mention my frugal disposition, I present my tea leaves zhug. Surprisingly tasty and is bound to steal your heart.

Special tools:

Small high-speed processor.

Ingredients

• Used tea leaves from 3 tbsps of good quality oolong tea
• Aromatics: 1 clove garlic crushed + 1 tsp grated ginger
• Brightness: 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• Seasoning: 1/2 tsp sea salt + 1/2 tsp fish sauce
• Medium: 3 tbsp peanut or other neutral oil (NOT EVOO!)

Process all ingredients till a coarse paste.

Here I serve as pasta dressing.

Notes, hints, tips:

1. Why zhug ? Mainly, the looks. Zhug is actually of Yemeni origin.
2. Adapted from Andrea’s– a Burmese salad dressing. But I flipped it to a sauce for gnocchi.
3. I use 1 tbsp tea leaves for a drink (with multiple infusions; usually 8 oz + 8 oz of hot tea). After each use, I dry out the leaves on a flat surface. So I collect my 3 tbsps of unfurled, fragrant tea from three sittings over one or two weeks.

Is it called “Poodle” when you spiralize Purple Sweet Potato ? Kidding. So many Thanksgiving leftover posts this year. This one promises to steal your heart!

Special tools:

Spiralizer.

Ingredients

• 1 Japanese purple sweet potato, peeled and spiralized
• 1/2 cup leftover Turkey, chopped into bite size
• Flavor: 1 tbsp EVOO +1/2 shallot diced + 1 crushed garlic pod + 1 tbsp Bacalao XOXO Sauce
• Topping: Norwegian Lofton Seaweed (or Japanese/Korean sesame-seaweed topping)

Method

Heat all the flavoring ingredients till fragrant (2-3 mins) in a large wok. Add the zoodled sweet potato with salt to taste. Cover and let steam for 3-4 minutes. Push the zoodles aside making a hole in the center. Add the turkey and a little more EVOO. Let it heat through. Mix with the zoodle. Serve hot. Top with the flavored seaweeds.

Notes, hints, tips:

1. I got the Bacalao XoXo sauce from Hong Kong. A little unusual. But you can use the regular scallop based XOXO sauce.
2. Again, the Norwegian topping was from my travels, but you can use any other of your liking.