Open Faced Kibbeh

So I made an error. I was so hungry/thrilled at having made this dish, I failed to photograph it. I also don't know the legality of taking other people's recipe images and posting them on my site, so I'll just say you should check this video out to get an idea of my kibbeh.

In order to keep you interested until the recipe, I'll post the picture of Luke's Magnum Opus sandwich:

Alongside this picture of Luke:

Which reminds me a lot of this video:

So on to the Kibbeh. Kibbeh is a dish I tasted by chance at Montréal's street-food-famous Boustain's, a lebanese take-out joint that is frequented by drunk college students and club-hoppers, for the most part. In this form, it was a kind of deep fried meatball, stuffed with cinnamon flavored beef and topped with a thin tahini sauce. It was a total party in my mouth, but I kind of left it to Boustain until I stumbled upon Yotam Ottolenghi and his PLETHORA of free recipes on the Guardian's site.

For anyone not familiar (I wasn't until yesterday!), Ottolenghi has penned some pretty hip and beautiful cookbooks of late (namely Plenty and Jerusalem) and he operates two of London-town's hottest restaurants. His "schtick," if you will, seems to be comfort-food from around the globe, but his taste and choices are absolutely unique. Everything he writes about and makes seem at once completely outside of my creative palette, but totally simple. The ingredients are often very few, but every dish ensures a balance of flavors, creating earthy, rich and subtle combinations. 

Ok, so here you have it. I have fallen in love with this guy in a day. And this is really the first recipe of his I tried, but I made it BECAUSE I had so little in my fridge. The fact is, it was so much more satisfying than if I'd gone to a stock pasta sauce, just as filling and it didn't make me feel bloated or heavy. Why? Because rather than pasta I used millet, and rather than heavy sauce with oil I used tahini and lemon, and the meat was minimally seasoned, but CINNAMON and BEEF are a ridiculous combination. sooooo good.

So try this out sometime. It's probably not new to any of my friends from Lebanon or Israel or areas more exposed to this particular type of comfort food (how did I never realize that bitter herbs were so damn comforting?), but to anyone new to flavors like this, it is worth many a return. 

Open Face Kibbeh

Very Loosely adapted from Ottolenghi's recipe

Around a pound of beef (he used lamb)

one onion

two garlic cloves

one green chili

1 cup millet (he used barley)

1 tsp flour

2 tbs lemon

1/2-3/4 cup tahini

1/4-1/2 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp coriander

salt and pepper

Notes: His recipe is likely much better, but includes pine nuts and other things I didn't have, but check out the video I linked at the top if you want to give it the real college try. 

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

First, sauté the minced onion, chili and garlic until soft on medium heat. Take off the stove and add in the beef until brown, then add back in the onion mix and all the dry spices, plus salt and pepper to taste. 

As this cooks, put the dry millet on the stove o toast slightly, until you can smell it. Then add two cups of water and cover for 15 minutes until soft. Then mix the millet with the flour and salt and pepper.

Take a bread pan and line the bottom of it with the millet, then layer the beef on top. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Mix together the tahini, water and lemon until it's thick but pourable. take the dish out and pour the tahini on top, then bake for another ten minutes. 

Take out and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. 

THANKZZZ

Lately I haven't been feeling as motivated to make posts about my own accomplishments. Blame it on the weather shift or a lack of photographable projects, but I think I have needed some space to soak in what I find awesome about other people. Focusing too narrowly on what I can/might/should be accomplishing over these recent years has had it's ups and downs, but this is everyone's tunnel vision, isn't it?

Don't get me wrong, ambition and self-motivation are necessary; However, I started realizing one of the main pitfalls of losing oneself to ambition is losing sight on the inspiring and beautiful accomplishments of others (or allowing it to make you bitter and self-loathing rather than inspired). So this Thanksgiving, I took stock in all the wonderful things that other people have accomplished and created, and let myself sink into a deep tryptophan-ic slumber.

This is an easy jumping off point to say that I was extremely thankful to my Father and fam down in Vermont for a most glorious Thanksgiving day meal. Namely, the BEST TURKEY I HAVE EVER HAD. Seriously. This was ridiculous. And my pops pulled out all the stops (hohoho).

This 20 pound beast was purchased from our friend and neighboring farmer Theresa. Theresa runs her farm on the four acres she and her husband own, raising select livestock and growing organic veggies. This turkey grew up on a lovely spot of land and my dad actually went down to meet the guy. It was a real pleasure to have a huge part of the thanksgiving day conversation revolve around food systems and eating locally (though bingeing on a 20 pound turkey is probably still well outside of "sustainable" eating).

They then brined the turkey overnight in a combination of citrus fruits, veggies and spices and stuck it in the oven at noon. It was truly the best turkey ever. Perfectly cooked, flavorful and it made for an awesome stock that I brewed up for leftovers. Dad was happy to make the switch to a broth after all the stuffing was gone (in his stomach). 

All this to say....you gotta stop and smell the roses, every dog has it's day, papa's got a brand new bag and that bag is full of clichés.

 Who did it better?

And of all the wonderful things I'm thankful for (the new Dirty Projectors album, discovering Mikhail Bulgakov, this and this and this; the last one is STEVE ALBINI'S FOOD BLOG!) I am very thankful that I can write all these things in this weird format online. It's weird and comforting, everything I like. And here's what I made: Meringue Pumpkin Pie!

Shakshuka for Dinner

It's been awhile since my last post. So long in fact that I think I missed the Fall entirely, at least on the internet. Over the last month (the period over which Fall actually lasts in Montréal) I've made about a million things with butternut squash and pumpkins. We made some bacony butternut squash soup that's too heavy to eat a whole bowl of, pumpkin spice bread with brown sugar crust, kombocha and pork stew from a Burmese recipe and some pumpkin cinnamon buns. I guess I haven't really missed Fall so much as missed blogging about it. missed yoooou bloggg!

I also had some strolls through the squash piles with friends. The above mini-squashes are now being given away at the Jean Talon Market. I guess they were not such a radical hit this year.

I've also been present for some celebrations...friends getting engaged and white-coated (above picture was a champagne brunch for the latter). The band has also been getting their mugs all gussied up for high-class photogs. heyyyooooo

 And I've been doing a bit of historical excavation as well. Check out my parents, circa 1981, right before they got engaged. They were traveling through the Panama Canal on a cruise ship (my dad was the on board performer). YES. Love these.

Finally, I've been taking note of all these little good things and storing 'em up for winter. It's a long-haul in the MTL, but it means I get to do a LOT more cooking indoors.

As for the Shakshuka, a Tunisian dish that is normally served for breakfast, I cannot take credit for the kale, sausage and chickpea addition, but can tell you it was AWESOME. I will direct you to this lovely lady's blog where you can find the recipe and try it yerself.

xoxoxo