Walnut and Fig Braised Lamb

I guess my elation at the lamb shanks my mum-in-law gave us must have been very obvious because we received a second package of lamb shanks not too long ago. Yay! Ok, I might have been a bit sheepish, wondering if she thought I was hinting around for a second serving (I swear up, down, and round and round that I wasn’t!)…but I was shamelessly thrilled nonetheless.

The first batch of shanks she gave us I made into Lamb Youvetsi, a hearty Greek dish which remains one of my staunch favorites. For this batch, I wanted to move south to Morocco, famous for its tagines, those aromatic stews smelling of cinnamon and scattered with dried fruit and nuts.

Despite having a book on Arab cooking (filled with luscious-sounding recipes I hope to share here someday) I ended up settling on a recipe from Alastair Hendy in The Accidental Foodie. With figs and walnuts among the ingredients, I was absolutely sold. Much as I did here, I decided to substitute the dried spices with my Egyptian baharat. Baharat is an Arabic spice blend, of which there are many different varieties depending on the country of origin. I know I have totally crossed borders here, but I figured that since Morocco and Egypt are both in Northern Africa I wasn’t straying that far off course.

Walnut and Fig Braised Lamb
(adapted from Alastair Hendy’s recipe in The Accidental Foodie by Neale Whitaker)

• 700 grams lamb shank (the lamb shank my mum-in-law brought me is cut up widthways so they look like little osso buco…see here)
• Olive oil
• 2 onions, each sliced into 4 thick discs
• 1 – 2 tablespoons Egyptian baharat (use 1 tablespoon first, then check seasoning and adjust when you check the water level halfway through cooking…I used almost 2 tablespoons total)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 strips orange rind
• 500 ml water (or as needed)
• 5 dried figs
• 12 walnut halves
• Salt and pepper

- Heat oil in a wide casserole and brown lamb all over, adding salt and pepper.
- Remove from the heat and take lamb out of the pot. Line the bottom of the pot with the onion slices, then place lamb back in, over the onions.
- Sprinkle baharat over everything. Tuck the orange rind and cinnamon sticks around the lamb.
- Pour water in, just enough so the meat sits in a shallow puddle. Season again and return to the hob. Allow to boil, and then transfer immediately to an 180C oven and leave it to slowly braise for about 2 1/2 – 3 hours (until meat is very tender).
- Halfway through cooking, check the water level to make sure it hasn’t dried up. At this point check seasoning and adjust as needed. Add figs and nuts during the last hour.

I made some couscous, tossed with chopped parsley, to go with it. I also made a salad of chickpeas and roasted peppers, a simplified version of this one (I didn’t add the goat’s cheese since I didn’t have any on hand). Right now everything is resting in the kitchen (Alastair did advise to make it in advance as the flavors “get happier as the get to know each other”) waiting for dinner. I must admit though, I did take a tiny taste! I couldn’t help it…the fragrance wafting up from the casserole was just too good to resist.

I know this sounds painfully obvious, but it tastes just like it smells! One minute you are entranced by this delicious aroma, the next it is exploding in your mouth…each scent with its corresponding taste, and you find yourself trying to match each scent with a particular spice. But it’s difficult as the baharat is a mysterious blend and there are nuances that are teasing and taunting and keeping themselves hidden. All this is touched by the sticky sweetness of the figs. The lamb is falling of the bone tender, and whole thing is rich and unctuous.

This is just the thing to have now that it’s gloomy and wet outside…and just the thing to comfort me after getting soaked in the rain yesterday…I must remember to keep my umbrella handy these days!

***If you’d like to try the original, Mr. Hendy uses 1 teaspoon each ground ginger, cinnamon, coriander and cumin (instead of the baharat) for 1 kilo of lamb or 4 lamb shanks. You can also use lamb stock instead of water if you have it.

Gambas al Ajillo

I do like hosting dinners and lunches. Thinking of a theme, planning the menu, deciding which of my three (grand total!) plate settings I will use, mapping out the logistics of getting everything done in between work and other duties. I use up tons of note paper drawing up lists (I love doing this…I never have less then 3 pads of paper at a time), using different colored pens (all metallic…yes, I need my "bling" sometimes too) to categorize different items and tasks.

Sometimes though, the heart and mind may be willing but the body weak. C and I are not always up to the task of planning and executing an 8-10 people sit-down dinner (10 is the absolute max I can squeeze in my place for sit-down…not exactly Ina Garten, I know), including the post-meal clean up (sans dishwasher). We do still love having people over. So what’s the solution? The ubiquitous drinks party!

More relaxed and informal, having people over for drinks leaves you with less to prepare, as well as less to clean up afterwards. At the most you will be using small appetizer plates and forks, which are a snap to wash compared to dinner plates + soup bowl + maybe even salad plates + dessert plate + full-on cutlery. When it comes to food, you only have to think of a few well chosen finger foods and appetizers…easier to make and no less fun to plan and prepare.

This is something I love to cook when I have friends over for drinks because it can be eaten with a cocktail fork or even a toothpick, and you can make it in 5 minutes or less. I like to make this after my guests have just arrived (you want it served hot…and it’s done so fast that your guests won’t even notice you’re gone) and they all have their first drink in hand. There are usually some other cocktail snacks on the table already to keep them busy.

Gambas al Ajillo
(adapted from Saveur magazine, November 2006 issue)

• 150 grams shrimp (weight after being peeled and deveined)
• 8 cloves garlic
• ¼ cup parsley leaves, loosely packed
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon pimentón de la vera (dulce)
• Sea salt to taste
• Dried chili flakes, half a sili labuyo (bird’s eye chili), or any chili you like

- Slice the garlic cloves. Pile the parsley leaves over the sliced garlic, then sprinkle the pile with salt. Chop everything together. (You can do this earlier on the same day and keep the mix covered in the fridge)
- Heat the oil in a skillet. When the oil is hot toss the garlic/parsley mix and the chilis in. Let it sizzle for about 10-20 seconds, until aroma wafts up and hits your nose.
- Add the shrimp and immediately sprinkle pimentón over everything. Stir and check for seasoning. Add salt if needed.
- Cook until shrimp is just done. This will happen really fast (about 2 minutes, sometimes less) so watch it!
- Take it off the heat and serve immediately.
- Serves 2-3 as a single appetizer or more if you have other appetizers besides it.

You can serve this on the skillet while it is still sizzling (great drama!) or transfer to a serving plate. This is traditionally cooked and served in earthenware cazuelas but if you don’t have any, feel free to eschew tradition and serve them in retro neon-green bowls with kitschy plastic cocktail forks as I’ve done here. They are delicious on their own, but also great with bread for sopping up the juices (you will want to do this, trust me).

I looked over a lot of gambas recipes until I found one I liked. This one’s procedure is largely taken from Saveur’s November 2006 issue. The addition of pimentón is mine, as I really like the flavor it adds. I also feel that chopping the garlic and parsley together with the salt intensifies the flavor (this was the step taken from Saveur). I added a lot more garlic because: I love garlic, this is about shrimp cooked in garlic after all, and it keeps away vampires :)

Not just for cocktail parties, this makes a fabulous pasta sauce, simply as is, or with the addition of tomatoes. You can also dump the whole thing on a mound of steaming white rice and discover the delicious secret that most Filipinos have known about gambas for years! Cheers!