The Brick Kitchen

Spring Greens & Grains Salad with Seared Lamb & Goats Cheese

Claudia Brick — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 08:32:13 +0000

Charred kale and asparagus with freekeh, pine nuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, pomegranate, currants, creamy goats cheese and seared lamb – healthy and fast. Jump to Recipe

Can too much choice become a bad thing? Is there a point where our culture of wanting “the best” for everything, whether it be the best restaurant experience, the best blender, the best book, the best meal, the best job, heck, the best partner, couples with the insane number of options right at our fingertips, to become crippling?

Amongst the current exams (one to go!), I have been reading Modern Romance, by Aziz Ansari , a hilarious take on dating and relationships in the age of texting and social media, along with observations that relate to pretty much every other facet of our modern, screen-devoted lives. SO GOOD. Just about every page had a smile on my face, and this passage particularly resonated:

(on trying to pick somewhere to eat in a new city)
“First I texted four friends who travel and eat out a lot and whose judgement on food I really trust. While I waited for recommendations from them, I checked the website Eater for its “Heat Map”, which includes new, tasty restaurants in the city. I also checked the “Eater 38”…then I checked reviews on Yelp to see what the consensus was on there. I also checked an online guide to Seattle in GQ magazine. I narrowed down my search after consulting all these recommendations and then went on the restaurant websites to check out the menus.

At this point I filtered all these options down by tastiness, distance, and what my tum-tum told me it wanted to eat.

Finally, after much deliberation, I made my selection: Il Corvo, a delicious Italian place that sounded amazing. Fresh made pasta. They only did three different types a day. I was very excited.

Unfortunately it was closed. It only served lunch.

By now I had run out of time because I had a show to do, so I ended up making a peanut-butter-and-banana-sandwich on the bus.”

It made me more aware of how much we focus on getting the best thing, the new thing. I am sure that the number of hours a day I spend online, fairly aimlessly, would be eye-watering – and I am not sure whether it results in greater enjoyment – being never quite satisfied with what we have.

However, I am not saying these increased choices are a bad thing at all, or that I want to be transported back to 50 years ago. For example, when my parents were growing up in small town New Zealand, the majority of the ingredients in this Spring Greens & Grains Salad were simply unavailable. Pomegranate, kale or goats cheese? Heck, even asparagus or pinenuts? Think again. Dinnertime was limited to potatoes, red meat, steamed vegetables, with rice puddings as regular desserts. I don’t know whether you can miss something that you have never experienced, but I can’t help but feel my life is fuller for creating food and watching people enjoy it, and more recently through blogging and making connections with you guys through this little (or big, maybe!) online food world.

Like many things, I think there must be balance. Getting the best parts of social media and the internet while attempting to avoid the worst (hello, procrastination), would be a start for me. Would highly recommend Aziz Ansari’s book!

Onto this salad, though. Very green and springlike, it is full of charred kale and asparagus, pops of pomegranate, toasted pinenuts, almonds and pumpkin seeds, a hint of sweetness from currents, lots of parsley and mint, nutty freekeh to bulk it out, and topped with creamy chunks of goat’s cheese and seared lamb. Actually pretty quick to throw together, works perfectly as leftovers (nothing soggy here!) and is healthy to boot. Seriously, get on it.

Apologies also for taking so long to reply to your comments on my last post (this banana bread) – I have been smack bang in the middle of exams and just haven’t had much time. But the last one is tomorrow- cannot wait to be finished!

Spring Greens & Grains Salad with Seared Lamb and Goats Cheese

Inspired by Gather & Feast

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4

Author Claudia Brick

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked freekeh , cooked according to package instructions
1 large bunch kale , roughly chopped
2 bunches (12-18 spears) asparagus
1/4 cup slivered almonds
2-3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
2-3 tablespoons pine-nuts
1/2 cup currants
3/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 cup mint , roughly torn
1/3 of a small red onion , finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
seeds of 1/2 a pomegranate
70 g goats cheese
lamb loin fillets/backstrap , enough for 4 people (~150g per person)

Dressing

3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of a lemon
1 clove of garlic , crushed or very very finely chopped
salt and pepper

Instructions

Cook the freekeh according to packet instructions (this varies as different manufacturers have different sized freekeh grains, but it is usually 1 part freekah to 2 or 2.5 parts water.
Add the almonds, pumpkin seeds and pinenuts to a small dry pan, and cook over a low-medium heat for 5-10 minutes, watching carefully, until golden, toasted and fragrant. Remove from the pan and set aside.
In a small bowl or cup, stir together the olive oil, lemon juice and crushed garlic for the dressing. Set aside
Rinse the kale leaves and roughly chop them. Place a large pan over a high heat with a drizzle of olive oil. then add the kale. Quickly toss it around for about 2 minutes, or until the leaves are bright green with a few charred bits. Remove from the heat and place in a large bowl.
Meanwhile, break off the woody ends of the asparagus and cut the remaining spears in half. Add the asparagus to the hot pan (that the kale was just in), and season with salt and pepper. With the heat on medium high, cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the asparagus is tender but still crisp, and the skin is browning and puckering. Add the asparagus to the bowl of kale.
Add the freekeh, toasted nuts and seeds, currants, parsley, mint, red onion and pomegranate to the asparagus and kale. Add the salad dressing and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
To cook the lamb, heat a pan or barbecue plates over medium-high heat. Drizzle the lamb with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Sear on both sides (time very much depends on the thickness of your lamb, but mine are normally 2-4 minutes per side) - you can test a little bit with a knife if you are unsure.
Let the lamb rest for 5 minutes, then slice thinly and serve on top of the salad. Sprinkle with goat's cheese.

The post Spring Greens & Grains Salad with Seared Lamb & Goats Cheese appeared first on The Brick Kitchen.

Middle-Eastern Harissa Lamb Salad with Roasted Cauliflower and Baby Carrots

Claudia Brick — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 03:07:52 +0000

Middle-Eastern Harissa Lamb Salad with roast cauliflower, warm baby carrots, fennel, broad beans, herbs, coriander yoghurt and harissa. Jump to Recipe

A crazy two weeks of cooking has just occurred in the Brick household.

This Rhubarb Caramel Pistachio cake, these Greek Chicken Souvlaki and Cypriot Grain Salad, both sesame and cinnamon raisin bagels, blueberry and lemon scones, pork meatball banh mi, pear and chocolate crumble, harissa chicken with bulghar wheat and hummus, a rhubarb, raspberry and almond tart, cinnamon-date-walnut brioche scrolls… the list goes on. And on.

Mum is getting increasingly concerned about our waistlines.

The other relevant news to this post (which I am hugely excited about), is that we are leaving for a two-week family holiday to Turkey tomorrow! Besides the 24-hours spent crammed into economy plane seating each way (why is NZ so far away from everything?!), I cannot wait to explore Istanbul (fun fact, Istanbul is the 5th largest city in the world – I had no idea!), hot-air balloon over Cappadocia, spend a day sailing off the Turquoise coast, see the thermal pools of Pamukkale, wander the ruins of the ancient city of Troy, visit Gallipoli in the 100th year anniversary of World War I, and eat. Make that lots of eating. Turkish food today is rooted in the culture of the Ottoman empire, which was founded in 1299 and only collapsed in the aftermath of World War I, and placed a large importance on food in daily life. Because of factors like Turkey’s geographic location, the migration of its people from far East Asia, and the vast spread of the Ottoman Empire and its control of the spice trade, Turkish cuisine is a fusion of many, including Asian, Middle-Eastern, Mediterranean, North African and Western European, while the food in each region also has particular defining characteristics and dishes. Culinary lore even identifies Turkish food as amongst the three greatest cuisines in the world – the others are French and Chinese.

You can be sure that in the next few weeks there will be many recipes on here inspired by these upcoming food experiences! I will also be adding a ‘Travel’ tab to the top menu, which will serve as a photo-diary of our time in Turkey with recommendations of what to see and where to eat – and as a record for me to look back on in future. If anyone has any tips on travelling with a DSLR camera, please let me know – it is the first time I have travelled with it and want to look after it well!

I had to experiment with a bit of Turkish-slash-Middle-Eastern food before I left (of course!), and so made this Middle Eastern Harissa Lamb Salad, adapted from the amazing Engine Room cookbook. Tender, slow cooked lamb shanks are paired with crispy-edged roasted cauliflower florets and warm baby carrots, slivers of fennel, broad beans, the sharp flavours of coriander and mint, a cool coriander yoghurt base, a pomegranate molasses dressing, salty pieces of feta, and drizzles of spicy, fragrant harissa. It sounds like a lot, but trust me – it works. I could eat it all day. For many, many days.

It does take a wee bit of work, but it is worth it, I promise. Make the harissa paste ahead (or buy a reeeaally good quality one from a specialty food store or market), cook the lamb shanks earlier in the day, prep the dressing and coriander yogurt – and then all you need to do is put it all together before you eat. If you want to seriously wow people – this is your meal.

The harissa that I used is an adaptation of a recipe of Al Brown’s, which is a relatively mild and very fragrant paste. There are certainly many other recipes out there with a lot more chili, but I like this one as the heat doesn’t overwhelm the other flavours. The recipe below makes a lot more than you need for this salad, but it makes a perfect marinade for chicken or lamb, can be served as a dip, on toast, in sandwiches, with hummus, in yogurt, with pasta, as a salad dressing – you name it!

I also served it with freshly baked turkish pide – a leavened flat-bread (similar to the Italian focaccia) that works perfectly to mop up all of the flavours in the salad. The recipe will be going up next week with my favourite creamy hummus recipe (and hopefully a few photos of Turkey!).

Anyway, do give this recipe a go. For a dinner party, for friends, for your family, or just yourself – the melding of tender lamb, soft spices, mellow yogurt, the pop of pomegranate, fresh herbs, warm roasted vegetables and crusty Turkish bread is very (very) hard to beat. Dad even thought this might just be the best meal I have ever made (and there have been a lot!).

Middle-Eastern Harissa Lamb Salad with Roasted Cauliflower and Baby Carrots

Adapted from The Engine Room Cookbook

Course Main

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 3 hours

Total Time 4 hours

Servings 6

Author Claudia Brick

Ingredients

Lamb Shanks

4 hind lamb shanks
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a couple of tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion , roughly chopped
1 stick of celery , roughly chopped into 1 cm pieces
1 carrot , peeled and chopped into 1 cm pieces
a couple of sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
1.5 - 2 litres of veal , beef, or lamb stock (homemade if you have it, but I just used store bought and it still worked beautifully!)
2 tablespoons harissa paste (see recipe below)

Coriander Yoghurt

1 cup natural yoghurt
1 cup coriander leaves
1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds , crushed with a mortar and pestle
salt to taste
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice

Pomegranate Dressing

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
50 ml red wine vinegar (just under 1/4 cup, or 3.5 tablespoons)
20 ml pomegranate molasses (1 tablespoon)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To assemble and serve

30-40 baby carrots (I used 2 bunches)
head of 1 medium-large cauliflower , cut into florets
olive oil and ground salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups broad beans
2 small fennel bulbs , sliced very thinly
3/4 cup coriander leaves
3/4 cup mint leaves
seeds of 1/2 a pomegranate
100 g feta , crumbled
1 teaspoon sumac
pomegranate dressing (above)
coriander yogurt (above)
1/2 cup harissa , thinned with a tablespoon of olive oil (recipe below)

Instructions

Lamb Shanks

Preheat the oven to 180°. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a casserole dish large enough to fit the four lamb shanks. Season the shanks with salt and pepper then lightly brown all over in the casserole pot (I did this 2 at a time as I couldn’t fit them all on the base of the pan at once). Remove and set aside.
Add the onion, celery, carot, thyme and bya leaves ot the pan with another tablespoon or two of olive oil and cook until golden brown, stirring occasionally (about 10 minutes).
Return the shanks to the pan, add the stock and harissa and stir together, making sure that all of the shanks are pretty much covered by the stock. The amount of stock you use here depends on how much you can fit - it is supposed to be 2L, but my casserole dish was not big enough so I just filled it right to the brim, about 1.6L. As long as all the lamb shanks are covered you should be pretty okay, and if you really feel like there wasn’t enough you could add more half way through cooking as some of it evaporates off.
Cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then place in the preheated oven for 2-3 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone (this took about 2.5 hours for me). Allow to cool enough to handle, then remove the shanks and pull the meat apart, setting it aside in a separate bowl or container. Discard the bones and reserve the vegetables and stock for another use.

Coriander Yoghurt

Place the yogurt, coriander and cardamom seeds in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and lemon juice. Transfer to a container and refrigerate until needed.

Pomegranate Dressing

Combine all the ingredients in a jar nad shake to emulsify. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and vinegar - it should be a balance of sweet, tart and salty

To assemble and serve

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Spread out the carrots and cauliflower on an oven tray in a single layer, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast until the carrots are tender and browned and the cauliflower is tender and going crispy at the edges, about 20-25 minutes. Set aside in a warm place.
Turn the oven down to 120-150°. Reheat the lamb in a covered roasting tray in the oven until warm (5-10 minutes).
In a large bowl, combine the lamb, carrots, cauliflower, broad beans, fennel and herbs and gently toss with the pomegranate dressing. Season with salt and pepper.
Spread each plate with a spoonful of coriander yogurt as a base for the salad. Divide the salad over the plates, and then add the feta, pomegranate seeds, a sprinkle of sumac and a drizzle of harissa.
Serve with warm turkish bread.

Harissa

A mild, fragrantly spiced harissa recipe adapted from Al Brown. This makes more than you will need for the Middle-Eastern Lamb Salad, but the remaining can be stored in the fridge in a jar and used in many different ways!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Author Claudia Brick

Ingredients

2 red capsicums , roasted, skinned, seeded adn roughly chopped
3-4 fresh chillies , chopped (seeds optional)
2 tablespoons finely chopped or minced fresh garlic
3/4 cup chopped coriander leaves , stalks and roots
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup parsley leaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin seeds , toasted in a dry pan and ground
1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds , toasted in a dry pan and ground.
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
50 ml (just under 1/4 cup) lemon juice
25 ml lime juice (just over 1 tablespoon)
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to form a smooth paste. I actually found that to get the paste as smooth as possible, a small blender was really helpful to do half the harissa at a time - I have a kenwood attachment that worked well but you could use anything that you have around! Refrigerate in a jar.

The post Middle-Eastern Harissa Lamb Salad with Roasted Cauliflower and Baby Carrots appeared first on The Brick Kitchen.