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Impromptu Mediterranean Feast
Sep. 17th, 2011 07:24 pmOne of the things that I promised myself I would do when we got our own place is continue to experiment in the kitchen. My family, while they instilled excellent habits in me when it came to balanced meals and healthy eating, never was terribly adventurous. So, last night I got out one of the cook books that usually scares me, defrosted the just-right-for-two piece of lamb that was sitting in our freezer, and made the following:
Lamb Tagine with coriander and spices from Around the World in 450 Recipes
Spinach with Garbanzo beans from this recipe.
(I discovered this easy, delicious dish a few months ago when I needed to cook something for a vegan I know... I've since learned that a variation of this dish exists in a whole bunch of cultures across the Mediterranean. I just happened across one that originated in the South of Spain.)
Kalamata olive bread from the TJ's "fresh baked" section.
The lamb was pretty fantastic, if I do say so myself, despite my substituting chicken stock for lamb stock and basil for parsley. (Who knew that we didn't have parsley in the hoard of spices living in our cupboard?) I also had my first experience using saffron, which a rather intimidating spice, considering how expensive it is. Turns out, it's delicious and not as hard to use as I thought it would be, and it turned my fingers a neat shade of orange when I crumbled it.
I feel very proud of myself for making something this complicated for a normal, weekend dinner just for the two of us. It wasn't that hard, and since I had most of the basics on hand, the only things I really had to buy special were the lamb (surprisingly hard to get and kind of pricey in SoCal...) and the saffron.
Stay tuned for my further adventures in the kitchen.
Lamb Tagine with coriander and spices from Around the World in 450 Recipes
Spinach with Garbanzo beans from this recipe.
(I discovered this easy, delicious dish a few months ago when I needed to cook something for a vegan I know... I've since learned that a variation of this dish exists in a whole bunch of cultures across the Mediterranean. I just happened across one that originated in the South of Spain.)
Kalamata olive bread from the TJ's "fresh baked" section.
The lamb was pretty fantastic, if I do say so myself, despite my substituting chicken stock for lamb stock and basil for parsley. (Who knew that we didn't have parsley in the hoard of spices living in our cupboard?) I also had my first experience using saffron, which a rather intimidating spice, considering how expensive it is. Turns out, it's delicious and not as hard to use as I thought it would be, and it turned my fingers a neat shade of orange when I crumbled it.
I feel very proud of myself for making something this complicated for a normal, weekend dinner just for the two of us. It wasn't that hard, and since I had most of the basics on hand, the only things I really had to buy special were the lamb (surprisingly hard to get and kind of pricey in SoCal...) and the saffron.
Stay tuned for my further adventures in the kitchen.
