Moussaka for Two

Moussaka ! Ground lamb, eggplant, onions, oregano, mint, tomato sauce, and a Bechamel sauce and cheese topping. Oh my ! This is a bit labor intensive during prep, but the payoff is oh, so good. It's prepared in three separate steps and then assembled and finished in the oven to a gooey, bubbling finish. Enjoy !

Indian Lamb Curry

Yesterday's Easter lamb roast got lush treatment today! An intense curry powder preparation made its way through the grinder and waited to be melded with onions, garlic, and ginger. The lamb roast was cut into chunks and braised slowly in a broth of oil, chicken stock, tomatoes, and all those onions and aromatics! The house smells divine! We'll have to air it out for two days to get the curry aroma to dissipate! Right now, though, it's heavenly!

Classic Lamb Tagine

After all the rich meals and constant onslaught of sweets, it seemed fitting to simplify our first post-Christmas dinner by doing an easy tagine simmer of  lean lamb, ginger, garlic, saffron, cinnamon and fruits with chopped onions. The new tagine got put to good use and two hours later, a drizzle of honey gave the juices a soft sweetness.

Over plain couscous, this was a nice change from all the traditional Christmas knosh ... we added a salad on the side for a cool crisp break from the warm saucy tagine. 

The Butcher's Sauce - Random Recipes

 

 

an ode to orange ... 

 

What's at 'the back of  beyond' in your cupboard  (or freezer, in my case) ? This month's Random Recipe challenge was to reach into the back of your pantry and bring out a box, can, bag, packet, what ever! Next, go to a cookbook and find a recipe that uses that 'forgotten' ingredient. Well, that's clever, Dom!

Greek Moussaka - Easy and Tasty

Yesterday was such a challenge for me! I don't know why, but I was all thumbs while I was in the kitchen. I had intended to bake a friend a beautiful birthday cake and put together a GF banana cream pie ... plus a few hors d'ouerve-like offerings for today's church fellowship hour. I had a full docket of projects. Everything took me much longer than I planned, though, because of my clumsiness. I dropped the cake batter-laden beaters on the floor, making a sticky mess to clean up. I broke a glass measuring cup when it slipped out of my buttery fingers and into the bottom of the sink, spilled the compost container on the kitchen floor as I was taking it to dump ... another mess to clean up.  I slammed pans around and cluttered up the counter so that moving about and finding work space was awkward. Aaargh! The more I messed up, the crankier I got! I ended up ditching all save the cake and a simple cheese platter. When I finished with those two projects, I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the cook-top, counters and kitchen island.

Sephardi Spicy Cabbage with Tomatoes, Turmeric and Peppers

I found a book on Jewish cooking a while back and have been experimenting with some of the most interesting blends of flavors and spices. Last evening, I made a colorful braised cabbage and meatball dish that was just out of this world! Look at these colors! Too bad there is no 'scratch and sniff' application for our computers!

Marinated and Grilled Lambchops ...

Basic grilling on a hot evening ... a practice that keeps one sane when it seems the heat will never break, the meal must be made, and the cook says, "Let's keep it simple.".