Tamara's Birthday

Wine:
Grand Vin de Bourgogne 2007 Camille Giroud
Charles B. Mitchell Grand Reserve Vintage Cuvee 2005
Turley 2000 Napa Valley Petite Syrah Hayne Vineyard
Champagne Michel Dervin Brut
Patrick Javillier Bourgogne Cuvee des Forgets 2007
Hans Wirsching Silvaner Dry 2007

Tamara’s was in town with Michael and it was her 70th birthday. She requested that we cook a dinner for her. We invited Billy and Kevin over who were leaving the next morning for a week in Hawaii. Tim also joined us.

We decided to frame a dinner around Moroccan food. We started with some great Cheeses from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. We also served Baba Ganoush from Marouch our favorite Lebanese restaurant. The Baba Ganoush has an extremely smoky flavor - I just love it! We also made a Carrot Puree with Caraway and Feta from the Casa Moro the Second Cookbook by Sam & Sam Clark. This is a FABULOUS appetizer and not hard to make. I really recommend it! It is a winner!

We then made a delicious Beet Soup from the first Moro Cookbook: Moro the Cookbook. It is a perfect soup for a cold winter day. It is topped with a dollop of yogurt / garlic spread.

We decided to make Lamb Steamed with Preserved Lemon and Cumin. It is from Casa Moro the Second Cookbook by Sam & Sam Clark. We bought the meat from our new local meat and fish store: McCall’s Meat and Fish. We served it with couscous. The lamb was perfect. This is one of those slow roasted dishes. We simply put the meat in a clay pot with the spices and put the dish in the oven for over 7 hours. The meat was succulent, falling off of the bone.

Tamara lucked out with two birthday cakes. I don’t think I have ever been to a birthday party where the guest of honor had two cakes, but why not? The Village Bakery and Café in Atwater Village baked a special cake they call the “Fight Cake” because people fight over the last piece. We served it with fresh strawberries marinated in Balsamic Vinegar. Tim also brought a Coconut Cake from Sweet Lady Jane. So of course we all had to have a piece of each. As you can tell from the wines listed above, we also had lots to drink in celebration of Tamara’s big day. It was a wonderful Winter Birthday dinner. Make the carrots!

CARROT PUREE WITH CARAWAY AND FETA
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From Moro the Cookbook by Sam & Sam Clark

For this dish the flavor of the carrots is very important, so for that reason we would recommend you buy English organic carrots. At Moro we serve them with triangles of crisp pitta bread.

Serves 6-8 as a mezze, 4 for a starter or light meal
1 ½ - 2 lb organic carrots, scrubbed
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
sea salt and black pepper
1 level tablespoon caraway seeds, roughly ground in a mortar
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh mint
¼ pound feta cheese

CRISPBREAD
1 oz. butter 2 pitta breads (or use good crackers)

Preheat the oven to 400.

For the crispbread triangles, melt the butter over a low heat. As it is melting, warm the pitta in the oven for a couple of minutes, then carefully split the pitta in half lengthways and brush the butter on both sides.

Now place on a board and slice each half in half again lengthways and then cut four or five triangles out of each one. Place the triangles on a cooling rack and transfer to the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Now turn up the heat to 400. Slice the carrots into rounds no more than 2cm thick. Toss with half the olive oil and some salt and pepper, and place in a roasting tin. Cover with foil and roast for about 45 minutes, or until completely tender. Remove and cool a little before putting through a mouli or mashing by hand or whizzing in a food processor. Transfer the pureed carrot to a bowl, stir in the caraway, half the mint and the remaining olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

To serve, spread the puree on a plate, crumble the feta on top, drizzle
a little more olive oil, and finally sprinkle on the remaining mint. Serve with crispbread triangles round the edge of the plate

Beetroot Soup with Black Cumin
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From Casa Moro the Second Cookbook by Sam & Sam Clark
This simple soup is similar to borscht but with a hint of spice. The black cumin gives it an ethereal quality, which takes it to a new height. This is a rare variety of cumin that has more of an aromatic nutty flavor than normal cumin; the seeds are finer and more curled in shape. It is usually found in Indian/Bengali shops under the name of 'kala jeerd'. This soup is also delicious made with sherry vinegar instead of red wine vinegar, but omit the cumin and yoghurt.
Serves 4
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large Spanish onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 rounded teaspoon black cumin or normal cumin seeds
1 ½ - 1 3/4 raw beetroot, peeled and finely diced
1 large potato, finely diced
5 1/4 cups cold water
3 tablespoons good-quality red wine vinegar
1 small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
3 ½ oz. home-made or Greek yoghurt, thinned with a little milk seasoned with 1 garlic clove crushed to a paste with salt
sea salt and black pepper
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to color. Now add the garlic and cumin and cook for 2 more minutes to release their flavor, followed by the beetroot and potato. Pour in the water, bring to a gentle simmer and cook until soft, about 15 minutes. Place the vegetables and the cooking liquid in a blender or food processor and blend until just smooth. You may need to do this in two stages. Return to the pan, add the vinegar, half the parsley, and salt and pepper to taste, bearing in mind you may need more salt than you think to balance out the acidity of the vinegar. Serve with a little yoghurt on top, the rest of the parsley and an extra drizzle of olive oil.

LAMB STEAMED WITH PRESERVED LEMON AND CUMIN
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From Moro The Cookbook by Sam & Sam Clark
We had originally read about tangia in Paula Wolfert's book 'Moroccan Cuisine' (Grub Street), and were immediately captivated by the exotic idea of a stew being slow-cooked in the ashes of a hammam (steam bath). A few years later in Marrakech, we were led to the depths of a great furnace, to the side of which, neatly sitting in piles of hot grey ash, were two or three tangia pots. Tangia is a specialty of Marrakech and a favorite dish during Ramadan, when there can be more than a hundred of these pots steaming away silently in the dusty heat of the furnace.

6 whole lamb shanks, or 1 shoulder of lamb on the bone, about 4 pounds,trimmed and sawn into 6 pieces
1 large or 2 small Preserved Lemons, washed, flesh discarded, (und roughly chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 large onions, sliced
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, roughly ground
2 small heads garlic, cloves halved
3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh coriander
5 oz. water
3 oz. butter
sea salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 450.
Blitz the preserved lemon, onion, cumin, garlic and coriander in a food processor. Place all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed medium-sized saucepan (or earthenware pot) and mix together thoroughly. Season. Cover the top of the meat with baking parchment, then cover the top of the saucepan or pot with foil and then put on a tight-fitting lid. Place in the hot oven and immediately turn the heat down to 275 degree. Cook for 5-6 hours. Remove and check for seasoning. The meat should be falling off the bone We like to serve this with a mixed herb salad and some flatbread, but couscous, although not traditional, would also be suitable.