Barley and Lamb

A simple lamb dish for our Eastertime Passover meal. 

2 Tablespoons butter
1 cup barley, rinsed and drained
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic
2 medium onions, chopped
1 pound lamb stewing meat, boneless and trimmed of fat, cut into bite-sized pieces
Salt to taste

6 cups chicken stock, divided

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Brown barley in butter and set aside.
3. Saute garlic and onion, then layer in a 2-quart casserole pan.
4. Generously salt and pepper lamb.  Brown lamb in olive oil, then layer over barley mixture.
5. Pour 3 cups chicken stock over meat.
6. Cover casserole dish and bake for about 1 hour.
7. Add another 3 cups chicken stock, cover again and bake for another hour.  Dish is done when lamb is tender and some chicken stock remains.  Season with salt and pepper as desired.

Serves 6.
Prep: 2+ hours

Brazilian Black Bean Soup

 We love this bean soup, adapted from one 

in Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook.  
The orange juice is not optional.  Trust me, you will love it.

2 cups dried black beans, soaked overnight in

           6 cups water

1 Tablespoon olive oil

3 cups onion, chopped

10 medium cloves garlic, crushed and minced

2 teaspoons cumin

2 to 2 ½ teaspoons salt

1 medium carrot, diced

1 medium yellow bell pepper, diced

4 sprigs fresh cilantro

1 ½ cups orange juice (fresh is really good)

black pepper, to taste

cayenne, to taste (go light)

(optional: pinch of cinnamon or cardamom)

2 medium tomatoes, diced

optional toppings:

sour cream

minced cilantro

1. Bring soaked beans to a boil, cover and simmer until tender (2+ hours).  For crockpot directions, see below.
2. Heat olive oil in skillet.  Add onion, half the garlic, cumin, salt, and carrot.  Sauté over medium heat until carrot is just tender.
3. Add remaining garlic and the bell pepper.  Sauté until everything is very tender (another 10 to 15 minutes). 
4. Add sautéed mixture to the beans, scraping in every last morsel.
5. Simmer until ready to serve, then stir in orange juice, black pepper, cayenne, and tomatoes.  Mash or purée some of the soup and return to pot.  Simmer over very low heat 10 to 15 minutes more.
6. Sprinkle in minced cilantro and serve topped with a teaspoon dollop of sour cream.  Also salsa if desired.

Delicious served with sweet potatoes baked in their skins until very soft, then split and sprinkled with fresh lime juice.

To adapt to crockpot:  Cook beans 1- 2 hours on high alone.  Then add sautéed carrot, onion, cumin, bell pepper, and garlic to crockpot.  Cook on high 4-6 hours (on low 6-8).  Right before serving, stir in orange juice, black pepper, cayenne, and tomatoes.  Sprinkle with cilantro.). 

Almond Pomegranate Thumbprint Cookies

This is a recipe for passover-appropriate cookies I adapted from one in Gourmet, April 2006. 

I buy my almonds already ground into almond meal from Bob's Red Mill, carried on my local grocery shelves, though you could toast, cool and process blanched sliced almonds if you prefer.  My jam of choice is St. Dalfour's Red Raspberry Pomegranate Conserve, also found at my local grocery, and delicious. Homemade, I'm sure, would be better. Maybe.

I only make this once a year, out of the best ingredients, during our Easter celebrations.   

Yield: Makes about 2 dozen Active Time: 20 min Total Time: 1 1/2 hr 3/4 cup almond meal 2/3 cup turbinado sugar 2/3 cup matzo cake meal 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly 1 large egg, lightly beaten 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon almond extract About 2 tablespoons red raspberry pomegranate conserve (or other fruit preserves) Whisk together almond meal, matzo cake meal, and salt.   Add butter, egg, and extracts until combined well.  Chill dough, covered, until firm, about 30 minutes.  While dough chills, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.  Drop level tablespoons of dough 1 inch apart onto parchment paper on baking sheets.  Roll dough into balls, then chill until slightly firm, about 10 minutes.  Make a 1/2-inch-wide (1/3-inch-deep) indentation in center of each ball using your thumb or the rounded end of a wooden spoon.  Fill each indentation with 1/4 teaspoon jam and bake, 1 sheet at a time, until tops are pale golden and undersides are golden, 10 to 12 minutes.   Transfer cookies to a rack and cool completely.