Turkish-Style Lamb and Shrimp Patties with Tomato-Yogurt Sauce

I saw a recipe awhile back in Bon Appetit that featured small kebabs made with ground lamb and chopped shrimp, which the author described as something of a Middle Eastern take on "surf and turf."   The idea sounded different but nonetheless pretty good to me, but rather than make little appetizer-sized skewers, I went with something a bit larger.

In terms of technique, there isn't really much to these.  Add some chopped shrimp to the lamb, toss in some grated onions, herbs and seasonings, shape the mixture into whatever shape you like (I went with long shapes, which would fit nicely on a pita bread, but circular patties would work just fine, too).   Then toss them on the grill and cook them until they're cooked through.  The result:  a rich, juicy, delicious taste treat like nothing you've ever had. 

As I said, these would go great on a pita, but I didn't have any pita around, so I served them up with a tasty yogurt sauce.   They were just fine that way, too.  On or off the pita, this surf/turf combo is a winner.

Turkish-Style Lamb and Shrimp Patties with Tomato-Yogurt Sauce

yield - 6-8 servings

2 1/2         teaspoons minced garlic
2               teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/4         pound ground lamb
1               pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined and
                   coarsely chopped
1/2            cup + 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1/3            cup grated red onion
2               teaspoons ground cumin
1/2            teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2            teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1               cup plain Greek-style yogurt
1               small tomato, diced
1               tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1               teaspoon chopped fresh mint
                 additional kosher salt and black pepper
1               tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Sprinkle the kosher salt over the minced garlic, smearing together to make a paste.  Mix garlic paste with lamb, shrimp, cilantro, onion, cumin, red pepper flakes and black pepper.  Shape the lamb mixture as desired.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Mix together yogurt, tomato, lemon juice, mint and additional kosher salt and black pepper in a bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. 

Remove the lamb patties from the fridge.  Prepare grill with a medium-hot fire and direct- and indirect-heat areas.   Brush the lamb patties on both sides with olive oil, then grill over direct heat for 6 minutes.  Turn the patties, grill on the other side an additional 6 minutes, then move them to the cooler part of the grill and cook until cooked through (another 5-6 minutes).  Serve the lamb-shrimp patties with the yogurt sauce.

Cuisinart Coffee Grinder

Jeffrey uses a electric coffee/spice grinder for a lot of his recipes, and lately with his focus on pie, has used it to grind instant tapioca very finely to thicken his apple and peach pies.  Our spice grinder did not take kindly to the extra workload, and the blades completely froze up.  I had to buy a new one today, and the prices are all over the place - from $20 to a staggering $150.  I wish I would have known about this last weekend, because I saw a perfectly good one at a rummage sale for $1.

I had hoped to find a Braun coffee grinder in the stores, because I had liked the one I'd had many years ago.  Before I got the Keurig habit, I would occasionally grind my own coffee beans.  I think that little machine went to college with my son.  Anyway, there weren't any Brauns in the store at all.  I checked online, and found out that the company stopped making them around 2008.

Knowing how hard it would be working, I opted for the least expensive grinder.  Let's hope for the best!  I picked up a Cuisinart Coffee Grinder.   If it lasts for a year, I'll be amazed.  The expensive models honestly didn't look much better.

I'll keep you updated;  it will be interesting to see how long this one runs before Jeffrey kills it!

Restaurant and Grocery Review: Namaste India Groceries and Kitchen

This is something of an unusual post for us, in that we don't have any original pictures.   This is what happens when you forget to bring your camera.  

Anyhow, about Namaste.

Namaste India Groceries and Kitchen is, as the name would suggest, both an Indian grocery store and an Indian restaurant.  While it isn't our favorite local choice in either category - we prefer India Star as Indian restaurants go, and Maria Grocery as Indian groceries go - it is nonetheless pretty good on both counts.  As the restaurant side of the business goes, they serve pretty typical Indian fare, most of it pretty good.  They have a lunch buffet, but we've never eaten there for lunch and thus can't comment on the quality of the buffet.  As a grocery, they are quite good, with a nice range of produce - including some things  I've rarely seen at Maria Grocery - and they also happen to be a good source for some unusual ingredients.   Goat, for instance, is not easy to find in Des Moines, but they are well-stocked at Namaste.  They also have a pretty good selection of frozen Indian dishes.  Maria has an overall better selection of stuff we use most often, though, and some of the produce - the mangos, for example - are far superior to what we've seen at Namaste.

On this occasion, we ate at the restaurant.  We had vegetable samosas, matar paneer (peas and cheese in a curry gravy) and lamb vindaloo, plus a double order of naan.  All were quite good, with the matar paneer being the stand-out of the bunch. 

While the food was quite good, the service on this occasion left something to be desired.  I dont' recall it being quite this bad at past visits, but Juli says she recalls the service being pretty poor on other visits as well.  Either way, I was less than pleased with tonight's service.  While the waiter was in a hurry to get our order, he didn't bother filling our drinks until after the appetizers arrived, and he never refilled them, or even asked if we'd like a refill.  It also took a ridiculously long time to get our check once we finished our meal.  I'm pretty sure we sat at least 15 minutes past our finishing before he even came by.  This poor service is part of why I don't think Namaste will be replacing India Star as our favorite local Indian restaurant any time soon.

In sum, Namaste India Groceries and Kitchen is a pretty good Indian grocery, and the Kitchen part of the business serves up pretty darn good food, but the service leaves a lot to be desired.  If you're in a hurry to get in and out, I would definitely not recommend Namaste, but if you don't mind waiting and aren't too bothered by iffy service, the food is maybe worth the wait.

Namaste is located at 7500 University Ave., Suite A, Clive, IA 50325.  Hours are:  Grocery, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily; Lunch buffet: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Dinner is 5-9 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday; 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The restaurant is closed on Mondays.

For some of what others have thought about Namaste, check out these links:
http://desmoines.metromix.com/restaurants/indian/namaste-india-groceries-and-windsor-heights/607258/content
http://desmoines.metromix.com/restaurants/restaurant_review/datebook-diner-indian-cuisine/1585473/content .

Pasta with Mushroom Marinara Sauce

I'm posting a lot later than usual due to us being really busy lately, but tonight's post is about a new dish I tossed together tonight.  It's a completely original recipe, one that came together in my mind this morning as I thought about what I was going to make tonight.

In designing this recipe, I was going for a greater depth of flavor than one usually gets from a simple red sauce.   Toward that purpose, I used flavorful porcini mushrooms in addition to the common button mushroom, I cooked down a bit of red wine, and I added three somewhat unusual ingredients, namely anchovy fillets, a bit of Worcestershire sauce and a bit of Parmesan rind.  Parmesan rind is more typically used in soups, but it blended nicely into this sauce, providing a nice bit of richness. 

I'm really pleased with the results.  With all the mushrooms and the rich, thickened sauce, this was nicely filling without meat.  I used campanelle, so the pasta shapes would hold the bits of mushroom nicely, but pretty much any pasta, including spaghetti, would be fine for this dish.  Served up with a salad, this made for a really nice, and pretty fast, dinner.

Pasta with Mushroom Marinara Sauce

yield = 6 servings

3            tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1            medium onion, minced
12          ounces button mushrooms, sliced
1            ounce dried porcini mushrooms, soaked and chopped
2            teaspoons minced garlic
1/2         teaspoon dried basil
1/2         teaspoon dried oregano
1/2         teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/4         teaspoon table salt + 1 teaspoon with pasta
1/4         teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2         cup Merlot (or other red wine)
1            can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1            can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes
1            ounce anchovy fillets
1            ounce Parmesan cheese rind, chopped.
1            tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1            pound campanelle or other pasta
              freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Heat olive oil to shimmering in a large skillet.  Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened.  Add the button and porcini mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms have given off their moisture and said moisture has cooked off.  Add garlic, basil, oregano, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until the garlic is fragrant (about 45 seconds).   Add Merlot and cook until the wine has cooked down about halfway.   Add whole and crushed tomatoes, anchovy fillets, Parmesan rind and Worcestershire sauce.  Break up the tomatoes with the side of a wooden spoon and stir to mix.  Simmer until nicely thickened, about 1/2 hour.

Meanwhile, add the remaining salt to a large pot with 4 quarts of water.  Bring to a boil, add pasta and cook per package directions (10-11 minutes for al dente, in the case of campanelle).  Drain pasta, top portions of pasta with sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and serve.

Fort Dodge Lutheran Rummage Sale

Here is one last post from our quickie Fort Dodge trip.  I will confess to being a Goodwill/garage sale junkie, so when Mom said one of the Lutheran churches in town was having a rummage sale, we both agreed that we needed to go right away.

I found some great stuff!  The jello mold below only set me back 25 cents and came with the original recipe booklet, including coupons that expired in 2000! There is a cranberry salad that looks really good, in addition to the pineapple/cherry one you can see on the cover.

My favorite find of the day was the square white baking dish I picked up for a dollar.  It turned out to be an old Fire King design called Meadow Green, or maybe Green Meadow.  I'm not entirely clear on that point.  If I wanted to sell it on Ebay, I could probably get $10-$20 for it.  I won't sell it, though, because we need a square apple crisp/brownie baking dish. The flower/snowflake design is so cheerful, it makes me smile.

Detail of the Meadow Green baking dish.

Then, I found an old cookbook called Betty Crocker's Party Book, a first edition published in 1960.  Just last week I'd found a similar book at Half Price Books called Betty Crocker's Cooking Calendar, which came out in 1962.  I had wanted it, but it was in the vintage section and cost $40, so THAT sale wasn't going to happen.   The Party Book set me back $1.  I love the old illustrations and the hideous food photos.

Which one of these things is edible?  Hmmm.

I also picked up an old Fleischmann's Yeast Baking booklet.  It was published in 1962 and is worth about $10.50 if you're an old cookbook fan.  I paid 50 cents, and got an additional bonus of newspaper clippings, including one for Circus Peanut Jello Salad. That was my favorite candy as a kid!  How could I resist? (For those who have never tried a circus peanut, I can tell you that they are 1.  very orange.  2.  very marshmallowey-flavored, and 3.  always stale.  In a good way!

I also picked up a really battered Better Homes and Gardens Dessert Cook Book from 1960.  I'm thinking maybe the same lady donated all the cookbooks?  Anyway, I picked it up because it had clearly been used heavily, and there were newspaper clippings, a hand-typed recipe for oatmeal cookies, and paperclips and bookmarks stuck in to several pages for the previous owner's favorites.  It's like getting a historical recommendation!

I did find one thing for Jeffrey- a very sweet little set of ceramic sauce holders, each with a little blue and white ceramic spoon.  This will be perfect for the Indian food he serves that has a mint sauce, a tamarind sauce, and a chutney.  Or maybe if I have company and want to serve 3 kinds of home-made jam at breakfast time.  At $1 for the set, it was a great find.

What's the best thing you've ever found in a secondhand shop?  If you'd like to share, leave me a comment!  (My favorite thing was probably a McCoy flower pot I found at the local Goodwill for $2).

And, just in case you're curious, here's the Circus Peanut Recipe.  I love the way 'jello' is spelled!

Circus Peanut Salad

1 6-ounce package orange Jell-O

2 cups hot water

1 package circus peanuts (about 40), cut into pieces

2 cups pineapple juice and water mixed

1 13-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained

1 8-ounce Cool Whip or 1 package of Dream Whip

Dissolve Jell-O in hot water. Add peanuts.  Stir to dissolve. Add juice and water, and let set until medium firm.  Add pineapple and Cool Whip or Dream Whip.  Nuts can be added if desired.  Chill until firm.



Restaurant Review: Taste of Thai

We're big fans of Thai food.  I have cooked a fair number of Thai dishes, and we're always happy to find a good Thai restaurant.   That being the case, we were pleased by our recent visit to Taste of Thai.  It was our first time there, but it won't be the last.

Taste of Thai is located in the East Village, in the same building that previously housed a restaurant called A Taste of Thailand.  That restaurant was a Des Moines mainstay for more than two decades, but it closed a few years ago.  My hope is that Taste of Thai will have at least as long a tenure as did its predecessor.

The restaurant isn't much to look at from the outside, but the interior decor is quite nice.   "Classy without pretense, with plenty of Thai accents" is a pretty apt summary.

Taste of Thai doesn't serve a great number of dishes, but the ones they do serve represent a pretty good sample of Thai cuisine.   The curries feature the thin gravy that is typical of Thai curries, rather than a thick one as one finds in Indian curries.  Vegetable and seafood dishes are well-represented.  Everything is served attractively. 

We had two appetizers, crab rangoon and chicken satay.  The first was served with a sweet sauce, the second with a peanut sauce and a relish.  Both appetizers were quite good, but I can't say they were a good deal given the price. 

Juli ordered pineapple fried rice with chicken for her entree, while I ordered a red curry with beef and squash.  The entrees were even better than the appetizers, and unlike the appetizers, they were more than worth the price.  The servings were quite generous.  I thought the red curry was particularly good, as the various flavors - hot peppers, lemongrass, galangal - were distinct enough to be noticed while still providing a balanced flavor to the dish.

For dessert, we shared an order of mango sticky rice.  As with the entrees, the dessert was delicious and the portion more than generous.  This was perhaps the best version of this standard Thai delicacy we've ever had.

Really, the only thing we didn't like about our visit to Taste of Thai was the beverage we ordered.  We both ordered ice tea, and what we got wasn't what we expected.   We were served a fragrant tea that probably would have been quite good hot, but as an ice tea it was just wrong. 

Taste of Thai was doing good business when we were there, both restaurant dining and take-out. We hope they continue to do good business, and we plan to do our part to make sure Taste of Thai is a success.

Taste of Thai is located at 215 E. Walnut St.Des Moines, IA 50309.  Their hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner Mondays through Saturdays.

Fort Dodge Community Apple Orchard

Jeffrey and I like to visit the Fort Dodge Community Apple Orchard when we're visiting my parents.  Last year we were there too late to get any Paula Red apples, which are my favorite for apple pies.  This year we got the last of the crop;  they must be a very early apple.

We sampled the Honey Crisp and Honey Sweet apples.  The Honey Crisp is indeed a very crunchy apple, with a taste that's a bit sweeter than a Granny Smith.  The Honey Sweet was also crisp, and just like its name forecasts, is a very pleasant, sweet apple- perfect for eating straight out of hand.

We bought a big bag of Paula Reds, the "seconds".  These are apples that aren't totally cosmetically appealing, but work perfectly well in pies, crisps, and other baked apple desserts.  They are significantly cheaper than the "firsts".

My son wanted some tart eating apples, so we got him a small bag of Cortlands, which are good for both baking and eating raw.



These were VERY tempting.

The gift shop was brimming over with Halloween cheer!

I was disappointed that there weren't any tin goats for sale this year.  I missed out on my chance to get one on our visit last October.  I thought for sure that they'd carry them again, since one of the big attractions of the orchard is a goat playground, ruled by the billy goat Uncle Buck.  Uncle Buck is a hoot;  everybody loves watching him and his cohorts.  There were a few tin turtles, but it's just not the same.

Travelling the Pumpkin Trail

There was even a Frankenstein-green tin rabbit.

Actually sort of scary.

I liked these glossy ceramic mushrooms. 

I could pose these for my non-existent tin goat to eat.

We had a great time at the orchard, and picked up some of Jeffrey's favorite teas from Fortune Tea along with the apples.  On the off-chance that anyone from Community Apple Orchards reads this, here is my solitary request:  Bring back the tin Uncle Bucks!

P.S. Thanks for the apples, they're GREAT!