Authors: Victoria Wise
Sausage (15 page)
Pull the stems off all the dried chiles and shake out some of the seeds. Break up the pods a bit, place them in a bowl, and add boiling water to cover. Set aside to soften, about 30 minutes. Lift the chiles out of the water, reserving the water, and scrape the pulp off the skins of the large chiles with a paring knife. Discard the skins. Place the pulp and the small softened chiles in a
food processor and add the peeled fresh chiles or bell pepper, garlic, coriander, caraway seeds, and salt. Process to a thick paste. Drizzle in the oil and continue processing until as smooth as possible. Use right away, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.
To make the tagine, heat the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage balls and sauté, turning, until browned all around, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, turnip, fresh ginger, powdered ginger, cardamom seeds, turmeric, cinnamon, cayenne, and cilantro and stir to mix. Place the apples on top, add the water, cover, and simmer until the apples and turnips are soft, about 20 minutes.
While the tagine cooks, make the couscous. In a small saucepan, combine the butter and raisins and place over medium heat until the butter melts. Set aside off the heat. Bring a kettle filled with water to a boil. Spread the couscous in a wide baking dish, and pour just enough boiling water over it to moisten without floating the beads. Stir to mix and absorb the water. Pour in a little more water, stir again, and fluff with a fork. Pour in a little more water and fluff up again. Add the butter and raisins, fluff up, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside in a warm place.
To serve, spread the couscous on a large platter. Spoon the tagine across the top. Sprinkle the almonds over all and accompany with the
harissa
.
ON COOKING APPLES
The topic of apples suitable for cooking is worth some essaying. Looking back over the shoulder of history, who could predict what Johnny Appleseed would engender? Certainly his seeds turned into a world of apples. Varieties vary in flavor, which means each provides a distinct taste and texture that define how it will be eaten. Not long ago, supermarket choices were few, with the options basically pippin, firm texture and slightly tart flavor; Golden Delicious, less firm and sweeter flavor; and Granny Smith, somewhere in between the first two. With the burgeoning of farmers’ markets and growth of the eat-local, eat-fresh ethic, new varieties have appeared in great numbers. They vary according to where you live. My usual choice from among those available where I live is Fuji. The best advice for shoppers is simple: choose firm, not mealy, apples grown by farmers in your area.
The Vendy Awards began in 2004 as a benefit to raise funds for New York street food vendors who were struggling to establish their right to operate in the city. The issue in dispute was that the city wanted to tax the street vendors even though they didn’t operate from brick-and-mortar venues. (The issue of who has to pay tax to whom is, of course, age-old.) Fortunately, it was finally settled, and the awards became an annual New York City celebration of street food, with an informal competition for best stand decided by popular vote. On a given day in early autumn, vendors from all around the city assemble in a park (a different one each year) and proffer their take-away delights to an ever-growing number of fans.
The flavors and aromas of Pakistani and Indian cooking aced the show three out of four times, sort of: In 2006, Sammy the Halal Man won the prize for his Pakistani chicken and rice biriyani. In 2007, the Dosa Man won for his vegan dosa. In 2008, though the Calexico burrito and taco vendor won the juried prize, the popular vote went to Biriyani Cart’s Meru Sikder for his Bangladeshi lamb and rice dish. In other words, the populist Vendys confirm the wide appeal of foods from countries along the ancient spice route. Note: You can also serve the meatballs and topping and garnish elements as a
biriyani
dish, over steamed basmati rice rather than folded into a flatbread.
SERVES 6 TO 8
Sausage
1 pound ground lamb
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic, chopped with a little salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
4 cardamom seeds
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon water
3 tablespoons butter
2 yellow or white onions, very thinly sliced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
6 Middle Eastern or South Asian flatbreads, such as pita breads, naan, or chapati
1 cup plain yogurt
12 or so tender fresh cilantro sprigs
2 tablespoons finely shredded fresh mint leaves
To make the sausage, place all the ingredients in a medium bowl, and knead with your hands until thoroughly blended. Use right away, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
To caramelize the onions, melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and stir to mix. Cook slowly, stirring from time to time to prevent sticking, until partially golden brown, about 15 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and continue cooking, stirring often, until thoroughly browned and beginning to “fry” but still pliable, about 3 minutes. Set aside until ready to serve.
Prepare a medium-hot grill.
Place the cumin seeds in a small, dry skillet over medium-high heat or on a microwave-safe plate and toast until fragrant and beginning to pop, 2 to 3 minutes by either method. Set aside.
Form the sausage into ¾-inch balls. Place them on the grill directly over the heat and cook, turning two or three times, until sizzling and firm, about 6 minutes total. Transfer them to a plate and keep warm. Place the flatbreads on the grill and char briefly on both sides.
To serve, place 2 or 3 sausage balls in the center of a flatbread. Top with a generous dollop of yogurt, and then some of the caramelized onion, cilantro, and mint. Sprinkle the toasted cumin seeds overall, fold, and serve.
The highland sheep of Scotland and Ireland graze in rugged terrain with sparse vegetation. Fittingly, the seasoning for a lamb sausage one might find in those northern isles is somewhat understated. A few well-chosen aromatics, along with salt and pepper, suffice to make a tasty sausage that evokes that landscape and its restrained fare.
MAKES 1 POUND
1 pound ground lamb
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
⅛ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried sage
2 tablespoons dry mustard
Small pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup water
Place all the ingredients in a medium bowl, and knead with your hands until thoroughly blended. Leave in bulk and shape as directed in individual recipes or stuff into sheep casing. The sausage can be used right away.
Cook as directed in individual recipes. (The uncooked sausage will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days; it does not freeze well.)
Shepherd’s Pie with Northern Isles Lamb Sausage and Potato-Horseradish Crust
Shepherd’s pie is a signature dish in the pubs of England and Ireland, sometimes made with lamb, as here, and sometimes with beef, in which case it is called cottage pie. The idea is the same: a simple meat pie made with a mirepoix—onion, carrot, celery—under a top crust of mashed potatoes. There’s no cheese in the mashed potatoes, but when the pie is baked, the crust is somehow enriched through the alchemy of cooking and tastes as though there were.
Shepherd’s pie is usually made with leftover cooked lamb. Swapping that for quick and easy homemade lamb sausage is my revisionism, to give the humble pie a fresh and lively taste. Also, to gussy it up, I use tiny pearl onions so the onion element has a more defined presence in the pie. The horseradish is also my whim, to give the dish an acrid lilt that helps lift it above what might otherwise be humdrum fare. Fresh horseradish root is often available in produce stores and supermarkets around Passover for Jewish customers; wasabi root, though not exactly the same botanically, is similar and it is available around the New Year for Japanese customers. Like fresh ginger, horseradish root can be stored in the refrigerator almost indefinitely, as long as it is kept dry.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Crust
2 pounds russet or Yukon gold potatoes, or a mixture
Kosher salt
½ cup milk
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1½ teaspoons freshly grated horseradish or unseasoned prepared horseradish
½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
Filling
2 tablespoons butter
16 pearl onions, peeled
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 pound
Northern Isles Lamb Sausage
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1 cup water
To make the crust, peel the potatoes and cut them into 1½-inch chunks. Place them in a pot, add water to cover generously and a large pinch of salt, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil briskly until the potatoes are a bit beyond fork-tender, almost collapsing, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and, while the potatoes are still moist, return them to the pot. Let cool briefly until no longer steaming. Add the milk, butter, and horseradish and mash with a potato masher or sturdy wire whisk until no longer chunky, almost creamy. Whisk in 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper, taste, and adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper if desired. Set aside in a warm place.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
To make the filling, melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the pearl onions, carrots, and celery, stir to mix, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add the lamb sausage and continue cooking, stirring to break up the clumps, until no longer pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the thyme, tomato paste, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, and water and stir to mix. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
To assemble the pie, transfer the filling to a 2-quart baking dish, preferably one that can segue from oven to table for ease of serving. Spread the mashed potatoes across the top and, with a fork or spoon, lift them into decorative peaks here and there.
Bake until the top is golden around the edges and across the peaks, 30 to 35 minutes. Serve hot, directly from the baking dish.
I adore pearl barley, yet seldom remember to cook it. But at least once a year, in late spring leaning toward summer, when the weather is still chilly, I suddenly have a notion to make Scotch broth. It is essentially a homespun celebration of root vegetables bolstered by and enriched with lamb. The usual vegetable selection includes leeks, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, kohlrabies, and parsnips. Hamburg parsley, which is grown for its root rather than its leaves and is popular in northern European cooking, is also a good addition, adding herbal appeal. Unfortunately, it is so far not widely available in U.S. markets, but a garnish of fresh parsley nicely fills the herbal niche. Lamb neck and bone-in shoulder chops, the customary cuts for Scotch broth, create a meat broth as the soup cooks.
Here, I turn the lamb into sausage and use a quick and convenient-to-make vegetable broth. That way the meat is thriftily stretched while still providing its depth of flavor to the soup. I add a tablespoon of tomato paste for color and a hint of acid: perhaps a shocking sidestep to staunch traditionalists, but I think the soup appreciates it.
SERVES 4
2 small or 1 medium-size leek, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled and cut into ½-inch-thick ovals
1 small turnip, peeled, halved, and cut into 1-inch-wide wedges
½ cup pearl barley
1 tablespoon tomato paste
10 cups (2½ quarts)
vegetable broth
½ pound
Northern Isles Lamb Sausage
, formed into ½-inch balls
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper, for garnish