Mediterranean
Dolmades for Greek Easter
If you thought that the Easter fun was over far too soon, not to fear! Greek Easter is this coming Sunday, and awash with delicious traditions all its own. Not to be missed are these tasty little pockets of meat, rice, and nuts, expertly seasoned with our savory and tangy El Greco blend. They’re called “dolmas” in the singular, and “dolmades” when referring to the scores of them you’ll eat once you’ve had a taste of their perfect balance of Mediterranean flavors, all wrapped in a convenient little two-bite gnosh. All of the ingredients ought to be readily available in most markets, including grape leaves, which often come in cans or jars. If you’ve got a grape vine over an arbor, fresh work wonderfully, too; just poach them a bit of salted water with a half a lemon thrown in. Admittedly a little time-consuming, the dolmades can be prepared 2 to 3 days before serving, and refrigerated or frozen until you’re ready to use them. If you do freeze them, they can be thawed overnight in the refrigerator, and gently heated with a little broth or water before serving. You’ll find them more than worth the effort! Kalo Pascha!
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Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet.
- Add onion and saute until translucent.
- Add meat, stirring to break up pieces.
- Add rice, dill, El Greco, pine nuts, water and tomato paste.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Cook over medium heat until water is absorbed, about 10 minutes.
- Cover the bottom of a Dutch oven with a layer of grape leaves.
- Stuff remaining leaves by placing leaf (shiny side down) on the palm of your hand, with the base of leaf the toward your wrist and tip pointing to your middle finger.
- Put a spoonful of meat mixture in center.
- Fold the base of the leaf over the filling, then fold sides of leaf over (like an envelope), tucking the edges in snugly
- Arrange, tip side down, (to prevent unrolling) in the Dutch oven.
- Add broth to Dutch oven within 1 inch of top layer of stuffed grape leaves.
- Use any left over leaves to cover top layer.
- Place a heat-proof plate upside down over the top layer of dolmas, and press firmly.
- Cover and cook over medium heat until rice is tender, about 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle with lemon juice and cook 5 minutes longer.
- Let cool to room temperature, or chill thoroughly.
- Serve garnished with lemon slices and a little greek yoghurt for dipping.
Piment d’Espelette Fish Stew
This hearty stew hits it on all notes — the high acid of the tomatoes and wine play against the sweetness of the deeply caramelized onion and fennel, the brine-y olives render the seafood right at home, and the Piment d’ Espelette… oh, the Espelette! The perfect balance of heat and complexity that clarifies this bounty of flavor, and unites it all in delicious harmony. If my fish-monger has them, I’ll often throw in a few oily little fish, like fresh anchovies or sardines, too… Just sear them whole, skins and all, in a bit of olive oil and add to the serving dishes.
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Ingredients
Instructions
- Peel and de-vein the shrimp, placing the shells in a medium pot and reserving the de-veined shrimp in a bowl, tossing with half the ground fennel to coat. Use the remaining ground fennel to season the fish fillets, and set aside.
- Add the stock, water, clam juice, wine, bay leaf, lemon rind and allspice berries to the pot with the shrimp shells; bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the broth through a wire strainer, discarding the shrimp shells and whole spices. Add potatoes to the broth, and simmer until fork-tender.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 4-quart soup pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of the Piment d’ Espelette. Cook for 12 to 14 minutes, stirring a few times, until the vegetables are tender and golden. Deglaze with the tomatoes, add the garlic, and simmer until reduced by half.
- Add broth to tomato and vegetable mixture, adding in the olives and sun dried tomatoes, and season to taste with salt and fresh pepper. Keep hot over medium low heat.
- Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of the oil and the butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Sear the fish until lightly browned, turning and cooking until just firm- do not overcook, as they will continue to cook in the hot broth when served. Transfer to a plate.
- Add the shrimp to the hot pan along with clams and/or mussels, along with a few generous ladles of broth, and cover tightly with a lid to steam open the bivalves.
- Place an equal portion of fish into serving bowls. Ladle the hot broth over the fish, garnishing each serving with shrimp, clams and mussels, chopped fennel fronds and a generous pinch of Piment d’ Espelette.
Piment d’Espelette
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Spice merchant Christmas is coming a little late this year, but it is well worth the wait! The current crop of Piment d’Espelette has arrived at our doorstep, ready to transform our soups, stews, rice pilafs, and most especially egg and fish dishes with its mild heat, and fruity, almost tomato-like flavor. A single sampling of this precious spice leaves no question as to why we are so excited by its arrival!
Piment d’Espelette (pepper of Espelette) originates in the area that joins the southwestern-most corner of France with northeastern Spain, a region historically known as Basque country. Piment d’ Espelette bears the distinction of being the only spice recognized by the AOC, or Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée. The AOC guarantees that products which bear its seal will be produced in traditional manners, and originate only from their traditional region (Champagne is a classic example). Therefore, only the superior pepper grown in the ten, tiny approved Basque villages may be labeled “Piment d’Espelette.”
Visits to this picturesque region in late summer and early fall yield visions of festoons of peppers, drying against white stucco houses as they have for centuries. Each October, the end of the Piment d’Espelette harvest is marked by a vibrant festival, complete with parade, that draws upwards of 20,000 tourists. There, the peppers are sold fresh, pickled, or dried and ground, as we carry it. At only 4,000 on the Scoville scale (as compared to 40,000 for Indian Cayenne), Piment d’Espelette’s mild flavor is the cornerstone of the traditional Basque stew piperade, a piquant concoction of peppers, tomatoes, onions, and on occasion, ham and eggs.
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In keeping with Basque tradition, we consume our Piment d’Espelette seasonally; making way for the new crop when it comes. The Basque have another tradition worth imitating- that of the txoko, or gastronomical society. Generations of Basques have gotten together to cook, sing, and experiment with food in thousands of private clubs. Pick up some of the freshest and most flavorful flakes of Piment d’Espelette available in the United States by the ounce, or sweetly packaged in a 1/2 ounce jar for your next txoko, or meeting of your foodie friends. On egin!
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Harissa and Vegetable Couscous
This recipe has been a long time coming. Hardly anyone who comes in to the shop — spice masters and novices alike — can pass over the North African section without some long, lingering sniffs. The spices from that region are so exotic, in their perfect union of sweet-spicy-aromatic. “How do you use the Harissa?” is one of the most common questions following the exclamations of delight, and though my fellow merchants and I have written versions of this recipe on many a business card, envelope, and scratch paper, it’s about time it took its place among our favorites here on the blog.
The tender-crisp vegetables and fluffy cous cous are a perfect vehicle for this sumptuous sauce; our version of the traditional Tunisian red pepper condiment that is so ubiquitous in Northern Africa. The cumin, coriander, and caraway add complexity and depth, with the guajillos lending just enough heat to be interesting without being overwhelming. You can also try the Harissa sauce on grilled meats or eggplant — or even on halibut!
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Ingredients
Instructions
- To make the Harissa – In a small saute pan on medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. When hot, add the chopped red onion, and saute until it starts to get a little color. Meanwhile, in a blender, combine the tomato paste, roasted peppers, Harissa, garlic granules, 1/3 cup olive oil and red wine vinegar. Pulse until it’s still a little chunky. (You can also puree it until it’s smooth.)
- Transfer to a bowl and add salt to taste. Add the sauteed red onions and green onions and mix well. (You can prepare this ahead of time – let it get to room temperature before serving. If you have any leftovers, it will keep well in the refrigerator. This works well as a condiment to any meal.)
- To make the Couscous – In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over low heat. Saute the onion and garlic until translucent. Add stock, dried apricots, squash, zucchini, cauliflower florets, chickpeas, turmeric, ginger powder and Aleppo pepper, stirring well. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Place the cover on the pot, reducing the heat to medium and simmer until the vegetables are tender, but still a bit crispy. This should take about 5 minutes.
- Then mix in the diced tomatoes, peas, cilantro and couscous. Remove the pot from the heat, cover and let stand 10 minutes. (This will cook the couscous.)
- Remove the lid and fluff the couscous with a fork. Transfer to a serving dish and drizzle some of the Harissa onto the couscous, serving the rest of the Harissa on the side.
Aleppo Pepper Muhammara
This eastern Mediterranean dish is the perfect example of that regions ability to take simple ingredients like nuts, peppers and olive oil…and make something magical by adding a spice such as Aleppo Pepper. The sweet and sharp chile from the Aleppo region of Syria has a moderate heat and fruity flavor that brings a taste of the sunny Mediterranean to every bite. An elegant alternative to hummus, Muhammara will be the easy holiday hors d’oeuvre that your guests adore.
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Ingredients
Instructions
- Put the toasted nuts in a food processor or blender, and pulse until they are broken down into small pieces.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and puree until smooth. Taste for seasoning - you might want to add more salt, lemon juice or pomegranate molasses.
- You can then transfer to a serving bowl or put in a container for the fridge. It will keep about a week.
Israeli Zahtar Flatbread
After a long day of working (or running errands and doing chores), I just want something quick and easy for dinner, but it still has to be delicious… And if it’s at least somewhat healthy-ish, all the better! I don’t know about you, but I can always eat pizza, in pretty much any form. I can always find ready-made pizza dough at the store, which means my homemade pizzas or flatbreads can be made without any fuss. There’s also something incredibly soothing about rolling out pizza dough, especially after a long day. The smell of the yeast dough always takes me back to childhood when I would help my mother make bread. Working with that kind of dough has an air of tranquility to it…it’s a blank canvas, just waiting for you to do something fun, interesting and flavorful with it. I’ll roll out the dough, brush it with olive oil, then top it with spices. Now it’s ready for me to add fresh colors and flavors. I’ll rifle around in my fridge or the cupboards of my small kitchen for odds and ends of goodies that I can either put on the dough before I bake it, or after it comes out of the oven. It all depends on my mood at the moment. I have always enjoyed “playing with my food,” and this certainly fits the bill. Israeli Zahtar is my favorite spice to use for this, but I also love Dukka. The smell of the flatbread baking is heavenly, and always seems to perk me up a little bit. It’s a perfect end to a hectic day.
Israeli Flatbread, topped with the salad on the left, and an “untopped” Dukka Flatbread on the right.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425 degrees. Follow instructions on pizza dough package. (Sometimes you have to leave it out for 20 - 30 minutes to 'rest' at room temperature.)
- Divide into 3 portions and roll them out thinly - if you roll them into long ovals, and not rounds, they will fit on one cookie sheet. (They will cook more evenly this way.) Brush the cookie sheet with the olive oil and place the dough on it, without any of the sides touching.
- Brush the dough with olive oil and sprinkle on the Israeli Zahtar. Bake in the oven until the crust is golden brown cooked through. Since there is only oil and spice on the dough, keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn.
- While the flatbread is baking, you can make the salad that will go on top of it. Combine the rest of the ingredients (except for the lemon juice and olive oil), mixing well.
- When the flatbread is done, remove from oven. It will be easier (and less messy) if you cut the flatbread into pieces now before you put the salad on top. Put the cut up flatbread on your serving plates. Add the lemon juice and 2 Tbl. olive oil to the salad and toss to coat. Evenly top the flatbread with the salad.
- Feel free to drizzle more olive oil on top before you serve it. Or anything else you choose!
