Tahini

Excellent Ingredient of the Week
Tahini is like the peanut butter of the Middle East, but better — it's made with sesame seeds! Sesame seeds are exceptionally rich in iron, magnesium, manganese, copper, and calcium, and contain vitamin B1 and vitamin E. Sesame oil has a very high antioxidant content. Sesame seeds also contain phytosterols associated with reduced levels of blood cholesterol. The nutrients of sesame seeds are better absorbed if they are ground or pulverized before consumption, as in tahini.

Tahini is used in making hummus (mashed chickpeas, flavored with lemon juice and garlic), baba ghanoush (a purée of eggplant, lemon juice, garlic, and oil), halvah (a confection that includes honey or cane syrup), and other traditional dishes. You can buy it just about anywhere in town and it will keep pretty much forever in your pantry. You can even make your own at home. I love a simple tahini salad dressing made with tahini, lemon juice, water, garlic yogurt and a little cumin.

Homemade Tahini

Ingredients
4 cups raw sesame seeds
1/2 cup olive oil

Procedure
Preheat your oven to 350. Spread your sesame seeds on a roasting tray, and toast in
the oven for 15 minutes, stirring regularly to toast evenly. Do not allow to brown as this impairs the flavor.

Remove the sesame seeds from the oven and allow to or cool briefly. Using a blender of food processor, combine the toasted sesame seeds and add half the oil. Process the mixture on a high setting for a minute, stopping to clean the sides of the food processor or blender with a spatula from time to time. Add the rest of the oil, and continue to process the seeds to a paste, again cleaning the sides regularly and ensuring that the paste still covers the blades. Ensure that all the mix is blended to a paste. This can be a somewhat messy process, but stick with it. The results will be worth it!

When the mixture is evenly smooth, and more processing does not further refine the texture, transfer your tahini to a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, using a flexible spatula, if you have one, to reduce waste. Tahini may be kept in the refrigerator for many weeks in a well-sealed jar. Always refrigerate your tahini so the oil does not go rancid.

Turkish Lamb Kefta with Almond Tahini Sauce

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
I love lamb, especially New Mexican Lamb, so when I found this recipe for Turkish Lamb Kefta I knew I had a winner. Note: you need to make the meat mixture a day in advance.

Ingredients for meatballs
1 teaspoon Caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds
14 ounces ground lamb
1 onion grated
1 garlic clove crushed
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint leaves
6 black olives pitted and finely chopped

Ingredients for sauce
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1 slice white bread cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch Saffron threads
1 tablespoon Tahini
3 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Procedure
Start by toasting Caraway and Cumin seeds in a hot, dry frying pan for about 15 seconds, shaking the pan constantly to keep them from burning. Next, place seeds in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and crush to a fine powder. Then combine spices with all meatball ingredients and mix well. Using wet hands, form meat mixture into meat balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place on a plate, cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.

To make the sauce, fry and almonds and bread cubes in the olive oil till golden in color. Transfer to a blender and add the saffron, Tahini, and 3/4 cup chicken stock and blend till smooth.

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and add the meatballs, frying on all sides to seal in the flavor. Add the saffron sauce and remaining stock, bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer and cook gently for 20 minutes till meatballs are cooked all the way through. Thin sauce with a little water if necessary. Transfer meatballs to a platter and pour sauce over the top.

Halvah Shortbread

The Altitude Adjustment Section
There are certain childhood food memories which get better with age — Chocolate covered Halvah is one of those for me. Sometimes we would get a chunk fresh cut from Russ and Daughters on the lower east side of New York and sometimes I would buy it in Manhattan at the corner Korean Deli. Either way, it was all about the texture. Sort of compressed sawdust wrapped in dark chocolate which would always melt all over your hands when you ate it. I also like the marble kind without the coating that had pistachio nuts mixed in. As I child I never knew what it was made of (crushed sesame seeds), but now I am on a quest to duplicate this product. So far no luck, but in the meantime I came across this recipe for Halvah shortbread in the Sundays at Moosewood cookbook and the flavor is really delicious. I think the term Halvah means many different things as some of my experiments come out more like a mucky pudding. I want it dry and crumbly. Many Middle Eastern cookbooks make all kinds of halvah from carrot to semolina but I am on a quest ,so stayed tuned. In the meantime enjoy this lovely cookie!

Ingredients
3/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup tahini
pinch salt
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups unbleached pastry flour
1/2 cup toasted pistachio nuts, chopped or ground

Procedure
Preheat oven to 375. In a food processor, combine butter and tahini. Add salt and brown sugar and blend till smooth. Sprinkle in flour and blending well. Mix in chopped nuts. Dough will be very stiff. Lightly butter two 7-inch pie plates or shallow baking pans. Press dough into bottom of pans about 1/4 inch thick. Bake for 15 minutes and then check every few minutes and take out of oven when dough edges get golden brown. Don’t overbake! While still warm, cut into triangles or squares. Don’t wait till it’s cold to cut, or else it will crumble. Serve with mint tea or Turkish coffee.

Falafel with Tahini Sauce

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
I love falafel, and every time I go to NYC, I go to Mamoun’s on MacDougal Street for a great cheap lunch. Seems it's fallen out of favor, but I am trying to bring it back, so here is a simple recipe made with uncooked chickpeas, crazy?

Ingredients for Falafel
2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked in 2 quarts of water overnight
5 cloves garlic
1 1/3 cups chopped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon baking powder

Procedure
Drain chickpeas and save liquid. In a food processor, combine chickpeas and 1 cup of soaking liquid. Pulse till finely chopped and add the rest of the ingredients. Taste for spice, I sometimes make it spicier with more Chile and pepper. The mixture should hold together when you squeeze it in your hand. If it’s too dry, add more of the soaking liquid. Heat a pot of oil to 350 degrees. Form mixture into small size balls — I use a small ice cream scoop — and drop into hot oil. They should fry for about 7-10 minutes till they float and are golden brown. You can also make ahead of time and warm in the oven. Serve Falafel in pita bread with lettuce, tomato, onion, and tahini sauce.

Ingredients for Tahini sauce
1 cup tahini
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Shot of Tabasco

Procedure
Just stir it all together!

Baba Ganouj

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
This is a great little recipe for an old family favorite: Baba Ganouj, which is an eggplant dip. In New York it's as common as green chile stew is here. Every corner Korean grocery has it in the refrigerated counter. It's an almost instant hors d'oeuvre. So here is the process:

Ingredients
1 medium eggplant
juice of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons tahini paste
salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil

Procedure
Over a gas flame, sear the eggplant, turning as the skin chars. This smells a bit strong and makes a bit of a mess on the stove top. Prepare yourself. It cleans up easy, so don't worry. Then place the eggplant on a sheet pan and roast in the oven for 20 minutes till it collapses. Then let cool about 1 hour. Peel and discard the skin. Place eggplant and all other ingredients except olive oil in a food processor or blender, and blend till smooth. Some eggplants are more bitter than others, so adjust with salt and pepper or a pinch of sugar. Drizzle olive oil over the top before serving. Serve with warm pita bread and black olives.