Lamb burgers with zucchini fries

Bar-B-Qewe.

The weather here in the Delaware Valley is just starting to curve up, ever so slightly.
The gorgeous first blooms I have been obsessively photographing the past few weeks ,powder pink and absurdly pretty, have been abducted nightly by some unseen hand - turning up like missing persons strewn across the ground each morning.
Dawn breaks and the reluctant rush of a mid week morning begins.
Each day a few more flowers are gone and I look to find fresh , bright green leaves waving good moring in place of dethroned pink.

With summer just around the corner I have been biting at the bit for BBQ season.
But, why wait?
So , here it is. Spring Bar-B-Qewe.
I drew inspiration from the description of one of my all time favorite restaurants staples : Oznot's lamb burger with zaatar aioli and harissa.
This recipe ain't no Oznot's, but it is definitely a keeper.
I used fresh zaatar-ish herbs
(which, proper and dried would lend themselves to a kick ass rub)
placing them directly into the burger.
I also attempted to make the harissa into a BBQ like sauce.
I'm still working out the kinks on that one, but
serving them with straight up harissa and tsatsiki was Delicious.
I nearly chewed my own fingers.




For The Burger

• 1.5 ib ground lamb
  
• coriander (dried)
  
• cumin (dried)
  
• oregano
  
• marjoram
  
• cilantro
  
• salt and pepper
  
• 3 small garlic cloves
  
• 1/2 large onion (I used yellow but red would give more kick)

* This burger would have been A-maaaazing with Chevre. Feta if your into it. Oznaut's used manchego. This time around I just a cut up baby bell.

Nothing could be more simple.
Saute the onion and garlic until just barely tinged golden.
mix with meat.
Then add in roughly one tbl coriander and one tbl cumin.
Chop up about a hand full of each of the other fresh herbs and mix it all together with your hands, forming the meat into flattened patties.
Grill , broil or fry until juices run clear and the cut open center of the burger reflects the desired well done-ness.
Be sure to cook thoroughly in order to avoid illness.



For The Zucchini Fries

• two huge zucchini
  
• paprika
  
• pesto mix
  
• garlic cloves to taste

You can, of course, add whatever spices you like and even cut in some parm cheese.
I would suggest dredging the zucchini in a little flour/ salt mix , or adding breadcrumbs to the herb mix in order to draw out some of the moisture and keep them from going entirely limp.
No one likes a limp zucchini.

Cut up the zucchini into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces.

Now you have got several ways to go:

method 1:
The easiest is to simple spread on a cookie sheet adn drizzle with olive oil . Then sprinkle with herbs and bake as below.
or
method 2:
Dredge with some salt and flour, enough to dust the zucchini pieces.
Let the zucchini sit like this for 15 minutes - 1/2 hour or so.
This step isn't entirely necessary but it does help keep the zucchini a little more on the dry side.
(This would be a good place to multi-task. While the zuchs are drying out - mix up the burger etc.- just be sure to wash your hands after handling raw meat.)

Fill a bowl with enough olive oil to coat all of the zucchini and mix it with the herbs.
Spread out evenly on a cookie sheet.
Bake in a super duper hot oven.
450 degrees for 15 minutes.
Try to flip them with tongs or a spatula about half way through.
or
method 3:
You can also mix equal parts parm cheese and bread crumbs, beat and egg and bread the zucchini by dipping it first into the egg, then into the parm/breadcrumb mix.
Afterward bake as above.

The method I used that yielded the best results was method 2.
It kept the zucchini little on the dry side and coating the slices entirely in oil made sure they were all evenly coated with the oil mixture.

sooo good.

Spring Garden

"Weed" may be the only four-letter word in the English language I don't use.

As a young collegiate lad, I decided to indulge my underfed bio nerdiness by supplementing my high falooten design degree with a certification in western herbalism at the New York Open Center under Peeka Trenkle.
Those classes fuelled a budding interest in food and health that ushered in a major change in the way I thought about food, and of course, how I ate.
Ever since I have been known to get a little witchy on occasion.
I'm not ashamed to dig up a root or two , and if you cough around me I'm going to try to dose you with garlic.
Enuf said.

So, this is the long way of saying I would like to introduce you to my Garden.
Garden, Reader. Reader Garden.
She may look a little toe-up now, but after she combs her hair its going to start getting green around here.
In addition to a few hot photos , you can expect gardening tips I have picked up along the way , as well as benefiting from my ethnobotanical knowledge (not that I am an expert or a medical professional or anything so respect my amatuerity and don't go suing me. Instead go to a doctor. p.s. that was the disclaimer).


"Weed" might be the only four letter word in the English I don't use,
as evidenced in the picture above I like to keep it on the wild side.
If strangers are friends you haven't met yet, then the same can be said for weeds.
They are nothing less then misunderstood plants, and learning to control your pruning finger can be a rich educational experience.
Gardens are , after all, one of the last places where we hold onto some part of our illicit past as hunter gatherers. Modern as we may feel ourselves to be, we often carry around plants as heirlooms- passed down to us like ancestral china.
We invite plants to sit on our windowsills and in our offices, pack them like over sized shirts into the grids of our cities and nurture them in our backyards.

But every garden has its outliers.
The wild has only been mildly domesticated.
In a feral garden there is always something new and once the growing season starts I'm always finding some interesting foreign leafy thing to look up.
Adding to the field book Que are butterflies , birds , assorted pollinators and the associated riff raff that follow them.
I actively try to recruit wildlife who appreciate the diversity and often reward me by popping in to "drop off" new seeds.
These are my gems.
Very often the very plants Ive been contemplating purchasing at the garden center actually turn up unannounced in the beds provided I give them a chance to grow.
I like the idea of a garden as constantly evolving with its own desires and personality.
While I make an effort to tidy up the beds I give it some room to breathe.
I'm on the liberal left when it comes to border patrol.
What can I say?
I like it a little hairy.

Welcome to my garden.

Ruby Red Grapefruit Granita with Rosewater and Honey

Grapefruits are like God's gift.
A ruby red grapefruit is one of the last bastions in adulthood where you are given silent permission to sweeten the hell out of something without being reprimanded.
Even if you are 65 and have diabetes no one will bat an eye as you sprinkle sugar all over your grapefruit half , spoon in one hand and insulin in the other.
With a breakfast like that who among us wouldn't feel blessed?

This was my first time making a granita and while I knew it would be super simple I had no idea how defeated I would feel afterward.
There was no " Holy crap I'm a culinary genius!" ego stroke to be found here folks.
But the sophisticated fancy pants points come in here with the name.
Say it out loud with me.

GRANITA!

Sometimes sparkly Italian words give you eat cred.
So cut that "water-ice" talk and let yourself feel superior.

Despite my opening sweetener rant , I went for the gold here and swapped out the sugar for some honey.
I have always wanted to keep bee's and have some really great jars from family friends in the Ukraine but opted for a reserve jar I bought straight from a keeper on a dirt road in Hawaii.
This is a great place for a flowery honey.
It compliments the gentle perfume of rosewater and softens the grapefruit into something pooling and breezy.

* I don't have my notes in front of me while I'm writing this but this is pretty darn close. I will check back with exactly what it is I did soon I promise.

Ruby Red Grapefruit Granita with Honey and Rosewater and Honey

• One Grapefruit juiced with pulp included
  
• one half cup water
  
• 1/4 cup honey
  
• 2 tbsp rosewater

Heat the water and honey until bubbles form.
Once cooled added the grapefruit juice and rosewater.
Mix well.
At this point you've got options.

1) Freeze in ice cube trays and blend up in a food processor.

2) Freeze in a plastic freezer bag.
Once frozen double bag and beat against the concrete / smash with a mallet.
Of course this is the method I prefer.
(just be careful. not only for the sake of your thumbs but for the sake of the bag. It may rip open.)

3) Freeze in a tray or container that will allow you to scrape it into flakes with a fork. This actually works pretty well.


Now eat it. Let it melt on your tongue and bring you one step closer to God.

Whoa image. It is. it's kind of ridiculous. and another citrus fruit.