Lunasi Last Night #2 - Lamb Kofta w/ Red Lentils and Chanterelles + Apple Kale Salad

Wow. Big thanks to my beloved Englishman for seeing the ground lamb thawing on the counter and saying "why don't you make kofta?"

I said, "aren't those just lamb meat balls?" Oh, what a fool I was to diminish the divine flavor explosion that is THE kofta

Imagine spicy mint meatballs stewed in a magic broth and served over grains of gold. Now we are getting close to describing it accurately. Below is my recipe.

But first, a little history...

I really enjoyed reading this article and I also drew my recipe's inspiration from this recipe, so check out these folks' good work researching and remembering stories through the eating of good food. Here's my version, from my kitchen to yours:

The kofta "is flavored by all." Good pun, Bisma. I like a woman who starts out the evening with a good pun... :-)

The kofta meatball comes in many sizes and shapes, as you might imagine with a dish that spans continents in its' culinary variations and expressions of the terrior, or flavor territory, literally soil of a place. Seriously, for a deep exploration of where this dish comes from check out Bisma Tirmizi's piece in Dawn that I linked above. It's a beautiful meander through the flavors that have been adapted by agile chefs everywhere.

Our Evening Soundtrack:
Cooking: Chinese Man Spotify Radio
Eating: Yulduz Usmanova

Drinking: Water for yours truly and the Englishman & Beer for Gramps

STEP 1: REFRITO

The first thing we did was chop up a bunch of onions really small and simmer them with coconut oil, tomato paste, a little water, salt, pepper, crushed green garlic & ginger. Plus, we added small currant tomatoes, the seeds of which I smuggled from Peru back here to PA, by playing the character of Lily Hollister, Spider Man SuperHero Goddess who hurls incendiary pumpkin bombs at customs ag screening officers as decoys as to get the sacred seeds in. Now these currant tomatoes have gone gangbusters in my garden and come back prolifically in my garden, hybrydized with other TomNoms. YUM! PSA: Tomato Nom is imminent Y'all!

A HISTORY OF SPOONS

I have recently gotten into looking at and using the wooden spoons in the Lunasi Kitchen, and asking my Dad about their origins. The spoons featured in this article all have their own stories. The one in the photo above is from Hunza Valley in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan. It is made of Apricot wood. There are two Apricot wood Spoons featured in this article, and one RattleSnake Spoon, which we will get to.

STEP 2: ADD A SHITLOAD OF SPICES

We used in ours:

Garam Masala from Penzeys, because Social Justice, Y'all.
Chimayo Red Chile Powder - HOT
MUCHO Turmeric
Cayenne
3 frozen Garden Poblanos, chopped chunky
1 Bay Leaf

STEP 3: SIMMER DOWN, PEOPLE & ADD FATTY NOM

We added:

1 Handful of Almonds and about 1/2c. of half and half, blended into a chunky almond milk and a little more water. Then, once we felt it was nicely stewed and creamy, we added about 13 lamb koftas. Here's our recipe for those:

LAMB KOFTA W/ MINT, DUCK EGG & ONION

1 LB Ground Organic Lamb
2 Small White Garden Onions, chopped small
Herbs: Mint, Summer Savory and Tarragon
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Duck Egg

Mix with your hands. Form into Meatballs of whatever size you like.

Plop them gently and lovingly into the magical spice space gravy and spoon a few spoonfulls of magic sauce onto the magic meatballs. Cover with a lid and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes, flipping once after about 10 minutes. Let the potion brew...

MEANWHILE, MAKE AN APPLE KALE SALAD

Kale, cut up small with scissors, massaged with olive oil, salt and pepper. Let to tenderize a little, massaged some more, then added:

Apple Slices
Raisins
Feta
A Little Blue Stilton Cheese
A dash of balsamic vinegar

And then we perfected the lentils, Which were a MIX OF RED & GOLDEN LENTILS w/ RED PEPPER, TURMERIC & SAFRON. Yum!

Featuring the RattleSnake Spoon, carved out of cherry by the Reverend Carlos. What a beauty...

Garnish with Chanterelle Mushrooms, fried until crispy with butter and salt

Voila! Enjoy with a dollop of sour cream or yugurt on top. Ideally with chives and more wild mushrooms. And don;t forget to spice up to your heart's content. We use habanero chili pepper sauce from Belize.

Buen Provecho!

With Love,
Lily