Turkish Lamb Shanks with Eggplant & Mushrooms Sephardic Dish

Turkish Lamb Shanks With Eggplant and Mushrooms
6 lamb shanks
1 large white onion, chopped
2 pounds white mushrooms, sliced 3 medium eggplants, cut in 1/2-inch thick slices
10 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 teaspoons paprika 1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon

Place lamb shanks in heavy sauce pan. Cover with water and cook on medium-low flame for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel every other slice of eggplant so that the final dish looks like stripes. Fry eggplant in olive oil until it is light golden brown and tender. Put eggplant on top of lamb so that it's completely covered. Fry onions and garlic until golden brown. Add mushrooms, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper. Combine tomato sauce and chicken bouillon with 2 cups water. Bring to boil; mix to combine ingredients; turn off heat. Place lamb shanks in roasting pan. Place eggplant slices on top of lamb. Spoon sauce over eggplant so that lamb is totally immersed in sauce. Place in oven for 1 hour. The sauce will be a golden color. Serve with white basmati rice. Serves six.

Source: Eti Cohen, chef-owner of Maxim's in Cherry Hill, Pa."

Lebanese Hummus with Marinated Lamb a Sephardic dish

Lebanese Hummus With Marinated Lamb serves 6

For hummus:
2 cups dried chickpeas
1 cup tahini
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
11/4 teaspoons salt
11/2 tablespoons lemon juice
5 cloves garlic, ground in food processor
2 to 21/2 cups water

For meat:
1/2 pound lamb chops, first or second cut, meat sliced from bone
2 medium red onions, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sumac (fruit-based Israeli spice, see note)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts

For garnish: 1 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon olive, or more if needed

To make hummus, sift through chick peas, rinsing well and discarding pebbles or broken or discolored peas. In a large bowl, soak peas for 8 hours or overnight. Rinse chick peas; place in heavy soup pan with 2 quarts of water. Bring to boil; lower heat and simmer for about 11/2 to 2 hours or until very tender. Drain well, reserving cooking liquid. Cool slightly. Grind peas in food processor until smooth. (At this point, you can place chick peas in a freezer bag and freeze until ready to use. To defrost, take them out of freezer in the evening; in the morning, add rest of ingredients and proceed to make hummus.)

Place chick peas, tahini, ground garlic and spices in an electric mixer or food processor. Add 1 cup water and blend until very creamy. If it seems too dry, add more water.

Marinate lamb with onions, spices, pine nuts and olive oil and let sit overnight. Saute marinated meat, and cook until tender.

To serve, spoon hummus on a serving plate, spreading it so edges are thicker than center. Scoop out a circle in center of hummus. Place meat in center, sprinkle with parsley and pepper flakes. Drizzle with olive oil.

* For vegetarian dish, substitute mushrooms for lamb. Also, if sumac is unavailable, substitute an equal amount of finely grated lemon zest.

Source: Adapted from chef Ariel Kars and co-owner Patricio Felsenstein, Naomi Grill, Madrid, Spain, and Eti Cohen, chef-owner of Maxim's in Cherry Hill, Pa.

Chicken Tajine

Chicken Tajine
a thousand year old dish it's sweet & savory stew
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups sliced Spanish onions
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
11/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
2 teaspoons brown sugar
11/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 3-pound chicken, cut in quarters
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup pitted prunes
3/4 cup whole blanched almonds
Oil for sauteing
1/2 cup Spanish green pitted olives

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large skillet with a heat-proof handle, heat the oil.
Add onions, garlic, coriander, cumin, ginger, cinnamon stick, saffron, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook over a medium flame until onions are light golden brown. Add chicken; turn to coat with onion mixture. Continue cooking until chicken is golden. Add honey, lemon juice, prunes and 1 cup hot water.

Cover; place in oven. Cook 45 minutes until chicken is cooked through and sauce has a honey-like consistency. Saute almonds in oil. Drain most of oil from pan; add it to the sauce. Place chicken in a serving tagine (or other covered dish), pour sauce on top of it and top with almonds. Serves four. Source: Adapted from chef Ariel Kars and co-owner Patricio Felsenstein, Naomi Grill, Madrid, Spain.