Cheat-Meal: Jaipur

I'm not officially Homaha until we've eaten at my favorite restaurant in the world: The Jaipur.  I know this photo doesn't look that inviting, but let me tell you, nowhere else makes malai seekh kebab or vegetable samosas quite as delicious.

It's good to be home!

Saag Gosht and Stuffed Dates

Sunday dinner was Indian night again at the apartment, and fresh from meeting Crystal, we were stocked again with juicy lamb stew meat.  While I studied, Matt set it simmering in a subtly-spiced spinach curry:

Cumin, coriander, chili, and lemon dominated, mellowed by the soft, earthy spinach and rich lamb.  Matt has a lighter hand with the cayenne than I do, so this was more of a comfort food than last week's rogan josh.

My favorite part, though, was his appetizer: medjool dates stuffed with prosciutto and marcona almonds, then baked until warm.

I've had the date/bacon combination before, but these were fantastic.  Medjools are so soft and sweet, and when warm, melt like brown sugar in your mouth.  Laced with the salty, tangy prosciutto, and given texture with the crunch of the almond, the only fault I could find was that I wanted to eat too many of them...

Burgers and Fries

This weekend I hit up Epic Burger with my mom.  For those who haven't been, the experience can be reasonably summed up in ZOMG!!!!!11.  Epic Burger has follows some food rules of their own: all natural ingredients (even the ketchup is organic, though containing some things I can't eat), grass raised beef, real Wisconsin cheddar, locally baked buns available in white or wheat ... frankly, a dreamboat place for a girl who gave up processed foods for the year and HAS ACTUALLY BEEN DREAMING OF MCDONALD'S CHEESEBURGERS.

Like, hott dreams.

Of course, the problem with eating one delicious cheeseburger is then you crave them all week, right?
But you don't want to be that guy who the staff at Epic Burger starts to recognize.  And Michael Pollan says "RULE #63: COOK".

So tonight I cooked:

I had some ground lamb in the freezer from a couple weeks ago when Crystal was out of ground beef, just the right flavor profile for Greek burgers.  If you read this blog, you know that I love lemon and feta, and they're total stars in this recipe.

Saute half an onion and a couple minced garlic cloves in a little olive oil until almost caramelized.  Chop two or three sun-dried tomatoes and saute another minute or two.  Pour it all into a mixing bowl and allow to cool for a minute or two (so it won't start to cook the lamb as you mix).   Mix in 1/3 to 1/2 a pound of ground lamb -- more if serving more than a couple people -- and add the juice of half a lemon, one teaspoon ground cumin, and one teaspoon ground coriander.  Divide into burgers and grill in your onion pan.

Simultaneously, melt a tablespoon of butter in a smaller pan; add a cup of sliced mushrooms and stir occasionally as they cook down.

When the burgers are almost fully cooked, top each with a slice of feta -- the feta will melt slightly as they finish.

I layered these on some slices of sunflower rye bread we had lying around (home-baking buns was briefly considered and eventually rejected in favor of watching the Olympics), and roasted some sliced fingerlings as a stand in for fries.  For the record: roasted potatoes < french fries.  Also for the record: french fries = significantly messier to cook and clean up.

They weren't Epic Burgers(tm).  But they were pretty epic nonetheless.