Spice (39 page)

13.
Grill the lamb to medium rare (5 to 8 minutes on each side) and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

14.
Invert each hot moussaka onto a dinner plate and remove the ramekin. Spoon on another tablespoon of yogurt sauce and sprinkle the top with dried mint.

15.
Slice each lamb steak into 4 pieces and arrange them to the side of the moussaka. Serve immediately.

Rosemary’s Spicy Caramel Popcorn

I am lucky to have Rosemary Jason working with me in the kitchen at Oleana. A woman of all trades, Rosemary bakes, cooks, tests recipes—and brings in popcorn that no one can stop eating.

I love the salty and sweet or slightly spicy flavor combinations found in such favorites as almond ice cream, caramels made with sea salt, and chocolate-covered pretzels. Rosemary’s popcorn recipe falls into the same category, and it is dangerously delicious.

Rosemary has perfected her popcorn recipe after trying out different flavor combinations and using Oleana’s kitchen staff as her willing taste testers. The winning combination of caramel with Aleppo chilies is the hands-down favorite, and the runner-up is the lemon zest and star anise variation (see below). Star anise is an Asian pod spice with a sweet clove-fennel flavor.

Rosemary likes to use yellow popcorn because it pops up bigger and fluffier than white.

S
ERVES
4

1/3 cup yellow popcorn

½ cup lightly toasted and salted pecan pieces (see page 91)

1½ cups granulated sugar

1½ tablespoons salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

¾ teaspoon baking soda

2½ teaspoons Aleppo chilies

1.
Line a 10– to 15-inch baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.
Prepare your popcorn. Pour the popcorn kernels into a small to medium brown paper lunch bag and roll the top of the bag down three or four turns. Microwave the popcorn for 2 minutes and 30 seconds on high (or use the microwave’s “popcorn” setting). The popcorn is done when you can count to three between pops. There will be a few unpopped kernels, and popping time may vary depending on the brand of popcorn you use and your microwave. If you prefer, you can also use air-popped or stovetop-popped popcorn.

3.
Pour the popcorn into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Remove any unpopped kernels and stir in the pecans.

4.
Pour ½ cup of water into a deep 4-quart saucepan. Sprinkle the sugar and salt over the water and add the butter. Cook this caramel over medium-high heat without stirring until the bubbles start to turn light golden-amber on top and the edges start to turn golden amber, 8 to 10 minutes. The caramel will be a little darker under the bubbles. The caramel can overcook very quickly, which will make it dark and bitter, so it’s important to pull it off the heat immediately and proceed to the next step.

5.
Using a heatproof spatula, stir in the baking soda and Aleppo chilies. The baking soda will aerate the caramel and cause it to bubble furiously; be careful when stirring it in.

6.
Immediately pour the caramel over the popcorn and nuts. Don’t bother scraping the pot. Quickly toss the popcorn, nut, and caramel mixture with the spatula until the popcorn and nuts are well-coated.

7.
Spread the popcorn out in a flat, even layer on the parchment-lined baking sheet and let it cool for 30 minutes. Break it apart and serve. The popcorn will keep up to 2 weeks in an airtight container or ziplock bag.

Variation

Instead of using Aleppo chilies, substitute 1 teaspoon of finely grated lemon zest and 1 whole star anise pod, finely ground in your spice grinder. Try substituting Urfa pepper for Aleppo, too
.

6

THREE SEEDS

P
OPPY
, N
İGELLA
,
AND
S
ESAME

The seeds in this chapter are a subtle group of flavorings, lending warm, nutty, and rich tones and texture to food. The seeds all have a high oil content, which is what makes them so rich, and toasting them draws out the oils that enhance their flavor. The seeds are great mixed or used separately in certain preparations. I love to make crackers and flatbreads mixing these three seeds, and sometimes I add smaller quantities of other seeds, such as fennel or cumin, to the mix.

Poppy seeds can be a little peppery; they combine well with sweet onions and enhance cheeses, fruits, and creamy dressings or sauces. Nigella seeds have a slight vegetal quality and are particularly good used simply on sliced radishes or cucumbers, in flavoring young cheeses, and on savory crackers. Sesame seeds are gorgeous with just about anything: on breads, sprinkled on cold vegetables like beets or spinach, in salads, with fish and duck, and mixed into tomato sauce. They also partner perfectly with honey. When sesame seeds are ground finely, they form a natural butter called tahini.

P
OPPY
S
EEDS

Poppy seeds come from pink, white, or purple opium-producing poppy flowers, not the famously blood-red decorative variety. Once the seeds have formed, the flower contains no narcotic. The seeds are white or blue, and they taste almost identical in flavor, although the blue, which are larger in size, are also slightly more assertive. While white poppy seeds are more common in the Middle East and India (they are a key flavor of Indian vindaloo curry, for example), the blue seeds are more common in Europe and the United States.

Native to southeastern Europe and western Asia and cultivated in many countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Holland, Turkey, and Canada, opium-producing poppies are grown on enormous plantations under strict supervision. The seeds are somewhat of a by-product of opium; poppy farmers take the green latex morphine capsules out of the plants before the seeds form and then leave the plants. Later, the farmers harvest the poppy seeds, treating them with heat or fumigation to stop further germination.

Poppy seeds give a toasty, nutty flavor to food—a flavor that intensifies if you lightly toast the seeds (see page 174). I love to sprinkle toasted poppy seeds over ricotta raviolis and salads, stir them into sautéed onions, and add them to crepe, pancake, waffle, and muffin batters. I also use them on pizzas and tarts (see Caramelized Onion Tart, page 182), and then top that with crème fraîche and bits of smoky bacon. I also sprinkle them on breadsticks or rolls before baking and mix them with pastry to make homemade crackers (Crick-Cracks, page 176).

Because of their high oil content, poppy seeds should be frozen for up to a year to keep them fresh. You can also store them in a cool, dry place, but they can become rancid easily and may not last as long as other spices.