Resolution Recipe: 13th c. lamb recipe

[madbaker]

Tharda of Lamb

Cut up lamb in large pieces and put with it spices, soaked garbanzos, oil and salt. When it has fried, pour in enough water to cover. And when it is about done, throw in orach. When it is done, throw in fresh cheese cut up in pieces like fingertips, and break eggs into it and crumble bread in it, and sprinkle it with pepper and cinnamon, God willing. (Andalusian)

1 lb lamb
1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
1 15-oz can garbanzos
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 lb orach (or spinach, or lambs' quarters)
10 oz soft cheese (I used Trader Joe's crumbled goat, 'cause I'm lazy)
3 eggses
1 cup bread crumbs

Saute lamb, spices, chickpeas, and salt in the olive oil for about 10 minutes, until meat is browned. Add water and cook for 20 minutes. Rinse orach or spinach and cut in half. Add and cook for 5 minutes, stirring to wilt spinach. Cut cheese into small rectangles and add with eggs and bread crumbs, mixing in the eggs. Cook for 5 minutes until the cheese is melted, sprinkle 1/8 tsp pepper and 1/4 tsp cinnamon on top, and serve.

What worked: Tasty and an easy one-pot meal. And period. Orach isn't in season right now so I substituted spinach, but any spinach-like green would probably work. Besides, it'd be fun to use lamb's quarters with lamb. I made a half-recipe which translated okay, although I only used one egg.

What didn't: Too much cheese for my taste. Crystal, who has also made this, suggested that the dish should be in layers - from the bottom, lamb, orach, cheese, egg/bread crumb. That wasn't at all how mine came out; I would need a smaller pot than the cast-iron skillet I used for that to work.

Will I make it again? I'll add it to the tourney recipe book, sure.

Comments

[finickynarcane.livejournal.com]

13th C lamb would be dead.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

The lamb I used was dead, too.

[blkeagl.livejournal.com]

Oh my! Mutton is really determined by how old it was when killed, not by how long it's been dead.

It sounds a lot like a lot of Middle Eastern dishes I grew up eating. I bet the 10oz of cheese is traditionally closer to a jibna bayda (white cheese) which is sort of like a queso blanco and much milder than crumbled goat cheese.

Anyway, sounds like a fun recipe to try making!

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I actually knew that about mutton; I was making a lame joke.
The Trader Joe's goat cheese is pretty mild; it's goat cheese for wimpy Americans who don't like tasty goaty stuff. The original redaction suggested using something similar to a queso blanco, but I was too lazy.

[blkeagl.livejournal.com]

A lamb joke?

[blkeagl.livejournal.com]

An excellent variation (and likely perfectly period if not documented as such though) to this would be to add chopped mint and nuts at the end when serving.