Lamb Sliders with Date Sauce

Hey there.  Been a while!

The weeks leading up to the unofficial start of summer were hot 'round these parts.  I couldn't shake a desire for salad almost every day, meaning you folks didn't get as many posts.  Sorry 'bout that.

This one, though.  This one was worth the wait.  I'm very excited to share it with you.

Doc loves lamb.  Me, I could take it but I prefer to leave it.  Something about lamb is too greasy and strong for my tastes.  Burgers in general aren't my favorite, so when I made a second batch a few days later I made mine with falafel while using up the remaining lamb mix on his.  Either way, the sweet, barbecue-esque date sauce is the clincher, especially when paired with a few shakes of feta and some crisp, cool cucumber slices.  Alongside a glass of mint tea it was perfection.

What is it about tiny food, anyway?  Bite-sized is always better.

Lamb Sliders 

with Date Sauce

Total Time:  45-60 minutes to make the sauce (including cooling time), 20 to make the sliders, 5 to assemble.  Figure on 1.5 hours.

Weirdest Spice:  baharat.  Yes, it's substitutable.

Credit:  Spotted this one in Bon Appetit's May 2014 issue on page 20, in the RSVP section (where readers write in to ask for copycat recipes).  The original is found at Abigail Street in Cincinnati.  I've never been, but judging by their middle eastern menu and fabulous drinks list, I'm thinking there's no way I'll miss out on trying the Real Deal in person if the chance ever arises.

The Date Sauce
NOTE:  The recipe for this sauce as-is makes 3 times more than you're going to need for the sliders themselves.  So the first time you make this, please consider cutting the recipe in half or a third unless you think you're going to have a use for three cups of date sauce.  We've been using it on sandwiches at lunch time, but even so I'm going to end up freezing at least 2 cups' worth.  Just a word of warning for you.

Sauce Ingredients (full recipe makes apx. 3 cups of sauce):

• small splash olive oil
• 1/2 minced red onion 
• Tip:  mince the whole onion to save time, the other half will be used in the burger
• 1 cup tomato ketchup
• 1 cup pitted and chopped medjool dates
• Note:  this is equivalent to approximately 15-18 whole dates
• 1/2 cup pale lager, plus more for thinning the sauce (max one 12 oz. bottle)
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Sauce Directions:

1. Heat a saucepan on medium heat.  When pan is hot, add a splash of olive oil.  When oil is shimmering, add the onions and a dash of salt.  Saute 5-8 minutes, until beginning to brown.
2. Add ketchup, chopped dates, and 1/2 cup of beer.  Mix.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20-25 minutes.  As needed, add small splashes of beer to prevent the sauce from thickening too much.  Aim to maintain a consistency like ketchup or just slightly thicker.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Add vinegar, stir, and set aside 10 minutes to cool.  
5. Place the sauce in a blender and puree until smooth.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Allow to cool in the fridge while assembling and cooking sliders.

The Sliders

Slider Ingredients (makes apx. 12 miniature burgers / serves 3-4 adults)

• 1/2 minced red onion
• 2 minced garlic cloves or 1.5 tsp garlic paste
• 1 lb. ground lamb
• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• Note:  try 2 cups of prepared, unseasoned/uncooked falafel mix in place of the meats for a vegetarian version
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon baharat or other spice blend of your choice
• Note: see detailed instructions, below, for discussion and a how-to for making your own baharat
• salt and pepper to taste
• 12 slider buns or 6 pita bread rounds
• fresh spinach, feta cheese, thin cucumber slices, and other toppings of your choice for burger assembly
• other suggestions include asiago cheese, caramelized onions, and tomatoes

Slider Directions:

1. Mix the onion, meats, garlic, parsley, and spices together in a bowl until a cohesive ball is formed.
2. While a skillet is heating on medium-high, scoop out scant 1/4 cup portions of the lamb mixture to form small patties.  
3. Place patties on the hot skillet and turn the heat down to medium.
4. Cook 3-5 minutes per side, or until desired doneness / temperature is achieved
5. Can be served on toasted slider buns or warmed pita with a generous dollop of date sauce and your preferred toppings. 

I apologise for the weird, color saturated, poorly-lit picture above.  Would you believe I only got one photo of these when I did the first batch?  We had them on proper slider buns (hard to find, I spotted them by chance at Wegman's), but Doc just about stared a hole in them while I was setting up the shot so needless to say they didn't sit for long.  That was the Friday before Memorial Day.  The next morning we left early to go spend the weekend with my in-laws, who were regaled with stories of the sliders.  It wasn't until I made a second batch this week that I got some solid pictures, but by then we were out of slider buns and ended up using pita.  Which turned out even better, in my opinion.

Anyway, while these can seem time-consuming, the only part that's out of the ordinary is making your own date ketchup.  It's not hard, just takes a while for it to cook down.  You can do it ahead, the recipe says, by as much as 5 days.  So if you're whipping these up for a party or what have you, that'd probably be the way to go.

Let's get started!

The first step is to make the date sauce.  As I mention above, the recipe as-is makes more than 3 cups of sauce.  For 4 people's worth of sliders.  Either the cooks at Bon Appetit drown their burgers, or they just figured we'd all love the sauce so much that we'd want to use it on everything.  If you're not convinced you want to go that route, please do consider cutting the sauce recipe in half or in thirds.

You're going to need a 12 oz. bottle of plain light lager (any will do, though I'd avoid anything fruity).  I used Blue Moon's summer ale and found it perfect, as would be pretty much any other summer ale or pale ale.  Ketchup, pitted & chopped dates, minced red onion, and cider vinegar also make an appearance.

Be sure to clear out any pits completely or you're gonna be sad later when you flip the blender on.

First is to heat up a saucepan on medium heat.  When it's hot, add a splash of olive oil, followed by the minced onion.

Add a dash of salt (helps it cook faster) and stir it occasionally for 5-8 minutes, until it starts to brown up.

To that add your ketchup, 1/2 cup of the beer, and the dates.

Stir it all together and turn the heat down to low.

Let it simmer for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  You may also find that you want to add an additional splash of beer now and then to keep the consistency close-ish to that of ketchup.  In the end I didn't use the whole bottle, but it was definitely closer to empty than not.  Also, be sure not to answer the door at this point: if visitors see you with onion tears and an open bottle of beer in the middle of day they're bound to have questions.

(While the sauce cooked I took the meats out of the fridge to let them come up to room temp.  It's a little trick to help them cook more evenly.)

When the sauce is cooked and the dates are softened, add the cider vinegar and stir it in.

Take the pan off the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes or so.  Then put it in the blender and puree until smooth.

When that's done, cover the sauce put it in the fridge until you're ready to use it.

To make the sliders (and really, there's no reason you can't do full-sized burgers if that's more your style, just FYI, though you'll have to adjust the cooking time), first assemble your ingredients:

Two things of note here.  As I mentioned in the quickie directions above, I think falafel mix is every bit as good as the meat (if not better because healthier).

The other thing is the spice.  The recipe calls for one tablespoon of baharat, which is a middle eastern all-purpose spice blend that differs from house to house.  If you don't have any on hand, you can either:
(1)   make a cup of it and store what you don't use for this recipe in an airtight container*;
(2)  eyeball it by using a generous pinch (1/16th of a teaspoon) each of ground coriander, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom, plus a generous dash (1/8th teaspoon) each of ground black pepper, cumin, nutmeg, and paprika; or,
(3)  use a similar spice mix of your choice, such as ras el hanout, tikka masala, tandoori masala, harissa blend, berber spice, cajun spice, or whatever spice blend you prefer with lamb.  Just watch out for added salt.

* I went with the first option, but I doubt too many folks have a spice grinder or the patience.  Go with what works best for you.  As I always say, we don't judge here.  The point of cooking isn't to show off how hard you work, it's to enjoy something you've created.

Okay, so get your meats, garlic, chopped parsley, onion, and spice together in a bowl:

Mix thoroughly until everything is incorporated.  I find using my hands works best.

Measure out 1/4 cup of the lamb mixture and form it into a patty.  I myself only measure the first one and then eyeball the rest, but it's up to you.  The original recipe claims you'll end up with 12 patties in the end.  I had 16, so clearly eyeballing wasn't completely accurate.

Heat up your skillet to medium-high.

When the skillet's hot, put the burgers on (don't crowd 'em) and cook for 3-5 minutes per side or until done to your preference.  Don't forget about safe food temps, please.

You can toast or warm your buns/pita if you'd like.  That's your call.  I toasted the buns quickly on a separate skillet, about 30 seconds per side.  The pita I placed in a 200(F) degree oven for about 10 minutes while the burgers cooked.

To assemble the burgers, place a generous dollop of the date sauce on each bun, along with the patty and any toppings you've selected.

I liked mine with spinach, feta, cucumber slices, and tomato.  The recipe in Bon Appetit recommends caramelized onions (which I skipped since both the sauce and the lamb mix contain onion).  The online menu from Abigail Street says they use goat cheese and mint pesto.  Doc preferred asiago cheese to feta.  Whatev, it's all pretty grand.

Indian Brunch Part 2: Parsi Eggs (Akoori)

Hi there!

You'll find Part One here, in case you missed it.  Since I did a fairly long intro there I'll err on the side of brevity here and just give a little background before launching into the recipe.

Akoori, also called Parsi eggs, are a kind of spicy scrambled egg with middle-eastern-slash-south-asian influences.  What, you might ask, does that mean?  Well, to be quite honest it means that there's any spice at all -- at least compared to how I grew up on them, where black pepper and parsley were about the height of egg adventurousness.  If you've had a southwest scramble before these are in the same vein: veggies, egg, and a little kick.  I made them a two weeks ago alongside upma (savory cream of wheat) and a modified raita where I swapped out the cilantro and veggies for lemon zest, mango, and blueberries.

Skim to the bottom for a condensed recipe.

Parsi Eggs

Total time:  10 minutes to prep, 15-20 to cook.

We're going to start this adventure like we do so many other recipes here:  add 1 tsp cumin seeds to 0.5 tsp oil that's been heated on medium-high heat.  Wait until the seeds sizzle (about 10-30 seconds):

Now, what veggies you use is totally up to you.  I went for a fusion touch because I like mushrooms in my eggs.  If you want to skip any of these veggie choices or sub in your own (eggplant, kale, spinach, chard, peas, zucchini, whatever, etc.), then please do that.  If mushrooms are your thing, cook those first:

Give them about 5 minutes and plenty of space ("don't crowd the mushrooms," as Madame Julia used to say).  Then add minced onions:

Give those about 3-5 minutes to soften up, then about 0.5 tsp each of ginger and garlic (minced or paste):

And, after letting that cook for 2-3 minutes, add in any other squishy veggies you like.  I added a tomato and some bell pepper:

I let those continue to cook on LOW heat (as in, turn it down at this point) while I mix up my eggs and that seems to be enough time (about 2-3 more minutes) to bring the whole shebang together.  If you'd like, go ahead and add 0.5 tsp cumin powder and/or 1 tsp fresh minced cilantro the stir-fry.

As for the eggs, I used 2 eggs, a dash of milk, 0.5 tsp turmeric, and 1 tsp chili powder (please adjust to your own taste):

When the eggs were all whisked I poured them in the pan over my veggie stir-fry:

And then just let them cook for a few minutes until the eggs started to firm up.  This part works just like regular scrambled eggs, so I didn't bother to take extra pictures of that process.  Once the eggs start to firm up just push them about gently until there's no more runny bits, and you're done!

They're more traditionally served with toast or flatbread, not unlike the scrambled eggs you're probably used to.  I always feel so accomplished starting off my day knowing I've already gotten one serving of veggies in.

Ingredients:

• 0.5 tsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• Apx. 1/4 cup each vegetables of your choice.  Some suggestions to get you started are:
• mushrooms
• onions
• tomatoes
• bell peppers
• chili peppers / jalepenos
• green peas
• zucchini, squash, or eggplant
• dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, or chard
• 0.5 tsp minced ginger or ginger paste
• 0.5 tsp minced garlic or garlic paste
• 0.5 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp minced cilantro (fresh coriander)
• 2 eggs, whisked with an optional dash of milk
• NOTE:  the milk isn't vital, but adding a tiny splash to eggs when making an omelet or scrambled eggs helps it to puff up and helps to stretch your eggs a little further.  That said, it should be known that this is kind of a ghetto kludge and is frowned upon by Real Foodies.
• 0.5 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chili powder (optional, adjust to taste)
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. On medium-high heat, cook the cumin seeds in hot oil until they sizzle (about 10-30 seconds).
2. Add any vegetables that take longer to cook, such as mushrooms or onions.  Allow 3-5 minutes each for these to cook until soft. 
3. Add ginger and garlic, saute with veggies 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
4.  Add soft veggies such as tomatoes, leafy greens, or peppers and turn the heat down to low.  
5. Add cumin and cilantro, stir occasionally on low heat for 2-3 minutes while whisking eggs.
6. In a mixing bowl whisk together eggs, milk, turmeric, and chili powder.  
7. Pour egg mixture over stir-fry and allow to cook until the eggs are just beginning to set.
8. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, gently push the eggs around the pan once, breaking them into smaller pieces.  Continue to stir occasionally until eggs are cooked through.   (Note: be sure the pan is on low heat before starting this step.)
9. Serve hot with toast or flatbread.

Indian Brunch Part 1: Upma (Cream of Wheat with Stir-Fried Vegetables)

India is a stupendously diverse place, you guys.

Every time I refer to something as "Indian" I get a little ping of guilt.  Not only is the country itself huge, it's chockabock full of hundreds of different subcultures that vary by caste, ethnic group, religion, region, and of course the normal variation that occurs just from family to family.  To help confuse things more, when I say "Indian" I often mean "South Asian, generally," or "countries in the Indian sub-continent," because several countries in South Asia have a number of similarities across culture and cuisine and it's difficult to hone in on what precisely I mean without the wording getting awkward.  It's kind of like how people refer to America when a number of things that are true for the U.S. are also true for Canada, but maybe not the case across the entire North American continent.  Or the difficulty that some of us experience when trying to refer to places in and around the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.  These things get tricky.

So when I say this is an "Indian" brunch, I'm using that as a shorthand to refer to a couple dishes I put together this past weekend using savory, produce-filled breakfast-type foods that are sometimes served in parts of South Asia, though I've added some fusion elements to bring it more in line with my own tastes.  As if all that weren't confusing enough, part of the brunch was a dish called akoori, or Parsi eggs, which have a middle-eastern influence.

Although I made the upma and the akoori together for a single Sunday brunch, there is nothing in the world stopping you from making them separately.  To my knowledge they're not commonly eaten together.  I like the idea that both are similar to western breakfast foods and the carbs in the cream of wheat complement the protein in the eggs, resulting in a more balanced meal than either provided on their own.

Do what makes you happiest, I say.  And as always scroll to the bottom if you want the condensed recipe.

Upma (Savory Cream of Wheat with Stir-Fried Veggies)

Total Time:  About 20-30 minutes, depending on how fast you chop.
Weirdest Ingredient:  curry leaves
Credits:  Believe it or not, I first spotted a version of this recipe in a Betty Crocker cookbook that Doc got me the week I moved in with him.  From there I adapted it using influences from Veg Recipes of India, Vegan Richa, and Indiaphile.  Making upma is like making oatmeal: you can personalize it pretty much any way you want, so please feel free to get creative with the ingredients.

Because this all comes together so fast I suggest gathering all the ingredients first and then cooking.  Normally I tend to dig things out as I go, but for this I line it all up ahead of time.  Which, as you probably know, is how "real" cooks do it.  I never seem to have the patience to think that far ahead unless there's a reason I need to move quickly.

First, let's talk terminology.  Semolina is a wheat by-product made from soft (durum) wheat and is coarser than flour.  When boiled with water, it makes a porridge that -- depending on your location -- is called either cream of wheat or farina.  In the west we tend to eat it like oatmeal: typically as a hot breakfast cereal with sweet additives like cinnamon, honey, or fruit.  Raw semolina is also a popular way to dust pizza stones (along with cornmeal) to give that grainy, slightly nutty quality to the crust.  In India (see above re: shorthand) one of the many uses of semolina (aka sooji / suji) is to boil it up, similar to cream of wheat, but with savory elements like vegetables and spices.  I've also seen versions of upma made with vermicelli noodles and quinoa, so I'd like to think that this recipe is pretty forgiving of substitutions.  The quinoa in particular appeals to me since that'd be a wonderful way to swap in some extra protein if that's of interest to you.

Completely unnecessary trivia:  Like cream of wheat and grits in the U.S., upma is more of a "southern" dish -- in this case referring to the south part of India and into (so I've read) Sri Lanka.  For northerners like me (and north Indians like Doc), it's a less common food where we're respectively from.  In fact, until I started researching this post I wasn't 100% certain of the difference between cream of wheat (made from -- get this! -- ground wheat) compared to grits (made from ground hominy, or white corn treated with lime).

Isn't learning fun?

So anyway, to get started the first thing is to "roast" the semolina grains.  Not a strictly necessary step if you're in a hurry.  On medium-low heat, I use a skillet to heat 3/4 cup of semolina (more than plenty for two adults) for about 3-4 minutes, stirring them about every 20-30 seconds or so:

What you're looking for is a color shift from pale white to more of a very, very light golden.  Thing is, it was very cloudy and my camera battery was running low, so I wasn't really able to capture that color shift in a photo.  This is the after shot, which is ostensibly the same color as the one above.  I guess the advantage there is that it shows we're not looking for a dramatic browning of the grains here -- just enough to give them a lightly toasted flavor is plenty:

Take the pan off the heat and scrape the grains into a separate bowl to cool.  I then use a damp paper towel to wipe down the skillet to remove any semolina dust and then re-use the same one for the next step, which is to heat 1 tsp of oil (ghee is a popular choice, I myself prefer olive oil) and 1.5 tsp of mustard seeds:

You'd think I'd just start recycling these oil + seeds photos from all the other Indian recipes I've posted, and yet I can't seem to shake the impulse to take a fresh photo each time.

Anyway, about 10-30 seconds is plenty of time for the mustard seeds to start to sizzle, at which point you'll want to add 1 tablespoon of dal (small lentils, I used masoor dal since they cook fast) and 2 tablespoons of unsalted broken cashew pieces:

Because the dal are so small they can actually cook about as well in oil ("dal fry") as they do in water.  Give 'em about 2 minutes of stir-frying -- as in, you keep stirring continuously as they fry -- before adding in 2 tsp of curry leaves (okay to omit if you don't have them):

Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.  Next up are 1/3 cup of minced onion (any kind is okay, doesn't have to be a red onion like in the picture) and 1 tsp of ginger paste:

Stir-fry this for another 3-5 minutes to soften up the onion, then add in Veggies of Your Choice.  Tomatoes, green chillies, and peppers are popular.  I swapped the chilies for spinach.  There's about a quarter cup of each vegetable here.  I encourage you to add more or swap things out according to your tastes.

Another 3ish minutes should be enough to soften up the veggies, at which time you can add an optional teaspoon of red chili powder for kick, if you'd like:

Last is 1/3 cup of green peas.

You don't have to stir-fry these if you're using frozen since they'll heat up enough in the next step.  Overcooked peas get mushy so unless you're using raw I'd immediately push everything to the edges:

And then add in 1.5 cups of either vegetable stock or water and the roasted semolina you made a few minutes ago.  The rule is 2x as much liquid as you've got semolina, in case you want to adjust the amounts.

At this point I reduce the heat to low and just stir it every 1-2 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.  As you might guess, the semolina expands quite a bit when it's cooked.  As long as the dish is hot and all the liquid is absorbed (add more if you want to water it down some), you're done:

If you've got other things going on the stove then feel free to let this sit on low heat.  Give it an occasional stir to prevent burning or sticking.

I added in fruit raita (swap in fruit of choice, such as berries, pomegranate seeds, mango slices, apple, banana, etc. for the veggies in this recipe) along with akoori (Parsi eggs) to round out the meal.

Upma (Savory Cream of Wheat)

Serves 2-3 adults

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of semolina (also called sooji/suji or farina/cream of wheat)
• It's okay to use 2 packets of plain cream of wheat / farina from the cereal aisle since it's just a pre-measured serving of semolina.
• 1 tsp oil or ghee (clarified butter)
• 1.5 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 TBS dal/lentils (such as masoor dal or urad dal, ok to mix multiple kinds)
• 2 TBS unsalted cashew pieces
• 2 tsp curry leaves (okay to omit)
• 1/3 cup minced onion
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• Apx. two cups of thinly-sliced vegetables of your choice (e.g. bell pepper, chili pepper, spinach, mushroom, tomato, kale, zucchini, cooked potato cubes, shredded carrot, etc.)
• 1 tsp red chili powder or paprika (optional)
• 1/3 cup frozen green peas
• 1.5 cups vegetable stock or water
• 2 tsp minced cilantro (fresh coriander) for optional garnish
• salt & black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large skillet on medium heat, roast the semolina grains 3-4 minutes or until very lightly toasted.  Remove from skillet and set aside in a separate bowl.  Wipe down the skillet with a damp paper towel and return to stove.
2. Roast mustard seeds in hot oil for 10-30 seconds or until they start to sizzle.
3. Add lentils and cashew pieces, stir-fry 2 minutes or until lentils just begin to brown slightly.
4. Add curry leaves and stir-fry another 1-2 minutes.
5. Add onion & ginger paste, stir-fry 3-5 minutes or until onions soften.
6. Add vegetables, stir-fry 3-5 minutes or until soft.
7. Add chili powder, stir-fry 1 minute.
8. Add green peas and immediately push all vegetables to the edge of the pan to create a hole in the center.
9. Into the cleared space add first the liquid (stock or water) followed by the semolina.
10. Stir the mixture every 1 minute or so for about 5 minutes or until semolina has absorbed all the water and heated through.  Turn down heat to low.
11. If desired, add additional liquid to thin out the mixture.  
12. Add cilantro if desired, along with salt and pepper to taste.
13. Can be served either hot or cold.

Crockpot Hoppin' John (Fusion-Style)

Hope you all had a lovely holiday season!

Hard to believe it's over, isn't it?  I had planned to put up my Irish scone recipe in time for Christmas breakfast, but with all the other baked goodies in the house I just couldn't bring myself to add more.  They're on my radar to share soon, I promise.  Other than that I spent most of the holidays cooking things that were other people's recipes (such as a Christmas rib roast and some crispy duck for New Year's Eve) or clearing out some of the freezer jars that'd started to pile up.  That's the awesome part about cooking & freezing in bulk -- any time I don't feel like putting together a meal I can just thaw one out without feeling like I've given up on nutrition.

Speaking of taking it easy, is there anyone at all who doesn't love a slow cooker recipe?  Toss in some meat/veg and some liquid, flip the switch, and come back in 6-8 hours to a hot meal that is almost always tender and delicious.  Meals just don't get any easier than that!

Growing up in New England, I didn't really have any exposure to lucky New Year meals until I was in college and started to make friends from Other Places.  I still love to hear about what kinds of foods people consider auspicious.  When I lived in Japan there were toshikoshi soba and oseichi to be enjoyed.  Here in rural PA, pork & sauerkraut is a bit of a thing.  Somehow, though, despite never living in the south I got into the habit over the last few years of making Hoppin' John for dinner on New Year's Day.  In the beginning I relied on recipes that spanned everything from the most rudimentary (beans, water, salt, & pepper) to more elaborate ones like recipes from Emeril and the Pioneer Woman (both are excellent).

This year I ran across a recipe on NPR that suggested an Indian twist on Hoppin' John.  A day or so later I found Thai and Vietnamese takes on it as well.  All three of these recipes call for either shredded coconut or coconut milk, something Doc will eat but doesn't really love.  The idea intrigued me enough to venture into trying a similar sort of thing.  Since it's more or less just a bean stew, I figured I could add in some extra spices and then toss the whole thing in the crock.  It keeps the concept of the original intact while adding in some color and a different flavor.

Here's a preview...




I don't think anyone would eat this and think, "wow, this is soooo south Asian."  Rather, the flavors were inspired by spices I didn't have any experience with until I started to try Indian foods.  This is definitely a fusion dish.


As always, the consolidated recipe is at the bottom of the page.

Slow Cooker Hoppin' John Raj

Total Prep Time:  15 minutes active + 12 hours inactive (only if using dried beans)
Total Cook Time: 6-8 hours
Makes:  ~10 cups
Weirdest Spices:  curry leaves, fenugreek seeds

I love crock cooking not only because it's so easy, but because it always gives me a bunch to freeze and cuts down on oil.  In this recipe there's none at all.  Ideal!  That said, if you wanted to speed this process up you could easily pop it on the stovetop on high, let it come to a boil, and turn it down to a simmer.  Based on other recipes like the ones I linked above, about 40-60 minutes of stovetop simmer should do it.

I used all fresh ingredients since I had them on hand, but if you want to use canned/frozen that'd do just as well.

Okay, so first off I threw a slow cooker liner into the crock.  These are heavenly if you haven't tried them yet.  Saves so, so much time when it comes to cleaning.  You still have to wipe down the pot after, don't get me wrong, but it does cut way down on the scrubbing (and swearing) part.

Ahhh, laziness.  The right way to start off the New Year.

Into that I threw a ham hock.  You absolutely can leave this out if you're not a fan of pork or if you want to make this recipe vegetarian/vegan.  If you're like me and did not grow up with random bits of animal thrown willy-nilly into dishes, the "hock" is more or less the pig's ankle.  I've seen other recipes call for jowl instead.  You could even substitute cubed ham or bacon if you wanted.  Basically, any cheap cut of pork will serve the function of adding a savory note and a little guilt to the dish.  As it turns out the butcher was able to give me one raw hock and one that was smoked.  Since there were so many other flavors going on here I used the raw and saved the smoked for split-pea soup later in the year.

Smoked to the left, naturally.

I put that down in the pot first, since that's the bit I want to make sure gets thoroughly cooked.  I surrounded it with 4 cups of black-eyed peas.

It'll get tastier-looking in just a minute, I promise.

A Gassy Aside:  A quick word on cooking with dried beans, if that's the route you choose (canned & frozen also totally a-ok, just for the record).  You'll want to wash & pre-soak dried beans before cooking.  This does two things: (1) it softens the bean so that it cooks more quickly & evenly later; and, (2) it starts the bean breaking down.  Breaking down releases gasses, if you get my drift.  For that reason I usually soak mine for 24-48 hours, so long as I've remembered in time.  If you're not a plan-ahead type, though, you can quick soak them in about an hour instead.  Or run to the grocery store for a can, that's probably even faster.  Here's mine after they'd been soaking for about 36 hours:

Look at all those bubbles that aren't ending up in someone's digestive tract!

One pound of dry beans gave me almost 8 cups after they'd been soaked.  I only used half in this recipe, saving the other half to make cassoulet some other day.

I topped the beans and ham with spices.  For this I tried 1 tablespoon garlic paste (you could sub 4-5 cloves of garlic), 2.5 tsp chili powder, 2 tsp coriander powder, 2 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon curry leaves (can omit), 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds, 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme (can use dried), and 1 bay leaf.

Lay the meat on its side after all the pictures are done.

Spice Aside:  Curry leaves are an actual thing.  Like we've noted about cumin seeds/powder and mustard seeds/powder, curry leaves are not the same thing as curry powder, nor are fenugreek seeds and fenugreek powder/leaves the same.  Curry leaves have got an earthy kind of smell and flavor that can almost be compared to bergamot (but please don't substitute tea for curry leaves).  Fenugreek seeds are warm and almost a little citrusy,  something to take the place of the vinegar that's popular to add to this dish.  If you don't have curry leaves -- and chances are you don't -- just leave them out.  With the fenugreek seeds you could try subbing in a tiny splash of lemon juice or, again, just leave it out.

Next I diced up and packed in 1 green bell pepper, 1 red bell pepper, and 1 onion.

Love dem colors!

Followed by 2 diced tomatoes.

Tomaters go on top because they're fragile.

If someone presses you to explain the significance of these veggie choices, you could say that the green symbolizes money and that red is a lucky color.  Or you could say that these are what were in your produce bowl that needed using up.

Add roughly 2 cups of broth.  I had chicken stock in the freezer.  You could use vegetable stock if you wanted, or even water.  If your beans haven't soaked for long you might need to add a little more liquid as they expand.  As long as you have enough liquid to cover the beans & ham you're good.  Lay the ham on its side so that it doesn't stick up as far, that'll cut down on the amount of liquid you need.

You can add the stock directly after the beans to adjust volume if you'd like.

And that, my friends, is that!  Despite the length of this post it's honestly about 15-20 minutes of active work, including dicing the veggies.  If you're just opening cans / freezer bags, you're looking at maybe 5-10.

Cover that bad boy, plug it in, and switch it on.  The very rough rule of thumb for slow cooking is 4-6 hours on low or 8+ hours on high, though it's dependent on what you're cooking.  Since this recipe uses dried beans and raw pork I shot for 8 hours on low, making sure to check the temperature of the ham with a thermometer before serving.  If you omitted the pork or used precooked meat then shorter times would probably be okay - just go until the beans are squishy enough to eat.  If you've omitted the raw meat and are using canned beans, then really you're good to go as soon as it's warm enough for your tastes.

Tip:  When using a slow cooker the whole point is that the food gets brought up to temperature very gradually, usually to somewhere between 170 - 200 degrees F.  The difference between low and high settings is how quickly this happens, but generally speaking the contents of the crock won't exceed 200-220F.  The lid is the thing that traps all this heat in, meaning that if you take the lid off to stir or poke at your food - particularly in the first few hours - you're setting yourself back in terms of cooking time.  It takes several hours before the liquid will even start to boil.  I usually wait until at least the halfway mark to stir things or check consistency, but do please resist the temptation to uncover & stir during the first few hours.  With meats, particularly meats on the bone like a ham hock, I like to use the low setting since that helps the meat to break down more.

Now comes the easy part: doing anything else at all while this cooks!  And enjoying the smell, of course.

Eight hours later I opened up the pot to find a tasty-looking bean stew.

You wish this were scratch & sniff.

Add salt & pepper to taste once everything's fully cooked.  Keep in mind that stock is almost always salty (particularly if you buy it) and the ham is also salty, so between the two you might not need to add any extra salt at the end.  Taste first, then add gradually.

If you like you can remove the pork hock, pick the meat off the bone, and then return the meat to the pot.  Or if you're lazy like us, you can just kind of scoop around the bone.  That's the beauty of slow cooker meals -- the meat's always spoon-tender.

We served it over rice with a little raw spinach for crunch & color.

Slow Cooker Indian-Spiced Hoppin' John

Ingredients:

• 1 ham hock (can omit if desired)
• 4 cups black-eyed peas
• If dried: wash & soak overnight
• If canned: drain & rinse
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium-sized onion, diced
• 2-3 tomatoes, diced
• 2-3 cups vegetable or chicken stock, just enough to cover the beans & ham
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste, or 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 2.5 teaspoons red chili powder (or to taste)
• 2 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon curry leaves (can omit if not available)
• 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (can omit)
• 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf

Instructions:

1. Layer ingredients in a slow cooker (minimum size: 4 qt): beans & ham, spices, pepper & onion, then tomatoes.
2. Add stock, checking to ensure that liquid covers the beans.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 6 hours.
4. Add salt & pepper to taste.  
5. Serve over rice with greens.