A Middle Eastern Seasoning For An Earthy Roast Recipes

MIDDLE EASTERN SPICE BLEND

Steps:

• Place all ingredients in a bowl and toss to combine. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 year.

MIDDLE EASTERN-INSPIRED HERB AND GARLIC CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine chicken with all but 1 teaspoon of the grated garlic (save that teaspoon for the yogurt sauce), the zest and juice of 1 lemon, oil, parsley, mint, thyme, oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the sesame seeds and sumac, if using. Cover and marinate for 15 to 30 minutes at room temperature; you can refrigerate it for up to 24 hours.
• Heat grill or broiler. If grilling, cook chicken over high heat until charred in spots, 4 to 7 minutes. Flip pieces and continue grilling until just cooked through, another 4 to 7 minutes. If broiling, arrange a rack 3 to 4 inches from flame. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spread chicken out in a single layer. Broil chicken, turning halfway through cooking, until well colored and charred in spots, 4 to 7 minutes per side. Be careful that it doesn't burn.
• While chicken cooks, place yogurt in a small bowl. Stir in the reserved grated garlic and lemon zest and season to taste with salt. Serve the chicken drizzled with olive oil, remaining lemon juice to taste, black pepper, parsley and sesame seeds and sumac, if using, with the yogurt alongside for dipping.

MOROCCAN-SPICED PORK ROAST

Steps:

• Butterfly the pork loin by cutting almost all the way through, starting on the thinnest side, keeping your knife flat and parallel to the cutting board. Stop about 1 inch from the opposite edge you started, so that the meat opens up like a book. A few more shallow cuts can be made if the pork is not opening up enough to flatten out, but do not cut all the way through, otherwise you'll end up with two pieces.
• Season the butterflied pork on both sides with kosher salt and let sit out at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes, or 2 to 3 hours in the fridge.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a roasting pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Pat the tenderloin dry with a paper towel.
• Mix cumin, coriander, ginger, black pepper, smoked paprika,cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and honey together in a bowl with a spoon. Spread about half of the spice mixture inside the butterflied pork, fold it back together, and spread the remaining mixture all over the surface. Use 3 or 4 pieces of kitchen string to tie the loin up every few inches, cutting off extra string.
• Toss potatoes, carrots, chile peppers, and onion with olive oil and salt in a bowl.
• Place the pork into the prepared roasting pan and surround with vegetable mixture.
• Roast in the preheated oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the loin reads at least 140 to 145 degrees F (60 to 63 degrees C), about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn roast over with tongs in pan drippings. Transfer to a plate, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes.
• Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Toss vegetable mixture in pan drippings and return to the oven to crisp up, about 10 minutes.
• Combine yogurt, mint, and garlic in a small bowl for sauce.
• Remove strings on roast. Slice, spoon pan drippings over, and serve with vegetables and yogurt sauce.

MIDDLE EASTERN BEEF STEW

Steps:

• Brown half the beef in 2 teaspoons olive oil, and repeat with remaining beef and more oil.
• Throw beef and the remaining ingredients into crock pot on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. My sister didn't have allspice when she made it, so she used cumin, which is fab!

A MIDDLE EASTERN SEASONING FOR AN EARTHY ROAST

Steps:

• December 2007 and a net of ivory and pink artichokes has turned up in the organic box, as knobbly as a bag of vertebrae. We have had them twice out of the garden already this week and I am not sure whether to laugh or cry. Sound and clean, they have a pink blush to them that makes them appear more delicate than they probably are. They tempt, though, and I decide to roast them to serve with the sliced cold ham and jar of fruit jelly in the fridge.
• The tubers get a brief once-over under cold water, which makes their soft colors shine like young flesh, then I put them on the chopping board and whack each with a can of chickpeas. I could have used a rolling pin to break the rough-sided tubers but I like the squat heaviness of the can in the hand-it feels like the right tool for the job. The idea is, I suppose, to crack each one open so that the roughly broken insides as well as the skin might caramelize in the oven's heat.
• For no particular reason, I decide to follow the earlier roast artichoke recipe but to season the sweet, earthy roots with the piquancy of a couple of chopped pickled lemons, a teaspoon of crushed coriander seeds, and the throat tickle of large, coarse parsley leaves. The contrast with the pan-cooked ones with fresh lemon I mentioned previously is striking.