We like finger food around here. As I've already confessed, we tend to eat dinner on the couch in front of the nightly news, and finger food is so coffee table friendly. Recently we had some delicious tapas at a little wine bar tucked away down a brick alleyway in Portsmouth. The memory was refusing to fade gracefully into whatever netherworld foodie memories go to rest. One taste in particular seemed easily replicable: Prosciutto wrapped dates stuffed with manchego cheese. These were amazing. The crisp salty prosciutto tempered the sweetness of the chewy date, finishing with the twang of the piping hot nugget of gooey manchego cheese.
We free associated about what would go well with them and we came up with lamb meatballs. A quick search on the Droid helped us gather the appropriate ingredients for our version of Moroccan spiced lamb meatballs with lemon-mint yogurt dipping sauce. I rounded off the dinner with one of my all time favorite summer salads--- tabbouleh.
We filled the holes of pitted dates with small pieces of manchego cheese. Then wrapped the dates with the prosciutto and secured with toothpicks. We baked them on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking oil for about 10 minutes at 375. At the wine bar, the plate came out with 4 lonely dates on it, and we savored every one. We felt like the Sultan himself with a whole tray of them!
The lamb meatballs were easy, too. Ask the butcher to give you a pound of ground lamb. Add a beaten egg, 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, a half a small onion, minced, salt, pepper, a handful of fresh chopped mint, and a dash of allspice and cinnamon. Apparently there is an authentic Moroccan spice mix called ras el hanout, which is a blend of 12 spices, but we didn't have any. I'm going to try to find it for the next time. And believe me, there will be a next time for these.
Mix well and form into small 1 inch balls. Brown the meatballs in olive oil over medium high heat. Do this in batches, and place the meatballs on a baking sheet. When they are all browned, bake them at 350 for about 15 minutes or until they are about 160---170 degrees in the center.
For the dipping sauce, take a container of Greek yogurt and mix it with a minced clove of garlic, the juice of 1/2 lemon, the zest of a whole lemon, and a large handful of finely chopped mint. Salt and pepper to taste. (If you don't have Greek yogurt, which is thicker than regular yogurt, strain yours over a bowl so it will release some of its moisture.)
For the tabbouleh I augment a box of Near East tabbouleh by adding lots of fresh mint and parsley, and more lemon juice, tomatoes, and olive oil than the box specifies. This makes it richer, fresher tasting and more flavorful. If I have pine nuts around, I add them in too. This isn't finger food, but you could make it so by serving small portions in endive leaves, or lettuce cups.
Hello Sue:
ReplyDeleteDespite what you say, and show, we are not entirely convinced about the apparent ease with which this is all made. That said, it looks, and we are certain, tastes, absolutely delicious. For us, the inclusion of fruit in Moroccan food is an absolute winner whilst tabbouleh is one of our all time favourite dishes.
Would you care for an all expenses paid holiday in Budapest?!! Just bring your receipt book!
Oh I love middle eastern food like tabbouleh and meat with dates. I've noticed we call that and things like hummus middle eastern food but in America it's called Mediterranean!
ReplyDeleteA-MAZ-ING!!!!! Your dinner looks and sounds fabulous.
ReplyDeleteMiddle Eastern food is a favorite of mine but I rarely try to cook it. This inspires me. Maybe I'll hunt down a cooking class or two to get the hang of it.
Cheers, jj