Taste Buddies - A Sydney Food Blog

Lamby's Lamb Kofta Salad

I'm sorry for my lack of posting over the last two weeks. It's a busy time. Life is flying past in a blur. I often think about why it seems that each year goes faster than the last. Is it because most of us are doing the same thing day in day out? Because life is not as new and unfamiliar as it was growing up?

I had a conversation with a friend a few months ago about this topic and he said to slow his life down, he did one new thing a week, even if it was as mundane as walking a different way to work. Sometimes he'd go to the symphony, go for a run in the park instead of the gym, or eat somewhere new for breakfast. Doing something different, no matter how small, gave him a kind of placeholder in his mind so he could distinguish each week from another.

My friend's name is 'Lamby' and I'm dedicating this recipe, a Lebanese lamb kofta salad, to him. I hope this week stands out in his recollections as a special week.

The lamb kofta salad is a dish I ate during my recent detox diet. I have a real weakness for Lebanese food, especially a garlic sauce often eaten with barbecued meats. I first tasted it in a small Lebanese restaurant called Fatimas in Sydney. I've tried on many occasion to replicate the creamy concoction but I never get it just right. I do come pretty close though.

The sauce is a combination of TWO garlic bulbs (yes, I do smell of garlic for the next two days), olive oil, lemon juice and sea salt. It's fantastic smeared over lamb, chicken, beef, white fish and in salads. Just don't kiss anyone.

Comfort Food Part II: Lamb Biryani

Biryani is a rice-based dish eaten in the Middle East and South Asia that consists of meat, vegetables, spices and yogurt.

I first tried it in a Persian restaurant called Byblos in Montreal when I was on holiday a few weeks back. When I got back to Vancouver I found myself craving it and decided to try and make it. I used lean, ground lamb instead of beef which added an extra richness to the dish. I sauteed the lamb with a heady mix of cumin, paprika, a cinnamon stick and ground chili to reduce its 'lambiness'.

The Biryani I had at Byblos was much drier than my version but I preferred the extra moisture of my tomato-based sauce. To top the dish off I added fresh lemon juice, parsley and lots of fresh mint; mint being one of my favourite herbs. This addition balanced the rich flavour of lamb perfectly.

I will be adding this recipe to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted this week by Pille of the blog Nami Nami.

To finish off the meal and cleanse our palates, I used the rest of the mint leaves to make a delicious mint tea by bruising the leaves and then putting them in a cup and adding hot water and a little wild honey.