Ohio Farms Meet the Middle East

"If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him... the people who give you their food give you their heart."

-Cesar Chavez

Finally you'll say. Finally. She's finally made some food. We cannot exist on floury, sweet treats alone. Finally, I've made some food. Not just food, not just one dish, but a meal. The time has finally come to start getting inventive with fresh vegetables again. Spring is sprung and hopping away faster than any of us could imagine. Summer is beckoning and in her basket she carries the earliest savory succulence to bring to our tables. In Cleveland's Farmers Markets and Farm Stands, you'll no doubt begin to see lettuce, kale, swiss chard, spinach, beets, kohlrabi, and asparagus. These early season specialties won't last long, so get shopping and get creative. That was my motto this week.

Now, my flare for the spices of the Middle East and the citrus acidic tones of the Mediterranean could be attributed to my blossoming imagination alone, but that wouldn't be fair. Last weekend, like millions of other American women in love with a modern day fairy tale, I put on my high heels and headed out to the cinema to see Sex and the City 2. While seeing the first movie only inspired three rounds of Cosmopolitans at Casa Nueva in Athens, Ohio...the second movie took place almost exclusively in Abu Dhabi (shot in Morocco, same idea though). When I left that theater last Saturday night, I wanted to hit up my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant for some hummus, shish kabobs, mint tea, and then three rounds of Cosmopolitans. My craving for the alluring spices, textures, and bold flavors of the land stretching from the Mediterranean to China to the Arabian Sea was insatiable, and therefore, as Samantha would say, "Attention must be paid."

The second inspiration for this menu came as I perused the Lake Farmpark's Market on Wednesday. A grass-fed beef stand caught my eye, and after talking to the nicest, most friendly woman from Ashtabula County, I decided to buy two pounds of shish-kabob meat and attack my craving head on. The meat was from Millgate Farm in Austinburg, Ashtabula County, Ohio. This beef was beautiful right out of the package. It was the perfect shade of purplish-pink, and had such a smooth and velvety texture. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in eating locally, naturally raised meats.

The rest of the meal evolved from beets I had previously purchased at my favorite farm stand, J & J Produce in Burton, the abundance of fresh herbs in my garden, and a small head of delicate, savory red butter lettuce I purchased at the Farmpark Market when I bought the meat. The theme of this week's blog post is...be creative. I created every dish I served in this meal, thinking constantly about melding flavors and textures and colors. Cardamom, mint and parsley are three common flavors I used to tie things together. They reflect not only the dishes they were used to season, but also the flavors of the Middle East I was so desperately trying to channel. Well, Mission Accomplished (insert appropriate George W. Bush/Middle East joke here)! The meal was amazing. It was brilliant to the eye, intriguing to the nose, and absolutely mouthwatering. It was a great way to use some locally raised Ohio products, and pull a new, different flavor profile as well. So this week, I encourage you to try these recipes, and perhaps even more so to try some of your own. Get to the markets, buy local, and be creative. Cooking is easy, most people just don't want you to know that. Enjoy.

Menu:
(Serves 4)

Spiced Ohio Beef Shish-Kabobs
Yogurt Sauce
Mashed Root Vegetables
Mediterranean Salad
Honey-Spice Grilled Apricots


Spiced Ohio Beef Shish-Kabobs

2 lbs Ohio Grass-Fed Beef (tenderloin, roast, anything that's thick enough and isn't ground), cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cardamom
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground rosemary

1. Rinse and pat-dry beef.

2. In a large bowl, combine salt, garlic powder, coriander, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper and rosemary. Toss the beef pieces in the spice mixture until evenly coated. Feed onto metal skewers, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

3. Oil the plates of an outdoor grill. Pre-heat grill to 400 degrees. Grill the beef skewers for 4 minutes per side, 12 minutes total. (I usually make shish-kabobs have 3 sides) Make sure to maintain the grill temperature at 400 degrees for a medium-well finish on the meat. Serve with yogurt sauce.

Yogurt Sauce

7 oz. lowfat greek yogurt
1/4 cup shredded English Cucumber
1 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest
2 TBS. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 TBS. finely chopped fresh mint
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of sugar

1. Mix all ingredients until well blended. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving to meld flavors.



Mashed Root Vegetables

3 medium size redskin potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
3 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
3 beets, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 TBS. olive oil
1 TBS. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1. Combine all vegetable pieces in a large pot. Cover by 1 inch with water. Boil vegetables for 25 minutes, or until each vegetable is tender. Drain.

2. Return the vegetables to the pot and add the olive oil, butter, salt, and black pepper. Mash together with a hand masher, leaving some larger chunks of vegetables if desired. Taste for salt and pepper, add if necessary. Serve hot and enjoy.



Mediterranean Salad

2 cups fresh, locally grown leaf lettuce, chopped
1 cup fresh, locally grown spinach, chopped
1/2 cup chopped English Cucumber
1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato
1 TBS. chopped fresh parsley
3.5 oz. reduced-fat crumbled feta cheese
Herbed Lemon Dressing

1. Toss all salad ingredients together. Pour dressing over salad and gently toss with your fingertips so as not to break up the tomatoes or bruise the lettuce.

Herbed Lemon Dressing

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 TBS. freshly grated lemon zest
1 TBS. white wine vinegar
1 TBS. chopped fresh mint
1 TBS. chopped fresh cilantro
1 TBS. chopped fresh oregano
1 TBS. chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp. salt
pinch of sugar
1/3 cup olive oil

1. In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, vinegar, mint, cilantro, oregano, parsley, rosemary, salt and sugar. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while whisking until well emulsified, and no oil is visible floating on top. Pour over Mediterranean Salad.



Honey-Spice Grilled Apricots

4 fresh apricots, halved and pitted
1/4 cup low-sugar, all natural apricot preserves (low sugar, not sugar free)
2 TBS. locally produced honey
1/4 tsp. cardamom
1 tsp. fresh mint, finely chopped
1 TBS. dark rum

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the apricot preserves, honey, cardamom, mint and dark rum. Baste the cut sides of the apricots with this glaze.

2. Oil the plates of an outdoor grill. Pre-heat the grill to 400 degrees.

3. Place apricots cut side down on the hot grill. Baste the other side of the apricot halves with the glaze. Grill for six minutes. Turn apricots over, baste again with the glaze, and grill on the opposite side for six more minutes. Serve warm all by themselves, with whipped cream, or with vanilla ice cream.


And finally...



p.s.- Don't be afraid of parsnips. The Mashed Root Vegetables were sweet, creamy and amazing. Nothing snippy about it.