I’m expecting members of my dance troupe for an afternoon of costuming advice, drumming, dancing, and general chatting on Sunday, and would like to provide culturally-related food. I have a nice lamb roast defrosting right now, but I’m interested in different ideas y’all may have of preparing it (I should have enough time for a good marinade between now and then), and what I should serve with it. Hummus and pita are definitely on the menu, but what other light snack-type food would be good?
What?!
I’d like to contribute something useful but I’m not very familiar with the cuisine. An alternate protein source (non-legume) might be nice. Maybe something like shrimp or chicken ka-bobs?
In the middle east they’d probably braise the lamb rather than have a nice, rosy roast. Look for recipes for lamb Tagine. Israeli couscous is really good with lamb. For appetizers you can make (or buy) hummus and serve with warmed pita bread. I like to pop them in the toaster, rotate occasionally, take them out before they burn, then cut in 8ths. Feta cut in cubes served with cherry tomatoes would be nice as well. For dessert buy some baklava at you local ME grocery.
If I wasn’t married I’d offer to cater, what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than with belly dancers!
Stuffed grape leaves. If you live near a Trader Joe’s, I highly recommend their stuffed grape leaves-the one in the bottle in the aisles, not the ones in the refrigerated food department.
I’ve no idea how authentic this is to the middle east, but I like to spice up storebought hummus with roasted red peppers. If you have a gas stove, you can just turn the burner on, pop the pepper on the burner, and rotate it a quarter turn when it goes dark, dark brown. Otherwise, you can do the same thing under the broiler in your oven, flipping them over once. Once the peppers are all roasted, put them in a paper bag or wrap them in a dish towel for twenty minutes-ish. Peel the skin off and discard, then chop them up and add them to the hummus. Delicious.
Any time you or DanBlather find yourselves near Alabama, let me know!