European Georgia Recipes

[ewriggs]

Georgians use a lot of walnuts in their cooking. They also use a good bit of garlic and tamarind. This combination makes for an interesting taste complex.

Hope y'all like these!

Cheerio!
Elizabeth

[ewriggs]

This is a wonderful recipe with a very traditional Georgian flavor. You can find tamarind paste at most Whole Foods type stores. Georgians use walnuts in many of their dishes. They add a decidedly different but nice flavor.

Khalia (Georgian spicy beef stew)
Ingredients:1 1/2 lb beef chuck boneless cubed 1/2"
3 tb olive oil
3/4 c beef stock
3 ea onions, chopped fine
2 ts tamarind concentrate
2 1/2 tb tomato paste
1/2 ts paprika hungarian hot
1/4 ts fenugreek ground
3/4 ts coriander seeds, crushed
1 ts tarragon, dried
salt
1 1/2 ts black pepper freshly ground
3 ea garlic cloves minced fine
3 tb cilantro leaves chopped
1/4 c walnut pieces finely chopped
1 tb sugar or honey


Directions:Heat the oil over med-high heat in a large cast iron skillet. Add the beef, onions, and garlic and cook while stirring for 12-15 minutes. Combine the hot beef stock, with the tomato paste and the tamarind concentrate in a bowl and alow to stand until all of the tamarinf concentrate is disolved, approx. 8-10 minutes. Add this mixture to the beef as well as all of the other ingredients, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Be sure to stir occassionaly. Add stock as needed if the liquid reduces too much. Add the sugar and walnuts and simmer for 15 more minutes.

Cheerio!

[ewriggs]

This is just delicious!



Pkhali
(Spinach with Walnut and Garlic Sauce)



2 pounds fresh spinach

Walnut Sauce and Garnish:

3/4 cup ground walnuts
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds or 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground fenugreek
1/2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
3 tablespoons water
Salt, to taste
Pomegranate seeds or walnut pieces for garnish


1. Rinse the spinach thoroughly and discard the stems. Cook in salted water until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Drain the spinach and cool until manageable. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
3. Chop the spinach as fine as you can, or mince in a food processor, being careful not to overpuree. (The Georgians insist that it is best to put it through an old-fashioned meat grinder.)
4. To make the sauce, mix the ground walnuts with the garlic, onion, cilantro, coriander seeds, cayenne, fenugreek, vinegar, and water in a bowl.
5. Add this mixture to the spinach and stir until thoroughly blended and smooth. Season with salt. Cover and refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours.
6. To serve, spread the pkhali on a plate and smooth the top with a spatula. With a knife, make a pattern of diamonds in the top and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds, if available, or with walnut pieces.
Serves 4 to 6

Cheerio!
Elizabeth

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Why is it called European Georgia cooking? These are interesting recipes. When I am not home with DH, I will have to try these.

[ewriggs]

I'm callling it European Georgian cuisine because Georgia is one of the countries in Eastern Europe! The capitol is Tblisi. Wonderful place with a several thousand year history. They converted to Orthodox Christianity (http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/orthgeor.htm) early in the 4th century or so. Their cuisine is influenced by both the middle east, Russia and Western Europe as well as their own agricultural idiosyncracies.

Cheerio!
Elizabeth

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Thanks. I notice that they are calling all "caucasians" "European Americans" whether or not they are originally from Europe instead of just asking if they are caucasian. Go figure. It just seems to be a popular term that's why I asked.

[ewriggs]

Greeks use lamb and pork more than beef. This is a wonderful dish.

Lamb with Yoghurt Sauce

Ingredients:
2 # lamb, cut up into 2-3 inch cubes
1/4 c butter
1 garlic clove
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt
Pepper

Sauce:
1 c plain yoghurt
2 cups milk
1 Tbsp cornstarch
4 eggs

Directions:
Sprinkle the lamb pieces with salt and pepper.

Mix garlic, lemon juice, butter and 1 c water in a pan. Add the seasoned lamb and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Move lamb pieces to a baking dish. Strain the juices and pour over the lamb. Bake at 375deg F for about an hour.

Yoghurt sauce: Mix yoghurt, milk, cornstarch and eggs in a bowl. Spread the mixture on top of the meat and continue to cook for 10 more minutes. Serve hot.

Cheerio!
Elizabeth

PS - More Later!!

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Elizabeth, what cut of lamb is that?

[ewriggs]

Elizabeth, what cut of lamb is that?

Usually the leg, although you can use any cut you want to. The main thing is to have enough! LOL! Costco has good lamb. Getting fresh lamb in this part of the country (near Atlanta GA) is "interesting," so we use the frozen from Costco. It usually is New Zealand lamb.

As you are in NM, though, you should be able to get fresh lamb in the spring fairly easily. I worked briefly at Shiprock in the BIA hospital there. I remember that the Navaho as well as several other tribes in the area have fairly large herds of sheep.

Cheerio!
Elizabeth

[ewriggs]

Greeks use lamb and pork more than beef. This is a wonderful dish.

OOPS! This belonged in the Greek Foods thread!! I copied and put it there, so it can be deleted from this thread - I just don't have the "authority" to do it!!

Cheerio!
Elizabeth

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Thanks. It is actually more difficult to get lamb in Carlsbad than you can imagine. I haven't tried to buy it in Las Cruces though. I love lamb and when I made a stew with it, DH loved it too.

[ewriggs]

HONEY CAKE
2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 cup walnuts ground
1/2 cup walnuts chopped
3 cups flour
2 tsps cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Combine honey and sugar. Add water with baking soda. Blend. Add oil, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour. Mix well. Pour into greased 9X9 inch pan. Let stand at room temperature before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Cut into square or diamond shapes.

This is REALLY good!!

Cheerio!
Elizabeth

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[barbszy]

Our grocery has semi-boneless leg of lamb on sale this week for $1.99. I'm thinking I might buy one so I can try some of these recipes....

Elizabeth, we used to have some neighbors who were Circassian, but from I think the same area of Georgia you mention. A lot of lamb, rice, garlic and eggplant in their cooking. However, they are Muslim, not Christian. They started out in Russia but came through Turkey and eventually to the US.