I love pirating recipes and exotic ingredients from cuisines around the world and playing around with them.  Sometimes just seeing a picture gives me an idea and I’m off and running. (Or is it Cooking?)  This particular recipe was inspired by the spices and flatbreads of the Middle East.  It’s quick, delicious and easy to make if you have a couple of specialty spices on hand.   You will need some Aleppo Pepper, ground Sumac and Pomegranate molasses.  You can order the Aleppo Pepper and Sumac from Penzeys.com.  Pomegranate molasses is becoming more and more common at grocery stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.   Whole Foods carries it, as does Draegers Market and any number of small specialty stores.   You can make this on store bought Naan or other flatbread, pita bread or pre-made pizza crust.

Middle Eastern Lamb Flatbread

Serves 2 very hungry people.

Pre-heat the oven to 425F

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
2 Tbsp. Pomegranate Molasses

Combine and set aside.

2 small pita breads, Naan or flatbread of your choosing

1# ground Lamb
2 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ cup onion, minced
2 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp. of the Tomato Paste/Pomegranate Molasses mixture
1½ tsp ground cumin
2 tsp. Aleppo Pepper (add an extra teaspoon for a spicier variation.)
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground sumac, set aside for garnish
1 oz of crumbled feta cheese
1 scallion, white and green parts sliced
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a saute pan over medium heat, warm the oil.  Add the onion to the oil, season with salt and brown.  Once the onion has browned, add the garlic and cook for a minute or two until aromatic.  Add the ground lamb and brown.  Once the lamb is no longer pink, add the tablespoon of the tomato paste-molasses mixture.  Stir to combine and add the cumin, Aleppo pepper, cinnamon and ginger.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  It should be a little spicy from the Aleppo pepper, aromatic from the cinnamon and savory from the addition of cumin and ginger.  Set aside.

Brush the crust of your choosing with the remaining Pomegranate Molasses mixture.  Divide the ground lamb mixture between the two crusts.  Garnish with the feta and sliced scallion.  Sprinkle the ground sumac over pizzas.  *If you can’t find ground sumac, just use a little bit of lemon zest.  Sumac is sour with a lemon-y component and lemon zest is an acceptable substitute.   Put the flat breads on a pizza stone or baking sheet pan.

Bake until heated through, about 10-15 minutes depending on the type of crust you have chosen.

Enjoy!!

I have to admit to being a snob when it comes to fresh seafood.  I grew up on the coast of Maine and my family bought seafood from Harbor Fish Market (harborfish.com) on the wharves of Portland, Maine. Whenever I go home it is a joy to see the pristine seafood that Mainers take for granted on a daily basis. I love seafood.  It is hands down one of my favorite things to eat.  From cod cheeks to lobster and uni, I enjoy it all.  I try to always eat sustainably raised and local fish and seafood.  The Monterey Bay Aquarium offers valuable information about this topic on its ‘seafood watch’ list found at http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch.     Here in California, I initially found it difficult to find really fresh seafood.  Then I found out about Cook’s.  Cook’s Seafood (cooksseafood.com) is located in Menlo Park and has the freshest fish in the San Francisco Bay Area.  My second favorite—and it’s only second because it is in the East Bay, is the Monterey Fish Market in Berkeley. Cook’s has been open since 1928. The building is divided into two parts—the fish market and the restaurant.  The restaurant has a simple menu, but offers excellent fish ‘n chips among other things. The staff in the fish market is extremely knowledgeable and friendly.  I don’t buy fish anywhere else.  I consider fish a specialty item and I feel that  big grocery stores do not give enough attention to the seafood department. When I walk into a grocery store and can smell the fish department I always take it as a sign to stay way!   Fresh fish will never smell ‘fishy’.  If you are buying a piece of fish, it should always be firm—not mushy.   If you are buying a whole fish, look for clear and shiny eyes.   If you are on the peninsula and are in the mood for seafood, or simple but well executed fish and chips, make sure to go to Cook’s.

What a great name, huh? I have always been a firm believer that chocolate could change the future and now I know that other people feel the same way!!  I spent this evening at a great event hosted by San Francisco hotshot chocolate maker Tcho.  Their chocolates are exquisite.  I highly recommend that you seek them out whether or not you are a chocoholic.  FRED is not all about fun and games, no matter what you might hear. This was an event with a purpose. All proceeds from the event went to three different Haiti relief efforts. I was asked to donate some hors d’oeurves to the event. I couldn’t say no to such a worthy cause.  I firmly believe that we all need to help each other out in this world, in whatever way we can, whenever we can.

One of the questions that I am asked most frequently about what I do is:  Where do you shop? The answer is a long list of places all over the San Francisco Bay area.  It depends on where I am cooking, convenience, and who has the highest quality ingredients available.  I typically go to the Farmer’s market on the weekend for most of my produce shopping. For fish, I highly recommend Cook’s Seafood in Menlo Park—I rarely purchase seafood anywhere else.  On the other side of the bay I recommend Monterey Fish Market.  I shop Whole Foods for items such as flour, sugar etc.

Most Tuesday mornings you will find me at Bianchini’s Market in Portola Valley.  Portola Valley has a remote quality that makes it feel very unique.  It is undeveloped and whenever I am there I find it hard to believe that I am just 40 minutes away from an urban city center.   You will probably see a doe and her babies meandering by the side of the road.  If you are driving only a few miles over the speed limit, or come to a ‘rolling stop’, the local law enforcement will surely stop you.  It’s that kind of town.  The easiest way to get to Portola Valley (from SF) is to take 280 south to the Alpine Road exit.  Bianchini’s is located just off of the freeway, on the main road through town.  It is family owned and operated.  Bianchini’s opened as a full service grocery store in 1998.  It now has a second store in San Carlos that opened last spring.   What I like the most about the store is the commitment to quality and their support of local farms.  Of course, they do carry long distance items such as bananas and pineapples but they really make an effort to bring in local produce.  I believe that they have some of the best local produce in the area.  Chanterelle mushrooms when they are in season, a bounty of tomatoes and stone fruit in the summer, squash and apples in the fall.  The meat department is also excellent.  They do a fantastic job trimming and tying roasts, and the butchers are extremely knowledgeable.  They carry high quality grass fed beef from Marin Sun Farms, items such as waygu brisket, as well as Mary’s air chilled chicken.  They have high points for customer service too.  The only department that I am not impressed by is the seafood department.  However, it is worth a stop if you are driving thru Portola Valley.