Kefta Kebabs and Medina Chickpeas
I had a recent visit planned for to Morocco and as my daughter was going to be home from college, I offered her the chance to tag along if she didn’t mind sharing a room. The flight was super cheap and so she was my co-pilot. She’s grown up with my love of food and has inherited most of my sense for culinary adventure. Funny story, when she was about 6 we had made asparagus as a side dish for dinner. She naturally refused and I jokingly said, I bet I couldn’t get you to eat a piece for a $1 to which she agreed that would not be enough. I said $5? Nope. $10? Nope. So, then I said, I’m sure you wouldn’t even do it for $100! Uh, yeah, she would. It took her about 5 minutes to get it down and I’m $100 poorer today. In any case, she DOES love food so I knew our trip would be filled with searching out the best places we could find and trying everything under the sun. And upon return, all we wanted was to recreate those magical Moroccan flavors. My first attempt was, surprisingly, a huge success. Of all the dishes I’ve made, my daughter took one bite and said, “Now THIS! THIS is NYC restaurant quality.”
Ingredients for kefta:
- 1 pound of ground beef (or lamb, or a combination of the two)
- 1 medium onion
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro (chopped)
Mix it, cool it, cook it. OK, so there's slightly more to it but not much. Mix all of the ingredients (I like to do this by hand wearing disposable food-safe gloves) in a large bowl and chill it for an hour. Then form handfuls around a wooden skewer, patting the mixture into pieces that are about 1 ½” wide by 5” long. Flatten a bit. Cook over the grill or on a hot pan with oil.
Ingredients for Medina Chickpeas
- Can of chickpeas (15oz)
- Paprika
- Garlic
- Cumin
- Salt
- Cayenne pepper
- Olive oil
Drain, wash, and DRY the chickpeas. You want the chickpeas to have as little water as possible on them. Heat oil until it shimmers in a wok-like pan. Add some crushed garlic and heat for 30 seconds or so. Add the chickpeas and toss to coat. Sprinkle liberally with paprika and add a pinch or two of cumin. Sprinkle with salt and about ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Toss to coat and continue to cook. Move on to other dishes while the chickpeas fry – stirring or shaking occasionally until the chickpeas form a nice crispy outside. Taste and correct for seasoning.
