(aka tashreeb dijaaj or thareed, an iraqi dish); this dish just begs me to go to naan hut

1⁄4 cup canola oil
6 cloves garlic
3 small onions, quartered
4 medium waxy-style potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp. Spice Mixture or curry powder
1 tbsp. ground turmeric
1 tbsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
4 skinless chicken legs (about 1 lb.)
4 skinless chicken thighs (about 1 lb.)
1 19-oz. can chickpeas, drained
4 pieces khubuz al-tannour (Iraqi flat bread), naan, or pita
1 lemon, quartered
1 tbsp. dried sumac (optional)

1. Heat oil in a 6-qt. pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onions, potatoes, bay leaves, spice mixture, turmeric, and salt. Cook, stirring and scraping bottom of pot occasionally, until onions and potatoes are golden, about 10 minutes. Add chicken and 3 1⁄2 cups water; stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, uncovered, until chicken is tender and cooked through, 20–25 minutes.
2. Add chickpeas; cook for 5 minutes more. Taste the stew and season with more salt, to taste. Line 4 bowls with torn pieces of the flat bread. Ladle stew over bread. Squeeze a wedge of lemon over each bowl and sprinkle with sumac.
SERVES 4

8 cloves garlic
1 small onion, quartered
1 3″ piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 1⁄2 cup golden raisins
1⁄2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1⁄3 cup blanched almonds
2 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. garam masala
2 tbsp. light brown sugar
3 tsp. saffron
4 serrano chiles, stemmed
1 1⁄2 cups yogurt
1 6–7-lb. leg of lamb, boned
Kosher salt, to taste
Juice of 1 lime
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro leaves

1. In a food processor, pulse garlic, onions, ginger, raisins, coconut, almonds, 2 tbsp. garam masala, sugar, 2 tsp. saffron, and 3 chiles to a paste. Add 1⁄2 cup yogurt; pulse to combine. With a sharp knife, make 1⁄4″-deep cuts all over lamb. Season inside of lamb with salt; rub with half the yogurt mixture, working it into the cuts. Roll lamb into a cylinder; tie at 1″ intervals with kitchen twine. Season outside of lamb with salt; rub with remaining yogurt mixture. Cover; let marinate for 1 hour at room temperature.
2. Finely chop remaining chile; combine with lime juice and remaining garam masala, saffron, and yogurt in a small bowl. Refrigerate sauce.
3. Soak Römertopf roaster in water for 15 minutes; drain. Put sliced onion into bottom of pot; top with lamb. Cover, place in a cold oven; turn heat to 325°. Bake until lamb is tender, about 3 hours. Uncover; cook, basting occasionally with juices, until browned, about 30 minutes more. Transfer lamb to a cutting board. Pour juices and onions into a 2-qt. saucepan; boil over high heat until reduced to 2 cups, about 15 minutes. Transfer onions to a platter with a slotted spoon. Slice lamb and lay over onions; drizzle with reduced juices and garnish with cilantro. Serve with the yogurt sauce.
SERVES 8

baked peaches

peach cake before baking

from santa monica’s saturday farmers’ market. they so remind me of childhood. although they look like a purple mole, they are juicy with tiny crunchy seeds. they pop in your mouth and just ooze juice staining your teeth purple and lodging the seeds in your teeth.

m was brilliant enough to get the blackboard eats coupon for jin patisserie so we rewarded ourselves and took a break from our massive workload to sit outside and enjoy lunch. we consumed the smoked salmon and the ham and gruyere sandwiches, both of which were crustless. i ordered the saigon green tea and m ordered the melange o. hers was lovely, fruited, and just asking for a touch of sweetness. mine was smooth and light and floral. the cake of the day was a raspberry mousse cake. i was duly impressed by the gelatin on top which transformed from dark pink to light pink over the span of 3 inches.

rasperry mousse cake

life has been getting in the way of cooking recently. either we’re not home, or we’re too tired to cook, or we’re just *blah*. we’ve neglected our teensy-weensy kitchen. we’ve neglected our culinary exploration. but we did discover torafuku which ranks right up there with yabu. m found their juicy, flavorful pork belly to be quite good. i digress. somewhere in between excel box 1493 and 1527, m managed to make me some simple syrup. i think i may have put the bug in her ear when we were out to lunch at sawtelle kitchen (we love dining on your patio during happy hour! more jumbo shrimp katsu!) last week, she made simple syrup which we added to our toddy coffee and consumed in less than a week. this week, she infused a whole package of mint into the simple sugar giving it a yellow hue. we add it to our marrakesh mint tea. i think i may consume all of it tonight. fresh, minty, sweetened goodness.

and my own personal culinary exploration is an iraqi chicken stew recipe. i admit that i don’t read saveur as often or as thoroughly as i should. i’ve started with the first issue in our collection and i’m methodically (no surprise there) reading each issue. (ok, i admit it – i skip some of the articles.) i’ve already discovered a few recipes i want to try (such as boneless leg of lamb roast in a german clay oven – good excuse to buy another kitchen item – and a brussels sprouts salad). today, i discovered iraqi stew. we have almost all of the spices for the spice mixture (yay for our international pantry!) and most of the ingredients so i *will* cook tomorrow! i will!!!

sashimi

• cauliflower panna cotta w/ ikura and uni
• tofu skin and sweet shrimp w/ guacamole
• checkerboard sashimi w/ caviar
• sashimi (tuna, kanpachi, live diver scallop, tai snapper)
• custard with lobster and shiitake mushrooms
• pasta w/ shaved albacore and summer white truffles tossed in a garlic sauce
• 6 pieces sushi: halibut, toro, mackerel, uni, tuna (white and had some unexpected but welcome chew), trout (looked like salmon, tasted like butter)
• dakota farms filet w/ kyoto carrots, russet potatoes and broccoli rabe
• udon
• strawberry w/ shiso
• sesame creme brulee and tangerines