Spiced Local Lamb over Israeli Couscous

At a party about a week or so ago we were having a discussion with friends about cooking. It was mentioned how fortunate my husband is to be the recipient of all my cooking creations. This particular friend didn’t overly enjoy cooking and was frustrated with the same dishes. Even more so, she was frustrated when she put in the time and things didn’t turn out well.

It was at this point that I took the opportunity to say that while I enjoy cooking my creations aren’t always especially delicious either. I have about a 60/40 success rate. Sixty percent of the time I end up with something that tastes and looks good and 40 percent of the time something is lacking. It might be the flavor, the appearance, or both.

Sometimes I mention my failures here, but to be honest I have limited time to edit photos and write up posts. So why would I concentrate on all the bad things I make? No, I put up all the great things! It isn’t about being dishonest; I just think most people would like to see things they can recreate that will taste good.

So just know it isn’t all roses in Lori’s kitchen. Sometimes I have difficulty keeping the ugly weeds from popping up.

Let’s use Israeli couscous as an example. I am completely new to it. I read the directions carefully including the part that said – cook the couscous in a skillet over low heat, but do not let it get brown. Ooops!

This is a dish I was able to save in the end with lots of flavorful toppings, but if you look closely, pieces of the couscous are definitely brown! Some almost burnt. Better luck to me next time, but you can recreate this with no problem at all and hopefully you won’t burn the couscous like me.

I’ve never cooked with lamb before (look at that, two new ingredients in one post!), but for the first time I am now in an area with a local producer, Windhover Farm. We picked up a pound of ground lamb at the Farmer’s Market a few weeks ago and I hope to buy more in the future because it was delicious.

I first started out with lamb patties, but soon realized that crumbled lamb works better in this dish. You can use either. I seasoned the lamb, topped it with all kinds of fresh stuff and came up with one tasty dinner in a bowl!

Spiced Local Lamb over Israeli Couscous

3 cups Israeli Couscous, cooked
1 lb ground lamb
½ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground coriander
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp onion, grated
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

¼ large onion, thinly sliced
8 slices of tomato

Sauce:
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
¼ cup cucumber, finely chopped and squeezed dry
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator.

In a skillet, brown the lamb. When it has been cooked about ¾ of the way through add the allspice, coriander, garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Continue cooking until done and stir in the parsley.

(If making lamb patties add the spices to the raw, ground lamb and mix well. You might also want to add a couple tablespoons of bread crumbs. Shape into four patties and cook in a skillet about 4 minutes on each side or until cooked through.)

Divide the cooked couscous into four bowls and top with one-fourth of the ground lamb. Add onion and tomato slices followed by 2 tbsp of the yogurt sauce. Enjoy! Serves 4.