It's all Greek to me!!!

[cape chef]

Can anyone out there find me an authentic recipe for "Arni A La hasapa"

Your help is much appreciated
cc

 

[athenaeus]

Let me check Tselementes for you!

If it's not there so this dish might have been introduced by an unemployed architect of Athens that plays the chef!

 

[papa]

Dear CC:

Arni A la Hassapa.

Ingredients:

6 lean lamb chops
1/3 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (to taste)
2 large onions, thinly sliced.
2 pounds of riped tomatoes, peeled and diced (reserve the juice)
1 teaspoon honey
Sea salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper (to taste)
1 tablespoon tomato paste diluted in 2 tablespoons of water.
1/2 cup meat stock
2 tablespoons ground cumin
3 tablespoons dried oregano.
2 pounds green beans such as young favas or Romanos, trimmed, strings removed, and cut into 2-3 inch lenghts.
1 cup coarsly chopped flat-leaf parsley.
Juice of 1 lemon (to taste)

For Serving:

2 tablespoons finely chopped "preserved" lemon or finely grated lemon zest, blanched in boiling water for 5 seconds.
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped.

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 325. Trim off all the fat and sinew from the lamb and carefully wipe the meat to remove any bone splinters.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large heavy skil;let and lightly brown the lamb over medium het. Drain on paper towels and transfer to a deep glazed clay or enamel-lined cast iron casserole at least 4 inches deep. Reduce the heat to low and saute the onion 10 minutes or until soft. Add the tomatoes, honey, salt and pepper, raise the heat, and boil 3 minutes or until reduced by one third. Add the tomato paste, stock, cumin and oregano, stir to mix and pour over the meat. Cover and bake for 50 minutes.

Blanch the beans in lightly salted water for 1 minute. drain and *** to the casserole with the remaining olive oil. Shake gently to mix, cover and bake for 30 minutes longer. There should be about 1 and 1/2 cups of sauce (if there is more just uncover the dish-if less just add water) and bake for 15 minutes longer. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the parsley and stir in the remaining parsley. Set aside for 5 minutes in a warm place.

Chop the "preserved" lemon, garlic, reserved parsley and mix them with a large pinch of salt. (This is to be added to the plate at serving)

Add salt, pepper and the lemon juice (to taste) to the casserole. The souce should be highly seasoned. Serve straight from the casserole. Sprinkle the plates with the parsley mixture.

IMPORTANT: Unless you have tender, young favas, you should shell them before using.

This is "Arni a la Hassapa" or Butcher's Lamb.

There are several variations to this dish.

The most popular variation calls for the replacement of the beans by large cubes of eggplant, cauliflower florets, small potatoes, baby zucchini, artichoke hearts, thin leeks or cooked dried beans. Fry the eggplant dice in olive oil until golden brown on all sides before adding to the meat and blanch the fresh vegetables in boiling water for 1 minute before adding them. Cooked dried beans do not need any preparation.

My greataunt must be proud of me for remembering this recipe!

 

[cape chef]

Afra,Thank you for your help, I do many searches on the web...But knowing we have a community of Greek friends of cheftalk I thought I would pose them the question.Thank you again Afra.

Papa, That is exactly what I was looking for,I also prefere to use fresh fava's..But the seasons dictates that.

I find the foods of Greece to be a great resourse as far as introducing subtle nuiances into our dishes.

The salty,briny,sweet,rich and multi textured foods of Greece are another componet of the Mediterranean that can really add a wonderful dimension to our cooking.

Papa,when we teamed up back in June to prepare your great aunts dishes at the cooking school in Ct I couldn't help but find the food having a somewhat historical flavor of the Mediterranean.

Thanks again for your help.
cc

 

[athenaeus]

Yes!!!!

I didn't know they call this dish like that!
Do they call it like that in Greece also , Papa?

Someone asked one day about the casseroles in Greek cooking, aren't they fabulous?

 

[papa]

Dear Athenaeus:

This is the name that I have encountered for this dish in the villages of our mainland. I do not know if they use the same name for this dish in Athens anymore since everything now must appear with a "trendy" name. Butchers are not very trendy in our modern societry!

Dear CC:

I am so glad that I was able to be of assistance! I hope that I remembered the instructions correctly!

 

[athenaeus]

I 've never heard of it although I eat this dish very often!

And this a la hasapa doesn't sound too Greek.
And i thought that I was using the language better than my casseroles...