Thanks to Heather in SF for Beer-brined chops and GayR & MargCA & LisaLA for biryani

M

marilynfl

Moderator
The chops (#11915) turned out amazing. Even though I burnt them on the grill, I DID manage to NOT set fire to any part of my body this time--so "yay". Had a small butcher shop cut the chops 1.5" thick.

After charring one side to a crisp (re: the "10 minutes per side" stated in the recipe, I obviously had the grill set on TOO-TOO high, proving once again that I know squat about grilling.) Flipped and cooked the other side 2 minutes, checked--they were still raw inside, took them in the house, stacked them on top of each other and covered tightly with foil.

10 minutes later they were PERFECT inside. Just the barest hint of pale pink. I'd rate them a B+ for flavor and a D for appearance. But I'll get better at that. Have 2 more brined chops sitting in the frig ready to practice my grilling skills.

The biryani (#12112.1) I'll rate a B for flavor and a C for appearance. This--I'm sure--is due to my inability to cook rice. The recipe is VERY specific on all steps except for two areas: how long to cook the rice and the amount of salt. I did end up buying basmati rice and apparently par-cooked it to mush. There's a photo of the apricot/pistachio version in the Food & Wine link and mine looked NOTHING like this. His grains look separate....mine were one congealed mass.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pistachio-apricot-biryani

The cranberries/pistacho/spicy blend was very good, but I'm not sure if the yogurt mixture is supposed to look curdled. Special thanks to LisaLA's generosity which meant I had saffron(thanks Lisa!).

The recipe says to add salt to taste, but this ends up making a FULL dutch-oven full of biryani and I didn't season it evenly. Some tastes was bland, some was over-salted, and some were perfect. I'm grading it on the "perfect" spoonfuls and will research a better way to season before trying again.

This took quite a while to prep the steps--taken with the hope that it would be an A recipe. It definitely has potential and I obviously need more experience.

Thanks again for all who lead to these two recipes.

http://eat.at/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=93779

http://www.finerkitchens.com/swap/forum1/95404_Wonderful_Site_-_U_S_Cranberries_-_Some_absolutely_fab_recipes_with_photos_fo

 
Any consolation...I've never seen a pretty biryani. But now that you know you like it, I hope you'll

try this one. It's my favourite.

Whoops. I can't believe I've never typed this out.

Will do.

 
Here's it: REC: Lamb Biryani

Lamb Biryani
A Little Taste of India

1 kg (2 lb. 4 oz.) boneless lamb leg or shoulder, cut into 3 cm (1 in) cubes)
3" piece of ginger, grated
2 garlic doves, crushed
2 tablespoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
4 green chiles, finely chopped
2/3 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
2 ½ cups basmati rice
4 onions, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
½ c veg oil
4 ½ oz. unsalted butter, melted
1 cup thick plain yoghurt (I use sour cream if no yogurt around)
1/2 teaspoon saffron strands, soaked in 2 tablespoons hot milk (I use more)

SEALING DOUGH
1 1/3 c. wholewheat flour
1 teaspoon salt

Serves 6

Mix the lamb in a bowl with the ginger, garlic, garam masala, chili powder, turmeric, chili, coriander and mint. Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight.

Wash the rice in a sieve under cold, running water until the water from the rice runs clear. Put the sliced onion in a sieve, sprinkle with the salt and leave for 10 minutes to drain off any liquid that oozes out. Rinse and pat dry.

Heat the oil and butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add the onion and fry for 10 minutes, or until golden. Drain through a sieve, reserving the oil and butter. Remove the lamb from the marinade, reserving the marinade, and fry in botches in a little of the oil and butter until browned. Transfer to a degchi (thick-based pot) or heavy casserole dish and add the onion, remaining marinade and the yoghurt, and cook over low heat for 30-40 minutes, or until the lamb is tender.

In a separate saucepan, boil enough water to cover the rice. Add the rice to the pan. Return the water to the boil, cook the rice for 5 minutes, then drain well and spread the rice evenly over the meat. Pour 2 tablespoons of the leftover oil and butter over the rice and drizzle with the saffron and milk.

To make the sealing dough, preheat the oven to 220̊C (425̊F/Gas 7). Make a dough by mixing the flour and salt with a little water. Roll the dough into a sausage shape and use to seal the lid onto the rim of the pot or casserole, pressing it along the rim where the lid meets the pot. Put the pot over high heat for 5 minutes to bring the contents to the boil, then transfer it to the oven for 40 minutes. Remove the pot and break the seal of dough.

My Notes:
I don't do the dough. Well, I did once, but it didn't seem to me to be worth it, for me. I just bake it in a lidded casserole.

I really like what the saffron does to the basmati rice so I use about double.

 
Wow...this is very similar (small typo...no units for the butter, but I'll bet its TBL.) I'm

sure I boiled my rice for much longer than this. The package said to cook with water for 20, so I backed off to 15. Should have stopped at 5.

 
Sorry. It's the British conversion thing. 4 1/2 oz. Yes, the 5 minutes works well on the rice

since it cooks later with the meat. And it's foolproof this way. I'm no good on rice either but this comes out perfectly.

 
Ah, that's twice the amount of butter...I thought the 4 TBL seems too little for the

amount of food in the recipe I made. This amount makes more sense for coating the grains of rice.

 
hi! So glad you liked the chops! Hope the grilling turns out better, I'm thinking trying

grilling over the flame for a few minutes per side then on indirect heat to cook through...

 
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