Suzanne Husseini’s cookbook Modern Flavors of Arabia: Recipes and Memories From My Middle Eastern Kitchen is so fun to page through. From the cover to the photos of the dishes to even the distinct plates and glassware, each page is exotic and beautiful. Unfortunately, the recipes I chose did not turn out so pretty.
I’m not an expert cook. I wouldn’t even go as far as to say advanced. Normally, if a dish doesn’t work, I, without question, blame myself for doing something stupid. But for this recipe, I painstakingly followed every step. No shortcuts. No substitutions. No inserting my own “creative flair.” The lamb was pricey, and the picture of the dish looked delicious. I didn’t want to risk messing it up.
I questioned the amount of butter the recipe called for. A whole stick for a crust applied to just two racks of lamb seemed like an awful lot. But after triple-checking that a ½ cup really did equal one stick, I went ahead.
I only applied half the herb and nut mixture on the lamb (freezing the rest), and it still came out soggy. So I kept the lamb in the oven a little longer, hoping it would firm up. But I didn’t want to overcook the meat and truly ruin the dish, so I ended up eating it with a goopy, not crusty crust. Although it tasted delicious (reminding me of an Arabian take on chimichurri), the dish looked fairly unappetizing, and the texture was way off.
As recommended by Husseini, I paired the lamb with a very simple arugula salad. I was certain nothing could go wrong.
But somehow the salad was bad, too! The culprit? Sumac. In the past, I made a tomato salad with sumac, and it was awesome. But that recipe, which served six, only called for two teaspoons of sumac. This recipe, which was supposed to serve four, called for two tablespoons. I knew this amount sounded suspect, so once again, I triple-checked the recipe, but I went ahead, trusting Husseini over my amateur self. The recipe also didn’t specify how much olive oil to use, which I assumed was just enough to pour over four servings of the salad. As I suspected, instead of adding a nice touch of tart, the sumac made the dressing sour, grainy, and well, gross.
Although both my recipes seemed pretty off as far as proportions, I’m not ready to throw this book out the window quite yet. It’s just too pretty. However, I guess the lesson learned here is even if you aren’t the best cook, sometimes your instincts really are best.
Herb- and Pistachio-Crusted Rack of Lamb 4 servings
2 racks of lamb (cleaned, French-trimmed and patted dry)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup fresh parsley
½ cup fresh cilantro
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. paprika
6 cloves garlic, mashed
Zest 1 lemon
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (white bread, crusts removed)
1 cup pistachios, ground but not too fine
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Rub the lamb all over with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Put the racks on a baking pan with the meat side up and roast for 15 minutes.
• Remove to cool, but leave the oven on and lower the temperature to 350 degrees.
• In a food processor, place the butter, parsley, cilantro, allspice, paprika, garlic and lemon zest and pulse a couple of times. Then add the breadcrumbs and pistachios and continue to pulse to incorporate, ensuring that it remains coarse.
• Spoon the herb and nut mixture on top of the lamb, meat side up, and, using your hands, pat down to stick.
• Return the lamb racks to the oven and finish roasting for another 15 minutes. Remove and cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Arugula and Tomato Salad 4 servings
Juice 1 lemon
2 Tbsp. sumac
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 handfuls arugula leaves, washed and drained
20 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
2 Lebanese or Japanese cucumbers, seeds removed, sliced
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Pomegranate molasses
• Make the dressing by combining the lemon juice, sumac and olive oil.
• Place the arugula leaves in a salad bowl, and add the tomatoes, cucumbers and onion.
• Pour on the dressing, season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Lastly, drizzle on some pomegranate molasses. Serve immediately.
Reprinted with permission from Random House. What’s the worst dish you’ve made from a recipe? Who was at fault: you or the recipe’s creator? Tell us about it in the comments section below for a chance to win a copy of Modern Flavors of Arabia by Suzanne Husseini. We’ll announce the winner in next week’s By the Book column. And now, we’d like to congratulate Pari, whose comment on last week’s By the Book has won a copy of The Lebanese Kitchen by Salma Hage. Pari, keep an eye out for an email from the Sauce crew.
This article appears in October 2013.