Steak Tips with Grilled Polenta; Tabouleh, Hummus and Callafels

Monday night Melissa made judicious use of the leftover polenta from Sunday's dish to form the base of a steak tips and roasted veggies dish. The dry rub that seasoned the steak consisted of onion powder, cayenne pepper, sea salt and dried thyme. Mel put the nonstick roasting pan on the grill outside and cooked the meat right in the pan, along with cherry tomatoes, whole garlic heads and quatered yellow onions doused in olive oil. The tomatos reduced to tart, concentrated little jewels, and the garlic and onions caramelized to perfection. She served the steak and veg on a wedge of grilled polenta and a bed of spicy arugula fresh from our little urban patch of dirt outside -- we're eating those greens as much as we can now that their days are numbered as the weather cools down. This dish was great with a Smuttynose Summer Weizen (Portsmouth, NH).

Last night we had a bit of a delay before getting dinner started, since we came home to the smell of gas in the basement level of our building. While I went back and forth about who to call, Melissa dialed 911 like a rational human being. The fire department responded in great time and shut off the gas to the laundry room, where the leak was located. We had locked out the cat and left the building as soon as the call was made, but apparently nobody else in the building was aware of what was going on below...

When all was clear we settled back into our apartment and Melissa made tabouleh using the coarse bulgar wheat she had bought on the way home, along with a variation on falafel using lentils and spinach as a base instead of beans (we officially dubbed this "Callafel" last night). The hummus made the dish -- Melissa used a little bit of curry mix in the hummus, something I've never tasted before but it was really fantastic with the Middle Eastern flavors on the plate.

A bottle of Matariki "Aspire" Sauvignon Blanc (2006; Hawke's Bay, NZ) rounded out the dinner...

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Melissa's Recipes and Notes

Tabouleh

½ cup of bulgur wheat
1 cup of water
½ tsp of salt
½ tomato diced
1/3 onion diced
1 large handful of parsley - chopped
2 tbsp of lemon juice

In pot add bulgur wheat, water and salt and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to low and cover saucepan for 20 minutes in which time bulgur wheat will absorb water. Once cooked I found the bulgur wheat quite gluey so I placed it in a colander and gave it a quick rinse with cold water to lighten it up. Add rest of ingredients to cooled wheat to finish the dish.

"Callafels"

Falafels are typically made using either fava beans or chickpeas. I like to make mine with lentils and spinach, so technically they’re not falafels, but I think the general idea is the same. Matt suggested I call them Callafels and I think I might just do that from now on.

½ cup of lentils
Salted water to boil lentils
½ tsp of coriander seeds
1 tsp of peppercorns
1 tbsp of cumin
1 tsp of salt
¼ onion
1/3 lb of spinach
2 tbsp of breadcrumbs for the mixture
1 egg
~1/2 cup of breadcrumbs to coat the patties
Olive oil

Boil lentils in large volume of water until cooked (~20 minutes). In food processor grind coriander seeds and peppercorns to fine meal. Add ground cumin, salt, onion and uncooked spinach and puree. Add ¾ of cooked lentils to food processor and puree with spices and spinach. Remove ingredients from blender and mix in remaining ¼ of whole cooked lentils. The whole lentils give the patties texture. Add egg and 2 tbsp of breadcrumbs. Form the moist mixture into patties and coat in breadcrumbs before frying in a non-stick pan with a little olive oil.

Hummus

½ can of chickpeas
1 tsp of sesame seeds
1 small garlic clove
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp of hot curry powder
1 tbsp of lemon juice

Hummus is usually made with Tahini which is a sesame seed paste. While in New Zealand I found I could only buy tahini in large 1 lb tubs which, while it kept for a long time, was far too much for me to use the odd time I decided to make hummus. So instead I just keep sesame seeds around (which can be used for other things) to add the sesame flavour and add a bit of olive oil to smooth the consistency of the hummus. If you like it chunky or low fat the olive oil can be omitted. The method is easy, put all the ingredients into a blender and puree to the desired consistency. If you’re a fan of the plethora of hummus flavours you can find at your local supermarket exchange the curry powder for things like sun dried tomatoes or oven roasted garlic to make a better fresher tasting version of what you buy at the supermarket and at a fraction of the cost.