Merguez Lamb Patties With Golden Raisin Couscous Food

MERGUEZ AND LAMB COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Place lamb in a deep kettle (preferably one with a steamer attachment on top). Add onions, rutabaga and fennel. Season with salt, and add 4 quarts cold water (it should cover the ingredients), black pepper and ginger.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place couscous in a large bowl, and cover with cold water. Mix thoroughly with your hands to break up lumps. Transfer couscous to a steamer attachment with fine holes (if you do not have one, try a colander), and drain the couscous into a separate bowl. Then, transfer couscous to the original large mixing bowl, and let sit 15 minutes.
• Break up the couscous again with your hands, and return it to the steamer or colander. Place the steamer over the simmering lamb and vegetables. Cover and let steam for about 15 minutes.
• Return couscous to a large bowl and, when it is cool, grease your hands with the olive oil and mix the grains thoroughly, breaking up any lumps. Do this several times, adding more oil.
• Return couscous to steamer, and place over simmering meat and vegetable liquid, covered.
• When meat has cooked for 45 minutes, add carrots, raisins, chickpeas and merguez. Taste broth for seasoning. Add more pepper if necessary (withhold salt until the end). Simmer for another 20 minutes. (At this point the stew may be set aside to cool, scraped of any surface fat, and reheated before serving. Place couscous in a large bowl and cover with a damp towel.)
• When ready for final cooking, place stew over a medium-low flame. Place a couscous-filled steamer on top, covered. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Taste for seasonings before serving.
• Place a mound of couscous on a warm plate. Cover with meat, vegetables and broth. Serve with hot sauce, like Tabasco, on the side.

SPICY MERGUEZ & COUSCOUS POT

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a pan. Squeeze the sausagemeat from the skins and shape into 8 meatballs. Add them to the pan and sizzle on a medium-high heat for 5-10 mins, rolling around the pan, until they are cooked. Set aside.
• Drain the fat from the pan, leaving 1 tbsp behind. Reduce the heat and add the lemon, onion, chilli and pepper. Stir for 5 mins. Add the ras el hanout and stir for 1 min more.
• Add the tomatoes and 300ml water, and crumble in the stock cube. Return the meatballs to the pan and simmer, covered with a lid, for 10-15 mins, until the sauce is rich and the veg are tender. Season and stir in the coriander. Transfer to 2 microwavable containers with tight-fitting lids, and chill until you're ready to eat. Weigh 50g couscous into 2 sandwich bags to take to work too.
• When you're ready to eat, add the couscous to the cold sauce. Stir well and microwave for 3 mins, until the couscous is cooked through.

LAMB MERGUEZ SAUSAGE PATTIES

Steps:

• Combine salt and fennel seeds in a mortar and pestle and pound until fine. Stir cumin, cinnamon, coriander, turmeric, and garlic cloves into the salt mixture and continue grinding to form a thick paste. Stir in harissa sauce and tomato paste until combined.
• Combine ground lamb and the spice paste together with a fork in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Form sausage into patties. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook patties until no longer pink inside, 5 to 8 minutes per side, depending on the size of the patties.

ALGERIAN LAMB SAUSAGE MERGUEZ

Steps:

• Grind the lamb, fat from the lamb kidney (do not add the kidney) and garlic with the medium size holes of the grinder, ¼ inch in diameter. Add all the remaining ingredients, including the water, but not the casing. Test the mixture at this stage by preparing a miniature patty and frying it in a teaspoon of oil in a skillet. Should it need salt, it can be added at this time.
• Tie one end of the casing tightly to hold the filling. Fill the casing with the lamb mixture, twisting it around every 4 inches to make individual sausages.
• The merguez can be eaten in various ways the next day. The simple method of cooking is to fry them in hot vegetable oil until brown and crisp. Very little oil is needed since the sausage contains lamb fat. Serve warm. Makes about 10 to 12 sausages.
• NOTE: Algerians often prepare merguez with the cheaper cuts of lamb, especially the scraps left over from trimming the more expensive parts. You don't have to do this since the meaty leg of the lamb is an ideal cut that can be used.
• Sumac is that rare Mediterranean and Middle East seasoning that was used at one time as a salt substitute. The dried reddish crushed powder has a lemon/salt flavor and is used in meat and chicken dishes. It adds an important flavor to Algerian merguez.
• The Great Book Of Couscous.

HOMEMADE MERGUEZ

Steps:

• In a small skillet over medium-low heat, toast cumin, coriander and fennel seeds until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer warm spices to a spice grinder and grind well, or use a mortar and pestle and pound seeds.
• In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Form lamb mixture into desired shape (1-inch-thick by 5-inch-long cigars make nice merguez, but fatter cylinders or patties will also work). Chill for up to 5 days, freeze for up to 3 months, or use immediately.
• Brush sausages with oil and grill or broil them until browned and cooked through. Or fry them in a little oil until well browned all over. Serve with more cilantro and harissa on the side, if desired.

GRILLED MERGUEZ WITH HERBED COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Place couscous, oil, and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Add 3 cups boiling water, cover with plastic, and let stand 5 minutes. Remove plastic, fluff couscous with a fork, and let cool 15 minutes. Add chopped herbs, tossing to combine; season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a platter.
• Preheat grill for direct-heat cooking (medium-high on a gas grill). Brush grates with oil. Grill sausages, turning occasionally, until cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to platter with couscous. Drizzle with oil and scatter with herb leaves; serve.