I’ve shared numerous times that my cooking is limited because of Daughter’s delicate palette. She cannot tolerate the barest minimum of any spice. Well, a touch of black pepper and I sneak in a soupcon of white pepper occasionally. She also does not a number of spices, especially cumin. I honestly don’t have a problem with her needs; it’s a fun challenge adjusting recipes and keeping them tasty.

Recently, Daughter took off for New York City to help a friend celebrate her new apartment and to see other friends. When we lived in Oklahoma, I characterized a sojourn in “The City” as a transfusion of “culture.” My parents were Manhattan-ites who felt they’d been banished to the hinterlands of Western Pennsylvania and Central Ohio. I don’t know about my brothers, but I always felt that New York was their Mecca, the end-all and be-all of all things. I do enjoy occasional get-aways to their center of the universe.

Anyway, Daughter was away. What could Constant Companion and I eat that she does not care for?

Looking at my pantry and larder, along with accumulated recipes from various sources, I came up with two distinct dinners – Harissa Shrimp and Lahmajun. For the first one, I had the shrimp and a required jar of harissa sauce. For the latter, there was frozen pizza dough and ground lamb. Two matches made not in heaven, but in my freezer and refrigerator. Both turned out to be good choices that we enjoyed for dinner and leftovers afterward.

Harissa Shrimp and Chickpeas (from https://www.skinnytaste.com/harissa-shrimp-and-chickpeas/).  Start by heating oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 thinly sliced garlic cloves, cook about one minute. Reduce the heat to low and add one 10 ounce jar of harissa sauce, ¼ cup of water, and 2 cans of drained and rinsed chickpeas or white beans (I used one can of cannellini beans). Simmer for five minutes. Add one pound of peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp, cover, and cook 2-3 minutes, til the shrimp are no longer opaque. Squeeze lemon juice* and garnish with chopped herbs.

We enjoyed this dish with millet that soaked up the tasty, spicy sauce.

*I did not have fresh lemon (see final step). Instead, I added about ¼ cup of chopped preserved lemon and a few tablespoons of its liquid.

Lahmajun. I was introduced to Lahmajun many years ago. Our Tulsa friend Liz had a fabulous kitchen and she was so adept in it; everything she cooked was superlative. It was a tasty new dish to all of us. I’ve made it at least one time already, sometime in the past.

The recipe* I worked from while Daughter was away is credited as a Syrian meat pizza. I had always read that its origins were Armenia. Maybe some other country claims it. I don’t know if there is a definitive answer. Numerous recipes for Lahmajun can be found on-line.

*Actually, I combined three recipes. Two used meat. The third recipe was vegetarian, using eggplant in place of the meat. I thought I’d experiment and use both. Next time, I’ll stick with only ground meat.

Lahmajun with pizza dough. Start by cutting the eggplant into 1-2 inch cubes, put them into a pot of water and boil about 20-30 minutes.* Drain thoroughly when softened.

*The recipe called for frying the eggplant in a little oil.

Take the pizza dough out of the freezer and place it in a large bowl the night or morning before to thaw. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel.

Preheat the oven at 400 fahrenheit. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat. Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal balls (about 2 oz each.) Working with one ball at a time, using a rolling pin on a floured surface, roll dough out as thin as you can into a disk that’s about 8 or 9 inches in diameter. Prick dough (dock) with a fork. Bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes. 

Mix one pound of ground lamb, the softened eggplant, three tablespoons of tomato paste, one small finely chopped onion, one tablespoon kosher salt, and spices (1 tbsp allspice and ½ tsp red pepper flakes or, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp allspice, ½ tsp cumin, ½ tsp Aleppo-style pepper, ½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp cinnamon*) thoroughly in the food processor.

*I used the unknown spice mixture a Saudi friend left with us a few years ago! Don’t know what is in but, it’s tasty!

Spread the mixture (meat, eggplant, spices) thinly on each of the pizza doughs, leaving a thin border. Bake for another 10 minutes. Another nice dinner, served with a simple salad.

Next came the added challenge of dessert. Some lovely apricots on the windowsill were reaching the point of no return. Apricot galette seemed the easy and suitable solution. Several recipes recommended spreading apricot jam inside the crust before adding the apricots and baking. I’ve not had that in the pantry for many years. I was the mom who made her daughter’s peanut butter and jelly sandwich with jelly without high fructose corn syrup. European-made apricot jam had only sugar. Daughter still holds it against me to this day that the “jelly” had lumps (chucks of fruit in it; it was jam). Instead, I used the small jar of fig preserve stashed in the pantry.

When I took the pizza dough for the Lahmajun out of the freezer to thaw, I also took out a sleeve of pie dough. After opening the dough on my silpat, I spread the fig jam thinly, then arranged consecutive circles of apricot slices around and around. With about a 2 inch margin, I carefully folded in the edges inward. I brushed some beaten egg around the edges and pressed thinly sliced almonds all around.

Bake for almost an hour. Because there’s no sugar other than the jam, it’s a bit tart, but delicious.

As Daughter had her NYC get away, Constant Companion and I treated our taste buds.