Daring Cooks February Challenge
The 2010 February Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.
Again, this was another first for me. I've never had Middle Eastern food that I can recall. To me it was okay. I'm not in to overly seasoned foods and neither is my husband. This was fun to make and eat; but only for one time I think.
My mezze consisted of the homemade pitas and hummus, batata harra, cucumber raita, homemade baked falafel, olives, and cucumber slices. There was supposed to be some alfalfa sprouts there but we're not going discuss what happened to them. You really don't want to know.
I think besides the pita bread, the best dish was the batata harra. I was looking around trying to figure out what Middle Eastern cuisine consisted of when I stumbled on a description of this potato dish. I love potatoes so I had to try. My husband hated it. I'll just have to make it for myself I guess.
The following may or may not be what batata harra is. I only found rough descriptions of it where I was looking. I put the ingredients together in the proportions I thought would be best. Feel free to improve my recipe as you see fit!
Ingredients for Batata Harra
- 1 1/2 lbs red skinned potatoes
- 3/4 C chopped cilantro
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1/2 t cayenne pepper
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1/4 C olive oil
Method for Batata Harra
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Wash the red potatoes and cut into cubes. Place them on a foil covered and sprayed cookie sheet. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and spray with non stick spray. Bake them in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan. Add the cilantro and garlic. Cook them for about 5 minutes or until they are soft.
- When the potatoes are done, place them in a large bowl. Pour the cilantro mixture over the top and sprinkle with lemon juice. Toss gently and serve hot.
Happy Valentines Day!!!
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