This could be The Next Big Thing. I can picture it already: the smiling NYC street vendor takes a spicy Moroccan sausage-on-a-stick off the grill, dips it in falafel batter, and deep-fries it right on the spot. He hands it to his anxiously awaiting customer, who blows on it for a moment, takes that first bite… and has to steady himself on a nearby parking meter as he becomes weak in the knees from sheer pleasure!

Like the New York Lottery ads used to say, “Hey, you never know…”

The idea came as a result of thinking about corn dogs, i.e., how ridiculously delicious they are (I’d never had one before moving to the South; so many wasted years!) but also, sadly, how alarmingly bad they are for you. If Fettuccine Alfredo is, as someone once famously referred to it, “heart attack on a plate”, then corn dogs are arteriosclerosis on a stick. Still, they are awfully good, and I’d had it in the back of my mind to work on some healthier variations.

So I found myself one evening with a package of beautiful ground lamb in one hand, a box of falafel mix in the other, and the proverbial light bulb over my head. I was so intrigued by the idea that I had to make it immediately. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the right sticks for the task (only thin bamboo skewers), nor did I have enough oil for deep frying. Dead end, you say? Not likely.

So, the full-sized, deep-fried version of my bound-to-be-famous-someday Falafel Dogs will have to wait because, impatience being the mother of compromise, I used what I had available and made a very tasty, shallow-fried, appetizer version.

You can use any Moroccan merguez recipe for these. My merguez recipe below is not as spicy as most, and I left the traditional cilantro out (I made a cilantro/yogurt dipping sauce instead) and added a touch of sweetness with the dried apricots (golden raisins would be nice too) and a note of astringency with the celery leaves. Also, I used Fantastic Foods’ falafel mix, but I think any other mix should work just fine.

Here’s a photo of the Mini Falafel Dogs With Creamy Cilantro Yogurt Dip below.

Ingredients:

1 box falafel mix (I used a 10 oz box)
2 eggs, beaten

2 lb ground lamb
2 or 4 inner stalks of celery with leaves, finely chopped (about ½ cup)
3 Tbsp minced garlic
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 1/2 Tbsp cumin seeds, lightly toasted
1 1/2 Tbsp cumin powder
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp cayenne

32 short wooden skewers, or 16 long skewers cut in half

Oil for frying

PREPARATION:

Prepare falafel mix according to package directions, with the addition of the two eggs. Set aside.

In large bowl, mix together the next 13 ingredients (lamb through cayenne). Divide the mixture into eighths, and form 4 small cylinders out of each eighth (for a total of 32). Insert a skewer into each sausage and grill or broil until just done. Allow the sausages to cool a bit while you heat up the oil to the temperature recommended for the falafel mix. You’ll need at least half an inch of oil to shallow-fry them.

When you’re ready, add a little additional water to the falafel mix to get a very thick batter consistency. Mixes vary, so you will have to eyeball this; start with a couple of tablespoons and take it from there. If you accidentally thin it too much, add a little plain flour to fix it.

Take one of the sausages and swirl it into the batter, trying to get a good thick coating. If it’s not adhering well, try dusting the sausage with a little flour first. Again, mixes vary so you’ll have to see what works best for you.

Fry a few at a time (you don’t want to crowd the pan or you’ll lower the temperature of the oil too much and your falafel dogs will turn out greasy). Cook until nicely browned, turning once. Drain on paper towels.

Serve plain or with a dipping sauce. A slightly thinned mango chutney would be nice, or you can make an easy yogurt sauce in a food processor by mincing together one clove (or more) fresh garlic and a small handful of cilantro leaves, then mix in a cup of plain yogurt, half a teaspoon of ground coriander, a pinch (or more) of salt, a pinch of sugar, and a pinch of cayenne.

Enjoy!

You Can Read More of Doug’s Recipe Corner Here.

Note: This article is now also available in the following convenient format(s)…

• Dutch Pancakes (Pannenkoeken) from eGullet

• Red Flannel Hash from The Common Room

• Elk Burgers W/Honey-Chipotle Mayo from Hot Sauce Blog

• Mac and Cheese with Buffalo Chicken from Epicurious

• Rellenos De Papa (Stuffed Mashed Potatoes) from Recipezaar

• Sauerbraten from Spice House

• Beef and Guinness Stew from About.Com: Home Cooking

• Apple Pork Pie from Taste of Home

• Braised Lamb Shanks with Sour Cream and Capers from About.Com: Home Cooking

• Southern Brownie Pie from Suite 1010: Southern Cuisine

• Lumberjack Cake from Recipezaar

Enjoy the Holiday!

Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing an original summertime recipe for Cucumber, Apple, & Spinach Salad With Curried Pecans and Lemony Coriander Dressing.

Below is Doug DuCap’s recipe for Moroccan Charbroiled Lamb & Fennel Stew with Seven-Seed Couscous which made it to the Semi-Finals of the 2008 Redwood Creek Campfire Classic, held at the Food and Wine Festival at National Harbor.

Below is a photo of the Moroccan Charbroiled Lamb & Fennel Stew which can either be cooked outdoors over a campfire, on a grill, or in your home kitchen.

Ingredients:

For the Grilled Lamb:

1-1/2 Tbsp Sweet Paprika (or a combination of Sweet and Smoked Paprika)
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Ground Coriander Seed
1/2 tsp Coarse Ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
1-1/2 lbs lean Lamb, cut into small (3/4″) cubes
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

For the Stew:

1/4 cup Almonds, slivered or chopped
1/4 cup Pistachio kernels, whole
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 cup diced Yellow Onion (about 1 medium onion or 1/2 large)
3 large cloves Garlic, minced
1 medium bulb Fennel (fronds, stems, and core removed), cut in 1/2 inch pieces
Spice Mix (see below)
12 Dried Apricots, cut in half
8 Dried Mission Figs, cut in half
1/4 cup Golden Raisins
1 - 15oz can Garbanzo Beans (drained and rinsed)
1 - 15oz can Chopped Tomatoes, drained
1 - 15oz can Chicken Broth
3/4 cup Water
2 small Summer Squash, cut in 1/2 inch rounds
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 cup (lightly packed) Cilantro Leaves, chopped
Fennel fronds for garnish (optional)

Spice Mix: (Note: can be packed in advance)
1 tsp each Ground Coriander Seed, Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp each of Ground Cinnamon, Coarse Ground Black Pepper, Salt
1/4 tsp each of Ground Nutmeg, Ground Allspice, Cayenne Pepper

For the Couscous:

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Seed Mix (see below)
2-1/2 cups Water
1/2 tsp Salt
1-10oz pkg Plain Couscous (approx. 1-2/3 cups)
1 tsp (or more, to taste) Lemon Zest (optional)

Seed Mix: (Note: can be packed in advance)
2 Tbsp Sunflower Seed kernels
1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Coriander Seeds, lightly crushed
1/2 tsp each Caraway Seeds, Fennel Seeds, Anise Seeds

PREPARATION:

Note: In addition to the Spice Mix and Seed Mix, the fruits, the nuts, and the vegetables can be prepped and packed ahead of time in resealable plastic bags. The lamb can either be marinated a day in advance, or the dry ingredients can be packed in a large resealable plastic bag and the lamb marinated on site.

For the Grilled Lamb:

In a large resealable plastic bag, mix the dry ingredients, then add the lamb, olive oil, and lemon juice. Mix by hand or seal and shake thoroughly to coat all pieces. Let marinate at least 20 minutes. Thread the marinated lamb onto skewers and grill over hot coals a few minutes per side until the lamb develops a nice crust and color, and is slightly charred on the high spots (does not need to be cooked through at this time.) Set aside.

For the Stew:

In a skillet or Dutch oven, toast the nuts and 1 tsp cumin seeds over medium coals, stirring frequently, until the seeds are fragrant and the nuts begin to color. Add the olive oil, onions, and garlic, and saute until the onions soften a bit (about 5 - 7 minutes.) Add the fennel, spices, fruits, garbanzos, tomatoes, chicken broth and water; mix thoroughly. Bring just to a boil, add the lamb, then cover and simmer over low coals for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the squash, return cover, and simmer for 20 minutes; uncover and cook an additional 10 minutes to thicken the sauce slightly, stirring occasionally throughout. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and half of the cilantro. Stir gently and adjust salt, if necessary.

For the Couscous:

Remove stew to bowl and keep warm. Wipe out pan and saute seeds in olive oil over medium coals until fragrant (about 1 - 3 minutes.) Add water and salt and bring to boil. Stir in couscous, cover, and remove from heat. After 5 minutes, uncover, add lemon zest (if desired), and fluff couscous with a fork.

TO SERVE:

Make a ring of couscous (either in the pot or on individual plates) and mound the stew in the center. Sprinkle the stew with the remaining cilantro and decorate the couscous with a few small fennel fronds. Serves 4 - 6

Estimated Cook Time: 75 minutes
Marinating Time: 20 minutes

Enjoy!

You Can Read More of Doug’s Recipe Corner Here.

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Just how addicted to coffee are you? Do you ever wish you could be permanently hooked up to a coffee I.V.? (If so, see the cartoon to the right.)

What about using coffee as a homemade beauty treatment to firm and tone the skin? (Supposedly you can.) Do you have Starbucks Finder installed on your handheld PDA so you can get your fix anywhere you go?

Then cooking with coffee is the next step in your addiction cycle.

Beyond tiramisu and other obvious coffee flavored desserts, coffee and/or espresso can be used to make a wide variety of interesting marinades, rubs, and sauces. If you’ve ever known the deep pleasure of eating country ham and red-eye gravy, you’re already well on your way to enjoying coffee as a culinary enhancement.

Here’s a few main meal recipes featuring coffee as an ingredient:

• Steak in Indonesian-Java Marinade from Kate’s Global Kitchen

• Charred Buffalo Medallions with Coffee BBQ Sauce from The Food Network

• Grilled Pork Chops with Coffee Barbecue Sauce from About.Com Home Cooking

• Chicken And Coffee Barbecue Sauce from Cooking With Gourmet Coffee

• Coffee Glazed Roast Leg of Lamb from CooksRecipes.Com

• Beef Short Ribs & Coffee, Ancho and Cinnamon Sauce from VisualRecipes.Com

By the way, it is said that French writer Honore de Balzac drank up to 40 strong cups of coffee a day. He went on to write 92 novels and his essay, The Pleasures and Pain of Coffee, gives one a fascinating/horrifying glimpse of his all-too-caffeinated life.

As Balzac goes on to write in the essay…

“For a while - for a week or two at most - you can obtain the right amount of (creative) stimulation with one, then two cups of coffee brewed from beans that have been crushed with gradually increasing force and infused with hot water.

For another week, by decreasing the amount of water used, by pulverizing the coffee even more finely, and by infusing the grounds with cold water, you can continue to obtain the same cerebral power.

When you have produced the finest grind with the least water possible, you double the dose by drinking two cups at a time; particularly vigorous constitutions can tolerate three cups. In this manner one can continue working for several more days.

Finally, I have discovered a horrible, rather brutal method that I recommend only to men of excessive vigor, men with thick black hair and skin covered with liver spots, men with big square hands and legs shaped like bowling pins. It is a question of using finely pulverized, dense coffee, cold and anhydrous, consumed on an empty stomach. This coffee falls into your stomach, a sack whose velvety interior is lined with tapestries of suckers and papillae. The coffee finds nothing else in the sack, and so it attacks these delicate and voluptuous linings; it acts like a food and demands digestive juices; it wrings and twists the stomach for these juices, appealing as a pythoness appeals to her god; it brutalizes these beautiful stomach linings as a wagon master abuses ponies; the plexus becomes inflamed; sparks shoot all the way up to the brain. From that moment on, everything becomes agitated. Ideas quick-march into motion like battalions of a grand army to its legendary fighting ground, and the battle rages. Memories charge in, bright flags on high; the cavalry of metaphor deploys with a magnificent gallop; the artillery of logic rushes up with clattering wagons and cartridges; on imagination’s orders, sharpshooters sight and fire; forms and shapes and characters rear up; the paper is spread with ink - for the nightly labor begins and ends with torrents of this black water, as a battle opens and concludes with black powder.

I recommended this way of drinking coffee to a friend of mine, who absolutely wanted to finish a job promised for the next day: he thought he’d been poisoned and took to his bed, which he guarded like a married man. He was tall, blond, slender and had thinning hair; he apparently had a stomach of papier-mache. There has been, on my part, a failure of observation.”

Balzac died at the age of 51. Ironically enough, Ebook Takeaway offers 51 of his books that you can download free of charge here. There’s also some great coffee trivia here as well as Food & Wine’s Obsessive Guide to Coffee.

Courtesy of Travel Industry Wire.Com:

A recent Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) study, showed that 58% of all American leisure travellers say they are somewhat/very interested in taking a trip to engage in culinary or wine-related activities.

With this in mind, editors of the website Travelocity say they scoured the globe to highlight unique foodie finds.

Due to its access to top-notch chefs and fresh ingredients, Charleston, SC made the list

Travelocity’s 10 Delicious Destinations for Foodies: (in alphabetical order)

• Barcelona, Spain

This Spanish city started getting recognition just within the last five years. Catalan influences dominate both the culture and cuisine with French and Mediterranean inspired dishes more prevalent than traditional Spanish fare. Catalan cuisine features a unique combination of ingredients such as red meat and fish; poultry and fruit; and pork sausage with white beans. Each dish is unique, original and utterly impossible to put down.

• Boulder, Colorado

It’s no secret that Boulder is about as eco-friendly and earthy as it gets, but what may come as a surprise is how the recent addition of urban dwellers has led to a more sophisticated and trend-setting approach to organic dining. Take The Kitchen Café for example, which offers an eclectic menu with superior organic ingredients, but moreover, is completely green-they even compost all of the kitchen scraps and use wind power. On top of this green approach, Boulderites have access to some of the country’s finest boutique ingredients, such as hormone-free Colorado lamb, local cheeses, and even organic microbrews.

• Charleston, South Carolina

Some may call it soul food, but in Charleston they call it Low Country cuisine. Prevailing as the undisputed local favorite, this culinary specialty infuses restaurant menus with dishes such as Frogmore Stew, She-Crab Soup and Hoppin’ John. Rice, grits and fresh, local produce play an integral role in the creation of these truly Southern meals, and the waters that surround South Carolina’s Low Country inspire local cooks more often than not with seafood dishes found on just about every menu.

• Las Vegas, Nevada

In the spirit of Liberace, Vegas’ recent restaurant boom is completely over the top-and we mean that in the best possible way. If you want your foie gras topped with shaved truffles and dusted with gold, it’s a sure bet it can be found here. Top chefs from NYC, Paris, and London are opening namesake outposts in hotels and casinos with much fanfare, so keep an eye out for Emeril, Thomas Keller, and Bobby Flay. Fortunately for our wallets, Vegas’ famous buffets are still a beloved part of life on The Strip.

• London, United Kingdom

London is shaking its reputation for having mediocre cuisine (we think it was undeserved anyway!). Celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsey have built on the English penchant for exquisite service and fine surroundings, and have made the current restaurant scene world famous. All the while, specialty gourmet shops have continued operations for nearly 300 years, as in the case of Fortnum & Mason, known for its fine teas, and Paxton & Whitfield, cheesemonger to the royal family. Choose from afternoon tea, Indian curries, and classic pub fare, like shepherd’s pie-then wash it down with a black and tan before hitting the museums.

• Montreal, Quebec

Known ubiquitously for its French cuisine, the Montreal culinary scene also boasts imaginative carte du jours from more than 80 countries. Dine at one of the city’s 5,000 restaurants, or spend the day meandering through local markets in search of the same culinary treasures used by Montreal chefs. While there, sample a Montreal-style bagel topped with cream cheese or a smoked meat sandwich, two local treats.

• New Orleans, Louisiana

Many first time visitors head to New Orleans to experience events such as Mardi Gras or JazzFest, but they return time and time again for its food. NOLA’s most famous restaurants include Emeril’s, Commander’s Palace and Antoine’s, but local favorites such as Jacques-Imos and Port of Call deserve a spot on the map of culinary treasures as well. Cajun and Creole dishes throughout the city tempt the taste buds, and no visit to Crescent City is complete without indulging in a beignet dusted with powdered sugar and a cup of café au lait laced with chicory at Café Du Monde.

• New York, New York

Cabbies and billionaires alike clamor for the city’s famous slices, pretzels with mustard, and roasted chestnuts in paper bags, but beyond streetfood, NYC boasts more restaurants per capita than any other American city. Whether one is looking for a neighborhood Italian joint or sweeping views of Central Park at Per Se, there’s something for everyone. The city is also home to some of the best foodie souvenir shops around, including DiPalo’s homemade mozzarella, the Doughnut Plant’s pistachio glazed version, and Vintage’s Long Island wines.

• Rome, Italy

Dining in this Italian capital is an experience that’s arguably just as pleasurable as seeing the sites the city has to offer and surprisingly, finding the best fare is as easy as pie. While Northern Italy is famous for its pesto and truffles, Tuscany for its olive oil and beans, Sicily for its sweets, and the south for its seafood and spice, Roman cuisine boasts all of this and more. From home-style Italian cooking in charming trattorias to innovative fare in designer restaurants, the old streets of Rome will have you savoring la dolce vita.

• San Francisco, California

Alice Waters is credited with changing the way Americans eat, and now her local, seasonal approach to cuisine is now an integral part of San Francisco’s venerable restaurant scene. With Wine Country vintages at hand, Bodega Bay oysters on the half-shell, and Northern California’s bounty, visitors are able to try ingredients they wouldn’t have access to at home. As if that weren’t enough, the City by the Bay is a hotbed for artisanal products, such as Cowgirl Creamery’s Mt. Tam cheese, McEvoy Ranch olive oil, and Scharfenberger chocolates, all of which can be found at the foodie mecca known as the Ferry Building.

“Late last year I went on a mammoth eating adventure around the southern United States. I’ve banged on at length about Charleston’s grub here, after my shock at hearing about Bill Clinton letting his grits go cold (come on Bill, an Arkansas boy should know better). But I haven’t mentioned the amazing food I had elsewhere in the South. And that’s just rude.”

In the story, Susan Smillie of the UK newspaper The Guardian, enjoys the Southern hospitality of Atlanta where she eats (among many other delicious things) Carolina gold rice soup with grilled quail, peanuts, and scallions and New Orleans (where she eats jambalaya and explores the myriad joys of andouille sausage).

The trip starts in South Carolina, where she eats savory shrimp and grits at Charleston’s Old Village Post House and tender lamb glazed with chocolate barbecue sauce at Tristan’s.

You can read more of her story here.