Training Meals, part 1: Kofta

My husband, Mark, thinks his diet needs improvement. This is because nearly everyday he is either mountain or road biking, and he's sure if he has a diet to match his exercise regimen, he'll be better off. So he challenged me to come up with 10 healthy training meals. They need to be nutritious, low in saturated fat, contain some healthy protein, and be a good source of energy without overdoing it on calories. Basically he wants good, clean fuel that also tastes good. Because energy bars are good, clean fuel, but they don't taste good. At least, not for dinner. So here's number one. Kofta.


I should start by mentioning that Mark is part Armenian. That means I'm lucky he married me, since Armenians generally marry Armenians, but really his grandma was lucky Mark's grandpa married her, because that's where it started. And I'm fortunate that my mother-in-law learned all the family recipes from her aunts and passed them on to me, especially since what I'm about to pass on to you is probably my favorite comfort food.

What? Comfort food is healthy? Well, not most, but this one is. It is fried in olive oil, but doesn't absorb much of it, especially when blotted on a paper towel. It's true.

So, essentially, kofta is a combination of ground beef and bulgur, seasoned, and stuffed with onions, peppers, and parsley. The patties are fried in olive oil and served in a yogurt soup with crushed dried mint leaves. Yes, I said yogurt soup, and yes, it is very good.

Let's get right to the recipe, and then we'll talk about how healthy it is and how absolutely delicious it is as well.

Kofta with Soup

1 32-oz. container plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 c. cooked long grain rice

1 large green bell pepper
1 medium yellow onion
1-2 bunches Italian flat-leaf parsley (curly will do in a pinch, but rinse it several times as it holds a lot of dirt)
1 1/2 c. bulgur wheat (you can often find this in the small "Bob's Red Mill" packs section of the baking goods or in the health food area of a grocery store)
1 1/4 lbs. top sirloin steak
1 small package dried Ancho chiles (find these in the Mexican food section of the grocery store)
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
2 t. cumin
1 t. paprika
Kosher salt
fresh black pepper
olive oil
fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

Place the bulgur in a bowl and add enough warm water to cover by 1/2". Set aside for half an hour to saturate the bulgur.

Remove the tops and seeds from the dried chiles, then place in a bowl and cover with warm water. Wrap the top of the bowl in plastic and microwave on high for 2 minutes, then set aside for half an hour to hydrate. After it has fully hydrated, open the pods up and scrape the "meat" away from the skins.

Very finely chop up the bell peppers, onions, and parsley. Add one cup of each ingredient to a bowl and stir to combine. This is called keema. Set mixture aside. Very important note: After speaking with my mother-in-law, I realize that we mistakenly left the keema raw, and for this application it's supposed to be cooked. So heat up a skillet over medium to medium-high, add a bit of olive oil, and toss in the vegetable mixture. Stir over the heat with a bit of salt until the onions and pepper are soft. Remove to a bowl and set aside to cool.

Cut the sirloin up into strips, removing all fat and gristle. Process through a meat grinder three times. If you don't have a meat grinder, ask your butcher if he/she can do this for you. As a very last resort, you can purchase the leanest ground beef you can find. After you make this once, you may consider getting a meat grinder to make it more frequently!

Combine the triple-ground meat, 2 c. hydrated bulgur, rehydrated chiles (to taste), paprika, cumin, garlic and onion powders, 1 t. freshly ground black pepper, and 1 T. Kosher salt (to start with). Taste for seasoning, and add more salt if necessary. You're just going to have to assume the rest is about right if you've never had it before. (If you didn't grind the meat yourself, I don't recommend tasting it raw, but you can sauté up just a bit to test it.)

[Stop here for just a moment. There's also a dish called Chee Kofta that you can have right here. (I'm probably spelling all of these wrong, except Armenian was originally just a spoken language, so there's no one right way of spelling all this.) Instead of moving on to the next step, just make a little patty from the meat mixture, top with some of the vegetable mixture, and drizzle with olive oil. It's kind of like a ceviche, in that the meat is partially cooked, without heat, from the chiles. It's also very good, and I'm not usually a rare-steak kind of girl.]

So, now we assemble. This is where we add pictures, too, since I'm not there to do this with you. First, you take about a quarter cup of the meat mixture. Place it in the palm of your hand (left hand if you're right handed), patty it up, and make a deep well in the middle. Add about 2 T. of the keema and close the patty up so all the vegetables are hidden. Continue with the remaining ingredients. You probably will have some keema left over, but you can find another use for that, or ask me for another Armenian way to use it. When you're done, you'll probably have 8-10 patties.

Pour some olive oil in a sauté pan up to 1/2 an inch. Heat over medium high, and when a touch of the meat sizzles when dropped in, add enough patties to loosely fill the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side, then remove to paper towels and continue with the rest. If the oil is popping a lot, reduce heat to medium.

Separately, prepare the soup. In a medium saucepan, empty the container of yogurt and add 32 oz. of water as well as the uncooked rice. Heat the soup over medium low until just barely simmering, then the cooked rice and warm thoroughly. Do not let the soup boil, as this will curdle the yogurt.

To serve, ladle about a cup of soup (scooping up some rice from the bottom) into a bowl, add a kofta patty, and crush a bit of mint leaves in your hands and sprinkle on top. Enjoy and repeat as desired.


All this may sound a little foreign if you're used to hot dogs and apple pie, but it only took me about 3 bites to decide it's one of my favorite meals forever. And it's very healthy, with very lean red meat, carbs from both the bulgur and the yogurt, and a generous dose of nutrition from the wheat and vegetables. Not to mention it is just as good leftover, which can hardly be said for most meals.

Plums

Summertime is primetime for fruit, especially plums, which can't usually be found in grocery stores the rest of the year (unlike other imported fruit). But be warned, they can be juicy, so quarter them before you take a bite!

Pizza

Okay, I admit it. I'm picky about pizza. At least, I'm picky about homemade pizza. Especially if it's coming out of my kitchen. Actually, I generally don't like homemade pizza, and I can tell you why: homemade crust. Pizza shouldn't taste like it was made on a loaf of bread, or we'd all be making French bread pizza (which I don't like). So, you need a good dough recipe and a good baking method. Here's the dough recipe:

Pizza Dough

2 t. instant yeast (1 packet will work well, or just keep a jar in the freezer)
1 T. sugar
1 c. moderately warm water (if you haven't made bread much, measure the temperature; it should be between 105 and 115 degrees F - quite warm but not hot enough to burn after 3 seconds)
3 c. bread flour (yes, you can substitute all-purpose, but you shouldn't)
1 T. olive oil
2 t. Kosher salt

This works easiest with a stand mixer, but you can also do all this by hand.

Combine the yeast and sugar in your mixer bowl, then add the water. Let the yeast bloom - this should take about 5 minutes - and it should look dissolved and a bit bubbly. Then add the rest of the ingredients, starting with 2 1/2 c. of flour, and, using a dough hook, turn on the mixer to medium. Watch the dough and add a bit more flour as necessary until the dough isn't too sticky anymore, up to 1 c. more. You'll want this to knead for 7-10 minutes with the mixer, or by hand for 15-20 (turn on some music). To test the dough for proper consistency, flatten a small amount and stretch it. If it breaks easily, it needs to knead longer. If it just gets nice and thin, forming a windowpane, you're good. Let rest and rise until double.


So, that's the dough recipe, which is a good place to start. Now, let's move on a bit, shall we?

I nearly forgot another important aspect: the sauce. I have a difficult time finding a good pizza sauce, so I made my own. This has sometimes not worked well in the past, but this time I think I got it right. Good pizza sauce is a little sweet and fairly smooth. Here's my version:

The Sauce

1 medium onion, roughly chopped (I like the sweet varieties)
5 cloves garlic, smashed
2 T. olive oil
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
4 T. double-concentrated tomato paste (this comes in a tube and is very handy)
8 basil leaves
4 sprigs oregano, leaves removed
2 t. dried Italian seasoning
3 T. sugar, or to taste
Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper

In a blender, puree the onion, garlic, and fresh herbs with 1/3 c. of the tomato sauce. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat, then add the puree, a pinch of salt, and stir. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the rest of the tomato sauce, the puree, and the Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until reduced to a medium consistency. Add the sugar, salt, and pepper to taste, then remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.



Feel free to adjust that recipe, but it's just about right the way it is.

So, we've got the pizza dough rising and the sauce done. Now we need to discuss the baking method. As I wrote about earlier, the best method for baking inside is to use baking stones, and mine come from Lowes or Home Depot. They're unglazed natural tiles, they're about an inch thick, so the heat is very constant, and they're about $2 each, so they fit any budget. Well, almost any budget. Just throw some parchment paper on top of them, and they're an ideal baking surface. Even for cookies, if you prefer cookies baked on a stone. It would be very nice to have a pizza peal handy, but a large wooden cutting board will work as well. The baking stones need to preheat in the oven for about an hour to make sure they are heated all the way through (and to ensure proper baking of your pizza), so keep this in mind. Here, then, is everything you need to do to have good pizza at home.

Pizza

Begin making your pizza dough. Once you get to the rising stage, place your baking stones in the oven and turn the oven on to 525° F. Next, make the sauce. Once the sauce begins simmering, you can start turning your attention to the toppings. Grate the mozzarella cheese (I like low-moisture for pizzas, unless this is going to be one of the only toppings and you're pairing it with fresh basil), caramelize the onions (slice them thinly, then sauté over medium heat with 1-2 T. olive oil and a pinch of salt for 20 minutes), fry up the Italian sausage, drain the pineapple or mandarin oranges, or whatever you need to do to get your toppings ready.

Once the dough has risen and your pizza sauce is cooling, divide the dough into 3 pieces. Place a piece of parchment paper on your peel or cutting board. Flatten the first piece using your hands until fairly thin (it should be about 14" by 8"), then add your toppings. Be generous with sauce, but don't overdo it on the cheese. This is important in a good pizza. Sauce, most of the cheese, toppings, then a small scattering more of cheese makes a good pizza. Unless your only topping is pepperoni, then the pepperoni should be on top.

Slide the pizza and parchment paper on top of the stones and bake until brown and bubbly, about 8-10 minutes.

You can use one of the thirds as delicious breadsticks. Brush the dough with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake. It looks like this in the oven:

And it tastes delicious. As does the pizza!

The Other Best Treat

I'll get right to it: it's vanilla ice cream with hot fudge sauce, the sauce being the key factor. I'm sure you were dying to know what I was referring to in my other post, and this is it.


Actually, the hot fudge sauce doesn't have to be generously oozing all over a bowl of delicious Tillamook Old-Fashioned Vanilla ice cream (pictured above), though I admit I'm very partial to this form. A milkshake is also quite nice.

There's something unique about hot fudge sauce in the chocolate world. While I love a simple ganache, hot fudge is a bit silkier and more of a confectionary glaze. Its taste is unparalleled when matched with a good ice cream. And, of course, it doesn't have to be vanilla. It doesn't even have to be ice cream. After you've made hot fudge (and trying this recipe will convince you that it's easy and worth it to make your own), it's fantastic chilled and scooped up with a spoon. I've heard.

So, here you go.

Hot Fudge Sauce

1 c. heavy cream
2/3 c. light corn syrup
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
2/3 c. baking cocoa
1/4 t. salt
1 1/3 c. Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips
4 T. unsalted butter
1 t. vanilla

Stir the cream, corn syrup, sugar, cocoa, salt, and 2/3 c. chocolate chips in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring regularly, then reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring quite frequently. Remove from heat, then add butter, vanilla, and remaining chocolate. Stir until smooth. Cool until slightly warm before serving. Refrigerate unused portion. Can be reheated in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time, until proper consistency for serving. Or can be eaten straight out of the fridge.

Probably keeps safely for 2 weeks in the refrigerator, but I wouldn't know.