Laban Ummo (meat stew in yogurt)

[zeitoun]

I have never tried Samen as a garnish for a laban emmo, will sure do next time!! I have seen people top the dish with drops of olive oil and fried parsley. Pretty good too.

Going back to Samen, I know it is also used as a garnish for couscous in some North African countries, particularly with moroccan couscous. Their Samen though is incredibly pungent, and soooo good. Does anyone know if it is prepared any differently from regular clarified butter or is it the type of butter used that imparts that flavor?

[denise_jer]

We tried this over the weekend, and it was absolutely heavenly! Thank you so much for the recipe. Served it over rice and the only sound in the house was "mmmmmm!"

There were very few leftovers, but the one serving that was left did reheat nicely in the microwave. I think the cornstarch in the sauce kept it from going crazy when reheating...

Edited December 8, 2004 by denise_jer (log)

[peanutgirl]

Made it for dinner yesterday. From start to finish:

fatty chuck & aromatics

sweating the onions & garlic... too lazy to remove meat so I just pushed it to the side

before the yogurt sauce & chick peas

chick peas & pearl onions added

my yogurt sauce

finished and garnished with mango chutney, sweet lime pickle & dried mint

I loved it! As you can see, I deviated a little from your recipe Foodman. I hope my changes don't offend you.

I added the pearl onions because they were so darn cute... and I ended up throwing in a handful of frozen green peas at the end for some color.

The mango chutney & lime pickle garnishes, while I'm sure are not traditional AT ALL... were just used since I had them in the fridge.

I did follow your directions for the yogurt sauce to the letter though .

[Wolfert]

Going back to Samen, I know it is also used as a garnish for couscous in some North African countries, particularly with moroccan couscous. Their Samen though is incredibly pungent, and soooo good. Does anyone know if it is prepared any differently from regular clarified butter or is it the type of butter used that imparts that flavor?

I think I can help. Ordinary Moroccan smen is cooked and salted butter made from cow, goat or sheep's butter. The butter is simply melted and strained a few times until very clear.

For every pound of butter, add l tablespoon pickling or Kosher salt to the liquid butter. Store, covered, in a glass or earthen jar in a cool place or the refrigerator. This will keep a long time. Some bury these jars in the ground for a year or longer. The resulting smen comes up tasting something like blue cheese.

A popular Berber smen made in southern Morocco which is used for smearing on bread, dousing couscous, and flavoring tagines is made with butter made from goat's milk. It isn't cooked but is flavored with a type of thyme that tastes similar to a mixture of thyme, savory and oregano. If you wish to find it, look for dried thymus satureioides at any herb store. This particular thyme is thought to prevent bad bacteria forming while good bacteria is creating the herbal flavor that is so coveted in Morocco.

To make smen with this herb: boil a handful of salt and about 1/2 cup of the dried leaves in 1 quart of water. Strain the blackened liquid into a bowl and leave to cool. Cut up 1 puond very fresh sweet goat's milk butter into small pieces and add to the water, and knead until it has the consistency of mashed potatoes, pressing the mixture again and again against the bottom of the bowl so that every bit of butter has been thoroughly washed. Drain the butter pieces and then squeeze to extract excess liquid. Knead into a ball, place in the sterile glass container, and cover tightly. Store in a cool place (not the refrigerator) for 1 month before using. Once it has been opened, store in the refrigerator, where it will keep about l month.

Edited December 8, 2004 by Wolfert (log)

[FoodMan]

Peanutgirl-

This looks amazing! thanks for the pics. All I care about is that you made it and enjoyed it, so I am not offended at all. The pearl onions would be a very classy and nice addition. The same goes for those long slender onions if you can find them.

Wolfert- I have to say, I love samen but had no idea it could be so interesting . Thanks for sharing the info and recipe.

Elie

[zeitoun]

Thanks Wolfert, I did not expect such an erudite response! This is great! I have to say that the Smen(s) I have tried in the past have all tasted different. Some better than others obviously. It seems that its preparation differs drastically not only from country to country but from one household to another. Thanks again for the helpful explanation.

[peanutgirl]

Peanutgirl-

This looks amazing! thanks for the pics. All I care about is that you made it and enjoyed it, so I am not offended at all. The pearl onions would be a very classy and nice addition. The same goes for those long slender onions if you can find them.

Elie

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Thanks for the kudos... . I'm sure I'll be making again as I really did like the dish. Maybe next time I'll actually follow your recipe . And you're welcome for the pics... it drives my family crazy, but it's fun for me.

[boaziko]

Thanks Elie !

It took me a while to get to the Laban, but was well worth it. I doubled the quantities and made it in a heavy wok, and happily all was gone,. The only small "liberty" I took was on top of the preserved lemons, Samen and dried mint I drizzled some sumac...

Boaziko

[FoodMan]

Boaziko-

Glad it worked out for u. I like the idea of using a wok...talk about east-far east fusion .

Elie