Thread: Re: Lamb Meatball Update

Steve Pope wrote:

> Last month Dimitri suggested using Greek oregano in lamb meatballs.
> Following up on this, I tried my usual preparation (which includes
> garlic, olive oil, black pepper, and salt) but this time left out the
> smoked paprika, and included some European marjoram and Mexican oregano,
> along with a little cayenne.
>
> Result: very good! Thanks Dimitri.
>
> I'll have to get hold of some actual Greek oregano sometime and try
> it with that.
>
>
> Steve

Kofta with tzatziki sauce

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/kofta-kebabs/Detail.aspx

A local place makes a very good beef/lamb mix.
--
JL

On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 01:17:19 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

> Last month Dimitri suggested using Greek oregano in lamb meatballs.
> Following up on this, I tried my usual preparation (which includes
> garlic, olive oil, black pepper, and salt) but this time left out the
> smoked paprika, and included some European marjoram and Mexican oregano,
> along with a little cayenne.
>
> Result: very good! Thanks Dimitri.
>
> I'll have to get hold of some actual Greek oregano sometime and try
> it with that.

A couple of us told you to dump the paprika. I didn't notice that you
didn't have oregano or I would have suggested that, too :-)

I love smoked paprika, but it can be overpowering and out of place in
certain foods. I think it goes best with shrimp and scallops. It can
also make a mean mayo for sandwiches and potato salads.

-sw

Sqwertz <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 01:17:19 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

>> Last month Dimitri suggested using Greek oregano in lamb meatballs.
>> Following up on this, I tried my usual preparation (which includes
>> garlic, olive oil, black pepper, and salt) but this time left out the
>> smoked paprika, and included some European marjoram and Mexican oregano,
>> along with a little cayenne.

>> Result: very good! Thanks Dimitri.

>> I'll have to get hold of some actual Greek oregano sometime and try
>> it with that.

>A couple of us told you to dump the paprika.

Well, I happen to like the resutls with smoked paprika, despit what
a couple of ya have said.

>I love smoked paprika, but it can be overpowering and out of place in
>certain foods. I think it goes best with shrimp and scallops. It can
>also make a mean mayo for sandwiches and potato salads.

I agree it can be overpowering, but I think more than overpowering
in a single dish it, can become distracting if used in too many things
in too short of a length of time. I would not want to use it every
day, and even once a week the stuff starts to become too familiar.

I have not tried it on shrimp/scallops. My most recent scallop
preparation involved broiling, and adding olive oil and garlic
for the last minute or so under the broiler. That worked out.

Steve

On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 05:34:06 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

> I agree it can be overpowering, but I think more than overpowering
> in a single dish it, can become distracting if used in too many things
> in too short of a length of time. I would not want to use it every
> day, and even once a week the stuff starts to become too familiar.
>
> I have not tried it on shrimp/scallops. My most recent scallop
> preparation involved broiling, and adding olive oil and garlic
> for the last minute or so under the broiler. That worked out.

I just has a fresh choriso reuben for breakfast. I make the sausage
according to this recipe and use it fresh (and freeze the other 3
pounds). This the single most bestest use for smoked paprika:

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/...Portuguese.pdf

I just made another 5lb batch of it last week.

-sw

On 3/19/2011 11:18 PM, Sqwertz wrote:

> I love smoked paprika, but it can be overpowering and out of place in
> certain foods. I think it goes best with shrimp and scallops. It can
> also make a mean mayo for sandwiches and potato salads.

sprinkle smoked paprika instead of Spanish paprika on deviled eggs. Good.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 14:28:58 -0500, Janet Wilder
<[email protected]> wrote:

> On 3/19/2011 11:18 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
>
> > I love smoked paprika, but it can be overpowering and out of place in
> > certain foods. I think it goes best with shrimp and scallops. It can
> > also make a mean mayo for sandwiches and potato salads.
>
> sprinkle smoked paprika instead of Spanish paprika on deviled eggs. Good.

Mine is smoked Spanish paprika.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Mar 19, 8:17*pm, spop...@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) wrote:
> Last month Dimitri suggested using Greek oregano in lamb meatballs.
> Following up on this, I tried my usual preparation (which includes
> garlic, olive oil, black pepper, and salt) but this time left out the
> smoked paprika, and included some European marjoram and Mexican oregano,
> along with a little cayenne.
>
> Result: very good! *Thanks Dimitri.
>
> I'll have to get hold of some actual Greek oregano sometime and try
> it with that.

I wouldn't have included the marjoram, but oregano, garlic, olive oil,
black pepper, and salt is what I use to season lamb, meatballs or
otherwise.
>
> Steve

--Bryan

In article <4d865577$0$32737$c3e8da3$[email protected] om>,
Janet Wilder <[email protected]> wrote:

> On 3/19/2011 11:18 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
>
> > I love smoked paprika, but it can be overpowering and out of place in
> > certain foods. I think it goes best with shrimp and scallops. It can
> > also make a mean mayo for sandwiches and potato salads.
>
> sprinkle smoked paprika instead of Spanish paprika on deviled eggs. Good.

Better: cayenne! My kids and I like that. The kids like ground
chipotle also.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA
[email protected]

Bryan <[email protected]> wrote:

>I wouldn't have included the marjoram, but oregano, garlic, olive oil,
>black pepper, and salt is what I use to season lamb, meatballs or
>otherwise.

Isn't marjoram just a sub-variety of oregano?

Steve

On Mar 21, 10:58*am, spop...@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) wrote:
> Bryan *<bryangsimm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >I wouldn't have included the marjoram, but oregano, garlic, olive oil,
> >black pepper, and salt is what I use to season lamb, meatballs or
> >otherwise.
>
> Isn't marjoram just a sub-variety of oregano?

No, "marjoram" is the old English name for any herb of the genus
Origanum. Origanum vulgare is wild marjoran, O. marjorana is sweet
marjoram, O. onites is either winter marjoram or pot marjoram, I can't
remember which, and so on.

"Oregano" is the name of a flavour rather than a species of herb. It
includes O. Heracleoticum (sp?) and O. prismaticum as well as other
herbs not of the Origanum genus. In this country you can buy an
oregano mixture of seeds for the full range.

Some unscrupulous merchants are selling wild marjoram, O. vulgare, as
oregano. Anyone who knows the flavour of real oregano would be sorely
disappointed.

LW

Lyndon Watson <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Mar 21, 10:58*am, spop...@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) wrote:

>> Isn't marjoram just a sub-variety of oregano?

>No, "marjoram" is the old English name for any herb of the genus
>Origanum.

Okay

>Origanum vulgare is wild marjoran, O. marjorana is sweet
>marjoram, O. onites is either winter marjoram or pot marjoram, I can't
>remember which, and so on.
>
>"Oregano" is the name of a flavour rather than a species of herb. It
>includes O. Heracleoticum (sp?) and O. prismaticum as well as other
>herbs not of the Origanum genus. In this country you can buy an
>oregano mixture of seeds for the full range.

So, in any case, all culinary marjoram and most culinary oregano is
in the genus Origanum, but O. marjorana is never (or very seldomly)
sold as oregano. I personally find the flavor differences between
different types of culinary oregano, and the flavor difference between
marjoram and the oreganos, to be of the same degree. That is I
don't see it in its own separate category from the rest; they are
all slightly different.


Steve

Janet Wilder <[email protected]> wrote:

> sprinkle smoked paprika instead of Spanish paprika on deviled eggs. Good.

I know they must exist, but I'm unfamiliar with non-smoked Spanish
paprika. I don't know that it gets imported to the U.S. often.

Steve

On 3/20/2011 7:23 PM, Steve Pope wrote:
> Janet Wilder<[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> sprinkle smoked paprika instead of Spanish paprika on deviled eggs. Good.
>
> I know they must exist, but I'm unfamiliar with non-smoked Spanish
> paprika. I don't know that it gets imported to the U.S. often.
>
> Steve


I have a big canister of Tone's Spanish paprika from Sam's . That's
regular paprika. I have a little bottle of McCormick's "smoked paprika"
It is Spanish paprika that is "smoked over wood planks..."

The two have very different flavors.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

Janet Wilder <[email protected]> wrote:

>On 3/20/2011 7:23 PM, Steve Pope wrote:

>> I know they must exist, but I'm unfamiliar with non-smoked Spanish
>> paprika. I don't know that it gets imported to the U.S. often.

>I have a big canister of Tone's Spanish paprika from Sam's. That's
>regular paprika. I have a little bottle of McCormick's "smoked paprika"
>It is Spanish paprika that is "smoked over wood planks..."

Thanks. I'll have to sometime try the unsmoked Spanish stuff.

Fact is, there are too many paprikas in the world for me to keep
them all on hand. I'm sure many of them are highly distinctive.


Steve

On Mar 20, 4:58*pm, spop...@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) wrote:
> Bryan *<bryangsimm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >I wouldn't have included the marjoram, but oregano, garlic, olive oil,
> >black pepper, and salt is what I use to season lamb, meatballs or
> >otherwise.
>
> Isn't marjoram just a sub-variety of oregano?

I never knew how closely related marjoram was to the stuff I've always
thought of as regular oregano. Do you think it's worth me buying some
to use in addition to/instead of oregano for this use? I'm really
looking forward to some lamb seasoned as above. I'd like to make it
with tiny potatoes in a single pot, with a little twist of lemon after
plating, and maybe a little cow's milk feta crumbled on top.
>
> Steve

--Bryan

Bryan <[email protected]> wrote:

>I never knew how closely related marjoram was to the stuff I've always
>thought of as regular oregano. Do you think it's worth me buying some
>to use in addition to/instead of oregano for this use?

Not sure. I did think the European marjoram / Mexican oregano blend
worked well for the lamb meatballs, but it was simply the two such
herbs I had on hand.

Of course with this kind of herb, fresher is better.

Steve

On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 21:58:34 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

> Bryan <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>I wouldn't have included the marjoram, but oregano, garlic, olive oil,
>>black pepper, and salt is what I use to season lamb, meatballs or
>>otherwise.
>
> Isn't marjoram just a sub-variety of oregano?

Mexican oregano is a type a marjoram. Greek oregano is a different
genus, IIRC.

-sw

I tried my usual preparation (which includes
garlic, olive oil, black pepper, and salt) but this time left out the
smoked paprika, and included some European marjoram and Mexican
oregano,
along with a little cayenne.It can
also make a mean mayo for sandwiches and potato salads.

My most recent scallop
preparation involved broiling, and adding olive oil and garlic
for the last minute or so under the broiler.




--
mian afi143

On Mar 21, 12:22*pm, spop...@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) wrote:
> Lyndon Watson *<te...@clear.net.nz> wrote:
> So, in any case, all culinary marjoram and most culinary oregano is
> in the genus Origanum, but O. marjorana is never (or very seldomly)
> sold as oregano.

Right.

* I personally find the flavor differences between
> different types of culinary oregano, and the flavor difference between
> marjoram and the oreganos, to be of the same degree. *That is I
> don't see it in its own separate category from the rest; they are
> all slightly different.

I personally find the flavour of sweet marjoram, O. marjorana, to be
quite distinct from the rest. It has a rather floral character rather
than the resinous sort of character of the others.

I would use oregano with lamb as others have said. Sweet marjoram
goes especially well with beef, I think. I used to have a very good
recipe for a beef meatloaf with lots of sweet marjoram in it.

LW