July 29, 2014 Lunch Hot Dog at Costco Dinner Talas rack of lamb with purslane couscous and tzatziki sauce

July 29, 2014  Lunch  Hot Dog at Costco   Dinner   Talas rack of lamb with purslane couscous and tzatziki sauce

I went by Costco after my meeting this morning and got my favorite inexpensive lunch, a Nathans all beef Polish hot dog with a drink for $1.60.  I put everything on it, including fresh chopped onions, deli mustard relish and catsup.   It is a great light lunch.

Then I drove to Trader Joe’s and bought a 32 oz. container of European style yogurt ($3.19) and several bottles of wine.

At 6:00 I went out to the driveway and picked a basket of purslane.  With all the rain this year the purslane is larger and more prolific than ever. 

Here is some information on purslane.

Common in our yards but little known in the North American kitchen, purslane is both delicious and exceptionally nutritious. Common purslane (Portulaca oleracea) — also known as duckweed, fatweed, pursley, pussley, verdolagas and wild portulaca — is the most frequently reported “weed” species in the world. It can grow anywhere that has at least a two-month growing season.

Until recently, most research on purslane has focused on its eradication. A frequently overlooked approach to controlling this weed is to eat it! Purslane is so surprisingly tasty, North Carolina market gardener Patryk Battle says, “I have rarely had anybody not buy purslane after they’ve tried it.”

Purslane is somewhat crunchy and has a slight lemony taste. Some people liken it to watercress or spinach, and it can substitute for spinach in many recipes. Young, raw leaves and stems are tender and are good in salads and sandwiches. They can also be lightly steamed or stir-fried. Purslane’s high level of pectin (known to lower cholesterol) thickens soups and stews.

Battle also uses purslane in pesto. He throws basil and purslane (upper stems and all) into a blender or food processor, adds a small amount of olive oil, garlic, pine nuts and enough hot water to get a good consistency. Because it’s so juicy, purslane helps create a low-fat pesto without too much oil.

A Nutrient-Rich Weed

Purslane may be a common plant, but it is uncommonly good for you. It tops the list of plants high in vitamin E and an essential omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Purslane provides six times more vitamin E than spinach and seven times more beta carotene than carrots. It’s also rich in vitamin C, magnesium, riboflavin, potassium and phosphorus.

Omega-3s are a class of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids. Your body cannot manufacture essential fatty acids, so you must get them from food. Unfortunately, the typical American diet contains too few omega-3s, a shortage that is linked to a barrage of illnesses including heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

ALA is most commonly found in plants and grass-fed meat and eggs. Artemis Simopoulos, co-author of The Omega Diet, says purslane is one of the richest known plant sources of ALA: It contains 15 times the amount found in most iceberg lettuce.

In addition to ALA, other omega-3s include eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids mostly found in aquatic plants and animals, especially oily fish. Nutritionists now think all forms of omega-3s need to be plentiful in our diets p lants such as purslane may be part of the missing link to better nutrition. Ethnobiologists — scientists who study the relation between primitive human societies and the plants in their environment — believe that the plants humans ate long ago provided a greater proportion of nutrients than the plants we consume today. They estimate, for instance, that humans 40,000 to 10,000 years ago consumed an average of 390 milligrams per day of vitamin C from wild plants and fruits. In contrast, the average American today consumes just 88 milligrams of vitamin C per day. One cup of cooked purslane has 25 milligrams (20 percent of the recommended daily intake) of vitamin C.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/power-packed-purslane-zmaz05amzsel.aspx#ixzz38wvW4OVv

Suzette arrived a little after 6:00 as I was still picking a few leaves of chard in the garden, a cucumber and mint for the tzatziki sauce.

It turned out the package of lamb contained two racks, so we decided to grill both racks and make couscous with purslane and Tzatziki Sauce.   Suzette took on the prep responsibilities for the couscous and the grilling and I looked up a recipe for tzatziki and prepared it.

Suzette chopped a tomato into cubes and sliced the large leaves of purslane into ¼ inch wide strips and then made the couscous by melting 2 Tbsp. of butter in a sauce pan and then sautéing the purslane and tomatoes for a minute and then added 1 ½ cups of water and when that started boiling she added 1 cup of couscous and turned down the heat to low for a minute and then turned off the heat to allow the couscous to absorb the liquid.

The Tzatziki Sauce Recipe

1 cucumber

1 cup of Greek style yogurt

2 cloves of garlic

1 Tbsp. of dill

Zest of 1 lemon and 1 Tbsp. of lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

I also added 1 Tbsp. of fresh chopped mint and 1 Tbsp. of olive oil.

Actually I doubled the recipe.

When the lamb was grilled I tried to slice it into riblets and we discovered that it contained a tough cartilage membrane covering the riblets.  This was a surprise to us and we are not sure if it is because the lamb is churro lamb or if the Australians remove the cartilage covering the riblets.  Anyway I cut the cartilage away and then was able to easily slice the riblets between each rib.  We opened a bottle of the 2012 Pontificis red Southern Rhone blend I bought today at Trader Joe’s ($6.99, a blend of 40% Grenache, 40% Syrah and 20% mourvedre from the Languedoc-Roussillon region).  The wine label indicated that it was from an Indication Geographique Protegée.  

Here is what Indication Geographique Protegée means:

Vin de pays is a French term meaning "country wine". Vins de pays are a step in the French wine classification that is above the table wine (Vin de table) classification, but below Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) and formerly below VDQS classifications. Legislation on the Vin de pays terminology was created in 1973 and passed in 1979,^[1] allowing producers to distinguish wines that were made using grape varieties or procedures other than those required by the AOC rules, without having to use the simple and commercially non-viable table wine classification. Unlike table wines, which are only indicated as being from France, Vin de pays carries a geographic designation of origin, the producers have to submit the wine for analysis and tasting, and the wines have to be made from certain varieties or blends. Regulations regarding varieties and labelling practices are typically more lenient than the regulations for AOC wines. In 2009, the Vin de pays classification was replaced by the new IGP - Indication Géographique Protégée, or Protected Geographical Region - designation.^[2]

There are three tiers of Vin de Pays: regional, departmental and local.^[1]
There are six regional Vins de Pays, which cover large areas of France. The most voluminous contributor to this category of wines is Vin de Pays d'Oc, from the Languedoc-Roussillon area in Mediterranean France.

We loved the slightly gamey flavor of the lamb.  The Couscous was moist and saturated with subtle flavor of tomatoes (the purslane has no flavor, just nutrients) and the wine had a slightly unpleasant finish to it that went away as it opened up or after we had had a glass or two of it.  

I liked the tzatziki sauce also, but the garlic tasted raw.  Hopefully it will mellow overnight in the fridge.  We will eat this same meal tomorrow evening since we have an equal amount of all the dishes left.

Suzette and I were both impressed by the large quantity of ingredients we had grown in our garden; the cucumbers, mint, dill, garlic, and purslane.  And the lamb was New Mexico raised churro lamb.  So this was a very fresh, local dinner.

For dessert I ate a bowl of  spumoni ice cream and Suzette ate a bowl of poached figs and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.

Bon Appétit