Silk Road Recipes
Silk Road Recipes
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Azerbaijan Meat Kebabs with Mint | The Silk Road Gourmet
So far these are the best kebabs I've made my family. We got the recipe from The Silk Road Gourmet, a cookbook that brings recipes from the Silk Road to the modern cook. The book covers nine different regions: Republic of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.
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Pomegranate, Date & Pistachio Rice
This is one of our favorite recipes!! I've only added fried onions to the recipe as well as a sprinkle of saffron. If you don't have fresh dill, I've swapped it out for dried dill on many occasions. We pair this with a rack of lamb. We got this recipe from the Martha Stewart Living magazine and it's become on of our favorite recipes ever!!
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Silk Road Lamb Recipe | Amazingly Delicious and Easy!
This recipe is hands down my family's favorite recipe of all time. There's never enough even when I double the recipe. It's just one of those special treats that we can only do once in a while because a rack of lamb is quite pricey. For me too, it's one of the most delicious recipes I've ever had.
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How to Cook Ground Lamb
I've altered a recipe we love from the Martha Stewart Living magazine which is an herbed rack of lamb that is paired with a pomegranate rice. We love that recipe so much we cook it often. One day, I made the pomegranate rice but didn't have anything except ground lamb. So, this is the recipe I came up with to pair with the rice.
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Asian Inspired Salmon
There's a local fish market restaurant my family loves. They serve simple, delicious and healthy fish dishes with your choice of sauce. It's really the sauce that characterizes each dish, and one of our favorite is the Asian inspired sauce that has our family returning often to this restaurant.
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Asian Chicken & Broccoli
Lunchtime is usually our main meal. While this quick Asian inspired chicken and broccoli is a smaller meal with no sides, it is quick, filling and delicious. This meal takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish (minus clean up). It's also a forgiving recipe, as long as you have soy sauce, you can get creative with your spices and vegetables. You can even sub out the chicken for tofu and make this vegan.
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Smashed Cucumber Salad | Garlic and Sesame Seeds
I've been on the hunt for a cucumber salad recipe that tastes just like the one I love from a local Shabu Shabu restaurant. While this one is so tasty, it's not quite the same. My 10-year-old daughter, however, loved it soooo much and asks me to make it everyday. This recipe is super easy and quick, but it will take time to chill to allow all those flavors to mix and develop. For that reason, you may want to make this in the morning or the night before, or how we made it where we only let it chill for about an hour or less.
Azerbaijan Meat Kebabs with Mint | The Silk Road Gourmet
So far these are the best kebabs I’ve made my family. We got the recipe from The Silk Road Gourmet by Laura Kelley, a cookbook that brings recipes from the Silk Road to the modern cook. The book covers nine different regions: Republic of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.
This cookbook is packed with recipes and information about the different countries these recipes are inspired from. For today’s kebabs, we are using an Azerbaijan recipe which calls for either ground beef or ground lamb.
We are using two pounds of ground beef which is twice what the recipe calls for.
My alterations to the recipe are as follows:
2 pounds of ground beef,
4 teaspoons of salt,
2 tablespoons of dried mint,
1 tablespoon of fresh mint,
4 tablespoons of crushed chilli peppers,
2 teaspoons of ground pepper,
1 teaspoon of cumin and
3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar.
Use a food processor to mix spices and roughly chop two onions. Combine mixture with meat. Mix well. Form kebabs using about 3 tablespoons of meat. Place on a tray and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. A lot of liquid will come out. Transfer to a tray for baking after the kebabs have chilled. Set your oven to the highest broil temperature and broil the kebabs for five minutes on each side. They will produce a lot of liquid so you may choose to do fewer kebabs on each tray. Serve with rice or seasoned rice immediately and enjoy this mouthwatering super easy recipe.
Pomegranate, Date & Pistachio Rice
This is one of our favorite recipes!! I've only added fried onions to the recipe as well as a sprinkle of saffron. If you don't have fresh dill, I've swapped it out for dried dill on many occasions. We pair this with a rack of lamb. We got this recipe from the Martha Stewart Living magazine and it's become on of our favorite recipes ever!!
Silk Road Lamb Recipe | Amazingly Delicious and Easy!
This recipe is hands down my family’s favorite recipe of all time. There’s never enough even when I double the recipe. It’s just one of those special treats that we can only do once in a while because a rack of lamb is quite pricey. For me too, it’s one of the most delicious recipes I’ve ever had. What takes it over the top is the pomegranate rice that we pair with it. The first rack of lamb recipe in the video is from the Martha Stewart Living magazine and that’s also where I learned how to make the pomegranate rice (which I’ve altered a bit). The rack of lamb is easy: it’s just 2 teaspoons of cumin and coriander seeds which have been heated to release their aromas and crushed to make a dry or wet rub (I used olive oil and heated them on the stove). Season with salt and pepper, and that’s it! Bake at 375 or 400 for about 20 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Watch it! You don’t want to overcook this recipe.
For the second rack of lamb, I used the book The Silk Road Gourmet by Laura Kelley. It is an Afghan recipe which calls for 2 teaspoons of cloves and a teaspoon each of cumin seeds, black cardamom, cinnamon and black peppercorns. I crushed the seeds using my granite mortar and pestle. I seasoned the rack of lamb with cayenne pepper and salt, then coated it with the spice mixture before baking until the internal temperature reached 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
How to Cook Ground Lamb
I've altered a recipe we love from the Martha Stewart Living magazine which is an herbed rack of lamb that is paired with a pomegranate rice. We love that recipe so much we cook it often. One day, I made the pomegranate rice but didn't have anything except ground lamb. So, this is the recipe I came up with to pair with the rice. It's a distance second to the rack of lamb recipe, but good in a pinch.
Asian Chicken & Broccoli
Lunchtime is usually our main meal. While this quick Asian inspired chicken and broccoli is a smaller meal with no sides, it is quick, filling and delicious. This meal takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish (minus clean up). It’s also a forgiving recipe, as long as you have soy sauce, you can get creative with your spices and vegetables. You can even sub out the chicken for tofu and make this vegan.
Thank you, Tricia, over at This Life Of Ours for starting this collab. Be sure to send Tricia your love when you visit her channel.
Check out the complete Lunchtime Collab to get more lunchtime ideas!
Recipe Asian Inspired Chicken and Broccoli
Feeds 4-6 people
Ingredients:
3 cups of rice (I used basmati, but sticky rice would complement better)
1.5 pounds of chicken thighs
1-2 broccoli heads cut into pieces
1.5 cup of soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)
oil
Directions:
Fill a large pot with 10-12 cups of water. Cover it and put it on high with the lid on. Soak rice in water (preferably filtered) while the water in the pot comes to a boil. Put a large flat pan on the stove and turn the heat to medium/high. Wash and cut broccoli. Saute broccoli with oil. Drain and rinse rice and transfer to the boiling water. Shift the lid so it’s not completely covering the pot. Cook at a boil for 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile, add chicken thighs to the broccoli. Work on sauce. Add 1/2 cup soy sauce to a small bowl. To that cayenne pepper, ginger, and garlic. Mix and add to chicken/broccoli. Stir and cover with lid. Check on rice and remove lid if it’s boiling. Cook until desired softness. Drain as soon as it’s done cooking and set aside. Once chicken is nearly done. Slice it in the pan. You can slice the chicken before sauteing, but I find it works just as easy this way. In a bowl, add rice and top with broccoli/chicken. Don’t forget to get the children to help with cleanup 🙂
Asian Inspired Salmon
There’s a local fish market restaurant my family loves. They serve simple, delicious and healthy fish dishes with your choice of sauce. It’s really the sauce that characterizes each dish, and one of our favorite is the Asian inspired sauce that has our family returning often to this restaurant.
Recently I decided to try making my own. It turned out so good, my family raved about it! Though I’m not great at cooking fish, this sauce makes up for any short comings while cooking salmon.
Directions for red bell peppers and asparagus:
Slice bell peppers and saute with olive oil and salt on medium high heat for 15 minute. Do the same for the asparagus, but keep them whole and only trim the ends off.
Cook salmon on an oiled pan on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes on each side, starting with the skin side down.
I used a wild rice medley from Trader Joe’s to accompany this meal. I followed the directions on the package, only adding salt and olive oil.
Sauce for salmon:
In a dish, mix together the following ingredients:
-juice of one lemon
-2-3 tablespoons of fresh garlic-ginger paste
-1-2 tablespoons of finely diced red onion
-1/4 teaspoon of sesame seeds
-2 tablespoons of sesame seed oil
-1 cup of soy sauce
-2 smashed red peppers for spice
Drizzle sauce on salmon and grilled veggies if desired.
Serve with this side salad for a complete healthy meal.
Smashed Cucumber Salad | Garlic and Sesame Seeds
We love adding recipes from across the world when studying our history units. We love heading to the kitchen for other units as well. Our China unit was supposed to be its own unit at another time, but once we started our Middle Ages unit a few years ago, it just kept growing until that unit became a world history unit. While I have plenty of resources for this unit, there are other materials I wish to add that details the history in addition to the historical facts that are interspersed in this unit. And while I sourced some amazing hands on projects (better than all the other Silk Road units combined), I did overlook one very important resource: a cookbook. Sure my 25 year old Chinese cooking recipe cookbook is suitable, but when I dove into that book to find current inspiration, I found it lacking. Much of what I found in our cookbook are modern recipes you’re likely to find in equivalents an American restaurant. So while I’ll be adding a new cookbook to this unit (along with other materials), I’m currently sourcing my recipes from multiple places.
I’ve been on the hunt for a cucumber salad recipe that tastes just like the one I love from a local Shabu Shabu restaurant. While this recipe, from RecipeTinEats, is so tasty, it’s not quite the same. My 10-year-old daughter, however, loved it soooo much and asks me to make it everyday. This recipe is super easy and quick, but it will take time to chill to allow all those flavors to mix and develop. For that reason, you may want to make this in the morning or the night before, or how we made it where we only let it chill for about an hour or less.
I smashed three Persian cucumbers with a volcanic rock pestle from my mortar and pestle. I roughly sliced them and tossed them in a bowl with toasted sesame seeds heated in olive oil (about 1/4 teaspoon) with raw sesame seeds (1/4 teaspoon), salt, 1-2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, 5 cloves of smashed garlic and optionally a splash of soy sauce. I altered the recipe and swapped ginger for garlic and omitted the soy sauce this time. I think ponzu sauce might be a nice alternative too. Enjoy!
