ZAHAAV RECIPES

Steps:

• Combine the salt with the sugar, fennel seeds, peppercorns, allspice, garlic and about 2 quarts water in a large pot. Bring to a rapid boil, stirring to dissolve the salt. Remove from the heat and allow the brine to cool completely.
• Combine the chickpeas with the baking soda in a large bowl and cover with water by several inches. Let soak overnight.
• Put the lamb shoulder in a large (6- to 8-quart) container and pour the brine over the lamb. (Ideally, the lamb shoulder should be submerged, so weight it with two plates. But if that's impractical, cover the lamb with a clean cloth that's saturated in the brine.) Refrigerate the lamb shoulder in the brine overnight or up to 48 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Place a rack on a baking sheet. Drain the lamb and pat dry. Put the lamb on the rack and roast until well browned on the exterior, about 30 minutes. (Or sear the lamb over a medium-hot grill for 15 minutes until well browned on all sides and nicely charred in places.) Lower the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Transfer the lamb shoulder to a large roasting pan. Mix the pomegranate molasses with 8 cups water in a bowl and add to the pan. (The liquid should come about halfway up the shoulder; add water if needed.) Drain the chickpeas and add them to the liquid. Place a sheet of parchment paper over the lamb and cover the pan tightly with foil.
• Braise in the oven until the lamb shreds easily with a fork and the chickpeas are tender, about 5 hours. Let the lamb cool in its braising liquid in the refrigerator overnight.
• The next day, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Roast the lamb, uncovered, spooning the braising liquid over the lamb every 5 minutes, until the lamb is hot through and glazed with the liquid, about 30 minutes. Serve with crispy Persian rice if you like.
• Notes:
• Pomegranate molasses is the juice of pomegranate seeds mixed with sugar and reduced to a thick syrup until it’s almost candy-like, at once very sweet and very sour from the astringency of pomegranates’ natural tannins. It is an important ingredient in Middle Eastern cooking, especially Persian cuisine. I add it to slow-braised meats, like the lamb shoulder, but it can be used straight from the bottle — as a sauce for ice cream, drizzled onto grilled chicken livers, or poured directly into your mouth.

Steps:

• In a bowl, cover chickpeas by at least 2 inches of cold water. Add 1 teaspoon baking soda and let soak at room temperature overnight. Drain and rinse.
• In a medium pot, cover soaked chickpeas by at least 4 inches of water. Add the remaining teaspoon baking soda and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium high and let cook at a vigorous simmer until chickpeas are quite soft, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. (Overcooked chickpeas are the secret to creamy hummus, so don’t worry if they start to break down a little.) Drain.
• While chickpeas are cooking, make the tahini sauce. In a blender, combine the lemon juice, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Let mixture sit 10 minutes. Add tahini, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and the cumin, and blend until a thick paste forms. Add 1/3 to 2/3 cup ice water while blender is running, a little at a time, until sauce is smooth. You’re looking for a perfectly smooth, creamy sauce.
• Add the warm, drained chickpeas to blender with tahini mixture. Blend until perfectly smooth and not at all grainy, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl occasionally. This blending may take upward of about 2 minutes; just keep going until the mixture is ultracreamy and fluffy, adding a little water if you need it to make the contents of the blender move. Taste for seasonings, adding more salt, lemon juice and/or cumin as needed.
• To serve, spread the hummus on a plate, dust with paprika, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with parsley.