Disaster!

My first kitchen catastrophe! I'd almost finished my first Sudanese dish and was adding some salt, using one of those plastic, pre-packed grinders. Well, the stupid thing broke apart on the second grind, and probably half a bottle poured into my beautiful pot of soup. That's NEVER happened to me before... Seriously, I could cry.

I was so intrigued by this lamb-based soup I'd found... Shorba (or Puree of Lamb Khartoum) is the first course in a description I found of a typical, formal Sudanese dinner. If you can’t find already-made lamb broth or stock, then you can easily make your own. In a large (ideally 6-quart) saucepan, gently simmer 1 decent-sized lamb shank in 8 cups of water with 2 tsp. of salt for about an hour.

Note: If you make broth this way, there’ll still be plenty of flavor in the shank meat, so definitely save it for another dish or even add it to this soup after its pureed or use some as a garnish when you serve it. However, if you’d prefer not to use meat, the original recipe says you can use 3 lbs. of lamb bones instead. (If you do, leave the bones in the pot as you make the soup to infuse as much flavor as possible. Remove them after you've cooked the veg.)

I made my broth yesterday using a shank then let it sit for 24 hours in the fridge. That way, it was a snap to skim the fat off the surface. To prevent warping, I let the pot come to room temperature before turning on the heat and finishing the soup.

Once the broth came to a boil, I added the following:

1 medium onion, cut into chunks

4-5 large carrots, cut into chunks

1 small head of cabbage, shredded or cut into chunks

½ lb. string beans, cut into chunks

A few cloves garlic, depending on your taste, chopped

I reduced the heat and simmered for 1 hour until the veggies were very tender. I was about to puree the soup with an immersion blender (and leave it slightly chunky for more interesting mouthfeel).

At that point, I was supposed to add:

4 Tbsp. peanut butter, thinned with the juice of 1 lemon

½ cup cooked rice (You can omit this ingredient, if you prefer.)

Salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.

Yes, you read that right. Peanut butter! Now, my wife is half Greek, so I’ve had plenty of lamb dishes that include lemon. But, lamb and peanut butter?! That's such an odd pairing, I just HAD to try it!

Alas, tonight is not the night. I started this little experiment to show that you can enjoy exotic tastes with just a few specialty ingredients that won't bust your budget. So, with about 15 bucks headed for the garbage, a second try just isn't going to happen this week. Another time, though, for sure.

Perhaps one of you, my intrepid readers, will give this recipe a go? If you do, be SURE you share your results with us here. Otherwise, I'll try this soon and report back to you then.