Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Iranian Style Kabab Recipe)

Preparation

1.     Prepare the prune cream. Sauté the chopped vegetables in a small amount of olive oil. When they start to turn golden, add the thyme, and stock, and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat. Remove from the heat, take out the sprig of thyme, place the cooked ingredients with the prunes in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Pour cream into a squeeze bottle and set aside.
2.     Prepare the Ghormeh Sabazi. Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the onions and leeks until golden. Add the herbs and stir. When the herbs have wilted a bit, add the rest of the ingredients except for the lemon juice. Add the water and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, then cool. In a blender or food processor, blend the cooked ingredients with the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.
3.   Prepare the kebabs. Heat a grill, broiler, or griddle to medium and cook the kebabs 4 ½ minutes on each side.
4.  On a serving plate, decoratively pipe pools of prune cream and Ghormeh Sabazi with a Nan-e Barbari on top. Place the kebabs on the bread, and top with additional cream and Ghormeh Sabazi. Serve

For Nan-e Barbari Bread (Persian Conquerors Bread)

1. In a medium bowl whisk the yeast and water together and set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Put the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir.
3. Return the bowl to the mixer fitted with a dough hood, and mix in the water/yeast mixture on low speed.  Add the oil and knead the dough for 15 minutes on medium speed until the dough is smooth, elastic, and pulls away from the side of the bowl.
4. Place the dough in a large, lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let rise for about 2 to four hours, until it doubles in bulk.
5. While the dough rises, make the topping. Place all the topping ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth and thick. Remove from the heat, and continue stirring a few minutes longer to cool the topping down.  Set aside.
6. Spread out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a rough circle. Take one half of the dough and starting from underneath the center, slowly and carefully, stretch the dough with the back of your hands to form a thin, elongated oval.
7. Place the formed dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Dip a pastry brush, or your fingers, in the topping mixture and pressing gently, being careful not to rip the dough, paint parallel grooves along the length of the dough. Paint the rest of the dough with topping, and sprinkle with sesame or nigella seeds.

Heat a fan oven to 220°C (430°F) or 240° C (475°F) in a conventional oven. Bake the bread for 15 to 18 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack.