It doesn't seem so..it's past mid-May and it's still cold and rainy in New York. Still, I will not let the weather deter me from starting my summer. So, I went to the store determined to start the grilling season no matter what. My husband also got in the mood, and started preparing menus in his mind. This, my friends, is very dangerous, because when he thinks of menus, you have to be prepared to feed an army. And he insisted on coming shopping with me, which, again, doesn't augur well for the expedition. Usually it goes like this: I prepare a list, including of course the elements of his menu. We get to the store,we look for what he wants, once we find it, the shopping is over. Forget about your list or anything else! But today I got smarter and lucky: smarter because I went armed with the morning papers, and once we found some of the things he wanted, I asked him to go to the coffee shop with the papers and wait for me there. I also got lucky because we could not find the Cornish hens he was bent on having grilled as a season opening, so it was easy to convince him to go and have a coffee while I would go back and have another look to find the chickens. And we did. We came back with all the ingredients for the grand opening of the grilling season. Never mind that he thought that it was Siberia out there when we went to the deck to start the grill, we had our grilling day anyway.
LAMB KEBAB
Kebab is a traditional way to cook meat in the Middle East. It can be done with lamb, beef or veal. But the original and traditional recipe calls for lamb. I think it is done with cheaper cuts of meat, and its special flavor comes from the marinade and the fat that is usually left in the meat. But, as you probably know by now, I trim all the fat from the meat I am cooking, so I had to come up with a way to give flavor to the meat while tenderizing it. I know this "fat factor" as a fact from my childhood: we had at the corner of our street in Alexandria, where we had our summer home, a restaurant that served kebab and kofta (meatballs). When we passed by, the smell was overwhelming. It was so delicious that I kept asking my mother to buy me a sandwich. So she did. I couldn't resist until we got home, so I took a bite... that was it: I bit into a piece of fat! It was then, at the tender age of 5 that I decided to never again eat kebab. It took me years to be convinced that not all kebab is fat, and that there is something delicious in there that's worth another try. I learned that I had sometimes to look for "suspicious pieces" in my kebab. Now that I can make my own kebab, I had to look for a smarter and equally delicious replacement of fat in the meat. And I found it: it's yogurt. You'll need:
4 lb lamb cubed
3 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture
1 tsp each: rosemary and thyme
2 to 3 tbsp plain yogurt (I use Greek yogurt, but any plain yogurt is fine)
Salt and pepper to taste
Slices of red onion
I usually buy a whole deboned leg of lamb, trim all visible fat and cut it myself to suit my needs. This time I got a 5.6 lb leg of lamb, after I trimmed the fat and kept a small piece whole (about 1 lb), I cut the remaining parts in 1 inch cubes. Put the meat cubes in a bowl, preferably one with a lid, add all other ingredients and mix well to coat the meat. Cover the bowl and refrigerate at least for 1 hour to overnight. When you are ready to grill, put 4 pieces of lamb on each skewer, with slices of red onion between them. Grill on a hot grill for 5 to 6 minutes before turning them for the first time. Depending on how hot is your grill, your kebab should be done in about 10 to 12 minutes. If you are using wood skewers, make sure that you soak them in water before using them, or else they will burn.
GRILLED CHICKEN
For this recipe I chose Cornish hens, they cook faster, and because they are smaller, you don't risk having them undercooked, especially around the bones. I usually marinate them the night before I need to cook them. The process is very simple and it will be an incentive for you not to serve your guests the usual burger and hot dogs. Common, we're grown- ups now and we should serve something more sophisticated!! The best thing is that nobody needs to know that it was so easy to make. You'll need (for 4 persons):
2 Cornish hens
2 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture
1 tsp dried oregano
Juice of 1 lime
2 to 3 tbsp plain yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste
Rinse the chicken with water inside and out, remove all visible fat from the cavity. Cut each bird in half along the spine (you can remove that bone altogether if you want to, it's very easy if you have a good pair of kitchen scissors). Put the chicken in a glass bowl, add all the other ingredients and mix to coat well. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour to overnight. Cook on a hot grill, putting the skin side on the grill first. Don't disturb it for at least 6 minutes, then turn once. After 5 or 6 more minutes check for doness by pricking the leg at the joint: if the liquid comes out clear, your chicken is done.
REAL ORIENTAL "FREEK"
It's pronounced "freak", and it's sold here as BULGHUR. Basically it's green wheat, and you can find it at all Middle Eastern stores in different cuts: from very fine to half cut (or #4 depending on the store). The fine cut is used in salads or meatballs, while I use the half cut as a delicious and nutritious replacement for rice or pasta. You can easily recognize the bulghur: it's a greenish grain, barely broken. I use it as a side dish whenever I can, because it's natural, it's whole wheat and it cooks in minutes. You'll need:
2 cups bulghur
2 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture
2 cups chicken stock or water
1 tbsp canola oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Pick the bulghur to make sure that there are no small stones in it, then rinse and drain it. In a large nonstick skillet, cook the onion/ garlic mixture in the oil until translucent. Add the bulghur and stir for about 3 minutes. Add 1 cup liquid, and season with salt and pepper. It will come quickly to a boil. Reduce the heat and keep an eye on it. When the liquid is all absorbed, check for doness. This will help you determine how much liquid to add. If you need, add 1/2 cup by 1/2 cup or less, checking every time until all the liquid is absorbed and the grains are tender, not al dente. Different grains may need more or less liquid. It usually takes about 10 minutes. Serve it as a side dish with the grilled chicken and kebab. Please make also a mixed salad and a tahini salad. You can also grill a couple of pita breads while you're at it. You can use them to make a kebab sandwich in 1/2 a pita with tahini salad drizzled over the meat or even a kebab wrap with both salads in it.
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