Middle Eastern burgers

Köfte is a Persian word which means "mashed".  Kofte are meatballs or kebabs, served commonly in Turkey, Greece, and throughout the Middle East, and they are a delicious change from regular grilled burgers.  I think they taste best if you mix them up the day before grilling.  Soak some wooden skewers in water for at least 15 minutes, and form the kebabs around them.  Cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge overnight.  Traditionally, the kebabs are formed as long ovals so you can wrap them in pita along with a garlicky yogurt sauce.  You can also make them into meatballs, or even into burgers as I did above.

Here's my favorite spice mix, no matter which way I'm going to fix them:

Kofte

For each pound of meat (ground lamb or beef):
1/3 c pine nuts
3 garlic cloves
1 t hot smoked paprika
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t coriander
1/4 t cloves
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of cinnamon
1/3 c grated onion
1/4 c minced fresh parsley
1/4 c minced fresh mint
1 t unflavored gelatin

Process the pine nuts and garlic with all the spices until it forms a coarse paste.  Scrape into a large bowl along with the rest of the ingredients and knead well.  Form into burgers, meatballs, or cylinders around soaked wooden skewers.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  Serve kebabs wrapped in pita bread.

Garlicky Yogurt Sauce

6 oz plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 T lemon juice
1 12 T tahini
1 garlic clove, minced fine
Dash of salt

Lamb and chorizo cassoulet

Serve this with something green!  And with a roll.  Even though you'll get more than enough starch from the beans, you'll definitely want something with which to sop up any sauce left on your plate or in your bowl.  We put it in a bowl and treat it like a really really thick stew.

Lamb and Chorizo Cassoulet

Olive oil
8 oz lamb
4 oz chorizo
Onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 c dry white wine
8 oz tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
2 t fresh thyme leaves
3 cans (15 oz) white beans (like great northern or small white)

Turn on the oven to 300 and set rack on lowest level.  Cut the lamb into cubes and the chorizo into thin diagonal slices.  Brown in a Dutch oven in olive oil.  Remove meat and set aside.

Saute the onions and garlic until barely tender.  Add the wine and scrape up browned bits.  Stir in the tomato sauce, herbs, and white beans.  Return the meat to the pot, nestling it part way into the bean mixture.  Cover with foil and the lid and place in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.

Stuffed mini-bell peppers

This is a terrific appetizer that is pretty fast and easy to make, especially if you've got some cooked rice left over.   If you can't get ground lamb, or you just don't like it, another ground meat can be substituted.

Greek Stuffed Mini-Bell Peppers

2 small bags of mini-bell peppers
1 lb ground lamb
1 c cooked rice
Salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 c feta cheese, crumbled
2 T fresh mint, chopped
2 t dried oregano

Preheat oven to 400.  Slice each mini-bell lengthwise, without removing the stem.  Clean out the insides.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl by hand.  Using a small spoon, fill each bell and place on a foil lined rimmed baking sheet.  Place on the high-middle rack of the oven and cook for about 5 minutes.  Turn on the broiler and cook a few more minutes until the meat is sizzling and cooked through. 

Braised lamb with potatoes

Usually I prefer to roast a large boneless leg of lamb, but there's also a time and a place for smaller pieces or even individual chops.  If you know that timing is going to be really really tricky, this might be your best bet...it won't hurt the dish at all to stay in the oven longer.  The meat and potatoes will just keep getting more tender.

Braised Lamb with Potatoes (Greek style)

1 c fresh lemon juice (from 4 or 5 lemons)
1/2 c olive oil
3 T fresh oregano or 1 T dried
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Water
2 lbs of lamb, chops, chunks, or leg slices
2 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into quarters

Combine lemon juice, oil, oregano, salt and pepper in a zip loc bag. Add lamb to marinade, turning to coat well. Refrigerate 24 hours, turning a few times.

Place lamb and marinade in a roasting pan, adding water if needed to come up about half way on meat.  Cover pan tightly with foil and roast at 300 for an hour or more. Flip lamb and add potatoes.  Roast for another hour or more.  Uncover and roast at 400 to brown the potatoes.

Stuffed grape leaves

I had a ball the other weekend, preparing (and eating) stuffed grape leaves.  DH was returning from a business trip, and I wanted something that would constitute a full meal, but would also be easy to eat in installments since he never knows what time zone he's in when he gets home.

Having done a fair amount of Greek cooking, I had several different recipes to choose from for the filling, but as I looked around for some tips on the actual stuffing and cooking, I really liked the recipe that was on the About.com Greek Food site.  So that's what I'm recommending.  I substituted ground lamb for the beef, but use whichever you want.  You can also easily make this into a vegetarian meal by subbing in tempeh or another grain for the meat.

Now I can't wait for our grape vines to start leafing! 

Roasted vegetables, salad, and stuffed grape leaves

Braised lamb with red wine and dates

I found a recipe for lamb chops braised in red wine along with figs, but since figs were unfortunately no longer available for the season, I used dates instead.  We liked it quite a bit, so I may never even bother to use figs!  Along with that substitution, I also used a leg cut instead of a shoulder chop, but otherwise followed the Martha Stewart recipe.  Oh yeah, and I added pomegranate seeds too, which gave a nice tangy note to the sweetish dish.

On the plate below, you'll see that we also tried Martha's parsnips and potatoes.  Very tasty.  

Spicy lamb and black bean chili

I made our favorite lamb chili last week, but I wasn't able to find ground lamb.  Not to fear...cut up a leg slice and brown it up.  Delicious!

Marinated lamb for subs

I can never get over how many people tell me they don't like lamb.  What's not to like?

One pound of lamb (more or less) makes four decent sized sub sandwiches.  Marinate the lamb ahead of time so the flavor has a chance to really sink in, preferably all day.

Marinated Lamb Sub Sandwiches

1 lb lamb, cubed
3 T olive oil
3 T red wine vinegar
1 T lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 t oregano
1 t basil
1 T mint leaves, fresh

Olive oil
Vidalia onion, sliced thin
Green pepper, sliced thin

4 sub rolls


Put the lamb and the marinade ingredients into a zip-loc bag and place in the refrigerator, turning several times during the day.  In a saute pan, cook the onions and peppers until soft, and set aside, covered with foil.  Dump the lamb cubes into the pan and cook until browned on all sides.  Serve with onions and peppers on sub rolls.

Boned leg of lamb

If the leg of lamb is boned, you can keep it from getting all dried out by simply rolling and tying it.  Cut off most of the external fat.  Slice it open the rest of the way so the meat will lie (sort of) flat, and rub it with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and rosemary inside and out.

Roll and tie the meat, attempting to keep the roll as even as possible.  Don't worry about it too much if it isn't completely even; this will just help you to obtain slices in a range of doneness.  Slice up some cloves of garlic and make cuts into the roll to insert them. 

What I like to do is to start with a high temperature like 450.  Put some water into the bottom of a roasting pan with a rack and place the lamb into the oven on the lowest position.  Roast for about 10 minutes and then flip the rolled roast.  Roast for another 10 minutes, and then lower the temperature to 325 to complete the roasting time.

If you roast your boned leg of lamb at 325, it usually takes around 25 to 30 minutes per pound to reach an internal temperature of 145.  Lamb is medium rare when the internal temperature reaches 145; this also happens to be the safe temperature for killing bacteria in whole muscle cuts of lamb.  An internal temperature of 160 gives you medium doneness, and is the safe temperature for ground lamb as well.


You can usually take the lamb out of the oven when the temperature reaches 140 and it will climb the rest of the way as the meat rests.  Definitely do let it rest, as this results in the juices being redistributed.  Cover it with foil to keep the outside from cooling off too much.

Malaysian lamb

I have done Malaysian Lamb in a crock pot before, and it comes out beautifully tender and mouth-searingly spicy!  This time I decided to do with larger leg cuts, and it was still amazing. 

Punjabi masalah lamb stew

I've shared the recipe for Punjabi Masalah Lamb before, but this is a variation.  Instead of fresh tomato, I used a can of diced tomatoes, and added a can of black eyed peas, some carrots, and more liquid.  We had it served like a stew over some basmati rice. 

Lamb cacciatore

Oh this stuff is good good good!  And it's so simple.  You can add more vegetables if you'd like, or serve the vegetables on the side.  If you can brown the lamb before placing it in your crock pot, that would be best, or else consider using a dutch oven instead with a low heat.

Lamb Cacciatore

Olive oil
2 lbs of lamb (on the bone is fine)

1/2 c dry red wine
2 cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Basil, oregano, parsley

Brown the lamb lightly in either a dutch oven or in a skillet (if planning on cooking in a crock pot).  Use the wine to deglaze the pan.  Add the other ingredients and simmer (or cook on low) for 2 hours.  Add more liquid if needed.  Turn lamb over after one hour.  

Malaysian lamb

Hot hot hot!!  Not for those who like their spices mild :-)  You can roast a piece of leg, coated with this sauce, or you can do it in a crock pot with the sauce acting as more of a stew.

Malaysian Lamb

Up to 2 lbs of lamb, preferably boneless

1/4 c tomato sauce
1/4 c brown sugar
1 T fresh ginger, grated
2 T fish sauce (we used Thai Kitchen brand)
1 T chile sauce with garlic

Middle Eastern meatballs

Everyone at our church loves for there to be a couple of crock pots full of meatsa-ball-eys at every fellowship dinner.  While I have often fallen back on the traditional Italian or Swedish style treasures, last time I brought a Middle Eastern variety, and they were a hit!

These meatballs should be served with pita bread and a honey-lemon-yogurt sauce.  Here's the recipe for a large quantity.

Middle Eastern Meatballs

2 onions, coarsely grated
2/3 c matso meal or dry breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper
2 t turmeric
2 t paprika
1/4 t ground red pepper
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 eggs
1-1/2 lbs ground turkey or chicken
1-1/2 lbs ground beef or lamb
Olive oil

1 c Greek yogurt
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T honey
Pita bread, cut in halves
Lemon wedges

Combine all the ingredients through the meat in a large bowl.  Form into meatballs.  In a large skillet, brown the balls in batches on two sides.  Don't worry about cooking them through.  Place each batch into a crock pot and cook on low for a few hours until cooked thoroughly.

Mix the yogurt with the lemon and honey, and serve with the meatballs and pita bread halves.  Add more lemon juice to the meatballs if needed.  

Lamb, Fig, & Olive Stew from Eating Well

This recipe appeared in the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of Eating Well magazine. The original recipe was written to serve 4, so I’m not sure why the online version was cut to 2. No matter, you can double this recipe and end up with the right proportions; just add a little more cornstarch.

I chose to use a leg cut instead of ground lamb, so I pre-cooked it for several hours in my crock pot. The meat fell apart and the little fat there was peeled right off by the time I was ready to assemble the stew. The added benefit was that I could use lamb stock instead of beef stock! I highly recommend doing this if you can manage it…not counting the time the meat was in the pot (and I was off doing other things!), this meal clocked in as a thirty minute meal easily.

Middle Eastern lamb stew

Although this stew can be made by just throwing all the ingredients into the slow cooker and letting it simmer for the day (still adding the chickpeas and spinach at the end), it will be much more flavorful if you've got the time to brown the meat and cook the spices first!

Middle Eastern Lamb Stew
Olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 lb lamb meat
2 t cumin seeds
2 t coriander
Cayenne pepper to taste
Salt & pepper
Onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 c stock
20 oz can of chickpeas
6 to 8 oz spinach

Brown the lamb in the olive oil. Add the spices, onions, and garlic and cook until softened. Place mixture in slow cooker over medium heat and add the tomatoes and stock, allowing to cook for 3 to 5 hours, until the lamb is very tender.

Just before serving, mash up about 1/2 the chickpeas with a fork and stir both mashed and whole chickpeas into the stew. Add the spinach and serve.

Lamb with mint and feta pesto

At a recent restaurant outing, a friend of ours had a ground lamb burger topped with a fabulous mint and feta pesto. If you'd like to try making it from scratch, here's my recipe for Basic Basil Pesto. Just substitute a cup of mint leaves for one cup of the basil leaves, and process the same way. Add crumbled feta cheese to the portion that you're ready to use.

Another easier method would be to buy already prepared pesto and doctor it up. I tried that, and even the pesto that I buy (which already has some parmesan cheese mixed in) tasted great with the feta and mint added.

Onion-marinated lamb

You can marinate this dish in your fridge for a couple days as long as the meat is fresh! The more onions, the better :-) We had this lamb with grilled corn on the cob and fresh tomatoes with basil. Salted olive oil for dipping the tomatoes…yum!



Onion-Marinated Lamb

1 – 2 lbs of lamb
Salt and pepper
Red onion, diced fine
Clove of garlic, crushed
1 – 2 c red wine (cooking wine is fine)

Throw all the ingredients into a zip-loc bag or a covered shallow dish. Let marinate for up to two days. Grill, being careful not to overcook.

Lamb skewers with Greek sides

If you cube your lamb small, it will cook very quickly and stay quite tender! Add some Greek sides and some lemon to dowse everything, and you’ll be in tastebud heaven. Besides the Greek accompaniments listed below, we added fresh asparagus to the mix, doing it on the grill as well. Yum! This can all be done and ready in thirty minutes.

Lamb Skewers with Greek Sides

Large cucumber, sliced medium
1 c plain yogurt
1/2 c fresh mint, chopped
Salt and pepper
2 lbs of lamb leg or shoulder, cubed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Greek black olives
Pita bread, halved
Lemon, cut into thick wedges

Slice up the cucumber, chop the mint and mix together with the yogurt and seasonings.
Toss the lamb cubes with olive oil and season them before skewering them. Cook on a hot grill, turning every few minutes until seared on the outside and still pink inside.

Remove lamb from skewers onto each plate. Serve with the cucumber salad, olives, pita and a wedge of lemon. Drizzle the lamb with the lemon and stuff whatever portion of the feast you wish into the pita.

Thyme and shallots marinade for lamb

Although you can cook this lamb dish in a hot skillet either on stove top or in the oven, I prefer it for grilling! This marinade has a lot of ingredients, but if you whip it up the night before, or first thing in the morning, and let the lamb soak in it all day in the fridge, you’ll have some terrific little pieces of meat to grill in the evening.

We had this with asparagus, which I did nothing other than rinse, snap, and grill on top of aluminum foil, and some fresh rosemary and olive bread from my grocery bakery :-)

Thyme and Shallots Marinade for Lamb

1/2 c olive oil
1/4 c red wine
3 T lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Shallot, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 t dried oregano (or 1 T fresh)
1 T dried thyme (or 3 T fresh)

Please please please try to use fresh thyme! Crush the herbs, and scatter them over the chops in a shallow pan. Scatter the shallots and garlic over them as well. Whisk the olive oil through the salt and pepper together and pour over. Let them marinate for at least an hour, but preferably all day or even overnight if need be!

This is enough marinade for about 2 lbs of lamb chops or other grilling pieces. We usually just buy around a pound, or even less, so I do cut back on the amounts slightly!