Apart from briefly developing a dangerous online shopping habit - natural wine, posh hand cream and boxes of British cheeses being delivered to the door seemed pretty essential purchases when you can only leave the house once a day - our one big purchase over the summer was a new gas barbecue grill.
Bought after our summer holiday was cancelled (as it turns out at a greater expense than our return flights...) after the Ewing pointed out that if we were going to be at home for the foreseeable future, we might as well give ourselves an incentive to enjoy being here. She also pointed out my ambivalent attitude towards cleaning the previous two crappy charcoal barbecues (although I did manage to painstakingly smoke some ribs and brisket while using one) and gas might be an easier option.
While the principled chef in me put up a half-hearted objection, I remember having a gas grill at home growing up, and the ease with which my dad would get home from work, stick it on, down a cold 33 lager, and then cook a butterflied leg of lamb or some fresh mackerel for dinner on most days during the summer. Living in England I have fond memories of him clutching a golf umbrella on several occasions, as the heavens opened just after the food hit the grill.
While some recipes demand low and slow smoking, most barbecue recipes can easily be adapted to gas, without a discernible difference in taste and much less mess and fuss (spoken by someone who has just spent the weekend camping, charring lumps of beef on a fire while on a camping trip). This adaptability extends to many of the recipes in Steven Raichlen's Barbecue Bible - a tome I'm petty sure I acquired when I didn't even have a garden, much less a barbecue; and which, despite it's brash looking cover, contains a plethora of ideas for things you can stick on the coals from all around the world.
I wanted something that would allow me to use my new flat skewers (bought in another mini-online frenzy along with various metal scouring brushes and special cleaning sprays. Which I can report I have actually used...) I also knew I had some local minced lamb in the freezer, from yet another over-excited visit to the farmer's market, and some pistachios in the cupboard from when the Ewing had randomly bought me a bag home as a present. And so Gaziantep kebabs, a kofte style kebab with pistachio nuts - which the Gaziantep area in Turkey, after which they are named, is famous for - made the perfect choice.
Alongside the lamb kebabs I made some quick flatbread dough and placed the thinly rolled discs of the dough directly on the barbecue grate. As they puffed up, they were brushed liberally on both sides with the Ewing's wild garlic butter - made from greens the Ewing had foraged at the dog end of spring, chopped and mixed with softened salted butter, rolled into a log and then frozen. And then covered with a clean tea towel so they remained soft until needed. The perfect base for the perfect kebab.
Lamb and pistachio kebabs
Adapted from the Barbecue Bible by Steven Raichlen
500g minced lamb
100g shelled pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or chilli powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
4 flat, wide, long metal skewers
Flatbreads or pitta, yogurt and salad to serve
Combine the lamb, pistachios, onion, garlic, salt, chilli pepper, cumin, and black pepper in a large bowl. Mix with your hands until thoroughly blended.
I never usually bother, but if you want to test the mixture for seasoning, cook a small amount in a nonstick pan until cooked through, then taste, adding more salt and/or black pepper to the remaining mixture as necessary.
Cover and refrigerate the meat mixture for an hour or two.
Divide the meat mixture into four equal portions. Lightly wet your hands with cold water and mould each portion of the meat mixture around a skewer to form a flattish sausage about 20 cms inches long and 2 cms wide.
Place each finished kebab on a baking sheet.
Switch on your gas grill and preheat to high (you can also grill over charcoal)
When ready to cook, arrange the kebabs on the grill and turn with tongs until nicely browned and cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes in all.
The fat in the meat and pistachios mean the kebabs may flare up, so it's handy to have a spray bottle of wather handy to douse any flames as needed
Using a flatbread to protect your hand, slide each kebab off its skewer onto a serving plate. Serve at with flat breads or pitta, yoghurt, tomatoes, red onion, flat leaf parsley and pomegranate seeds
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