Thursday 30 April 2009

Recipe - Lamb Kebabs with Garlic Free Tsatziki


This dish really rocked.

I cooked it in my oven but I can't wait to try it on a barbecue. I think this might be one of those dishes that I'll have to defend with a knife if I want to save one for myself during a 'cue.

I've seen different spellings for this. Kebabs, kebobs, kabobs,ke-bobs and so on. I guess calling it lamb mince on a stick doesn't quite have that nice ring to it.

You will notice that this tsatziki doesn't have any garlic in it. I would normally overdo it but this time I decided to try a garlic free version. The reason behind that? Let's just say that everyone I cook for doesn't appreciate garlic as much as I do. Yes, that would be you Mrs T! :) I have to admit that this was almost as good as a garlicky tsatziki.

I served this with a roasted red pepper, dill and lemon couscous but you could serve it differently if you wish. Since I had some leftovers I'll post another suggestion in a couple of days.

Enough waffling, over to the interesting bits.

Recipe (makes 4 skewers)
Lamb mince on sticks
500g lamb mince
2 garlic cloves
1 small red onion, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika

Garlic free tsatziki
125g cucumber, deseeded
250 ml plain yoghurt
2 tablespoons fine quality extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
A couple of good splashed of Tabasco

Method
Lamb mince on a stick
Put the onion, garlic and mint in a blender or a food processor and mix until well processed and almost a paste.

Put this together with all the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Divide the mix into eight pieces. Roll each piece into a sausage shape. Put two pieces onto each skewer.

Refrigerate the skewers, covered, for two to eight hours before cooking.

To cook, preheat the oven to 200c. Put the skewers on a rack in a roasting tray. Let them cook for 12 minutes. Take them out of the oven, rotate and put them back in for another 5 minutes.

Finish them off under the grill - should take about 5 more minutes. Rotate again to make sure to get an even look.

Garlic free tsatziki
Grate the cucumber. Drain in a colander or a sieve and squeeze out most of the moisture. In a bowl, mix the cucumber together with the rest of the ingredients for the tsatziki.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve

Enjoy!

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// Mike