Lamb Kofta

[austin87]

Got back in town from a weekend in Chico, CA for my little sister's college graduation. My girlfriend wanted to order out Mediterranean. I said I haven't fired up a kettle in a couple days, let me give it a shot. Besides, I saw ClubChapin's post for recent inspiration. Would have liked to take a few more pictures, but we partied hard this weekend and the food took all of my attention.

First mixed yogurt, lemon, cucumber, mint, garlic, salt, and pepper for a tzatziki-type sauce. Let it sit to get the flavors to meld.

Stewed some prunes with a tablespoon of butter, chicken stock, and a little cinnamon. They cooked for about an hour on low.



Kofta was lamb, minced onion and garlic, mint, cumin, allspice, coriander, ground ginger, paprika, salt and pepper, and a little ras el hanout that was gifted to me - it's a Moroccan spice blend with a ton of stuff in it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_el_hanout. After forming them back into the fridge for 30 minutes while the grill gets going.

Kofta half way done (whole tomatoes missed the shot)



I used the vortex wide end up for a larger direct heat area - it worked really well. Since I don't have a set up to get the skewers high enough to avoid flare ups, I cooked these with the lid on over high heat.

Plated with some brown rice cooked with a couple saffron threads.



This was an awesome meal. The lamb was well spiced, the yogurt sauce was cool, the tomato melted, and the prunes balanced the whole thing out with savory sweetness.

[ClubChapin]

That looks really tasty!

[1911Ron]

Very interesting, looks tasty!

[WNC]

I could eat a couple plates of that, looks fantastic!

[tdw]

That looks awesome! Don't suppose you'd be able to share the quantities for your recipes?

The best, most flavourful BBQ I ever had was in Doha Qatar that was at an Afgani Restaurant. Looking at your plate brings back memories and makes my mouth water. Excuse me while I go wipe off the drool.

Nicely done!

[austin87]

@tdw I'm really not much of a measurer - I've tried to be a little more precise lately so that cooks are replicable and so I can share on WKC for others to enjoy.

What I usually do is look at 3-4 different recipes for something I want to make to get an idea of what kind of quantities I need, then I take my favorite parts of each recipe and put my own together. I taste as I go and adjust as needed (I'll even taste raw stuff like lamb kofte or meatloaf with pork in it, but not poultry - it's in small quantities and I never get sick - I can't recommend that others do that because I would feel terrible if someone got sick, but use your best judgement).

Hope that helps!

[jcnaz]

This is an amazing cook. Mediterranean is way out of my comfort (cooking, not eating!) zone!

[AcrossFromHoss]

Real nice cook up id be very happy with this in front of me.