Jake and I decided Sunday would be a good day to prepare a feast and Jake suggested hummus as a part of the meal. So, around that we planned a lot more. First, Jake made a salad of cherry tomatoes, onion, spinach and feta. This was marinated in balsamic vinegar and olive oil I assume. I actually had no hand in this so you'll have to consult Jake. The salad was awesome. The vinegar really soaked into the tomatoes and they popped with flavor. I think a return to this salad is inevitable. Perhaps when summer rolls around it will include a wide variety of tomatoes. We also prepared some hummus from canned garbanzo beans. The trick to a great hummus is to add the chickpeas to a food processor that was just being used for grinding lamb without washing it. Jake taught me that one. I had no idea. That actually did happen, but to rid the beans of lamb-blood-borne illness we boiled the beans and washed the food processor before restarting the process. OOPS! Along with the beans went some water, tahini (sesame seed paste), lemon juice, salt, garlic, pepper, fresh parsley and olive oil. We had to adjust a bit along the way as it was turning out too runny but in the end we had a good thick hummus. Maybe its best to add water only as needed toward the end and not up front like we did. Tzatziki came together in a flash with diced, peeled and cored cucumber, greek yogurt, finely chopped garlic, chopped mint, lemon juice, pepper and a touch of vinegar. BOOM! Easy, refreshingly delicious and perfect for what is to come....Kufta kebabs. I have no idea what kufta means. Maybe its ground meat but I don't know. I've only had these at restaurants but they simple simple enough. The recipes I sought out had many variations some including lamb and others with beef. Mine though was a mixture of home ground lamb shoulder (remember that tainted food processor) and some ground grass fed beef (support local farms!, even thought it costs a lot more!). Additionally, I added chopped parsley, diced onion, garlic, white pepper, cumin, mint and dill. The mixture was too loose for my liking so an egg and some bread crumbs served as my glue. I then wrapped small handfuls around skewers for grilling. You could probably make a bad ass burger with the same mixture and thats essentially what a Kufta Kebab is, a burger around a stick. These went onto a grill until they had a nice char. This were worth the work and went great with a little bit of tzatziki.
With the leaner pieces of the lamb shoulder I made some standard style kebabs. I marinated the lamb in lemon juice and zest, fresh oregano, dill and mint, garlic, chili powder, salt and olive oil. These turned out full of flavor and I look forward to marinating an entire leg of lamb in this mixture (or a steak for that matter). Simple enough, skewer them, grill them eat them. I also had some pita from a new grocery store I discovered called "Global Foods Market" which had a wealth of interesting produce and imported staples. It's in Kirkwood, google it. We all ate till full and then the boys ate some more. I considered every part of the meal a success and Jake got to take home a half gallon of hummus, cause he LOVES THAT STUFF!!!
