Simple, fast and absolutely full of flavor

There is a fantastic little restaurant down the street from me that serves the best Armenian/Lebanese food around. I rarely attempt to make this cuisine myself since it’s so conveniently located, and it is my choice for the cook’s night off. One of my favorite dishes there is the Lule Kebab — theirs is made of ground beef but I always forget and think it’s going to be lamb.

This explains why when the other day when I found myself with a little over a pound of ground lamb, I decided to take a crack at lule kebabs — made with lamb, which is actually the more common version throughout the Middle East. I didn’t bother to consult a recipe since I was in a hurry, and if an ingredient was missing I was NOT going to hop in the car! I thought of my garden mint and rosemary, the feta on hand, and onion. Salt, garlic, done. The result was a huge hit. I’m calling it almost a lule kebab since I hardly used any of the traditional Armenian spices, like cumin and coriander and for sure minced parsley. I substituted fresh mint and rosemary and added feta, but I think it’s safe to say this easy lamb dish can be herded in almost any direction.

Tasty Lamb Kebabs | 12 kebabs

12 to 14 wooden skewers
1 1/3 pounds ground lamb
1/2 red onion, minced
1 small garlic clove, minced to a paste
1/2 cup crumbled feta (approximately 2 ounces)
6-inch sprig rosemary, leaves minced
6-inch sprig fresh mint, leaves minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Light a charcoal grill. Soak 12 to 14 wooden skewers in a sink filled with water.

Once you have all these ingredients together, putting the skewers together is easy -- do this while the charcoal is firing up

While the grill is lighting, prepare the skewers. Combine the lamb, onion, garlic, feta, rosemary, and mint in a large bowl. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Thoroughly combine the ingredients.

Put all the ingredients together in a bowl

Use your hands for this task, crumbling the largest pieces of feta

The mixture, well-combined

Using a fistful of meat mixture, press the meat onto a skewer, turning and forming it into a sausage shape.

Too much mixture will be heavy and hard to form onto the skewer -- keep it to a small fistful

Three skewers is a good serving, but make more for a hungry group

When the coals are ready, cook the skewers, turning from time to time, for 6 to 8 minutes. They should be browned evenly on all sides.

A charcoal fire gives the lamb a great smoky char, but a gas grill will work just fine

The skewers will likely burn, but they are removed before serving the kebabs

Let the grilled meat rest under a loose sheet of foil for 10 minutes. Serve it with rice or couscous, or pita and hummus.

I’ll have to find another cook’s night out dinner…maybe tandoori chicken?

Kelly McCune © 2010

©2012 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.

Grilled pork tenderloin, shown here with manaesh from my local Middle Eastern market -- it's a flat bread with zaatar (thyme, sesame, olive oil, salt) on top

Time to fire up the grill for the season. The charcoal one, that is. I use my gas grill all year round, but the charcoal grill gets a spring cleaning and makes its appearance right about now. I think it’s a daylight savings time issue — I don’t like to grill in the dark. I’d fixed up the grill, I had a lovely pork tenderloin in the fridge, and now all I needed was charcoal for my little Weber.

I headed out for some mesquite charcoal, which I buy at one of my neighborhood Middle Eastern markets. I am lucky to live so close to several of these small, family-owned markets. Well, it started with the charcoal, but then I saw freshly baked manaesh, and thought the salty thyme and sesame bread would go well with pork. That led to a trip to the deli counter, where I bought Greek feta (stuff the tenderloin, yes!) and fresh yogurt for a sauce of some sort. I decide the yogurt needed a kick, so I located the harissa — a solidly spicy chili paste from North Africa — and nearby were some lovely sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil (of course, more for the stuffing!). I felt like I was in an episode of Top Chef, creating my menu as I trolled the aisles. Next to last I grabbed a bunch of fresh cilantro for the sauce. I got in trouble at the check-out, because there was a roasted nut mix, and I had to have that, too. To go with what? A beer, I guess.

Feta and Sun-dried Tomato Stuffed Pork Tenderloin | 3 servings

Pork tenderloins range in size from about 3/4 to a little over 1 pound. Typically one will serve three people, maybe even with a little bit left over. To serve any more than three people you’ll need more tenderloin. This is easy to put together while the grill is firing up.

1 pork tenderloin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces feta cheese
4 to 5 sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
Dried thyme
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon lemon juice, about 1/4 lemon
1 teaspoon harissa, or to taste
Small pinch sugar
Small pinch salt
10 to 12 sprigs cilantro, leaves chopped, about 1 heaping tablespoon

Light a charcoal grill.

This tenderloin was exactly 1 pound, and it served three with one or two slices left over

Lay the tenderloin on a cutting board. With a small, sharp knife, cut a deep pocket into the rough side (rather than the rounded side) of the tenderloin. Take care not to cut all the way through the meat.

Start at the narrow end, working back toward the thick end

Sprinkle the inside of the tenderloin with salt and pepper.

It's almost like butterflying the tenderloin

Arrange thin slices of feta and whole sun-dried tomatoes inside the pocket. Sprinkle with dried thyme.

Arrange them close together so that every slice contains some "stuffing"

Fold the flap back over the top and secure with toothpicks.

I used three toothpicks -- they will be removed before you serve the tenderloin

Drizzle some of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes over the tenderloin and sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper and dried thyme.

There is a nice tomato-y flavor to the oil

Contrary to earlier assumptions, salting the meat before grilling does not dry it out -- what's important is to rest the meat after cooking, covered and for a good 5 minutes

On a preheated grill, cook the tenderloin 7 to 10 minutes per side, until a meat thermometer reaches 140°F.

Over mesquite charcoal, which gets hotter than briquets, the pork cooks quickly -- mine took only 7 minutes per side

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. In a bowl, mix together the yogurt, lemon juice, harissa, sugar, salt and cilantro. Set aside until needed.

Taste as you go to determine how much harissa is enough

Cover the meat loosely with foil and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Remove the toothpicks and slice into 3/4-inch rounds. Serve with a dollop of sauce and have the extra sauce on the table.

And since it’s light outside, have that beer and those nuts. Hey, nuts are good for you!

Kelly McCune © 2010

©2012 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.

It would be a mournful day to say goodbye...

A couple of weeks ago I nearly declared the burger dead to me, and to my family. I had just read the horrific story of a young woman permanently handicapped from the E.coli she had consumed in a good ol’, home-cooked, all-American hamburger. This was on the front page of The New York Times and included this beautiful girl’s photo. I know this is not a nice way to commence a conversation about burgers, but I was shaken down to my boots and I’m sharing.

After a few weeks of complete swearing-off, I started to think about the problems that made this specific burger so poisonous. What emerged over and over was the source of the meat. In this article the author isolates the four(!) slaughterhouse/suppliers for the ground beef — a fatty mix from Nebraska, lean combos from Texas and from Uruguay, and a super-lean mix from South Dakota obtained by melting away the fat from cheaper, fattier cuts. These four components were then combined at Cargill, Inc. in Wisconsin for packaging and distribution to, in this case, Sam’s Club. Apparently it takes a village to make a hamburger. Incidentally, the burger contained, in addition to E. coli, a small amount of bread crumbs, even though the package did not put either one on the label.

The solution for me was either to forget burgers altogether or — it dawned on me — to grind my own meat. The problem seems to lie in the pre-ground stuff, certainly in the packaged patty. So I have rescued burgers from the jaws of oblivion but only barely. We will not be eating any burgers we don’t source ourselves (sorry, Little League cookouts, snack bars, and…In-and-Out). This does have an added benefit. It’s time to slow down the consumption of meat, to become particular about its origins, and to pay what it really costs to consume this excellent source of protein. Burgers have become altogether too common, and what’s available out there is a mere shadow of the real thing. But just wait till you taste the ones you make from scratch.

Three possible options for the grinder

There are several options for ground beef. Chuck is a great all-around cut, since you end up with about 20% fat which makes a great, juicy burger. Top sirloin is also a good choice but is a little more expensive and a little less fatty, about 15%. Sirloin tip and top round cost somewhere between the other two and are about 18% to 20% fat. Brisket can also be ground or combined with other cuts for nice flavor, but my favorites are either plain chuck or a combination of chuck and top sirloin. I also went the extra step and bought hormone- and antibiotic-free beef, partially range-fed (most producers still fatten the cow on grain for the last few months). Of course you can also have the butcher grind these cuts for you while you wait, even though they’ll ask you why you don’t just buy their pre-ground beef (in some cases they have done their own grinding on site). At my market I paid a little more for the chuck than its equivalent pre-ground but I control the quality and content. And I paid less for the sirloin cuts than the pre-ground.

Three grinders: the old-timey hand crank (courtesy of Jamie's Italian great-grandma, Ambrogina Bonfiglio Gandola), the Cuisinart and my favorite, the Kitchenaid grinder attachment

When I tried grinding my first burger I gave myself lots of time, anticipating a long, slow process. After all, why is this task so ubiquitously done by the butcher — it must be hard! Let’s just say it took me five minutes to grind a couple of pounds of beef, and that’s exaggerating. Even the hand crank is easy and quick.

Some folks recommend sterilizing the grinder before using it to avoid contamination.

Pour hot water through the grinder

Frankly, I don’t find this step necessary. The grinder is likely to be as clean as your knives unless you used it three hours before and didn’t clean it at all. Most bacteria on a dry surface expires after a couple of days, and if you wash and dry the grinder well and put it away after each use, it will be ready to use when you need it.

The meat should be refrigerator cold before grinding. If you like a leaner burger, trim off some of the visible fat and any tough fibers. Remember that trimming away too much fat will make the cooked burger somewhat dry.

If you like, trim off some of the fat. If there is tough connective tissue, some of that can be trimmed off as well

If you are using a Cuisinart to chop the meat, chill the bowl and blade in the freezer for a few minutes while you prep the beef. Cut the beef into large chunks, sized to fit into the grinder (for the Cuisinart, into 1- to 2-inch cubes).

The chunks should be sized to fit into the grinder -- they can be cut into longer strips for the hand-crank or the Kitchenaid grinder

I started with great-grandma (that’s bisnonna in Italiano) Ambrogina’s aluminum hand-crank grinder, secured to the counter top with the clamp. I dropped in chunks of beef and cranked away. Periodically, pull some of the fibers from the front of the grinding plate if they start to interfere.

I was expecting to break a sweat, have sore shoulder muscles, etc. I think our grandmas convinced us that all this was too much work when in fact it couldn't be easier

Next, the Cuisinart. Place 6 or 8 cubes of meat in the chilled Cuisinart fitted with the steel blade and pulse 15 to 20 times, or until the meat is well chopped. Check it as you go to avoid over-processing. This method produces a little less consistent texture, so watch for large chunks and re-chop them. Empty the ground meat onto a plate and continue with another batch until all the meat is ground.

Have the Cuisinart and blade nice and cold

Don't overload the bowl and check it several times while you pulse so that you don't overprocess the meat

If you already own a Kitchenaid, I recommend investing in the meat grinder attachment. It’s easy to attach and easy to clean. It comes with a pusher to help force the meat through the grinder, a nice addition. And with this grinder you can cut the beef into longer pieces — no wider than the opening but up to 3 inches in length.

You can grind pounds of beef very quickly with this grinder

The Kitchenaid has two grinding plates, one more coarse than the other. Kitchenaid recommends grinding twice but I like the grind to have a loose, uncompacted texture, so I only pass it through once. I like the course grind, but the finer plate works just as well. In the end, the three methods yield pretty much the same result:

The differences are minor, but I prefer the true grinders -- the hand crank and the Kitchenaid

Hand-Ground Hamburgers | 6 servings

The meat is all ground, ready to make into patties. So fire up the grill or heat up the pan, because burgers are best cooked hot. If you have a very hot broiler, that works, too, but mine doesn’t quite get hot enough.

2 1/4 pounds chuck roast, top sirloin or other whole chunk of beef
1/2 onion, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Thin slices of good-quality cheese

Light the grill or heat a heavy cast-iron skillet. Lightly mix the chopped onion and a pinch of salt into the meat without overworking it.

Add other flavors to the ground beef, such as garlic, jalapeño, goat cheese, or herbs

Gently shape the meat into patties, again without compacting the meat, which will make the burger dry. You will get about 3 patties per pound with a few extra ounces to fill them out. Season with more salt and pepper, and don’t be shy here.

Nice and thick, like they used to make 'em

Drop the patties into the hot skillet or onto the preheated grill and cook for 4 to 5 minutes on the first side.

This pan is HOT

The fire is hot, too, but I put the top halfway on my Weber kettle when I cook burgers to keep the flare-ups to a minimum

Turn the burgers and cook on the other side for another 3 to 4 minutes, or until the burger releases juices. Add cheese after the turn if you want a cheeseburger. Don’t press on the burger like the short-order grill jockeys do, because that will simply squeeze out all the good juices.

This is a fantastic cheddar from Beehive Cheese Company in Utah called "Barely Buzzed" -- the black crumbly exterior is a coffee & lavender mix

Now's the time to add the thin slices of cheese, just after turning them over

They release easily from the ungreased pan when they are cooked enough on the first side

The burgers start to release some juice on the top when they are done

To thoroughly kill any bacteria burgers have to be cooked to 160°F, but that’s well-done and not the way I like them. I’d rather take the time to grind the meat and have a nice medium-rare burger (about 145°F). Toast the buns in the last few minutes of cooking and serve burgers with all the fixins’. Most of all, take the time to enjoy the freshness and flavor of a burger you made from scratch (and grind).

Whether we like it or not we are going to have to move away from our mother’s era of convenience and into our own era of carefulness. The ubiquitous burger is the first thing we can snatch back from the fate of being over-processed, over-sold, and ultimately unsafe.

In the words of J. Wellington Wimpy, “I’d gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

Mmmmmm

Kelly McCune © 2009

©2012 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.

Like Cooky made it at the Chuckwagon

I read a story in college by William Gass called “In the Heart of the Heart of the Country,” and while I don’t remember the story itself, the title has stuck with me over the years. I felt like I was from there, that place so deep in the center that it almost didn’t exist. I’ve just returned from a visit to Oklahoma, and in the heat and big open spaces and clouds it does still feel like the exact middle of America. Cowboy country, beef country. That’s what cowboys did — they rustled cows, moving them from Texas up through Oklahoma and up to the stockyards in Kansas. So cowboy food starts with beef and is embellished from there.

Grilled tri-tip, though, has its origins in the other part of the country I call my home: California. Santa Maria, California, was a cattle-branding gathering place for vacqueros and ranch owners, whose cooks fed the men with slabs of grilled meat — not the prime cuts, but bottom sirloin. Tasty, but not too costly.

The Santa Maria tri-tip caught on beyond the borders of California and has more recently become popular as a grill favorite for its good value, relatively low fat content, and great flavor. Tri-tip is a whole cut, is usually 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds, and one will serve 4 to 6 people.

All the components for a tasty spice rub

To make this a full meal, grill whole ears of corn in their own husks along with the tri-tip and make a pot of small pinto beans flavored with chunks of bacon and fresh sage for a cowboy meal. Vegetables? Where’d you get them out on the range?

Cowboy Tri-Tip | 4 to 6 servings

Tri-tip grills up beautifully with a spice rub and a hot grill. A little char on the outside is part of the good flavor — and that’s the cowboy way.

1 beef loin tri-tip
Large pinch cumin seed
Large pinch dried sage leaves
Pinch of black peppercorns
Pinch of coarse sea salt
Pinch of garlic powder
Large pinch brown sugar
Pinch of smoked paprika
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

With a mortar and pestle, grind the cumin seed until it is rough. Add the sage, peppercorns and sea salt and grind it down more.

Mortar and pestle for grinding the spice rub

Add the garlic powder, brown sugar and paprika and mix well. Drizzle a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the beef — just enough to rub into the surface.

No need to measure -- just get enough on there to oil the beef all over

Sprinkle the spice rub all over the beef and press it firmly to get it to stick.

The oil should help the spices to stay put on the tri-tip

Wrap the tri-tip tightly in plastic wrap.

Wrapping the beef tightly helps to "dry marinate" it

Refrigerate the tri-tip until 30 minutes before you put it on the grill, but be sure to bring it to room temperature before cooking.  If you’re using a charcoal grill, you can take the meat out of the fridge right before lighting the coals.  Light a grill, and for a real campfire flavor use hardwood chunks (light them with the coals) or chips (add them just before cooking the beef). When the coals are hot, heap most of them on one side of the grate, creating a hot side and a cooler side.

Leaving some coals on the "cool" side (in this picture the foreground half), heap more of them on the other side (using grill tongs!) for the hot side

Sear the beef on the hot side for 1 to 2 minutes per side, with the grill cover off.

The sugar in the rub will cause it to char a little but that's part of the flavor

After searing, move the beef to the cooler side of the grill and continue cooking, with the grill cover on, for about 10 minutes per side.

With the cover on but the vents wide open the tri-tip cooks with high heat but no flames

I really love to use a meat thermometer to test the doneness of a tri-tip. Ten minutes per side is almost foolproof for getting a nice medium-rare roast, but if you take an instant reading with your handy-dandy thermometer you can be certain. For medium-rare cook to a reading of about 130° in the thickest part, 140° for medium. That is the good range. Go much beyond that and the meat gets tough.

Remove the beef to a platter and cover immediately with a loose tent of foil. Let it stand for 10 minutes before carving. This causes the juices to recede back to the center of the beef, preventing it from getting dry.

The loose foil is holding in the heat and steam and allowing the juices to flow back into the meat

Carve the meat across the grain and serve with a generous spoonful of the juices.

And if you can yodel, now’s the time.

©2012 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.

Summer's on, get out the grill

I can grill year-round here in Southern California, but I must still be on my Okie schedule because the urge to smell that grill smoke comes over me around mid-May. That’s when I get serious and do some grill clean-up and rehab. And yes, I am the grill operator in the household, in part because I’ve written some cookbooks on it but it was also where I staked a claim early on. My observation is that members of a couple tend to plant a flag in some republic of household food production, and men often race to the barbecue. I beat The Husband to that one.

Lamb is so good grilled, so it’s my first pick of the season. There are some mighty good gas grills out there, but for the traditionalists who want charcoal flavor, here are some grill lighting tips. Look for mesquite or hardwood charcoal (not a fan of the “shot-through-with-mesquite” stuff). They burn hotter and cleaner.

Grilled Lamb Skewers

Some of the best lamb comes from New Zealand, where it is raised on real grass and is hormone-free. I buy mine at Whole Foods, which gets their lamb from Atkins Ranch in New Zealand. I called their local representative to make sure the lamb really comes from New Zealand, and in fact, it does.

Start with good quality lamb

1 1/2 pounds top round boneless lamb
1 large pinch chopped fresh rosemary (about a 4″ stem)
1 large pinch chopped fresh mint (about a 4″ stem)
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil for the marinade
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar for the marinade
Black pepper
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
10 ounces red pearl onions, or about 16 onions
Olive oil for the carrots and onions
Salt
10 skewers

Cut the lamb into 1 1/2-inch chunks. Put the chunks in a ziplock bag with the chopped rosemary, mint, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and several generous grinds of black pepper. Set aside to marinate, preferably overnight or at least while you light the grill.

Nice pieces, not necessarily perfect cubes

Press the air out of the bag and distribute the marinade evenly

While the lamb is marinating, there are several jobs that will take about the time needed to light and have a ready grill (30 to 40 minutes). First, soak the skewers in water if you are using bamboo.

Second, parboil the carrots and onions. Heat an inch or so of water in a saucepan, drop in the cut-up carrots, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Drop in the pearl onions and simmer 3 minutes. Drain and cool slightly. When the onions are cool enough to handle, trim off the root end and gently pull off the top papery layer. Rub the carrots and onions with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

This makes the job of peeling them, well, possible rather than crazy-making

Trim the root first and the top paper layers slide right off

Third, prep the chard and onions for the couscous (see recipe below) and get it started.  Prep and marinate the cucumbers (see recipe below). Do all this before grilling the meat so that it is all ready at the same time.

When you’re ready to grill, make up 8 to 10 skewers, depending on how far you can go with the meat and vegetables and how big your skewers are. Alternate meat and vegetables.

Grill the skewers for a total of 10 to 12 minutes, turning with long-handled tongs to grill all sides.

The coals are still bright red under the layer of ash -- that's a perfect temp

I like to have the grill cover on but the vents open and maybe even the cover not quite tight. That makes a hot grill and cooks fast. Let the skewers rest under a tent of foil for 5 minutes or so before serving (you can recycle the foil to save any leftovers).

Green Chard with Couscous

Chard is so delicious but not always on everyone’s radar. It’s big and fibrous looking, and the leaves look like you could upholster a small armchair with them. But it is one of the health-giving greens, sharing the characteristic bitter but earthy flavor. In the nutrition awards it would take away all the prizes. I’m always looking for ways to get my greens, and this is a good one. You can use the red variety in this recipe as well.

1/2 pound green Swiss chard (about 5 leaves), washed and drained
1/4 red onion, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup Israeli couscous
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 lemon

Trim the rib from the leaves of the chard and chop them. Chop the leaves separately.

The ribs take a little longer to cook than the leaves

This is a nice texture for the couscous

Pour a little olive oil in a skillet and over medium heat saute the chard ribs and chopped onions for 10 minutes, until starting to color a little. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper while they cook. Add the couscous and stir to coat the grains, about 2 minutes. Add the chard leaves and the chicken stock. Cover and simmer over low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, until the couscous is tender but not mushy. Squeeze lemon over the couscous, and fluff and separate the grains before serving.

Mix the chard leaves and couscous and then add stock

Cucumbers & Feta Marinated with Vinegar

2 cucumbers, partially peeled
Small pinch of sugar
Small pinch of salt
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 ounces crumbled feta
3 mint leaves, thinly sliced in ribbons

Thinly slice the cucumbers. Sprinkle with sugar, salt and rice vinegar. When ready to serve crumble feta and mint over the top.

©2012 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.