KEBABS - Summer 2022 (Jul-Sept) Dish of the Quarter

Lamb spiedies and souvlaki are pretty much the same except for the bread.

1 Like


Huh, I happened to make beef kebabs yesterday and didn’t realize they were being featured here.

10 Likes

A couple of sources I generally trust led me to believe that halloumi could be skewered for kebab.
Halloumi and Vegetable Skewers
Halloumi and Vegetable Skewers with Pomegranate-Tahini Sauce

However, my skewers (which were the flat wooden sort, better for heavier meat items) completely busted the halloumi before I could reasonably apply any sort of heat. So, what we have here are skewerless halloumi, scallion, and Fresno chile kebabs, with olive oil and sumac. They were part of a grazing dinner with hummus, grape leaves, and baba ganoush I never got around to posting about for WFD last Friday.


It came out tasty, but has anyone had any luck trying to get halloumi on a skewer without breaking it?
10 Likes

These are Daring chicken coated with olive oil and berbere, alternated with local peaches. I chose the firmest peaches from my CSA box so they would hold up to the heat of the grill. The contrast of the sweet peaches with the spicy berbere was very nice. I used a dry spice mix, and it was a hybrid of the recipes in Bryan’t Terry’s Vegetable Kingdom and Mourad. I included the citric acid in the Mourad recipe, and the ajwain, and tweaked the chile mix in Terry’s recipe to include Aleppo pepper.

9 Likes

I made a beef kebab tonight with sirloin, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, marinated in red wine, olive oil, aleppo pepper and the last of the khmeli suneli I’d bought at Kalustyan’s about 5 years ago.

These mushroom kebabs look interesting.

2 Likes

Nominations are starting for the September, 2022 Cookbook of the Month. Please consider joining us in choosing and cooking from a new book!

1 Like

I’m making chicken sate tonight.

Since I have lots of tomatoes, I may also make this.

1 Like

It’s Fish Friday for me. Still thinking about satay.

https://www.foodland.com/recipe/lemongrass-lobster-satay-lime-curry-sauce

I have lobster tails, so leaning towards the lobster satay recipe.

2 Likes

Looks incredible. Where’d you get those skewers? Codis, I think I read on the bottom one. I’m in the market for new skewers.

Amazon - brand is Cave Tools. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015D4FN7W/ref=dp_iou_view_item?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are fantastic. I have gifted a couple of sets to friends and everyone loves them - the little disc thing is so handy for pushing meat off the skewer. I have the 12 inch and they are just the right size for my indoor griddle. I have another brand of longer skewers but they are nowhere near as user friendly, so I might upgrade with a set of the 17" Cave Tools soon.

1 Like

The Indonesian sate recipe you linked is interesting- LOTS of nutmeg. How did you like it?

1 Like

(I confess, I made something else that night! I will let you know)

1 Like

@Shellybean how do you make your beef kababs?

@Amandarama a bit belated… The halloumi chunks you have pictured I’ve only ever broiled without skewers. But if you cut them into smaller cubes, they balance better. Other alternative is to double skewer them on skinny skewers, like shrimp.

2 Likes

Thanks for the tip!

I use this basic method making sure to have 1.5-2% salt. The seasonings I vary based on what I’m in the mood for. I use either pork or beef fat rather than sheep’s.

1 Like

Ooo – peaches grilled with berbere! I have some end-of-season peaches that aren’t very good and have been thinking about what to do with them. Thanks for the very interesting idea.

1 Like

FWIW: my few, last “end-of-season … just-aren’t-that-very-good” peaches went into a shrub. Shrub’s aren’t particular, in this case.

1 Like

Last minute lamb kebabs - I thought I was thawing beef and only realized an hour or so before dinner that I had pulled boneless leg of lamb. Oops. Quick marinade of grated onion and garlic, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, coriander seeds, red pepper flakes, fresh mint leaves, yogurt and olive oil to the rescue. Super juicy and flavorful.

9 Likes

Those look fantastic!

1 Like