Lamb Souvlaki Skewers Food

LAMB SOUVLAKI

Steps:

• Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper together in a medium bowl. Add cubed lamb and stir until all of the lamb is coated with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate 3 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
• Thread marinated lamb onto skewers, reserving any remaining marinade. Grill skewers until desired doneness, 10 to 12 minutes, basting with the reserved marinade and turning occasionally for even cooking.

LAMB SOUVLAKI SKEWERS

Steps:

• Put the lamb into a large bowl or strong food bag. Add the olive oil, wine, oregano, lemon zest and juice, garlic and black pepper - don't add salt yet. Mix together so that all the lamb is completely coated, then chill and marinate for at least a few hrs or overnight.
• Lift the chunks of lamb out of the marinade and thread onto 10 metal skewers, or wooden ones that have been soaked. Freeze (see freezing tips, below), or heat a grill, barbecue or griddle pan if you want to eat them straight away.
• Season the meat with salt, then cook the skewers for 10-12 mins, turning, until cooked to your liking. Serve tucked into warm flatbreads with salad and drizzle with chilli sauce and yogurt.

GREEK LAMB ON SKEWERS (SOUVLAKI)

Steps:

• For the marinade: Combine first 8 ingredients.
• Cut lamb up into 1/2" thick, 1" wide, 3" long strips.
• Pour marinade over lamb and chill overnight. Turning occasionally.
• For the veggies: Combine the next 10 ingredients and let chill over night.
• Skewer meat. If using wooden skewers, soak for an hour in water first. About 8 slices per stick.
• Prepare grill. Add wood chips. Any type will do.
• Grill until meat is done, brushing often with marinade. Meat should be brown around the edges, but still a little pink in the center. Don't dry the meat out.
• Serve with warm pita. Guests should wrap a warm pita round the meat and pull the skewer our, then top their "taco" with marinated veggies, feta, and tzaziki.
• For the tzaziki: Place the yogurt in cheese cloth. Twist to bind and squeeze the yogurt. Place in colander over a bowl to drain for an hour or so.
• Peel and slice a cucumber down the middle, and spoon out the seeds.
• Grate the cucumber. Squeeze out as much juice as you can.
• In a bowl, mix the yogurt, cucumber, garlic, oil, salt, mint, and lemon juice. Let chill a few hours (over night is best).
• For the pita: Buy pita flat bread (whole breads without the pocket).
• Mix olive oil with paprika.
• Brush each piece on both sides with a little of the olive oil.
• Place on hot griddle and warm thoroughly (about a minute or so on each side).
• Serve warm.

LAMB SOUVLAKI WITH TZATZIKI

Steps:

• Place the meat in a non-reactive bowl. Mix together the lemon juice, oil, salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon oregano, garlic, and grated onion, and pour over the meat. Cover and chill at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Thread the meat onto metal or bamboo skewers.
• Heat the oil on a griddle or in a large skillet over high heat. Add the onions, remaining teaspoon oregano and Essence to the griddle and cook light brown, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the pan.
• Preheat a grill. Grill the skewers, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides. Remove from the grill. Quickly heat the pita bread on the grill until just warmed through and pliant. Holding a pita in the left hand, and the skewer in the right hand, pull the contents from the skewer into the pita bread. Repeat with the remaining skewers. Divide the cooked onions among the pita, and top with Tzatziki (cucumber sauce). Serve immediately.
• Put the cucumber in a strainer set over a bowl. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt and drain for 1 hour. Put the yogurt in another strainer set over a bowl and drain for 1 hour. Combine the cucumber and yogurt in a bowl with the remaining ingredients and stir well. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
• Recipe from New New Orleans Cooking, by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.

SOUVLAKI (WICKED KEBABS)

Steps:

• For the kebabs: Put the pork chunks, dried mint, dried oregano, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and black pepper into a bowl and use your clean hands to mix everything together really well. Cover with plastic wrap or clingfilm, then pop into the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or longer if you want the flavours to get a bit more intense. Meanwhile, blacken the peppers directly over the flame of your hob, in a hot dry griddle pan or under a hot grill. Turn them every so often and when they look almost ruined, pop them into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap or clingfilm and put to one side to steam for 5 minutes or so, this will help their skins to come off.
• To make the tzatziki: Coarsely grate the cucumber into a sieve set up over a bowl. Add a few good pinches of salt, then use your hands to squeeze out as much water as you can. Pour the water away, then tip the cucumber into the empty bowl and add the yoghurt. Pound the garlic in a pestle and mortar with a good pinch of salt until you have a paste, and spoon that into the bowl with the cucumber. Add the dried mint and red wine vinegar and mix really well. Have a taste to make sure you've got the balance right, then put aside. Preheat a griddle pan or grill on a high heat. Thread the skewers through the marinated pork pieces, leaving little spaces between them so that the heat cooks everything evenly. Cook the kebabs on the screaming hot griddle or grill for about 8 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally until done on all sides. Warm your flatbreads in the oven or in a hot dry pan while your kebabs are cooking. Just before your kebabs are ready, peel and deseed your blackened peppers, then tear them into strips and put them into a bowl. Roll up your mint leaves, finely slice them and add to the bowl along with the dill. Add a few splashes of red wine vinegar, a pinch or two of salt and pepper and a lug of extra-virgin olive oil. Toss and mix together, then have a taste to check the balance of flavours. Cut your lemon into wedges. Put a dollop of tzatziki and the meat from 1 skewer on each warmed flatbread. Top with some of the pepper mixture, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Life doesn't get much better.

LAMB SOUVLAKI WITH YOGURT-GARLIC SAUCE

Steps:

• For souvlaki, mix first 5 ingredients to make a marinade and set aside. Distribute lamb, bell peppers, onion and tomatoes among 8 skewers. Place in a large shallow pan with marinade. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours, rotating skewers once. Heat a gas grill to medium, or use a charcoal grill and allow the coals to turn a light-ash color. Coat grill with cooking spray. Grill until lamb is medium rare and lightly charred, 5 to 8 minutes. Rotate to cook evenly. To cook in oven, broil on metal skewers 6 minutes, rotating until evenly browned. Grill or toast pitas. For sauce, puree cucumbers and a pinch of salt in a food processor. Place in a fine-screen colander and squeeze out the juice. Reserve juice and discard pulp. Whisk cucumber and lemon juices in a bowl with yogurt. Mix in garlic; season with salt and pepper. Serve with pitas and skewers.

LAMB SOUVLAKI

Steps:

• Place the lamb cubes in a large non-aluminum bowl.
• Make a marinade of the oil, lemon juice, wine, herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary, crushed bay leaf), garlic, and pepper.
• and pour over the meat.
• Marinate in the refrigerator, preferably overnight, or for at least 3 hours.
• Thread the meat on long skewers alternating the bay leaves with the tomatoes and peppers.
• Grill over hot coals or broil 6 inches from the heat, brushing with the remaining marinade and turning frequently until cooked through.
• Season with salt and pepper, then remove the meat from the skewers to a warm platter and crush oregano over the top.