A feast of kababs!

The hubby and I are the type of people who would drive hours just to eat a certain dish we crave. Years ago, this was Persian kabobs and we would make a day trip up to Tyson’s Corner in the D.C. area to dine in a restaurant called Shamshiry. Then, one Christmas, his sister gave us a cookbook called The New Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij and it was then that we decided to try our hand with the kabab recipes in the book.

We never went back to Shamshiry.

This preparation is the specialty of the “Hungry” Hubby. It’s kind of a signature dish of our household. It’s useless sometimes to prepare something else other than kababs for our guests because the look of disappointment is so evident if the grilled meat dish is not on our menu.

I really wanted to have a picture of a plated kabab dish complete with step-by-step instructions for preparing the rice. Believe it or not, there were two professional photographers at our dinner party - my brother and a family friend. But alas, the aroma of the sizzling meat was too great that the vultures could not wait to descend.

Fillet Kabab

Kabab-e barg

 

  2        lb              tenderloin                        

  1        large              onion; peeled,sliced

  2        tsp              olive oil                         

  1        tsp              black pepper; ground

  2        tbs              lime juice (fresh)                

  2        tsp              Salt                              

  1/4     tsp              saffron; ground,dissolved in water

  1/4     cup                    yoghurt                           

8 roma tomatoes

Basting

 

  2        tbs                      Butter                            

  2        small                 lime juice (fresh)                

  1/2     tsp                      Salt                              

  1        tsp                    black pepper; ground

Cut meat into 3 by 4 by ¼ inch pieces and place in a large glass or Pyrex dish with cover. Add onion, olive oil, pepper, lime juice, salt, saffron water (if desired) and yoghurt to the meat. Mix well. Cover the meat and marinate for at least 24 hours. Turn the meat in the marinade twice during this period.

Thread each piece of meat onto the flat, sword-like skewer, leaving a few inches free on both ends. Spear the tomatoes on separate skewers.

For basting, combine oil, the juice of 2 limes, and salt and pepper in a small saucepan. Keep warm.

When the grill is hot, brush the tomatoes and meat lightly with the baste. Place the tomatoes on the grill first, then place the skewered meat on the grill. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes on each side, turning the skewers frequently. The meat should be seared on the outside, pink and juicy on the inside.

Serve with chelow ( saffron steamed rice) and garnish with tomatoes. Sprinkle sumac powder if desired.

Ground Meat kabab

Kabab-e kubideh

  2        lb              ground beef; twice ground

  2        tsp              Salt                              

  1        tsp              ground pepper                     

  1/2     tsp              baking soda                        

  1        large              onion; peeled,finely grated

Basting                           

  2        tbs              Butter; melted

  1/2     tsp              lime juice (fresh)

12 flat 1-inch skewers

sumac for garnish

In a warm mixing bowl, combine meat and the rest of the kabob ingredients. Knead with your hands for about 5 minutes to form a paste that will adhere well to cooking skewers. Cover the paste and let stand for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Using damp hands, divide the meat paste into 12 equal lumps about the size of oranges. Roll each into a sausage shape 5 inches long and mold it firmly around a flat, sword-like skewer. Cover and keep on a cool place.

For the baste, melt the butter in a small saucepan and add a pinch of salt and lime juice.

Arrange the skewers on a hot grill, keeping in mind that the ground meat should not touch the grill. After a few seconds, turn the meat gently to help it attach to the skewers and prevent it from falling off.

Grill the meat 3 to 5 minutes on each side, and brush with baste just before removing from the grill. Avoid overcooking it. The meat should be seared on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside.

Slide the meat off the skewer and sprinkle with sumac. Serve with chelow (saffron steamed rice).

Yoghurt-cucumber garnish

Mast-o-kiar

1 pint of yoghurt

salt pepper to taste

1 tbs dried mint

1 tsp dried tarragon

½tsp dried rosemarr

1 cucumber, skinned and diced into small

Crush the dried herbs in your hand and mix together. Add the yoghurt and the cucumber, salt and pepper.

Cooking Notes:

            Eating notes. Let me just describe how this is eaten. Make a mound of rice on your plate and carve a well in the middle. Drop a piece of butter, cover with the rice and let the butter melt. Sprinkle with sumac if desired. Traditionally a raw egg yolk is thrown into the mix but we stopped doing this. Get a piece of grilled tomato, sprinkle with sumac, salt and pepper and mash it down a little.  Add the kabobs and enjoy!

            We make our rice with a crispy crust called tah-dig. The crust is great to enjoy with the yogurt mixture.

The Fillet kabob is pretty straightforward to make like any shish-kebab. The book suggests sirloin but we find that tenderloin from Costco tastes the best. There is no need to get prime cuts for this because it is going to be marinated.

The ground meat kabab on the other hand has a significant degree of difficulty to prepare. This is my favorite kabab. Use ground meat that has fat in it – don’t even think of using those 97% fat -free type, 80% is pretty good. If you master the method of preparing this you shall be revered by your friends as a kabab master. The meat should not be too cold when you mount them on the skewer. Have a bowl of water beside you to dip your hands in to prevent the meat from sticking them. Gently shape the ball of ground meat along the length of the skewer. Make sure that it is spread evenly so it will cook properly. As if skewering this is not hard enough, grilling it is just as tricky. This is normally done with no grates on the grill. But we chose a grill that will let us lay the skewer without the meat touching the grate too much. Timing in turning the ground meat kabob is essential because you do not want one side to cook too much that it will detach from the skewer. We do get some casualties from time to time , but our guests love this fallen kababs as impromptu appetizers.

With the weather getting warmer, I can’t wait for the next round of kababs!

* the sword-like skewers are available in Iranian/Persian stores.

Comments

[Aran]

those are some kebabs!! love grilling in the summer!!

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

Your kebabs look as good as anything I've had in a restaurant or at a street fair (my favorite place to get them -- something about the aroma filling the air that just draws you in) -- no wonder they were eaten too quickly to take photographs! And what better compliment than that?!

[Lynn]

This looks wonderful. As soon as we get a real grill my husband is going to be on kebab duty! Thanks for the great recipes and instructions.

[joey]

My mouth is watering! Your kebabs look fantastic! And you guys make such a good team :)

C and I also will drive a ways off to get what we're craving for :)

[T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types]

OMG. You're killing me!!! When can I come over??? I'll drive to Richmond for kebabs!

[Deborah]

This sounds so amazing!! They look wonderful!

[Niall Harbison]

Hi There

I just stumbled upon your blog and think it is an excellent read for foodies and especially like the photos and design of the blog.I started off as a blogger myself and realise the importance of a good clean design like you have here. I have now bookmarked it for myself to read and have added you to our new list of "all the food blogs in the world" on www.ifoods.tv which we have been compiling for the last month! Hopefully it will send you some traffic in the long run. Looking forward to reading your thoughts on food so keep up the good work and talk soon. Cheers

[veron]

Thanks Aran! that's all we ever do in the summer is grill.
Thanks Lydia! I love street fair kebabs. They always taste the best.
Thanks Lynn, yes, husbands seem to know their way around the grill.
Thanks Joey. "Hungry" hubby and I just love food so much.Cooking for each other is fun.
T.W. - Just let us know when you'll be over and we'll marinate the kebobs :).
Thanks Deborah!
Thanks Niall for your wonderful comments and for adding me to your website.

[Kalyn]

Both your versions look just delicious! I love this type of food and would love to try making these, thanks for the book recommendation and bookmarking this post too!

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Sigh, another cookbook on order.
That really looks spectacular! Outdoors cooking is just fun.
Cute guy!! Great kitchen.

[Burnt Lumpia]

Those sword-skewers are awesome! They may be too big for my little grill though. I may have to tweak this to fit on smaller skewers. The kebabs look so amazing!

[Hillary]

Yum - kabobs! I love grilling season and your demonstration is hilarious :) Nicely done.

Oh yea, we're also having a contest on our blog where you could win a package from Lou Malnati's. Check it out!

[Big Boys Oven]

I do love this, what a spread of feast! yummy!

[Amy]

Omg these look SO delicious! Kebabs are on my to-do list for the summer. :)

[Veron]

Kalyn and Tanna - you will not regret getting this book. I have made several Persian dishes from this and according to our Persian friends and family it is pretty close to the real thing.
Marvin - I think they sell little skewers too. Really cute actually.
Thanks Hillary, big boy's oven and Amy!

[White On Rice Couple]

Wow, that's a feast! Everything looks great and Hubby looks mighty happy with those kabobs! Thanks for the great pictures too!

[Tartelette]

I knew about HH and the foil but the plastic wrap on the whole counter space?!!! That just about made me snort my coffee!
I love the kebabs..I want to have that when I come visit :)

[Veron]

Thanks WhiteOnRiceCouple - HH is in his element when he makes kebabs.
Helen! HH's OCDness knows no bounds in the kitchen. We are definitely going to make kebabs when you visit. We need to set a date!

[Wine Blog]

Nothing much better than eating beef kabobs! I'll take about 8 of those with an ice cold beer!

[The "Hungry" Hubby]

OK...coming to my own defense. If I can help reduce near future scrubbing and extra cleaning, I'll either foil or saran-wrap!! I like to clean and wash and put things away as I go....I'll try avoiding having to come back to a big pile of dishes later!! However, I've gotten a lot better after we got married!

[Bakerette]

In Egypt we call them "Kabab"! I love them, I've also had the Iranian version and yours look great!

[Brentwood Kitchen]

This looks identical to the real thing-Way to go creating a traditional persian dish as authentically and deliciously looking! The tah-dig came out perfect. You can add some minced garlic to the Mast-o-Khiar too-it gives a nice touch.

I purchased the same cookbook and have found it to be a bit different than the traditional Iranian food that I was raised with, but also found dishes, I had never tried before. I highly reocmmend the Peach Khorresh-it's so delicius and very easy to make.

By the way, I sell the skewers on my website. You might not see them listed, they are on special order and very affordable. Send me a note if you would like to purhase some.

[Deborah Dowd]

These look incredible and I can't wait for the warmer weather to give this a try! Lately it has been so chilly I am back to soups and sweaters!

[Deborah Dowd]

These look incredible and I can't wait for the warmer weather to give this a try! Lately it has been so chilly I am back to soups and sweaters!

[Robin Bergman]

I'm adding this book to my wishlist, too! I just reorganized all of my cookbooks, but now am again running out of space!
These look great! Wish I was close enough to drop by for dinner ;-)
Will have to try them next time I grill... its' finally getting warmer here (Boston).

[Rasa Malaysia]

OMG, thanks Veron. Thanks for the recipe...I will have to make a new batch based on your recipe.

:)

[Deborah Dowd]

Veronica, I made your ground meat kabobs and they were a great hit! I didn't have your Sword type skewers so I just formed into long thin patties and it still worked great!