Kafta Kabobs!

I am Middle Eastern on my mother's side.
But she was a Country cook, midwest style.
Meat and potatoes, standard salads. Etc.
A middle Eastern Mother making "Middle Western" food

I've had various Mediterranean foods before. I really like the different flavoring styles.
Plus there are some VERY healthy ingredients involved.

I tried my hand at Kafta Kabobs the other night.
I must say they turned out GREAT, for my first attempt.

You'll need 1 pound lean Hamburger.
Fresh Parsley
Allspice
Fresh garlic
1 onion, a white onion is best.
Salt
Pepper
Cumin (I added this as a test)
Garlic powder.

Kabob skewers. flat ones, not the round ones..this aids in turning the meat.

Wash you hands because you'll be mixing this with them.


Mince the parsley, garlic, onion. Mince it into very fine pieces.

Add the minced ingredients to the hamburger. Knead it in, while also adding the Allspice, Cumin, garlic powder. I'm not listing amounts because I like it spicy.
but a few tablespoons of Allspice at the very least. a few pinches of Cumin..And a few shakes each of Garlic powder, salt and pepper.

After all the ingredients are mixed well, cover and let it sit in the fridge while the spices infuse. (for an hour or so)..

Get your Grill ready. we've got a rangetop grill which is nice, but it's not charcoal.
Charcoal would be best.
(apologies to Hank Hill).

Spray a bit of oil on the grill before you fire it up..this also aids in turning the meat.

As the Grill gets hot..Start putting the meat mixture onto the skewers. just wrap it onto the skewers, like you are making hamburger Popsicles. it should be a half inch, to three quarter inch layer all the way around the stick. As for the length of your Popsicle.
Make it a little longer than whatever You'll be wrapping the finished product into 9to compensate for shrinkage). It could be a Pita, or I used tortillas because that's what I had..

When the grill is hot, put the kabobs on. Medium high is good.
A lot of the fat will render out, and drip away. Which is good news.

Have a spatula handy when you do the first turn..some of the meat might stick. Just slide the spatula under to loosen it. Cook all the way through. You can tell if it's done by squeezing the meat a little. if it feels mushy, it's not quite done.

Once done,
Take them off the grill
Slide them off the stick.
put it on a pita (or tortilla)

I topped them with 3 simple ingredients. Diced tomatoes, lettuce, and a slightly watered down non-fat sour cream sauce (sour cream, garlic power, water).

Roll it up and enjoy!!



You can also use lamb, Ground turkey, whatever. You can also get creative with the seasonings. Once you have a good supply of the seasonings this is a VERY CHEAP meal.

If I wasn't clear on anything, or you have other suggestions or questions, feel free to ask.

mm mm good..

reply to post by spacedoubt

Ive camped around the Middle east a few times, and been there for work, I love the food, I wish I could get my hands on a desert recipe they make called Knife pronounce knyeyephe.

We ate all of Aquaba out of it once in a day.....

Any suggestions for Vegos?

reply to post by zazzafrazz


You know, I'm really just getting back to my heritage, with this food.
I had a vegetable soup in Michigan once that contained pumpkin as the main ingredient. Cinnamon was the main flavoring. it was delicious.

I hope a few others can chime in with some ideas, because I need some too!

Do you remember any of the ingredients in the "knife"?

Greetings!

It's fantastic that you're getting back to your roots my man!

I am Greek, and have learned plenty from family and friends over the years.

There are many similarites between Greek and Middle Eastern food, and after a quick search, I found a great little site for the both of us!

mmmm, Middle Eastern recipes!

Any other recipes?
I bumped this because I lost my original recipe...

reply to post by zazzafrazz

Originally posted by zazzafrazz
reply to post by spacedoubt

 

Ive camped around the Middle east a few times, and been there for work, I love the food, I wish I could get my hands on a desert recipe they make called Knife pronounce knyeyephe.

Do you mean the thing with cheese in it?

Good for you going back to your roots ! Interesting recipe. May try it, just i'll replace the meat with something else

ME kitchen is famtastic. I've eaten many Iranian dishes. Also while visiting ME, i got a Falafel addiction. At lest twice a month i make Falafel and Hummus.

When living in Northern Europe's "multiculturalism" we understand how unhealthy our own traditional cuisine really is. Too much cholesterol

reply to post by zazzafrazz


I'm going to assume you mean Knefe and post the recipe anyway

Here it is

reply to post by GioTheGreek


Hey Gio.

We have a huge lump of mastiki (Pine resin) at home that I stole from a tree in Crete, Do you know how to cook with it?

All this food sounds great. I have always wanted to try middle eastern recipes but i cant seem to find the "legit" ones, they're all just bad imitations.