Ahhhhh, this is a great lip-tingling, spicy-hot, tasty, summer grilling treat. Why do you get a great summer recipe as the Holiday season approaches? Cus I'm in Oz where it is late spring and yesterday I saw 110 F in the shade and 143 F in the sun.
Obviously this weather calls for spicy food to help cool you down! Ahem. It works, really. Trust me, 'k?
Wifey-Poo and I got a great deal on some local tiger prawns the other day. I decided I wanted to grill mine and make them rather spicy. I dug back through my ancient memories of when I was in Austin, Texas, USA. There was this one place I found that made the best cajun crawdads.
What I made last night turned out to be a very good approximation of the lip-tingling goodness that I remembered.
You can make this as a main course or a side dish. Just depends on how many prawns ya got.
The first thing to do is make the chilli/garlic paste. There are 3 ways to do this.
An easy way: Mix 2 tbsp prepared garlic with 1 tbsp cayenne powder, a pinch of sugar, 1 tsp sesame oil, and 1 tsp prepared ginger.
Another easy way: Same as above but with 2 tbsp of chilli paste (the real stuff) instead of the cayenne powder.
The easiest way: Go to an oriental grocery store and buy a jar of garlic/chilli paste.
Now put 10 raw, not-shelled, tiger prawns into a bowl, and spoon 2 tbsp of garlic/chilli paste (however you made it) onto the raw, NOT shelled tiger prawns. Use your fingers to make sure the paste coats all the prawns (be careful!!!!!! They are spiny). Then sprinkle 1 tbsp of ground black pepper over the prawns and toss them gently so the black pepper has stuck to the garlic/chilli paste.
Crank up your barby to medium high heat. Place the prawns on the barby and grill for about 2 minutes a side (don't overcook or they'll be tough instead of succulent).
Put the blackened prawns on a plate to cool just enough so that you can handle them. This would be a very good time to wash your hands, BTW.
To eat them, just rip the heads off (make sure you suck out all the juices from the head part of the shell), quickly shell the rest of the prawn and eat it. Continue until all the prawns are gone.
Your brow should have a nice sweat by now. An ice cold lager will take the heat off your tongue and the capillary-dilating properties of the spices will cool your body on a hot summer day.
Seriously, This. Is. Good.
Showing posts with label grill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grill. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Moroccan Lamb Shish-Kebobs
It's the seasonings that make any shish-kabob unique. Whether it's Indian, Persian, Turkish, Greek, or say perhaps Moroccan, the key is in the seasonings and the way they are cooked.
Many kibob dishes aren't cooked on a grill even! However, we'll be sticking with the one most Westerners are familiar with and that means grilling them. Open flame, gas, or charcoal, your choice.
Shish-kibabs specifically refer to those that are grilled. Yummers!
BTW have you noticed I've used a lot of different spellings for "kabob"? You have? Good for you. I'm doing that since there are many different correct spellings depending on what country you are from.
I'll go with kebob from here on out. Also, I'll drop the "shish" since this whole post is about kebobs cooked on a grill. The reason why you are getting this wonderful dish is that a blog-buddy of mine had a Moroccan Feast Night and I thought this would make a good addition. I was right, of course.
I'm not going to give you an exact amount of meat to use. Why? Well you can use this as a side dish or a main course AND once you have the spice mix you can use it for other things. I keep a tin of it made up in the pantry so I only have to use what I need for the amount of lamb I have.
Oh, this also makes a very good rub for lamb roasts, chicken and beef. It's very versatile.
I realize that not all of you will have access to all the ingredients, so I'm also including appropriate substitutions, no worries.
If using bamboo skewers, make sure you soak them for an hour before using, don't want them to flame.
Here's what you need:
Lamb, cut into 1 inch cubes
bbq skewers
Some kind of grill. Gas, charcoal, open flame (be careful!). Heck, you can even do them under the broiler in your oven if need be.
Equal amounts (by volume) of the following:
coriander powder
dried red bell pepper powder
cumin powder
ginger powder
garlic powder
ground, dried sumac
chilli powder (only a bit though)
cassia powder
ground up cloves
sea salt
A tsp of each will make enough for several meals, no worries.
What can be substituted:
Coriander is called cilantro in North America, no worries.
Mild paprika powder can be used in place of the dried bell pepper powder (that's what paprika is, BTW).
Cinnamon can be subbed for cassia -they are so similar some folks think they are the same thing.
Ground sumac is one of the main ones. If you absolutely can't find it, then tamarind powder will work, and as a last resort: Lemon pepper powder.
Here's what you do:
Mix all the powders and seasonings in a bowl. You should have a wonderful, earthy smell from the powder combination. Thread the lamb pieces onto your skewers, and coat them with the rub. If the rub won't stick then you can drizzle a SMALL amount of olive oil on the kebobs to help the rub stick. You shouldn't have do do that though, the rub should stick. Especially if you, ah, rub the rub in.
A little bit goes a long way, btw.
Grill them on a low heat till they are done to your liking.
Serve with a bowl of greek yoghurt for a dipping sauce.
Enjoy!
Many kibob dishes aren't cooked on a grill even! However, we'll be sticking with the one most Westerners are familiar with and that means grilling them. Open flame, gas, or charcoal, your choice.
Shish-kibabs specifically refer to those that are grilled. Yummers!
BTW have you noticed I've used a lot of different spellings for "kabob"? You have? Good for you. I'm doing that since there are many different correct spellings depending on what country you are from.
I'll go with kebob from here on out. Also, I'll drop the "shish" since this whole post is about kebobs cooked on a grill. The reason why you are getting this wonderful dish is that a blog-buddy of mine had a Moroccan Feast Night and I thought this would make a good addition. I was right, of course.
I'm not going to give you an exact amount of meat to use. Why? Well you can use this as a side dish or a main course AND once you have the spice mix you can use it for other things. I keep a tin of it made up in the pantry so I only have to use what I need for the amount of lamb I have.
Oh, this also makes a very good rub for lamb roasts, chicken and beef. It's very versatile.
I realize that not all of you will have access to all the ingredients, so I'm also including appropriate substitutions, no worries.
If using bamboo skewers, make sure you soak them for an hour before using, don't want them to flame.
Here's what you need:
Lamb, cut into 1 inch cubes
bbq skewers
Some kind of grill. Gas, charcoal, open flame (be careful!). Heck, you can even do them under the broiler in your oven if need be.
Equal amounts (by volume) of the following:
coriander powder
dried red bell pepper powder
cumin powder
ginger powder
garlic powder
ground, dried sumac
chilli powder (only a bit though)
cassia powder
ground up cloves
sea salt
A tsp of each will make enough for several meals, no worries.
What can be substituted:
Coriander is called cilantro in North America, no worries.
Mild paprika powder can be used in place of the dried bell pepper powder (that's what paprika is, BTW).
Cinnamon can be subbed for cassia -they are so similar some folks think they are the same thing.
Ground sumac is one of the main ones. If you absolutely can't find it, then tamarind powder will work, and as a last resort: Lemon pepper powder.
Here's what you do:
Mix all the powders and seasonings in a bowl. You should have a wonderful, earthy smell from the powder combination. Thread the lamb pieces onto your skewers, and coat them with the rub. If the rub won't stick then you can drizzle a SMALL amount of olive oil on the kebobs to help the rub stick. You shouldn't have do do that though, the rub should stick. Especially if you, ah, rub the rub in.
A little bit goes a long way, btw.
Grill them on a low heat till they are done to your liking.
Serve with a bowl of greek yoghurt for a dipping sauce.
Enjoy!
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