FIRE IT UP
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Now that we're in the middle of Deep Summer - the season when it is currently hot, it was recently hot, and it will always be hot - we're also in prime grilling season. Even with air conditioning, there's a lot to be said for keeping cooking fires out of the house, and there's something about an 85-degree day that makes fire-charred anything taste even better.
James Norton / The Cookbook Test
In order to find something that suited the season, I dove into one of my favorite cookbooks: Maydān, by Rose Previte and Marah Stets. The Middle East is famously a fairly hot part of the world, so it's no shock that Middle Eastern cultures offer us some of the tastiest grilled meals we can find anywhere. This week's specialty: a whiskey marinated grilled lamb. And if you're like me, you'll want the cook method to be a charcoal-burning grill.
James Norton / Heavy Table
The charcoal versus gas grill debate will never be resolved, but it's worth saying that I am 100 percent and forever on the "charcoal" side of the debate. It's dirtier, it's more work, and I think it always adds something meaningful - carbon, irregular char, something - that makes the process worth the effort. It's possible I'm also just attracted to the thrift of it - $100 gets you a pretty solid charcoal grill, and there are no gas canisters to purchase and fuss around with.
The one thing that's been bugging me about charcoal grilling recently is the process of getting the damn thing reliably started, but the text on the back of my new bag of El Diablo lump charcoal has sorted things out. Step one: Grab a bundle of 4-5 paper towels, crumple them up, and put them in the grill. Step two: partially soak said towels with used vegetable oil. (I've got lots, I make fried chicken.) Step three: stack your coals on and around your towels. Step four: ignite. Voila, a remarkably easy and effective way to get the grill going.
With that in mind and without further ado, a terrific spin on grilled lamb for your summer high season.
James Norton / Heavy Table
LAHME MISHWE
2 pounds of lean lamb cut into 1 1/2-2 inch cubes
Whiskey Marinade (see recipe below)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 sweet onions, cut into wedges
2 bell peppers, cut into 1 1/4-inch pieces
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, stems removed and caps halved
To serve
Flatbread (I grabbed Afghan flatbread from Holy Land)
Toum (Lebanese/Syrian garlic spread, optional)
Hot sauce or ezme (optional)
Mix lamb in bag or covered bowl with marinade and refrigerate for at least an hour or as long as overnight.
Prepare a hot grill.
Thread the lamb pieces onto skewers. Separately toss bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then skewer, one food per skewer to keep finishing times consistent.
Grill skewers, rotating every few minutes, until vegetables are slightly wilted and browned or lightly charred, about 10 minutes, and until meat is medium rare, about 15 minutes.
Serve kebabs on platter with flatbread and toum plus ezme and/or hot sauce.
WHISKEY MARINADE
1/2 cup labne
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup whiskey or water
1 white onion, roughly chopped
1/2 bunch scallions, chopped into two or three pieces each
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 Tbsp lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1/2 Tbsp ground pepper
1/2 Tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes or hot pepper flakes
Blend in blender all ingredients until chopped and well combined. Store for up to 4 days in the fridge.