Wicked Kebobs

..

.

It's been an entire week since we enjoyed this dish for dinner, but I'm still thinking about it. They were good. Wicked good.

I saw Jamie Oliver make them on his new show "Jamie does...". He was visiting Athens in the show, and when my husband and I watched him make these tasty pork kebabs, I knew I had to try them. We love kebobs in our house, and pairing them with soft warm pita and cool, creamy tzatziki sounded heavenly. And it was. This is a simple recipe -- one you could easily make without a recipe after the first time. There are some basic flavors that repeat in each part -- red wine vinegar, garlic, dried mint. It took me a while to find dried mint I would pay for (sorry, but I will not pay over $6 for a jar of dried herbs). Kroger had McCormick's on sale so I got it for $4. I will use the whole jar if it kills me. I grow mint in the summer so in the fall I will make it a point to dry mint and never buy it again.

For the pork, Jamie calls for a pork shin. I searched on the Internet but could not figure out what cut of pork would be a shin. Odd. Must be a British thing. In the end I bought a whole pork loin because it was on sale and really a great deal. I cut it into thirds and froze two thirds. Basically it's the piece of meat from which boneless chops are cut, so, in essence you are eating pork chop with these kebobs. They are tender from the marinade, and, if cooked quickly at a high temp, stay tender. The flavor is inredible. I could taste the garlic, the mint, the oregano, and paired with the creaminess of the tzatziki, the sweetness from the peppers and the warm softness of the pita -- really, really good.

If you have picky little people, they can eat the pork and the bread, separately if need be, and leave some raw peppers for them to munch on the side. Maybe they will dip them into the tzatziki.

I paired the dish with a Greek Salad (found here) and it was all we needed for dinner. Except for a nice glass of Sangria.

I only modified the directions only a little, mostly to convert metric to U.S. measure.

Jamie Oliver's Wicked Kebobs

serves 6

Printer version

3 sweet pointed peppers (I used red and yellow)
  8 pita breads

4 sprigs of fresh mint, leaves picked
a small bunch of fresh dill, chopped (I omitted because my husband says he detests dill)
red wine vinegar
Greek extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, to serve
 

For the kebabs
3 lbs. pork loin cut into 1-inch squares
1 T. dried mint
  1 T. dried oregano
juice of 1 lemon
2/3 cup olive oil
  2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely grated
1 T. red wine vinegar
  freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

For the tzatziki
½ a large cucumber

1 cup Greek yogurt
1 small clove of garlic, peeled
  heaped t. dried mint
1 ½ t. red wine vinegar

If using wooden skewers, cut 8 to fit your griddle pan and soak them in a tray of water to stop them burning. Put all your kebab ingredients into a bowl and use your clean hands to mix everything together really well. Cover with clingfilm, then pop into the fridge for 30 minutes, or longer if you want the flavors to get a bit more intense (I marinated mine for several hours).

About a half hour before you are ready to serve, blacken the peppers directly over the flame of your stove (gas stove), in a hot dry griddle pan or over a hot grill. Turn them every so often and when they look almost ruined, pop them into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and put to one side to steam for 5 minutes or so – this will help their skins to come off.

After the peppers have cooled a bit, peel and de-seed them, then cut 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 flavors. Cover and set aside.

Cut your lemon into wedges.



Make your tzatziki by coarsely grating 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 (or crush with a garlic press), 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 pitas in the oven or in a hot dry pan while your kebabs are cooking (I placed mine in foil and put them on the top rack of the grill -- some got a little charred and they tasted wonderful).

Put a dollop of tzatziki and the meat from one skewer on each warmed pita. Top with some of your pepper mixture, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice.

Source: Jamie Oliver

Pin It