Lamb Kafta

One benefit of living in southeast Michigan is our enormous population of people of Middle Eastern descent that brought their foods with them.  I love the food!  I love Lamb Kafta the very most!  Grilled served with a rice pilaf, on a pita with tomatoes and garlic sauce, chopped on top of a salad or shaped into meatball size and stuck on a ke-bob with vegetables to grill.  You can serve with a bit of cucumber sauce too! 

I'm looking for simple and quick, so I buy my spices already mixed at a Mediterranean market.  15 minutes to a really delicious, healthy meal at home!

LAMB KAFTA
1 pound ground lamb
3 Tablespoons chopped onion
3 Tablespoons chopped, fresh Parsley
4 cloves garlic ground into paste
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 Tablespoons Kafta spice blend

12 wooden skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes

Place all ingredients in mixing bowl and stir to combine.  Shape meat around skewer in desired size.  Grill over high heat 8 minutes for a skewer full or 6 minutes for meatball size with veggies. 

Like most lamb, be careful not to overcook as meat will dry out.

I love to have this fresh grilled flavor in January!

A whole lotta pork!

Just the two of us last night for supper...Jamie and I! We enjoy a little something different when John isn't home. Jamie and I eat, talk and laugh together, enjoy a new recipe and limit distractions. We find out something new about the other, find a different perspective, share secrets and what we are reading, share dreams and fears. Daughters are really something special!

We decided on pork tenderloin wrapped with basil and guanciale a pork cheek bacon that has been rubbed with black and red pepper and cured for 3 weeks. Guanciale has a stronger pork flavor, but a more delicate texture than traditional bacon.

I chose a tenderloin that was about 1 1/2 lbs. (perfect for 3 people) so I didn't have too much leftover and it cooks quickly to avoid blackened bacon. You could put this in the oven, but I grilled mine. A side of rice pilaf with olive oil and a green salad with goat cheese rounded out the meal!

1 1/2 lb pork Tenderloin {remove silver tendon}
25 Fresh Basil Leaves
6 pieces Guanciale
Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper

Preheat grill to high.

Salt and pepper tenderloin on all sides and cover with basil leaves. I covered half with basil leaves then strips of guanciale, then flipped it over, covered the remaining half and wrapped the guanciale tightly.

I put the tenderloin on the hot grill with the guanciale ends on the grill first so it would sear the bacon and have it hold together when I flipped it over. It WORKED! I then turned heat to medium on grill and cooked about 9 minutes per side until nearly well done. I love pork juicy, so be careful not to overcook! The bacon was perfect too! Enjoy...