Giving the Beef a Break

Oh my, these boys melt my heart every time!  Aren't they just the cutest?  My mom bought them little knives at Sur la Table (don't worry, they are for kids and are more blunt than a spoon!) so they can help her cook!  They had a ball chopping lettuce and mushrooms - and Owen also enjoyed snacking on the mushrooms.  My little herbivore.  Love that kid!  Anyfood, the little men like helping in the kitchen.  While adorable, it can take 5x longer to get a meal done!

My latest Weeknight Gourmet meal involved lamb.  I am NOT a lamby fan.  At all.  J loves the little sheep.  It tends to be too gamey for me, so I leave it to J to order it from a restaurant as I will not cook it.  However, a friend of ours from DC raved about Ina's lamb kabobs.  Like 3 years ago.  And I finally looked it up - partly because I wanted to give it another shot, and partly because I'm beefed out.  Holy cow (haha), have I been missing out!!!!  This little lamby was DELISH!!!  Maybe it was because I marinated it for 2 days, or maybe because it was cooked perfectly by the Jman.  Either way, I am a convert.

Lamb Kabobs

Barefoot Contessa at Home - Serves 8-12 (I modified it for 2)

Ingredients

4 pounds top round lamb (I had some issues procuring some top round lamb.  I ended up with lamb stew meat which was perfect as it was already cubed.)
2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 to 5 cloves)
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
4 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
1/2 cup mild olive oil
1/2 cup dry red wine
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Kosher salt
4 small red onions
4 pints cherry tomatoes
Skewers


Directions

Cut the lamb in 1 1/2-inch cubes. You should have about 40 cubes. Combine the garlic, rosemary, thyme, olive oil, red wine, vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl. Add the lamb cubes, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 days. Toss occasionally.

Heat a charcoal grill with coals. Spread the coals in 1 tight layer on the grill.  (We followed our Weber gas grill directions for lamb and it was perfect!)

Cut the red onions in quarters and separate each quarter into 3 or 4 sections. Loosely thread 3 or 4 pieces of lamb alternately with sections of onion on skewers. Sprinkle both sides of the lamb with salt and pepper. Next place 4 or 5 cherry tomatoes on skewers, threading them through the stem of the tomato. Rub the tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

First, place the lamb skewers on the hot grill and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, turning 2 or 3 times, until the lamb is medium rare. Approximately 5 minutes before the lamb is done, place the tomato skewers on the grill, turning once, until seared on the outside but still firm inside.

We ate it with Zov's rice pilaf - TO DIE FOR.  I will share this recipe later as I am currently sitting in my hotel bed in Denver and don't have my cookbook with me :)

Bon Appetit!