Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Pita the Great


It appears I have been on a bit of a Middle Eastern kick this summer. When I saw Jamie Oliver with his cute grin and cocky attitude squishing raw ground lamb around skewers with his characteristic irreverence, I knew this recipe for Lamb Kofta Kebabs was one I would have to try. That, and I owe it to the cute little lamby-kins from the farm up the road.
This time, I actually determined to follow the recipe which is just not something I generally will do. My "policy" is something like: if I have it, great, if not, surely I have something I can use as a substitute. This does not work so well when baking, though I can be pretty stubborn when desperate for dessert.
Anyway, admittedly I knew I had little hope of finding sumac in the small Ontario city where I do my shopping so I was prepared to sub loads of lemon zest. But I did go out and buy pistachios. And local lamb (yes, from the farm up the road–oddly perhaps, it is a comfort to me to be able to identify exactly where the meat came from). This is a terrific recipe for its texture, flavour and most of all its simplicity. After all, this would be street food in Middle Eastern cities. Try it and tell me how the hot dog rates now.

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