kofta rock
I recently visited my good friends Will and Kristin in Pinellas county. I regularly cook gourmet dinners to relieve Kristin from her cooking duties. She is a wonderful cook, but I prefer to let Kristin relax if she can. Will’s boyish outbursts increase when I visit, perhaps because we’ve been close friends since middle school. It can help to occupy Will’s time with water calistenics and constructive activities such as grilling. So I quickly put together a celebratory summer menu of comfort food.
I humbly present another summer favorite: kofta. The mixture of lamb, beef, mint, onion, garlic, and cinnamon shines best when grilled. Instead of fooling with skewers, I form the meat into larger balls for easy handling. Provided that the meatballs are formed well, they don’t fall apart when handled. Using too much onion can lead to weaker balls. It helps cohesion to dice the onion more finely than I did above.
My buddy Will is a tested grillsmith, and handled my balls quite well. The smell alone is impressive and refreshing. I’d like to have a party some day and serve only meatballs of every nationality.
I made a spiced butter mixture by browning garlic in butter. I added cayenne pepper, Old Bay seasoning, black pepper and let it cook a minute with a couple splashes of pineapple juice, about 1/4 cup. The resulting butter on the grilled shrimp proved so good that it disappeared before my camera was ready.
I prepared the lemon orzo recipe I mentioned in my last post, and it turned out better than ever. For 2 pounds of orzo, I used
1/4 stick of butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
half of a yellow onion, diced
the zest and juice of 3 lemons
1 bottle white wine (I used pinto grigio)
1/4 cup of fresh rosemary
1/2 cup fresh parsley
3 tbl black pepper
1 tbl salt
approx. 3-4 cups of low sodium chicken stock
Sautee garlic and onion with butter over medium high heat. add next 6 ingredients and reduce heat to medium. add chicken stock a cup at a time until orzo is cooked. If you feel frisky, garnish with a leittle parmesan cheese.
as a side dish, I fell back on sauteed garlic and spinach with a little butter. It works very well with the bright orzo. Toasted pita rounded out the plate. Can I get an amen? Can I get a hell yeah?
We feasted that night like a cross between Olympic athletes and Hell’s Angels. The excitement was palpable and quite palatable. It made Will and I feel like we could still do something foolish, like drink more Gumbe Smash cocktails. More about those another time.
Will soon resorted to loading up his pita with the rest of the food, which he attacked like a tipsy gorilla. His side of the table soon lay strewn with the ruins and detritus of a great meal. Lemon-scented orzo had been scattered like rosemary-flecked constellations drunk on white wine. For once, I looked like the polite fellow. We all watched bull riding, Kristin’s favorite, and Will soon fell asleep on the couch. It was soon time for dessert: 2 a.m. I’m sorry, doc. One thing led to another. At least I was in good company. Can i get an Amen?