Kebabs are to lamb like a little wine is to love. They bring the best tender essence and the promise of romance with a splash of flair. So much richer and complex than just a plain, dependable slice of roast lamb, as good as that can be, kebabs are a very act of summer fling.
Consider this marinade/sauce for other proteins on kebabs as well such as beef, pork, chicken or tofu.
While leg or shoulder meat is great for simmered curries and stews, lamb loin chop meat is used here, because it remains ultimately tender even with the limited cooking typical of a kebab. A sweet, savory and tart mixture is split to act as a marinade and a reserved portion as a sauce (never use the marinade itself as a sauce as it may not be cooked through sufficiently - that's why we reserve some mixture before using the rest as a marinade).
Summer is for lovers, so get to it and swoon over this.
4 lamb loin chops
Marinade & Sauce:
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
4 fresh sage leaves
2 Tbsp fresh mint leaves
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp favorite hot sauce (I used Trader Joe’s Italian Bomba Chili paste)
1/3 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp honey
2 colored bell peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces, about 20-24 pieces
10-12 small button mushrooms or 3 large, quartered to about 3/4-inch
4 large (8-10 inc) or 5 medium (6-8 inch) skewers
Place the marinade/sauce herbs and garlic in a small food processor. Mince the herbs well.
Add the remaining marinade/sauce ingredients and process to mix well.
You should have about one cup. Reserve 1/3 cup of sauce in a small bowl. Place remaining marinade/sauce in a medium bowl.
The lamb loin chop is equivalent to the beef T-bone steak, comprising the tenderloin on one side of the bone and the rib-eye on the other. Use a very sharp boning knife to remove the meat from the chop bone as intact as possible; you want pieces that are 3/4-1-inch large. If intact- the tenderloin can be cut in half, while the ribeye can be cut into thirds.
Tip the lamb cubes into the bowl with the marinade. Stir to coat well.
Allow the lamb to marinate at least an an hour, or up to overnight, covered in the refrigerator. When ready to cook, return the lamb to room temperature.
If using wooden skewers, soak them for 20 minutes completely immersed in water. Thread the meat and veggies on the skewers evenly, alternating meat and veggie to your artistic fancy.
Heat grill to high. When ready to cook, reduce heat to medium. Spray kebabs with oil. Lay kebabs on grill, oil-side down.
Close grill and cook 3-4 minutes. Oil top side of kebabs. Carefully flip kebabs using oven mits. Cook reverse side covered, for another 3-4 minutes.
Now flip kebabs to one side, cook 2 minutes more uncovered, and then finish the last side, cooking for about another 2 minutes.
Using an instant-read digital thermometer, measure the internal temperature of several meat cubes. Remove kebabs from heat when lamb reaches 130F. Place kebabs on a platter, and distribute reserved sauce evenly over kebabs. Cover kebabs with aluminum foil and let rest 5 minutes. They will heat through and raise the temperature to about 135F for medium rare.
Serves 4.
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