Chicken breast skewers

In my haste to get to the dinner table I postponed taking a photo til after the dishes were done. The above is what was left after we chowed down.

Having seen a number of posting involving skewers recently, I had been waiting for just the right thing to come along. Then it happened. Strips of chicken breast on sale. I had no idea exactly what I was going to do, but just got to work. First I needed to come up with a marinade – did so. I wanted to use up some bell pepper – did so. I wanted something that would go with the angel hair pasta (leftovers) in the fridge – did so. I wanted fun food – got it! I wanted to use my stovetop grill – did so.

Chicken breast skewers
10 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced in strips
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp Chinese rice wine
pinch of red pepper flakes
½ tsp black pepper
1 green bell pepper, cut into ¼’s
pinches each of salt and black peppeer

Put first 4 ingredients into a Ziploc freezer bag and refrigerate for an hour or considerably more.

Preheat stovetop grill over medium high heat. (This requires a bit of explanation. The left burners on our electric stove are hotter than the ones on the right – on purpose I think. The rear burner is smaller than the front. Therefore the setting for this – given that the grill covers both burners – was 6 for the front and 7 for the back.)

Rub the pepper pieces with some olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put them on the back of the grill with a tent of foil over them. Let them go for 5 minutes before continuing. Skewer the chicken strips and lay them on the grill. It will take only a couple of minutes per side for them to cook through.

When the chicken is done, set it aside and tent with foil. Turn the peppers frequently until tender. Then cut into strips to garnish the chicken. Serve this over something: rice, noodles, etc.

Lamb skewers with yogurt sauce

I got caught short the other day. I was planning to make dolmades, stuffed grape leaves, using leaves from our huge grape arbor behind the house. I picked the leaves a few weeks ago and stored them according to directions I found on the web. When I got them out they were covered with mold; and we had a freeze last night which rendered the remaining grape leaves outside unusable.

So I got the idea to make teeny lamb skewers as an appetizer for a dinner party we were giving last Friday night. I made something like this once before. They were considerable larger and were quite good. I have no recipe, but know how to make one up.

Mini lamb skewers
1 lb lamb, ground
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
7 oz. Greek-style yogurt*
1/8 cup finely chopped fresh mint
juice of 1/2 large lemon
1 clove garlic, finely minced or pressed
salt and pepper

Cook the onion in 1 tsp olive oil until translucent. Set aside to cool.

Preheat broiler.

When the onion is cool, combine with lamb, egg, bread crumbs, parsley, cumin, salt and pepper, and the lemon juice in a bowl. Stir until thoroughly incorporated. Make one small rectangle, about 1” x ½”. Microwave it for 30 seconds and taste for seasonings.

Shape into similar small rectangles. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with Pam and broil close to the heat for 2 minutes. Rotate the pan 90° and continue broiling for 2 more minutes. Turn the lamb pieces over and broil another 3 minutes, rotating the pan again halfway through.

Remove from the oven. Reduce oven to 170°. Place a toothpick in each patty through the narrow end. Recover with foil and keep warm in the oven.

Mix yogurt, lemon juice, mint, garlic, and salt and pepper (to taste) in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil. Serve as a dip for the skewered lamb.

*At our supermarket we can get 7 oz. containers of real Greek yogurt. It is thicker and tastier by far than more generic yogurts. The plastic container it comes in is just large enough to mix the sauce in it without dirtying an extra bowl. If you can’t get real Greek yogurt, take 6-7 oz. of plain yogurt (lo-fat if you wish, but not no-fat if your diet can accommodate it) and place it in a fine-mesh strainer. Let it drip into the sink for 30 min. to an hour. Then proceed with the recipe as above.


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