I don’t mess around when it comes to national food holidays. Maybe it comes from growing up in a town that hosts an annual Catfish Festival at the height of summer — I figure if a bunch of sweaty coonasses can come together for a weekend to partake of the flesh of a lowly bottom feeder, I can do a lot better for National Something on a Stick Day than serve up corndogs. And so Gil and I feasted on kofta kebabs over the weekend in observance of this celebration of finger food.

After a bit of web research, I decided to adapt two recipes from Food Network into my own. (I know, I know, really keeping it traditional, there.) It had a pretty formidable list of ingredients, but I’m lucky to work near Kalustyan’s, so picking up the few extra spices not already in my cupboard was easy enough. And let me tell you, if you’re going to make these, definitely do what it takes to find sumac. I had a taste before adding it to the lamb and instantly realized that it’s the spice I’ve been missing all this time. It’s delicious and zingy and really boosts the flavor, but I suppose substituting lemon zest might be ok per Jamie Oliver’s recommendation. Dude knows more about this stuff than I do.

(And allow me to take a moment to apologize for the above photo. If I were a better photographer, you’d have something more beautiful to look at than Mr. Hankey in a yogurt bath, but I suck and really, it’s a brown log and not photogenic at all.)

We had tzatziki, mache, and whole wheat pitas to complete the sandwich portion of our meal, as well as foul moudammas, olive oil, and Syrian za’atar on the side. Overall, the meal was a little brown, but seriously delicious and pretty easy to make. These will be on the menu again just as soon as it warms up enough to take the grilling outdoors. I can’t wait.

recipes after the jump

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When I got home a few nights ago, Gil was still out helping his dad prepare/clean his computer room for the painters who were coming the following day. I thought it’d be nice to surprise him with a decent dinner for a change, but needed something that could be ready by the time he returned in 30 minutes or so. As quick meals go, this one really can’t be beat.

I’ve been on a bit of a meat kick lately, so I picked up four lamb loin chops at the grocery along with a couple of sweet potatoes and set out to prepare our meal. (The chops in the picture aren’t really burned, no matter what your eyes tell you — I coated them with a dark Singapore Curry rub bought on our visit to Seattle in February.) We still had a beautiful bunch of tender kale bought at our farmers’ market over the weekend, and I wanted to do something more exciting than my usual olive oil/garlic/red pepper preparation, so I used Indian spices to complement the chops and added cubes of boiled sweet potato for a nice contrast (visually and spicically). I also tossed in some garlic scapes left from the weekend, but if they’re out of season or if you don’t have access, you really don’t need them.

The lamb was quite good, but lamb always is. What surprised me was how well the veggies came off — the flavors married beautifully and the kale would’ve sorely missed the potatoes had they not been there. And it was so easy, so quick! Not bad for a weeknight.

recipes after the jump

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