Kefta (Kofta) Kabobs!

I love Mediterranean food!   Kefta kabobs are one of my favorites.  Here is a great recipe that can be done indoors or out.  I cooked them on the Kamado Joe grill at a temperature of 375F, turning the skewers every minute or two.  Total cook time between 10-15 minutes.

1lb of ground beef (85/15)
1lb of ground lamb
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup of freshly chopped parsley
1/4 cup of freshly chopped mint

Mix the spices well in with the ground beef and lamb. 

 Form the meat onto the skewers.  Do not put too much meat on the skewers.  The more you put on, higher are the chances that the meat will fall off the skewer. 

 Turn your skewers every minute or two.

After 10 minutes or so the kefta is done! 

Plated with tabouli, hummus, and pita bread. 

 Kefta pita sandwich with hummus and tabouli. 

Tabouli (Tabbouleh)

Tabouli is very easy to make.  The bulgar needs to be soaked in water for at least half an hour.  Remove the bulgar from the water then combine with all the ingredients.  

3 cups chopped parsley
2 cups diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped mint leaves
1 cup chopped green onion
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup bulgar

 1 tsp dry mint
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

 

Kamado Kung Pao Shrimp & Fried Rice

Wok cooking on the kamado is so much fun.  I highly recommend woking with or without a kamado.  Apart from tasting excellent, it's a blast to cook on the wok! 

Peanuts & large shrimp

Onions, Peppers, Peas and Carrots

Day old rice.  Day old rice works excellent for woking.

Scallions

Red pepper flakes & minced garlic

Oyster sauce for the fried rice.  Stir fry sauce for the kung pao.

Heated the Kamado Big Joe to 575F.

Preheat the wok pan for 5 minutes.

Peas and carrots up first.

Add the rice and oyster sauce.  After a minute or so, it's done!

Cook the shrimp and peanuts until halfway done.

Next add the peppers, onions and the stir fry sauce.

Add the scallions.  After 30 seconds it's done!

 

Brazilian BBQ - Picanha

Finally had a chance to toss the picanha on the kamado.  The picanha was seasoned with coarse sea salt, ground pepper and garlic powder.  This cut of beef is very tasty, similar to ribeye.  Hope you give it a try.

 

How to cut a picanha from a whole top sirloin.

I'd like to share with you all on how to cut a picanha from a whole top sirloin butt. It is quite easy to do. The picanha is the rump cap also known as sirloin cap, NAMP184D.  Picanha is a great piece of meat to bbq on the grill.  This cut is famous in Brasil and all of South America.  It is also known as Punta Gorda.

Top view

Side view.  Here you can see the picanha. It is the lower muscle with the fat cap on bottom.

As you can see, it's very easy to separate the two muscles. 

Follow with your knife down the natural seam.

This is how it looks when you get to the end. Their is a thick layer of fat at the end where the two muscles are still connected.  That is where you cut to separate the picanha from the rest of the sirloin butt.

 

Bottom view.  Leave the fat cap on. 

Trim off the thick layer of fat that connected the butt and picanha. 

Here it is cleaned up after removing the silver skin and excess fat. 

You want your slices at least 1.5" in thickness, sliced across the grain. 

Here you have it, ready to hit the grill!

Bacon Wrapped Sweet Plantains

Ripe plantains are a household favorite here.  We usually just fry them on a cast iron pan indoors.  It is normally served as a side dish, usually with steak.  We're also huge fans of bacon.  So why not combine the two?  Weather was nice, so I fired up the Kamado Joe Classic. 

Green plantains are used to make tostones (patacones).  Yellow and black plantains are great for grilling.  

 You bet I will!

Ideally you want your plantains very ripe for optimal sweetness.  The peel should at least be as black as this one, preferably more.  You may have to purchase an unripe plantain and wait a week or two for it to ripen.

Soak the toothpicks in water for 15-20 minutes so they wont burn on the grill. 

 

Sliced at about 1" thickness. 

No need to season, plenty of salt in the bacon.

Insert toothpick through both ends of the bacon.

 

Preheat the grill to 350-375F.  I am using a Lodge cast iron pizza pan. 

You want to turn the plantains over so you can get the bacon nice and crispy on all sides.  It takes roughly 15-20 minutes to cook. 

The contrasting flavors of sweet and salty make this a great appetizer!