23 Jun 2014

PALEO WOOD FIRED LAMB AND CHICKEN KEBABS WITH HARISSA

Gorgeous traditional kebab made using whole pieces of  leg of lamb and bashed chicken breasts, marinated in olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, layered alternatively on a large flat skewer, cooked over wood coals on an open fire pit really adds a level of honest soft woody smoked flavour.  This is awesome!  To be strictly paleo as I almost am, cooking this for my hubby who is not, I then choose not to marinate my meat in olive oil and not to have any flat bread, I made my cuecumber mayo dressing with avocado oil, that is the only swap out and it meant I still had the gorgeous wood fired kebab with my hubby.


INGREDIENTS
(serves 4-6)

4 x 5oz chicken breasts
1kg leg of lamb
50ml olive oil
Sea salt
Black pepper
(paleo use coconut or avocado oil)

ACCOMPANIMENTS
1 iceberg lettuce sliced
2 onions sliced
4 tsp harrisa chilli 
1 lemon or lime quartered
1 bunch coriander torn
Flat breads (recipe below)

CREAMY CUECUMBER GARLIC MAYO
I urge you to make your own mayo, this is so easy and only takes a couple of minutes at most, once you have you may never go back to shop brought after this.
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
300 ml rapeseed oil
(paleo use avocado oil)
Large pinch sea salt
3 cloves garlic grated
1/4 cuecumber
1 slice of iceberg lettuce


Just loving my new wood fire pit, this has been one of the best impulse purchases I have ever made, I have been meaning to build my own rustic fire pit for some time now and have not got round to it, so when I saw Jamie Oliver's pit cooking table, out of character I just went for it!

I love using some old re-claimed London bricks as a spit roast holder and these bricks also give me control over the wood fired heat as they allow me to adjust the height of the meat above the flames.


First take your leg of lamb and remove the skin, keep this as a bonus I cooked this on the pit grill and seasoned with salt this was outstandingly gorgeous, crispy roasted lamb crackling!  Slice the leg meat about an inch thick, take the chicken breasts, cover with clingfilm and gently bash the thickest part with a rolling pin so that the breast is an even thickness all over, cut into three equal portions.  Toss all the meat in some olive oil and season well with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.  Take two large or 4 smaller skewers and layer lamb first followed by chicken, I found on some cuts I needed to fold the meat in half to keep it the same size as other bits of meat, keep alternating until you have loaded all the meat on the skewers, keep the meat fairly well packed together, this is so that your kebab won't dry out during cooking and retain all their gorgeous flavoursome juices.  Next I like to prepare all the accompaniment's and pop in the fridge ready to go, I slice the iceberg lettuce and onion and make the cuecumber garlic mayo.

To make the cuecumber garlic mayo, place the egg yolks, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and a dash of rapeseed oil in a blender or bowl, whisk and then slowly drizzle in the rest of the oil until you have a lovely glossy thick ribbon mayonnaise, in a blender blitz the garlic, iceberg lettuce and cuecumber until smooth and fold into the mayonnaise, season with salt and pepper.


Place your kebabs over your fire pit BBQ, you want the heat to be medium hot wood coals and by keeping some height from the heat will allow your kebab's to cook slowly but constantly, this will ensure your juiciness and not to put a burnt crust on the meat.  As your pit heat lowers you can lower the height of the kebab's if needed to keep on cooking, once cooked I like to rest the skewers under tin foil for 5 minutes while I cook the flat breads.


FLAT BREADS
(paleo do not eat)
250g 00 flour
8g yeast
160g water
25ml olive oil
5g sea salt
50g semolina for dusting

Make the dough 1 hour before you need to cook the flat breads or you can make this dough in advance and prove it in the fridge for 24 hours, this is a better method and gives a better flat bread, I like this method as it gives you a lot more flexibility, this dough will keep for 48 hours in the fridge and you can freeze the dough after 24 hours and when needed just take out of the freezer 1 hour before needed.

In a mixer or bowl place all the ingredients and knead for 7 minutes until the dough becomes smooth, soft and springy, cover with a tea towel or clingfilm and leave to rest.  To make your flat breads divide the dough in to 6, dust your work top with semolina and more 00 flour and roll out the dough nice and thin, cook in a dry frying pan or cast iron skillet on the fire pit, these only take around 60 seconds each side.


To serve, load a plate with flat breads and stack the skewers, place bowls of iceberg lettuce, onion and a small bowl of harrisa on your tables along with a large bowl of your cuecumber garlic mayo and some sprigs of coriander, a few wedges of limes or lemons and then just enjoy.



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