Shish Kabab

When we lived in Kansas I had a friend from Kurdistan. He was into Middle Eastern food as you might imagine. He recommended a cookbook to me called The Arab Table. I also heard about the book on NPR. I bought the book and have been impressed by the recipes therein. We were hungry for Middle Eastern food tonight so I decided to fire up the grill and make Shish Kababs. The following recipe is based on the one in The Arab Table. One funny fact about the author is that she lives in Kentucky.

Shish Kabab

Marinade
8 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 T tomato paste
1/2 t ground allspice
1/4 t ground cardamom
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper

The marinade makes enough sauce for 2 pounds of meat. Today I used big chunks of boneless leg of lamb. You can also use big beef cubes or a combination of the two. All you do to make this is combine all the ingredients in the marinade and plop the meat into the bowl. Stir occasionally and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight. When you are ready grill it up.