Food on a Stick: Kofte

I love to break up the meat and stuff it in the pita with some of the salad. Find your own favorite way to eat the kofte!

Luckily I didn’t try this recipe last night, especially with the long metal pointy sticks I was using. Even though I managed to cook dinner for four last night after three martinis (many thanks to The Husband’s grilling wizardry), it was bison burgers and we’ve made those several times before. I’m not sure if successfully cooking while intoxicated is really a skill I should shout about on my blog, but it’s a fact of life. So there.

The night before I used the pointy sticks, and there were no injuries to report. These minced-meat-on-a-stick idea came from me wandering around Whole Foods with no clue for dinner. I was not feeling overly creative, and we’d already had chicken twice that week. The Husband doesn’t like lamb too often, I can only eat bison (not beef, as they seem to lie about the “grass fed” part and it kills my stomach), and now we’ve been hearing about radioactive fish I figured he’d not like me bringing home fish either. So, how can I get something on the grill for dinner, I thought?

Not that we don’t grill for most of the year, thanks to our moderate temperatures and lack of snowdrifts during winter months, but when the nights get longer, it’s great to grill. Less dishes, the house doesn’t get heated up by the oven, and The Husband deals with it. Perfecto!

Straight off the grill!

Inspiration struck—turkey kofte. I had some chopped onions in the fridge, some cilantro and spices at the ready. Whole Foods had some ground dark-meat turkey and lovely pita breads, so off I went.

I made these with a Greek-style salad, with chunky tomatoes and cucumbers, salty feta and romaine lettuce. I added some cilantro on top, which is the part where I deviated from the “Greek” part. It probably would have been better with the standard dried oregano, now that I think about it. And we didn’t have any avocado, which I definitely would have added, and The Husband was displeased by the lack of it. He’s kind of addicted. I like to stuff the pita with the grilled meat and cover it with salad, with maybe a little mayo inside, but that’s just me.

Use pre-ground cumin and coriander seeds at your own risk. It won’t taste as good, I promise you…

This can be made with any ground meat, probably even fish if you wanted to get all fancy. I’d love to see if this could be vegetarianized somehow, maybe with TVP or the Yves ground “beef”, maybe even seitan. Perhaps you could do it with tempeh if you didn’t put it on sticks. I’m just worried how it would stick together, but I’m sure one of my many very clever and very vegan fellow bloggers could figure it out! If you do, please let me know.

TURKEY KOFTE

1/2 lb. ground turkey (dark meat ideally)
1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Mix the ingredients well—you want the flavors to be throughout the skewer!

1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 garlic clove

First take the last three ingredients and put them in a mini food processor and blast until the onion is in very tiny pieces. Add to the turkey along with the spices; mix well with hands.

Mold the mixture into four long tubes with your hands and wrap around metal or bamboo skewers (metal preferable!). Grill on each side for four minutes, approximately, on indirect heat (says The Husband).

Serve with warmed or grilled pita breads and a salad.

Related articles

• Things a Man Should Know About Grilling (esquire.com)

Tags: Barbecue grill, cilantro, cumin, Garlic, grilled meatballs, grilled skewers, grilled turkey, Ground meat, Kofta, what can i do with ground chicken, what can i do with ground turkey, whole foods