There is a recipe he used for family BBQs, and he would tell the story every chance he got. It goes like this:
In the old days of Russia, as the Cossacks traveled the countryside, they would stop at the farmhouses along the way. The farmers were required to provide them with lamb, onions and lemons, such as they had. The Cossack would cut the items into chunks and store them in a leather bag. At night when the Cossacks would get together, they would spear chunks of lamb on their swords, roast it over the campfire and sing songs of battles and "Mother Russia". (BTW, we aren't Russian, but that was probably a story he picked up during his time as a Merchant Marine during WWII.)
While I'm not sure of the truth of the whole story, parts make sense. Lemons and onions are both anti-bacterial and could very well have kept meat from going rancid. So that part makes sense. Not being a student of Cossack history, I don't know about the rest.
In the story is the recipe. A boneless leg of lamb trimmed of fat, cut into chunks (whatever size you want, but I usually go for about 1" to 1-1/2", around that size). Sliced lemons and onions. Layer the meat, lemon and onions in a bowl or baking dish, and squeeze the juice from an additional lemon or two over the whole thing. Let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least one day, preferably two days. Stir it every 4 hours or so. Before cooking remove from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. Lightly salt & pepper about 30 minutes before cooking.
When I was younger, he had custom made skewers resembling straight bladed swords. He would fill them with chunks of lamb and roast them over the BBQ pit. As he got older and the number of folks at gatherings became less, he would cook them directly on the grill. Today, I'm going to broil them in the oven on an old Graniteware broiling pan. I'm going to combine a little of the old and the new.
The final result:
The final result:
No comments:
Post a Comment