Grilled lamb skewers with Cabernet sauce, served on heart-shaped pita bread with watercress salad
Cooking for the one you love is twice more special than a fancy dinner at a restaurant because on top of a stellar meal, you are giving your time. Sure, it’s nice to go out, but Valentine’s Day, with it’s hordes of couples hoping for magic, but instead getting a pre-fixe meal created for volume in an overstuffed room with stressed out waiters, is one night I like to avoid. My solution to this madness is a meal that’s a cinch to make at home and is packed with flavor, yet not drenched in fat so that you may save your calories for that box of assorted chocolates.
Roll out pita bread into circles, then shape into hearts.
The Pita
Homemade pita is much like pizza dough, and you can cook it on the grill at the same time as the lamb skewers. I used the original 1977 Moosewood Cookbook recipe for pita and simply shaped them into hearts. Start the dough about 2.5 hours before you want to serve dinner.
1.5 tsp. active dry yeast
1 cup wrist-temperature water
1 Tbs. honey
1.5 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
Dissolve yeast in water and half of the honey. Let stand 5 minutes. Add remaining honey, flour and salt, and as Mollie Katzen notes so wonderfully, ”(mix) enthusiastically with a wooden spoon until well-combined.” Turn out and knead 10 minutes. Add a little more flour if it’s sticky.
Oil the mixing bowl, return the dough to it, and lightly oil the top surface of the dough. Cover and let rise for 1.5 hours in a warm place.
Once it rises you will punch the dough down and knead again for a few minutes. Divide into 6 equal balls. Cover the balls with a towel and let stand 15 minutes. Do this step right before you preheat your grill.
Skewers of lamb and veggies on the grill.While the pita is rising, prep the lamb and sauce.
Lamb Skewers with Cabernet Sauce
Ingredients
Lamb stew meat
Olive oil
Fresh sprigs of rosemary, kosher salt & black pepper
2 cups Cabernet
3 Tbs. blueberry jam with whole berries
1/2 onion
Cut boneless lamb into even skewer size chunks. Generously coat in olive oil. Sprinkle with fresh chopped rosemary, kosher salt & fresh cracked black pepper. Slide 4 to 5 pieces on each skewer and set aside. Skewer onion pieces using the same oil and seasonings and put on a separate plate.
Cook Cabernet and blueberry jam on high until it reduces to a syrup. A good way to tell if the sauce is “almost there” is that the bubbles get tighter. Stir in fresh cracked pepper.
Turn on gas grill to high. Put down lid and let it fully heat for 15 minutes. While grill is heating, prep salad and roll out heart pitas.
Watercress Salad with Grilled Onions, Chevre and Cherry Tomatoes with a Lemon Vinaigrette
Wash one bunch of watercress well and spin dry. Make a simple vinaigrette of 1 fresh squeezed lemon, a dollop of Dijon, pinch of salt and sugar, and olive oil. Shake until emulsified. Mix watercress, tomatoes and vinaigrette in bowl. Top with chopped grilled onion and chevre crumbles.
Final Grill
Place lamb and onion skewers on one side of grill. Turn off the other side and place heart pita on this indirect heat side. It is important for it to be preheated to hot first though, so the pita will rise. Close the lid immediately to create an oven for the pita. When you turn the skewers, flip the bread and put lid down again. Cook lamb to medium rare. They don’t need much time. Pita should be toasted on outside.
Plate salad and pita. Chop onions and add chevre. Drizzle sauce over skewers. Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day! ~ Julie
