I may be going out on a limb here, but when people hear the word shish kebab, they think of thin skewers with chunks of beef with peppers, onions, and other veggies. Am I right? 

I watch a lot of international cooking and traveling programs on TV. There are so many different series and shows to watch it’s staggering. I love the ones that showcase street food around the world. Some shows focus on the street food vendors and people who work at hawker stands for generations. 

Watching shows about cooking and different cultures inspires me to do research and search for recipes. Next, I decide what I’d like to try making, then hunt down the ingredients I’ll need. Sometimes I need to invest in kitchenware goods.

I made chicken shawarma a couple of months ago and wrote about it on my blog. It was delicious and tasted very close to the shawarma I had in Montreal. 

I wanted to make more Middle Eastern cuisine; this time I was going to make kofta. Kofta is a type of kebab with ground meat instead of chunks. 

The direct translation of shish kebab is “shish,” which means sword, and “kebab,” which means meat. So meat cooked on a sword. How cool! 

As long as there has been fire, people have poked holes in their food with whatever they had and cooked it over an open fire. It’s the most primal way to cook. 

I’ve made regular shish kebabs plenty of times; in fact, I did just a few Saturdays ago. The concept of kofta, forming ground meat on a sword or a one-inch wide skewer, intrigued me. I needed to make them. 

We found the one-inch sword-style kebab skewers on Amazon. I read up on what to do, the next thing I had to decide on was what kind of kofta I was going to make. 

• 

• 

Almost every country and culture have its own versions of kebabs and koftas. I had to pick from Turkish, Persian, Moroccan, Lebanese, Indian, Pakistan. The list goes on and on. 

Next, I had to chose what kind of meat I wanted to use. Ground beef, lamb, chicken, or pork. I picked beef. The herbs and spices used in the different recipes from country to country were similar yet very different. I finally picked a recipe and went with it. 

I knew from my research that the meat should be mixed and chilled for several hours. The meat will adhere to the sword skewer easier if everything, including your hands, is cold. 

I followed the recipe, and we fired up the grill. Marty helped me since it seemed to be a two-person ordeal, especially when we were making kofta.

We didn’t initially lay the skewers on the grill grate because I wasn’t sure if they would stick. However, we found out quickly that the meat almost fell off the skewers with no safety net over the hot coals. Shit!

We put the grill grate on the grill, and it worked like a charm. The aroma was so exotic and smelled delicious. Noah was here for Father’s Day dinner, watching everything take place. 

Between you and me, I think he was unsure of what to expect and was dreading dinner. We decided if it sucked, I would make chicken. 

We kept rotating the kofta to get an even cook on the meat. We didn’t want to have them raw in the center or overcooked and dry. So we went with our gut when to pull them off. 

Earlier in the day, I made a Middle Eastern potato salad which was very lemony. I also made whole roasted Moroccan carrots. I found hundreds of recipes for kofta dipping sauces but made a tahini yogurt one.

Noah didn’t know what to make of the food. I put some meat on his plate and threw caution to the wind. Marty and I tasted the kofta and said, “Wow! What a flavor punch in the mouth.” The kofta was still juicy and really delicious. The sauce I made complimented the meat beautifully. 

The Moroccan carrots were also a home run. I will make this style of carrots from now on. I can already imagine all the different herbs and spices I could use to complement different proteins. Finally, the potato salad was meh. It was ok, but I’d make something different next time, like jeweled rice or gluten-free couscous.

I watched Noah take a nibble. Then a bite. Then he took some sauce and another bite. This was my picky eater as a kid, so this made my heart very happy to see him eat the meal. After we were done eating, Noah said the meal was flavors he never experienced before and liked it. He was happy he got to try something new. Yes! 😃

We had leftover kofta that Sam had the next day before his overnight shift at the hospital, and he liked it too. 

• 

• 

• 

Today I heated the leftover kofta, then thinly sliced it like gyro meat. Then, I made a wrap (gluten-free) with the meat, tahini sauce, thinly sliced baby cucumbers, and lettuce. It was even better than the original meal. 

Marty said after lunch that this was not food you eat at home; it was restaurant or food truck food. That, my friends, is exactly what I was going for! ✔️

The next time I make kofta, I will chill the meat mixture and put the skewers in the freezer for a few minutes to get them super cold. After that, they will go in the fridge until the fire is scorching, and we will use the grill grate right away. 

We live in a food desert here in Southern Vermont with very few choices of ethnic cuisine. I love trying all different kinds of ethnic foods. Like everything else, if we want to try something, I make it—end of story. 

Grilling season is upon us. I don’t really expect anyone to go online and order sword skewers like I did to make kofta. But…you can make kofta patties like a burger and get the same flavor and idea.

If your family is courageous when it comes to food, or if you are sick of eating the same old shit, try it. As a side note, I wanted to include that every time I wanted to type “shish,” my autocorrect changed it to shitshow! LOL!

Below is the recipe I used:

https://www.billyparisi.com/middle-eastern-kofta-kebab-recipe/

We haven’t rented a house for a week down the Jersey Shore for 19 years. We used to rent a home on Long Beach Island, NJ, right in Surf City every July. My parents went in 50% for the rental cost, making it affordable for us since I was a stay-at-home mom. We would all stay at the house and, because my father was still alive, we all got along. They didn’t like the beach, and we did, so we parted our separate ways during the day. At night, we would have cocktails and dinner together. Then we would sit outside for hours after the boys went to bed.

We didn’t rent a place in 2000 since my dad passed away in April and I was pregnant with Sam; I was due in August. We did scrounge money together to rent the house again the following year. I was working for a caterer part-time and put a little money aside every week all year. Our spending money came from our income tax return.

We had a great time at LBI that summer, even though all of our hearts had a hole in them without my father. He did let his presence be known that he was with us anyway. He was so much fun in life, and the signs we got from him made us all laugh.

• 

• 

We never ate out the years we rented the house, the kids were young, and we really didn’t want to spend a ton of money on going out. It would have been aggravating anyway since everywhere was jammed with families; the wait to get into most places was ridiculous. It was more enjoyable eating on one of the house’s decks; the kids could play after they ate and not have to sit still so and we could enjoy our food. Our kids were never allowed to get up from the table in a restaurant or bother a bunch of other diners.

• 

We brought groceries from home mostly for the kids, and we shopped each day at the corner store, butcher shop, bakery (we weren’t gluten-free then), seafood market, and pizza places. I loved to cook back then, and the kitchen was fully equipped, along with a nice grill. 

One morning when Marty and I walked to the bakery searching for the pretzel rolls we loved, we saw they had a bruschetta topped pizza crust. It was different than regular pizza. It was pizza dough baked in Sicilian style and was topped with olive oil, bruschetta topping, and pecorino Romano cheese. It was to be eaten at room temp. It was so good! I think we got it twice that week. I didn’t think I wouldn’t be able to find it anywhere again. It was so juicy and flavorful. 

That was the last year we could afford the house we rented for years. We were priced out by all the New Yorkers that flooded LBI, and the rent tripled in price. We were saving to buy a house and didn’t want to spend that much money; it was the end of going down the shore. Hotels near the beach were even further out of our price range. ☹️

Before we had to go gluten-free, I would look on the menu of every pizzeria to try to find that bruschetta pizza, but I never saw anything like we had from the bakery. I never bothered trying to duplicate the bruschetta pie since gluten-free pizza crust sucks. It took us 9 years to finally master a good pizza dough, so I decided to try tonight. 

I made a batch of pizza dough and rolled out one of the dough balls; I put it immediately on a sheet pan. I let it rise, covered with a towel. Meanwhile, I made the bruschetta topping and garlic herb oil to put on the dough while it baked.

After I made the bruschetta topping, I let it sit for a bit, then tasted it. Boom! It tasted just like the topping I remembered. I was halfway there. When the dough was ready to bake, I poured the garlic, herb, olive oil on the dough, sprinkled a little Parmesan on it, and threw it in the oven. 

When the pizza crust was done, I immediately topped it with the bruschetta topping and grated some pecorino Romano cheese on top. I let it sit for a few minutes so everything could come together. 

I cut it into squares just like the bakery did. Marty tasted it first and said, “You’re gonna love it.” I did love it. We both agreed that it tasted just like the one from the LBI bakery. Marty said he could see us having this a lot, especially when tomatoes are in season.

It was a perfect meal to have on the first day of summer. This bruschetta-topped pizza crust will always remind me of that summer at LBI. We really miss going down the shore for a week and the little house that was just a couple of short blocks from the beach.

I have lots of photos of the little beach house and LBI….I just have to find them.

I’ve written about food smell memories before, but the one that screams summer down the Jersey shore is sausage and peppers. 

Whenever I smell sausage and peppers, I think of the boardwalk in Seaside, NJ. The delicious smell of sausage, peppers, and onions mixed with Coppertone suntan lotion takes me back. 

I spent many summers down Seaside and walking the boardwalk. My friends and I would go to Seaside, smoke, drink, go to the beach, and walk the boards. It was always good times…fun, sun, and boardwalk food. 

Being gluten-free puts the kobash on eating sausage and peppers on a good Italian roll soaked with grease. Very sad and a major bummer. Like everything else, I make due re-creating delicious food memories. 

I am not sure why people call it “sausage and peppers” when onions are always in the picture. Hell, I do it too. I guess, like all other Jersey & NY lingo, it cuts down on the wordage. 

Cutting down on wordage? Let me give you a few examples. “Ddjaeetyet?” No, “Djew?” Did you eat yet? No, did you? I shit you not, it’s a real thing, and I still say it. 

We all know “Forgetabouit” or “Dontworrybouit.” Forget about it. Don’t worry about it. “Howyadoin?” It can be how are you doing or how are YOU doing? Think of Joey on Friends. 

“Howyadoin?” Is not a question, it is a greeting. No one really gives two shits how you are doing. It’s like saying “S’up” or hi. 

Back to sausage and peppers…in the cold weather, I make mine in the oven. I make mine on the outdoor flat top grill just like the boys do on the boardwalk in the summertime. 

The key to my sausage and peppers is that I marinate my peppers and onions with garlic, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. The salt in the marinate starts releasing the juices from the vegetables, softening them a bit before the cook. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I usually parboiled my sausage. I know some of my Italian friends are shaking their heads, saying, “ Whatdafaq?” I parboil it when I slice the sausage into pieces before putting them in with the vegetables to marinate. This is a hurry-up method, but it works for me.

Parboiling does remove some of the flavor and fat. Sometimes I fry it first, and other times I throw the sausage in the marinate raw. Doing it on the flattop goes fast, and I don’t want to dick around worrying if the sausage would be cooked through. 

Since I can’t have my sausage and peppers on dope ass rolls anymore, I add yellow potato cubes. The same people are shaking their heads and think it’s sacrilege to add potatoes. But I happen to like them, so I put them in. “Oh yeah? Your sista’s ass!” Another favorite of mine.

People can fight about what you put or not put on your sausage and peppers. The purists will say nothing. Others will say yellow or spicy mustard. Some people add marinara sauce. I say no to that one…big time. I like yellow mustard. It’s the needed acid that cuts through all the grease. 

I only learned about how acid balances out a dish a couple of years ago when I watched on Netflix the show called Salt. Fat, Acid. Heat. It changed my life..seriously. Now condiments make sense and actually serve a purpose. 

Last night I made sausage and peppers with garlic cheese bread. The guys could make sub “samiches” if they wanted to; I just ate mine on the side. 

Will I make it to the Jersey shore this year? I’m not sure. Can I eat the sausage and peppers of my food memories? No….damn gluten. Can I make something that is a great runner-up? You bet your ass I can. If there’s a will, there’s a way. 

I had a nice dinner prepped for Sunday evening. I mise en place all the ingredients in the morning so dinner would be quick and easy later on. It was going to be a gorgeous day, perfect to be spent at the “pool.” 

I got a text from our chef friend Martin mid-afternoon asking us to come for dinner. As I mentioned before, Martin is a widow and doesn’t enjoy cooking for himself like most people. Whenever he asks us to come, we always say yes. For me, it’s such a treat having someone else to cook, plus whatever he is making is something he’s been craving. 

I decided to make Sunday dinner on Tuesday night. I was making grilled glazed pork tenderloin with wild rice pilaf along with green beans almandine. Why green beans almandine? Well, I felt like pulling out another lost old-school recipe. 

Green Beans almandine has been around since the mid-nineteenth century. It became a very popular holiday or dinner party side dish. All the white tablecloth fine dining restaurants had the dish on their menus as well.

Green beans almandine is basically green beans and toasted almonds. The correct name is almandine, but it was dumbed down in America and appeared in American cookbooks as almondine. Whatever! 

• 

• 

It’s such an elegant and simple dish. I wanted to share it with you since it’s almost green bean season. I looked at a bunch of recipes; some were good, some were very good, and some were bad. 

The basic recipes had blanched fresh green beans, toasted almonds, and butter. The more elevated recipes included sautéed shallots and garlic with fresh green beans, almonds, and butter. The recipes that made me say, “WTF,” used frozen green beans. Frozen? Frozen for an elegant dish? 

Listen…I am not a food snob; frozen vegetables are fine for certain times and occasions. I use frozen peas all the time, but when writing a recipe for “dinner party” food, don’t tell people to use frozen green beans. Capice?

Here’s the recipe I used from the website A Beautiful Plate

Green Bean Almandine

•  1 lb French green beans (haricot verts), trimmed
•  2 tablespoons unsalted butter
•  1/4 heaping cup raw sliced almonds
•  2 medium shallots, finely diced
•  2 medium garlic cloves, finely minced
•  zest of one small lemon
•  2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
•  kosher salt
•  freshly ground black pepper
  

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season the water liberally with kosher salt (it should be very salty to taste). Salting the cooking water aggressively accomplishes two tasks: it ensures that the green beans will be seasoned properly inside and out, and also helps them retain their bright green color after cooking. 
2. Blanch the green beans for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until they are crisp-tender and slightly squeaky between your teeth. It is important that the green beans be slightly undercooked as they will be transferred directly to the skillet and will continue cooking during this time.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat until lightly bubbling. Add the sliced almonds and sauté, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes or until they are starting to turn golden brown. Reduce the heat to low and add the chopped shallots and garlic. Sauté for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant and lightly caramelized. 
4. Using a large slotted spoon, tongs, or kitchen spider, transfer the blanched green beans from the boiling water directly to the skillet. Sauté briefly, gently tossing the green beans with the almond mixture until evenly combined and the green beans are tender. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice, toss once again, and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Serve immediately.

I hope if you haven’t made or had green beans almandine in years, you put it on your make-it list this summer. If you’ve never had it before, I hope you will try it. Old school food classics are that, for the very reason, they are delicious. They are just forgotten about.