Two for Tuesday: Poor Man’s Potatoes and Greek Shish Kabobs
Today is the first Two for Tuesday blog carnival. As you may have noticed I’ve been doing a lot of carnivals lately, but I’m especially excited about this carnival because I will be one of a handful of bloggers sharing in the hosting of this weekly event. Alex at A Moderate Life is the vision behind this carnival and she has graciously invited other bloggers to join her in hosting it! Thanks, Alex! So, be looking for this carnival here at bethstedman.com in a few weeks. For today hop on over to A Moderate Life - add your link (if you are a blogger), read the other great posts, and comment away!The recipes that I’m sharing today are family recipes of my husband’s (or at least inspired by family recipes). They are both great recipes for grilling and camping and wonderful summer dishes. I hope you enjoy them!
Poor Man’s Potatoes:
The original family recipe is Poor Man’s Stew – they wrap ground beef, onions, potatoes and bell peppers in foil and cook it over an open fire when camping. My husband and I, however, have started making this without the ground meat (due to trying to pay off some debt and being on a very tight budget). Here’s how it’s done:
Ingredients:
Small potatoes, washed and stabbed with a fork (as many as you want) Onion, peeled and cut in quarters (again as many as you want) Bell Peppers, washed and cut into large chunks (as many as you want and whatever color you want) Butter, about a tablespoon or two (ideally from grass fed cows) Salt and Pepper to taste
Method:
Wrap all of the ingredients in parchment paper and place in the oven at about 350 degrees F or just under 200 degrees C. I will often put the parchment wrap into a baking dish before placing it in the oven just in case it leaks. Cook for about an hour until all the veggies are soft. Alternately, you can wrap all the ingredients in foil and throw it right on the grill or onto an open fire and again cook until all of the ingredients are tender.
We often eat it as a meal in itself (the name isn’t just for show!). But, I think the way this is really best is as a side dish to some great grilled meat. Enter the Shish Kabobs…
Greek Shish Kabobs:
Ok, I have a confession – I’ve never actually had these Shish Kabobs. I have an allergy to wine and since they have wine in them I’ve stayed clear. But, the whole family raves about them and the recipe is so easy I just had to share.
Ingredients:
One leg of lamb (cut up into cubes) (NOTE: you could really use any cut of lamb, or any other meat you want for this) 6 onions (sliced and squeezed with hands to get the juices out) about 1/2 cup of red wine about 1/2 cup Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil (the original recipe calls for vegetable oil – I DO NOT recommend vegetable oil for a number of reasons which I plan to explain in an upcoming post all about fats, for now just know that vegetable oils are not traditional and they contain a large amount of Omega 6 which most people today already have an imbalance in. Consuming vegetable oils is likely to throw off the delicate balance of Omega 6 and Omega 3 in the body so I recommend avoiding them. I would use Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil in this recipe even though I also don’t like to use Olive Oil for high heat cooking – I think that the little bit left on the meat after marinating would probably be ok. I guess you could try coating the meat in butter or lard or ghee or some more heat stable fat but I’m not sure how that would work with marinating… anyone know?) Salt and Pepper to taste
Method:
Place all the ingredients in a large container (a pot works well) and allow it all to marinade for 2-3 days. My husband says it’s best when left for 3 days. After 3 days pull out the meat, put it on skewers and grill it until cooked to desired doneness. That’s it! Enjoy!
You can also add other veggies to your skewers if you want. I recommend serving this with a yogurt sauce… BONUS RECIPE:
Onion and Garlic Yogurt Sauce:
Ingredients:
Yogurt (I use about 200g or about 2 cups) Roasted Garlic (we like garlic so I would roast a whole head of garlic and put in as many cloves as I could keep myself from eating) Sautéed onion (I usually use one big onion or two small ones) A sprinkle of Herbs De Providence Salt and Pepper to taste
Method:
Mix the yogurt, Garlic and onion together in a blender or food processor. Stir in Herbs de Providence and salt and pepper to taste. Serve as a dip for Greek Shish Kabobs, spoon over Poor Man’s Potatoes, or serve as a dip for fresh cut veggies. Well, I hope you all enjoyed this first edition of Two for Tuesdays! Go check out A Moderate Life for more wonderful recipes!
Rejoicing in the journey - Beth Stedman This post has been entered in the following blog carnivals: Two for Tuesday Tempt my Tummy Tuesday Slightly Indulgent Tuesday Mom’s 30 Minute Blog Challenge Click on the links to read lots of other great posts.