Uzbek Lamb Kebabs and Marinades Updates

This is Uzbek lamb kebab. Those of us from Uzbekistan know it as Shashlik and consider it to be a great delicacy. It’s a must for every special occasion and gathering of family and friends. My parents recently came to visit, and together we made a great big batch to share with you.

Traditionally, Shashlik is made of lamb and includes chunks of kurdyuk, or fat from the fat-tailed sheep, and it’s cooked on a long and narrow grill called a mangal. Skewers are placed right across the rim of the mangal, so there is no grill grate.

The Shashlik shown here is served with the traditional accompaniments of tandyr-baked flatbread called lepyoshki or non and thinly sliced onions seasoned with white vinegar, sugar, and salt. It’s plated on a vintage Uzbek platter depicting the design of the country’s famous ikat textiles. My parents brought the platter and a matching teapot and set of pijalas with us when we moved from Uzbekistan to the U.S. back in 1980. (Sadly, the teapot was broken several years ago.)

My family’s Shashlik recipe is precious to me because we left Uzbekistan when I was just a baby, and it’s one of the few things I have from my native country. It also happens to be the very first marinade I was ever exposed to. So of course I had to include it in my newest book Marinades. I’d like to give you a peek inside the book, so here’s the recipe exactly as it appears on pages 254 and 255.

When making Shashlik, choose a piece of lamb with a generous fat cap. Thread the marinated pieces of lamb onto skewers with the fat side out so that it can render and brown on the grill. And trust me when I say that the fat is the best part!

If you like this marinade, there are 199 more where that came from!

Speaking of my cookbook, don’t forget that Father’s Day is coming up and Marinades would make the perfect gift for Dad. Just in time for Father’s Day, I’ll be doing a tasting and book signing at Vancouver’s Butcher Boys from 11AM to 2PM this Saturday, June 14. Then on Friday, June 27, from 11AM to 1PM I’ll be offering up more samples and signatures at the Mill Plain Chuck’s Produce. If you want the complete Marinades immersion (pun intended!) join me for an amazing hands-on cooking class at Revival Market in Houston on Sunday, July 20 at 4PM. We have an amazing fiesta-style Tex-Mex menu planned, and no doubt you’ll leave class a master of marination!

In other event news, the summer Clark College class schedule is out. I'll be teaching Main Dish Summer Salads and Homemade Dressings. Please join me in the kitchen! Current event listings can always be found in the Cooking Classes, Book Signings & Appearances sidebar on the right.

So have you gotten your copy of Marinades yet? If not, consider that critics are saying it’s the perfect book for when time for cooking is short and calling it “exceptionally useful”, “inventive”, “like a spice rack on steroids”, “the ‘bible’ on the sauce that will bring your BBQ to the next level”, “delicious”, “for those who love to infuse flavor into their products”, “intriguing”, and full “of fresh ideas for creative marinating now”. And if that's not enough to convince you, NPR includes Marinades in this list of summer cookbooks that'll “make the good life even better”. While I’m listing media mentions, here are some of my marinade tips, here are more of my tips along with information on the health benefits of using marinades, and here’s the interview of yours truly from baker and food blogger Kimm Moore.

I truly hope you enjoyed having this Marinades update and glimpse of my most treasured recipe in my book. I'd love nothing more than for you to give this Shashlik a try. If you do, drop me a line, or better yet, come out to one of my book events and tell me how it goes!

So Surprised

It had been a while since I’d been to the Vancouver Farmers Market. It was never my favorite market. But I decided to give it another chance since I was feeling too lazy to drive all the way into Portland, and I’m glad I did. I was so surprised by how it has grown!

My usual approach to farmers market shopping is to do two laps. I walk through the market once to take it all in and see what looks good, and then I do a second round, this time to actually do the buying. The Vancouver market took three passes.

That’s because everything looked so good, I just couldn’t decide. The variety of ethnic snacks was unbelievable. There were Greek, Asian, and German food stands. The gumbo was tempting.


My husband cast his vote for the tamale stand.


The aroma of the paella almost lured me in.


But I just had to go with the Uzbek food, since I happen to be from Uzbekistan.

It was the ambiguous sign that first aroused my curiosity.


But I didn’t really count on anything interesting as I wandered toward it. I most certainly didn’t expect an authentic array of the foods that I had grown up eating. I just couldn’t believe my eyes! The Vancouver Farmers Market has a vendor (Pavel & Family, 360-253-6827) specializing in Uzbek food!

I’m not sure I can really convey in words how unusual this is. I was in complete disbelief, stunned, shocked, so surprised. It’s just that most people would be hard pressed to locate Uzbekistan on a world map, let alone spend some hard earned cash to try the food. I mean, when I tell people I was born is Uzbekistan, they just look at me quizzically. They almost always respond, “Pakistan?” I explain that Uzebkistan’s a country in Central Asia. So they try again, “Afghanistan?” Needless to say, the only place other than Uzbekistan I’ve ever seen Uzbek food is at home.

But I digress. The Uzbek food looked good. Shashlik, skewers of marinated beef and pork, were sizzling on a grill.


I was told that the father of the family of cooks was a welder and made it himself. They had an enormous authentic kettle, called a katol, full of plov, a lamb and rice pilaf.


They proudly explained that they had ordered the katol directly from Uzbekistan and that the shipping had cost $1,500 (ironically, the pot itself was only about $40). They even had an authentic babushka, lending credibility to the entire operation.


I ordered the combination plate, with shashlik, plov, and salad.


A tasty and satisfying lunch for about $7.

With a belly full of comfort food, I was finally ready to do my shopping. I bought some okra, tomatoes, and corn. Then the stone fruit caught my eye.


I’ve had donut and Saturn peaches before but never flat nectarines.


So I had to get some just for the novelty factor.

And then the huckleberries called to me.


The friendly vendor had just picked the wild berries himself at Trout Lake on Mount Adams. They were rare perfection, with jewel-like shiny skin, an intoxicating fragrance, an even more intense flavor, and also a very steep price of $4.50. I bought just one half-pint. On the way home, I agonized over what to do with the huckleberries, would they be destined for fresh eating or a pastry transformation? Concluding that a special treasure deserves a special treatment, I tossed them with a single tablespoon of sugar, divided them between two ramekins, topped them with rolled-out scraps of Pâte Sucrée Tart Crust from the freezer, and baked them into cobblers as soon as I got home.


A dollop of vanilla whipped cream, and my tongue was blissfully happy. What in the world was I thinking when I bought just one half-pint? Now I find myself in the preliminary stages of planning a huckleberry picking expedition. I think I have a new favorite berry, at least for the rest of huckleberry season.

And did I mention, I also have a new favorite farmers market?

Teacups

I make a small pot of tea almost every evening, sometimes bergamot, sometimes jasmine. I sip it slowly as I leaf through cookbooks. It’s my favorite wind-down ritual.

I grew up in a tea drinking family. We would always drink hot green tea after a rich meal, sometimes accompanied by a small bowl of sour cherry preserves. My mother (or was it my grandmother?) liked to tell me that it aided digestion. She served tea in these.


All my life, I’ve been drinking tea out of Japanese rice bowls. A very serious faux pas. But mother laughs, she was sure they were teacups. My family’s from Uzbekistan, and they’re the closest vessel to the traditional Uzbek pijala she could find here.


The pijala is broad, allowing the tea to quickly cool just enough to drink, and it’s small enough to enjoy several warming refills. It’s the perfect teacup. The orange and white pattern depicts the famous silk textiles of Uzbekistan. A blue and white pattern shows the cotton flower, one of the country’s major crops.

I still haven’t been able to find a set of authentic Uzbek pijalas in the U.S. I must go shopping in Tashkent.

A Pot of Tea
Printable Recipe

4 cups water
2 tablespoons loose leaf bergamot tea, my favorite is Sadaf Special Blend Tea with Earl Grey (available in Middle Eastern markets), in a large tea ball


Use lots of tea leaves steeped for a short time for the sweetest brew. Heat the water to a bare simmer. Add the tea and swirl for about half a minute. Do not oversteep or the tea will become bitter.

Pour yourself a cup, observe the golden color, inhale the fragrant steam, and sip, sip, and repeat.