Fun with Yogurt

Dean and I had a lovely dinner last night with our friends L and S. There was a concert by a jazz quintet in the park across the street, so we had live music playing as we ate, and then after dinner we took a big blanket over and sat out on the grass and listened to the rest of the show. It was just beginning to get dark by then, and the Japanese lanterns around the stage and along the garden paths made a warm light (we needed it, as it was a little gray and cool, with a few drops of drizzle now and then). Very relaxing.

For dinner, I made lamb kabobs for the first time, and I think they turned out pretty well. The secret (actually there are two secrets):

1) For the lamb marinade I used plain yogurt, with cumin and coriander, garlic, salt, pepper, and put the 1 inch cubes of lamb in it for about 8 hours. Apparently the yogurt tenderizes the lamb. It almost melts in your mouth! You can marinate it for up to three days in advance. But that might make the lamb so tender as to be sinful.

2) Pre-cook the veggies: since the lamb cooks very quickly on the hot grill (2-4 minutes), the veggies (mushroom, onion, yellow squash, zucchini, orange bell pepper, etc) need to be pre-cooked about halfway, or they won't be done enough. I sauteed them in advance (about 5-6 minutes), with all their spices, then put them in a glass pan in the refrigerator, to steep in their juices. When it was time to load skewers, they were cool and firm enough to handle. When they were grilled with the lamb, so yummy!

We have these neat metal skewers from Greece, made with decorative handles that look like old coins or symbols from mythology, that a friend gave to us years ago (thank you Aspa). They are much better than wood because they don't burn, or break. But they are a little hot to handle when they first come off the grill. Fortunately, there were no burns inflicted last night.

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On call this week, but it has been quiet (knock on wood). Worked on a few poems yesterday, but have not touched the novel in over a week now. I hope that is not a bad sign.

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Tonight we go to see the David Wagoner play about Roethke, "First Class," at ACT. I'm really looking forward to it. Wheeee!

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Dean is so proud to have a hurricane named after him. And for his birthday, no less. But he hopes it is kind to Jamaica and the rest of the Carribean. And that it levels a certain ranch in Crawford, Texas, instead.