Lockdown Lamb Kebabs with Hot Hummus

My Lockdown Grilled Lamb kebabs with Cinnamon, Cloves and Hot Hummus

Everything was going so well with Cov19 in Bahrain in May 2021. We had one of the highest vaccination rates in the world . On 7.6.22 we had reached 49.7% of the population vaccinated compared to the worldwide average of 5 % and the 1% in the Philippines.

But then on 28 May we topped another league table- the highest number of Daily new confirmed Cov 19 deaths per million people in the world. ( special thanks to Vincent Kelly for the graph below).

So on the day of the lockdown announcement I quickly prepared my menus until 10 June and Jake and I went shopping , and I had my haircut! Since then I have been stuck in my apartment cooking daily.

The Lockdown was announced with one days warning so the shops were very crowded :

" Bahrain will close shopping malls, stores, restaurants and coffee shops for two weeks starting from tomorrow (Thursday) as it records unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases, state media reported.

According to the Kingdom’s national committee tasked with combatting the coronavirus pandemic, beauty salons, spas and barber shops will also be closed during the 14-day lockdown.

The committee also announced that no group events and conferences can be organised. The new restrictions are part of efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the small Gulf nation, which reported 28 deaths on Monday, taking the fatality tally to 852."

Source: https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/bahrain/covid-19-bahrain-to-close-stores-and-restaurants-for-two-weeks-1.79476981

The problem, as my regular readers will know is I only have one working electric ring, a very small freezer and my fridge is always full! With the temperature around 40 degrees any food not refrigerated goes off .

By mistake all my cookery books ended up in Palawan so I have been searching on my computer for new recipes to try and I found this one, which I have named "Locked down Lamb Kebabs with Hot Hummus

This is the recipe I found- it's a colour copy so its not very clear, sorry!

So you start off by marinating the lamb OVERNIGHT in the refrigerator!

Take 500 grams boneless cubed leg of Lamb ( as usual thanks to my Pinoy butcher at Alosra Riffa Palms for cutting this freshly for me) and marinade overnight in a freezer bag with 80 ml olive oil, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 grated onion, 1 crushed clove of garlic, 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon, half a teaspoon of *ground cloves, half a teaspoon of ground black pepper, and half a teaspoon of sea salt.

* I gave my pestle and mortar to Max when he was in COV 19 Quarantine and asked Jake how they grind pepper without one. He showed me how to place it under a mug on a firm surface and press down hard. Now why didn't I think of that.

Using the lemon squeezer which I did get back from Max to put the lemon on the Lamb

I did love the description in the recipe for preparing the marinade:

"Massage the cubes through the bag to thoroughly coat them in the marinade"

Those of you who know me well will know I love massage and in my retirement have been having 3 a week, so the thought of massaging the lamb cubes bought all kinds of images to my mind!

Slightly clearer!

Before I forget special thanks to Miss Andrea for advising on Marinating (the verb) and marinade ( noun) . I just like you to know these blogs are very well researched and we draw on a big team from the Oil & Gas Academy at Bapco, Our technical team ( Chester) in Marikana, and our butcher, vegetable man Mark and Jake for his Pinoy kitchen hacks!

While your meat is marinating ( I can just hear Mike saying oh, er, Mrs!) you can prepare the hot Hummus.

They explain at the start of the recipe that :

"Hummus is often served hot in Turkey: Heating it in an oven slightly soufflés it. I recommend scooping up the charred morsels of meat and hot hummus with Pita bread"

Personally I prefer hot Arabic bread straight from the Oven. Most villages have these ovens , and even some of the larger traditional restaurants like Haji's in Manama. You often see the boys queuing for bread for breakfast in the early mornings or just before Friday ( family) lunch.

Making Arabic bread at Haji's restaurant in Manama

Hummus is a dish I learnt to love, and make, here in the Middle East and you can make many varieties like Beetroot Hummus or Coriander and Lemon.

According to the recipe you put a tin of drained chick peas, 2 teaspoons of tahini, 1 clove crushed garlic, 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon Turkish red pepper, half a teaspoon ground cinnamon, half a teaspoon sea salt into a food processor and add a couple of tablespoons of cold water and processor while slowly trickling in 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. You then blend until smooth, put in a small ovenproof dish and scatter with pine nuts and drizzle with Olive Oil. It will stay fresh in the refrigerator for a few days.

With no food processor I used a spoon and then a potato masher and cooked it in my one pot!

Making my hot hummus with a potato masher!

The recipe suggests that you thread the marinated lamb onto metal skewers , pre heat a griddle pan over a high heat, or use a BBQ, and grill the lamb for 3 - 5 mins on each side. At the same time you heat your Hummus in the oven for 10 mins. ( 200 degrees c or gas mark 6)

Then you serve the Grilled Lamb Kebabs with the Hot Hummus and lemon wedges, and some hot Arabic bread for a true taste of the Middle East

Back in one pot land you fry the lamb and warm the Hummus one after the other in your one pot!

The British Kabayan's Hot Hummus and Lamb "Kebabs" !

I actually had mine with some carrots and new potatoes left over from another dish I made during the lock down...as you can see in the picture at the top of the Blog. It was delicious and it nearly lasted as long as the lockdown!

On the day I finished my Lockdown Lamb further bad news came- they extended the Lockdown by another 15 days from 10 to 25 June. So back to the drawing board as I cannot now eat out as planned to celebrate the end of the lockdown on 10, 11, 12 and 13 June!