Some of you say, “Joy is greater thar sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.” But I say unto you, they are inseparable. Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed. –Kahlil Gibran
(Happy Father’s Day to all of our dads, and all that they mean to us! Tune in here to listen to my essay on the last weeks of my father’s life, which was aired yesterday on WKAR, Michigan State University Public Radio).
Don’t get scared off of these burgers thinking that “kofta” (also: kefta) can’t mean burger. Traditionally the highly seasoned ground lamb is pressed to a stick and grilled. You also see kofta shaped and grilled as a log without the stick.
All of that is fine, but that look, that log look…frankly this does nothing to tell us that what we’re about to eat is out of this world. Incredibly flavorful. Delectable.
Enter the lamb kofta burger. I figure as long as the paper placemat and the fattoush are getting reinvented this week, how about the kofta too?
You can eat the lamb burger my way, with toum garlic sauce, or your way, with anything you want (ketchup, or as Sitto would say: cats-up, mustard, or even hummus spread on top). If you want the garlic but are not about to make any toum, substitute mayo with minced garlic stirred in.
Tuck the burger into a bun, or roll it up in a big flat pita with some veggies. Or eat it as my mom and I do, with fork and knife and no bun whatsoever. That’s not how Dad would be eating his; he’d want that soft bun cradling his burger, thank you very much.
Line up your lamb burgers with your hummus, your fattoush and potato salads, your veggie skewers and almond-cherry ice cream–and there’s a cookout you can savor all summer long.
Lamb Kofta Burgers
The size of the burgers can be whatever you’d like; just be sure to flatten them out as much as possible when shaping, so that they don’t get too thick and puck-ish when they cook. The raw meat mixture becomes quite soft with all of the seasonings and onion, so it’s helpful to chill it for a half hour or up to a day before grilling. Dress the burgers with toum garlic sauce, or standard mustard and ketchup. A quickie garlic sauce is mayonnaise with some minced garlic stirred in. Makes 4 large or 6 medium-sized burgers.
2 lbs. ground lamb
2 tablespoons grated onion
3 tablespoons chopped parsley, flat or curly
2 tablespoons chopped mint
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sumac
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Hamburger buns, Kaiser rolls, or pita bread
Combine the lamb with the onion, parsley, mint, salt, pepper, sumac, and cinnamon. Shape into 4-6 flat patties. Dip your hands in cold water if they become sticky, and to help smooth the meat into the patty. Place the patties onto a wax paper lined plate and chill for ½ hour or up to one day, covered.
Heat the grill to medium high heat. Brush the patties with olive oil. Grill about 4 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Serve on buns with condiments.
Print this recipe here.
When I think of a Father’s Day menu, I immediately want hefty food that has plenty of healthy going on too. My own dad liked a big meal, a big bite, and a lotta crunch. Ditto his sons, who will be eating this Father’s Day meal in honor of their own fatherhood, to be sure, but also, and always, in honor of Dad.
Something about the wedge salad just says male to me. It’s hunky, it’s hefty. It’s chompy. It’s got Father’s Day written all over it.
I’ve always been a fan of the wedge/blue cheese salad. Perhaps because the iceberg is really there for texture, as a crunchy conduit for blue cheese. Those salads, however, are no longer part of my program. I may cajole you into ordering one if we’re out, though, just so I can have a bite.
How about a healthy wedge salad, one with our special flavors–a fattoush salad transformed into a wedge? You get that big, beautiful romaine half, with a layering of lemon, mint, and sumac. The wedge takes up a nice portion of the plate, the way green veggies should. And between the fresh lettuce and the pita chips, you can chomp to your heart’s content and never feel anything but good about yourself, and what Dad’s eating.
Fattoush Wedge Salads with Sumac
Pile some of the tomato, onion and pita chips around the wedge on the plate. Be sure to clean the romaine all the way through and down to the core by gently pulling each leaf away from the core and running plenty of cool water through. Makes 4 wedge salads.
For the lemon vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 heads of romaine, cleaned, with outer layers removed
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
¼ cup thinly sliced Vidalia onion
Pita chips
2 tablespoons sumac
10 large mint leaves, sliced thin (chiffonade)
Freshly ground black pepper
For the vinaigrette, in a small bowl, combine the lemon, garlic powder, salt, and olive oil with a small whisk or fork until emulsified.
Trim the romaine and slice off the bottom of the core. Cut each head in half and arrange on a platter.
Place the tomatoes and onion in a small bowl and dress with a bit of the vinaigrette. Scatter the tomatoes, onion, and pita chips over the romaine halves and all around the platter (scoop these over the salad when it’s served).
Sprinkle the sumac and mint over the wedges (and a little on the platter for show) and season with freshly ground black pepper.
Pour the remaining dressing evenly over each wedge. Sprinkle a little more sumac over the salads and a pinch of salt. When serving, scoop the extra vegetables and pita from the platter over the wedge.
Print this recipe here.
Paper placemats are my heroes. They are the poster child of reinvention, the sleeper of kool kitchen stuff. They’re the synthesis of so much that I can’t get enough of—first, they are paper, and I am a sucker for paper in all of its forms (paper art, paper bakeware, paper lace, parchment paper, and of course, paper paper).
Secondly, these particular paper placemats are the colors of happy. You know I have a thing for white, but not in a paper placemat. That would be too much Bill Knapp’s (fond memories, but no), and not enough just-look-at-me-now! on the table.
I’m all for reinvention. You don’t even have to chuck your job and head to culinary school to get a taste of it. Just try a big pad of these paper placemats that I found downtown Harbor Springs at the lovely L’Esprit (by Two’s Company; buy them here), tear them off like the huge post-it notes you left behind in an office somewhere, and set up your table inside or out. Fun is here.
And if I memory serves, those post-it notes never, ever commanded me to “PLAY” on the cover.
The weather up north has not been ideal for cooking out, but it’ll do. Considering that I’d cook out in the dead of winter if a path is shoveled (by someone else) to the grill, a little early summer chill isn’t going to stop me.
Neither is a Father’s Day without a father. Because whether a father is with you in person or in spirit, there’s plenty to cheers about. Besides, the brothers are all called Dad now, and that keeps the Father’s Day celebration front and center.
Here are some ideas for your cookout this weekend, a Lebanese-inspired feast:
Father’s Day Cookout Menu
Hummus & Crudité, Mixed Olive Bowl
Romaine Fattoush Wedges with Sumac
Grilled Lamb Kofta Burgers with Garlic Sauce
Grilled Red Onion & Zucchini Skewers
Do very little to them: touch of olive oil, salt, pepper. Their flavor comes from that special ingredient called char. Finish with a touch more olive oil and chopped fresh parsley. If you’re looking for lamb shish kebab, find it here!
Lebanese Potato Salad
Scallion, lemon, mint. So good. So healthy. And so popular–we’ve had a motherlode (fatherlode?) of visitors checking out this recipe, and how to cook the potatoes, lately.
Cherry Nougat Glace with Candied Almonds
Very delicious. No ice cream maker needed! Make it ahead, then to serve, just slice and go.
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