food, reviews and of course coffee
I had enjoyed the kebabless chicken I had cooked a few weeks back, that I decided to cook it again.
I took some chicken thighs and marinaded with some chicken seasoning, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper, some garlic olive oil and some freshly chopped flat parsley.
I then took my griddle and put it on a high heat. I then cooked the chicken on the griddle. I turned it over and cooked the other side.
I served it with salad and rice
I am still not sure that kebabless is an actual word.
I am not sure that kebabless is an actual word.
I was short on time, so rather than thread chicken cubes onto wooden skewers, I decided to miss that step.
I took some cubed chicken breast and marinaded with some chicken seasoning, salt, pepper and some olive oil.
I then took my griddle and put it on a high heat. I then cooked the chicken on the griddle. I turned it once, and then covered the chicken with some baking parchment. This ensures that the chicken is cooked through, by acting as a “lid”, but avoids steaming the chicken, so that there is still some crispness to the chicken from the griddle.
I served it with salad and rice with a homemade tomato sauce.
Occasionally I find myself in Glasgow with a 9pm flight home, most times I end up at the Airport wondering why I am eating there, as it is too often over-priced and not very good.
The last time this happened to me in Glasgow I decided that rather than do my usual, I would try and find something to eat in the centre of Glasgow. There are lots of choices and I did spend a little time wandering up and down West Nile Street. I did consider a few options, French, Mexican, but in the end the look of Babs intrigued me. A upmarket looking kebab place.
Founded and led by the hugely ambitious team behind award winning ‘Bread Meats Bread’, ‘Babs will strive to create great street food dishes that make the most of seasonal and ethical produce, while respecting kebab’s culinary Greek, Turkish and Levantine heritage. So please relax, enjoy and welcome to ‘Babs Family!
There was a warm friendly welcome as I entered and I was given a choice of where to sit, which was nice. The place reminded me of the restaurants I visited when on holiday on Greek islands in the early 2000s.
The menu looked great, but what had tempted me in over other places on the street, was the Lamb Shish Babs. Described as severed chunks of sumac-rubbed lamb grilled over coals. Served on a flatbread on a bed of a sweet pepper and carrot puree and tzatziki; topped with grilled peppers and house pickles.
I went with a side order of skinny fries. I was introduced to these at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen and really like them as a side dish.
The lamb was perfectly cooked, beautifully tender, great smokey flavour. I really enjoyed the accompaniments that came with it. A real nice mix of things that didn’t overpower the lamb.
Whilst writing this article I noticed that the menu had changed since I visited, but even then the new one looks just as interesting.
It was a sunny Thursday in October and I was working in Bristol and it was time for lunch. There was only one place to start to look for something to eat that was the Temple Quay Market close to the station.
This regular street food market has lots of stalls and choices. Having looked around, I decided that I would go for Murray May’s charcoal grilled lamb.
They have a wonderful heritage Mercedes van that they have converted into a street food van complete with charcoal grill.
For me it was a bit of a no-brainer about what to have and that was to go for the grilled lamb.
There was a bit of a wait for my lunch, which I didn’t mind too much as I knew I was getting it cooked to order.
There was this beautifully tasty tender lamb, in a warm fluffy pitta bread complete with a selection of home-made pickles, salads and sauces.
It looked great and tasted wonderful.
I quite like kebabs, but I still have not perfected a technique that ensures that all the food on the kebab is evenly cooked and ensuring that the meat is “actually” cooked.
I recently made these chicken and chorizo kebabs and though the veg and chorizo was cooked, the chicken was still a little underdone.
I had done them under the grill, usually I would “roast” them at the top of a hot oven in order to cook them evenly, but then you don’t get that crispness on the edges. I am guessing that the ideal solution is to grill the vegetables separately to the chicken.
The first time I went to Caffe Gusto at the Mall I was impressed with the quality of the food and friendly staff, but less impressed with the speed of service.
So when I was in the mood for some lunch and was passing the Mall I was slightly hesitant about going to Caffe Gusto as I was in a bit of a hurry. However I knew I wouldn’t be going to Café Rouge anytime soon.
At Caffe Gusto, it’s a bit like a pub, in that you order your food at the counter, give a table number and then wait for your food.
I ordered the Shish Kebab in Pitta Bread with an Americano.
The coffee was good and I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the food arrived, and all nice freshly cooked.
The lamb was reasonably tender, nicely cooked and well flavoured. The fries were really nice and the salad was fresh.
Overall I had an excellent meal and was pleased with what I had. I would go again.
In order to make these kebabs, take some organic chicken, I used skinless and boneless thighs. I prefer the thigh meat over the breast as I find it has more flavour.
Cut into cubes about the size of cherry tomatoes.
Cut some red pepper and onions to a similar size.
Now thread, the chicken, red pepper, onions, along with some cherry tomatoes.
Pour some olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the kebabs, add ground black pepper and marinade for at least an hour.
Place under a hot grill or at the top of a hot oven and cook for fifteen to twenty minutes.
Serve with a salad.
Tonight we had some really nice kebabs.
Took some cubed pork tenderloin and on wooden skewers interspersed the pork with onion, red pepper and mushrooms. These were grilled for about fiftteen minutes after brushing them with olive oil.
I served them with a nice selection of salads including home made coleslaw.
Very nice.
Nice and easy this, take some lamb and cut into 1″ cubes. I used neck fillet, this is a relatively cheap cut, but after marinading can be quite tender and therefore suitable for making into kebabs and grilling.
I marinaded the lamb in a mix of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, ground black pepper and finely chopped rosemary. Watch how much rosemary you use, it’s quite strong and some may not like this. I left it in the marinade for a couple of hours, you could leave it longer, but a couple of hours is fine.
I placed the lamb cubes on wooden skewers. Now you are suppose to soak the wooden skewers before using them to stop them burning in the oven, to be honest I alwasy forget and don’t really have a problem. Might be a problem on a barbecue I guess.
I grilled the lamb for a about fifteen minutes, more if you like your lamb well done and slightly less if you prefer it pink.