Ground Lamb Kofto Kebabs

Last weekend we watched that Food Network show "The Next Food Network Star" for the first time. We really liked Aarti; we liked her personality the best and her food looked great and very original. When we saw her recipe for ground lamb kebabs with pomegranate glaze we thought it was right up our alley and couldn't wait to try it. All week we were looking forward to Saturday when we would finally get to try an award-winning recipe. We couldn't find ground lamb anywhere but luckily our 1957 Sunbeam Mixmaster (my husband found it at a thrift store and restored it) has a meat grinder attachment (I never expected to use it!). While we were making it we were both so excited because it looked and smelled delicious. My husband even fixed up a broken food processor that we had and made it so it will work with our blender! We learned a lot of things making this recipe (needless to say it took us much longer than 45 minutes to prepare). For example: what is a potato ricer? Apparently it is a kitchen gadget used to force cooked potatoes through small holes. We found another use for our meat grinder!

Here is the whole recipe (as posted on the food network website):

Ingredients

Raita:

• 2 Persian cucumbers, sliced 1/4-inch thick (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 6 sprigs fresh mint, leaves picked and minced (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup Greek yogurn
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Potatoes:

• 1 pound new potatoes
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons panch puran spice blend or Bengali five spice blend*
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• Freshly ground black pepper
• *Can be found at specialty Asian and Indian markets.

Kebabs:

• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, leaves picked (about 2 cups)
• 4 sprigs fresh mint, leaves picked (about 1 cup)
• 1 shallot, roughly chopped
• Zest and juice of 1 Meyer lemon
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil, for greasing and drizzling
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses*
• 1 teaspoon stone-ground mustard
• *Can be found at specialty Asian and Indian markets
• Special Equipment: 12 (10-inch) bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Directions

For the raita: Mix the cucumber, mint, garlic, and yogurt together in a large bowl with plenty of salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and chill.
For the potatoes: Fill a large pot with cool water and put over high heat. Add the potatoes and a hefty dose of salt. Bring to a boil, and then simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain and push them through a potato ricer. Heat the canola oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Once shimmering, add the panch puran seasoning. Cook the seasoning blend until fragrant and the spices begin to pop, about 30 seconds. Add the onion and saute until tender and lightly browned. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the potatoes and flatten them with a spatula, cook about 5 minutes, stirring and flattening a few times, until the bottom gets a little crispy. Season the potatoes with salt, and pepper, to taste, and keep warm until ready to serve.
Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine the parsley, mint, shallot, lemon zest, and garlic and pulse until finely minced. Add the mixture to a bowl with the ground lamb, baking soda and lots of salt and pepper, to taste. Knead until the mixture turns sticky, looks like a piece of knitted fabric, and holds its shape. Pull off a small ball of meat and shape into a fat cylinder. Thread a skewer through the middle lengthwise, and smooth the meat down the skewer until it's even all the way down. Repeat with rest of the meat mixture. Put the kebabs on an oiled baking sheet and drizzle with a little more oil. Combine the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice and mustard in a small bowl. Set aside.
Light a grill or heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.
Arrange the kebabs on the hot grill, turning every 2 to 3 minutes, generously brushing with the pomegranate mixture. Cook the kebabs until browned, about 6 minutes.
Transfer the kebabs to a serving platter and serve with the potatoes and raita on the side.

After all the hard work and ingenuity we put into making this dinner we were very excited to try it. It smelled wonderful and looked even better. But unfortunately it did not light up our taste buds like it seemed to for the judges on Food Network. It seemed like the type of dish that you would order at a foreign food restaurant and think "that was pretty good, but I wouldn't order it again." I don't know if I am revealing my unrefined taste in food or my lack of ability to adequately follow a recipe but let me just say that we ended up with a very expensive lesson on what NOT to do.

I went back and re-read everyone's comments on the Food Network and Aarti's personal website and they all seemed to agree that it was an incredible and practically flawless recipe but for us... not so much.