Rosemary, part one

         “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you love, remember.”*

Rosemary

Rosemary Skewered Lamb and Apricot Kebobs

On one of our recent “pie nights” our good friends and partners in gustatory delight (a.k.a. the Eminent  Botanist and his wife, the Equally Eminent Mosaicist) gifted us with a large offering of rosemary from their garden. Now while this may have been an attempt at thinning their rosemary, we still welcomed the gift for it provided the inspiration for several meals.

The rosemary was long enough to make 10” skewers of rosemary. Leave about 1” of the rosemary intact at the top of the branch and remove the rest of the rosemary from the branch. Save this "discarded" rosemary in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for another use. Many grocery stores have bunches of rosemary branches suitable to use for grilling if you don’t have your own (or have a friend who does). You can also use bamboo or metal skewers.

I had some boneless leg of lamb (you could also do this with pork) and I cut it into cubes and marinated it.  Drain and pat the lamb dry with paper towels before making the kebobs. When I assembled the skewers I made a “pilot hole” in the meat with a sturdier skewer so as not to break the rosemary skewers. Alternately thread an apricot half in between a couple pieces of lamb onto the rosemary skewer.

Lamb and Apricot Kebobs

For 3 servings:

1 pound lamb, cut into 1” cubes

6 apricots, pits removed and halved, lengthwise

Marinade:

¼ cup red wine

¼ cup olive oil

1 Tablespoon chopped garlic

1 Tablespoon chopped rosemary

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Place all of the marinade ingredients into a bowl and whisk until combined. Add the lamb cubes and let lamb marinate for at least an hour. For longer marinating, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

2. Remove the lamb from the marinade and blot dry on paper towels. Alternate skewering the lamb with the apricot halves (use four halves per skewer). Set aside.

3. Season the kebobs with salt and ground black pepper. Drizzle each kebob with a little olive oil. Grill the kebobs outside over a hot charcoal fire on or the stove on a grill pan for about 2 minutes per side for rare or slightly longer depending on desired degree of doneness. Remove kebobs from the grill to a plate and let rest for 2 or 3 minutes before serving. Serve the kebobs with some couscous mixed with a couple of your favorite vegetables.

                       “Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night.”*

•Hamlet, Wm. Shakespeare. Act 4, Scene V.