Khorovats

Khorovats are Armenia's version of a kebab, and they're an unavoidable element of the country's cuisine. Charcoal manghals (grills) with a man twisting skewers filled with enormous chunks of meat over an open flame can be found in restaurants and truck stops, on street corners and in family homes. The favored cuts of meat are pork, lamb, and beef, with little marinating or seasoning. Condiments, according to Armenians, detract from the meat's inherent flavors. While peppers and onions may occasionally appear on the skewers, they are entirely decorative.

The 'greens' are served with the khorovats salad, which is consisting of fried tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, greens, and onion. Wrap it all up in lavash, a fantastic native flatbread, for a simple culinary delight.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. boneless leg of lamb cubed into 1 inch pieces, ½ cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 3 large garlic peeled and crushed, 1 teaspoon dry white wine, 1 bay leaf, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon oregano fresh chopped, ½ teaspoon rosemary fresh, 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper, 2 large onions white or yellow peeled and cut into, 8 wedges each, 2 large green peppers cut into 8 pieces each, 12 medium mushrooms stemmed and cleaned, 2 large tomatoes cored and cut into 8 wedges, 8 wooden skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes to prevent burning on the grill.

Instructions

• Place lamb cubes in a large container
• In a medium bowl, mix olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, wine , bay leaf, salt, pepper, oregano and rosemary.
• Pour marinade over lamb, stir thoroughly, cover and refrigerate at least 24 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Pre heat your grill to medium high
• Thread separate skewers of lamb, onion green pepper, and mushrooms
• Baste vegetable with some of the reserved marinade.
• Put the lamb and onions first as they will take about 12 minutes to cook, add the green peppers and mushrooms after about 5 minutes and lastely the tomatoes they only take about 3 minutes to cook.
• Remove from grill and skewers, you can re-skewer, alternating the ingrediens or just put the lamb and vegetables on a platter.
• Serve with lavash and Hamim enjoy!